Friday, July 9, 2010

Kopic's Doctor Who & Torchwood News

Kopic's Doctor Who & Torchwood News

Jingle Bells

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Having arrived home from Bath at 10pm on Christmas Eve before wrapping my presents I just wanted to say a very Happy Christmas to anyone who is mad enough to want to log on to my blog over the Christmas period!� When I say "mad" - it is a flattering 'madness' that you should even think about me at Christmas!� I have been panto driven for the last two weeks having gone straight from Noises Off, via Chicago, into rehearsals for Jack and the Beanstalk - but I wanted to be sure to thank you all for your support and interest over the last few years and a special thank you to the wonderful, uncomplaining and diligent Rob Cope for keeping this website so informative and interesting even though I am not always that good at keeping him informed. To Rob and to all of you - thanks and have a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Come and see me in Bath until the 25th January if you have the chance - it is a fun panto and everyone in it is both good and lovely!

More after Christmas - I promise!!!

Colin

Go West young man! Well youngish?

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

If ever I post blogs on this site regularly, you should worry for my well being.� It will mean that I have time on my hands and am not working.� And not working, while I have two daughters at University and one still at school is, believe me, bad news!
Anyway not only am I largely at liberty right now, but I am also labouring under a chest thing that has followed the virus I picked up either in America or on the plane home ( I am very suspicious of the ill effects of the air circulation systems on long haul flights. Virus redistribution systems if you ask me... anyway!)� I am trying to shake it off so that I can go and strut my stuff out there and get some work - so staying in the house and answering the huge pile of fan mail that I always receive while doing a panto season - seems to be the order of the day.
Panto ended well - ironically I was literally the only member of the company who did not fall prey to the annual panto bug that caused various absences, understudy panics and cut songs.� Foolishly I thought I had escaped scot free - but at least I didn't have a repetition of last year when I was prevented from doing the last two days of my panto in Norwich, which was a source of great regret for me.
I had a week to catch my breath and then headed off to New York and LA for conventions for Gene Smith, who runs the annual Chicago Dr Who event in November every year and who also sells the Big Finish stuff in the states at doctorwhostore.com.� We had an amazing reaction in New York at Comicon at the Javitz Convention Centre.� I lost track of the number of fans who were amazed and delighted that there was� a Doctor Who actor in New York.� Apparently, none of us have been brought there for quite some time.� It was good to meet so many people who seemed genuinely delighted that we were there.� I even managed to get a couple of days free on this trip too. Gene and his amiable assistant, Jeff, and I went to see a recording of the Letterman Show, which was quite interesting, apart from the interminable queueing that preceded our entry to the studio in Broadway... and the enthusiastic young man whose job it was to get a bunch of people to start behaving like children and doing all that whooping that TV audiences are called upon to produce!� But Naomi Watts was an enchanting ( although size zero) guest and Letterman is a very accomplished presenter.� I wouldn't want to queue up for an hour again to see a TV show being recorded though - and I am amazed anyone does.
That night we went to see Chicago - Chicago in New York eh?� It was a magnificent production of a great show - and there was added value, as on our arrival there were flash bulbs popping - not for your blogger I hasten to add - but for Sully Sullenberger - the pilot who landed his plane so brilliantly on the Hudson River without anyone being hurt.� He and his crew were invited up onto the stage at the end and were given a well deserved standing ovation.� One of those " lucky to be there" moments.
My daughter, Lucy,� was in New York with her friends at the same time, so when the hotel I was staying at finally acknowledged that I was there (Lucy and I spent 24 hours searching for each other in New York due to the Hotel's inefficiency!!) - we met up for breakfast at a local diner a couple of times.� America does know how to breakfast - despite the difficulty in obtaining vegetables with meals later in the day!!� And the portions defeat even my appetite!!
Then on to Gallifrey, in Los Angeles.� I was a guest again of Gene Smith and the Doctor Who Store, so spent my time very pleasantly sitting in the Dealers' Room signing stuff, while Nicola, Frazer and Phil Collinson did all the hard work.� I got to meet Kai Owen from Torchwood too - who it seems is also a Manchester United fan and therefore a good bloke - and we shared a drink or two in the hotel bar. Also Keith Temple, an old friend and writer of the great Oood story of the last series of Doctor who, was a guest and it was great to catch up with him. although to my HUGE embarrassment I failed to recognise him for ten minutes of our conversation because he had lost so much weight since I had last seen him. I am so used to taliking to people who know me but whom I don't know at Conventions that I had uncconciously put him in that bracket. What an idiot!� And I caught up on all Nicola's news, too not having seen her for several months.� She is looking even younger than she did last time a I saw her - I suspect that there is either a picture in her attic or my eyesight is getting blurred!� I know she must be more than 35 but she doesn't look it!!. Anyway... all in all a very pleasant time.� And in addition I got time off to visit friends, including Michele and Randi who took me to visit their respective places of work which was particularly fun because she works at Disney (legal department) and he works for Warner (props and furniture) - so see below�for pictures of me at those places - and on the Friends set!!� Michele also runs a cat rescue charity, currently looking after 42 of our feline friends - so I had very pleasant couple of hours visiting her and them.


All that and travelling Virgin for the first time added up to a very enjoyable trip.� I am definitely a Virgin fan now - a distinct improvement on the American airline I will not name that I flew when I went to Chicago in November.� Service, films, food all good.� And I love that advert too!!!
Quite a downer to return to a chest infection but at least the snow had gone.
Sadness at home too as we have lost both our fat deaf old Dalmatian - organ failure - and our top, alpha male cat Billy Bagpuss in the last month.� Poor old Billy picked up some poison somewhere and we found him under my daughter's bed, fitting.� Rushed him to the vet but too late.� Not a nice way to go - and he was such a stylish and sleek tabby that he deserved a better end.� Our old ginger cat, Tigger, who in her decrepitude sees the whole world of indoors as her lavatory is still with us. Ironic really - not that I wish her any harm....� Honestly.
Bindy, daughter no 2, was 21 last weekend and we all went out to TGI for a celebration (her choice) on the day.� Then she drove off back to her musical theatre course in the new car she had received.� I told you I needed to keep working!!!
My agent for the last decade, Jan Evans, announced to me over Christmas that she was retiring and closing the agency, so I had to find new representation.� I decided to re-join Barry Burnett, my agent for the decade before that, whom I had left in order to test whether the grass was any greener on the other side of the agent fence.� Actor insecurity!� In fact they are both very good agents and the work pattern remained essentially the same.� Employers either want me or they don't. Anyway Barry very generously welcomed me back into the fold and I am looking forward to picking up where we left off - and I wish Jan, who has also become a good friend - a long and happy retirment.
And now back to finishing the musical I am currently writing on commission - more of that in my next blog.

A Very British Emmys? This Could Be One of Those Years. - Anglophenia

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Lindsay Lohan, Comic-Con 2010, more -- Celebritology Live - Washington Post

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Dr Who star David Tennant filming new movie in region - News & Star

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Best Doctor Who Season Finale: The Results - ATV News (blog)

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Movie Wars: Doctor Who - Movies.ie

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

DVD review: Law & Order: UK Series One - Tonight

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Bryan Fuller Battles Daleks with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner - TVOvermind

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Big girls do cry - Stuff.co.nz (blog)

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Doctor Who complete reviews: Spearhead From Space - Shadowlocked

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

BBC America reality show starts choir from scratch - Blinq (blog)

Posted: 08 Jul 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Torchwood This Week - July 3, 2010

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 10:52 PM PDT

Torchwood This Week July 3, 2010 - Volume 4, Number 21 by Benjamin F. Elliott In 2011, Torchwood returns for Series 4. US broadcaster - Starz

This Week In Doctor Who - July 3, 2010 Section B

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 10:42 PM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who Section B PBS, Sarah Jane, K-9 July 3, 2010 by Benjamin F. Elliott WTTW 11.1 Chicago is launching the 2008 episodes on Sunday 11 July,

This Week In Doctor Who - July 3, 2010 Section A

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 10:28 PM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who - Section A July 3, 2010 - Vol 13, Number 24 by Benjamin F. Elliott http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho

Torchwood This Week - June 26, 2010

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 11:19 PM PDT

Torchwood This Week June 26, 2010 - Volume 4, Number 20 by Benjamin F. Elliott Torchwood is coming back for a 4th series - a year from now! US Premium Cable

This Week In Doctor Who - June 26, 2010 Section B

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 11:11 PM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who Section B PBS, Sarah Jane, K-9 June 26, 2010 by Benjamin F. Elliott Alert to fans in Milwaukee - Milwaukee Public TV is starting

This Week In Doctor Who - June 26, 2010 Section A

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 11:02 PM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who - Section A June 26, 2010 - Vol 13, Number 23 by Benjamin F. Elliott http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho

Torchwood This Week - June 19, 2010

Posted: 19 Jun 2010 02:38 AM PDT

Torchwood This Week June 12, 2010 - Volume 4, Number 19 by Benjamin F. Elliott Torchwood is coming back for a 4th series - a year from now! US Premium Cable

This Week In Doctor Who - June 19, 2010 Section B

Posted: 19 Jun 2010 02:25 AM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who Section B PBS, Sarah Jane, K-9 June 19, 2010 by Benjamin F. Elliott Public TV Premiere Run: KUHT 8.1 Houston, TX

This Week In Doctor Who - June 19, 2010 Section A

Posted: 19 Jun 2010 02:06 AM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who - Section A June 19, 2010 - Vol 13, Number 22 by Benjamin F. Elliott http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho

Torchwood This Week - June 12, 2010

Posted: 12 Jun 2010 03:11 AM PDT

Torchwood This Week June 12, 2010 - Volume 4, Number 18 by Benjamin F. Elliott Torchwood is coming back for a 4th series - a year from now! US Premium Cable

This Week In Doctor Who - June 12, 2010 Section B

Posted: 12 Jun 2010 03:03 AM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who Section B PBS, Sarah Jane, K-9 June 12, 2010 by Benjamin F. Elliott Public TV Premiere Run: KUHT 8.1 Houston, TX

This Week In Doctor Who - June 12, 2010 Section A

Posted: 12 Jun 2010 02:51 AM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who - Section A June 12, 2010 - Vol 13, Number 21 by Benjamin F. Elliott http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho

Torchwood This Week - June 5, 2010

Posted: 05 Jun 2010 02:22 AM PDT

Torchwood This Week June 5, 2010 - Volume 4, Number 17 by Benjamin F. Elliott Corrections and updates are welcome at torchwood-owner@yahoogroups.com , TWIDW on

This Week In Doctor Who - June 5, 2010 Section B

Posted: 05 Jun 2010 02:07 AM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who Section B PBS, Sarah Jane, K-9 June 5, 2010 by Benjamin F. Elliott Public TV Premiere Run: KUHT 8.1 Houston, TX

This Week In Doctor Who - June 5, 2010 Section A

Posted: 05 Jun 2010 01:52 AM PDT

This Week In Doctor Who - Section A June 5, 2010 - Vol 13, Number 20 by Benjamin F. Elliott http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho

Who is Matt's favourite Time Lord?

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 09:57 PM PDT

As the new series of Doctor Who starts, we asked the 11th Doctor - Matt Smith - who his favourite Doctor is.

Leah chats to Karen Gillan

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 09:55 PM PDT

Newsround's Leah caught up with the Doctor's new companion, Amy Pond - aka actress Karen Gillan.

WATCH: Hayley sees new episode

Posted: 18 Dec 2009 04:25 AM PST

Hayley went to a screening of the next episode of Doctor Who and talked to lots of the stars.

Doctor Who Christmas Special!

Posted: 04 Dec 2009 08:34 PM PST

So what will happen in the Doctor's final episode? Here are some clues...

WATCH: Leah chats to Sarah Jane

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 12:18 AM PDT

Leah caught up with Elisabeth Sladen who plays Sarah Jane and talked to her about the show.

In pictures: On set with Doctor Who

Posted: 06 Oct 2009 09:20 PM PDT

Snapshots from the set in Cardiff where filming is under way on the latest series of Doctor Who.

WATCH: Michelle Ryan joins Dr Who

Posted: 06 Apr 2009 08:52 PM PDT

Michelle Ryan teams up with the latest Time Lord David Tennant in an Easter special.

Assistants

Posted: 19 Feb 2009 02:50 AM PST

Try our quiz on the Doctor's time travelling companions

Autumnal thoughts

Posted: 02 Oct 2008 06:48 PM PDT

Gulp - is it really July since I last blogged on!?� Well, dear friends, I must explain that the process of rehearsing Noises Off, with which I am currently touring, was a very time consuming business and the weeks have just flown by.� And then I have been away for three weeks in Brighton, Newcastle and Glasgow (last week) which has also hindered my ability to communicate with you all.� Enough with the excuses....
I rehearsed in Wimbledon for Noises Off, just behind the dog track, where the set had been constructed in a vast studio normally used by TV companies and for advertising shoots.� In fact, there seemed to be an endless procession of glossy cars and young scantily clad females into the studio next door where they seemed to be making back to back car adverts!� We were there for three weeks and anyone who has seen the play already will testify that it is a complicated piece, particularly the manic second act, where there are virtually two plays going on simultaneously - the one we do in Act 1 (but this time behind the set and audible and visible through the windows) - and the "backstage" antics that dovetail with what is going on behind the set "onstage".� You have to see it - it's impossible to explain!!�
Anyway the cast is, without exception, superb.� Maggie Steed is an actress I have long admired from her appearances in Fox many years ago - and Shine on Harvey Moon and more recently Pie in the Sky and Jam and Jerusalem.� Her Dottie is divine, as is Ben Hull, a young actor of Hollyoaks and Casualty fame, who drives the play frenetically and with an enviable energy (he has lost several pounds during the first few weeks) - and is a great bloke too.� We are having a fantastic time doing the play and I would urge anyone to come and see it if it is at a theatre near you between now and Christmas.It really is the funniest play ever written.� Official!� Alas, the spring tour has now been cancelled, as they couldn't get all the dates they wanted to schedule a viable tour without lots of empty weeks.
As I write this, I am at home for the first time in three weeks, as we are in Oxford (sold out apparently!) and next week, I shall be at home too as the play will be in Woking - a lovely big theatre; so a good one to try and catch it at, if you're in that area.
Life has been made even more hectic in Baker Towers as my middle two daughters have both vacated the nest for University in the same week.� Bindy, my second daughter, has gone off to the Bristol Academy of Performing Arts in Somerset to do a musical theatre course and Lally (No 3) is at Warwick ,reading Literature and Film.� A very exciting time for both of them but quite strange for those of us left behind, as the noise level and family activities have dwindled dramatically.� I have heard parents before saying that it is a bit like a bereavement; and I know now what they meant.� It is very strange indeed for those left behind.� For them it is fantastic though and they are both enjoying the new experiences and challenges.
My car, if you're interested, which had been giving me lots of hassle in the water and oil department for ages is now sorted (at great expense) after the head gasket etc was replaced.� My car is vital to me as I regularly commute vast distances and it is a relief to have it working properly again.� Though I would like to get my hands on the "expletive deleted" who smashed my passenger window, when I was in Newcastle, in an attempt to get my sat nav, which mercifully was not in the car, although its cradle was sitting on the dashboard as an inducement to the ungodly.� Two other cars were similarly attacked in the same street in the wee small hours of the morning and the third yielded the required booty - a sat nav!
Apart from that and my falling through (rather than stepping through) the window on stage one night and damaging my right knee a tad - life has been fairly incident free.�
On the plus side Heroes has started again and I am looking forward to seeing the opening episode which has been recorded for me.� And I have been enjoying the wonderful dexter too - though I wouldn't advise it for the squeamish!!
The grass has grown humungously in the garden and as it is now sunny - gosh there's a novelty - we had to wait for October to see the sun!! - I will now go and try to mow a bit of it!
I promise to be a more diligent blogger in the future.
To any of you who live in Manchester come and see me at the Fab Cafe in Portland Street on 14th October!
Enjoy the Autumn and let's hope the sun visits us all a little more regularly.

Torchpod Episode 3

Posted: 10 Dec 2006 08:31 AM PST

Episodes 7 and 8 of Torchwood, plus the Torchwood Books. Feedback:torchpod@yahoo.com

Daleks

Posted: 29 Apr 2005 02:09 AM PDT

How much do you know about the Doctor's deadly foe?

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