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Traveling The Vortex Achievements

 

Because we are such gamers, we thought it would be fun to put together a set of achievements to celebrate our 50th episode.  For those not in the know, Microsoft’s XBOX 360 game system offers a set of achievements on games that can be unlocked by completed certain tasks.  Each achievement is based on a point value depending on the complexity of the task, which add to your overall gamer score.  Gamer score is worth absolutely nothing, other than bragging rights with you and your friends.  And so, because we know you all like to have bragging rights, here’s 500 more gamer points up for grabs.  How many do YOU qualify for?

Missing Episodes Recovered! No Joking!

!From http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho

Two classic episodes of Doctor Who – thought to be missing forever – have been returned to the BBC archive.

Episode 3 of the William Hartnell adventure “Galaxy 4” and Episode 2 of Patrick Troughton’s “The Underwater Menace” were purchased by film collector Terry Burnett at a village fete near Southampton in the early 80s. He had been unaware that the canisters contained material missing from the BBC.

Thanks to the kind loan by Mr Burnett, the classic footage has been shown today at the British Film Institute’s annual “Missing Believed Wiped” event at the National Film Theatre in London. Host at the event was Doctor Who writer and actor Mark Gatiss who said: “Christmas has come early for Doctor Who fans everywhere. It’s always wonderful when a missing episode turns up but it’s been years since the last one so to have two is just brilliant. Add to that a proper bit of action from the legendary Chumblies (and the horrifying Rills!) plus the utterly mesmeric Patrick Troughton on great form. Well, what more could we all ask for?”

Read more here!

Doctor Who Video Game!

We’re all gamers here at Traveling the Vortex, and have often spoke of a LEGO Doctor Who game. Well it may not be LEGO but BBC Worldwide has teamed up with Supermassive Games to release a console based game called “Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock” exclusively for the Playstation 3, PC and Sony’s new handheld device, Vita.

It looks like it won’t be disk based, bu a downloadable title.  The game will also feature the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) and River Song (Alex Kingston). And according to the press release “Gamers must learn to master the complexities of time travel with exceptional time based game play, changes made in one time will impact another creating multiple possibilities and challenging players to solve puzzles across the centuries.”

Supermassive Games is no newbie to the Console either…they have created user packs for Little Big Planet 2, as well as Start the Party, and Start the Party 2. The game is set to be released early 2012. Below is the first teaser trailer for the game.

Supermassive Games website

BBC World Wide’s Press Release

Friday Night Who 12/9/11

Tonight’s #FridayNightWho stars seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred as Ace.  Lots of history in this one referencing the first Doctor era, as two competing Dalek factions hunt for a Time Lord artifact on Earth!

We push play on #RemembranceOfTheDaleks at Midnight, CST. Join @vortexkeith, @vortexglenn, @vortexshaun and @travelvortex on Twitter for the live conversation!

Traveling The Vortex Turns 50

This weekend will mark the 50th episode of Traveling The Vortex, and we have many ideas in the works to make it a special episode, but would like some suggestions from you, our listeners on how to make it even MORE special.  Shoot us an email, tweet or Google voice message and let us know what you think we should do, or heck, just wish us congratulations on the mile stone! As always, we couldn’t do it without you, our number one fans!

Doctor Who Fiction (Magnetic Poetry Style) Contest!

So recently while dusting the top of my refrigerator, I found an old Magnetic Poetry kit.

(One: don’t judge me for owning magnetic poetry, I’ll bet lots of you do to!  Two: yes, I do clean.)

Well I realized that I hadn’t seen this set in like three years!

(Three: I do clean, but I guess that doesn’t speak well of how often I do the top of my refrigerator.)

ANYWAY, I thought it would be fun to toss the magnets up on the fridge and see if anyone still played with them.  And as is frequently the case when I’m left alone around words, the creative side of my brain took over and started writing.  So I snapped a picture of the finished product to post for all of you here.  (It’s a bit rough obviously, as these kits don’t always contain the words you want or need to pull the imagery off, but at the same time, that’s part of the fun!)

And now, a challenge!  I’m betting that those of you who DO have magnetic poetry kits lying around could probably come up with your own Doctor Who themed poem, so I want you all to do the same!  Line those magnets up and snap a picture and email it to shaun@travelingthevortex!  I’ll get them posted here, and then we’ll vote on them.  The writer of the winning poem will win a Traveling The Vortex *Prize Package of GAME SHOW proportions!  The contest will run through December 31, 2011!  Winner to be announced next year…

* NOTE – Our lawyers (if we had any) would probably disallow me to use the term “Prize Package of GAME SHOW proportions” in a post, since there is in actuality NO prize package and if there was one, it would certainly NOT be of game show proportions.  They’d bring up a lot of terms like “illegal” and “fraudulent” and “false advertising” and probably force us to run the contest just for silly fun.  Lucky for you I don’t own the “law speak” Magnetic Poetry kit, so those words are pretty meaningless to me anyways.

 

Doctor Who – Christmas Day at 7:00pm in the UK

From www.bbc.co.uk

It’s been confirmed that The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe will be on BBC ONE on Christmas Day at 7:00pm.
As reported, the Christmas Special was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Farren Blackburn. It stars Matt Smith as the Doctor, alongside Claire Skinner, Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir, Alexander Armstrong, Paul Bazely, Holly Earl and Maurice Cole.

More details as they emerge along with exclusive interviews with the cast and crew, but right now you can see the trailer here.

Doctor Who North America DVD Releases

From tvshowsondvd.com

Early in October we revealed that – according to word at Amazon.ca, the Canadian branch of the mega e-tailer – the classic Who titles on the March slate would start with 3 “revisitation” titles: Doctor Who – Story #037: The Tomb Of The Cybermen: Special Edition (Patrick Troughton’s 2nd Doctor), Doctor Who – Story #065: The Three Doctors: Special Edition (Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor joining forces with the 1st and 2nd Doctors against Omega) and Doctor Who – Story #090: The Robots Of Death: Special Edition (Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor.

Today the BBC has confirmed that these will indeed be released on March 13th, exactly as we previously reported. But we’ve learned that they will be joined by a fourth title as well: the new-to-DVD release of Doctor Who – Story #089: The Face of Evil, starring Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor and introducing the character of companion “Leela”, played by Louise Jameson.

To read more, click here!


Happy 48th Birthday, DOCTOR WHO

On November 23rd, 1963, a little show was launched on the BBC.  It came on the heels of the coverage of the Kennedy assassination, was in fact, the first thing shown following that event, so maybe that explains why it has taken root so deeply.  Perhaps a little fun and frivolity and a little hope and joy, a look at life through those rose collared glasses was needed after that black day.

But whatever the reason, the show survived.  It has stayed with us for 48 years, and we are all better people for it.  So a big, heart felt thank you to everyone who has been associated with the show through the years, and here’s hoping for 48 more…

Happy Anniversary, Doctor Who.

Vortex Event Horizons: The Doctor and Donna and Daleks, Oh My!

Coming up on the Vortex horizon…

Three weeks of Daleks coming up on Friday Night Who! This week’s post Thanksgiving slot (11/25 will be the 5th Doctor entry,”Resurrection Of The Daleks” (especially apt since this week also marks Chicago Tardis, staring none other than Peter Davison.  The following week 12/2 is 6th Doctor Colin Baker’s outing “Revelation Of The Daleks”.  And that means the masterpiece “Remembrance Of The Daleks” starring 7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy is on 12/9.

On the show front, next week’s episode #48 has us hitting the highlights of Chicago Tardis (still time to let us know if you are going and would like to act as a correspondent!) and reviews of fourth season episodes “The Doctor’s Daughter” and “The Unicorn And The Wasp”.  Number 49 contains our reviews of “Midnight” and “Turn Left”, along with a recap of two we’ve already done, the River Song introductory stories “Silence In The Library” and “Forrest Of The Dead”.  We figured it was important for Donna’s character development for Keith to revisit these in order, not to mention we can hunt for all the hidden nuggets Moffat was sure to have planted early for River.  And the BIG 5-0 episode is an Adversary Archive on the Daleks (and a certain megalomaniac) as we go back and cover the Friday Night Who’s of the last three weeks.

After that, we set up our exit strategy for season four and the end of the year.  Expect some holiday cheer, Paul McGann and our first BIG FINISH reviews!

Friday Night Who (Chicago Tardis) 11/25 – Resurrection of the Daleks

Traveling The Vortex #48 (Chicago Tardis) – The Doctor’s Daughter, The Unicorn And The Wasp

FNW 12/2 – Revelation Of The Daleks

TTV #49 – Midnight, Silence In The Library, Forrest Of The Dead, Turn Left

FNW 12/9 – Remembrance Of The Daleks

TTV #50 (Anniversary Episode!) – Adversary Archive: Davros – Resurrection Of The Daleks, Revelation Of The Daleks, Remembrance Of The Daleks

Friday Night Who 11/18/11

Join @vortexglenn, @vortexshaun, @vortexKeith and @travelvortex for the live tweet-a-long to #SontaranStratagem and #PoisonSky two-parter featuring tenth Doctor David Tennant for this week’s #FridayNightWho. We push play at Midnight, CDT.Oh and look! Wet, naked Martha will be there too!

Happy Birthday Steven Moffat!

“Are you my mummy?”

“Oh, you are beautiful! No really, you are, you’re gorgeous! Space-age clockwork, I love it, I’ve got chills! Listen, I mean this from the heart- and by the way, count those- it would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that won’t stop me.”

“Don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. Good Luck. ”

“What have you done to my TARDIS? You’ve changed the desktop theme, haven’t you? What’s this one? Coral? It’s worse than the leopard skin.”

“Your eyes. You’re younger than I’ve ever seen you.”

“Everyone knows that everyone dies. And nobody knows it like the doctor. But I do think that all the skies in all the worlds might just turn dark, if he ever accepts it.”

“Amy Pond, there’s something you’d better understand about me cause it’s important, and one day your life may depend on it: I am definitely a mad man with a box!”

“You look human.”  “No, you look Timelord. We came first.”

“A needle in a haystack.”  “A needle that looks like hay. A haylike needle of death. A haylike needle of death in a haystack of… statues. No, yours is fine.”

“Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir.”

“Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica takes the Universe! But, bad news everyone, ’cause guess who! Ha! Except, you lot, you’re all whizzing about, it’s really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because
[shouts louder] *I* *am* *talking*! [all ships stop] Now, the question for the hour is, “Who’s got the Pandorica?” Answer: I do. Next question: “Who’s coming to take it from me?” Come on, look at me! No plan, no backup, no weapons worth a damn, oh, and something else: I don’t have anything to lose! So, if you’re sitting up there in your silly little space ships with all your silly little guns, and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way! Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, *and then*, do the smart thing! [pause] Let somebody else try first.”

“It’s a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool.”

“Sorry, Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, ‘What the hell?’ Don’t worry; fat fellow will be doing the rounds later, I’m just scoping out the general chimney-ness.”

“…where according to Amy, there was ‘an unexpected house’.”

“Oh, this is how it all ends.  Pond flirting with herself.  True love at last.  Oh, sorry Rory.”

“I am being extremely clever up here and there’s no one to stand around looking impressed. What’s the point in having you all?”

“Oh and this is my friend River. Nice hair, clever, has her own gun. Oh, and unlike me she really doesn’t mind shooting people. I shouldn’t like that, kinda do a bit.”

“I have a message and a question. A message from the Doctor, and a question from me: *Where* *is* *my* *wife*?  Oh, don’t give me those blank looks. The Twelfth Cyber Legion monitors this entire quadrant. You hear everything. So you tell me what I need to know. You tell me now, and I’ll be on my way.”  “What is the Doctor’s message?”  [outside, the fleet begins exploding, startling the Cybermen] “Would you like me to repeat the question?”

“You’ve got a time machine, I’ve got a gun. What the hell. Let’s kill Hitler!”

“But you’re a fool nonetheless. It’s all still waiting for you: the fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh, and the question!”  “Goodbye, Dorium!”   [as Doctor exits] “The first question! The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight. The question you’ve been running from all your life. Doctor who? Doctor who? Doc-tor *who*?”

A very happy 50th Birthday to the man who gave us some of Doctor Who’s best lines, Steven Moffat.  But dont just take our word for it, try this video from katkrasner on YouTube, “To Seven Moffat, From Russia With Love” (best viewed in full screen high def).
 

A Doctor Who Movie?

Variety is reporting that David Yates (who directed the last 4 Harry Potter films, as well as various TV projects) has teamed with the BBC to make a feature film.

Yates told Variety that he is working with Jane Tranter, in developing the film.

This appears to be valid and has nothing to do with those crazy rumors about a Doctor Who movie starring Johnny Depp.

Yates goes onto say he wants to strip the story down to the basics and it will not be connected to the current run.

Read the full article here.

What do you think of this? Sound off in the comments or send us feedback!