Gaiman confirmed, we told you ages ago

Proof we've got our finger on the pulse! Neil 'Neverwhere' Gaiman has confirmed he's writing for Who in 2011. Whether or not his proposal still contains the Beatles and the War Chief remains to be seen...

Doctor Who

Right... news round-up

Hello, mongs, we're back after a self-imposed break. That break was spent reading The Writer's Tale, more on that later. But new series titles!

1. The Eleventh Hour

In which Patrick Stewart and Rufus Sewell solve thrilling problems in a sort of 21st century Doomwatch. We think.

2. The Beast Below

The first example of Who going back to stealing plots from other genre titles ala Season 13/14. This is a remake of Giant Octopus vs MegaShark.

3. Victory of the Daleks

A Dalek adventure taking place on board the HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar! (hmm, again we could be wrong about this. Napolean will be played by Rob Brydon. Nelson by James McAvoy. Everyone else is a CGI Phillip Madoc).

HAVE A GOOD TIME if you're off to the SFX Weekender tomorrow. We won tickets to go! but couldn't because

a) it's on a work day *rolls eyes*
b) there was no accommodation left
c) it's miles away from the train station
d) the amount of alcohol you could bring in was so fucking limiting we could see ourselves pushing biros through our eyes by the time of the Babylon 5 Retrospective panel
e) Paul Cornell's going.

MEANWHILE... Carey Mulligan thinks Doctor Who fans are 'all mental' according to PopBitch.

MONGBYE.

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Yay! Newport Police Box to be restored!

We reported on this waaaay back but it turns out the Newport TARDIS is going to be restored!

This is fantastic news and well done to all those who campaigned for restoration.


Doctor Who

The Other Writer's Tale

We'll have a review of RTD's second volume of the Writer's Tale here shortly, in the meantime, this one has been holding our interest.




Doctor Who

Saucy outfits... check!

It seems that point 3 of our 'Things we'd like to see from New Who' is coming true. According to that bastion of Doctor Who promotion THE SUN, Amy is actually a kissogram and will wear 'various short skirts' so, yep, great news!

However we do love The Sun questioning the Moff's motives for an edgier show:

"But will the move ANNOY some of the show's notoriously fussy fanbase?"

Well, fandom, are you annoyed yet? Has the Moff gone too far?

Doctor Who

Record numbers for AWF

Wow, this is the power of Twitter or, what happens when Neil Gaiman and Dave Gibbons talk about your site. Last month was the busiest ever for AWF with as breaking all our previous records with the Gaiman/Gibbons tweeting providing over 1000 visits in one day. Thank you!

Now: How do people reach AWF? Here's some of our favourite search terms (all genuine from the past month) that have brought people here.

Doctor Who Mum (and a thousand variations on this)
Christopher H Bidmead
Ianto shrine
How to write for Doctor Who
"The Moff"
dr who haircut
Busted reform 2009
nicola bryant breasts
Police Box Newport
donna noble is the rani
tavisode
"doctor who" "martha's bum"
Paul Mount "Outpost Gallifrey"
adric actor gay
angry wank animation
books on prostatodinia written by a doctor (???!)
butt plug jack ianto
doctor who nasty canasta
doctor turlough gay
Ian Levine arrested
Jo Whiley Doctor Who fan
look like a knob
K9 spooge
mongregate
oldwomantits
planet of the dead quotes chops
preggosex.blogspot
why are doctor who toys so shit?
what is the catharsis of spurious morality is?


Doctor Who

10 things we want from the new series

Given the new DWM is out and everyone is getting really excited about the new series of Who, here's ten things the AWF team would like to see.



1. A happy Doctor

Ten turned into a complete misery guts towards the end though to be fair he's been crying since Eccleston visited Platform One. So enough misery, let's get a Doctor who actually enjoys what he does.

2. Murray changes tack

We already know Murray Gold is continuing his relationship with Who and his music was a big part of every episode. However sometimes the orchestras, the choirs, the sheer OPERA of his approach was a little too much. We hope Murray has some tricks up his sleeve for this new Who.

3. Amy's legs

The signs are encouraging, so it looks like we'll get to see Karen Gillan's legs in every episode. Let's hope this is the case.

4. Getting the right Chibnall

The new series writers list is here (we suspect Gaiman and Shearman have been bumped to season 2). It includes Chris Chibnall (no surprise). Let's hope that Chibbers is the man who wrote Life on Mars and Doctor Who's '42' and not the twat behind 'Cyberwoman' and 'Countrycide'.

5. The new TARDIS look kicking arse

We were hoping for a gleaming white return to the classic look, but it looks like we've got a two tier, hybrid of the old look and the old-old look, which, somehow, makes it new. :D

6. The Weeping Angels living up to expectation

'Blink' is a HUGE story so the Moff is risking a fair bit by bringing back a very clever, if, gimmicky, idea about statues. We wait and see!

7. No more first draft writing

One of the major criticisms of the RTD era was how often Russell put forward scripts that were only half polished, with some characters that didn't work hard enough and big plot holes. The rumour is the Moff is raising the game, talking of which:

8. Gareth Roberts getting his fucking shit together

OK, we promise that this is the last time we mention 'Planet of the Dead'. Time to forgive and forget. Hopefully this is the year that Roberts returns to the marvellous comic writing of his novels on to the screen. While we didn't mind 'The Shakespeare Code' or 'The Unicorn and the Wasp' it's going to be tough competing alongside the likes of Richard Curtis.

9. No more Time War

We already know the Daleks are back in the new series, but we really can't stand any more stuff about the Time War. No more regret, no more Cult of Skaro, no more Fall of Arcadia. It's very simple, the Daleks are a universal threat, from now until forever and not even the Doctor can change that (though he'll do his best).

10. No more dissing the military

It's one of AWF's bugbears, but we found the Doctor's disdain for UNIT and the army, and UNIT's attempts to kill the Doctor to be really unpleasant and completely out of order considering that our armed forces risk their lives for us, regardless of your own political beliefs. We're not asking the Doctor to treat all soliders with some sort of glowing admiration, but just out of respect and politeness (until they do something wrong) instead of immediately dismissing them for being in a uniform.


Doctor Who