David Tennant to Leave DOCTOR WHO
November 2, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, David Tennant, Doctor Who, TV SHOWS
While accepting the outstanding drama performance award at the National Television Awards (NTA) in the UK, David Tennant, the current and Tenth Doctor, announced he’ll be leaving DOCTOR WHO in 2009. “I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don’t take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you’ll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair,” said Tennant to the audience at the Royal Albert Hall. Tennant will still portray the Doctor for the 2008 Christmas special (along with the Cybermen) in "The Next Doctor" and will film an additional 4 specials to be aired throughout 2009. Actors including Russell Tovey, James Nesbitt, Paterson Joseph, John Simm, Robert Carlyle and David Morrissey have been mentioned in the media as frontrunners to portray the 11th Doctor but only Russell T. Davies, who’s also leaving the series, and Steven Moffat, the new executive director, probably know who’s got the part at this point. Whoever it is, they’ll have big shoes to fill: Tennant was voted the most popular Doctor in a reader survey in Doctor Who magazine in 2006 and he’s won the NTA award for most popular actor in both 2006 & 2007. (Personally I think he ties with Christopher Eccleston, but they didn’t ask me…) Russell T. Davies told BBC News on the end of the Tenth Doctor and his work with Tennant: “I’ve been lucky and honored to work with David over the past few years – and it’s not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left! After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we’re planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching.” Currently Tennant is performing theatre roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has received praise for his work in Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost. For David Tennant’s take on leaving the Doctor after 3 years, check out this interview he did with the BBC:
STAR TREK – Coming May 2009
July 19, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under MOVIES, Star Trek, TV SHOWS
J.J. Abrams and Paramount have finally issued promo ‘posters’ at the official site for the upcoming STAR TREK movie which is being called variously STAR TREK ZERO (as it’s a prequel) or STAR TREK XI (the eleventh movie in the franchise) or just plain STAR TREK. They of course can’t use STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE – that’s already been used. =)
DOCTOR WHO – Sarah Jane Rides Again
March 31, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under Doctor Who, TV SHOWS
The SARAH JANE ADVENTURES, a DOCTOR WHO spin-off, starts Apr 11th here in the US on the Sci Fi Channel.
According to the show’s official site on Sci Fi:
The Sarah Jane Adventures features Sarah Jane Smith, a companion of the Third and Fouth incarnations of the Doctor from the original series of DOCTOR WHO. Elisabeth Sladen reprises her role and is back in action, discovering alien plots to take over the world, or simply helping lost extraterrestrials get home.
Aided by her new young friend, Maria Jackson (Yasmin Paige), and her newly (and genetically engineered) adopted son Luke Smith (Tommy Knight), Sarah Jane has no problem taking on any challenge!
The Sarah Jane Adventures was created by Russell T. Davies, executive producer of the new Doctor Who series. He also serves as an executive producer on The Sarah Jane Adventures, along with Phil Collinson and Julie Gardner.
DOCTOR WHO – Starting Apr 18th on SCI FI
March 28, 2008 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under David Tennant, Doctor Who, TV SHOWS
The powers that be at SCI FI Channel have finally picked a date and it’s April 18th – that’s the day DOCTOR WHO Season 4 will premiere here in the U.S. according to the commercial I just caught. They’ll be starting with the third ‘Christmas’ episode ‘Voyage of the Damned’ starring Kylie Minogue as The Doctor’s companion Astrid Peth (along with a ship named the Titanic) and then they’ll segue into the main Season 4 shows.
This looks to be a very interesting season. I’ve been trying to avoid seeing too many spoilers online, but it’s hard when other countries who get BBC UK have already seen it and can’t wait to share every little tidbit. (Turnabout’s fair play, eh? After all the years the U.S. got shows first and posted their own spoilers everywhere, hmmm?)
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Potential Spoilers of My Own: Read more
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – 8 1/2 Minutes Is All You Need
March 3, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under Battlestar Galactica, TV SHOWS
Taking a page from LOST, Sci Fi Channel has created an 8 1/2 minute ’summary’ of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA that tells you all you need to know about the last couple of seasons in order to get you ready for what is supposed to be the last season… Read more
STARGATE SG-1: THE ARK OF TRUTH Movie
March 1, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under MOVIES, Stargate SG-1, TV SHOWS
Well, it’s finally almost here! Coming out March 11th, STARGATE: THE ARK OF TRUTH is about to be released, direct to DVD.
Here’s what we’ll see according to the package:
Blasting off where the Sci-Fi Channel’s longest running show, STARGATE SG-1, left off, this thrilling feature thrusts the Stargate team: Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Vala (Claudia Black), Teal’c (Christopher Judge), Sam (Amanda Tapping) and Cam (Ben Browder) into their biggest challenge yet. In search of an Ancient artifact they hope can defeat the oppressive Ori, the team not only learns that the Ori are set to launch a final assault on Earth, but a double-crossing I.O. operative is aboard the Odyssey! Also starring Beau Bridges, this pulse-pounder is loaded with enough suspense, humor and action to fill a galaxy! Read more
Frank Miller Takes on THE SPIRIT
February 16, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under MOVIES
Frank Miller, best known for his SIN CITY and BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS comics, is now turning his talents towards directing a movie version of Will Eisner’s THE SPIRIT. Starring Gabriel Macht as the title hero (along with his alter ego Denny Colt), the movie also has Scarlett Johannson, Eva Mendes, Jaime King, with Samuel L. Jackson taking on the role of villain The Octopus.
Sharing the director’s chair with Miller is Robert Rodriguez, who also helped direct SIN CITY. The two are using their time tested tricks of filming real actors against computer generated backgrounds, lending a more”comic book” feel to the whole process.
Since I loved how SIN CITY turned out, this is definitely another movie I’ll want to see when it’s released in January 2009. (However, my mother, a complete SPIRIT purist, will no doubt avoid it like the plague – she only went to see THE SHADOW because Tim Curry was in it and she’s never forgiven Hollywood to this day for what they did to that comic character! LOL)
And speaking of SIN CITY, both SIN CITY 2 and SIN CITY 3 are also in preproduction, slated for release in 2009. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez are two VERY busy men! (Sounds like 2009 will be another great year for movies to me – “the year of the comic book classics”.)
HEROES Re-Upped for 3rd Season
February 16, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under Heroes, TV SHOWS
According to TV GUIDE Online, HEROES has definitely been picked up for a 3rd season and it will be at least 22 episodes, possibly more. Too bad we haven’t even gotten to see much of the 2nd season to date! At the rate they’re going and showing, they’ll have to run the 2 seasons concurrently. Yeessh. Wouldn’t THAT be different!
Makes me wonder if the frequent writers strikes and not showing reruns is one way to force everyone to buy the DVDs to get their HEROES and other show fixes, especially if the writing contracts specify getting a kickback on the current and future DVD sales… <rodents>
In the meantime, the official HEROES website just keeps getting busier and more cluttered with behind-the-scenes stuff, interviews and adding episodes to the ‘comic’ version – they’re up to Chapter 72 and counting – instead of Season 1 & 2 ‘regular’ info. It’s almost as if the TV show has been forgotten and the website is now the show. Hmmmm.
At least Amazon has a way for me to catch up on the episodes I’ve missed for a lot of my favorite shows (HEROES, EUREKA, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, DOCTOR WHO, and more) without having to get the whole season and I can watch them at my leisure on my computer while waiting for the new shows to start:
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – They’ve Finally Set a Date!
February 9, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under Battlestar Galactica, TV SHOWS
I was watching the latest STARGATE ATLANTIS tonight when I caught the newest BATTLESTAR GALACTICA commercial. This time, instead of just having the usual sound bites by a few of the characters plus a note about “coming in March” they finally added the premiere date (at least for SCI FI Channel on Dish Network): April 4th! The official website is still saying “coming in March”. Hmmmm… Someone at the website isn’t keeping up with the advertisers!
Guess I’m going to have to add it to all the calendars in the house so I can make sure I don’t miss the first episode of the final season. (I HATE falling behind, especially when I’ve been waiting this long for the new stuff!)
I just hope they’re not going to split the ’season’ into 2 chunks as has been rumored, with only 10 episodes in 2008 and then dragging out the last half of 10 into 2009. That would really bite. It’s not like Sci Fi Channel’s ‘original’ movies make up for the delay! (I mean, really, how many fake snakes and bats can one person take?)
Maybe they expect us to order the Battlestar Galactica Series 2 Dolls
and make up our own adventures for the duration, eh? LOL
TORCHWOOD – WHO’s Crossing Over…
February 9, 2008 by Spotlight-on WM
Filed under TV SHOWS, Torchwood
iF MAGAZINE got a chance to chat with Burn Gorman (Doctor Owen Harper) about the new second series of TORCHWOOD, and in the second part of the interview found out about WHO might be guest starring before the season is over, and more about the ever changing relationships of the TORCHWOOD team. They even chatted with him about his obsession with comic books…
Burn Gorman also talks about the directions he’d like to see his character go in, along with some great behind the scenes commentary and parts he’d like to play/movies he’d like to see made.
