"All the secrets you seek can be found here on the Webb"
"We found your message you're alive but what secrets 'D'you mean?
Race For Life For Elisabeth Sladen
Please give anything you can, so that in her untimely passing, Lis may still help others beat this awful disease.
Events like Race for Life are vital in funding Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer. By sponsoring us now you can help more people survive cancer..
Gift Aid it!.
If you are a UK taxpayer, please remember to tick the Gift Aid box when donating as this will increase your donation by at least 25% at no cost to you..
Every pound you donate really does make a difference – so please sponsor us now!.
Together we will beat cancer.
Thanking everyone who helps,
Sandy, Hanna, Emily, and Guinevere xx
(and of course Tommy Knight)"
PLEASE CLICK HERE:
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/sandyknight2904/?fb_ref=fundraising-page-top&fb_source=profile_oneline
PLEASE give what you can, thank you.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
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Doctor Who opener watched by 6.5m
The first episode in the new series of Doctor Who was watched by an average audience of 6.5 million viewers, according to overnight viewing figures.
On a sunny day in parts of the UK, that was down from the eight million recorded by overnight figures on Matt Smith's show debut in April 2010.
The Impossible Astronaut had an average audience share of 36.7%. Figures peaked at seven million.
The episode featured aliens partly inspired by Edvard Munch's The Scream.
BBC One viewers watched as Smith's Doctor was reunited with Karen Gillan's Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill's Rory Williams and Alex Kingston's River Song in 1960s America.
While final consolidated viewing figures - which include playback on recording devices - will push ratings higher, The Impossible Astronaut is likely to be the least watched series opener since Doctor Who was relaunched in 2005.
The new episode was described by the Daily Telegraph as a "wordy episode which concentrated more on atmosphere than pace and visual thrills".
Continue reading the main story
Doctor Who series openers since 2005
- 9.6m - The Eleventh Hour - 3/4/2010 (Matt Smith)
- 9.1m - Partners in Crime - 5/4/2008 (David Tennant)
- 8.7m - Smith and Jones - 31/3/2007 (DT)
- 8.6m - New Earth - 15/4/2006 (DT)
- 10.8m - Rose - 26/3/2005 (Christopher Ecclestone)
Source: Barb consolidated figures
Thanks, in part to "fizzing dialogue" and "a great concept" for a new monster, it was "a cracking start" to the new series, the paper added.
The Los Angeles Times, reviewing the programme because it is shown on BBC America, said Smith had "screwed into this role good and tight", praising his Doctor as "an ancient child, an unstable mix of authority and impulsiveness".
But Kevin O'Sullivan, writing in the Sunday Mirror, said the episode was called The Impossible Astronaut because it was "impossible to understand" complaining that "this ball of all-round confusion was no way to start a series".
The episode had been written for "strictly sci-fi nerds only", he added.
Saturday's episode began with a dedication to the memory of the late Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen who died of cancer this week at the age of 63.
The actress also appeared in four series of spin-off show The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC, which began in 2007.
At the end of the The Impossible Astronaut, a tribute to Sladen - who starred opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker as the Doctor's assistant between 1973 and 1976 - was screened on CBBC.
Saturday night's tribute featured Smith as well as his Doctor Who predecessor David Tennant.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
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The Silence
The Silence
- Other Names -- The singular form of Silence is Silent
- Home Planet -- Unknown
- Appearance
- A ghoulish mixture of the figure in Munch's The Scream and creatures from urban mythology known as 'men in black'.
-
- First Appearance:
- Most Recent Appearance:
The Silence are a terrifying race who invaded Earth at an undetermined point in our history. They have powers of telepathy and can kill using a deadly discharge from their hands. But every Silent has a far eerier ability...
Even if you see a Silent, you won't know you've spotted it as Silence somehow edit themselves from an observer's memory. Glimpse one of these creatures and you may feel slightly unsettled the moment it's out of view, but you won't remember anything about it. If and when you next see a Silent you may have a flashback to your first encounter, but again, when the Silent is out of view your mind will not recall ever seeing the alien.
Amy spotted a solitary Silent in modern day America and in 1969 River Song and Rory stumbled across a nest of Silence in a series of tunnels beneath the US. They are horrifyingly powerful killers... can the Doctor stop them?
Mr Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (1913 -1994) was the 37th President of the United States, in office from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he was the only US President to resign the office.
He is remembered by most as the President of the United States who came undone over the Watergate scandal. But a few recall him as the President who was involved in the incident of 'the big blue box in the Oval Office'.
In 1969, for a period of about two weeks, wherever Nixon was he received a mysterious call warning him about monsters and expressing fears about a spaceman. When the Doctor overheard him telling Canton Everett Delaware III about the calls it began a search which led from the White House to a mysterious set of tunnels hiding a dreadful secret...
Find out more about Richard Nixon
Watch Online–The Impossible Astronaut online live
PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT TTHIS MAY NOT WORK AND FOR SURE WILL NOT BE HIGH QUALITY BUT IF U WANNA WATCH THEN FEEL FREE
Live Videos by Ustream
Elisabeth Sladen Obituary
Actor whose role with Doctor Who brought her new audiences through The Sarah Jane Adventures
Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith with Jon Pertwee in the Doctor Who story The Time Warrior, 1973-74. Photograph: BBC Pictures Archives
The actor Elisabeth Sladen, who has died aged 65 of cancer, was for many a favourite companion of BBC television's great time traveller,Doctor Who. But though her character, Sarah Jane Smith, was much missed when her three years of voyaging in the Tardis came to an end in 1976, there was still more to come.
An inquisitive, independent, feminist journalist, Sarah Jane provided a somewhat bolder sidekick than previously. The producer Barry Letts had seen hundreds of candidates for the part: many had shown the necessary vulnerability, and others bravery, but only Sladen displayed both. When Russell T Davies revived Doctor Who in 2005, he wanted to show Billie Piper's character, Rose, that she was not the only person to have travelled with the Doctor, and it was Sladen he turned to. Working with her proved so enjoyable that he conceived a spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, which has run for four series since 2007, seen initially on CBBC, with three more stories yet to be shown.
Born in Liverpool, Sladen attended drama and dancing courses at theElliott-Clarke school from an early age, making an appearance with the Royal Ballet, and performing as an extra in the 1965 film Ferry Cross the Mersey. She became an assistant stage manager for the Liverpool Playhouse repertory company, where she met the actor Brian Miller, and in 1968 they married.
Repertory company work in Manchester – notably as Desdemona in Othello – and Liverpool was followed by two seasons working for Alan Ayckbourn in Scarborough. When Miller got a West End job, the couple settled in London, and in the early 1970s, after six episodes as Len Fairclough's barmaid girlfriend in Coronation Street, Sladen obtained television roles in Special Branch, Public Eye, Doomwatch, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Z-Cars. Her professionalism and versatility in the latter led to a recommendation to Letts, for whom she provided stability when Jon Pertwee handed over the role of the Doctor to Tom Baker. It was a daunting time for the newcomer, and he greatly appreciated her kindness.
When the moment came for her to leave the programme, she did so in an impressively underplayed scene of suppressed emotion with Baker. Work continued, in the drama Send in the Girls (1978, appearing opposite Miller), in comedies – Take My Wife (1979) and In Loving Memory (1980) – and in the classic serials Gulliver In Lilliput (1982, as Lady Flimnap) and Alice in Wonderland (1986, as Dormouse), both for Letts at the BBC. She also presented 98 episodes of the children's series Stepping Stones (1978-79) for Yorkshire TV.
Her return to the Doctor Who cosmos came in 1981, when the popular robot dog K-9 was given his own pilot programme, K-9 and Company, and so needed Sarah Jane as a human lead. Despite good ratings, the show was not taken further, but Sladen was soon reunited with Pertwee for Doctor Who's 20th anniversary story, The Five Doctors, a pair of Radio 2 drama series (1993 and 1996), and the Children in Need special, Dimensions in Time (1993). She also had roles in The Bill (1989), Men of the World (1994) and four episodes of Peak Practice (1996), observing good-humouredly that the fans who watched her as children were now working in the industry and giving her jobs.
The firm Big Finish's series of audio stories for Sarah Jane, released on CD and via online download, gave her a way of sustaining the character. Then Davies asked her to appear in the television series' successful revival. Proprietorial of Sarah Jane, Sladen was reluctant to return for what she suspected would be a jokey, fleeting cameo, and was pleasurably surprised to discover that she would be the guest lead in the episode School Reunion (2006).
Sladen once again displayed the pluckiness and vulnerability that had made her so popular, and Davies came up with The Sarah Jane Adventures. For four series she did battle with teatime-friendly aliens alongside her teenage sidekicks, including a cloned alien boy genius she adopted as her son. The series was a huge success, and latterly was graced with cameos from the later Doctors David Tennant and Matt Smith, and, in his final TV appearance, Nicholas Courtney, another favourite as the imperturbable Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. In the parent series, Sladen joined Tennant for the 2008 finale and his departure from the role on 1 January 2010.
Sladen was a popular convention guest and contributor to the enhanced versions of programmes that appeared on DVD. When she learned that Letts was very ill, she persuaded the producers to reunite her with him for the commentary on his favourite story, Planet of Spiders, which had been Pertwee's swansong and also featured Courtney.
She is survived by Brian and their daughter, Sadie.
• Elisabeth Sladen (Elisabeth Claira Heath-Sladen), actor, born 1 February 1946; died 19 April 2011
• This article was amended on 21 April 2011. The original did not give her name at birth in full, and said that she was born in 1948, making her age at death 63. These points have been corrected.
DOCTOR WHO FOR AMERICA
For Americans: Doctor Who is on in
just over 24 hours. Saturday, 9pm,
BBC America. RT and spread the word!
Shock at Midnight
We've been given special permission to run three new images at one minute past midnight tonight - astonishing images that will have you wishing you could leap in a TARDIS and go straight to 6pm on Saturday evening.
Steven Moffat (Lead Writer and Executive Producer) has talked about big shocks and 'game-changers' in this series and our photos from The Impossible Astronaut show he wasn't joking! Don't worry if you're not a night owl - the images and accompanying feature will be there in the morning.
These stunning new images underline the fact that the Doctor's return is absolutely unmissable. What's going on? Find out when The Impossible Astronaut lands on BBC ONE on Saturday at 6pm. Immediately after the jaw-dropping cliff-hanger, switch over to CBBC to watch My Sarah Jane: A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen, a 15-minute special that celebrates and commemorates the life of one of Doctor Who's most cherished actresses.
Following this, at 7pm on BBC Three, Doctor Who Confidential is back! And if you can't wait a whole week until the stunning finale to the series' opening adventure, come right back to this site because from 6.45pm on Saturday we're bringing you exclusive preview clips of Day of the Moon, plus a special video with cast and crew giving you the low down on this incredible episode. Plus, there'll be the latest trailer and images from the adventure.
We'll also have some extras from The Impossible Astronaut... A new monster page for the Silence and the first entry in a new range: The Fourth Dimension. There'll a Silent mask for you to download and don't forget the jigsaw and screensaver are available now.
If you're interested in artwork you can check out a video which gives a sequence of storyboards besides the finished scene and we'll also have an exclusive video of Matt Smith, behind the scenes in the Oval Office...
It all starts at six tonight!
David Tennant: Busby Babes Drama
Munich air tragedy remembered in TV drama
By Neil Smith Entertainment reporter, BBC News
The true story of Manchester United's famous 'Busby Babes' and the 1958 plane crash in Munich that claimed eight of their lives is recreated in new BBC film United.
We report from the set of the TV drama, in which Dougray Scott appears as manager Matt Busby and David Tennant plays coach Jimmy Murphy.
On a park in east London, a group of young men are spending a very chilly Monday morning playing football.
It might be any friendly kickabout, were it not for the heavy leather ball, their old-fashioned kits and the cameras filming them do it.
"The ball is not yours, it's the team's!" exhorts a tall onlooker in a blue tracksuit. "The ball is round to go around!"
The accent might sound Welsh but the features are unmistakably Gallifreyan, belonging as they do to former Doctor Who star David Tennant.
On the touchline stands another figure in a grey Trilby and tan overcoat. On closer inspection, he is revealed to be the Scottish actor Dougray Scott.
For the purposes of today, though, he is Matt Busby - the legendary Manchester United manager who will be forever synonymous with the players who perished in the Munich air disaster of February 1958.
At the time of the accident his team were on their way home from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade.
After a stop-off in Munich to refuel, the Ambassador prop-plane skidded off the runway on its third attempt to get airborne for the onward flight.
The crash, which resulted in 23 fatalities, remains the most tragic and emotive episode in the club's history.
Small wonder, then, that the makers of United insist they took pains to depict the event both tactfully and sensitively in their 90-minute drama.
"We've made every endeavour to be as accurate and truthful as possible in spirit and intention," says director James Strong.
'Respectful'
"We want this to be a fitting and appropriate memory of these amazing players, this amazing team and this amazing story that a lot of people are aware of."
"It's a fascinating period of Manchester United's history and a fascinating period of football in general," Scott agrees.
"It's an interesting and important story. The film-makers want to pay homage to that and be respectful to all the people involved."
Among those people is Bobby Charlton, who walked away from a disaster in which seven of his team-mates died.
United staff, sports journalists and crew members were also killed. An eighth player, Duncan Edwards, survived the crash but died in hospital later.
United stops just short of recreating the crash, limiting itself to dramatising events immediately preceding and following it.
Yet its scenes of burning debris, dead bodies and wounded victims makes it a harrowing watch every Manchester United fan is sure to have an opinion about.
The drama goes on to show Murphy, who was not involved in the accident, rebuilding the decimated team as Busby recovers from his injuries and Charlton grapples with his grief.
For all the tragedy, though, United is not without humour, scenes in which alcohol is swigged before matches and pipes are puffed in the changing room offering a light-hearted commentary on how the beautiful game has changed over the years.
'Long overdue'
"On a very basic level it's a true story," says Tennant. "But it also looks at the arbitrary nature of fate, the capriciousness of life and the triumph of the human spirit.
"It's extraordinary that the story hasn't been dramatised before. There's never been a straightforward film or TV drama about this extraordinary dramatic story and it's long overdue."
Most of United was shot before Christmas in and around the North East of England. Because of heavy snow, though, Strong was unable to get footage of his players actually playing.
"Unfortunately we picked the worst winter in living memory so we didn't manage to shoot any football stuff," he explains. "There was literally snow on every single pitch."
"It's a bit tricky when you're making a film about football which, inevitably, has to be shot outside now and again," says Tennant.
"There were a few scenes that had to hang over so we could find a patch of grass to shoot them on."
The scenes in question feature in a training montage that shows Murphy putting his charges through their paces.
The footage is also included in a cinema newsreel about Busby's fresh-faced team shown prior to their European trip - the calm before a storm that to some is as raw today as it was more than five decades ago.
Yet if there is any pressure on Scott's shoulders, the 45-year-old is wearing it well as we take refuge from the cold in his well-heated trailer.
"The only responsibility I feel is to portray Matt Busby as truthfully as possible with all the tools I have available to me," he says in his low Scottish burr.
"I'm not the writer; I'm just an actor. My job as an actor is to try and bring this character to life."
United can be seen on BBC Two on Sunday 24 April at 2100 BST
Thursday, 21 April 2011
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