Doctor Who meets STAR TREK!

Doctor Who / Star Trek!

So Captain Picard and the Doctor walk into a bar… well it could happen now with the crossover that could have Trekkies and Whovians wetting themselves with anticipation. From IDW comes StarTrek and Doctor Who… where Amy meets Data, where Rory meets Picard, where the TARDIS meets the Enterprise. The first issue displaying the Enterprise chasing the TARDIS through the time vortex. This officially licensed crossover has the Cybermen teaming up with their copycats, err… new partners, the Borg, to try and take over the universe. Assimilation squared. 

We are currently taking pre-orders in store and online due to the huge demand. We will also be receiving a limited number of variants, so make sure to grab them if you're a collector of amazing artwork from the Whovian/Trekkie universes for this, the first ever Doctor Who crossover with another sci-fi entity, in which the Next Generation meets the 11th Doctor.


Personally? I'm excited to read the lines "Doctor's log, star date..."

E-Mail us, phone us, tweet us or pop in store and pre-order now for this, sure to be amazing series!

Gary Russell Signing! 21st April 2012

Gary Russell Signing

Before 2005, there was one main name in Doctor Who books, and that was Gary Russell. Recently our Comic Guru went 'under the covers' in a series of interviews with Gary Russell ahead of our signing with the Doctor Who supremo on April the 21st.

Before 2005, the biggest selling Doctor Who book, was the novelisation of the 1998 Paul mcGann movie, written by Russell himself, and with only one copy left of the fantastic novelisation, and our Gary Russell signing coming up, you might want to pick this up as soon as possible, at a price of £2.50, you really can't go wrong!

There is a selection of Gary's titles (and Doctor Who magazines from his time as editor) for you all to get signed by the man himself, who some of our older members may know as 'Dick' from Famous Five, in store. So make sure to come in and have a browse before the signing which will kick off around 12:01pm.

Grab the movie novelisation here!

Torchwood: ARCHIVES

TORCHWOOD: Archives

After the recent Doctor Who Convention in Cardiff bay, opposite the fountain we all know as 'the hub', we, as the Doctor Who speciality shop that we are, have plenty of interesting, cool, old, new and generally fantastic items for every Whovian! So, for all of you spinoff lovers, we present the Torchwood archives! With only two left in stock, we wanted to let our loyal Guruvians know before they're all gone.

This hardcover provides an in-depth background on the history of Torchwood, from it's foundation by Queen Victoria herself in 1879, the Torchwood personnel, numerous case files on the extra-terrestrial, which go in depth on alien tech and species. And of course, it provides information on that pesky rift that runs through our fair city of Cardiff. It's a full colour hardback, complete with original illustrations. It is a perfect and essential guide for all Torchwood fans.

Outside the police, beyond the United Nations. The Torchwood: Case Files is everything you could have ever wanted to know about Torchwood.

£14.99 each

Get the book here!

A New Doctor Who MOVIE!?

David Yates, Warner Brothers, Movies, Doctor Who. It all sounds like a fantastic marriage and despite there being no script, plan or anything more than a Director being announced, there is already speculation, discussion and rumours about the newest Doctor Who movie, but big question remains… will this movie be a part of a bigger story arc, or a self-contained story? Will it be set in proper series continuity?

These questions throw up a lot more questions about whether it would kill the Doctor Who reboot, which is still only seven years in, or, whether it would kill or hurt the series remains to be seen, but we all hope it won't, and it shouldn't. There are advantages to either case, a movie would have production values greater than that of the last movie, greater than our only glimpse at what such a movie would look like (in the beginning of series six) and would hopefully have a great enough budget for an enemy greater than a giant bee in Victorian England, and that's all good… but there is a disadvantage to a movie. That it would be different, almost too different to entice people out of the comfort of the shows established mythos.

We all know that Stephen Moffat an award winning producer, writer and screenwriter has been left out of the loop regarding the movie. Indeed he has gone so far as to say that there is no plan, or money in place but they still want to fly to the Moon simply because they can see it up in the sky at night. Three years is a long way away to see if Matt Smith would want to juggle Doctor on TV and Doctor on big screen and it probably wouldn't even be practical as Doctor Who films nine months of the year.

A stand alone story within the movie would, in a way, slightly devalue the TV series. It would seem, on the surface, a quick cash in just trying to make money off of a now popular TV show and movies from TV shows have typically never been greatly received or popular among fans. Doctor Who has been different with "some" success in the 60s movies and in Paul McGann's only visual appearance as the Doctor, however a movie which is a part of the plot of the series might come off in a popular way such as David Tennant's two-parter goodbye episodes. Warner Brothers, who are releasing the movie, wouldn't want to possibly alienate new viewers to Doctor Who by having a story arch based movie, fit in to a series. This isn't smart business to have people thinking "I don't understand this, I don't like it, I'm leaving" and having a self contained story in the movie could alienate dedicated fans from even wanting to see it. It's an awkward balancing act for Warner Brothers and David Yates, which Yates hasn't helped.

David Yates' uncanny ability to annoy fans already by saying he would 'start from scratch', suggests we're looking at a one story movie, especially considering that Matt Smith may not be the present generation by the time of the movie and may not want to couple the arduous tasks filming a movie and a TV series at the same time… he's no Michael J. Fox, and so we could even be looking at a new Doctor, new companion and if he's going that far back to scratch, a new enemy to add to a collection of hard competition. What could Yates come up with that isn't dalek, cyberman, silence, weeping angels or even our old friend Rassilon? Or maybe he might bring back the Zygons… either way, I don't think he has the imagination suited for Doctor Who if he's going to start from scratch to try and create an enemy epic enough to be on a par or beat daleks, cybermen, the Master or to a new extent, the Silence.

Saying all this, a Doctor Who movie has all the elements to work, we saw at the beginning of series 6 in the fantastic two part opener how a widescreen film-esque picture for Doctor Who can work brilliantly, but the actors, the story and the idea has to be perfect… something David Yates has not reassured us with his 'start from scratch' remark. Does this mean a new Doctor in a new story, something not in the continuity of Doctor Who? The 1998 movie with Paul McGann started with Sylvester McCoy and when RTD brought the show back in 2005, it wasn't starting from scratch, it was continuing a story, losing none of the charm of the show… Yates needs to recognise the importance of continuity, and so soon after the 50th anniversary, too!

Time has shown that movies that follow the continuity of the TV shows they are from are ultimately more successful, and just plain better than stand alone movies with a whole new cast to play the characters. Sorry, but I want my Doctor in the movie to be the Doctor at the time, so don't think about bringing in some heartthrob from Hollywood to play the Doctor, it simply wouldn't work. So why ruin Doctor Who with a movie? Doctor Who is already a commercial success and doesn't need a movie to become even better. The fans of the show are more dedicated than most every other TV show out there, so don't try and cash in on the movie just for the sake of a movie. If the movie will happen, it needs to be in continuity and Yates needs to be told what to avoid when making this movie… so could someone please give Yates a few box sets to do his research, then I'll trust him.

-Adam Roach

A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen

Elisabeth Sladen (1948 - 2011)

The Comic Guru was saddened and shocked to hear about the passing away of Elisabeth Sladen yesterday, having battled cancer for some time.

Famous for playing Doctor Who companion Sarah Jane Smith, the character has been a firm favourite among fans ever since she appeared in 1973 - renowned for her strong personality and inquisitive nature.

Born February 1948 in Liverpool, Sladen began her career as an assistant stage manager at the Liverpool playhouse. Her first role on stage was playing a corpse, and she made her screen debut in the 1965 film Ferry Cross the Mersey as an extra.

She landed her breakthrough television role in 1970, appearing as Anita Reynolds in Coronation Street. Smaller roles were to follow in popular shows like Doomwatch, Z Cars and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

In 1973, Sladen was cast in what would become her defining role as the replacement companion for third Doctor Jon Pertwee. Following in the footsteps of popular companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning), Sladen was to hit the ground running as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith in her debut story The Time Warrior, and over the next three years would see her popularity soar as she became part of what is arguably known as the "golden years" of Doctor Who alongside fourth Doctor Tom Baker - an era including the story frequently appearing top of fan polls, Genesis of the Daleks.

Despite choosing to leave the programme in 1976, with an emotional departure scene at the conclusion of the serial The Hand of Fear, Sladen later stated in interviews that although she had left Sarah Jane, "Sarah Jane never left me". Although she declined producer John Nathan-Turner's offer to come back as support for the Fourth Doctor's regeneration, she did return to the role for the 1981 pilot 'K9 and Company' alongside the Doctor's robotic canine.

Sladen was re-united with Jon Pertwee in the 1983 20th anniversary celebration The Five Doctors, and again during the 1990s for the two radio stories The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space, written and produced by the person who originally cast her, Barry Letts - the two would also be joined by another popular Doctor Who legend in the form of Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier.

Outside of Doctor Who, Elisabeth continued to work in theatre and television, often alongside her husband Brian; roles included Josie Hall in Take My Wife, a small role in the film Silver Dream Racer, and as Lady Flimnap in a production of Gulliver in Lilliput, followed a few years later in his production of Alice in Wonderland as the Cheshire Cat. However, with the birth of her daughter Sadie in 1985, she chose to focus more on her family.

However, Sarah would never be far from her life, with the actress continuing to be a popular guest at Doctor Who conventions, and also featuring in a series of audio adventures from Big Finish. Then, in 2005, a discussion with the revived Doctor Who's head writer and long-term fan of hers, Russell T Davies, led to a guest appearance in the second series adventure School Reunion, which re-united Sarah (and K9!) with the Doctor in his most recent incarnation (David Tennant).

The character, and Sladen's performance, proved to be as popular as ever, if not more so, and led to her own starring role in spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures; the CBBC series continued on from her re-introduction in Doctor Who as an independent investigator of alien activity - now joined by her own assistants as well as her faithful K9 - and winning a whole new legion of fans, both young and old. It is also a testament to the strength of the show that it has been graced by the appearance of the both the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney), and the Doctor himself in both his Tenth incarnation in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (David Tennant's final performance as the Doctor), and Eleventh in the form of Matt Smith in Death of the Doctor - where Sladen was also to come 'full circle' by performing with the actress she 'replaced' way back in 1973, Katy Manning, aka Jo Jones né Grant.

I met her many times at conventions and personal appearances throughout my life and with the recent sad loss of Nicholas Courtney to the same pernicious disease, the world seems a little emptier now.

Elisabeth will be sorely missed, and will be fondly remembered by all Who fans.

Sources: www.doctorwhonews.net, www.bbc.co.uk/news

Exclusive First Look: The Final Curtain - Farewell to the Third Doctor

2|Entertain have released a 'first look' video to promote the forthcoming release of the third Doctor's final story, Planet of the Spiders.