Sci-Fi Storm

According to Deadline.com, actor Mekhi Phifer (ER, Lie To Me) will join John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) as the third lead in the Starz/BBC joint production of Torchwood, now setting up production in the U.S. Phifer will play Rex Matheson, a CIA agent who is ” a fast-tracked high-flyer with a lethal sense of humor who starts to feel his mortality when his life is put in danger.”

SFX Magazine posted some snippets from their upcoming article on Being Human, and talks about some of the upcoming additions to the show in the soon-to-air third series. One of which is a zombie, according to Lenora Crichlow (Annie). “This zombie exposes Annie to all the things she’ll never have again. Often the things that happen in Annie’s adventures really make her realise how in limbo she is, and just how unsettling that can be when you’re looking at that for eternity.”

And as for the werewolf couple of George (Russell Tovey) and Nina (Sinead Keenan), there is a “major development”, and they will look for help from other werewolves, including a father and son. Blastr speculates that the development could be a baby…

Perhaps announcing the Sci-Fi Storm/BBC America giveaway on a Friday in December wasn’t a good idea…response has been pretty light so far, and there hasn’t been a ton of news either. So I’m going to extend entries through Wednesday night, and announce the winner on Thursday.

A reminder on the details – you must follow scifistorm on Twitter, and retweet at least one “News:” article from this past Friday or later (either by the current “retweet” method, or by quoting and including “@scifistorm” so I can see it) that isn’t about the giveaway itself. And then send a tweet to @scifistorm and tell us who your favorite classic (7th and prior) Doctor was from Doctor Who – if you don’t have a classic favorite tell us your contemporary favorite, or even tell us “I don’t really watch Doctor Who, at least until I win those DVDs…” You have to do both of these things to qualify – and the odds are REALLY good right now!

Update: One more thing – I can’t ship the package internationally, and this is for U.S. versions of the DVDs. So this is only open to U.S. residents.

Adam and Dr. Magnus exchange some potent words and fits of arrogance and fear are tossed around when the language brings family into play. Magnus knows she must lead her team to the city, but both Tesla and Druitt want to join the excursion. Dr. Magnus confirms that it would be too risky for them to come, and only creates more of a liability. Watch the clip and tune in to see if their voyage is successful and if the team can work together to make it in to the hidden city on the mid-season finale this Friday, December 17th at 10/9c on Syfy.
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So while on vacation we went to the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter – for me this was the second time, the first being during exclusive access at the Syfy Digital Press Tour. This time it would be with the family, during normal hours – and I’m told a dessert buffet, open bar and all the butterbeer you can drink is not the typical experience… 😉 We also checked out the rest of the Islands Of Adventure, which none of us had seen before. It was also unusually cold there, with temps 20-25 degrees below normal – makes for a convincing winter scene in Hogsmeade, but not so great for water rides…
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Marvel/Paramount released a new trailer for Thor yesterday. Wow!

Thor will be released on May 6th, 2011.

As a followup to a story we tweeted about a couple weeks ago, about Katie Goldman and how she was teased at school because she was a girl with a Star Wars backpack and bottle and loved Star Wars, and afterwards the whole geek community stepped up. Katie got support – and gifts – from all over. Ashley Eckstein (the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: Clone Wars, founder of geek girl site Her Universe and all around super-cool geek gal – nice CNN article here) sent her a care package and she and her mom wore the t-shirts to the Chicago screening of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. And Think Geek sent a light saber. And the 501st Squadron and others took pictures with her dressed a Princess Leia.

The geeks win again…we do rule the world!

This sounds vaguely SF-ish…J.J. Abrams is developing a new pilot for Fox and Warner Bros. TV called Alcatraz, which is about cop Rebecca Madsen (played by Sarah Jones, Sons Of Anarchy) and a team of FBI agents who are tracking down a bunch of Alcatraz inmates and guards who had mysteriously disappeared, and have reappeared in the present day. Now Sam Neill (Merlin) has signed on for the role of Emerson Hauser, the head of a government agency “who radiates authority and piercing intelligence.”

OK, I’ve mentioned this several times now…thanks to the great folks at BBC America (who also have their own giveaway), I’m giving away a prize pack which consists of the following DVD sets: Doctor Who Series 5, Being Human Series 2, and Top Gear Series 13, plus a Union Jack light switch wall plate! And it’s very easy to get a chance to win!

Note: I said following us on Facebook would work, but unfortunately that won’t work for this giveaway right now. I have to change the way I integrate with Facebook and won’t have that ready in time. Update: I’m working on at least a temporary solution to the Facebook issue, but no guarantees.

First, follow us on Twitter if you haven’t already. Then retweet any news article posted on Twitter (the ones that start with News – this article doesn’t count but feel free to retweet anyways) from today through Monday night (if retweeting the old fashioned way, make sure “@scifistorm” is in there as well as the link). Also send @scifistorm a tweet naming your favorite Doctor from the classic years (up through the seventh Doctor). If you don’t have a favorite from that era (perhaps you are too young to know), then choose one of the newer ones.

On Tuesday evening a winner will be randomly selected and announced. One entry per person, please – although retweets of articles are always appreciated. Spread the word! We haven’t been using Twitter very long, but I’d like to see us get the follower numbers up!

Update: This will be extended through Wednesday night…and I should add, this is for U.S. copies of the DVDs and is open to U.S. residents. I can’t ship the package internationally.

Cate Blanchett has signed on to reprise the role of Galadriel in The Hobbit – although how she will fit in is unknown as I don’t recall her in the book – but it would help bridge some familiarity to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Also confirmed (finally) is Sylvester McCoy playing the wizard Radagast the Brown, as well as Ken Stott (Casanova) as Balin; Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt (Everlasting Moments) as Beorn, the skin-changer; Ryan Gage (Hamlet) as Drogo Baggins; and William Kircher (Out Of The Blue) and Jed Brophy (District 9) as the dwarves Bifur and Nori. Brophy is no stranger to Middle-Earth either – he appeared in the The Two Towers and The Return Of The King as different orcs.