Fall of the Cybermen

It's sort of sad that all of the various sites that were nicely produced for Series Two in the UK like the one for Cybus Corporation are now promotional sites for the new Torchwood promotional site -- meaning that everything that would now make sense for people watching the series for the first time in the US and Canada have now been converted to promotional material for a series that we're months away from getting on television on this continent.

The Doctor Who Search Engine

One thing I thought I'd try with google's new co-op feature is a search engine targeted for Doctor Who (and Torchwood). I've only put a few sites on it so far, but I'll plan on adding more over time, especially if anyone else thinks the idea is interesting.

Official Business

Now that Torchwood has launched in the UK, the official http://www.torchwood.org.uk has an interesting flash design. I'm sure at least one person will go here when they meant to go there...

Russell Speaks

There is an interesting article by Russell T Davies that goes into his thoughts on television as we're about to see the launch of Torchwood in the UK.

I think it is interesting to compare what RTD has written here for the general UK audience as opposed to what he writes in Doctor Who Magazine. But actually, there are elements in this article that are certainly targeted at the fan audience as well -- the people complaining about the new Doctor Who having an additional soap opera element are certainly mainly old-school fans, not the general public.

But I think that's a big part of why this new series of Doctor Who has been so successful. Tonight's episode on Sci Fi was the fantastic Girl in the Fireplace by Stephen Moffat. And it's all about loss, seperation, love, and all tied into a tidy, witty science fiction package. If your only experience of Doctor Who is the original television series, this might be a radical, emotional departure from anything seen before, but it turns out as one of the best hours of Doctor Who ever.

Television Without Pity

As the most recent season of Doctor Who is finally getting some US airtime, now is a great time to re-plug Television Without Pity. You might think that there's absolutely no reason to page through a dozen pages recapping an episode that you can watch on TV, but Jacob's commentary is very insightful and absolutely worth reading.

Torchwood Countdown

The official Torchwood Site appears to be a bit more open to non-UK types.

Obviously, the UK countdown is in full force -- and Torchwood.TV is able to cover that UK side of things quite completely. I'm extremely jealous!

I have heard a couple of bits in the various reports that make me wonder about how well we'll be able to get it over here in the US, and in what form. I've no doubt that the eventual DVD release will be the same as the UK release. But if the episodes are 50 some minutes long instead of 45 or 46, there will inevitably be some cuts to add commerical time. And that'll be true if it ends up on either Sci Fi or BBC America.

I'm also a bit curious about exactly how strong the language is -- is it going to be more severe than we'd likely see on Sci Fi? Does this mean there is going to be editing for language as well as time?

This will all be resolved in time, I'm sure -- and I imagine we're looking at several months until we see any sign of a US broadcast for Torchwood.

Speaking of Sci Fi.Com

One thing that I'm impressed with -- the Doctor Who site on Sci Fi is including special video features from the upcoming DVD boxed set for series two -- including deleted scenes. And not deleted-by-Sci Fi scenes, but genuine deleted-by-the-BBC scenes.

French Time!

I'm kind of amused that Marie Antoinette is being released the same day that the (awesome) Girl in the Fireplace airs on Sci Fi. And for that matter, right after Casanova airs on Masterpiece Theater. They're all sort of viewing a similar sort of historical period through a particular modern perspective, if the trailers for Marie Antoinette are any indication.

There actually is a direct link between the new Doctor Who and Marie Antoinette -- Love and Monsters guest star Shirley Henderson is in both.

I don't really have any strong pull to see Marie Antoinette -- I just think it's an interesting cultural coincidence.

Fresh Who

I'm amused that Mannheim Steamroller's new Halloween album has a version of the Doctor Who theme.

I'm not super excited by the interpretation based on the brief clip on the Amazon site, but it's always interesting to see various interpretations of the Doctor Who theme.

The End of Gallifrey

It's very sad to hear about Outpost Gallifrey ending their news coverage. For a very long time, it has been the key site for Doctor Who fans.

It's an end of era. It was also a great site for international Doctor Who, where many other sites focus on one particular country.

While the forums -- and the Gallifrey One convention -- will continue, the news site will be missed. Thanks and congratulations to Shaun and everyone else who has done great work over the years.

The Official Site

The Official Site for Torchwood in the UK is online. Unfortunately, it's terribly crippled for non-uk visitors.

Ah well. Nothing to see there....

Casanova in the News

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has an article about Casanova, which starts of the new season of Masterpiece Theater this weekend on Public Television. They point out in the article that this might be something that appeals to people beyond the usual Masterpiece Theater crowd, and that Casanova at moments is delightfully funny.

Torchwood on a Bus

Torchwood.TV has some images from the bus campaign for Torchwood in the UK.

One of the things that we definitely miss here in the US is where you can run across Doctor Who or Torchwood on busses or billboards.