[Craig @replies Emperor]

@blenkinsopthebrave @jimthefish @bluesqueakpip @whisht @purofilion @janetteb

Thanks to all. The wonderful @scaryb put on her promoter’s hat and called the BFI Press Department. They pass all press requests on to the BBC, and press are only told if their request has been successful a week before the screening. So we shall wait and see. Fingers crossed.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Oh dear. Things just stepped up a notch between Ian Levine and Philip Morris

Is not our place to comment. But I just thought I’d bring it to your attention.

@archives1963 @HornOrSilk YOU’RE THE PHUCKING BARE FACED LIAR, YOU BASTARD.

— Ian Levine (@IanLevine) July 20, 2014

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@scaryb I’ve already entered the ballot. I considered phoning them up and saying “I run The Doctor Who Forum”, @juniperfish said I should do more of that sort of thing, but chickened out and just filled out the form.

Are we big enough for me to do that yet? I don’t know.

Anyway, if I get tickets I’ll need a +1, and if anyone else gets tickets and needs a +1, your Emperor needs you! 🙂

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@kenseavert I love Burning Man. I’ve been twice and hope to go again next year. I went in 2012 and bumped into a TARDIS. This is me, in my kilt, checking it out (have no idea what I’m doing with my sporran – looking for gifts to hand out I think – it was Olympic year so I was giving everyone gold medals and kept them there). Is that your TARDIS, or an earlier or later regeneration’s?

I applaude your efforts. That same year I also bumped into a fire breathing Dalek. A firey Pandorica could be amazing. Good luck.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Just as a side note, if anyone hasn’t heard of Mark Kermode before, he’s a British film reviewer. He’s highly respected and highly vocal, and is a genuine fan rather than a high-brow critic. His reviews on YouTube are all well worth watching and you can find them here: https://www.youtube.com/user/kermodeandmayo

If nothing else, you should check out his review of Sex and The City 2. It is already legendary.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@blenkinsopthebrave I do agree with you and I tried very hard from the outset, as I think all the members/contributors did, to create a place a bit different. I’m happy that we’ve more-or-less achieved that.

I came across this which I think is very good. I do like Mark Kermode.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@phaseshift I’ve been on quite a few sites today where the trailer is being discussed and some people are just blatantly blurting out which bit is from which episode, and what the basic plot of that episode is etc. like being able to read somehow makes them special. How small must you feel in real life to have to do that to make yourself feel big? I’m just glad I’m forearmed.

@blenkinsopthebrave But then you’d never have ‘met’ all of us! And as @scaryb said last week, there is a joy in being able to chat to, and theorise with, like-minded people afterwards, which the internet makes possible. But, yes, the spoiler minority are a problem.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

So I emailed the spammer and got a reply. Am quite amazed.

Me:

How dare you spam my website and my users with your dodgy Doctor Who links?

Never visit (or send your bot to) my site again.

If you didn’t do it yourself I’d have a word with whatever SEO company
you’ve employed as they are using disreputable tactics to try and get you
visitors.

You are the worst form of scum.

__________________________________
Them:

My apologies, I found a great link and wanted to share
I shouldn’t have tried to do seo but that is now past
I will never visit you site ,sorry I offended

_________________________________

I hope that’s the end of that one, but I think we’re still going to have to be extra vigilant for the next 40 days. Please email me or PM me whenever you spot something dodgy.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip I think I have fixed that now but let me know if not and I’ll try something else.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Just checked the database and it looks like only 20 or so people got sent the PM message. Phew!

Still really annoying though. Grrrr…

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Hi all,

It seems a bot left comments on the site and sent PMs to many, if not all, of you last night containing a supposed link to the first episode.

Please do not click the link. I have no idea where it takes you and have no inclination to find out. If it is the first episode it will be a rubbish black and white version, covered in watermarks and many unfinished effects. You’ll probably also get assulted by all sorts of pop ups, and nasty things may try to install themselves on your computer.

I’m very sorry that this has happened. I’ve deleted the comments and the user, and I would urge you to delete any email you received.

I will look into ways of stopping this happening again.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Yep. ‘Tis definitely happening.

Keep your eyes on @BBCOne tonight… #HalfTime #GermanyvsArgentina #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/rSnClmc3KX

— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) July 13, 2014

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Oh, and there’s also this. Rumoured time of broadcast is during half time.

Good luck to both Germany and Argentina for the World Cup Final tonight! Make sure you watch on @BBCOne for reasons that'll become clear…

— Doctor Who Magazine (@DWMtweets) July 13, 2014

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Weird one. Gary Lineker has just tweeted this…

Included in our World Cup final coverage, the thoughts of David Beckham and a mention of Dr Who, who I guess already knows who wins.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 13, 2014

Some people are speculating that the first trailer will be broadcast during the Beebs coverage. I guess it’s their biggest audience of the year. Just be warned if you’re a trailerphobe.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@scaryb I read that one out… “Made in Scotland, from curtains”… in my office in England, in full-on Scottish accent, and they all burst out laughing. It’s my favourite too.

For those who’ve no idea why that’s funny,  Irn Bru (the drink) had the strapline “Made in Scotland, from girders” for many, many years. I think they had to drop it eventually under EU regulations because it isn’t actually made from girders (although that may be apocryphal).

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@blenkinsopthebrave I love that idea. And your adopted coutry has actually gone a bit Adric I’m afraid (or maybe it’s just boring tracksuit), although we may be able to find better.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@jimthefish I love the implications of the Aussie kit. “We’re going to Scotland in the Summer – get the jumpers, scarves and raincoats out”

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I think the sixth Doctor may have had a hand in designing the Scottish Commonwealth Games team’s kit. My eyes!

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@blenkinsopthebrave Many thanks.

As a warning to all, @jimthefish has informed me that the Scottish Sun is posting a story tomorrow containing dialogue from the first episode and they are somehow trying to suggest that it shows Moffat is in the No camp re Scottish independence (I’ve read it and I didn’t see any politics in it at all – it’s Doctor Who! – but why put that in the way of a good story?) It may be front page in Scotland.

While I’m quite happy to delete posts on here left, right and center, I’m not sure I can protect you against the behemoth that is The Sun if they decide to run it in England too. But I’ll try 😉

It’s gonna be a tough six(ish) weeks.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip Yes, I managed to track them down. You know those scenes where the Doctor hacks into a mainframe, or the whole interent, and reprogrammes it all, or sends a sentient virus out into the world? Sometimes I can be a bit like that. The internet is putty in my hands. With the help of Google of course 😉

Have read all five scripts now and am armed against any attempts to spoil it for the rest of you.

All I’m going to say is… absolutely nothing.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@blenkinsopthebrave

I’m reminded of a great tweet I saw a while ago, something along the lines of

Game of Thrones – proving that the best way to keep a secret from most people is to put it in a book

I have the scripts and I’ll read them tonight. I used to be a script reader for film companies, and the BBC, so am quite happy to do so – it never seemed to spoil my enjoyment of the resulting production. I check in several times a day but will be checking in even more regularly from now on. I’ll know if anything posted is derived from the scripts and will delete it on sight.

I’ll put a message to that effect on the Home page.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@blenkinsopthebrave @phaseshift @fatmaninabox @jimthefish and everyone else.

Well the nuclear option, which we’ve used before, is to shut the site to new sign-ups, not only for the 47 days up to first transmission, but the next 5 weeks after that.

It seems a bit drastic. Last time it was because DVDs were sent out early and I don’t think anything was revealed anywhere by anybody. I’ve been searching the net this afternoon since the news broke and so far it still seems a spoiler-free zone, with anyone hinting that they know anything told to go put it in a spoiler thread under threat of total internet suicide. As much as there are bad people out there, there are also a lot of good people, and very passionate people who don’t want spoiled.

I’d rather just be vigilant, and if I see anything from the scripts it will be immediately deleted. But I’m interested in what you all think, and if you want the barricades up I’ll do so.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@wolfweed Brilliant as always. Many thanks.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@blenkinsopthebrave @arbutus @whisht

Congratulations all. You made the podium! Champions.

Look forward to receiving ‘nothing’ in the post as a reward.

It’s actually something extra-dimensional, but everyone dismisses it as nothing. What can you do?

[Craig @replies Emperor]

And we have a winner! (after a little clue…)

@blenkinsopthebrave Yes, at number 11 was 42 being revealed as the answer to life, the universe and everything. Pour yourself a glass and I’ll raise one to you.

P.S. If it helps, Jason and the Argonauts got two entries, with the bronze giant Talos awakening coming in at no. 196.

@scaryb They’ve gone for everything. Books, comics, computer games are all in there. The bomb moment in Dark Star came in at 187 by the way. Lara Croft and the dinosaur (if you’ve played it you’ll know) was 222, and other moments in the games ‘Portal’ and ‘Mass Effect 2’ both came in around the 120-130 mark.

I find that kinda interesting. Games are becoming more like films or TV shows, and offer even more immersive experiences in many cases. It’s like we’re getting more sci-fi by the day.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@whisht I’m afraid @arbutus has stolen your winner’s medal by calling number 12!

Arbutus, the twin sunset is No. 71. Of Princess Bride, Moffat says he’s lost count of the times he’s watched it and read the book. He also says it’s not the best swordfight you’ll ever see as there’s an even more exciting one at the end! You may have a soul mate. 😉

I have to apologise to Russell T. Davies as he also writes a little bit about Dune (the novel) as well – I missed it because he’s stuck down the bottom of the page near the fold.

As I listed the top ten, and Arbutus has got number 12, it’s possible to take the prize (which is nothing at all) by guessing number 11. It’s credible and related to one of our current topics.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Okay, I fell for the marketing and bought SFX. I don’t know if this will calm you down or enrage you further, but here goes…

@jimthefish Gort came in at 92, Statue of Liberty was 29, Maria was 136.

@fatmaninabox Buffy singing was 22, Wickerman was 167, Gandalf’s death comes in at 16 and his arrival at Helm’s Deep is 26, but it doesn’t seem that there’s any Frodo or Farscape I’m afraid. Adric’s death is 78, and while not quite the farewell tour, “I don’t want to go” scrapes in at 244, just behind 13 Doctors saving the day at no. 239.

@thekrynoidman You may be pleased to know The Dark Knight only made 57.

From my random thoughts: Nosferatu was at 166, The Exorcist at 96, Soylent Green at 102, 2001: HAL at 20 and the bone/spaceship jumpcut at 62, Spock’s death at 21.

@whisht The opening of Star Wars was number 23 and Tom Baker holding the wires was 14.

@scaryb The Daleks coming out of the Thames does make 67.

@blenkinsopthebrave Jason and the Argonauts was 98. Couldn’t see This Island Earth but Forbidden Planet was 158

@phaseshift Quatermass Experiment came in at 241 but there is no Pit as far as I can tell, or Blake’s Seven.

So the ‘winner’, of sorts, is Whisht!

It’s a list that does delight and infuriate in equal measure (which is of course why it exists). It is a very Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star wars centric list. Matt Smith appearing next to David Bradley in An Adventure in Space and Time is number 15 (what?), and the Weeping Angels 13!

Steven Moffat writes a bit about the sword fight in Princess Bride (No. 12), Katie Manning about Christopher Eccleston’s first appearance (No. 52), Terrance Dicks about Dune (the novel) (No. 112), Neil Gaiman about the Time Lords’ first appearance in The War Games (No. 118) and Deborah Watling about Mary Poppins (the novel) (No. 234).

There are also some strange entries as well, such as Mary Poppins, several Bond movies, the Goodies Kitten Kong and It’s a Wonderful Life in there, but I guess it’s all fantasy or sorts.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@jimthefish @fatmaninabox To be fair, they are listing the top 250 moments, so I’m sure they’ll all show up, but the top 10 is a disappointment.

All good calls. I think almost the whole of Nosferatu deserves to be on the list just for how influential it’s been, even now. Who could forget much of the exorcism in The Exorcist, “Soylent green is people”, several moments from 2001 (the bone turning into a spaceship, HAL slowly losing it with Dave etc.), even Spock’s death (although that was kinda spoiled by the sequel)? I could go on and on. Grrr. There’s a lot to be said against democracy 🙂

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I’ve been sent press releases for two Doctor Who inspired tracks. So here you are:

This is by members of the “We Will Rock You” cast…

This is a remixed, trance version of the theme tune…

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I’ve been sent a press release from SFX magazine informing me that The Doctor and Rose’s farewell at Bad Wolf Bay has been voted the greatest moment EVER in sci-fi, horror & fantasy! The Hulk destroying Loki in Avengers was second and the Alien chestbuster scene was third. 96,000 votes were cast.

The Top 10 Greatest Moments in Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy supposedly are:

1. DOCTOR WHO The Doctor and Rose say farewell at Bad Wolf Bay in “Doomsday”
2. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE “Puny god!” The Hulk owns Loki
3. ALIEN The chestburster
4. FIREFLY Mal Reynolds kicks a bad guy into Serenity’s engine intake (“The Train Job”)
5. STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Luke learns that Darth Vader is his father
6. BLADE RUNNER Roy Batty’s “Tears in rain” speech
7. GAME OF THRONES The Red Wedding: “The Lannisters sends their regards”
8. THE MATRIX Neo dodges bullets in the bullet-time scene
9. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (novel) Dumbledore’s death
10. BACK TO THE FUTURE “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads”

Hmmmm… Go figure.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@juniperfish Hey, glad you could pop in before zapping off. Us in the slow lane will catch up with you soon.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Oh, and a bit more research nailed the animation sequences as an anime film I’d never heard of either called Steamboy. Weird as I was a huge fan of Akira and remember driving to Edinburgh to see it in the Film Festival (with my parents’ car’s engine over heating) as there were rumours it would never get a UK release. I’m losing my edge.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Ooh I like that promo as well. They’ve done a great job of making a lot of the footage match the lyrics.

Can I add to the list. The dragons are from Reign of Fire, I think some of the darkening skies are from the recent Thor sequel.

And I did a quick bit of research as I didn’t know the big ape one either, and it looks very much like a movie I’d never heard of called Konga.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konga_%28film%29

It looks terrible, but could be so bad it’s good.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@whisht Cezanne? When discussing City of Death? Happy memories and terrible spelling. The great Jonathan Richman.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I thought I’d post this, which is pretty close to being a work of fan genius. (It may have been posted before, but this is where it belongs). It’s slightly too wordy but, apart from that, nails it completely.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

And for anyone looking at Julian Glover (Count Scarlioni) and thinking I know that face but I can’t quite place it, he was in The Empire Stikes Back, For Your Eyes Only and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He’s also still going strong and currently starring in Game of Thrones.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@thekrynoidman I did say it wasn’t to everyone’s taste. But I kinda like it and it’s a nice change of pace for us after Day of the Daleks, I think. It’s good to see that Doctor Who can do all sorts of different stories.

You sound a bit disappointed so I thought I’d drop this in (which I think I first heard in LA Confidential).

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@wolfweed What? Computer pictures? You sit in Paris and talk of computer pictures?

They’re both great. @phaseshift got to the uploading before me, but I’ve now added the top one to the home page. Many thanks, once again, for the great work.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@tbird7702 Just a little note to let you know that I moved your post to the Spoilers thread. It didn’t contain any real spoilers, and I was in two minds about moving it, but there are people on here who don’t want to even hear rumours and we try to respect that so I thought it for the best. So in future, if you want to post about something “there has been a lot of talk about” can you use the spoilers thread please?

As it says on the Speculation thread “This thread can be used to discuss official BBC announcements on Series 8. Any other news source should be discussed on the spoiler thread in accordance with our etiquette policy.”

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I always just thought of Martha as the most beautiful companion. Well, her and Victoria tie, I think.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

And here’s Steven Moffat briefly discussing this story and how it’s had some influence on him. Don’t watch until you’ve watched the final part as it contains spoilers.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Yes. It now sounds like anyone who was on the site from around 11pm UK time last night until 7am UK time today should do a thorough virus scan.

I’m just glad I found out about it as soon as I got up this morning. I’ve now taken extra security steps to stop it happening again. Unfortunately they get more devious by the day.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@janetteb @thekrynoidman @fatmaninabox I don’t know what the purpose of the hack was I just know some files were changed.

It might be worth running a full virus scan just in case it could have installed some malware on your computers.

Once again, apologies.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Hi all,

The site had a minor hack last night and I had to roll it back slightly to best get rid of it. Unfortunately we may have lost some comments if any were made yesterday evening.

Apologies for this if you lost anything.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip Done. Sorry for being a bit slow.

@stickfiddler As Bluesqueakpip said, there’s only one place for spoilers on this forum and I’m afraid we count almost any information about upcoming episodes as spoilers. Now me, I don’t care, but some people don’t even want to watch the trailers. So we try to be respectful to all here. But believe me, there’s a lot of cool stuff on the spoilers thread if you’re into that.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@thekrynoidman I think there may be the briefest of brief glimpse of red briefs. But then we’ve already had Leela’s wet blouse and Zoe’s tight catsuit to cope with in our BG watch.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@phaseshift Glad you’re keeping tabs on things. I have no idea what’s been nominated so far. My busy period at work is almost over though and soon I can start paying attention again, from the back of the class.

I love The Ark In Space because it’s the first story that I really ‘got’ at my young age. However, I watched it again recently and while it’s still brilliant I don’t need to watch it again so soon. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to check out some BG Who though. I’m happy to post if that’s how the vote goes though.

Then my parents took me to Hong Kong for two years so I missed a lot of stories I’ve not caught up on. Pyramids of Mars is one I’ve never seen and I’ve been telling myself I really need to check out, given all the good reviews.

Genesis of the Daleks is almost always brought out as the classic Tom Baker story but I’d kinda like to avoid it just for that reason. But I’m quite happy to be overruled if a lot of people want to discuss it.

City of Death I would also be happy with. It’s been ages since I’ve seen it and there’s a lot to be discussed, not least Douglas Adams, Julian Glover, John Cleese and Eleanor Bron – and another timey-wimey story.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@wolfweed Many thanks, I was just thinking about doing something myself. It’s great and now proudly graces the Home page.

And yes, Moffat’s minisodes seem to have been completely defined by the first scene with The Doctor in this episode.

I’ll post the interview with Moffat where he discusses this story and the influence it had on him once we watch the final episode as it does contain a lot of spoilers.

@bluesqueakpip @phaseshift I did wrestle with the idea of posting the Special Edition, especially as it looks so much better, but in the end decided that as it’s a retrospective we should have the original with all its faults. But I love the Special Edition and think it’s a great idea to also post it so we can compare and contrast. And the Dalek voices ARE a million times better.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

So the friend I was supposed to be seeing for lunch today came down with some sort of vomiting thing. I really didn’t think I had that effect on people but obviously I do. Instead I’ve been catching up on lectures by Neil deGrasse Tyson on YouTube and watched a couple of movies. And I finally got around to watching “Warm Bodies”, the zombie love story between R and Julie (star-crossed lovers, they even have a balcony scene, just in case you didn’t get it).

It’s been on my list for a while but I’ve been avoiding it as I thought the whole idea was a bit stupid. And it IS stupid, really, really stupid. But at the same time it’s the best movie I’ve watched this week – it’s really, really charming, brilliantly played, and I had a grin on my face most of the way through. So if you’re looking for something non-taxing and darkly funny that will make you smile it comes recommended. Great soundtrack too. But don’t show it to the kids, it’s still pretty scary.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@whisht Yet another sort-of cover of Tomorrow Never Knows. The Chemical Brothers with Noel Gallagher. The working title was “Tomorrow Never Noels”.

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