Newsbuzz: JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORELL adaptation, Isaac Asimov's FOUNDATION and Tom Hardy's TABOO

The BBC are adapting Susanna Clarke's 2004 novel JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL into a seven-part series for next year. Peter Harness (Wallander) has written the scripts, which will star Eddie Marsan (as Mr Norrell) and Bertie Carvel (as Mr Strange), two Englishmen living in an alternate 19th-century, who help the British government in the war against Napoleon using magic. It will also star Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures), Marc Warren (Mad Dogs), Samuel West (Mr Selfridge) and Charlotte Riley (Wuthering Heights).

Review: BBC America's INTRUDERS • frustrating, beguiling sci-fi thriller

★★☆☆

Based a 2007 novel by British author Michael Marshall Smith, this paranormal mystery thriller has been developed by Glen Morgan; a writer best-known for his '90s partnership with James Wong, where they worked on The X-Files and Millennium. They're pursuing solo projects right now (Wong writes for American Horror Story), but INTRUDERS definitely feels like a throwback to the mid-'90s shows M&W were associated with—bleak, weird, unsettling, and set in the rainy Pacific Northwest.

Review: DOCTOR WHO, 8.1 – 'Deep Breath' • the same, but different

★★☆☆

THE DOCTOR: Look at the eyebrows! These are 'attack-eyebrows'. You could take bottle tops off with these!

The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) now prefers a buttoned-up collar with a conspicuous lack of a bow-tie (famously worn by his immediate predecessor, Matt Smith). This sartorial change suggests a new Time Lord with less clownish behaviour, and a return to the eccentric older gents who played the character pre-Peter Davison. Stepping into the role as the twelfth incumbent is lifelong fan Capaldi, whose combination of visible age, Scottish accent, and piercing stare gives DOCTOR WHO a welcome blast of seriousness, without slipping into darkness. Mostly.

BBC America order THE LIVING AND THE DEAD from co-creators of LIFE ON MARS

Writers Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham, who co-created Life on Mars and were responsible for its spin-off Ashes to Ashes, have had a paranormal drama picked up by BBC America. THE LIVING AND THE DEAD will concern Nathan Appleby; a "gentleman farmer" living in 1888 who's obsessed with proving the existence of an afterlife. This leads Appleby to investigate various supernatural events in Victorian England. The series will begin filming next year in the West Country of England.

Review: ALMOST ROYAL - sub-BORAT japes in the United States, what?

E4 have begun airing BBC America's faux-reality documentary ALMOST ROYAL, which follows fake British aristocrats Georgie (Ed Gamble) and Poppy Carlton (Amy Hoggart) on tour around the United States. They're stereotypically dim and over-privileged gentry, so the hope is that hilarity will ensue when they rub shoulders with common Americans—who, um, actually seem to politely tolerate the Carlton's stupidity (because of their accents?), or just assume their weirdness is down to cultural dissonance.

Trailer: BBC America's sci-fi drama THE INTRUDERS

The success of Orphan Black for BBC America has perhaps given the channel a taste for intellectual sci-fi, so here comes THE INTRUDERS from Glen Morgan (X Files, Millennium). It's based on a book series by Michael Marshall Smith and concerns a "secret society chasing immortality by seeking refuge in the bodies of others". In other words, someone made a book-turned-TV-show out of the explanation to 1999's Being John Malkovich?

Trailer: DOCTOR WHO – Series 8

I'm The Doctor. I've lived for over 2000 years. I've made many mistakes. It's about time that I did something about that.

The BBC have released the full Series 8 trailer for DOCTOR WHO, during half-time of the World Cup final. It offers our first good look at Peter Capaldi's new Doctor, plus some of the situations and villains he'll be facing. There are Daleks (of course), a gigantic T-Rex stomping across London, a cyborg with a blowtorch for a hand, an alien astronaut with eyes on stalks, and much more.

The Doctor lands... Saturday 23 August on BBC1 and BBC America. Excited?

DOCTOR WHO - 'The Time of The Doctor'

written by Steven Moffat | directed by Jamie Payne

Christmas episodes aren't usually the high-points of any Doctor Who series (2012's "The Snowmen" was a rare exception), but that's usually because they're designed to be broader than usual and slightly more accessible to non-fans—because a Christmas Day audience will naturally include lots of people who aren't under the show's spell. In many ways the festive special is the ideal recruitment opportunity. Unfortunately, "The Time of The Doctor" was a festive special only in the sense that writer Steven Moffat named a wintery town 'Christmas' on an alien world (a ridiculous flourish in an hour full of them). This was actually a very narrow-minded seasonal special, preaching to the chorus, so the swansong of the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) probably only pleased the Whovians who re-watch whole box-sets every few months and got a TARDIS tea cosy under their Christmas tree the morning this aired.

Trailer: DOCTOR WHO's 'The Time of The Doctor' and a Strax Field Report

BBC America have an exclusive trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas special (which is less than a week away already), and you can take a look above. There's not much here that sheds new light on "The Time of The Doctor", beyond how Orla Brady's villain apparently knows The Doctor from a past regeneration. And I guess it's promising we're seeing Clara's family in this episode, as that suggests she'll be less of a 'pretty riddle' and instead someone with a past and loved-ones. That worked well for recent Who companions Rose and Donna (Martha's family were a bit of an afterthought), so that bodes well for when Peter Capaldi's Doctor makes his bow.

Trailer: DOCTOR WHO's 'The Time of The Doctor' Christmas special

You wait months for new Doctor Who, then you can hardly ever escape it. The BBC have released the first trailer for this year's Christmas special, "The Time of The Doctor", which will see Matt Smith's incarnation regenerate into Peter Capaldi's twelfth. This trailer is perhaps most notable for showing us guest-star villain Orla Brady (Mistresses, Fringe) and revealing The Doctor appears to have fallen into a trap during 'the siege of Trenzalore'. Oh, and there are Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and The Silence to contend with. It's going to be a busy Christmas Day!

MSN TV: BBC1's DOCTOR WHO - 'The Day of The Doctor'

Today over at MSN TV: I've reviewed one of the most eagerly-anticipated TV events of the year -- the DOCTOR WHO 50th anniversary 3D spectacular, "The Day of The Doctor". Matt Smith is united with his predecessor David Tennant, with John Hurt and Billie Piper along for the ride...

A television show celebrating a half-centenary is rare, but doubly so for a drama that began life as a Saturday night schedule filler in 1963. In fact, it's worth remembering Doctor Who is the first show to cross this particular milestone. Hype and expectations for this anniversary special were sky-high, but no matter what your opinion is of showrunner Steven Moffat, he has the imagination, capability, and beating fan-boy heart to ensure a rousing spectacle with zip, wit and humour. And despite criticism Moffat tends to favour plot gymnastics over heartfelt emotion, I was heartened to find The Day of The Doctor built on relatable issues of regret, loss, hope, heroism, teamwork, and redemption.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

Trailer #2: DOCTOR WHO – 'The Day of The Doctor' extended version

In a surprise move, the BBC released a different Doctor Who trailer on Saturday evening—but it's not clear if this was because the intended one leaked overseas, forcing them to release it online earlier in the day. Or if this second one was always going to air on television, just not on the Sunday as expected. Whatever happened, there's a new trailer!

I don't think this one's quite as exciting as the first one, weirdly, although it does show far more of Matt Smith and David Tennant clowning around together. It feels like we're in for an entertaining double-act, with the rivalry played for laughs. Love that 'comparing the size of their sonic screwdrivers' scene, with the obvious phallic subtext. Tennant wins, right? His is a grower, not a shower.

Doctor Who's "The Day of The Doctor" is still going to be premiering around the world 23 November 2013. Nothing's changed. You can keep breathing.

Trailer: DOCTOR WHO – 'The Day of The Doctor' 50th anniversary special

Ahead of its televised debut tonight on BBC1 just before Atlantis, the official trailer for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary special, "The Day of The Doctor", has debuted online. Click above (as if you haven't already) to get a taste of what's in store!

Looks impressive, eh? Kind of like they've spent 5x the usual budget for a 75-minute pseudo-movie (which will indeed be shown in selected cinemas next Saturday). John Hurt looks great, there are clearly some epic battle sequences and special effects to be gawped at, the Zygons are present, Daleks, Gallifrey, and the glimpse of a fez'd Matt Smith and David Tennant together made me smile. I also appreciate how this trailer doesn't spoil the joy of seeing their two Doctors interacting, too, which was a worry. I want the actual episode to be where I feel the fun of that.

"The Day of The Doctor" debuts around the world, simultaneously in some territories, on 23 November 2013 at 7.50pm. (GMT)

MSN TV: BBC Three's ORPHAN BLACK

Today over at MSN TV: I've reviewed the first two episodes of BBC America's sci-fi clone drama ORPHAN BLACK, which has started its run on BBC Three.

Remember the Sarah Michelle Gellar drama, Ringer, in which she played the roles of twins who swap lives? No? That's hardly surprising, as it was a textbook guide on how to take a interesting concept and then ruin it over 22 excruciating episodes. I therefore wasn't expecting to enjoy Orphan Black, perhaps due to residual feelings of disappointment from how Sarah had let me down so badly. However, this pilot episode did a terrific job laying out the concept of an unusual identity switch and hooking audiences into its story and mystery, as it opens with streetwise Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) witnessing her doppelgänger jump to her death in front of a speeding train.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

DOCTOR WHO, 7.12 – 'A Nightmare in Silver'

After his superb Doctor Who debut "The Doctor's Wife" (one of the best episodes of Steven Moffat's era), expectations were unreasonably high for the sophomore effort of renowned author Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Neverwhere). Sadly, "A Nightmare in Silver" was an episode overburdened with nonsense and whimsy; quickly becoming both repetitive and tiring. The only thing it did well was improve the design and logic of the Cybermen as callous villains; even if most of its improvements came from Star Trek's own cybernetic nemesis The Borg.

DOCTOR WHO, 7.11 – 'The Crimson Horror'

This has been a good year for Mark Gatiss, with "The Crimson Horror" now surpassing his very enjoyable "Cold War" to become his best Doctor Who offering since "The Unquiet Dead" seven years ago. As a lover of Victoriana, Gatiss is on surer ground when dealing with this era; which lends itself so well to retro fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

DOCTOR WHO, 7.10 - 'Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS'

It has a title that evokes a thrilling Jules Verne adventure, and that's mostly what we got with Stephen Thompson's "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" (hereafter "Journey"); an eagerly anticipated episode because it promised to show us areas of the TARDIS beyond the console room. Most people know a thrifty BBC budget is what originally constrained Doctor Who's iconic time machine, leading to the master-stroke of it appearing outwardly smaller, but it became something of a running joke that you rarely see much of the interior, either--most notably with the frequent mentions of it having a swimming pool during Steven Moffat's era. And while there have been occasions where ancillary rooms or corridors were glimpsed (most notably during 'The Doctor's Wife' last series), "Journey" finally took viewers deep into the TARDIS, with The Doctor as a quasi-Willy Wonka guide and rescuer, and it was mostly worth the wait after half a century.

DOCTOR WHO, 7.9 - 'Hide'

After Neil Cross's disappointing "The Rings of Akhaten" (although I know it has its fans), he bounced back with this quasi-haunted house story "Hide". It was the first episode he wrote for Doctor Who, so perhaps this was an idea closest to his heart. I love it when the show scratches its horror itches, so really enjoyed how this episode evoked the mid-'70s Tom Baker era--in Hammer-influenced episodes like "Pyramids of Mars". There was also a dash of Nigel Kneale's Quatermass in Professor Palmer's character, and I later discovered Cross's original intention was for "Hide" to be an official crossover of the two classic British sci-fi shows. Shame that didn't happen.

TV Review: BBC America's ORPHAN BLACK

I wasn't expecting to enjoy Orphan Black quite as much as I did, perhaps due to residual feelings of disappointment in last year's similarly-themed Ringer. However, this pilot episode did a terrific job of laying out the concept and getting the audience involved in the story and mystery at its heart. Orphan Black concerns streetwise Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany), a young woman who witnesses her doppelgänger jump in front of a moving train. Having left the station with her double's handbag, Sarah makes the decision to assume the identity of the deceased Beth Childs--which results in her obtaining a $75,000 bank account, plush apartment, and a hunky boyfriend called Paul (Dyan Bruce). Unfortunately, it also means Sarah's thrown into the deep end when she realises Beth was a tough detective, and throws up difficulties for her eccentric foster brother Felix (Jordan Gavaris) and her insecure ex-boyfriend Vic (Michael Mando)...

DOCTOR WHO, 7.6 - 'The Bells of Saint John'

Doctor Who's 50th years kicks off with the concluding half of series 7 (which was frustratingly put on hiatus since late-September, not including the excellent Christmas Special). Unusually, "The Bells of Saint John" was an introductory episode for a new companion, who's already been seen in two incarnations beforehand--as futuristic omelette-maker Oswin in "Asylum of the Daleks" and Victorian governess Clara in "The Snowmen".

Here, Clara's (Jenna-Louise Coleman) properly introduced in her present-day form, given another of showrunner Steven Moffat's Harry Potter-style nicknames ('The Girl Twice Dead'), but oblivious to her former adventures with The Doctor (Matt Smith). She's essentially another River Song-style intellectual puzzle for The Doctor to solve, which will most likely have a convoluted and only half-satisfying explanation come the finale. Still, at least Clara's a spirited and smart-talking companion--similar to Amy, but far less reverential of The Doctor, and more intelligent (although her computer skills come courtesy of a plot contortion, not through education). Moffat does seem to have some boneheaded ideas about women's roles--so Amy the kissogram and would-be perfume model has been replaced by a sexy nanny? I suppose that's progress, of sorts...