Here is our round table interview from the recent MCM expo, it features Candice Patton (Iris-The Flash) and Cynthia Addai-Robbinson (Amanda Wallar-Arrow).
The pair talk about their love for London, and being considered role models to young girls.
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Record crowds join the stars at MCM London Comic Con
Record numbers of visitors flocked to Britain’s leading pop culture event MCM London Comic Con this weekend. The three day show saw 130,560 pass through the doors of Excel London, eclipsing the record-breaking 122,600 attendees at May’s Comic Con and the 110,200 at last October’s event.
Essentially this cements MCM London Comic Con’s position as the third largest Comic Con on the planet — just behind illustrious US rivals in New York and San Diego. To add some UK context it’s also around 10,000 more people than attended both the Man United v Man City and Sunderland vs Newcastle matches this weekend — two of premier league football’s biggest derby matches.
Visitors to MCM London Comic Con enjoyed a whole host of sci-fi, film, television, comic book, videogame, anime, manga and cosplay content. Featured panels and Q&As included Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss on Sherlock and Doctor Who; Alan Tudyk and Nolan North on new comedy Con Man; Noah Wyle on Librarians; Charlie Higson on Jekyll and Hyde; and Gareth Evans on his acclaimed martial arts movie The Raid.
Comic Con also hosted panels by cast and crew from zombie phenomenon The Walking Dead, hit sci-fi series Humans, historical fantasy Da Vinci’s Demons, re-imagined classic Thunderbirds Are Go, Dark Age epic Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands; upcoming horror drama Outcast and CBBC sci-fi show Eve, not to mention screenings of Amazon Original’s The Man in the High Castle and Mr. Robot.
Other special guests meeting fans at the show included Arrow‘s Cynthia Addai-Robinson; The Flash’s Candice Patton; Breaking Bad‘s RJ Mitte; Game of Thrones’ Ian McElhinney, Ian Beattie and Eugene Simon; Continuum‘s Victor Webster; Warehouse 13‘s Saul Rubinek; Under The Dome‘s Alexander Koch and Colin Ford; Doctor Who‘s Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy; Red Dwarf’s Robert Llewellyn and Danny John-Jules; Adventure Time’s Jessica DiCicco and Anime Guest of Honour Shigeto Koyama (Big Hero 6, Kill la Kill).
Meanwhile, the Comic Village was home to more than 200 talented comic book artists and writers including Bob Layton, John McCrea and Tony Lee; Vidfest’s gathering of online video talent featured The Yogscast, Rooster Teeth and The Hillywood Show amongst many others; and the games zone played host to publishers such as Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, Koei Tecmo, NisA Europe and Rising Star Games, as well the MCM eSports Arena.
For more information on the MCM Expo, look here.
Episode 147:RJ Mitte MCM roundtable
Martyn and Gerrod joined the RJ Mitte roundtable at the MCM Expo this weekend.
RJ Mitte is an American actor, producer, and model. He is best known for his role as Walter “Flynn” White Jr. on the AMC series Breaking Bad (2008–13).
Like his character on the show, he has cerebral palsy. After moving to Hollywood in 2006, he began training with personal talent manager Addison Witt. They sought acting opportunities where his disability would serve to educate viewers, which led him to audition for the role in Breaking Bad.
Look here for more information about MCM.
The podcast can be accessed via different places, including Audioboom, Tunein, Miro, Stiticher, Blubrry, Player fm and Itunes.
Twitter:
RJ Mitte-@Rjmitte
Martyn – @BadWilf
Pete – @BeeblePete
Gerrod – @Nerdthro_P
Email:info@badwilf.com
David Tennant and Catherine Tate reprising their roles for Big Finish.
Audio production company, Big Finish announced today that both David Tennant and Catherine Tate will be reprising their roles as The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble for a new series of audio adventures.
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures will be released in May 2016 and is comprised of three full cast audio adventures.
The series opens with Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia by Matt Fitton, which is set in a London slightly in the future, where mankind is gradually losing its ability to use everyday technology. Could there be an evil force at work?
In Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Time Reaver by Jenny T Colgan the Doctor and Donna arrive on Calibris – ‘An entirely mechanical planet. Catch, hitch, fuel, fix, buy, pretty much any kind of transportation in existence.’ It’s also a world full of scoundrels, where a deadly black market has opened up in a device known only as the Time Reaver.
Finally, in Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Death and the Queen by James Goss, Donna is swept along in a fairytale romance and meets the man of her dreams in the beautiful land of Goritania. What can possibly go wrong? And why has the Doctor never heard of Goritania?
Find out more details at www.bigfinish.com
MCM Expo-Friday’s footage.
I attended the MCM expo this weekend, here is the footage I took on Friday.
Review-Back to the future issue #1
We’re now in a position where all the films in the franchise take place entirely in the past. The last instalment came out in 1989, yet fans have constantly demanded more. Luckily for us, Bob Gale and IDW have teamed up to give us a four-issue mini-series set in the world of Hill Valley.
Bob Gale has been very outspoken about not returning to the franchise, as he explains in a note at the end of issue #1, he felt that anything more would just be repetitious, so he decided that the only way to expand on the universe would be to not focus on time travel. Instead, he opted to reveal more about the characters we fell in love with, all those years ago.
The Back to the Future comic is essentially the Untold Tales that fill in the narrative gaps from the films. The stories are set before and/or during the trilogy.
Issue #1 takes place after Marty leaves 1885, but before Doc takes his family to see him. Whilst building his time travel train, Doc explains to Clara and the kids, how he and Marty first met.
Doc and Marty first met, in 1982-three years prior to the events in the first film.
The issue is a lot of fun, as it riffs on the familiar tropes we saw throughout the trilogy. Writer John Barber is clearly a fan. Brent Schoonover’s pencilling is very cartoonish and basic, but it all works so well.
Back to The Future is Now
Pepsi Max and the Empire Cinema Leicester Square sponsored a showing of Back to The Future, Part II. The show was scheduled to coincide with the time shown on the time-travelling DeLorean: Oct 21 2015, 04:29 PM.
The car in question was waiting out in Leicester Square, where – guess what – the rain had just stopped. I dodged the amused tourists, snapped a few pics and headed into Cafe 80’s.
A copy of the cafe seen in the film was constructed in the Empire Cinema’s concession area and a mix of contest winners and press were invited to echo Marty McFly’s plea: “All I want is a Pepsi!” The costumed waitress seemed delighted enough even though I quoted the almost identical lyric from Institutionalized instead. I got my Pepsi, though: a replica of the ‘Pepsi Perfect’ bottles seen in the film.
No sooner had I explored the place (and a hoverboard someone left lying around) than a familiar old man in mirrorshades and his young companion showed up. The geezer hopped up on a table and explained to us how our presence in the adjoining theatre was required for our trip Back to The Future.
The cinema kicked in a bag of popcorn to sweeten (and salt) the deal and there was a brief introduction by ‘Doc’ and ‘Marty’ before the lights went down. The film was preceded by adverts for hoverboards and Pepsi and Jaws 19 and a special bit that Christopher Lloyd shot for the occasion.
I remember Back to The Future quite well; I’ve seen it loads of times but here’s the kicker: today was my first viewing of Part II. My review in brief: Who’s for Part III?
Big Finish review-Torchwood: Fall to Earth
The first episode of Big Finish’s new Torchwood series, ‘The Conspiracy,’ got off to a really great start. It was a nice mix of drama and narration, and set the scene up for Torchwood’s latest arc really nicely.
‘Fall to Earth’ is a very different type of story. While it only has two cast members for the whole episode – namely Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones, and Lisa Zahra as Zeynep – there’s no narration for this one. In fact, the entire story is focused on one telephone conversation, and it’s both the most random and most mundane of telephone conversations, at that: a cold caller trying to sell Ianto some insurance.
What makes this cold call interesting to listen to, however, is that Ianto’s been called while he’s on a crashing spaceship and there’s no one else who can help him…
Despite being a two-hander and, even on audio, mostly taking place in one setting, this is a very fast-paced episode. It unfolds over real time as Ianto does his best to convince this insurance seller to help him, even if he has to actually buy insurance to do it.
Along the way, we gradually learn more about both Zeynep, the person whom Ianto is talking to the entire time, and how and why Ianto ended up on the spaceship in the first place.
There’s heaps of drama in the story, as Ianto and Zeynep get to know each other better and form a really close bond over the course of the episode. It’s actually the kind of story you’d expect from Torchwood – something that’s a lot more focused on the ordinary humans than on spaceships, aliens, and conspiracies. Those things are just the catalyst that allow the emotional drama to happen, and we get a lot of it with this story.
Towards the end, it gives its listeners a massive gut-punch, and the fact that it’s delivered so well after only an hour of build-up is a testament to the writing of James Goss.
Gareth David-Lloyd carries the weight of this story entirely on his shoulders, and he does so with remarkable skill and emotional range. His portrayal of Ianto’s desperation, fear, and eventual resignation is truly captivating and serves to draw the listener in even further.
Gareth’s performance is the standout aspect of the episode, and it’s clear that he has a deep understanding of the character he’s been playing for over a decade.
I struggle with audio dramas, my mind drifts a lot. However ‘Fall to Earth’ grabbed my attention from start to finish. It’s a beautiful two-hander and shows exactly what Big Finish and Torchwood can really do at their best. With a few more releases like this, Torchwood on Big Finish may become the definitive version.
Episode 146:Noel Clarke interview
In this episode of the podcast, Martyn sits down with acclaimed actor, writer, and director Noel Clarke to talk about his latest creative venture – the comic book series, The Troop.
Noel takes us on a journey through the creation of The Troop, explaining how his love for comics began as a child and how he was inspired to bring his own story to life in this medium. He discusses the challenges of writing for comics and the differences between that and screenwriting, as well as his collaboration with illustrator Joshua Cassara.
We delve into the world of The Troop, a group of young people with extraordinary abilities who are tasked with saving the world from a mysterious threat. Noel shares with us the characters and their unique powers, as well as the overarching themes of the series.
Beyond The Troop, Noel reflects on his career in the entertainment industry, sharing his insights on the challenges and opportunities that come with being a writer, director, and actor. He also discusses his experiences with diversity and representation in the industry and the importance of creating opportunities for underrepresented voices.
Join us for a fascinating conversation with Noel Clarke about his creative journey and the exciting world of The Troop.
The Troop can be ordered from Titan Comics. Read our review here.
The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to; Amazon Music, Podchaser, Player FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.
If you’d like to support the show, then please shop via our Amazon link. A small percentage goes our way, at no extra cost to you.
Twitter:
Martyn – @BadWilf
Pete – @BeeblePete
Gerrod –@InGerrodsMind
Email:info@badwilf.com
Noel Clarke is @NoelClarke
Fox are developing two shows set in the X-Men Universe
Fox have long wanted to make a TV series set in the X-Men universe, now it seems that they’ve reached an agreement with Marvel, which will not only allow them to develop one TV series set in that universe, but two.
Fox producers Bryan Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner, and Simon Kinberg will colabirate with Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory to bring the shows to our screens.
The first series is called Legion. It’s being written and helmed by Fargo creator Noah Hawley. The second series, Hellfire is being developed by Evan Katz (24: Live Another Day), Manny Coto (24), Patrick McKay (Star Trek 3), and JD Payne (Star Trek 3).
Legion will introduce us to the story of David Haller, David has battled with mental illness his whole life, he was diagnosed as schizophrenic in his teenage years, he’s been in and out of various psychiatric facilities for years. After an encounter with a another patient, he’s confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real.
I loved Fargo, I thought it was a marvelous adaptation of the Cohen brothers movie. Hawley is a great choice to take on this project and I’m sure he will bring us something magical.
FX said:
“Legion is just the sort of ambitious story that Noah excels at. His adaption of Fargo for television was one of the most acclaimed television events in recent memory. It’s also an honor to partner with Marvel on Legion and to enlist such an accomplished team of Executive Producers to create this pilot.”
Hellfire will be set in the mid-late 1960s, and follows a young Special Agent who learns that a power-hungry woman with extraordinary abilities is working with a clandestine society of millionaires – known as ‘The Hellfire Club’ – to take over the world.
It’s unknown at this point if anyone from the film universe will appear.
I’m very interested to see how these projects turn out. It’s actually surprising that Fox and Marvel have made a deal together, it’s well documented that the two studios don’t see eye-to-eye. Marvel haven’t allowed Fox to release X-Men toys since 2003.