23 years of this site still chugging along...
BBC to announce found Doctor Who episodes this week
by Doc on Oct.08, 2013, under Television
Wow…the saga continues. But this time it seems really real!
BBC News’ Lizo Mzimba says that BBC Worldwide will announce later this week that a number of Doctor Who from the First and Second Doctors have been recovered.
If you’ve been following, there was a rumor that as many as 90 of the 106 remaining missing episodes, all from the Hartnell and Troughton years, were recovered by archivist Philip Morris from film transfers sent to other countries for broadcast. But then he denied it, seriously dashing hopes. But now it appears to be true, at least in some respect.
No information yet on how many episodes (The Daily Mirror reports 106, but that would be all of them and highly unlikely), or which episodes will be announced – or even if they will release them all or just some, or how. That we will hopefully learn this week.
Syfy greenlights competition series with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
by Doc on Oct.07, 2013, under Television
Syfy greenlights an eight episode order for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge (working title), a competition series featuring ten aspiring creature creators competing to out-imagine one another in a series of challenges where they will build everything from mechanical characters to whimsical beasts, bringing high-end inanimate creature designs to life. The contestants compete for $100,000 and the opportunity for the job of a lifetime – a contract working at the world-renowned Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™. The announcement was made today by Mark Stern, President of Original Content, Syfy.
Brian Henson serves as lead judge on the series. Henson is the Chairman of The Jim Henson Company and the Creature Shop. An award-winning writer, director and producer, he is also a creature designer and performer taught by the master, his father Jim Henson. His long resume in movies and television includes iconic roles like Hoggle in the fantasy classic Labyrinth and the dog in the groundbreaking anthology series The Storyteller. Henson has also produced and directed such television projects as Farscape, Muppets Tonight and Dinosaurs. His film directing credits include The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. Henson was part of the team that first created and utilized the Henson Performance Control System, a powerful custom-based interface for puppeteers, which won an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (Scientific and Engineering) Award in 1992. He also led the Shop’s work in creating the revolutionary digital puppeteering technology, the Emmy Award-winning Henson Digital Puppetry Studio.
“As Face Off does with SFX makeup application, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge showcases the incredible imagination and artistry of lifelike creature construction,” said Stern. “We are honored to partner with The Jim Henson Company and Brian Henson on this series. The Creature Shop has set the bar for a caliber of work that is unmatched in quality, design and sheer imagination.”
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Jeri Ryan joins Syfy’s Helix
by Doc on Oct.07, 2013, under Television
Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager, Body of Proof) is set to join Syfy’s newest original scripted series Helix for a multi-episode arc. Ryan joins a cast led by Billy Campbell (The Killing, Killing Lincoln) and Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine, 47 Ronin) on the 13-episode drama series, executive produced by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Outlander), Steven Maeda (Lost, The X-Files) who is also showrunner, and Lynda Obst (Sleepless in Seattle, Contact).
Ryan will portray the beautiful and charismatic Constance Sutton, the Chief Operating Officer of Ilaria Corporation, owner of Arctic Biosystems, the research facility where the series takes place. Charming and savvy, Sutton is used to getting her way at any cost.
Jeri Ryan is best known to science fiction fans for her role as Seven of Nine on the series Star Trek: Voyager. Most recently, Ryan has been a familiar face on primetime network television as Dr. Kate Murphy in ABC’s Body of Proof. She was also a series regular in Boston Public as Ronnie Cooke, the CBS legal drama Shark opposite James Woods, and NBC’s Dark Skies. In addition to her recurring roles on projects like Two and a Half Men, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Leverage, Jeri Ryan has also appeared on the big screen in films such as Down with Love and Dracula 2000.
Helix is an intense thriller about a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to the high-tech research facility Arctic Biosystems, to investigate a possible disease outbreak, only to find themselves pulled into a terrifying life-and-death struggle that may hold the key to mankind’s salvation or total annihilation. However, the lethal threat is just the tip of the iceberg, and as the virus evolves, the chilling truth begins to unravel.
Campbell stars as Dr. Alan Farragut, leader of the Centers for Disease Control outbreak field team called upon to investigate and control a potential outbreak. Sanada also stars as Dr. Hiroshi Hatake, director of Arctic Biosystems and its mysterious viral research program.
Helix also stars Kyra Zagorsky (Supernatural) as Dr. Julia Walker, Mark Ghanimé (Emily Owens, M.D.) as Major Sergio Balleseros, Jordan Hayes (House at the End of the Street) as Dr. Sarah Jordan, Meegwun Fairbrother as Daniel Aerov, Catherine Lemieux (White House Down) as Dr. Doreen Boyle and Neil Napier (Riddick) as Dr. Peter Farragut.
Helix is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Kaji Productions and Lynda Obst Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television. Prolific director and producer Jeffrey Reiner is directing the premiere episode of Helix.
Defiance: Season One on Blu-ray/DVD October 15th
by Doc on Oct.04, 2013, under Games, Television
Syfy’s freshman series Defiance will get its first [sfs=1363]Blu-ray[/sfs]/[sfs=1364]DVD[/sfs] release in a couple weeks on October 15th.
Defiance is the first convergence of a TV program and a massively multiplayer game. The program follows the events in the town of Defiance, built on the remains of St. Louis, after the Earth is devastated by alien terraforming devices and a war between the humans and the races of the Votanis Collective. Now years later, the stranded Votans and the humans live together in an uneasy peace, working for the meager resources still available.
The [asin=B00576U8CC]game[/asin] takes place simultaneously in the area of San Francisco. Events in one can influence the other.
Season Two is currently filming in Toronto and will air in 2014.
Haven preview: “Lost and Found”, plus behind the scenes and an interview
by Doc on Oct.03, 2013, under Television
On the next Haven, Nathan and Dwight investigate child disappearances linked to an ancient legend, while Duke tries to focus Jennifer’s trouble in hopes of finding Audrey. Catch “Lost and Found”, Friday at 10/9c on Syfy.
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Doctor Who “Day of the Doctor” to simulcast globally
by Doc on Oct.02, 2013, under Television
Speaking of David Tennant – the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who special, dubbed “Day of the Doctor” and starring David Tennant, Matt Smith and John Hurt, will air simultaneously in countries around the world on November 23/24th (depending on where you are in relation to the International Date Line and the exact air time, to be determined still).
In the U.S., it will air on BBC America, while in Canada it will air on Space.
Fox to remake ITV’s Broadchurch, but keep David Tennant
by Doc on Oct.02, 2013, under Television
The show may not be SF, but it does star – and will star – a favored actor.
ITV’s recent police drama Broadchurch (shown in the U.S. on BBC America), which starred Doctor Who‘s David Tennant and was about a police investigation into the death of a young boy that rocks a small beachside town, is going to get it’s own U.S. version done by Fox…and it will star David Tennant!
Tennant will be an American detective this time (with accent), and the show will be set in an American beachside town, with the same basic premise, but I’m going to guess the ending will be different. Original creator Chris Chibnall (who has also written for Doctor Who and Torchwood, and produced the latter) will executive produce. Filming will begin in January for the 2014-2015 TV season. No details if this will be a mini-series or stretched for an entire season.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug official trailer
by Doc on Oct.01, 2013, under Movies
Middle-earth. Gandalf. Bilbo. Dragon.
‘nough said.
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Fourth Narnia movie, The Silver Chair, in development
by Doc on Oct.01, 2013, under Movies
It’s been three years since the 2010 release of The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, the third film in the The Chronicles Of Narnia, released by Fox after Disney released the first two films (2005’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and 2008’s Prince Caspian), and with waning response from fans (even though they grossed $1.6 billion combined) it seemed unlikely we’d see any of the other books turned into movies any time soon. But that seems to have changed.
The Mark Gordon Company (Criminal Minds) and the C.S. Lewis Company have agreed to develop The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Silver Chair, the next installment of the Narnia franchise.
The Silver Chair was the fourth book published, although it is often numbered 6 in more recent “chronological” numberings), and follows the return of Eustace Scrub (who first appeared in Dawn Treader) to Narnia with schoolmate Jill Pole, as they help the now elderly King Caspian search for his lost son, Prince Rilian. It was previously produced in 1990 by the BBC as a TV movie which featured the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, in the role of Puddleglum, the gloomy Marshwiggle, who helps Eustace and Jill.
Walden Media, who held the rights for the first three films, had instead pushed for a fourth movie to be based on The Magician’s Nephew, which acted as a prequel to the entire series.
Sci-Fi Storm heads north for the 7th Annual Syfy Press Tour
by Doc on Sep.30, 2013, under Television
Next Sunday and Monday, we’ll be reporting from the 7th Annual Syfy Press Tour…like last year, we will be visiting the sets of a couple of Syfy TV series, but not in Toronto – this year, we will be in Montreal, visiting the sets of Being Human and the upcoming Ron Moore show Helix!
Sunday night I’ll be occasionally tweeting some pics when possible from dinner, which will (as planned) include some of the stars of Defiance (Stephanie Leonidas, Jesse Rath, and Trenna Keating), Haven (Lucas Bryant, Eric Balfour, Adam “The Edge” Copeland), Ghost Hunters (Jason Hawes, Amy Bruni, Adam Berry), and director of Sharknado and Sharknado 2: The Second One, Anthony Ferrante. And who knows who else may drop by…
On Monday, we will visit the sets, but the schedule is still being worked out. But be sure to follow along on Twitter as well as here as we usually run some social media sharing with our fellow press members…
Wondering about last year? Check out our set visits for Defiance and Warehouse 13!