NEWS:

FEATURE: PLYMOUTH WHO PRODUCTIONS

With both a video and an audio production currently in release, the UK-based Plymouth Who Productions is in the process of building a season of Doctor Who adventures based around their own continuity and canon. Like many recent fan productions, the PWP films mirror the format of the David Tennant/Russell T. Davies years to a certain extent, but also strive for their own identity. Steve Green — also the chief writer for the group — stars as an unspecified “future” Doctor who is traveling alone as we first meet him. When complete, the season will include three audio stories bookended by two video productions, the first of which is…

THE OTHER SIDE (2009) Written by Steve Green / Directed by Chris Nicholls

As a TV crew from The Other Side — an “investigate the supernatural” series in the style of the popular Most Haunted! — set up to film an episode in the supposedly haunted medieval fortress, strange things begin to happen, much to the annoyance of acerbic presenter Macey Furguson (Jemma Nicholls, here credited under her maiden name of Bassett). Washed-up psychic Alexai Rochenco (Lawrence Duncalf) is also receiving strange vibrations, and when the Doctor (Steve Green) turns up, he’s initially mistaken for another paranormal expert. But he soon deduces that something nasty and Lovecraftian is trying to make its way through this “haunted” house and into our universe.

A good first effort for any fan group, The Other Side suffers from many common fan film ailments — variable acting, occasional bad sound, and, most pronounced here, overlength. The basic plot is serviceable enough, but in trying to emulate the 45-minute run time of the “real” series, Green pads out the script with too many talky scenes, and the story doesn’t have much in the way of forward momentum. Fifteen or twenty minutes could easily have been trimmed.

That said, Green is definitely an asset as an actor, with an easy avuncular charm and, thankfully, no apparent desire to try and imitate David Tennant. It’s a bit harder to get a hook on Jemma Nicholls, an attractive brunette who isn’t initially given much to do besides act bitchy and impatient. We certainly don’t need another Rose Tyler clone, of the sort seen in all too many DW fan films these days, but the script doesn’t allow Nicholls much space to endear herself to the audience, though it’s technically a good performance. There’s potential for an excellent team here, although the ending does raise a question mark on that matter.

Among the rest of the cast, Lawrence Duncalf is pretty effective as the on-the-sauce medium, and our old pal Mark Humphries provides able comic relief as a harried technician.

The Other Side also benefits from some nicely creepy location work, some brief-but-excellent CGI shots by Graham Quince, and some nifty video effects and editing by the aforementioned Mr. Humphries. The Other Side can be viewed online here or, the film is available as a DVD complete with extras including bloopers, an amusingly elaborate Confidential making-of film, trailers, and more. It’s a nice package overall, and can be ordered by contacting Mark Humphries at: markwhumphries2002@yahoo.co.uk

THE OTHER SIDE TRAILER

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

INCURSION (2011) Written by Steve Green / Directed by Steve Green and Mark Humphries

Although Incursion will not formally be released until the Spring of 2011, we here at Fan Film Follies have been granted an exclusive preview thanks to co-director Mark Humphries.

The Doctor and Macey, together at last, are travelling in the TARDIS and obviously have been for several adventures at least. Landing in contemporary Britain, they discover that an idyllic English hamlet has been the site of an extraterrestrial crash-landing, and now people are beginning to disappear. With the help of spunky U.N.I.T. operative Ellie Parker (Gina Brown), the Doctor discovers that the visitors are of a parasitic race called Hydra who adopt human hosts to do their bidding — and Macey has fallen prey.

In almost every way, Incursion is an improvement on The Other Side, with tighter direction, more varied locations, and much better production values and sound. The story is still too long for the content of the plot, and here the excessive talking scenes have been replaced by the fan cliché of the Doctor running around in the woods, taking readings off his sonic screwdriver. Cute as she is, Gina Brown isn’t particularly convincing as a super-spy, and the “local” acting is even weaker than TOS‘s varied cast.

Even so, Incursion is a very enjoyable romp with some colorful special effects (and a better look at the impressive full-size TARDIS prop), some neat sequences (a flashback to some of the Doctor and Macey’s adventures includes a tantalizing clip of an encounter with the Daleks) and an obvious increase in the confidence level of the filmmakers. Green is again in fine form, and Nicholls presents a somewhat softer Macey in the brief scenes before she is Hydra-ized.

Trailer #1 for INCURSION:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, the decision was ultimately made to substitute Terry Nation’s more action-oriented (and certainly more lurid) story “The Daleks” for “Luxor,” and that serial’s immense popularity with the British public both secured Doctor Who’s continued viability, and seared the image of the Daleks themselves (mutants in mobile robot casings) in the imaginations of a whole generation of children. There was no turning back, and ultimately “The Masters of Luxor” was abandoned.

But, not completely lost. In 1992, Titan Books published the unused scripts as part of their Doctor Who: The Scripts range. It was this paperback that inspired a group of Chicago-area fans to finally produce this long-lost tale from Doctor Who’s formative years.

The project was initiated by director Frank Smialek, who quickly recruited his college buddy Anthony Sarlo to help him out, and also play the role of the Doctor. The two edited the original Coburn scripts, ultimately eliminating over an hour’s worth of superfluous material (the pacing of early ‘60s television was quite different from today) and re-shaping it slightly to give the Doctor a more active role, as well as making him Susan’s uncle rather than her grandfather. In a move that sets it apart from most fan film productions, Smialek decided to shoot the video straight through, and so booked a studio in Morton Grove, Illinois for ten days. An impressive array of sets, costumes, and props were constructed, while a mostly theater-trained cast, including Sarlo, Scott Goble (as Ian Chesterton), Stephanie Gloeckler (as Barbara Wright), Samantha Eaton (Susan), Matt Ellegood (The Perfect One), and Kirk Jackson (Tabon), were assembled. The shooting took place across those ten days, in the blisteringly hot summer of 2001, and an early cut of the video debuted later that year at the Chicago TARDIS convention. In tribute to early-‘60s Who, Smialek decided to present the video in the style of those halcyon days, including using black-and-white (the film was actually shot in color and then re-graded), minimal incidental music, simple sets, and an almost filmed-theater vibe. The result was unique in fan film history, and also a little bit legendary.

Because – again, unlike most fan films – Masters of Luxor was never widely distributed. Despite all the hard work that went into its making, the video played only a few times at conventions (and only once in its fully completed form), and then faded into obscurity. While a few videotapes seem to have been sent out, it was never advertised or widely circulated, and the VHS tapes that did go out seem to have stayed in private hands. Consequently, the dim memories of those convention screenings had people talking in hushed tones about the fantastic TARDIS control room set, the polished acting, and the general quality of the production. It wasn’t until 2009 that Anthony Sarlo, in a bid to finally get the film “out there,” submitted the production to the Doctor Who Fan Film Database. And so, with very little fanfare, The Masters of Luxor was suddenly freely available to those who had caught a fleeting glimpse of it early in the decade, and those who had only heard the stories. Since then, Sarlo has also made available a two-disc DVD set that includes an informative audio commentary track (e-mail me if you’re interested in the DVD), and has been a semi-regular poster on the Gallifrey Base chat board.

Viewed almost a decade later, The Masters of Luxor is still a highly impressive production. The TARDIS control room set lives up to every bit of the hype (I would rate it second only to the amazing Timebase set); the performances (with perhaps one exception) are very good indeed, with Sarlo, Ellegood, and Eaton being the standouts. There are definitely slow patches, as heaps of exposition are occasionally offloaded, but this is certainly no worse than the actual series itself during the ‘60s. The costumes are terrific (especially the very ‘60s version of “futuristic” clothing), the sets are nifty, and the black-and-white photography is evocative. The best thing that can be said is that The Masters of Luxor is a genuinely fitting tribute to the original author and to the era of Doctor Who that inspired its creation.

ANTONY SARLO INTERVIEW

How did the project come about?

I remember Frank Smialek telling me he bought the published script off of eBay; they released the screenplay as a book years ago. This would have been around 1999 when he, Kirk Jackson and I were roommates in Chicago. He told me he was getting it and wanted to make it, and cast me as the Doctor. I said “Sure.” Between the two of us, we had a massive Doctor Who collection on VHS, and his decision to cast me was based on two things: my acting background, and his belief that I would be dedicated enough to a Doctor Who project, that I would see it through. I figured it was safe to say I would, because Frank tends to latch onto a project with 150% dedication, but his interest burns out fast. Imagine how surprised I was when we actually started making it happen.

What made you decide to do it 1963-style (black and white, minimal incidental music, etc.)?

I think that was Frank’s vision from the beginning. He actually composed and recorded all the music with the exception of the open and closing themes. We actually filmed it in color, but converted it to black and white. With a scratch-built set and live, boom-fed sound, it was nice to be able to eliminate the headache of white-balancing colors, and that let us use the overhead lights in the building rather than setting up camera lighting. I can only imagine how expensive renting lighting would have been, and of course it would have made it even hotter in the studio (If that’s possible).

Does the color footage still exist?

I’m sure Frank still has most of it somewhere, whether they’re saved to a hard-drive or even still on the DV tapes.

Why adapt an unfilmed script rather than doing an original story?

We definitely liked the idea of making an unmade script, especially since it has authentic Doctor Who writing. The project might have been delayed a year or longer, or possible never would have been made if we had to sit down and actually write a script. It was much easier for us to go through the script, then cut out things we couldn’t use, and add little bits we liked.

You eliminated more than two episodes worth of material – what kind of things were cut?

That was a script written in the earlier days of television, so there were some elements that just didn’t work. For instance, there’s a scene where Tabon needs to give the Doctor directions. In the original script, they actually go through the entire set of directions in dialogue. We just said, “Do you have a pen? I’ll draw you a map.” I also remember the Doctor saying some creepy things about how hot Susan is. Generally, the things we cut were superfluous, and we felt them unnecessary to the story. The main thing we changed was the Doctor’s role. In 1963, Ian was the hero, and the Doctor was just the plot device to get Ian into adventures, and explain things. We wanted to make the Doctor the hero, as he ended up being later, so we gave the Doctor all of Ian’s hero-work, and cut out the pages of dialogue dedicated to talking about how frail and tired the Doctor is, and how he needs to sit down. That was probably the greatest change to the original.

How much original material was written to augment the Coburn script?

Not a lot, but Frank wanted to give some signature aspects to our Doctor; one of those things was random obscure quotes. We actually end the story with one. The only other line I can think of was one I came up with. My concept for the Doctor was that he was still the first Doctor, but one that went adventuring at a younger age. He lacked the humility that the older doctor would have, and generally looked at humans as inferior. The scene where they think the food is poisoned, and the Doctor says to Susan, “I knew the poison wouldn’t affect our physiologies.” Ian says “What about us?” and the Doctor looks surprised “Well… you’re alright, aren’t you?” was a line I came up with to illustrate that sometimes he just doesn’t think about those humans.

Most fan films are shot over a long period – how did you decide and then arrange to film it straight through in a studio over just two weeks?

Mainly that was because so many of us worked together, and I only had ten days of paid time-off. We were renting the space we built the studio in, and had to destroy each set after we were done with it. Each day of shooting was based on what set the scenes took place in. We had an entire corridor day, for instance.

What was the casting process?

It was based entirely on people we knew. Sam had done a film called Station 17 that TS studios did before, starring Kirk, and that I appeared in. Steph was Sam’s friend, and committed to the project. Scott was working with us and loved Doctor Who, and, well, he’s a good-looking bloke, so why not? Steph and Scott had never acted before. Kirk and Matt both went to Illinois State with me, and were much more successful actors. Kirk was on board early, but we couldn’t figure out who would play the Perfect One. I remember trudging through the snow, walking to Chicago Comics, and wondering what to do, when I ran into Matt. I hadn’t seen him in couple years, but I knew he had to do it. Lucky for us, he said yes.

Were there rehearsals prior to filming?

Oh, yes. Frank practically treated it like a play. There were read-throughs, and even a dress rehearsal the days before. Of course, that didn’t stop me from ad-libbing through the pages and pages of dialogue I had.

What was the filming schedule?

It was at least ten hours a day, for ten straight days. I think I was the only cast member that had to be there every day, but that comes with the frock coat.

How were the actors able to shoot for ten days straight? Did they have day jobs?

Most of us took vacation for the ten days, but in some cases, we just worked around other people’s work schedules. As of this interview, that was the last paid vacation I ever took.

Who created the most bloopers? Was there ever a blooper reel put together?

It was probably me, based on how much stuff I had to say, but I think the highest percentage of bloopers would have been from Kirk. We gave him so much techno-babble, we just about made his head explode. Frank talked about making a blooper reel, but never made it. The blooper reels would have been way longer than the actual film.

Were any of the cast (aside from you) Doctor Who fans?

Frank, for sure. I know Scott was, too. Kirk knew about Doctor Who by osmosis from being my friend, but I’m not sure how big a fan he was. It might have just been the three of us, and that includes the crew. Sam and Steph didn’t really watch the show.

I guess the conditions in the studio were less than ideal?

It was so hot! It was the hottest week of the year, and we had little to no ventilation. We had fans inside, but we couldn’t run them while we shot because the boom would pick it up. After each shot, we ran to the fans. We also kept rolls and rolls of paper towels to soak up all the sweat. We had to do a lot of retakes just from the camera picking up how much we were sweating. The whole time, I thought to myself “It’s so hot in here… and I’m wearing a velvet coat!” I remember finishing my very last shot as the Doctor and throwing my costume off, reveling in the cool air, only to find out that Frank wanted me to dress as a robot for the rest of the scenes. It was actually hotter in the robot costume! Inside that hood, it actually looked like it was raining, and I guess it was.

Among the actors, I would have to note Kirk Jackson as the weak link.

I’ve always considered Kirk a better actor then myself, but admittedly that might not have been the best part for him. I don’t think anybody hates his performance more than him. Episode three was nothing but pure pain for all of us. The final edit is actually the third attempt to make it watchable. In the middle of the story is just a bunch of exposition and explanation. It may provide a window for why this episode was never made: probably better read than filmed. The scenes where Susan and Barbara are captured, and having conversations, and are planning and attempting their escape were actually one, long continuous scene that we actually cut a lot out of.

I always thought the shining star of Luxor was Matt as the Perfect One. There are just some great moments, like when he passes a derivitron and gives it this horrible look, like “You pathetic, earlier model, I want nothing to do with you.” The scene where I was getting tortured is funny to me (now) because he would watch me struggling and struggling being tortured, then wait a little longer to nod and have the switch turned off. There’s a scene where he hits one of the derivitrons and almost knocks him over. I remember this because it was me (in the suit), and I really had to work not to fall down. Then, of course there’s the great line “Pieces? There would be no pieces.”

What kind of elements did you incorporate to make your Doctor distinctive?

Besides giving him some obscure quotes, Frank had a vision of our Doctor being “The Optical Doctor.” Throughout the film, I’ll pull out, goggles, a telescope, and even wore a magnifying glass around my neck. The obvious answer is that we made him younger, which is why Susan called him uncle rather than grandfather.

Who did the costumes?

Scott’s boyfriend, Will Wiseman, designed and made all the Luxor costumes. The Doctor’s outfit was piece-bought from resale shops.

Talk a little about the sets and especially the remarkable TARDIS control room.

First, I would have to mention Ed Dawson, who built the sound stage we worked on. The building we rented used to be a theatre, and had a slanted floor, so we needed to scratch build a level soundstage to built the sets on. Bryan Whyte, who also made the exterior models, and Peter Papavasiliou, who masterminded and even operated the TARDIS console, built the bulk of the sets and set pieces. The piston (time rotor) was this big, brass monstrosity. In the scenes where it’s moving, Peter is hiding behind the console, moving a 2 x 4 lever. It was so loud, we had to ADR the dialogue during the few lines that coincided. After we shot all the scenes where the piston moves, we sawed the 2 x 4 off so nobody tripped on it. Frank was always making trips to American Scientific to buy bits and pieces to stick onto props, and make up most of the switches and dials on the consol. After the TARDIS control room shots were done, we knew we didn’t have anywhere to store the consol, so we pitched it off the deep end of the sound stage. Afterwards, it occurred to us that maybe we should have shot some close-ups of me hitting controls.

Who built the TARDIS miniature? How large was it?

The miniature was from a Doctor Who RPG miniature, and painted by Brett Finnell. He had been destroying me in Warhammer for years and when it came to miniature painting, Brett instantly came to mind.

The full-size TARDIS, I believe, was borrowed from the Federation?

Yes, they were really nice and showed us support from the earliest stages. Frank kept in touch with them for some time and they lent it to us. We re-painted it and fixed it up a bit, and it looked fantastic. I think we autographed the inside of it afterwards.

I heard from one of the Feds that they weren’t too happy you re-painted and re-detailed their TARDIS without asking… did you ever get any feedback from them about that?

Eep, no, I didn’t. That’s the first I’ve heard of it. I’m going to be in one of their future projects soon, so I might hear about it when I show up. Thanks for the warning.

How long did post-production take?

A loooong time. Frank finished the first two episodes in time for Chicago TARDIS, the local convention, which was about four months after we finished shooting, in 2001. Early the next year (When is Mardi Gras? It was around then) Frank had finished episode three for a convention in LA. I don’t think the final version of episode three and four were done until the Chicago TARDIS the following year (2002). I guess it was a year and a half of total post work.

What are your best and worst memories from the shoot?

My worst memory was my mother dying the day of our first read-through. Needless to say, I missed it.

There were a lot of good memories; we laughed a lot. Most of my memories are silly little snippets that wouldn’t mean anything to anybody. I remember a dog that I named Barkly, because the boom kept picking up his barking, ruining our shot. He was a super-friendly dog, too. I remember a Russian mail-order bride catalogue floating around the set, and we laughed at how it rated each girl’s English skills. In the scene where the group is first brought to the Perfect One, Peter played the robot that escorted us, and we couldn’t stop laughing at his robot walk and how his nose poked out of the steel helmet.

What projects have you been working on since Luxor?

I’ve done some small parts for other independent productions, usually when they’re really desperate. I did some voiceover work for the radio and a little bit of stage work, also when they’re really desperate. The only other fan film I did was a Star Wars film called Duel Occupancy. I would like to do a Star Trek fan film someday, so I can get the hat trick.

Anything you want to plug?

I have a Youtube page under Gong63, which just has Duel Occupancy on it. I used to have a blog called “Life-Fail,” but, I… uh… failed at it. If I had anything to plug, it would be my acting services, which I do or free.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Likewise, the long-awaited A Survivor’s Triangle has finally begun a serialized run on YouTube. Written by and starring John Reid Adams, this intriguing-looking film has been in production since 2007, and we’re stoked that it’s finally seeing release. The first segment can be seen here, and the rest of the series will be released in roughly ten-minute chunks every Tuesday for the next nine weeks. We’ve been promised that an all-in-one release will be forthcoming once the series has concluded.

Our good pals over at Westlake Films in the UK have issued a higher-res version of their classic 1999 fan film Future Investment that will hopefully re-acquaint fans with this seminal project. Future Investment was one of the first fan films I downloaded when I started exploring the medium a few years back, an entertaining old fashioned production starring Kevin Hiley as the Doctor and Jonathan Miles as his trusty companion Jon. The new version can be downloaded here, and please explore the Westlake website for many more quality productions.

REVIEWS: As I mentioned last time, I will be happy to review Doctor Who-related fan films of any type on request, be they drama, spoofs, or documentaries. There are only a couple of rules: while I’m happy to promote any in-progress production, I will only review films that have actually been completed and released for public consumption. So while Episode 1 of your fan-vid may look spectacular, you’ll have to finish all the episodes before I’ll do a formal review. Also, reviews are limited to projects that have been undertaken by adults, or at least filmmakers in their late teens. I’m all for children getting out the video camera to be creative and make their own Doctor Who fan vids, but these are usually pretty unwatchable to grown-up eyes, and it’s neither appropriate nor of any particular interest to me to apply critical standards to them. So, adults only, at least in the purely chronological sense of the word.

PLASTIC TREACHERY (2010) Written Matthew Toffolo / Directed by Matthew Toffolo and Sam Merrell

The Doctor (Matthew Toffolo) lands on contemporary Earth, having tracked a stray Nestine globe which has wandered through space and finally crash-landed near a British university. Investigating with the help of young student Tasha (Samantha McLaughlin), he discovers that the Nestine has already formed an alliance with his old enemy the Master (Sam Merrell), who is posing as the school’s principal. The Autons (plastic-based servants of the Nestene consciousness, who appear in the form of store-window dummies) launch a brutal attack, and the Doctor scrambles to find a way to defeat them.

Despite the sharp digital photography, this is a very old-skool type production, and though it has many rough edges, it did make me smile, both for its nostalgic feel and for the obvious enthusiasm that went into its making. Rare among modern fan films, the makers of Plastic Treachery have opted not to use the usual “unknown future regeneration” of the Doctor, and instead cast this adventure during the tenure of the Fourth Doctor, played in the television series by the legendary Tom Baker. Given that pretty much any performance is going to suffer in comparison to King Tom, Matthew Toffolo nonetheless acquits himself quite well, doing a decent impression of the Fourth Doc’s mannerisms and personality, without it seeming like a silly impression. His braces and short-cropped hair (Baker was famous for his mop of unruly curls) do throw off the visual image a bit, but apparently (according to Toffolo on the Gallifrey Base chat boards) the low-to-no budget didn’t allow for a decent-looking curly wig.

With a fairly simple plotline, the film is too long at three 25-minute episodes, and there are definitely some filmmaking no-nos : most obviously, there are multiple jump cuts in the middle of what are otherwise continuous takes, as well as the framing of actors against a brightly-lit window so that they appear almost in silhouette. At times the Auton mask looks like it’s about to topple off the actor’s head, and Tasha’s friends (played by Hari Ramakrishnan and Rosie Wake) are a little too annoying to be endearing. Still, these are the kinds of growing pains any “first” production is likely to suffer, especially one produced with literally no budget, and are largely compensated for by the sense of fun surrounding the whole video.

Co-director Sam Merrell’s very Ainley-inspired performance is quite fun, and Samantha McLaughlin is completely adorable and fills out the companion role nicely. I like the way they’ve replicated the weird “smoke” effect of the Auton guns from the Jon Pertwee era, and Toffolo’s Fourth Doctor costume is terrific. It probably won’t make anybody’s “Top Ten” list, but Plastic Treachery is a good first effort, and a fun little fan-vid. Apparently the group are already at work on their second story, and I look forward to seeing it.

This amusing little spoof has some cogent commentary to make on the way the new Doctor Who series obsessively documents every single aspect of its production. Toasted offers up a one-minute DW fan film (in which the Doctor stirs his tea and watches his toast pop up, roll credits), and then about eight minutes of gushing “making of” material about how the epic fan film took two years to produce. Weir and Paxton are nicely deadpan/self-congratulatory, and Tyler Collins – an American – is an absolute hoot as a very un-British Doctor dressed in Matt Smith’s gear. Other highlights are the low-tech opening credits and everyone’s obsession with the new Sonic Screwdriver toy.

There’s not much more to say about Toasted — it’s a nicely-produced bit of fun, and you should definitely check it out!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Micro-history lesson for the uninitiated: in the 1970s and early 1980s, the BBC, seeing no long-term commercial viability for past episodes of Doctor Who (this was before the video boom, largely), made a habit of erasing the master tapes of many classic episodes, in order to re-use them for newer productions. As a result, many episodes – and many complete stories – from the show’s first six years no longer exist in any visual format, although audio recordings remain for all, most of these taped off-air by fans during the initial broadcast of these episodes.

“Mission to the Unknown” is one of those missing stories, a one-episode fill-in show that first aired in 1965, and served as “teaser” of sorts to the upcoming epic “The Dalek Masterplan.” Unique in Doctor Who history, this story does not feature the Doctor or any of the regular cast at all, instead focusing on two space pilots who have crash-landed on the planet Kembel. They come to realize that it is a Dalek base, and that the Daleks are hosting a secret meeting to enlist allies in a grand bid to conquer the universe.

With the story lost to history, Belfast, Ireland-based fans Chris Thompson and Guy Taylor (who also produced the recent Thunderbirds short) took it upon themselves to re-film the story as a fan video, burnishing it with some very modern special effects. The result is interesting if not wholly successful, but it does show a great deal of enthusiasm and talent. Thompson and Taylor play the two space pilots, while Thompson directs from Terry Nation’s original script, and supplies most of the special effects. Like many fan films, the difference between slick-looking CGI elements and “filmed out in the woods” live action doesn’t always mesh completely, and the filmmaking is occasionally slightly awkward. One can’t help but notice that these astronauts are wearing blue jeans and tennis shoes — possible, of course, but not terribly likely given the futuristic setting. However, the biggest stumbling block is that the Dalek voices are over-modulated and very hard to understand – even with headphones on, I often had to strain to understand what they were saying, a fairly common problem with many fan-produced Dalek adventures. (I say we institute a rule by which all Dalek scenes must be subtitled.) Also, the CG Varga plant creatures don’t quite succeed; they’re a little amorphous, and it’s often difficult to tell exactly what they’re supposed to be doing.

Still, I like Mission to the Unknown a lot, both for its healthy ambition, and for the nifty idea of re-creating a “lost” story. Thompson’s CGI Daleks and environments are frankly gorgeous, and the digital grading done to make common forest locations look a little more other-worldly is very evocative. The re-creation of the alien roundtable cabal is pretty impressive, with a mixture of live actors and CG-based aliens. Thompson and Taylor are both pretty good actors, and while they may not win any BAFTAs, it never has the feel of a bunch of kids just running around in the back yard. It’s a quality production, and I’d love to see more Who-related stuff from this group.

IN THE PIPELINE (2009)
Written / Edited / Directed by – Tony Coburn

A young woman, Amy Lavell (Jo Baker), is awoken by strange noises coming from the pipes in her house. But never fear — the TARDIS has appeared in her back yard, and a strange man who initially calls himself John Smith, aka the Doctor (Tony Coburn) is already investigating. The Doctor deduces that a wayward gaseous alien has taken up refuge in Amy’s plumbing, and he initiates a plan to get the creature back home. But the forces of Torchwood, U.N.I.T., and a new organization (“Another ‘Dad’s Army!” the Doctor barks) are also investigating the extraterrestrial visitation.

Tony Coburn is a professional actor (he was to appear briefly in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as young Lucius Malfoy, but his scene ended up being cut) and prolific Doctor Who fan filmmaker who has built a large and loyal following on YouTube. After a few years of mostly male companions, “In the Pipeline” was his first fanvid to feature a female in the sidekick role, his then-girlfriend Jo Baker (they have since split up) as aspiring actress Amy Lavell. Coburn’s years of experience producing Who fan films gives much of “In the Pipeline” a fairly professional feel, with the most impressive aspect being the creative and energetic editing. At 40 minutes, the film is slightly overlong, but not grievously so, and the cutting (by Coburn, of course) keeps the pace crisp and mobile; there’s even a funny editing-based homage to Shaun of the Dead in the first few minutes. Many fan filmmakers should take a lesson from how story-driven and professional this editing job is.

However, Coburn’s habit of cranking out as much material as possible (visit his YT page at http://www.youtube.com/user/timelordfromhell to see just how much stuff he’s produced in a few short years) means that some aspects of the production — mainly the greenscreen work, which represents the last third or so of the film — feel sloppy and underdeveloped. I don’t know if Coburn lacks the proper tools, or the patience — or perhaps some combination of both — to make the greenscreen work look as professional as the rest of the video, but setting so much of the last act in artificial environments (the TARDIS control room and an alien planet, all of which require computer compositing and rotoscoping) really takes the viewer out of the story. The perspectives are often wonky, the backgrounds often bleed through the actors faces, the meshing of foreground and background rarely seems realistic, and in the final scenes set on the alien planet, we often see shadows cast on the greenscreen background hovering in mid-air.

There are other technical issues as well: in one scene of the Doctor and Amy walking along a road early on, the shadow of the cameraman is clearly visible on their clothes, and one female extra ( a Torchwood grunt, supposedly) keeps grinning through every scene, as if she’s thinking, “I’m in a film!!” (I realize the filmmakers were trying to make Torchwood’s numbers look more impressive, but really, the presence of this baby-faced, completely unthreatening young girl does more harm than good.) There’s a scene near the end where the TARDIS has landed in a park, only to disappear a few minutes later. And the entire production looks as though it was filmed in 4×3 and then digitally “stretched” out to letterbox format, which makes everyone look a bit short and dumpy.

Even so, “In the Pipeline” has much to recommend it. Coburn is a natural actor, and makes for a fairly effortlessly endearing Doctor; if I had any comment to make it would be that he tends to lean a bit too heavily on David Tennant’s interpretation (probably not surprising as he has done much work impersonating Tennant in various comedy skits), but is clearly not playing the same incarnation. But he’s a commanding figure fully capable of carrying the story. I like his more Edwardian costume a lot as well. Jo Baker isn’t quite as good, but she does manage to avoid the trap of being whiny and annoying (like the current new series Amy… oops, did I say that out loud?), and has some good moments here and there, as well as adding a healthy dose of sex appeal to the proceedings. The rest of the cast are surprisingly adequate in their brief roles, and it’s nice to see our always-entertaining old chum Matthew Chambers (in a walk-on as a Torchwood operative) in any fan film. Christopher Thomson, in devil-red makeup, makes for an agreeably unnerving alien life form. The script isn’t anything to write home about, and the ending is pure cheese, but the story moves at a nice pace, and holds interest in a way that most fan films struggle with. Clearly, Coburn has talent, and I especially like the fact that he used the classic series Who theme in the opening titles rather than one of the various new-series versions; it gives the film a sense of history.

For all its rough edges, “In the Pipeline” is generally well-directed, slick at times, and fairly impressive. It gets a thumbs-up from me. Tony Coburn has apparently recently made a decision to stop producing Who fan films and concentrate on other projects, and that’s a bit of a shame, as he’s pretty good at it. Still, he’s got a pretty large back-catalog to explore, and he might even change his mind in the future. Time, as they say, will tell.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Aboard the military research starship HMS Archer, the crew is under attack by malevolent xenomorphic alien creatures, while the Doctor (Ryan Hendrick) is in the process of regenerating, as a result of an encounter with one of the creatures. In the care of Dr. Lydia (Jennifer Byrne) and hard-ass soldier Lt. Ryder (Frankie MacEachen), he manages to recover enough to lead them deeper into the ship while formulating a plan to deal with the alien attacks.

This short film (12 minutes) was shot in Scotland and is, according to the filmmakers, a “teaser” for a full-length video currently in production. It’s an intriguing idea: the Doctor vs. the memorable monsters from the Alien franchise, in a claustrophobic spaceship environment, with the Doc in the process of regenerating after having encountered one of the creatures. All with Scottish accents.

In some ways “Besieged” reminds me of the classic Batman fan film Dead End, both because of its open-ended conclusion and the fact that it features the fearsome critters from the beloved Ridley Scott/James Cameron films. “Besieged” isn’t as slick as Dead End, but it’s a worthy production that hints at something greater. What’s here so far is a bit unsatisfying, but the longer production, if done with similar care, could be an all-time classic.

If I have any small gripes with the film they would be the over-use of new-series musical cues which we’ve heard in far too many fan films already (as well as their re-use in the actual series; hopefully the full-length “Besieged” will have an original score) and the too-dark cinematography. I realize that director Stuart Cadenhead was going for “dark-and-scary,” but there are too many scenes here where you simply can’t tell what’s happening, especially during the sequence where the Doctor and the two ladies move from one location to the next; despite having watched the film several times on different kinds of monitors (and even on TV), there are still multiple shots where I just don’t understand what it is I’m supposed to be seeing. And when the viewer is confused, they stop caring. My advice for the full-length production would be to sacrifice some of the mystery of the dark in favor of better clarity of storytelling; it’s difficult to realize, for instance, that we are even seeing the classic Alien monster designs at first. And this isn’t really a story so much as a vignette, basically an extended trailer, which is fine for promotional purposes; hopefully the extended feature will have more to the plot than just running up and down corridors.

Still, “Besieged” is a very promising production with some really fun elements. The acting is terrific, and I’m especially looking forward to seeing more of Ryan Hendrick’s Doctor, who seems to have regenerated from the David Tennant iteration, bypassing Matt Smith entirely. There are some excellent CG spaceship shots, and, from what I can tell, the Alien costumes are outstanding. The use of colored lights and gels is very effective, and the use of locations to suggest the interior of a spaceship is surprisingly convincing. Overall, the video looks outstanding, and is well worth checking out. Here’s hoping they can continue building a bigger, better version of “Besieged,” and we’ll be happy to promote the finished production whenever it is released.

Click here to view the embedded video.

NEXT TIME: Plastic Treachery, Mission to the Unknown, The Other Side, and more.

JE Smith is a forty-something guy living in the wilds of Texas, USA, who loves Doctor Who and loves fan films. He is currently a writer of film and DVD reviews for the media website Pop Syndicate, and is contemplating making his own DW fan film in the near future.

Taking a cue from Mr. Christopher Moshier himself, I thought I’d do a piece on some of the more notable “unfinished” or lost Who fan films – some of these titles are legendary among fans, while others are relatively unknown. But all were intriguing enough for one reason or another that you can’t help but wish they’d gotten finished, one way or another.

5. DEPTHS (Broken Biscuit Productions) – The only fan film I’m aware of to use the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston in the BBC series), this appeared only as a trailer, which featured only a small amount of actual footage, a brief clip of the Doctor (Matthew J. Watts) emerging from the TARDIS. The trailer bore a release slated of Autumn 2006, but it never materialized. It was planned as a six-part adventure, and publicity photos released at the time also featured a very attractive companion, played by Emily Brown. But apparently there were multiple problems with planned locations, and only a portion of the video was ever filmed. A pity, as the full-sized TARDIS prop was impressive, and it would have been lovely to actually have a Ninth Doctor fan film — the advent of Tennant soon became the permanent iconography of the series, and no one bothered to emulate the Eccleston Doctor once DT had taken over the role.

4. TIME AND THE DOCTORS (DAM Productions) – The usually quite prolific team of David Nagel and Matthew Chambers aren’t the type of fan filmmakers to let a production go unfinished; in addition to their amusing Chimera, they’ve also produced dozens of Who-related audio plays, and the delightful charity video Pudsai which brought together many fan-Doctors in the same production. But Time and the Doctors was the one that got away — a lyrical and cosmic story of the regeneration from the Nagel Doctor to the Chambers version, this was also planned to be the debut of Miss Samantha Thornley as the companion Sammy. Young Sammy has since gone on to become Mrs. Nagel, and has appeared in a couple of DAM audio productions. According to David Nagel: “The real reason it was abandoned was because I wasn’t happy with how short the film was; filming was a difficult process, the noise levels were atrocious, as we filmed next to a main road (of all places) and I wanted a sound dub that never happened. Plus, I never got around to filming Sammy (as Time in the void) until recently and it still didn’t turn out quite as I expected. So now the film is in a semi-complete state, special effects for the cosmic chest pains, the regeneration etc and a green-screen void sequence.” Nagel also suggests that he will one day assemble the footage and post it online as an archive piece, and stresses that he no longer considers this “canon” for the Nagel/Chambers regeneration. “TatD has been replaced by a bigger, better, more substantial plot, but only involving the one Doctor, until the regeneration.” The evocative black-and-white trailer features a lovely and haunting piano arrangement of the famous theme tune (by Anthony Perry), and some nifty phase-shifting effects, but is available only as a low-res file from the early days of the century.

3. THE CHURCHTOWN INCIDENT (Timebase Productions) – Timebase is one of the most respected names in Doctor Who fan filmdom, but their last two productions bear the stigma of never having been formally released. The Hidden Face, at least, was largely completed and a rough assembly played at several conventions in the early 2000s. But The Churchtown Incident remains legendary as the great “lost” Timebase film. It told the story of an idyllic semi-industrial planet being invaded by the war-like Sontarans, who are using the natives as guinea pigs for alien implants. Featuring Rupert Booth and Deborah Reilly as the Doctor and Amaryllis, only half of the feature was ever shot. But, this footage was used to compile a very impressive-looking trailer which displayed not only a full Sontaran costume and mask, but the interior of a Sontaran spaceship, and some good-looking futuristic weapons. Although some close to the production have claimed some reservations about the actual script, The Churchtown Incident is probably among the most widely-seen “unfinished” trailers, and one many fans would love to have a chance to see.

2. TIME STALKERS (Mendicant Productions) – The fabled followup to Time and Again seemed doomed from the very beginning. There were personality conflicts that led to the replacing of lead actor Dennis Kuhn with Paul Christopher (making this the first fan film in which the Doctor and the Master were played by the same actor, an intriguing notion that never quite came to fruition), and logistical problems exacerbated by director Ryan Thorson’s imminent entry into the military. As with Churchtown, only about half of the script was ever filmed, and the video’s renown is based on production photos, artwork, and a brief trailer that was featured on the long-since-vanished website. The forthcoming Special Edition DVD of Time and Again also features a couple of brief clips from Time Stalkers, but like Churchtown, there’s very little hope of this one ever being completed, and the project remains a sore spot for just about everyone involved.

1.DEVIOUS – (Devious Productions) Easily the most famous and infamous “unfinished” Doctor Who vid, the Devious gang still maintain that the epic fan video will be finished someday soon, even though it has been in production for more than fifteen years at this point. Patterned after the old six-part serials, this tells of an “interim” Doctor set between the second and third incarnations, who is sent to an isolated planet to undergo a series of tests, but is soon pursued by the Daleks, via impressive full-scale working models that were built especially for the production. Though the project is notable in many ways, the most important and obvious of these is the appearance of Jon Pertwee, who played the Third Doctor in the BBC series, and makes a brief appearance at the conclusion of the story; this footage was in fact recently included on an official BBC DVD of “The War Games,” and constituted Pertwee’s last acting work before his untimely death in 1996. Also of note is the fact that both the full-size Daleks and the impressive TARDIS control room were borrowed by the BBC for the Comic Relief charity spoof The Curse of Fatal Death, written by current show-runner Steven Moffat, and starring Rowan Atkinson, Jim Broadbent, Joanna Lumley, and Hugh Grant, all playing various incarnations of the Doctor. Devious has long been on the forefront of fan anticipation, and tons of photographs, a trailer, and a fairly detailed website have been pored over by Who-geeks for years. But progress on the project has been worse than glacial, and many believe it will simply never be finished. Even if it is, the producers have hinted that they may not even release it for public consumption, and keep it for their own private viewing. This would be a shame, of course, but would also probably preserve its status as the #1 “unseen” Who fan vid of all time.

Click here to view the embedded video.

JE Smith is a forty-something guy living in the wilds of Texas, USA, who loves Doctor Who and loves fan films. He is currently a writer of film and DVD reviews for the media website Pop Syndicate, and is contemplating making his own DW fan film in the near future.

The same is true of virtually any genre of fan film, although not all subsets have the sheer overwhelming numbers of the SW set. And really: Doctor Who fan films have a perceived advantage over other styles; elaborate special effects are optional, and even the character himself, with his seemingly endless regenerations, is open to a wide range of interpretation. You don’t even have to painstakingly recreate a TV costume (although many do) to embody this iconic character. You just need a good script, some decent actors, and a sense of wonder, and DW fan film fans will likely go along for the ride.

In that spirit, for our third installment, I offer a primer for Doctor Who fan films: listed below are six flicks that will give you a good overview of some of the better offerings this subsection has to offer. This is not necessarily an “all time best” list, though many of these would certainly belong on such a roll call. In fact, some of the very best DW fan films are still not available on the web, while others are only available as downloads. Still others are important enough that I plan to devote an entire column to them in the future. But these vids represent titles that anyone interested in exploring this world should start with.

Broken Doors (1987) – Seattle filmmaker Ryan K. Johnson made four Doctor Who fan films in the 1980s, and was quite possibly the very first director to cast a female in the role of the Doctor. This, the fourth and final of his Who fan vids, is distinctly the best, a surreal story set in a dangerous netherworld in which the Doctor and her faithful companion Carl try to make their way through a series of tests.

Victimsight (2009) – An excellent example of a new breed of higher-gloss/high-aspiration Who fan film, this Canadian production has strong echoes of the recent BBC series, but retains a distinct identity and is sharply directed by Eldon Letkeman. Shot in hi-def, Victimsight is colorful and engaging.

The Schrödinger Effect (2008) – No list of this sort would be complete without mention of Chris Hoyle, a Leeds-UK-based vid-maker who has been churning out enthusiastic Who fan films since the early 1990s. His most recent production is also his most polished, with Hoyle’s classic Doctor revisiting his old friend, Charlotte (the charming Emma Bone), who then find themselves pursued by hostile forces. With outstanding SFX by Shivering Cactus, and a guest-appearance by a rather “big name” in Who circles, Schrödinger is way cool.

Deconstruction (2005) – A rare beast: a Doctor Who fan film that doesn’t feature the Doctor. Deconstruction is the product of the prolific Westlake Films fan group in the UK, and features an almost dialogue-free story about a Cyberman invasion of an isolated asteroid. Kevin Hiley provides eye-popping special effects, while John Isles contributes a haunting performance as the last man alive on the rock.

Time and Again (1999) – A recut/revamped Special Edition of this fan-classic is on the horizon, but there’s still plenty of reason to check out the original version of a fan film that has truly made its mark. A rare feature-length production that holds interest throughout, this boasts notable performances by Dennis Kuhn as the Doctor and Paul Christopher as his arch-enemy the Master. A must-see.

Fire and Ice (2009) – Making quite a splash in the DW fan film community, the first episode of Doctor Who: An Unofficial Fan Series aspires to be the Star Trek: New Voyages of the Who set. Strong performances (especially Jennifer Richman as Alice) and finely-tuned CG effects make this about as much like the “real” series as you could ask for. And, if all turns out well, there’ll eventually be twelve more just like it.

JE Smith is a forty-something guy living in the wilds of Texas, USA, who loves Doctor Who and loves fan films. He is currently a writer of film and DVD reviews for the media website Pop Syndicate, and is contemplating making his own DW fan film in the near future.

One of the most welcoming and gung-ho members of this community was one Adam Manning of the UK, who, along with his cohorts in the aptly-named Cheeky Monkey Pictures! group, had already posted the first episode of their epic fan film Tyranny of the Daleks. Like many first efforts, Episode 1 of Tyranny is fairly rough around the edges, but full of verve and surprisingly good performances, along with some pretty slick-looking CGI effects. As Episodes 2 and 3 made their debut in later months (and years), it was obvious that the confidence and filmmaking style of the CMP! band (which includes Adam’s wife Alison, co-star Lizzie McWilliams, and her husband Matt, who serves as director and primary cameraman) was increasing by leaps and bounds. But the epic remains unfinished, and almost two years have passed now since the third installment debuted. Manning, a crime-fighting barrister by day (that’s a lawyer to us Americans), has had to contend with computer crashes and a steep learning curve on a new CGI program in his valiant effort to bring Tyranny to a rousing conclusion – as well as squeezing in side projects like their amusing spoof Henry V: Champion of Saturn. We posed ten questions to Herr Manning about his Tyranny and its future.

1. What’s the earliest Doctor Who episode you remember seeing? Why do you think the series has had such a profound effect on you?

The earliest episode of Doctor Who I distinctly remember seeing is “Destiny of the Daleks” (1979). I remember, at the time, having mixed feelings about it. I loved the initial buildup, the Doctor becoming trapped and reading a book on Astrobiology to pass the time. I managed to get hold of a rather thick paperback on Astrobiology myself which I habitually kept in my coat pocket too (not bad for an 8 year old – one by Fred Hoyle actually). I remember thinking whilst the story had merits, sending the Daleks out as effectively suicide bombers was a bit weak and not helped by how banged-about they looked. The Movellans were just cheap and disappointing for aliens. It just left me a little deflated after the exciting build up of having the Daleks return.

I’m much more positive about it as a story now when I watch it. The scenes of Romana being tortured are quite effective, given the broadly brushed and outlandish sci-fi setting. The actor brought into play Davros gives it a good go, impressive considering his predecessor had given such an extraordinary performance in “Genesis of the Daleks.” Romana’s regeneration scene is amusingly whimsical in a way that cleverly offsets the rest of the story’s matter of fact grimness. What I mostly enjoyed about the opening scenes on Skaro was due in part to the involvement of Douglas Adams in the story and something I would grow to really enjoy in later Who stories and Hitchhikers. The Movellans, I would realize, were an attempt to make the story look contemporary and exciting by styling them on the then current glamorous disco fashions and made for a rather fabulous, if incongruous, race of androids.

I clearly watched Doctor Who before “Destiny”; I have distinct memories of the Mummies from “Pyramids of Mars” for example, but that was the first story I really absorbed and was able to follow fully.

2. Please explain your obsession with Rupert Booth!

It is quite true to say that I am obsessed with Rupert Booth. To me he is the true official Doctor of the interregnum between the classic and new series, perhaps even more so than Paul McGann. It all goes back to 2000 and 2001 when we as a group first became interested in the idea of making a Doctor Who fan film. One of the most widely known groups in this field is Timebase Productions. We were able to obtain VHS copies (see this goes back a few years now!) of all four of the major Timebase films and watched them with avid interest. Like many people, something about them seemed to resonate with what was most enjoyable about the original series: the sense of intrigue, the fascination with the surreal and mysterious. Rupert’s performance was obviously an important part of this. To be brief, and you have to watch the films to understand this, but it is right to say that Rupert manages to carry off the very difficult task of being a Doctor without just acting in a “Doctorish” manner, without just being a rather eccentric man in eccentric clothes. In retrospect it’s quite clever then that the first time we see his Doctor, he’s not in Doctor style clothes or indeed clearly in his full Doctor mode. This cutting away of the normal Time Lord props helps build up his character as being very much his own creation. His Doctor is very much in the mould of the Doctors of the original series without just being a caricature or impression or copycat play act.

As the Timebase Who fan films progress, we also see that Rupert’s Doctor has to deal with things the original series’ Doctors didn’t, pre-configuring or anticipating themes now found in the new series. Also physically he looks the part, with his long hair and the striking outfit of his dinner suit. It also helps that Rupert is a very natural comic actor, which adds to the enjoyment of watching them.

Over the years, I have got to know Rupert well and have to say that in addition to all this he is also a wonderful chap, thoughtful, kind, very humorous and generous. A delight to know and it pleases me no end that through making our fan films I have to come to know him as a friend.

3. Had you made any films (fan or otherwise) before Tyranny?

In a word – No! Tyranny of the Daleks, or The Galentor Incident as it was originally called, is our first go at making a film of any description. Episode 1, which is The Galentor Incident, was originally all we planned to make, but we had so much fun making it, we wanted to continue the story further and that eventually became Tyranny of the Daleks.

4. What was the main motivating factor behind mounting your own Who fan film?

The secret here is that at first, at the absolute outset, we wanted to make a Star Wars fan film. There I’ve said it, it’s our dirty, shameful secret. Matt and Garry had seen some of the early Star Wars fan films, including of course Troops. This was in the days when the Internet was a very different beast from what it is now. Star Wars what fan filmmaking was all about, or so it seemed at first.

We reasoned fairly early on that actually Star Wars would be a very difficult thing to try and do as the production values were so enormously high. We were excited about creating our own special effects but to make anything even remotely fit a George Lucas-style vision seemed a mountain too high to climb.

Now, it’s not right to say for example that we then settled down on Doctor Who as being easier. It’s more accurate to say that we recognized with Who there was a different emphasis, which might make it more suitable for a first film. Whilst Who was also clearly a visual feast (or at least tried to be), the focus was more on intrigue, atmosphere, character and plot. That combined with the all-too-evident fun the Timebase guys were having making their films and also the Projection Room films as well (which were very influential on us too), made it natural to emigrate our ambitions to Doctor Who instead. Lizzie, Matt and I were all total Who fans as well. The Projection Room films suggested a positive approach to telling a story with the film. They were influential in depicting how to build up a scene with the shots and how to keep going and carry the narrative forward.

Remember, this was all happening at a time (around 2003) when the new series had not even been remotely mooted by the BBC. Doctor Who was, it seemed, a bit of an embarrassment to the BBC in those days – despite, in its heyday, being something the nation adored; the Beeb made it clear they had no intention of ever bringing it back. Science fiction like Who, the BBC would regularly say, simply did not have a big enough audience in these modern times. Fan productions really were, at this stage, the only way to actually see new Who on the screen. One particular day, “Who Fan Film Day” in the summer of 2003, actually made the news on the old Outpost Gallifrey website when three fan films including ours happened to be filming on the same day. From a visual perspective, fans had nothing to talk about apart from fan films and so they were accorded perhaps more importance than they are now. With the new series (deservedly) being such a success, there are a whole new generation of fan filmmakers out there now, and I am fascinated by this. Taking their cue much more from the new series, they have a whole different style and approach.

The internet has grown and developed so much over the last ten years that the good old days of sitting around waiting for a VHS tape to be delivered in the post and then excitedly slotting it into your machine and pressing play have long gone. Now it’s all downloads and bit torrents. Tyranny perhaps straddles both generations of fan films, being conceived and born in the last days of the VHS era, when all we had was the old series to inspire us, yet since being fully accessible on YouTube and Google Video, an effectively online series. It’s interesting that when we started, in no way did I envisage the internet getting to the point where this might be possible. When we started Tyranny, I only ever thought in terms of it being available on VHS or, at a stretch, DVD. It really has been a, perhaps barely noticed, revolution before us in terms of the power we now have to watch what we want.

5. How did you meet your stalwart cohorts the McWilliams’?

Ah, this is an easy one. I went to school with Mr. Matthew McWilliams, our wonderful director and principal camera operator. This was good old Hamble Comprehensive back in the ‘80s, near Southampton. I also worked for a while with Matt at Beth’s Restaurant in Hamble. Lizzie was Matt’s girlfriend, now his wife, and I met her for the first time on 23rd September 2000 as Matt brought her along to one of my birthday parties. I know this, as I am an obsessive diarist and write everything down. We played a lot of Twister, which is always a good way to get to know people, I’ve found over the years.

6. Co-star Lizzie McWilliams: diva or darling?

Darling. Even as a Diva she’s still a Darling. Not only is she utterly gorgeous she’s also a wonderful actor, far better than me, and always unerringly and absolutely spot on with her lines! Right from the start she’s always had fan mail and I think a large part of the attention we get is down to her, and rightly so! Always remember, she is far more clever than you are, and if you do, all her behaviour will be acceptable albeit occasionally incomprehensible.

7. Your Doctor is very much the action hero – how did you arrive at that approach?

I don’t physically resemble any of the past doctors, so an impression or representation of any previous Doctor was not a good idea. Nevertheless, I had felt that the Third Doctor might be good inspiration for a fan film Doctor, being a rather larger than life, flamboyant and colourful character. Also, the idea of a Third Doctor-style Doctor for me was influenced by a big story I wrote as a ten year old in which the Third Doctor confronts Davros: in the story, his assistant was called “Xafonix,” which I re-used in Episode 1 for the friend the Doctor and Romana are hoping to meet.

This also for me coupled with an interest in martial arts and kung fu films generally. It was a given that any Doctor Who fan film we made would have to involve some fighting and high kicking as a result.

And then, when we filmed Episode 1, it became very clear that filming action sequences was really good fun. We all seemed to enjoy the running about, jumping, hiding behind trees and general larking about that the action bits involved the most. So with the later episodes it was agreed that we would try and do more of that.

Another point is that in watching the numerous fan films we saw before and during the making of Tyranny, perhaps the one thing that seemed surprisingly underused was action sequences. A lot of the fan films we saw were essentially long bits of dialogue between characters. Which was fine, but we thought we could be distinctive by shaking things up with a bit of action.

From this starting point, whilst working on Tyranny of the Daleks, a theme evolved of producing a style of Doctor Who inspired as much by comics as the TV series. Whilst working on the computer graphic imagery in Tyranny, I was taken by the idea that we were producing Doctor Who as if it were made by Marvel Comics, which is to say a very much larger-than-life, broadly brushed approach with exaggerated action, angled shots and general production values that were bold, colourful and dynamic. This was something that only developed after we started work on it. To begin with, we hadn’t even conceptualised the idea of a theme or a style with which to make the production. It was only something that grew as we became more confident.

8. How long did Tyranny take to shoot? Were there different blocks of shooting?

As mentioned before, originally all there was was The Galentor Incident, long before the title Tyranny of the Daleks was thought of. The only thing anyone knew of as our production was The Galentor Incident. After finalizing the script during the summer of 2002 with a couple of rehearsals, we filmed the whole of The Galentor Incident on one beautiful day in the New Forest in early September 2002.

Then after the script for the other episodes had been worked up and the new name of Tyranny of the Daleks decided upon, we did loads of filming over the next three years. There were some further gorgeous days in the beautiful New Forest during a very sunny July 2003, including one great day, our biggest filming day ever, when three of the chaps from Timebase Productions joined us. These were Neil Johnson, Steve Palace and Paul Ferry. You can see some of them in Episode 2 of Tyranny, but there’s lots more of them in action in Episode 4.

Filming for Episode 4 finished in the middle of 2005 and then the post-production fun began!

9. Why did you decide to tackle all the CG effects yourself rather than farming them out to others?

Quite simply, part of the fun of making a film for me is learning how to do it all yourself. I really enjoy the computer graphic imagery side of the production and greatly value how far it’s come on. There are some wonderful computer graphic artists out there working on Doctor Who fan films so there’s plenty to keep you inspired! It’s also a skill I’ve been able to carry into other films that I’ve made for business purposes which is very valuable to me.

Spending a lot of time essentially animating Daleks using a CG package took me right into the mind of a Dalek. In making them come to life, you can’t help but be drawn into their world. It occurred to me that if you were a Dalek, your thoughts would be so crystalline in their purity. Being so evil, so clear in their views, so free from doubt or fear or imagination you would have such an unfettered mental outlook, such a dazzling light to guide your existence. As a fan of the show, I found it an exhilarating insight to be taken that far into their world. This concept of purity is of course very much part of the general Nazi ideology that the Daleks have always been identified with.

As well as the various comic strips, particularly from the ‘60s, that depicted the Daleks, I was also greatly inspired by the two ‘60s films and their portrayal and production values. I think this shows somewhat in the models we used. Whilst working on Episode 2 I eventually settled on the type of backdrop used in the original series story, “Day of the Daleks,” which is quite an extraordinary story in many ways. The moderately reflective walls used added a great deal of interest, coupled with flashes of mostly green light. The first time we see the Daleks in Episode 2, they are engaged in a dialogue about the fate of the Doctor and I wanted to really do something special with this and in the end settled on a very long, continuous shot as they travel down a corridor. It took a lot of time to render but I was pleased with the result.

One further point is that it was, whilst working on the CG, that the notion of a comic book style really took hold. This is where the occasional split screen shots come from. I wish now that we had started off with this theme, as it makes Tyranny fairly unique. As said before, we had no concept of giving it a style to begin with, but I wish now that when we had shot the footage, we had taken lots of extra footage for more split screen stuff with the real footage to combine with the CG. But then learning all this is part of the fun!

10. And lastly of course – what’s the status of episode 4?

Episode 4 you say – well it’s a constant work in progress at the moment. All the filming’s been done, its now down to the post-production… am hoping to release it soon(ish)!

I’d just like to say everything about Tyranny of the Daleks has been so much fun, so much enjoyment and really some of the happiest times I’ve known. It’s been, and continues to be, a long project but I’ve loved every second and it’s always been delightful that anyone else even watches it let alone seems to enjoy it.

Many thanks to Adam Manning for taking the time to become our very first interview subject! The first three episodes of Tyranny can we viewed here, and check out the very exciting trailer here.  Plus you can explore all of the Cheeky Monkey Pictures! output (including some bloopers and other silly bits) at their YouTube page.

That’s about all for episode two, but I was somewhat remiss last time in not linking to perhaps the best resource for Doctor Who fan films, the Doctor Who Fan Film Database run by our old pal David Nagel. More on this great site in the future, but for now, click on the link and do some exploring!

JE Smith is a forty-something guy living in the wilds of Texas, USA, who loves Doctor Who and loves fan films. He is currently a writer of film and DVD reviews for the media website Pop Syndicate, and is contemplating making his own DW fan film in the near future.

“We are not of this Earth. We are wanderers in the fourth dimensions of Space and Time – cut off from our own planet and our own people, by eons and universes that are far beyond the reach of your most advanced sciences!”

It is with very great pleasure that I inaugurate this brand new corner of Fan Film Follies, devoted to amateur productions based on my all-time favorite television show, Doctor Who. Like most other fan films, Who vids are the product of an undying enthusiasm for the source material, and also like most other fan films, they run the gamut from crude and unwatchable, to incredibly cool.

If you’ve made it to this site, and even further to this column, I’m going to assume that you don’t need any schooling on what constitutes a “fan film,” why they’re interesting, and why people make them; basically, I’m going to take it as read that I’m preaching to the choir, at least in terms of the basic format. Ditto for trying to explain Doctor Who. If you don’t already know the series, there are a million places on the interwebz better suited to familiarizing you with this fantastic, long-running show. I urge you to check them out.

I will, however, start out with my own personal philosophy, one that is probably shared by most fan film fans: these kinds of videos are entitled to somewhat gentle treatment, no matter what their intrinsic merits as “entertainment” prove to be. Given that they are created by people with no budgets, using limited resources, and scraping by without even the most basic allowances that even the lowest budget film takes for granted, it’s frankly a miracle they get created at all. So, while I will not hesitate to give a bad review to a fan film that can’t muster even the most basic entertainment elements, I’m not going to harp on every questionable performance, cheap prop or inappropriate location. These are things that fan film fans can and should take in stride. It is, however, sometimes a bit of a balancing act, but I’ve been a fan of this particular sub-genre for many years, and I think you’ll find me pretty fair-minded overall.

Anyway, a little bit about me: I’m a forty-something guy living in the Dallas, Texas area (but originally from Southern Illinois) who works in data entry and is married to a lovely lady named Barbara, for going on eighteen years. I’ve always been a huge fan of science fiction, comic books, monster movies – basically anything with a little bit of the fantastic about it. I love ‘em all. Probably my first real passion (beyond Saturday morning cartoons) was the Planet of the Apes series of films in the ‘70s, and I was also a fairly hard-core Trekker, back in days when there was only one Star Trek, and there were no VCRs, so you had to re-watch the UHF reruns a million times if you wanted to stay ingrained. And I did. I didn’t discover Doctor Who until it debuted on PBS Channel 9 out of St. Louis in 1983, with Tom Baker as the Doctor. I was immediately hooked, and the mania has only grown since them. I’m a moderate fan of the new updated series, but that’s a whole other discussion.

I’ve taken a couple of stabs at self-publishing my own comics, and have had non-fiction published in magazines like Films in Review, Filmfax, and Imagi-Movies. Currently I write film and DVD reviews for the media website Pop Syndicate. And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I’m currently creatively involved in Doctor Who: An Unofficial Fan Series, an ambitious series of fanvids that aspires to be to Doctor Who fandom what Phase II is to Star Trek fandom. I’m serving as a writer and assistant script editor – but don’t worry, I won’t be abusing my new position here at Fan Film Follies to throw too much spotlight onto my own gig. This is an equal-opportunity column.

Oh, and the name’s Jeff, by the way. I adopted “J.E.” back in my comic book days, because there was already a famous comic book artist named Jeff Smith. For better or worse, it has stuck as my “professional” name. So call me Jeff, for heaven’s sake. It weirds me out when people call me “J.E.”

Whew, that was a lot of intro. It won’t always be like this, promise.

So – what will The Doctor is IN entail? Well, I’m going to try and keep things pretty broad, and not overly structured. There will certainly be news of upcoming projects and other developments, and reviews of fan vids as they are released. There will be interviews with filmmakers, and other items of interest. I will certainly be highlighting some of the great Who fan films of the past and I’ve been contemplating an essay or two. The only rule is there are no rules, but I will strive to keep this column lively and interesting. It will also reflect my own personality and writing style: while there will be some measure of objectivity, I see this column, in the broadest sense, more as an editorial – if you don’t want to hear strong opinions, you might want to look elsewhere. I have no problem speaking my mind. That said, and in keeping with my philosophy stated above, there won’t be a whole lot of bloodshed here; I’d rather celebrate than assassinate. But keep in mind that, like Cole Porter says: anything goes.

For the time being, I will be assimilating a lot of information from my usual hangout, the Fan Video and Audio section of the excellent website Gallifrey Base, but I encourage everyone to contact me directly with press releases, information, and especially visual material – I find that the best way to get people excited about your project is to show them pictures, and I’d like this to be a picturesque column. You can e-mail me at complexcity@hotmail.com.

Seeing as this installment is a bit top-heavy with set-up (think of it as the first hour of a superhero movie where you have to get the origin story out of the way), I’ll keep the rest of the content fairly brief. Onward…

NEWS: Anyone familiar with Doctor Who fan films will know the name “The Federation.” One of the most prolific fan groups of all time, they produced a steady stream of spoofs and other comedy-related videos all through the 1980s and early ‘90s – that golden age when videos were usually edited deck-to-deck, and everything was distributed via VHS tapes because, hello, there was no such thing as the internet. The Feds took a few years off, returning in 1999 with their first dramatic video Realitywarp, followed by Traumaturge (2000) and Shadowcast (2002). The Federation’s own Sixth Doctor, Steve Hill, has taken a bold step into the 21st century with the launch of the Federation Files Warehouse.  This new venture will allow fans to bypass the traditional snail mail content delivery system and download full-res Federation content directly. The initial offerings are modest, and include a raw AVI file for their 1986 spoof Doctor Who and the Holy Grail, and a full-DVD ISO file for Shadowcast (in five chunks) – reviews of both projects in a forthcoming column – along with Rob Warnock’s soundtrack CD for Realitywarp and The Reign of Turner. A site like this is exactly what Federation fans need, as many have been frustrated over the last few years by the closure of the ordering page on the Federation’s web site; it has been nearly impossible of late to acquire any Fed content directly from the source. Of course, you will need some serious downloading power to grab these very large files (the Shadowcast chunks are about a gig each) and trying this with dial-up is not advised. But it beats the bit-torrent route, and is a good way to acquire DVD-quality copies of these fine productions. I’ve personally test-driven the Shadowcast DL, and was able to quite easily extract the ISO file and burn a DVD that is (as far as I can tell) identical to the physical DVD I bought from the Feds several years ago.

COMING SOON: Reviews of the new Special Edition DVDs of The Other Side, The Millennium Trap, and (hopefully!) Time and Again, plus, an interview with Doctor Who: AUFS director Greg Sisco, and much more!

Finally, here are five links you should click, and watch cool stuff:

The Dalek Invasion of Skaro (full movie)
Doctor Who: Victimsight (full movie)
Guardian of the Solar System (full trailer)
Doctor Who: A Survivor’s Triangle (teaser trailer)
Doctor Who: Pudsai (Children in Need) (full film)

See you next time!