Boxcutters » Doctor Who

Ep 280: The Bazura Project

Josh Kinal — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:25:42 +0000

You’ve heard us talk about the Bazura Project. Maybe you saw their show on Channel 31. Maybe you remember when we last had Lee Zachariah and Shannon Marinko on the show back in 2009. Well, now you get to hear all about how they got to do their own show on ABC2 and maybe finally be in contention for a Logie.

In further investigation of How We Watch, John went into a cinema to watch some Doctor Who.

Notes

One Thing

The Bazura Project – Thursday, 9pm, ABC2
The Hamster Wheel – Wednesday, 9:35pm, ABC1
Episodes 2 of all the shows downloaded last week.

See Toby Halligan’s Comedy Show

Don’t forget that Toby Halligan’s show in the Melbourne Fringe is currently on. You can see his show for free by sending him an email and being one of the lucky ones.

Ep 269: Making SciFi TV for Adults

Josh Kinal — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:11:36 +0000

Most of this episode of Boxcutters was recorded live at Continuum 2011 on 11 June.

John and Josh wanted to investigate the reasons behind Australia makes so much acclaimed television science fiction and fantasy for children but never attempts to do anything for families or adults.

Sitting on the panel were: Chris Gist, ABC Commissioning Editor in Melbourne;
Philip Dalkin, writer on Sea Patrol and Stingers, amongst others; David Napier, director of K9; and Mark Shirrefs, co-creator of Spellbinder and The Girl from Tomorrow.

It’s an interesting conversation about budgets, audiences, networks and risk taking.

The goose drank wine:

Want to tell us about some outrageous thing we said but shouldn’t have on the show? Go ahead and send us an email.

Photo courtesy of Nalini Haynes, editor of Dark Matter

Thanks to David Ashton.

Part of this episode was recorded at Outland Studios (John’s Loungeroom).

Ep 246: Paul Cornell & Robert Shearman at AussieCon4

Josh Kinal — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:42:34 +0000

Last September, in Melbourne, science fiction fans came from all over the world to hear us interview two of the writers of the new series of Doctor Who, Paul Cornell and Robert Shearman.

You can feel like you were actually there by listening to this episode. You will miss all the visual jokes but you’ll be able to hear the audience laugh and then you can laugh at the same time and just imagine what’s happening on the stage.

We talk to them about what it means to write for such an iconic TV show, how it’s affected them and I’m sure someone mentions Daleks at some point.

Enjoy it:

Share your memories of AussieCon, Doctor Who or meeting John Richards by sending us a friendly email.

Next week: We’re still on a break and don’t have anything planned so just listen to this episode again.

In the meantime, you can find us on twitter and facebook. Also, Paul Cornell is on twitter.

Special thanks to David Ashton from Sample and Hold for all of his wonderful audio engineering help on this episode. Very special thanks to Danny Oz for the use of his photo.

Ep 230: Rajendra Roy, The Doctor

Josh Kinal — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:29:01 +0000

Rajendra Roy is the head film curator for MoMA in New York and we have a little discussion with him about what Television actually means.

John talks about The Doctor as one of the Greatest TV Characters of All Time.

Brett and John have an argument about politics that gets really boring but ends in a hilarious bit that makes it really worth listening all the way through for.

Don’t forget to let us know about your list of the greatest TV characters of all time.

You can also SMS us on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER).

Become a fan of Boxcutters on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Survivors (1975 – 1977)

john-richards — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:30:35 +0000

The recent decision by the BBC to revive Terry Nation’s 1970s dystopian series Survivors probably wasn’t that much of a surprise. In the wake of the hugely successful Doctor Who (and copious spin-offs), we’ve seen the return of Quatermass, Captain Scarlet and Day Of The Triffids. There’s even endless rumours (or threats) of a rebooted Blake’s 7.

The 2008 version of Survivors started off as a lesser-populated EastEnders before descending into sub-Lost territory, and was finally put out of its misery at the end of the second season (which ended – optimistically – with a cliff hanger). The best word to describe the show was “workmanlike”, combining all the usual elements of 21st Century genre telly in all the usual ways.

That’s not how you’d describe the original. Debuting in 1975, it remains the bleakest programme ever to be a prime-time hit. A man-made virus sweeps the earth, killing the majority of the population. Faced with disease, wild animals, starvation and loneliness, the few who are left struggle to survive. It’s hard to imagine showing that one against Masterchef today. Survivors, however, was a hit in the UK and across Europe, and watching it on DVD now it’s hard to imagine anyone having the guts to make such unrelenting fare now.

Part of the success is due to Terry Nation cleverly playing against type – two of the three leads are female, and Abby Grant’s search for her son forms a rock-solid premise that other story lines can weave around. Carolyn Seymour as Abby is superb, playing the part with a stoic determination you wouldn’t see on telly today. Lucy Fleming plays plucky Jenny Richards (the only totally likeable character) and Ian McCollough plays granite-faced tough guy Greg Preston. The first series raises difficult questions about the life ahead and society they will need to build, and the episode “Law And Order” still packs a punch, an unrelenting tragedy combining rape, murder and the failure of justice.

Sadly the show goes off the rails after the first season, getting bogged down (literally) with the minutiae of subsistence farming, muddled storylines and continued (and seemingly random) changes of cast. Most shamefully, Jenny Richards gets relegated to background “wife-and-mother” character and Abby Grant vanishes altogether (Seymour claims she was fired for being argumentative and drinking too much, so she moved to the US and played villains for the next 20 years. She’s particularly good as Dean Stockwell’s evil counterpart in two episodes of Quantum Leap).

All three seasons of Survivors are now available as a 39-episode box set and are worth a look, if only to see a time when television was made without focus groups or the bourgeois concept of audience appeal. The lack of incidental music, the grimy look, the strong female characters and the powerhouse credit sequence all form a convincing world that make for a fascinating visit. You do have to allow for the cheap video look and cod-Shakespearean delivery that was de rigueur for the times, but even these add a certain quality to this barren world.

A final word on the recent remake – in a bizarre piece of legal jiggery-pokery the 2008 series claimed to be “based on the novel by Terry Nation”. That “novel” was actually a novelisation of the 1975 series published a year after it went to air. Yet Adrian Hodges still had the gall to claim a “created by” credit. Shame, Adrian, shame.

Find TV series, DVDs and Blu Ray discs, including the complete Survivors Series at Sanity Entertainment.

Ep 227: Provisionally the Greatest TV Characters of All Time

Josh Kinal — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:47:22 +0000

This is turning into a massive operation. We have created a provisional list of the Greatest TV Characters of All Time taken from your suggestions over the last two weeks and our own personal top tens. You can hear all about how we’re putting the list together and our continual investigation about what makes a truly great TV character.

We’ve also got the usual bunch of News, Pork, One Thing and Letters.

Listen up. It’s golden.

Don’t forget to let us know about your list of the greatest TV characters of all time.

You can also SMS us on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER).

Become a fan of Boxcutters on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Correction – 8 June, 2010

It was Serbia who won Eurovision 2007 with a horn-rimmed glasses and comfortable shoes wearing, rumoured lesbian, not Spain.

Also, the title of the Greg Fleet vehicle is Die on Your Feet, co-starring Alan Brough.

Ep 218: Dan Ilic, Dave Bloustien

brett — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:50:59 +0000

This week we talk to Dan Ilic about the ads he created for the VicRoads road-safety campaign. You probably would have seen them referred to because of their controversy.

Also, Dave Bloustien discusses writing for Good News Week and the Glass House.

Maybe after listening to the episode you want to:

Watch Dan Ilic interview Stephen Conroy, Minister for Communications;
Find out exactly what “promulgation” means; or
Watch the hilarious Onion anti-smoking advertisements.

In the news we talk about Network 10′s proposed entertainment channel. Save yourself some time by reading the article we get all our information from.

Send us your promulgation by email or on the SMS us your Logie nominations on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER).

Twitter users: Follow us!
Josh is @sealfur
Brett is @bbox
and Boxcutters as a whole is @boxcutterscast

Ep 201: FlashForward, Dominos Pizza, The Future of Television

Josh Kinal — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:59:39 +0000

This week, we lounge into our new century with a look at the future (ooh, spooky) with FlashForward. There’s an I Don’t Buy It. Also, one of the most interesting discussions in Pork we’ve ever had.

It’s like delicious, fluffy mashed potato but for your ears.

Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER)Also in this episode we mention the book Free: The Future of a Radical Price
by Chris Anderson. It’s really worth a read to learn about how the market is changing and think about what this might mean for television.

You might want to grab the novel of Flashforward and see the differences. Maybe one day soon we’ll do a piece looking at adaptations. Just a thought.

If you like Flashforward and think we were unfairly harsh, then by all means let us know what you think.

If you want to see something disgusting, here’s the Dominos website. Click the “watch ad” link. You’ll see what I mean.

Ep 177: Alexandra Tynan, Gloria Jeans and Ingham Chicken Ads, Ladette Quotes

Josh Kinal — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:05:52 +0000

This week, Alexandra Tynan, the designer of the Cybermen, joins us in the studio to talk about costume design and creating a science fiction icon. Also, we have a couple of I Don’ts Buys Its sent in by listeners (see the clips below).

There’s some great Doctor Who stuff available at Amazon UK:

Remember that every time you make a purchase through the Boxcutters site, you help Boxcutters survive.

Also, check out our US-based store for some excellent TV recommendations.