Thunderbirds Are Go

Thunderbirds is one of my all time favourite things in the universe, so when I heard a new Thunderbirds TV series was in production, excitement doesn't even begin to describe my feelings! Thunderbirds Are Go is set to air next year, with a first season of twenty-six episodes made by ITV Studios, Pukeko Pictures, and Weta Workshop.

There have been a few teaser images around for a while, but now all five of the new Thunderbird designs have been revealed. Here are the clearest images so far released, of Thunderbirds one through four:

There's not been such a well presented image of Thunderbird 5 yet, but you can see it here in this size comparison image of all five:

Continue after the jump for more on the Thunderbird designs and more from this exciting new series:

Sherlock returns, and if only he could meet The Doctor

The BBC have delivered a most excellent Christmas present, in the form of a new mini-episode of Sherlock, ahead of the start of the new season next week:



And here also is the trailer for said new season:



In wholly less official realms, there is also a rather wonderful fan video doing the rounds lately, a dream crossover of Sherlock and Doctor Who. It's a pretty impressive feat of editing:



And, if you're curious how that was made, here's a behind-the-scenes video too:

First look at Star Wars: Rebels

At the past weekend's Star Wars Celebration Europe convention the first images from the new Star Wars animated series, Rebels, were revealed. The series will be set between the the prequel and original trilogies, focusing on the Rebel Alliance (or its fore-bearers), as StarWars.com describe:

It takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape.

The series is being heavily influenced by the aesthetic of Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for the original trilogy - Which I think is an excellent decision; I really like that look! The logo above, and the following images were released by StarWars.com, as you can see, they really capture the crisp clean and bright look of McQuarrie's art:

The central ship in the above image is the hero ship of the series, the Ghost. TheForce.net uncovered a schematic of the ship, from a url hidden on badges given away at the convention:

Hoth Bricks posted photos from the Rebels presentation at the convention, there are a few highlights after the jump, but you can see lots more of the Ghost, new stormtroopers, droids, and location designs on Hoth Bricks:

The Doctor returns

The new series of Doctor Who starts in one week! I for one am intrigued and excited about the charming and curiously ever-dying new companion, Clara Oswin Oswald. The first episode is called The Bells of Saint John, and sounds like it will feature an interesting new alien threat. Here's the official synopsis, and movie-style poster:

The Doctor’s search for Clara Oswald brings him to modern day London, where wifi is everywhere. Humanity lives in a wifi soup. But something dangerous is lurking in the signals, picking off minds and imprisoning them. As Clara becomes the target of this insidious menace, the Doctor races to save her and the world from an ancient enemy.

Ahead of that the BBC have released a really cute prequel minisode, enjoy:



And here's a trailer for the episode:



Continue reading after the jump for synopses and images from the next three episodes, and a trailer for the series:

Disney buys Star Wars!

Wow, Disney has just brought LucasFilm for a whooping $4 billion from George Lucas, which puts Disney in charge of LucasFilm, ILM, Skywalker Sound and all the LucasFilm brands, including of course Star Wars. Lucas cites a desire to ensure the longevity of Star Wars as his impetus for the sale:

For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney's reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.

Disney certainly aren't shy about playing with the Star Wars brand either; their first announcement upon the acquisition to that a new movie, Episode VII, will be coming to screens as soon as 2015, with more to follow - In fact TheForce.net report plans for films every two to three years! Plus even more new Star Wars TV series. George Lucas will continue his association with Star Wars as a creative consultant. You can read the full press release about Disney's purchase, here.

Here are Lucas and Kennedy talking a little about the whole thing:



I am cautiously optimistic about this. Since The Clone Wars relaunched Star Wars on TV, and with more TV plans already in the works, it's been interesting in recent years to start to see Star Wars as an expanding multi-media brand, and not just a film series with some particularly successful tie-in products. Disney have done a pretty good job working with/owning Pixar and Marvel, so perhaps they can be trusted with another distinct production entity under their wing. At the same time I look to Disney's in-house stuff and worry a little - In particular I'm thinking of John Carter, which was an absolutely brilliant, stunning, and all round amazing film, which I think could easily have been the next Star Wars itself. Except Disney made a mess with the marketing and the film flopped!

A new Star Wars film every two years also seems a bit excessive. But I guess it depends how they treat it. Star Wars 7, 8, 9, etc could become tiresome. But if they were to pursue a strategy similar to the Marvel films, and have a myriad of distinct film series within the single Star Wars universe, I think that could get interesting. One can't help but wonder what the future may hold for Indiana Jones too... So I guess for now, let's hope the force is strong with Disney.

Misfits renewed

Misfits (a ruder, grittier, and decidedly more British, Heroes-like series, if you don't know it) has been renewed for a fourth season, according to Broadcast.

The third series finishes tonight. Despite launching with the loss of arguably the lead character, the series has continued to deliver its humour and distinctiveness; with stories featuring Nazi alternate timeline, comic book drawing mind control, sex change, and zombies.

Latest Doctor Who christmas trailer

The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, coming this christmas.

Wonderful Attenborough

David Attenborough narrating What A Wonderful World to BBC natural history footage. Wonderful:



A friend of mine pointed out this is somewhat in the style of William Shatner's "music". But Attenborough does it with so much more class.

BBC's Frozen Planet

The BBC has released a trailer for it's next big natural history series, Frozen Planet:

The BBC's Youtube channel also has several clips up from the series.

Doctor Who Confidential cancelled

As reported by The Guardian, Doctor Who Confidential, the behind-the-scenes companion program to Doctor Who, will not be returning with the next series, as part of the BBC's cost cutting. The BBC had this to say on the matter:

Doctor Who Confidential has been a great show for BBC3 over the years but our priority now is to build on original British commissions, unique to the channel.

I can't deny Confidential is far from perfect; it's too long, so gets padded out with fluff. But both excuses given by the BBC seem flawed to me: It must be one of the cheapest programs they can make, as everything they need for it is already in place from the production of Doctor Who; all they have to do is throw an extra crew in to film it, and pop it through an edit suite. And it is an original British commission, or is documentary exempt from that classification? What other program gives viewers such an incite in television production? An inspirational and informative look at one of the UK's biggest industries. It seems to me that the BBC should be the proud home of such programing, not removing it for poor reasons.

Source Code TV series on the way

According to Hollywood Reporter, ABC is working on a TV adaption of one of this year's best films; Source Code. Each week the Source Code team will jump into the minds of victims of tragic events. Should be good.

Primeval spinoff on the way

Digital Spy reports that the North American Primeval spinoff has been officially commissioned as a thirteen part series, Primeval: New Order, for Canadian channel Space. The new series will be "older, darker and scarier" and have a "younger, sexier" cast (because the current Primeval gang are really getting on...). Which I guess make it the Primeval equivalent of Torchwood or Stargate Universe.

Disappointingly it seems it might not be in the same continuity, as Impossible Picture's Jonathan Drake has commented: "This will be a bigger, better, badder re-imagining of the show, rather than a continuation." I rather hope that's just not the clearest word choice and it will all fit together. But any new Primeval is good news! The series is to film this winter in Vancouver, for release next autumn.

BBC's dinosaur season

The BBC have released a trailer for their latest dinosaur documentary series, Planet Dinosaur, which starts in a couple of weeks:



The six part series is one part of a whole season of dinosaur programing on the BBC, here's how they describe what's coming:

Planet Dinosaur

The last decade has been a golden age of discoveries for palaeontologists around the world: more dinosaurs have been discovered in the past 10 years than the previous 200 years. But the next generation of children won't be talking about Tyrannosaurus Rex or Diplodocus because bigger, badder and altogether more bizarre dinosaurs have been uncovered across the globe.

In an astonishing six-part series, BBC One brings to life the most incredible creatures that viewers never knew existed. From Spinosaurus, the biggest killer to ever walk the Earth, to the immense sea-monster Predator X, and the deadly cannibalistic Majunasaurus – dinosaurs were more monstrous, more horrific and bizarre than ever before imagined. Combining a 3D graphic world, incredible CGI and stunning photo-real fight scenes, this is a whole new perspective on dinosaurs.

How To Build A Dinosaur

Dinosaur skeletons are some of the most popular exhibitions in the world – each year, hundreds of thousands of children flock to the Natural History Museum to see the world famous diplodocus, Dippy. But how do these skeletons get from the ground to the museum hall, traversing millions of years in history to educate and entertain? For every museum, reconstructing a dinosaur skeleton is a fine balance between science and art.

Science presenter and anatomist Dr Alice Roberts guides viewers through the entire reconstruction of a museum's new dinosaur exhibition from the raw bones to the final skeleton.

Survivors

It is estimated that 99 per cent of Earth's species have become extinct. Professor Richard Fortey of the Natural History Museum discovers what allows the very few that survive to carry on going – perhaps not for ever, but certainly far beyond normal species life-expectancy. What makes a survivor when other species drop like flies?

From the jellyfish to the crocodile this series focuses on the survivors whose biographies stretch back millions of years and who can teach humans how it is possible to survive a mass extinction event.

Dinosaurs, Myths And Monsters

Prehistoric bones posed an enormous conundrum in the past. What were they? What did they signify? And what were the implications of those findings? How could they be reconciled to beliefs and myths about the origins of humans and indeed, the planet? For centuries, dinosaur and other fossilised bone remains have perplexed, challenged and amazed humans.

This film tells the story of the impact of the gradual discovery of dinosaurs. It's a story which explains how ideas, explanations and philosophies altered and evolved through time and how humans developed theories to explain the mysteries of the bones.

Clone Wars season 4 trailer

Check out the new trailer for the forthcoming fourth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars:



I'm still waiting for season three to come out on bluray!

Doctor Who 2011 part 2 prequel webisode

The BBC has a released a Doctor Who webisode ahead of the return of the series for the second half of this year's season in a few weeks time:

Terra Nova clips

Comics Continuum have posted six clips from the first episode of the forthcoming dinosaur/time travel show, Terra Nova. Here are my favourite two:


There are four more clips on Comics Continuum, plus the offical Terra Nova website has a whole load of prequel videos, here.

Doctor Who 2011 second half trailer 2

The BBC has released a trailer for the forthcoming second half of this series series of Doctor Who:

Pterodactyls and pyramids, oh my!