Sci-Fi Storm

If you are in Britain…Brian Blessed (who has starred and guest starred in far too many genre shows to mention, and rumored to possibly play King Dain in The Hobbit), as well as Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Hattie Hayridge and Norman Lovett from Red Dwarf, have been confirmed to attend the Spring Memorabilia show this weekend (March 26th-26th) and the NEC Birmingham. Note that Craig Charles and Norman Lovett will be there Sunday and Hattie Hayridge and Brian Blessed on Saturday. Danny John-Jules will be there both days.

They join a very extensive list of stars from all sorts of shows including Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, and more. Check out the official web site for more details.

In the next sneak peek clip of the all-new episode of Merlin, Morgana appears before contestants of a battle created in Camelot where there are no rules and it shall go on until there is one man standing. Arthur looks prepared and confident until Morgana reveals the reigning champion is also taking part in the battle. As fans look on while the reigning champ announces his presence by slaying another, Arthur realizes he better re-think his game plan. Watch the clip and tune in on Friday at 10/9c on Syfy to find out if Arthur will be the last one standing, or if the reigning champ and others make that feat difficult.

At last! Before anything else could go wrong, filming has finally started on The Hobbit. Most recently held up to Peter Jackson’s ulcer, which capped off a long and torturous history for the production. Hopefully production proceeds without issue.

As if to prove it, they release pictures of Jackson inside Bilbo’s house on Bag End…

It sounds bizarre, but perhaps this would blend one of the most popular TV drama formats with a fantasy genre and come out on top…BleedingCool is reporting that Terry Pratchett’s Discworld setting is being adapted into a TV series, following the City Watch police force of Ankh-Morpork. Terry Jones (Monty Python) and Gavin Scott (The Mists Of Avalon) are working on scripts for Prime Focus Productions, the production company that is also working on a series based on the Pratchett and Neil Gaiman collaboration collaboration, Good Omens, and the previous Discworld TV productions.

Today was the BBC Comic Relief Red Nose Day broadcast, which included two mini-episodes of Doctor Who, called “Space” and “Time”. What happens when the TARDIS materializes within itself? Recursive comedy?

And I just found out that the BBC is also producing three “Prequels”, which will be available on the BBC web site ahead of their associated episodes, the first of which will be before the series-opening two parter. No word on if they will be available to U.S. viewers yet.
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Director Darren Aranofsky (Black Swan), who has been in the midst of pre-production for Wolverine with Hugh Jackman awaiting the green light, has abruptly quit the production. Fox has confirmed with a statement from Aranofsky: “As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of ‘The Wolverine’ would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won’t be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again.”

Aranofsky split from actress Rachel Weisz last year, and they have joint custody of their son.

With 4 episodes still to air, Syfy has already ordered up a second season of their version of Being Human. Pulling in an average 1.8 million viewers each episode and being the most-watched scripted series premiere since Battlestar Galactica, President of Original Content Mark Stern said, “Being Human has proven to be a winner for Syfy on all fronts. Using the original format as inspiration, showrunners/writers Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke – along with a superlative team of writers, cast, and production – have created an amazing, compelling series in its own right. We can’t wait to watch Aidan, Josh and Sally continue their struggle to be human in the second season!”

Being Human is also Syfy’s first female-skewed series, with women comprising of 53% of the audience (Sam Witwer and Sam Huntington can take pride in that!). No word on number of episodes at this point, but it seems likely that it will be another 13 episodes.

(I’m still waiting for a full press release and will update when it arrives, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.)
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I am just learning that British actor Michael Gough, perhaps best known in the U.S. as Alfred in the Burton/Schumacher Batman movies, and is also known to Doctor Who fans as “The Celestial Toymaker” as well as Councillor Hedin in “Arc Of Infinity”, passed away at the age of 94. He most recently was the voice of the Dodo Bird in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland.

Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman, Jekyll, Doctor Who “Planet of the Dead”) has signed on to star with Harry Treadaway (City of Ember) and Honor Blackman (The Avengers, Goldfinger) for a British zombiepocalypse comedy movie called Cockneys vs. Zombies.

In the next sneak peek clip of the all-new episode of Stargate Universe, Camile and Greer are arguing their own opinions on how the Lucian Alliance Threat was responded to, until a siren alarms. Camile begins to frantically run for cover until Greer pulls her into an office and the ceiling collapses on top of them. Watch the clip and tune in on Monday at 10/9c on Syfy to see if they were injured and trapped or if they made it out of harm’s way just in time.

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