Our Sarah Jane

February 01, 1946 - April 19, 2011 via (WikiMedia Commons)

Nicholas Courtney (December 16, 1929 – February 22, 2011)

Courtney as Stewart via WikiMedia Commons

Nicholas Courtney, who is most known for his role as Lethbridge Stewart on  Doctor Who, passed away on Tuesday, February 22, 2011.  His first appearance on the program was the serial, The Daleks’ Master Plan,  which first aired on November 13, 1965, when his character was a Colonel, and he appeared on 107 episodes of the storied series.  His character was promoted to Brigadier in later stories.  His final Doctor Who appearance was in the serial, Battlefield, with the final part airing September 27, 1989.  His character made  another appearance  on the Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, December 2008.  Born December 16, 1929 in Cairo, Egypt, Courtney was the son of a British diplomat and  served in the British Army as a Private for 18 months.

Nicholas is survived by his second wife Karen, his son Phillip, and his daughter Bella.

More here and here.

Whoniverse Update: Here Comes the New Companion (and a Torchwood Preview)

And the new companion for Doctor Who will be

Matt Smith, the New Doctor is In

(C) BBC via TV Guide

January 4th, 2009
Author Troy Brownfield for Newsarama

TV Guide and BBC News report that the new Dr. Who has been named.  And, as expected, it’s . . . wait, who is this guy?  Twenty-six year old Matt Smith becomes the youngest of the 11 Doctors when his episodes begin to air in 2010.

Smith starts filming during the summer.  Present Doctor, the very popular David Tennant, will appear in four specials that will run throughout the year before Smith assumes the role on-screen.

YuleTide One Shot: Of SANTA and ODIN (KNIGHT RUPERT and BELSNICKEL too)

With 86% of Americans having a belief in Santa Klaus until age 8 (AP-AOL, 2006), Jolly Saint Nick is perhaps one of the most recognizable figures in the USA. The story goes that from the North Pole, Santa emerges from his House each year to dispense gifts to children who are obedient to their parents each year. His house according to North American lore is located in the North Pole, where he lives with his wife “Mrs. Klaus.” In workshop hidden from the world, meek elves in his employ make toys and other presents to the believing, which are delivered to Jolly Old Sat Nick some time before Christmas. When Christmas Eve arrives, Santa and his team of eight reindeer fly across the world. Santa enters home through chimneys and eats cookies left by children.

As written in the past few days, this tradition is not universal; i.e. reindeer do not live in the North Pole, factually, so many European traditions locate the Reindeer of Santa in Lapland, Finland. Originally, the figure celebrated for bringing holiday cheer for the British whom would colonize the US, was traditionally Father Christmas, whose origin was the 17th Century when The Protestant ban on Christmas feasts was lifted. He was a man draped regally as if he was royalty. The modern interpretation of Santa Klaus, a large jolly man full of spirit was only popularized in the mid 19th Century, but was iconized by the drawings of former Playboy illustrator Haddon “Sunny” Sundblom as ads for the Coca Cola Company in the 1930s. This was after Father Christmas and the legendary Bishop of Lycia, Turkey, Saint Nicholas of Myra were syncretized. Nicholas was a holy man reputed to have resurrected three children butchered and paid for the dowry of three women, thus preventing them from entering a life of slavery.

Knight Rupert, or Knecht Ruprecht, as he was named originally in German folklore, protects Santa Klaus with staves. He also uses his rod to discipline “misbehaving children.” Contrasting with Santa, Rupert wars dark colored clothes and has generally uncouth hair and facial hair. Due to his strong resemblance to Odin, he is believed to be a modernization of the Highfather so much to the extent that the NAZIs attempted to replace Santa with Rupert believing him to be a corrupted form of the ancient deity. In some traditions, Rupert and Santa have been merged (something like the fusions in Dragon Ball Z and the combining in Transformers I guess) into one entity: Ru Klaus (Eng: Rough Nicholas), who is both the giver of gifts and the dispenser of punishment. Knight Rupert is also linked with Saint Rupert in Switzerland.

Grant Morrison Talks IDW ‘Doctor Who’ Reprints, Possible Film Ideas

Disclaimer: The Editor-in-Chief of this site does not subscribe to the views MTV and VH-1, and the “culture” of beach bums and jocks presented by their programs. That said Splash Page seems to be getting great scoops on the sequential art (nee comic book) industry.

(C) Grant Morrison

Published by Jennifer Vineyard on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 4:25 pm for (Splash Page).

Before “The Invisibles,” before “Doom Patrol,” before “Animal Man,” even before “Zenith” — there was “Doctor Who.” Grant Morrison cut his teeth on the comic versions sprung from the TV version, writing three stories that 20-some years later, people still talk about. Accordingly, IDW is reprinting them, with the first issue collecting “Changes” and “Culture Shock,” now in color and currently in stores, with other early stories by Dave Gibbons soon to come. And now, Morrison wants to do more

“[These stories] were very early on, when I was starting to work in comics,” Morrison said. “And it came up because I met John Ridgeway through some other work [‘Liberators’] on Warrior, so it was kind of through John, he suggested it. I was a big ‘Doctor Who’ fan all my life, so it was a good fit, you know. I absolutely enjoyed doing it, and I would love to do more with ‘Doctor Who.’”

More comics? “Not necessarily as a comic, because I’ve done enough of it in the comics,” Morrison said.

As a novel, as was the rumor? “I’m not so keen on novels,” Morrison said. “I used to want to be someone who wrote novels, but I actually prefer comics. I like to dispense with descriptions and just have images.”

As a television episode? “If I was going to do it, I’d probably do the television version,” Morrison said. “That would be the thing to see. ‘Doctor Who’ for me was always about drama. It was about actually watching it on the television, and the fact that in Britain it was kind of a Saturday night ritual thing was a very primitive, sitting-around-the-campfire kind of feeling. I think that’s the aspect that I always liked: the fact that kids would be terrified, but at the same time, parents would watch it, and they would be able explain to the kids what it was they were terrified about. It was about the communal experience, and it’s become that again, since Russell T. Davies took over.”

Read more.

David Tenant’s resignation as Doctor

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s best-known time traveler is ending his journey.

The BBC has announced that Scottish actor David Tennant will leave long-running science fiction series “Doctor Who” in just over a year.

Tennant has played the show’s time- and space-traveling alien hero since 2005. He will appear in a Christmas special and four hour-long episodes to be aired in 2009 and early 2010. But he said Wednesday that when the series returns for a full season in 2010, “it won’t be with me.”

“This show has been so special to me,” Tennant said. “I don’t want to outstay my welcome.”

“Doctor Who” was first broadcast in 1963 and is one of the BBC’s longest-running and most popular programs. Tennant is the 10th actor to play the title character, who has the power to regenerate in a new body.

Classically trained Tennant, 37, is currently starring in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The Invisible Web Episode 18 (2.09) Our Great Podio Horror

The Invisible Web Episode 18 (02.09): Our Great Podio Horror

On this episode of the Invisible Web I celebrate Midsummer’s Day with the odd synchronicities of the holiday. I also review two movies an episode of a legendary BBC Science fiction television series. BAD WOLF~!

The Voluspa featuring Fenrir, from the Poetic Edda.

Fenrir @ Godchecker

Happy St. John’s Day, from Cryptomundo

Happy Solstice/ Midsummer’s Day et all

Doctor Who @ Sci Fi Dot Com

New York Asian Film Festival going to July 3 at IFC (and from July 3 – 6 at the Japan Society)

Pre-order DIY Totemism by Lupa!

Meta-Magick: The Book of Atem – NOW AVAILABLE!

Believe it or not another episode will be released this weekend focusing on Pro Wrestling and some MMA.

The Invisible Web Series Two Episode Two (11): The Doctor Visits

The Doctor, Keith Lipinski makes a house call to the Invisible Web. We discuss the origins of Doctor Keith. Doing time with New Jack. WSX wackiness~! And what would Keith do if he was a space-traveling Time Lord (especially with the F4W staff)?

Listen or download here.

(C) Keith?

KayFabulous, home of the Doctor Keith Lipinski Show

Big Vision Entertainment

ending theme artist:Dick Justice