Photos from Planet Comicon

Sorry for the delay, but I finally have the photos downloaded off the camera and posted to our FACEBOOK site from our recent trip to the Kansas City Planet Comic Con. Here’s one of the group, and one of me and Mel with guest Jeremy Bulloch, who played the original Boba Fett and Hal The Archer in the Doctor Who episode “The Time Warrior”.

 

Click HERE if you’d like to see the rest of them!

Announcing: Friday Night Who

In keeping with Glenn and my fond remembrances of watching Doctor Who at midnight on Fridays on our local public television station, we’ve decided to reinstate the practice! Join us on twitter tonight for “The Time Warrior” for live tweets as we watch the introduction of Sarah Jane Smith. (Coincidentally, this ties in with our upcoming Sunday recording of our first Companion Archive. It’s like a homework study group!)

Each Friday night, we’ll catch another episode. Sorry for those across the pond who may not be awake by the time Midnight rolls around here in the midwest, but we wanted to keep the ambiance from our youth.

Lost Doctor Who Tapes Found in Kansas Salt Mine

A Wichita newspaper is reporting that a large cache of Doctor Who stories, once thought lost in the BBC archive purge of the late 60’s and early 70’s, have been found in a vault in the Morton Salt mines in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Parts of the excavated mine are currently used by a company named Underground Vaults and Storage has been storing films for major studios for years. Just a year ago seven minutes of lost footage from Stanly Kubrick’s 1969 film 2001: A Space Odyssey was found in the vault.

It’s believed the lost Doctor Who stories are video taped copies of the program sent to the PBS station KPTS in the 1970’s to be shown to American audiences.

Some of the stories recovered include: from the first Doctor’s era – Marco Polo, The Daleks’ Master Plan, The Tenth Planet, and from the second Doctor’s era The Highlanders and The Wheel in Space, among several others.

Doctor Who fans worldwide should be rejoicing over this wonderful find.

Oh, by the way, Happy April Fools Day.

Talk About Epic!

Well we’ve been a little lax on posting some recent stuff that has been release…so first off as you heard us discuss in episode 13 of Traveling the Vortex…a prequel video was released….click here if you haven’t watched it yet.

And today a new Full Length Trailer has been released for season 6. Beware of spoilers!

What do you think of these videos? Let us know!

Episode 13 – The Doctor Lends a Hand

In this weeks episode we’ll discuss the announced release date for Torchwood: Miracle Day.

Also, a review of the prequel trailer to The Impossible Astronaut.

And finally a review of the Tenth Doctor’s first few episodes.

Note: We are having some issues with the server that hosts the podcast for the feed. If you are not able to download this week’s episode you can listen in the player below or download it from here.

Episode 13 – The Doctor Lends a Hand.mp3

Traveling The Vortex Traveling To Kansas City Planet Comicon

The hosts (and friends) of Traveling The Vortex will be attending this years Planet Comicon in Kansas City, the areas largest nerdfest. While we are not there in an official capacity, (we thought getting a table for our 12 episode strong podcast was a bit pretentious) but if you are in the area and planning to attend on Saturday, please say hi! We’ll be the ones dressed like geeks. (should be very easy to spot in this crowd!)

http://www.planetcomicon.com/

The Miracle Starts 7/8/11

Thanks to the Doctor Who News page for alterting us that Starz has annouced the premire date for the fourth season of Torchwood will be 7/8/2011 in the states.

Torchwood Miracle Day brings the Doctor Who spin off stateside, focusing on a more international feel. There is no word yet on when the show will premire in the UK.

Returning to the show are John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness and Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper. Joining them this time out will be Mekhi Phifer (“ER,” “Lie to Me”), Bill Pullman (Independence Day, The Grudge), Wayne Knight (Juassic Park, “Seinfield”) and, in an extended guest role, Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under,” The Other Woman).

More details to come…

For those of you following along at home…

Okay, in case you missed the madcap recap within episode 12, here’s what’s on tap for us to review in the up coming weeks:

Episode 13 this coming week will see Keith’s proper introduction to David Tennant, with the 1st Children in Need Special, The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, and Tooth And Claw.

The following week episode 14 is special because it will be our first Companion Archive. (or should that be Chronicle? Companion Chronicle. I like that. [shouts over shoulder] “Glenn! Does ‘Companion Chronicle’ belong to anybody? If not, copywrite it!” Anyway, our first companion focus will be on the ever popular Sarah Jane Smith and K9. So, we need to know what episodes we should watch! We’re pretty set on The Hand Of Fear and The Invisible Enemy, Sarah’s swan song and K9s introduction stories, (this will also (finally) introduce Keith to Tom Baker). We’re also gonna try and throw A Girl’s Best Friend into the mix, the pilot episode for the unrealized spin off series K-9 and Company. But we need one more good Sarah Jane adventure. What do you think of these:

The Time Warrior
Robot
Pyramids Of Mars
The Android Invasion

Be sure to vote in the poll and let us know which one to add!

Episode 15 has all the homework with Sarah Jane and K9 pay off, as we jump back to David Tennant’s series 2 for School Reunion, The Girl In The Fireplace, Rise Of The Cybermen and The Age Of Steel.

Then, the following week brings us episode 16 and another Adversary Archive, this one featuring of course, The Cybermen. And what better way to do the Cybermen than with Patrick Troughton stories Tomb Of The Cybermen, The Invasion, and Peter Davidson’s Earthshock?

And then FINALLY, Episode 17 becomes primed for the RETURN OF MATT SMITH IN SERIES SIX. Happy viewing!

(and please bear in mind this schedule is subject to change without notice. The time vortex is not always predictable. :))

Moffat Merits More Merit

If you’re tired of hearing about the boatload of awards the talented folks involved with Doctor Who continue to win, skip this article. 🙂

The Official Doctor Who Website reports that Steven Moffat came up big at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards earlier this week, winning a prestigious Judge’s Award for his “outstanding contribution to television” and “incredible range” for show running Doctor Who.

The RTS panel said a few words about Steven Moffat’s accolade, noting, ‘The Judges’ Award is given for an outstanding contribution to television, and there are few screenwriters in the world whose work boasts the same incredible range as tonight’s recipient. Equally at home with horror, detective stories, situation comedy, action adventure and sci-fi, this year’s winner is an author in the truest sense of the word… Channelling all that he had learned about structure into shaping mind-bendingly brilliant sci-fi and thriller plots, as well as placing a funny man/straight man pairing at the centre of extraordinary and impossible circumstances, with his friend Mark Gatiss he invited an entirely new audience to claim Holmes and Watson as their own. And in his downtime reinventing Doctor Who to overwhelming critical and ratings success from the get-go.

There are few writers who would trade Steven Spielberg and Hollywood to work with the Daleks in Wales but this man did. Indeed, with a seemingly inexhaustible resource of utterly distinctive plots and the ability to use comedy liberally to form a devoted connection with the audience, our winner is living, typing proof of why television remains THE writer’s medium.’

Moffat’s “Sherlock” took home the prize for best drama, while Doctor Who spin-off “The Sarah Jane Adventures” won for best Children’s Program. The CBBC series stars Elizabeth Sladen as the Doctor’s former companion. The RTS panel said, ‘The winner was emotional and incredibly engaging – a wonderful drama that stands on its own as a terrific piece of storytelling. The cultural diversity of the cast, its high production values and creative storyline made it a joy to watch and kept you intrigued.’

Congratulations to Steven Moffat, the entire team behind The Sarah Jane Adventures and all the winners at this year’s RTS awards.

Celestial Toymaker Michael Gough Passes At 94

Doctor Who fans have lost another light in the firmament, as Michael Gough, the actor perhaps best known for his role as Alfred the butler in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) has passed. Gough may be more familiar to Who viewers as The Celestial Toymaker, from the William Hartnell serial of the same name, (which sadly, is one of many stories for which only fragments exist).

He would return to Doctor Who as Time Lord councilor Hedin in the Peter Davidson story, “Arc Of Infinity” (which coincidentally features future Doctor Colin Baker). Gough screen credits include the television shows The Saint and The Avengers, and movies Out Of Africa, Sleepy Hollow, and many of the Hammer Horror films. He most recently did voice work in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland.

Gough was 94. He will be missed.

Red Nose Day Special

In honor of Red Nose Day in the UK the BBC has put Doctor Who: Curse of Fatal Death on their website. Red Nose Day is March 18th and helps to raise money for those in need in the UK and Africa. To participate or contribute to the cause, you can go here: Red Nose Day