There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do.
Silver Nemesis begins in 1988 on 23rd November. Lady Peinforte and her loyal servant Richard have travelled from the year 1638 for this moment. Herr de Flores' dreams of establishing the Fourth Reich rest on this point in time. The Cybermen's planned invasion of Earth is scheduled for the same time.
The link between the three? The statue Nemesis, fashioned from validium - the living metal first made by Rassilon on Gallifrey and capable of bestowing the power of life and death on any individual. Can the Doctor and Ace prevent its awesome power from falling into any of their evil hands?
Special Features:
• Commentary with actors Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, director Chris Clough and script editor Andrew Cartmel. • Industrial Action - cast and crew look back at the making of this story. With actors Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Gerard Murphy, director Chris Clough, writer Kevin Clarke, script editor Andrew Cartmel, stunt arranger Nick Gillard and musician Courtney Pine. • Deleted and Extended Scenes. • Trails and Continuity - BBC1 trails and continuity announcements from the story's original transmission. • Photo Gallery
Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy, has been appointed this year’s Chieftain at Cowal Highland Gathering in Dunoon taking place in August.
The gathering is Scotland’s biggest highland games and attracts up to 23,000 spectators and over 3500 competitors from all round the world with more than 500 highland dancers and 3000 pipers competeing to win championship titles.
The role of the Chieftain is a ceremonial one whose main duties include presenting prizes to the winners of the Cowal Pipe Band Championships & the World Highland Dancing Championship. The event comes to a climax when the Chieftain takes salute during the pipe band march past when the massed bands, which make up 3000 pipers & drummers, form and play the salute to the Chieftain.
Sylvester McCoy, who was born in Dunoon, said: I am absolutely delighted to be attending Cowal Highland Gathering at the end of August especially considering that as a child I grew up for 18 years watching the pipers marching up Argyll Street. I so look forward to revisiting the location and the happy memories. I am thrilled and honoured to have been asked.
Malcolm Barclay, Event Manager for Cowal Highland Gathering said: I would like to thank Mr McCoy for accepting our invitation to be our honorary Chieftain at this year’s event. It is a privilege and honour to welcome Mr McCoy into this role and both myself and the team at Cowal Highland Gathering look forward to bringing him home to Dunoon this year.
McCoy played the Doctor from 1987 - 1989. He has recently been rumoured to be playing a major role in feature film The Hobbit.
Coming up next month from 2|entertain is another 'classic' Doctor Who DVD, this time it's Time and the Rani - Sylvester McCoy's first story as The Seventh Doctor. Read details on the extras below and click on the cover for a bigger version:
• Commentary with Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford and writers Pip and Jane Baker.
• The Last Chance Saloon– by 1987, senior executives at the BBC were on the point of killing-off Doctor Who in the face of stiff fan opposition. Instead, they decided to give the show one last chance… With actors Sylvester McCoy and Kate O’Mara, producer John Nathan-Turner, director Andrew Morgan, script editor Andrew Cartmel, writers Pip and Jane Baker, BBC Head of Series & Serials Jonathan Powell and graphic designer Oliver Elmes. Written by Nev Fountain and narrated by Richard Heffer.
• 7D FX – a look behind-the-scenes at the creation of the story’s impressive visual effects. With visual effects designer Colin Mapson, visual effects assistant Mike Tucker and video effects designer Dave Chapman.
• Helter-Skelter– Graphic designer Oliver Elmes and animator Gareth Edwards talk about how they created the first CGI title sequence in Doctor Who’s history.
• Lakertya – writers Pip and Jane Baker talk about their original vision for the lush forest planet Lakertya and director Andrew Morgan explains why he ended up shooting it in a desolate quarry instead…
• Hot Gossip – Kate O’Mara recalls the fun of working with gossiping friends. With Sylvester McCoy and Andrew Morgan.
• On Location– BBC Breakfast Time’s reporter Guy Michelmore visits the production during location filming for the story’s exterior scenes and talks to John Nathan-Turner, Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford and Kate O’Mara.
• Blue Peter – Janet Ellis welcomes newly appointed Doctor Who Sylvester McCoy to the Blue Peter studio.
• Photo Gallery - production, design and publicity photos from the story.
Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy has been telling STV of the huge honour he had of being chieftain this year at the Cowal Highland Gathering. He reminisced about his childhood in Dunoon and the origins of his highland costume. He talked about Doctor Who and how he enjoyed the performance of Matt Smith in the role calling him wonderfully strange.
This would be have been part of Silver Nemesis, Doctor Who's 25th anniversary story.
Seems as though back in March 1988, Doctor Who producers thought that the simple fact that it was to be the 25th anniversary of the series wasn’t enough from a promotional standpoint. Someone had the brilliant idea to suggest Prince Edward to star as himself alongside the Doctor of the day, Sylvester McCoy. As the storyline went, the Doctor and his assistant, Ace, would arrive unexpectedly at Windsor Castle and cross paths with His Royal Highness, Prince Edward.
Citing a firm rule against filming at Royal residences for a fictional series, Buckingham Palace politely declined the opportunity. Ultimately, Arundel Castle in West Sussex was used in place of Windsor Castle and a Queen lookalike replaced the real Prince Edward.
In a letter unearthed from the archives of a former Doctor Who producer, the late John Nathan-Turner, you have to think it put an early dent in the beginning show business aspirations and budding career in television production of Prince Edward. Personally, I think the series did just fine without the artificial storyline bump.
Fast forward 23 years. Let’s hope current producers let the series stand on its own and resist inquiring about Prince William or Harry anytime soon
Sylvester McCoy has told fans he has been cast as Radagast the Brown in the upcoming film The Hobbit.
Rumours of the Seventh Doctor's involvement in the Peter Jackson film have been around for a while but this is the first conformation from the actor that he has been offered a role in the movie.
McCoy was speaking at the Armageddon Expo in Auckland yesterday, It is understood that McCoy had meetings in Wellington with Jackson and co-producer and co-writer Philippa Boyens last week, where he was offered the role, but that no contracts have yet been signed.
The Hobbit is slated for release in two parts, the first due in 2012. Production is currently delayed due to a dispute involving the New Zealand branch of Actors Equity.
Silver Nemesis begins in 1988 on 23rd November. Lady Peinforte and her loyal servant Richard have travelled from the year 1638 for this moment. Herr de Flores' dreams of establishing the Fourth Reich rest on this point in time. The Cybermen's planned invasion of Earth is scheduled for the same time.
The link between the three? The statue Nemesis, fashioned from validium - the living metal first made by Rassilon on Gallifrey and capable of bestowing the power of life and death on any individual. Can the Doctor and Ace prevent its awesome power from falling into any of their evil hands?
Special Features:
• Commentary with actors Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, director Chris Clough and script editor Andrew Cartmel. • Industrial Action - cast and crew look back at the making of this story. With actors Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Gerard Murphy, director Chris Clough, writer Kevin Clarke, script editor Andrew Cartmel, stunt arranger Nick Gillard and musician Courtney Pine. • Deleted and Extended Scenes. • Trails and Continuity - BBC1 trails and continuity announcements from the story's original transmission. • Photo Gallery
Silver Nemesis is released on 9th August 2010
It’s had been twenty five years since William Hartnell first stepped out of the police box in Totter’s Lane. Twenty five year anniversaries are celebrated with silver so showrunner John Nathan Turner decided that the current Doctor should face a nemesis clad in it. However, an epic celebration it may not be.
There is a legend of a statue called Nemesis that orbits earth every 25 years since 1638 leaving disaster in its wake. The time is 1988 and this time the meteor will crash into Earth near Windsor Castle according to calculations. Three very different parties are after this fabled statue in hopes of world domination.
The first is a group of neo-Nazis led by De Flores (Anton Diffring) that has the bow that is part of the statue. The second is Lady Peinforte (Fiona Walker) and her servant Richard (Gerard Murphy) who have the arrow from it. They what reunite the statue with those two items will gain the power over the world.
Peinforte and Richard have been whisked from 1638 to 1988 to meet the arrival of the meteor. The last is a group of Cybermen. The statue’s celestial orbit is thanks to the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) who took it from Lady Peinforte in the 1600s and placed it in orbit.
Nemesis is made of a Gallifreyian metal called Validium that lives and was developed as the ultimate weapon. He and Ace (Sophie Aldred) also turn up in 1988 to make sure that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
In 1963 a children’s show called Doctor Who debuted and the rest is history. It’s been a staple of British television ever since, well beyond that great gap where the BBC cancelled it. It has been revived and is more popular than ever and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2013.
However, in 1988 it was silver and John Nathan-Turner used the traditional silver gift to bring the Cybermen into the storyline. Some hints were given in the first episode of Silver Nemesis, which aired on November 23rd, the same day as the first episode of Doctor Who.
Leslie French, who was offered the role of the Doctor but turned it down, has a cameo as a 1600s mathematician and several generations of cast and crew pop up as tourists in Windsor Castle. These special touches do add fun (if you’re aware of them – the commentary helped me spot them) but the story doesn’t feel as epic as it should be for such an anniversary.
The Doctor and Ace take a backseat for most of the action and what is put up front really doesn’t feel up to snuff. The Cybermen, no matter their silver association, feel forced into the story. Too many groups going after the McGuffin and too few budget to sustain it.
Silver Nemesis is presented in fullscreen. Special features include a commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and script supervisor Andrew Cartmel. The 33 minute “Industrial Action” is a making of.
There are also 22 minutes of deleted and extended scenes but they’ve not been incorporated back into the story as they were for the VHS edition (not that it would’ve helped much).
Next are 5 minutes of trails and continuities (aka trailers and commercials), a 7 minute photo gallery, a subtitle trivia track, isolated score, a 41 second trailer for the next Doctor release (Time and the Rani), and DVD-ROM PDF of the Radio Times listings.
The Silver Nemesis is a middling story that marks a grand anniversary. The special features on the disc add mightily to the value of the release.
Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy has indicated that he would like to return to Doctor Who for a 50th Anniversary special of the show in 2013 if one were to be made.
Speaking to BBC News, the actor said:
Would I do it? Yes, I'd be delighted to! I am a part of it, it hasn't ever gone away and I celebrate the 21st Century Doctors.
I know that the producers balk at it. All those egos in the same room would be very difficult to deal with. But the fans are hoping that for the 50th anniversary, which is coming up, they might do something like that.
It would be fascinating with all the technology if they could bring back Jon Pertwee and William Hartnell. That would be amazing - and I bet they could do it if they wanted to."
The actor expressed his feelings during an interview about his new role in the first ever stage production of Evelyn Waugh's play, Decline and Fall, opening today at the Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington.
2|Entertain have announced a new boxed set via their @ClassicDW Twitter feed:
The Ace Box commissioned and in production.
Whilst no other details have been revealed at present, it seems likely that the set will be themed around the Seventh Doctor's sidekick, Dorothy "Ace" McShane.
At this late stage in the release schedule, there are only three other stories featuring the character that have yet to come out on DVD: Dragonfire, Ace's introductory story; The Happiness Patrol, with Helen A, Fifi, and the Kandyman; and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy with the Psychic Circus and the Gods of Ragnarok.
A week ago we reported that July 12th will see the DVD release of the classic 5th Doctor (Peter Davison) story Doctor Who - Story #132: The Awakening for USA/Canada. At first we thought it was by itself for the month, when all 2011-long the BBC and Warner Home Video had been scheduling classic Who DVD releases in pairs. Later that day we passed along word that it wasn't alone for July after all; the BBC (with Warner) would also be releasing the 1st Doctor (William Hartnell) tale Doctor Who - Story #025: The Gunfighters on DVD that same day.
That later-in-the-day info last week knocked out our original theory, that the "companion" (heh, heh...a bit of DW humor there!) title for the month of July could possibly be Matt Smith in Doctor Who - The 6th Series, Part 1, reflecting the split-season broadcast status of the new episodes that debut at BBC America on April 23rd (have you seen the new BBC One trailer made available today for the debut episode, "The Impossible Astronaut"?). MAYBE (that's a big "maybe"), however, our theory about that might be back in place for August (closer to the September broadcast debut for the "back half" of the sixth season).
Why? Because today BBC/Warner has announced exactly ONE classic DW DVD title for North American release in the month of August. August 9th, to be precise...and this time it's a long-awaited 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) tale: Doctor Who - Story #149: Paradise Towers. The thumbnail- sized early box art (subject to change) is on the right, and here are all the available details (including an early list of extras which may also be subject to change, a portion of that list is courtesy of our friends at DoctorWhoNews.net).
Doctor Who - Story #149: Paradise Towers (Sylvester McCoy as the 7th Doctor) 1 disc, approx. 98 minutes, 4 episodes, full frame video, English mono audio, English subtitles, $24.98 SRP
According to the sales brochure, Paradise Towers is a utopian blueprint for community living, with its fabulous architecture and state-of-the-art facilities. The perfect place for Mel to take a leisurely swim, in fact. But when the TARDIS arrives, the Doctor and his companion discover that the futuristic tower block has fallen into ruin, and a series of unexplained disappearances have the tenants living in fear. As gangs of teenage girls run wild in the hallways, a squad of bureaucratic Caretakers struggle to regain control. To keep the citizens of Paradise Towers safe, the Doctor must confront the resident evil lurking in the basement.
Extras: Audio Commentary with Judy Cornwall ("Maddy"), Stephen Wyatt (writer), Mark Ayres (composer), and Dick Mills (sound effects) Choice of the "As-Aired" Score (by Keff McCulloch) or the Rejected Score which it replaced (by David Snell) Featurette: Girls, Girls, Girls: 1980's Featurette: Horror of the High-Rise Featurette: Jigsaw PDF materials: Radio Times Listings Production Notes Subtitle Option Of course, we could most certainly be wrong (again) about a "Series 6, Part 1" Matt Smith release happening. It's just my own personal theory, at least for now...that's all. It just makes sense to expect it, though!
Speaking of Matt Smith, a pre-Doctor Who role he had is also coming to DVD in North America soon: if you missed yesterday's news about a BBC show he was in called Party Animals (described as "a political drama"), then you may want to check it out!
2|Entertain have announced a competition via Twitter for fans to contribute on commentaries for the final Seventh Doctor adventures to be released on DVD, Dragonfire, The Happiness Patrol and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
In order to enter, fans should record and submit a question to the Classic Doctor Who Soundcloud group, and the favourites chosen will be featured as recorded on the related commentary.
The DVD releases of Dragonfire and The Happiness Patrol have been cleared by the British Board of Film Classification.
Extras for both stories were also cleared, with the details as below.
Dragonfire's extras comprise:
FIRE AND ICE - THE MAKING OF DRAGONFIRE (35:04:23) THE DOCTOR'S STRANGE LOVE - DRAGONFIRE (15:40:14) THE BIG BANG THEORY (12:31:19) DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES (09:55:15) PHOTO GALLERY (04:46:06)
while those for The Happiness Patrol are:
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (46:03:04) HAPPINESS WILL PREVAIL (23:44:08) DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES (23:18:03) PHOTO GALLERY (05:46:01)
Release dates for the DVDs have yet to be confirmed. A trailer for Dragonfire that was cleared on 18th January states that the story will form part of The Ace Box.
A few weeks ago we relayed to our readers the package art for 2|entertain/BBC's May 8th classic releases of Doctor Who - Story #107: Nightmare of Eden, Doctor Who - Story #151: Dragonfire and Doctor Who - Story #153: The Happiness Patrol, and lists of extras for the first two of those titles. The bonus material for the 7th Doctor story, The Happiness Patrol, hadn't been made available at the time. However, now the BBC has revealed the complete list of extras for this title, and we're glad to pass them along to you at last! Doctor Who - Story #153: The Happiness Patrol Audio Commentary Happiness Will Prevail Deleted and Extended Scenes When Worlds Collide Photo Gallery Isolated Music PDF materials: Radio Times Listings Production Note Subtitles Digitally remastered picture and sound quality
Sylvester McCoy was born 20 August 1943 and today celebrates his 70th birthday.
McCoy, of course, succeeded the Sixth Doctor Colin Baker. He played the seventh incarnation of our favourite Time Lord until the show’s cancellation in 1989. He reprised the role for his regeneration in the 1996 TV movie.
McCoy’s partner in crime Sophie Aldred, AKA Ace, also celebrates her birthday today.
