Sci-Fi Storm

Are aliens hiding in the halls of MIT? Did a spaceship crash in Boston? Is the Time War taking place in Kendall Square? I don’t know, but someone appears to have arrived to check it out.

Well, not actually…today was the latest MIT Hack, with the TARDIS appearing on top of one of the buildings.

SFX Magazine in the UK posted the results of a number of polls, including the “Favourite Monsters, Supernatural Beings & Fantasy Creatures” – and the Daleks lead the list of the top 20. Other notable entries include Gollum (5), Babylon 5‘s Shadows (6, not bad for a show nearly 12 years gone…still wish we were getting more), The Borg (11), Pilot from Farscape (12), and the Cybermen (13).

Here is a new variation of the Doctor Who theme song: acoustic guitar, cello – and a didgeridoo providing the base line. Now I just need Blue Man Group to give it a try…

The sixth series – which WILL have Matt Smith – has been confirmed by the BBC. Everyone breathe now.

BBC will release the debut series of the 11th Doctor Matt Smith on November 9th, and to coincide with the change it will also be released on [sfs=1038]Blu-ray Disc[/sfs] in addition to [sfs=1039]standard DVD[/sfs]. The final episode of the 5th series airs this Saturday in the U.S. on BBC America.

I will preface this by saying it comes from the British tabloid The Sun, but then again they did first post that 9th Doctor Christopher Eccleston wanted out after his first: “Pals” report that Matt Smith wants to quit so he can go into Hollywood movies. This is already being denied by co-star Karen Gillan, but we are talking about something that is still a year off, and who knows how the situation will change?

First among the rumors, there is the possibility that David Tennant could take over the apparently vacant role of Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Avengers; now there is a rumor, although not necessarily a high confidence one yet, that 7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy has been cast in a role in The Hobbit, possibly in the role of Bilbo Baggins – a role he lost out to Ian Holm for The Lord Of The Rings. Lending credence to this is the fact that McCoy is 12 years younger than Holm, and the role is for a younger (relatively, in halfling years) Bilbo…

Clever, and hilarious…better if you saw the original Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy TV program…(this was supposed to have been posted yesterday, but there was apparently an error…)

Doctor Who seems to be all over the news web this week so far, but not because Matt Smith’s debut is reaching it’s conclusion in a couple weeks. First, the UK blogosphere was abuzz about the shower scene in “The Lodger”, this past Saturday’s UK episode (US viewers will see it in a few more weeks), where the Doctor loses his towel momentarily and may have shown his “sonic screwdriver” – but the BBC denies anything was visible because Smith was wearing something to “protect his modesty.” Before that had even died down, co-star Karen Gillan struck back at critics about her short skirts, saying “Amy’s not a schoolgirl, she’s 21, pretty much the same age as me, and we all wear stuff like this.” And finally, Christopher Eccleston finally revealed why he left the show after just one turn as the Doctor – he “didn’t enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in. I thought if I stay in this job, I’m going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong.” No mention of what in particular he didn’t like.

Just a few store updates: [sfs=1028]Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica[/sfs] gets its Blu-Ray release on July 27th; also on July 27th will be the second half of Season 1 of Stargate Universe on [sfs=1031]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1032]DVD[/sfs]; the final full season of Heroes is out on [sfs=1030]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1029]DVD[/sfs] on August 3rd; and the next three classic Doctor Who episodes are [sfs=1025]”The Creature From The Pit”[/sfs], [sfs=1026]”The King’s Demons”[/sfs], and [sfs=1027]”The Planet Of Fire”[/sfs], all out September 7th;