New names added to the Doctor Who festival

BBC Worldwide have announced some new names for the official Doctor Who Festival, which takes place this November in Excel. 

Mark Gatiss (The Unquiet Dead, Night Terrors), Sarah Dollard (Primeval, Doctor Who Series 9, Episode 10), Toby Whithouse (Being Human, Doctor Who-School reunion), Catherine Tregenna (Torchwood, Doctor Who-The Woman Who Lived), Jamie Mathieson (Flatline, Mummy on the Orient Express) and Peter Harness (Kill The Moon, Invasion of the Zygons).
Will join the previously announced Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Michelle Gomez (Missy), Ingrid Oliver (Osgood) and current showrunner  Steven Moffat. (Still no mention of Jenna Coleman). 

BBC Worldwide have come under a lot of fire about the cost of the event, but honestly I think they’re making it worth your money. 

Along with the guests and photo opportunities, there will be theatre panels with the show’s stars. 
You’ll get to attend panels with all the series 9 writers, plus watch shows by real SFX and Millennium FX, and exclusive looks at three sets from Series 9. 

Big Finish will also have a large presence there,  you’ll get the chance to take part in Acting sessions run by Nick Briggs. You’ll also get the chance to see what it’s like to work behind the scenes in production village. 

This sounds like it’s shaping up to be a great event for any Doctor Who fan.


For more information click here

Steven Spielberg talks about Superheroes

Film legend Steven Spielberg has caused a bit of online outrage again, you may remember that a few years ago, he claimed that Hollywood was heading for an “implosion” due to ballooning budgets and recycled film ideas.

Now, he’s spoken out about the Superhero genre.

He said:

“I still feel that way. We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. It doesn’t mean there won’t be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns. Of course, right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I’m only saying that these cycles have a finite time in popular culture. There will come a day when the mythological stories are

supplanted by some other genre that possibly some young filmmaker is just thinking about discovering for all of us.”

 

Twitter has been ablaze with people criticising the director and even taking stabs at his recent output.

The thing is, Spielberg IS right the superhero bubble will eventually burst, it may be another 20 years from now, but it will happen.

It wasn’t too long ago that a Superhero movie was box office poison that only changed in 1998 when Blade hit and showed there was life in Superhero genre.

 

What do you think about Spielberg’s comments? Let us know at @BadWilf

River Song to return at Christmas

The BBC announced today that River Song will be joinging the Dcotor on his Christmas adventure.
The eleventh Christmas special started filming this week and is written by showrunner Steven Moffat and, is directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

The BBC also released this synopsis:

“It’s Christmas Day in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveller River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas”.

Alex Kingston said on her reappearance:

“To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special. Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humor and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through. We had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September?, why not!”

Steven Moffat added:

“Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who – and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song? The last time the Doctor saw her, she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time…”

The character of River first appeared in 2008. She’s often regarded as a marmite companion.
My feeling is that River is to Steven Moffat what Rose was to Russell T Davies. He’ll neve be able to resist bringing her back.

Andrew Garfield opens up about Spider-Man

After months of keeping quiet about his experiences on The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Andrew Garfield has started to open up about his time as the wall-crawler. 

In a recent interview, he spoke about Sony bosses wanting to ensure the films had mass appeal:

“The pressure to get it right, to please everyone… it’s not going to happen…You end up pleasing no one, or everyone just a little bit. Like, ‘Eh, that was good.’ The films are mass-marketed, like ‘We want 50-year-old white men to love it, gay teenagers to love it, bigot homophobes in Middle America to love it, 11-year-old girls to love it.’ That’s canning Coke.” 

In the same interview, he spoke about the moment he learned he wouldn’t be involved with Marvel Studios/Sony reboot:

“So that aspect of it was a bummer, especially for the group of us trying to infuse it with soul, trying to make it unique, something that was worth the price of entry. It was about authenticity, flavour, and truth, but at the same time, I understand people want to make a lot of money, and they’re going to spend a lot of money so the playpen can be as big as it was. I can’t live that way; it sounds like a prison, to be honest, living within those expectations.”

 
He also added that he is interested in playing another superhero:

“With a film like The Amazing Spider-Man, there’s so much projection and expectation that is inherent in taking on a story and character like that. I was well up for the challenge, and I still am. I’m not going to shy away from something that a lot of people are going to see. Bring it on, life’s short.”

Personally, I think Garfield was the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man we’ve seen so far. The problems with those movies lay solely with Sony. There were also working on the next film, instead of focusing on the one they were making.

 

I’d be interested in seeing Andrew Garfield play another Superhero, Chris Evans played the Human Torch, then Captain America, Brandon Routh was Superman, then the Atom, and Ben Affleck was Daredevil long before he was Batman. So it is certainly possible.

Turbo kid blu ray details

Sadly, I didn’t have the opportunity to attend Film 4’s Frightfest, however one of the films I’ve heard the most about is Turbo Kid. Luckily for those of us unable to attend, the blu ray is out next month.

Turbo kid is out on Blu Ray on October the 5th.

Episode 142: A couple of dicks

In which Martyn and Gerrod crack open the bourbon and attempt to record a podcast.

They discuss, Pressure, Straight outta compton, Mission Impossible:Rogue Nation, Ant-Man and, Fant4Stic.

Help Dewi

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as;

Audioboom, Player fm and Itunes.

Follow the Bad Wilf team:

Martyn – @BadWilf

Pete – @BeeblePete

Gerrod – @ingerrodsmind

Check out the Bad Wilf Vlog.

Peter Cushing to star in Rogue One?

Now, I hate referencing the daily mail. But according to them, director Gareth Edwards and Lucasfilm might be digitally resurrecting Peter Cushing for Rogue One. Peter Cushing originally played Grand Moff Tarkin, in Star Wars:A New Hope.

Rogue One revolves around the heist of the Death Star plans for the Rebel Alliance.

Tarkin was a high-ranking officer, whom played a pivotal part in the construction of the Death Star. He was also the only person on board that could mouth-off to Darth Vader. So it does make sense to include him.

The report states that Peter Cushing would be brought back to life via mo-cap technology, so presumably we’ll have another actor, with Peter Cushing digitally pasted on top. Much like they did with Paul Walker in Fast and Furious 7.

A source said:

“This is one of the most complex and costly CGI re-creations ever. Cushing is a pivotal plot line as he was the one to create Darth Vader and there’s a whole back story that will come out.”

Obviously, this is a news story from The Daily Fail Mail, so take it with a pinch of salt.

I think it would be interesting to see Tarkin back on the big screen, Mo-Cap technology has come a long way in the past fifteen years. It won’t be long until every working actor submit’s a digital copy of themselves to a database.

Whilst they’re bringing back Peter Cushing, maybe we could finally get the third Dr.Who movie.

Big Finish Review-Doctor Who: The Warehouse

Online shopping is a goldmine for satirical material, it’s surprising the main show hasn’t done it yet. However, “The Warehouse” takes this concept to a new level with its depiction of a massive warehouse in the sky staffed by clones, while a catastrophe on the planet reduces the populace to primitive religion, worshipping those who reside in the warehouse. The idea for the story may not be entirely original, but it is true to the era in which it is set – the Seventh Doctor and Mel era.

The story takes a while to gain momentum, with the first two episodes featuring a lot of running around the aisles of the Great Warehouse In The Sky, but not much else. However, Dillie Keane and Sylvester McCoy deliver standout performances, with Keane bringing nuance to her role as High Priestess of the Catalogue, and McCoy excelling in his portrayal of the Doctor.

As the truth of the situation on the planet is revealed, the story gains momentum, culminating in a gripping coup de grace that subverts the latest planned delivery methods of a leading online retailer. Keane’s performance once again shines in the story’s final act, lending it solid gravitas.

Overall, “The Warehouse” delivers exactly what it promises – a stolid, eighties-era Doctor Who story. While it may not be the most imaginative or memorable entry in the franchise, fans of the era will likely find it enjoyable.