Sci-Fi Storm

Yes, Pearl Mackie will return for the Christmas special…as does David Bradley, who played William Hartnell in the 50th anniversary docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time – except now he’s playing the first Doctor!

The stars of SYFY’s The Expanse attended San Diego Comic-Con to celebrate what NPR hails as the “best science fiction show in a decade.” Executive Producers Naren Shankar and Mark Fergus as well as cast members Steven Strait, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham and Frankie Adams discussed Season 2’s most shocking moments and gave fans an inside look at what to expect from Season 3.

In addition, they announced Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost, Revolution) joining the cast in a recurring role in Season 3. New episodes from Alcon Television Group will return to SYFY in 2018.

Oh my…”Darkness falls across the land…”

Season 2 hits Netflix on October 27th!

At last, we have a trailer…

Today, SYFY and IDW Entertainment announced the renewal of the breakout supernatural series Wynonna Earp for third season, expected to premiere in 2018. The announcement was made during the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con, which was attended by cast members Melanie Scrofano, Shamier Anderson, Tim Rozon, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Katherine Barrell, Varun Saranga, Tamara Duarte, along with showrunner and creator Emily Andras and comic book creator Beau Smith. Moderated by UPROXX’s Donna Dickens, the cast revealed behind-the-scenes antics and more details about the biggest hidden secret of the season – writing in Melanie Scrofano’s real-life pregnancy, which made Wynonna Earp the first pregnant superhero. Die-hard Earpers got to see an exclusive trailer for the remainder of the season, and were surprised by the Season 3 renewal announcement made on stage by IDW Entertainment President, David Ozer.

“Fans have been passionately embracing Wynonna Earp since its debut,” said Ozer. “SYFY recognized that passion and when coupled with superior writing, acting, directing and production values, saw that Wynonna Earp was more than just a distinctly unique television series. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with SYFY and look forward to another fun season of incredible entertainment with the cast and crew of Wynonna Earp.”

“We are so excited have this strong female-led, witty action series return for another season and deliver something special to our passionate fans around the world,” added Andras.

Produced in Calgary by SEVEN24 Films and globally distributed by IDW Entertainment, Wynonna Earp follows legendary lawman Wyatt Earp’s descendant, Wynonna (Scrofano) who inherits his mystical gun, Peacemaker. With it, Wynonna and her posse of dysfunctional allies must fight against supernatural beings and other paranormal occurrences in a raucous, whisky-soaked struggle to break her family’s demonic curse. Andras (Lost Girl, Killjoys) developed the wildly imaginative series for television and serves as Executive Producer and Showrunner. SEVEN24’s Jordy Randall and Tom Cox serve as Executive Producers along with IDW CEO & Publisher Ted Adams and Ozer, as well as Todd Berger and Rick Jacobs.

Wynonna Earp is currently airing Fridays at 10/9c on SYFY.

Another passing in the Doctor Who family…actress Deborah Watling, who played Victoria Waterfield at the end of the fourth season and most of the fifth season of Doctor Who as a companion to the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, passed away yesterday at the age of 69.

Watling, remembered for her frequent screaming when confronted with aliens, first appeared in the second episode of “The Evil Of The Daleks”, and through “Fury from the Deep”, the second-to-last serial of the fifth season. Most of her appearances, however, have been lost due to the wiping of tapes at the BBC. Her first appearance is the only part of that serial that currently survives, and only “The Tomb of the Cybermen” and “The Enemy of the World” exist in their entirely today, the latter of which only had one part until 2013 when several episodes were recovered at a Nigerian TV relay station.

Watling reprised the role in the 1993 Children In Need special Doctor Who: Dimensions In Time among many former Doctors and companions, and also appeared in the 50th Anniversary spoof The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

She was also known for roles in the 1958-1959 series The Invisible Man and Take Me High.

Get your gear ready – we’re going back through the gate!

MGM announced today that the franchise will return in a 10-episode event series titled Stargate: Origins, and it will focus on a younger Catherine Langford – the woman who as a young girl was present where her archaeologist father discovered the Stargate in Egypt and eventually hired Dr. Daniel Jackson to translate the inscriptions on it, and “explore a new chapter in her early history surrounding the portal. Young Catherine embarks on a new unexpected adventure to unlock the mystery of what lies beyond the Stargate in order to save the Earth from darkness.” It seems to imply that Catherine will go through the Stargate earlier than has been established in the franchise, yet they described the series as not a reboot but an expansion of the existing canon…

The series is being produced by MGM and New Form for the new subscription-based “Stargate Command” digital platform, which from descriptions will also provide episodes of previous series as well. “We saw a need for a definitive hub for the Stargate fan base to continue to enjoy news and content, both old and new,” according to MGM President of Worldwide Television Distribution and Acquisitions Chris Ottinger. “Stargate Command will open a new door for the community to celebrate and interact with all content in a way that has never been done before.”

Production will begin next month, with Mercedes Bryce Morgan (Virtual Morality) directing and Mark Ilvedson (The Booth at the End) and Justin Michael Terry (#FromJennifer) writing the scripts. The show should premiere later this year.

Check out the teaser below.

SYFY LIVE FROM COMIC-CON hosted by Zachary Levi kicks off tonight with special guests including the cast of Battlestar Galactica, Mercedes Mason from “Fear the Walking Dead” and PSYCH star James Roday. The party kicks off at 11/10c on SYFY!

Check out the full line up below along with a sneak peek of tonight’s cold open:

THURSDAY, JULY 20TH
James Roday (Psych)
Adam Scott and Craig Robinson (Ghosted)
John Dimaggio (Futurama)
Mercedes Mason (Fear of The Walking Dead)
Adam Savage (Mythbusters)
Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Michael Trucco, Tahmoh Penikett and Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica)

SYFY LIVE FROM COMIC-CON COLD OPEN, THURSDAY, JULY 20:

For the full SYFY SDCC schedule please click here.

We lost two amazing individuals this weekend.

Oscar winner Martin Landau, who came to prominence among television audiences as the master of disguise Rollin Hand in Mission: Impossible for which he received 3 Emmy nominations and won a Golden Globe, and then followed up with Moonbase Alpha Commander John Koenig on Space: 1999, passed away Saturday at the age of 89 after unexpected complications while hospitalized for a short length of time.

Landau always put all in when playing a role. This helped earn him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Ed Wood for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi. I was also impressed by his portrayal of the President after a limited nuclear exchange in By Dawn’s Early Light. But after Space: 1999, roles for himself and then-wife and costar Barbara Bain disappeared, and they both turned to the corny roles of evil rich guy J.J. Pierson and evil scientist Dr. Olga Schmetner in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, the last attempt to revive that franchise. Landau persevered though, until he peaked yet again with his Oscar-winning performance in Ed Wood.

Landau became a member of the Actors Studio in 1955 when he and Steve McQueen were the only two accepted out of 2000 applicants. He learned under Lee Strasberg himself, and later taught acting there. Landau and Bain were married in 1957, and divorced in 1993. They had two daughters, Susan (who works in film and theater production), and actress Juliet.

Legend George A. Romero, the “Father of Zombie films” and “Godfather of the Dead”, passed away on Sunday at the age of 77 after a brief battle with lung cancer. Romero would change the horror film forever with his writing and directorial debut of Night Of The Living Dead. He would follow that with many other shocker monster films, including several more “… Dead” films and Creepshow, and executive produced the 1990 remake of Night Of The Living Dead. His use of black and white film and maximizing low budget productions showed it didn’t take money and gore to make scary. We can thank Romero for helping ignite the flame that has resulted in the current explosion in zombie-related productions.

Romero’s wife Suzanne and daughter Tina were by his side when he died peacefully listening to the soundtrack of The Quiet Man.

BBC announced moments ago the BBC announced live after the Wimbledon men’s final the new Doctor will be Jodie Whittaker, who played Beth Latimer on Broadchurch…and we finally have our first female Doctor!

“I’m beyond excited to begin this epic journey – with Chris [Chibnall] and with every Whovian on this planet,” she said. “It’s more than an honour to play the Doctor. It means remembering everyone I used to be, while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for: hope. I can’t wait.”

This reunites her with Chris Chibnall, who was the writer and executive producer on Broadchurch and is taking over the showrunner duties on Doctor Who from Steven Moffat.