Search for new Doctor Who's partner begins

The producers of Doctor Who have begun the search for a 'high profile' female companion after unveiling little-known actor Matt Smith as the new Time Lord. Smith, 26, a surprise choice for the 11th Doctor and the youngest actor ever to take the role, is largely unfamiliar to audiences and BBC bosses are keen to pair him with a showbusiness name.

The singer Lily Allen is an early favourite, while sources say Strictly Come Dancing stars Rachel Stevens and Kelly Brook are high on the BBC's wish-list.

Producers are looking for someone who is famous outside the world of acting – replicating the success of former Doctor's assistant Billie Piper, who was better known as a teenage popstar and the wife of DJ Chris Evans when she landed the role but proved a hit with viewers.

9 to Watch in 2009: Television

The New Year is wide open with comics firing on all cylinders in the upper echelons of superhero comics to the vibrant field of modern comics. But who rests at the top? Who are the biggest and brightest – who are the ones who pose to make 2009 a breakout year for themselves? From characters to comics to creators, and even to the wider spectrum of television and movies – who will be the breakout stars?

Newsarama gathered the facts, analyzed the fiction and reviewed the rumors to delineate who we think will the top – the 9 to Watch in '09. All this week, we'll be picking out the 9 To Watch in '09 in five categories: comic characters, comic creators, comic series/books, movies and television shows. The first three are clearly comics-centric, while the last two are wide open.

In the previous days, we've covered all corners of the comic spectrum for what's to come in 2009: the characters, the creators and the new series. Now we broaden our focus into the wider world of television. From shows based on comics to shows who have their own comics and even shows that should have their own comics. And yes, we know the fickleness of televsion production, so take the entries on shows that are yet to begin production with a heaping helping of optomism.

the high point for this blogger comes a little bit after that part:

One of Vertigo's biggest success stories throughout the years with fourteen Eisner Awards, it is now poised to take over the world of television in the 2009-2010 Television season - we hope. Announced on December 8th, it is to be shepherded by the creators of the underrated Six Degrees series Stu Zicherman and Raen Metzner, and director David Semel (Studio 60, Heroes) is onboard to direct. The shape of Fables is a perfect fit for comics – but could it work even better on television?

9 to Watch in 2009: The Comics

The New Year is wide open with comics firing on all cylinders in the upper echelons of superhero comics to the vibrant field of modern comics. But who rests at the top? Who are the biggest and brightest – who are the ones who pose to make 2009 a breakout year for themselves? From characters to comics to creators, and even to the wider spectrum of television and movies – who will be the breakout stars?

Newsarama gathered the facts, analyzed the fiction and reviewed the rumors to delineate who we think will the top – the 9 to Watch in '09. All this week, we'll be picking out the 9 To Watch in '09 in five categories: comic characters, comic creators, comic series/books, movies and television shows. The first three are clearly comics-centric, while the last two are wide open.

And The Doctor Is...Matt Smith

26-year-old actor Matt Smith has been cast as the Eleventh Doctor, as revealed in today's special broadcast of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC One. Smith will succeed David Tennant in the role for the fifth series, which begins filming this summer and will air in 2010.

Smith has appeared in various television productions, including alongside Billie Piper in the BBC's adaptations of the Philip Pullman novels The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. He co-starred in the drama series Party Animals, and on stage was in Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The History Boys.

New Doctor Who to be announced

The name of the actor who will replace David Tennant in Doctor Who will be announced on Saturday.

Tennant said in October that he would stand down from the show after filming four special episodes in 2009.

His replacement - the eleventh Doctor of the TV series - will be revealed in a Doctor Who Confidential programme on BBC One at 1735 on 3 January.

Just So You Know

I'm not being completely lazy here. The holidays have indeed sucked but I have been behind the scenes crafting my first ever year end, wrap up type of post for 2008. No, it isn't about RPGs. I thought that I'd have it done by now but, well, I'm still figuring out mesdiafire and getting it together.

Dorkland! on Facebook

I've added Dorkland! to a blog network on Facebook. If any of you readers are on there and would like to follow this blog via Facebook then click through on this link.

Send me a message through there if you're a reader and on Facebook and would like an add on there.

Game Geeks #86 Ghosts of Albion RPG by Eden Studios

The latest Cinematic Unisystem game, set in a Victorian world created by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden. Can't wait for the the print version to come out.

West End Games Video Update

Bettie Page dies at 85

Bettie Page, the brunet pinup queen with a shoulder-length pageboy hairdo and kitschy bangs whose saucy photos helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, has died. She was 85.

Page, whose later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state mental institution, died Thursday night at Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles, where she had been on life support since suffering a heart attack Dec. 2, according to her agent, Mark Roesler.

Super Surfer Girl

Green Ronin Announces 3rd Era (Green Ronin Publishing)

An interesting decision and I am going to be watching this closely. To me one of the more interesting parts is the fact that a major player like Green Ronin is going to be pursuing having any of their product that is available through Lulu rather than traditional distribution channels.

Green Ronin Publishing announced today that it would keep its classic d20 System titles available under its new 3rd Era brand name. The process began this week with the re-release of six books in PDF format and will continue on a regular basis until all the titles are updated.

'The status of the old d20 logo is now unclear,' said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas, 'so we created a new logo to replace it. This will keep PDFs of our back catalog available. We're also going to offer Print on Demand editions through Lulu, so gamers who want hard copies of difficult to find products like the Book of Fiends will be able to get them.'

Twitterspeak: 66 Twitter Terms You Don’t Need to Know

Never read a twiller? Having twissues with your twerminology? Welcome, then, to the unforgivable abuse of the English language that some call Twitterspeak.

Tennant out of Hamlet for surgery

Actor David Tennant will not be returning to play Hamlet 'before Christmas' because of a back injury, the Royal Shakespeare Company says.

The 37-year-old, who is scheduled to have an operation on Thursday for a slipped disc, said: 'It is hugely disappointing for me.'

Chicago Tribune Bankruptcy means bloggers beware

Today in news, the Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy in order to 'restructure it’s debt'. They also own properties like the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, and many others. Any marketer worth their weight knows that traditional media is on a slow decline, and some time in the future there will be a influx of job loss. This industry has many, many well trained, talented individuals in their employ.

So what is going to happen to all these people who are out of a job when the new media revolution completely comes full circle ? I’m sure the majority of the will bounce back, and be scooped up (quickly) by other areas of industry who have similar needs. So ... what about the journalists?

Red Circle

I'm Thinking About My Doorbell

Bettie Page 'Critically Ill' After Heart Attack

Bettie Page, a 1950s pinup known for her raven-haired bangs and saucy come-hither looks, was hospitalized in intensive care after suffering a heart attack, her agent said Friday.

'She's critically ill,' Mark Roesler of CMG Worldwide told The Associated Press.

Hipster, please!: Nerd News in Brief

It's been another huge week for geeky news, but before we get into this veritable wealth of nerdstuff I'd like to comment on recent developments at The Wizrocklopedia. You see, Lizz just announced her retirement. After years at the helm, she is passing the mantle of editor on to Freya and Dinah so that she can pursue other avenues. Lizz will still be acting webmistress, but other than that her 'Pedia-related activities will be limited.

I've got an enormous amount of respect and appreciation for Lizz because of all the work she does for the WRock community and, moreover, simply because of the really genuine person that she is. She's a class act, and I am thankful to count her, along with folks like Ant, Matt, Church, and Jason, as a like-minded cyber-sibling. So while I'll miss having her around ye olde Internets, I wish her the best in all her endeavors.

Sad Kermit

We have all seen stars rocket to dizzying heights in the prime of their careers, heights that baffle and amaze the likes of us. But many of the same stars that we point at in awe are only to be dragged off of their trajectory by tragedy into a gold dusted tailspin downward, finally to be burned up alive by the same velocity that once took them skyward.

We have all seen stars rocket to dizzying heights in the prime of their careers, heights that baffle and amaze the likes of us. But many of the same stars that we point at in awe are only to be dragged off of their trajectory by tragedy into a gold dusted tailspin downward, finally to be burned up alive by the same velocity that once took them skyward.

We all remember the joy we shared with our families when we were kids. Wrapped in blankets in front of the television; we inched ourselves as undetectable as possible towards the screen in a vain attempt to avoid the inevitable warning issued as the question: "Move back! Do you WANT TO GO BLIND?". It was all an effort to ensconce ourselves in the palpably magical world that was crafted through the collaboration of Jim Henson and a huge cast of Muppets more than fifty years ago.

Although it would have been impossible without the Muppets, Jim was the mortar that bound this disparate cast together and kept them on a true course. When Jim Henson passed away worlds were lost. And Kermit, who Jim had mentored in the art of vaudville since his creation, who Jim had treated as a son, was lost as well...

Major Reorganization at Random House

After months of speculation, Random House, the world’s largest publisher of consumer books, announced a sweeping reorganization of its publishing divisions, including the resignations of the heads of two of its largest groups.

Irwyn Applebaum, publisher of Bantam Dell, an imprint that publishes authors including Dean Koontz and Danielle Steel, and Steve Rubin, publisher of Doubleday Publishing Group, which represents authors including John Grisham and Dan Brown, are stepping down from their posts.

Linden Lab doubles-back on approved skins

Linden Lab's governance team has started removing vendors for Second Life skins (that is, avatar textures) that are intended to portray teens and juveniles. It is not exactly clear why the action is suddenly being taken, as Linden Lab themselves approved the skins which have underwear 'baked in' to avoid any licentiousness. All in all, the affected skins are less lewd than a K-Mart kidswear catalog.

However, since the vendors depicted the skins 'as is' (that is not completely clothed, so that you would be unable to see what you were trying to purchase), Linden Lab has unexpectedly reneged on previously granted approval and is now acting to remove them. The removals that we are aware of have been appealed, and those appeals have been rejected.

The only comment available from Linden Lab about the removals is 'Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of sexual or lewd acts involving or appearing to involve children or minors are never allowed within Second Life.' -- which does not appear to describe any of the materials removed. The Lab declines to discuss anything related to enforcement actions or content takedowns, as a rule.

A Historical Overview of the "Archie Superheroes" Part One

I always liked the "Archie Suerheroes," and I was introduced to them via the Red Circle Comics relaunch of the very early 1980s before DC Comics did the revamp of the characters with !mpact Comics a few years later on. Some great characters by some of the great creators (Simon and Kirby just to name two), and it looks like DC is going to take another swing at publishing them. Should be interesting.

While a great deal has been written over the years about Archie Andrews and his pals the same cannot be said about Archie Comic Publications' superheroes. Few people seem to know that not only Archie Comic Publications get its start-under a different name mind you-in 1939-as a publisher of superhero comics but that it was one of the more innovative comics publishers in the industry. This article is an attempt to rectify that and while space limitations prevent me from going into a great amount of detail I hope that I can at least cover the more important points regarding Archie Comic Publications' superhero history.

Did You Know

Who Killed Amanda Palmer?

This isn't a review.

I picked up the new CD (Who Killed Amanda Palmer?) by Amanda Palmer, the singer and primary songwriter for the band The Dresden Dolls. This was a great CD, musically very tight, and a pleasure to hear after the disappointment of the Dresden Dolls' last release Yes Virginia, which was to me a bit of a quality slip from their first release.

The Dresden Dolls are a great band, full of wild and creative energy, and this new release from Palmer shows how that energy and creativity thrives when brought under the focus of a really good producer. Who Killed Amanda Palmer? was produced by Ben Folds (of Ben Folds and the great 90s group The Ben Folds 5). I think that the best producers are those people who are themselves musicians because the understand how the process of being a musician and creating an album works, and in this case I think that Folds' contribution was to bring this wild creativity into a focus where it could really thrive and Palmer could create some of the best music of her career to date.

Frankly, this isn't a departure from the music of the Dresden Dolls. Which, for me, was a good thing because I like their music. If you don't like Palmer's work with them, you probably won't like this new CD either. No amount of producer's polish is going to change things that dramatically. But if you like good, strong, quirky songwriting with instrumentation of pianos, cellos, and a more cabaret sort of feel then I would suggest checking the CD (and the others by the Dresden Dolls) out.

This new CD does, however, raise the bar more than a bit for both Palmer and the Dresden Dolls now. I think that expectations for future music should be raised up as well. This is a good, solid CD and shows what she is capable of doing with a good set of musical tools.