Louis Trapani's blog

Adam Savage @donttrythis of Mythbusters dances in a Faraday cage to the Doctor Who theme played by ArcAttack's Singing Tesla Coils at Makers Faire 2011.

Thanks to @24k for the heads up on this one.

The long wait is over if you have been waiting for The Rebel Flesh to appear on iTunes. This year, the new episodes have been appearing on iTunes within hours of it being broadcast of BBC America, as opposed to last year when it was usually a 24 hour wait. I even made a point of mentioning how fast they are appearing this year in Doctor Who: Podshock 247. So wouldn't you know that this week, they deliberately held back on it just to prove me wrong. Well, perhaps not deliberately. There was some issue though that had held it up.

It is now available now in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Although it had been listed on Amazon, there were reports that it was not downloading from them. Now that it is available via iTunes, we might assume that the download issue from Amazon has also been resolved.

Below are the links to fetch the episode from the respective provides:

Doctor Who: The Rebel Flesh

This video features Colin Baker narrating the history of the police box in the UK. The shape that the TARDIS has been stuck in since The Unearthly Chid premiered in 1963. This feature was originally transmitted in 1993, part of the 30th anniversary of Doctor Who celebration by the BBC.

Thanks to @tvkirby for bringing this video to my attention.

Thanks to all those who participated in our live over the net Doctor Who: Podshock recording on Sunday, May 1st reviewing 'The Impossible Astronaut' and 'Day of the Moon.' We had a good turn out. Remember to try to get in the queue early for live feedback and as always, we will give preference to supporting subscribers. This episode should be hitting the feeds soon. Special thanks to Dave Cooper @daveac and Graeme Sheridan @The2ndDoctor for co-hosting the show with me.

Next Sunday is another holiday which means there will be no live show then, but we will return on Sunday, May 15th when we will record two live shows. One reviewing 'The Curse of the Black Spot' and another reviewing 'The Doctor's Wife.' We will be on a weekly schedule onwards through June 5th (unless there is a change in the broadcast schedule of Doctor Who. We hope you will join us then.

In the meantime while DWP 244 is in post production, there was a new episode of The Sonic Newsdriver released. See link below.

Sonic Newsdriver (30 April 2011) - Doctor Who News -

Today marks one week since the unbelievable news broke that we lost Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) to cancer. The BBC had dedicated this past Saturday's transmission of Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut (the premiere episode of the new 2011 series) to her and afterwards there was a 12 minute piece on CBBC titled, My Sarah Jane: A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen which if you saw it, I'm sure it didn't leave you with a dry eye. In it, many of her co-stars spoke about their time working with her including David Tennant and Matt Smith. The day after she passed, another Doctor actor had his say as well.

Tom Baker, the 4th Doctor in Doctor Who shares some of his memories and feelings after the passing of co-star, Elisabeth Sladen last week.

Tom Baker Newsletter | Latest news | Lis Sladen | Sarah Jane: "Sarah Jane dead?  No, impossible!  Impossible.  Only last week I agreed to do six new audio adventures with her for Big Finish Productions.

DVR Alert:

Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) is one of the guests tonight on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. This is the episode she recorded last week (as mentioned in Doctor Who: Podshock 243). The show is on at 12:37am (technically Saturday) EDT, check your local listings in your area for show times in your area.

Late Late Show - This Week's Guests - CBS.com: "Friday, April 22: Diane Lane, Karen Gillan"

(Via www.cbs.com)

Photo: © 2010 @LouisTrapani

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith of Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures) has died at the age of 63 I am so sad to report…

I was stunned and dismayed when read the news of passing of Elisabeth Sladen today from a tweet from Gallifrey One. I am at a lost for words. This news came to me very unexpected as I am sure it does for all Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures fans. I don't know what to say at this point. Writer Paul Cornell and actress Nicola Bryant have also confirmed the news by tweeting their sentiments as well. BBC News has also confirmed it in a short statement (now a full obituary).

We are a week out from the launch of the new 2011 series of Doctor Who. I don't where the time goes. It's here again. Being that the next Sunday after next Saturday's premiere is a holiday, the first live over-the-net show reviewing the new Doctor Who episodes of Doctor Who: Podshock will be on the following Sunday, May 1st. We may or may not be using Talkshoe again. I am exploring other options if anyone has any to offer. Stay tuned here for forthcoming details.

But before next Saturday comes, this Saturday (April 16, 2011), or for some already, today, I will be speaking on a panel at I-CON 30 from 3pm to 4pm (EDT) (in room 111 in the Javits Lecture Hall at SUNY, Stony Brook, NY). The panel is titled, '21st Century Doctor Who.' Ken Deep of Doctor Who: Podshock will also be on the panel. The panel is being organized by Docking Bay 516 for I-CON. So if you are attending I-CON this year, be sure to attend this panel.

In the meantime, the latest episode of The Sonic Newsdriver is available. Along with the usual Doctor Who related news, it features a 'live' interview with Anthony S Burdge @MythicDocWho while he was in line for the special premiere showing of the first two episodes of the new series in NYC which took place on Monday, April 11th.

Speaking of The Sonic Newsdriver, the companion app for the podcast is already available in the Apple iTunes App Store for iOS devices (App Store link) and on AppBrain for Android devices, it is now also in the Amazon Appstore for Android devices. See details here.

Fans of Family Guy will appreciate this second episode of Doctor Stew. Now with more Doctors…

Created by Cecinid (Kevin Karstens) @doctorstew

As previously reported, the Doctor Who iOS game, Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time debuted in the Apple App Store last December. There are two versions, one is for the iPhone and iPod touch, and an HD version for the iPad. Unfortunately, it is not a universal app, so you can either get the iPhone/iPod touch version and upscale it for the iPad, or alternatively get the HD version specifically for the iPad.

The prices in the US App store had been $3.99 and $4.99 respectively, but are NOW ONLY 99¢ each. So if you have been holding off purchasing this game for the iOS platform, now is the time (that includes myself). At this time, I don't know if this price reduction only pertains to the US iTunes App Store or if it is worldwide. Also I do not know if this is a permanent price reduction or a limited time sale.

Here is the link to the iPhone/iPod touch version: Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time - BBC Worldwide

Here is the link to the iPad HD version: Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time HD - BBC Worldwide

Keeping with the theme of Gallifrey One's Catch 22: Islands of Mystery, our Post Gallifrey One Party which was our Doctor Who: Podshock and Gallifreyan Embassy seasonal meet up and party on Second Life taking place the following Sunday (27 February 2011) after Gallifrey One had a tiki feel to it. Victor Mornington @vic1st and his fellow owners of the land of Katrina (The Doctor Who Experience, which has recently changed its name the Doctor Who: Exposition) out did themselves once again flooding the area, making it a huge pool of water complete with inflatables to cruise on for the stage area of our party. The stage and dance floor were on a giant deck.

Traditionally our meet ups start with TARDIS tours across various Doctor Who themed areas of Second Life led by Victor. This time we did things a bit different. Instead we had a Podshock TARIDS Mod Exposition taking place in that time period. I had the pleasure and honour of being one of the judges for it along with our own DWP Correspondent Ian Bisset @The6thDoctor and the owner of Hands of Omega (one of the leading TARDIS simulator providers in Second Life), Sen Pixie. Together we explored various TARDIS console mods along with the rest of their interior and chose the best within three categories.

It's been more than a couple weeks now since word first traveled across Twitter of the sad news that we lost Nicholas Courtney. For many we us, we were in disbelief and shock. If you heard the latest episodes of Doctor Who: Podshock or The Sonic Newsdriver, you will know that I was literally on my flight back from attending Gallifrey One 2011 in Los Angeles when word first came to me. After such a 'Doctor Who high' that was Gallifrey One, to have this news come on its heels... well, it's never a good time for news like this, but we can be grateful it was after, not during the convention. I want to thank Correspondent Graeme Sheridan @The2ndDoctor for posting the news to our site (see: R.I.P. The Brigadier, Nicholas Courtney Dies at Age 81). I had meant to follow it up, posting some of my thoughts, but I found it difficult to do. I was even dreading having to record the next episode of The Sonic Newsdriver only because I would have to report it. Though now that has come to pass.

We have a bunch of new Doctor Who: Podshock episodes on the way which will be coming to you soon, including our live show recorded at Gallifrey One 2011. In the meanwhile, catch up on Doctor Who related news delivered sonically with the latest episode of The Sonic Newsdriver!

Sonic Newsdriver (07 March 2011) - Doctor Who News -

Once again I am chiming in here to give everyone a heads up that Doctor Who: Podshock 236 is on its way. In the meantime, if you haven't heard it yet, the latest Hitchhiker's Guide to British Sci-Fi is out. Dave and Graeme who helped with DWP 235, also co-host in this episode.

Today is the birthday of David Jason (voice of Danger Mouse and recently recognized in UK's National Television Awards). What better way to celebrate his birthday, than listening to this episode of HHGTBSF. See the links below:

Danger Mouse Discussed and News on Torchwood, Doctor Who, Outcast, Red Dwarf and More in this Hitchhiker's Guide to British Sci-Fi -

What does the title of this entry mean? It's simply a fushion of what about to speak about here:

First off, both Dave Cooper @daveac and Graeme Sheridan @The2ndDoctor joined in as co-hosts for this week's recording of Doctor Who: Podshock (235) and Hitchhiker's Guide to British Sci-Fi. Expect both episodes on your feeds soon.

Secondly, you can hear me in the most recent episode of The Chronic Rift podcast in which I speak about the Gallifreyan Embassy. See my post about it below on arttrap.com:

Riding The Chronic Rift -

It's a busy time with Gallifrey 22 now less than a month away. As with past years, we will have a special episode of Doctor Who: Podshock previewing the annual premier North American Doctor Who convention coming soon. Coming sooner than that will be Doctor Who: Podshock 235.

In the meantime, the latest episode of The Sonic Newsdriver has been released bringing you up to date on selected Doctor Who related news.

Sonic Newsdriver (25 January 2011) - Doctor Who News -

The Sonic Newsdriver 20110125
Selected Doctor Who related news delivered sonically.
For Earth-date: Tuesday, the 25th of Jan. 2011

This week is the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, which means there is a tremendous amount of tech related announcements coming out of the show. As often is the case, there is some crossover between tech and sci-fi. The Panasonic booth had a special "most impressive" (as they termed it) announcement of (pre-orders for) the Star Wars films coming to Blu-ray. I had heard there would be a TARDIS speaker system at the show, but didn't have much details on it. Engadget has come to the rescue (since I am not at the show myself) with this report of hands-on prototype of the new Speakal TARDIS speaker dock and Bluetooth speaker and IR remote control system.

I am assuming it will work with the iPhone as well as the iPod. The photos show an iPhone in the dock (a white at that). If the speakers are shielded enough to prevent GSM radio noise interference from the iPhone, it should work.

There are a couple new Doctor Who: Podshock episodes on their way (coming soon), in the meantime the latest episode of The Sonic Newsdriver will feed your hunger for Doctor Who related news.

Sonic Newsdriver (06 January 2011) - Doctor Who News -

The Sonic Newsdriver 20110106
Selected Doctor Who related news delivered sonically.
For Earth-date: Thursday, the 6th of Jan. 2011

I hate relaying this kind of stuff reported in The Sun from an unnamed "source."

To quote the source in The Sun, "They (David Tennant and Georgia Moffett) are besotted with each other and can't wait to tie the knot." It doesn't exactly say they are engaged though. I would file it under rumour for now until there's some sort of official confirmation.

If it is true, we wish them all the best. Georiga Moffett had just turned 26 this past Christmas (Happy Birthday, Georgia Moffett). We interviewed her last year at Gallifrey 21 in Doctor Who: Podshock 187.

The following is from the article that ran in The Sun:

Once again, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (on CBS in the US) will be having a Doctor Who related guest this Thursday (6th January 2011). This time it is Alex Kingston (River Song). Although she is not listed (at the time of this writing) in the upcoming shows for free tickets (they are actually recording two shows on Thursday according to their website, one at 3pm with actor Gary Sinise and one at 4:15pm with actress Mila Kunis - the latter being sold out), it was announced that "River Song" would be on Thursday's show via Craig Ferguson's Twitter feed. In addition, the Doctor Who musical opening number ("cold open") which could not be aired last November has finally been cleared for this show.

I wouldn't be too concerned about her absence on the website, as with the last time when Matt Smith was scheduled to appear on the show (16th November 2010), he was not showing up on the site for the longest time. Perhaps this show was pre-recorded on another day? @CraigyFerg tweeted the following tweet on Monday: