IMHO... reallly don't like the titles - smacks of 90's US wrestling shows, but I guess thats the idea because of the way it's funded now Nice to see the group of companions again, lesbian lizard jokes worked well :) The doctor ? nice ambugity in the ..did he jump/was he murdered scene. So far I think he works, reminds me a lot of John Pertweee. Your thoughts ?

I agree with your comment on the titles and the storyline was weak.

 A bit odd that the Doctor has become a Scot just before thier referrendum on independance: a concession too far!

I did wish for a bit less "poor confused new regeneration" - fiddling around with that meant less time for the character to gel. I also felt it was a bit stretched as a feature length episode, and the fan-service seemed a bit unnecessary and so disruptive. But for all that, it showed promise fro the series, and there were some nice touches.

Well, it gave me hope.

I have long been rather tired of the new Who and find that I still enjoy the old stuff a lot more - I long for the days of four 25 minute episodes, cliff hangers to keep you looking forward to next week with just enough time to tell a full story and get to know and enjoy and care about the characters.

This episode didn't provide much of a story but the dialogue and performances were good fun, with Capaldi providing a Doctor who can project the authority, dash and dynamism of Pertwee, with a good dose of the humour of Troughton. Not to say that he isn't his own Doctor though. I think that he's the best thing to happen to the show since The Day of the Doctor and may just save it for me. In any case, I'm interested in watching Doctor Who again!

The problem with Capaldi is he mumbles a lot and can be very hard to understand at times. Also, Dr. Who is a broad character who must be played at least a bit "over the top". Capaldi needs to watch out he doesn't "internalize" his acting too much when playing the character.

Didn`t like the titles much either, but enjoyed the show

I think the new Doctor will be very good, and Clara

is gorgeous. Can`t wait for next week, Daleks

They based the new title sequence on those done by a fan who's a designer, he posted his fan created titles on youtube. The idea was supposed to be that they show that The Doctor is a Time Lord, not a "Space Lord". Honestly though I think I preferred his ones.

Thought Peter Capaldi was great. Had to watch the episode for a second time before I was sure what I thought. Found that with quite a few episodes over the past few years. Being a big fan I suppose you try to imagine what the story etc will be like after seeing snippets about it everywhere for months beforehand. Watching it the second time gets rid of the "imagination created" preconceptions and alows me to enjoy the episode as it really is.

Though I liked the prevoius New Who Doctors, the cheesy grins, mugging up to the camera and Eastenders style monologues could get a bit much in some episodes. Looks like P.C. might bring less cheesiness and a character whos monologues do not seem out of place.

Of course, I'll take just about any DW I'm offered, even if some might not consider it the most stellar material.  I went through some major Doctor Who withdrawal from 1990 to 2005, with only that single glimmering moment of hope in 1996 when Paul McGann piloted the TARDIS.  Those were the "dark times".  ;-)  I was even grateful for "Scream of the Shalka" with Richard E. Grant's Doctor sporting the Aeon Flux hairdo!  (What were the illustrators thinking when they drew that?!)

I tend to just "absorb" the material and process later after I've seen several episodes.

Anyway, to "bridge" the discussion with Poser, here's a render comparing three different police box meshes, Mick Imrie's on the right, Becco_UK's version in the middle and BoardMan's interpretation on the left.  Boardman's is actually the closest to the real life "Mark II Metropolitan Police Public Call Box".  It had a taller, slightly more angled roof with a larger signal lamp.  The other two are based more upon the  prop from the "classic" series.  The first box was supposedly built with those proportions so it could more easily fit throuh the studio doors.  Subsequent props continued those slightly squat proportions.  The roof of the prop used in the later Pertwee and earlier Tom Baker serial had an almost flat roof, one barely rising above the banner signs.  The props used since the series' revival all have a somewhat taller roof harkening to the real world boxes, but conversely, the recessed paneling (and thus the windows) are considerably more "square" rather than upright rectangles.

The "MindRobber" site has an in depth analysis about both real life police boxes and the props used in the BBC series.  You can read about it here...

The MindRobber

He even presents a "line up" of the various props, comparing them to each other as well to the "real thing".  Fascinating stuff.

Sincerely,

Bill

Since this is supposed to be his last regeneration, I was wondering what you Brits thought of the idea some people seem to be pushing about the Doctor regenerating as a woman?

Personally, I think it would be a great idea as a sort of reboot of his regeneration cycles or something, but only if she ould be around for one or two episodes.

Finally, what ever happed to Romana? No one can give me a straight answer.

The previous Doctor was the last regeneration (Tennant was counted twice after regenerating as himself), they got round that in the Christmas special last year.

Attached Link: "You mean 'this', Doctor?"

The "straightest" answer is that we don't know.  As far as BBC televised broadcast material goes, the last we saw her opting to remain iwithin "E Space" to help free the enslaved Tharils.  None of the episodes aired upon the BBC since "Warrior's Gate" has considered her fate.

Now, if you factor in the novels and/or the "Big Finish" audios, one particular line of stories has her returning to Gallifrey to become Lord High President with Leela as her personal guard.  Lalla Ward reprised her role along with Louise Jameson for the Big Finish audio adventures.  Though I never read them, I understand one of the novels published during the 90s had her regenerate into a "colder", rather merciless personality after she became president.

So, until a future episode aired upon the BBC presents a story with Romana returning to appear on screen (or at least have a character emphatically state what happened to her), really, it's up to the individual fan to decide what they like best.

Speaking of Romana, the link in this post will lead you to a gallery render of mine dpicting Lalla Ward's version dressed as she was in "The Horns of Nimon", sporting the "fox hunting" ensemble.

Sincerely,

Bill

Personally, I always preferred Mary Tamm over Lalla Ward. I thought she was much better looking.

Can you believe I haven't seen the new episodes yet, and until I saw this thread, didn't even know there was a new Doctor, and I'm a Brit.  I suppose I'd better watch them on iPlayer or whatever!

As for replacing the Doctor with a Woman, you know me by now, I'm ok with that as long as she's hot and hotpants are part of the dress code :biggrin:

Regards the new Doctor, not having seen him in action I can't comment other than to say I'm glad they have an 'older chap' again.  For some reason I just think the older dudes are more suited to the role of Doctor Who.  I probably see it like that assuming the older Doctors look old enough to have plenty of wisdom, but then again, considering how old the Doctor really is I suppose that's a ridiculous comment!

The opened travel machine casing is the work of "Who's Who", a member of "Project Dalek", a site devoted the craft of Dalek prop building.

The Kaled mutant is a "mish mash" of various props and figures, including the DAZ Brain, the Ralphing offered with Poser and several copies of Little Dragon's free "Bushy Tail 2" with the "no fur" dial employed to simulate tentacles.  It's putrid "skin" is something I concocted within Poser's Material Room.  (A darker version of this surface I saved and labeled as "burnt bacon".)

The interior of the travel machine "as offered" is a tad sparse, so I "greeblied" the "cockpit" with various Coflek Gnorg and StoneMason items.

Sincerely,

Bill

I don't know about 'Older guys" for the role of the Doctor. For the most part, I've enjoyed most of the Doctors I've seen.  Pertwee, and Baker are the ones I'm most familiar with. I didn't much like the one after Baker though, or the one after that, and of the new ones, I just didn't like Eccleston at all.

Then odds are, EClark, you would NOT have cared for William Hartnell, the original Doctor, particularly as depicted in the first three serials (13 episodes).  In those earliest adventures, he was antagonistic, belligerant, and really the source of the troubles for his granddaughter and two very unwilling traveling companions.

I flat out kidnaps two school teachers at the climax of the first broadcast, "An Unearthly Child", fearing they will reveal his secret.  When they land in a paleolithic era, he gets abducted himself by cavemen, thinking he can summon fire, forcing the teachers to rescue him, and, in doing so, get captured as well.  He's even willing to to blungon a caveman to death with a rock, fearing the compassion his companions have for the native's injuries will result in their recapture!

When they finally do escape, thanks to his granddaughter's gile, not his own, they materialize upon an alien world desvestated by nuclear war.  When they discover a seeminglyintact city, the doctor is so hell bent upon exploring it that he disables the TARDIS, passing itoff as "damage" and claims the needed material, mercury, can only be found in the city.  It is there they first encounter the Daleks, who capture them.

It is not until the conclusion of the 13th episode, "Brink of Disaster", that the Doctor has a "revelation" and finally realizes the worth of the humans he initially kidnapped.  At that point he starts to evolve into the "champion of justice" that most fans appreciate.

Really, the Doctor was pretty much a Dr. Zachary Smith (of "Lost in Space") kind of character in those earliest stories, conniving and as a result, getting Barbara, Ian and his granddaughter Susan into trouble, often mortal peril!

Even when he "reformed", he was often bitter, cynical and egotistical.  No, I don't think you would like Hartnell's Doctor.

Me?  I find it fascinating how everything developed.

In real life, Hartnell was only 55 when he started the role, but his makeup, wig, attire and performance suggested a man much older.  Sadly, cardio-vascular disease took its toll, affecting Hartnell's temperment and memory, forcing him to retire just after 3 years, thus setting the stage of Patrick Troughton's debut.

Sincerely,

Bill

What was there to like?

And since you mentioned Dr. Smith, I actually liked him better as his original self.  the way he was forced to portray himself later as the sniveling coward, often pissed me off to the point of realizing that the Robinsons were responsible for their own troubles by constantly saving him.

Jonathan Harris was not "forced" to play the role as a comedic coward.  That was his idea.  In interviews he often recounted the following.  (Please note I am paraphrasing.)

Harris realized if he continued to play the character as a truly "dangerous"and "cold" adversary, odds are a story would be scripted that would have depicted his demise.  So, he started to ad lib a "wry" line here and there.  One day producer Irwin Allen came onto the set and approached Harris.  Almost glaring at the actor, Allen supposedly said, "I know what you're up to, Harris!  Keep it up!"  And with that, Allen urged the writers to cater to Jonathan's comedic strengths which resulted in the series veering away from the thme of "the Swiss Family Rbinson in space" to the "Smith and Robot" show.

Harris knew he had a cushy gig an he wanted to keep it.

What was there to like?  You mean about Hartnell?  Well, you gotta' understand the the original gol for the series was very different from what it eventually became.  You may have heard or read the term "edu-tainment" to describe a production that's meant to educate as well as entertain.  Though it was decades before that term was coined, it could have been used to describe series creator Sydney Newman's original plan for the series.

Though titled "Doctor Who", the mysterious elderly man was not intended to be the "hero" of the series.  He and his space/time conveyance were to be primarily the catalyst for the adventures.  Barbara Wright the history teacher and Ian Chesterton the science professor were meant to be the real leads.  If the Doctor took them to the past, Barbara's knowledge of history would help resolve the issue, say, by urging Columbus to continue his voyage rather than turning back for Europe.  (Think of a serious version of "Peabody and Sherman" from the old Bullwinkle cartoons.)  If the setting of the adventure were the future or somehow revolved around technological progress, Ian's skills in science would help save the day, like helping a society rediscover the principles of electro-magnetism to generate electricity.  Susan was meant to represent the voice of the audience, asking the questions the viewers would likely ask, like, "What would have happened if Columbus turned back?  Who would have discovered the 'New World' then?"  Or, "How can a magnet and a length of copper wire power s city?"

What Sydney Newman did not want was "cheap, sci-fi thriller" with things like tin plated robots and BEMs (bug eyed monsters).  But due to story development issues, an outline was bumped forward which Newman had hoped to avoid, a story set in a post atomic war wasteland featuring its survivors.  Producer Verity Lambert saw potential in the story despite Newman's initial objections and fought for its creation.  Those "survivors" were the Daleks.  And while they were effectively the tin plated, robotic bug eyed monsters Newman wanted to avoid, he could not deny the ratings success.  For the following six weeks (that serial ran 7 episodes), more families tuned in to see how Barbara, Ian, Susan and the Doctor would escape and hopefully vanquish these "trundling tanks of terror"!  From that point, more adventures involving "flights of fantasy" were scripted, at first alternating with "historical" dramas and eventually replacing them.

It may not have been as obvious when the character Susan left the series, but with the exit of Barbara and Ian, the notion of the series continuing to serve as "edu-tainment" wafted away in the breeze.  The Doctor had become the focus of the show as his was the only character to remain.  And with Hartnell's departure, even he was "reinvented".

Sincerely,

Bill

So he wasn't forced. Doesn't really alter how I felt.

That's an interesting bit of history about The Doctor. As i said, I said, i've never seen Hartnell and Troughton in action. I came aboard with Baker and was lucky to catch the previous Pertwee version.

Actually, my initial exposure to the Doctor was similar to yours.  I started with Tom Baker when WFSU broadcasting from Tallahassee started with Tom's debut story "Robot" in August 1982.  It aired individual episodes weekdays Mondays through Friday and complete serials on Saturday nights.  FSU went through Tom's 7 series run and maybe repeating them (maybe not, I can't remember) before getting Pter Davison, the 5th Doctor.  Eventually, it also aired the "surviving" color serials of Jon Pertwee, the third Doctor.  Pertwee's era experienced the same fate as did both of the earlier Doctors, the master videotapes of various serials were erased for reuse by the BBC.  Actually, the official policy was to tranfer the data onto celuloid film for archival purposes before getting erased.  But clerical SNAFUs resulted in the tapes getting "wiped" before archiving the footage.  That's why several serials from those years are missing.  Yes, even some of Pertwee's were missing, at least in color.  B/W prints existed of the remaining Pertwee stories, but fSU was unwilling to air those monochrome cuts.  Thus, we started with the last adventure of Jon's first year.  Then we jump one or two stories when Jo Grant has already been with the Doctor for a while.  It made for a rather "clumsy" run.

Meanwhile, Georgia Public Broadcasting devbuted with "The Five Doctors" about 15 months later November, 1983, the 20th anniversary of the series.  That following January, it too started airing the show, but only on late Saturday nights (10 PM) in the full serial form (playing the credits only at the beginning and the end, essentially presented as a movie).  I can't remember if it started with Tom Baker or Peter Davison, probably the former.  But whereas WFSU only showed the "truncated" Pertwee era, Tom Baker and Peter Davison, GPB (distributed throughout all of Georgia) eventually aired all of Pertwee's (except "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"as it was truly missing Part 1), Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, the last actor to play the title role when the BBC cancelled the series.

In the late 80s during one of the pledge drives GPB aired a special screening of "An Unearthly Child" which was my first exposure to Hartnell.  During the drive, they announced GPB was going to procure the surviving Hartnell and Troughton serials.  Alas, the deal must have failed as the Atlanta based station never aired them.  McCoy's last seria "Suvival" was aired around 1990, barely a year after its BBC transmission and Georgia Public Broadcasting dropped the series.

So it was not until years later when serials were sold, first on VHS and later DVD that I finally got to see any other Hartnell or Troughton adventures.  Really I should say Troughton stories of any sort as I had no exposure to him other than "The Three Doctors", "The Five Doctors" and "The Two Doctors" (which despite the numbers came last as it was a crossover story during the Colin Baker years).

I think you'd like Troughton, at least a bit more than Hartnell (if you're put off by excessively "grumpy" Doctors).  While Hartnell was the first, it was Troughton which introduced the sense of whimsy ad wry sense of humor the Doctor has demonstrated ever sense (barring certain exceptions).  Both David Tennant and particularly Matt Smith have stated how they were inspired Troughton's seemingly clownish exterior which masks a sharp and sometimes manipulative intellect.  Troughton would project the air of a baffoon to put others off their gaurd and then "string them along" to gain his objective.  This was discussed during a series of specials BBC America aired lats year.  Each month, a "representative" serial from each Doctor's era was aired, leading up to November when we finally reached the presnt Doctor (at that time), Matt Smith.  For Troughton "Tomb of the Cybermen" was chosen.  We see "the Trout" apparently stumbling along as he joins an archeological team on the planet Telos.  In reality, his "perceived" idiocy allows him to draw out information from the various members without their being aware of the fact.  It's just a shame so many of Pat's adventures are missing, as his performance really set the stage for later Doctors.

Sincerely,

Bill

Attached Link: http://news.yahoo.com/diy-dalek-dapper-time-lord-170750597.html

http://news.yahoo.com/diy-dalek-dapper-time-lord-170750597.html

Strange, I am a brit and a sci-fi fan but I cannot get excited over Doctor Who these days.  Little to do with the ability of the actors playing the doctor more to do with the storylines.

Not sure when I started to lose interest but it was certainly there for the first five doctors.  Now each time there is a new doctor I try again, watched the first two installments this time around but I doubt I will go much further.

I kind of like the Angels storylines, but truth be told, that's a threat that could be defeated with a trip to the closest tool store and purchase of a sledge hammer. No more threat.

I merely got experimental and "kit bashed" a future console combining the Eccleston/Tennant console (that Arjen offers at ShareCG) stripped of its scrapyard greeblies and filled in the blank stations with my Baker/Davison console controls.  And rather than a "physical" time rotor, I positioned 3 nested tubes to create a "holographic" version.

The Doctor is a random future regeneration wearing the shirt and pants from PoserWorld TimeLord set with the coat and short cape from the CIS Agent ensemble from the DAZ Plat Club.  The face (too small to readily see is a custom face pose I call "Hammer Horror Film Hero".  There's no real story behnd him.  I just kinda' slapped him together and placed him in the shot for visual interest.

Consider this the rendering equivalent of "doodling".

Sincerely,

Bill

I started with Tom Baker.  I watched some of the episodes with Davidson.

Generally, I like the new doctors.  Of the new ones, Tennant's character seemed more balanced to me. I didn't mind Smith's doctor and I like his energy but after a while it got a bit tiring - not because of the energy itself, but the "kid in a candy store", wahoo! kind of thing.

I like what I see so far with Capaldi's doctor.  I like the change of pace.  I like that he's not a doctor that runs around going "I'm so bloody awesome because I'm the doctor" - he can be awesome without telling the audience that every other episode.  He has some internal struggles that are going on and he is playing it distant but I think that makes him unpredictable, which is interesting to me.  I like that he's being painted with more shades of grey.

I think the only criticism I can place on the newer series, overall, is that the sonic screwdriver is too much of a "magic wand" that does everything.  I don't remember it being the ultimate device during the older series, where I felt they wrote more "thinking man's" episodes.

Even saying all of that, I still find it entertaining and smart sci-fi and can enjoy it for what it is worth.

Quote - Personally, I always preferred Mary Tamm over Lalla Ward. I thought she was much better looking.

Completely agree plus I just liked her portrayal better.

     Redfern, on one of your gallery Dr Who images, there is a comment "...Ok. I'll admit I 'sort of' had a crush on Romana long ago. But it never would have worked out after I considered what Time Lords evolved from."

     Is Romana a Time Lord?  What did they evolve from?

Yeah, I think it's pretty much irrefutable that Romana is a Time Lord.  After all, she "regenerated" in "Destiny of the Daleks", changing from Mary Tamm to Lalla Ward.  But there were other "facts" that substantiated that idea.  She spoke of attending the academy the Doctor did, getting better grades in the process.  She got her "orders" to join the Doctor from the Lord High President of Gallifrey, or so she thought.  It was really the White Guardian in disguise.  On more than one occasion, she identified herself as a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.  And, having "tasted" the freedom of exploring space and time, she was reluctant to return to Gallifrey when the Doctor received orders from the High Council at the beginning of "Full Circle, the first of three stories set in "E-Space".

As from what the Time Lords evolved, er, I don't know.  That is likeley something from the novels, the Big Finish audios, or maybe just fandom.  I don't think it's ever been stated in the televised episodes.  (I'm nor disregarding the "extended universe" amterial, but there's so much of it, It's impossible for me to keep pace.)  Then again, if one looks back far enough along our own developmental line, it can be argued some of our "ancestors" were rather "icky".  It's all relative.

Sincerely,

Bill

Attached Link: Mary Tamm - Romana morph

Well, I had forgotten that BluBeetle3 had recently shared a Mary Tamm likeness for Victoria 4!  You'll need the Morphs++ set to recreate her features.

I've provided a direct link for you.

Be sure to thank BluBeetle for his talents and generosity.

Sincerely,

Bill

I thought I had downloaded Skipper25’s “Coronation Street” model, but I guess I had not, and now, of course, it’s no longer available.  So I loaded some of the “Le Village” buildings and accessories.  While meant to a quaint lil’ French village street, I thought I could “cheat” a little and have it stand in for a lazy lil’ English district during the mid 20th century.

The pedestrians are Loretta and Lorenzo Lo-Res.

Sincerely,

Bill

I can't find the curmudgeon dial on my Michael 4. Do I need Morphs++?

:P

Nice work. :)

Sincerely,

Bill

Been catching-up with these on the BBC player.

Didin't mind the first one too much (the one with the clockwork cyborgs), and so far I liked the Robin Hood one best.  As for the others, especially the last one I watched, they just felt like cheap soap operas to me.  The last one I watched was so bad I haven't a clue what it's about and never will because I stopped it after 15-20 out of sheer boredom.  Again, felt like a cheap Soap Opera and I don't watch "Soaps" or crap like that - Soaps are for women.

Personally I prefered the older ones with Baker, Pertwee etc - way better than this stuff.  It's not like the effects do anything for it either. They look nice, detailed and lush a lot of the time, but it's a bit like with Hollywood, they seem to use effects as an excuse to make something rather than the other way around.

Anyway, that's what I think.

Quote - I know you meant that as a joke, but the truth is that I used the "old" dial from the Morphs++ set at 1.00 and the "hag" from the creature package at 0.50.  It made for an "interesting" face that borders on caricature without going over the top.

That makes a good character face. I don't have the creature package, but I'll try to remember the basic principle - I wonder if some V4 morphs could be pressed into service at a low level...

maybe a "joke " but that does have a resemblance a younger bill hartnell ;-)

wish I had your eye!! anytime I look at dials in poser I get a monster rofl

ps I like the LOOK but not the "attitude" of the new doctor (just my ha'pence)

I haven't seen Capaldi in action yet, but I pretty sure he's better than Eccleston, who's pretty much the only Doctor I openly disliked.

I might not have liked the way a Doctor was portrayed, but Eccleston just comes across a thug. On the other hand, I suppose it might be that I just didn't like him from his portrayal on "Heroes".

Quote - maybe a "joke " but that does have a resemblance a younger bill hartnell ;-)

Thanks for the kind assessment, but if I were to present that face as a Hartnell likeness upon a dedicated DW board, I'd probably get lynched.

Funny enough, without the helmet, I think he looks a bit like "Uncle Charley" the grumpy housekeeper, as played by William Demarest, on "My Three Sons".

Sincerely,

Bill

Uncle Charley? Really? I don't see it.

The jacket and waistcoat is a vintage set for PhilC, one he originally modeled for the Poser 4 nude male.  The base figure?  Believe it or not, that;s the M2P4 hybrid mesh.  It's an "extra" that came with the Michael 2 purchase (when it was still available).  It's basically the Michael 2 head (with all the morphs native to the standard M2 mesh) resting upon a body shaped and rigged to wear clothes meant for "The Dork" (the less than endearing nickname Poser users christined the Poser 4 nude male).  But to make him more versatile, I loaded it with the morphs Beth Capsces designed for "Boris", an "enhanced" version of Mike 2.  Hard to believe anyone would use P4 based material with DAZ up to Genesis 2, huh?  Well, that jacket was perfect for the original Doctor and Poser's latest tools can "breathe life" into those vintage meshes.

I swapped PhilC's included trousers for the slightly "saggy" pants supplied with Poser.  The hair is MayaX's "Simple" hair which I morphed with a couple of "magnets".  His features, just random experimentation with morph dials until I got something that vaguely resembled ol' Billy.  I also played with velvet shaders for the jacket and "procedural" checker patterns for the trousers.

The console and the walls, those are the efforts of Richard Marklew, a talented Blender artist,  The models were once available for download from his personal website, BlenderWho, but eventually he closed it in favor of a blog type site.  Sadly, he has not (yet) offered the console again.  It was a bit of a challenge "optimizing" it for Poser since the initial conversion process resulted in a "tonne" of backfacing polygons.  It took a lot of manual effort correcting those "flaws" (not Richard's fault), in many instances, flipping individual polys in tight spots.

I tried to depict a classic pose of Hartnell's, gripping the lapels of his jacket while speaking with authority.

Sincerely,

Bill

Attached Link: Vintage "Bush" model TV (and others)

I grey-scalled the image, added "grain" and horizontal lines to create a period "video" effect.  The "telly" is Keppel's "Retro TV" which is very close to a model sold in Great Britian during the 1950s.  Bigger sets were available by the 60s, but a lot of households that had televisions likely still used older models like this one.

There's a link showing the real thing along with other models.  Hmm, I forgot the "Bush" model was released even earlier than I originally thought, 1948.

Sincerely,

Bill

Whoa!  I see they changed the format for the forums and as a result, in-line images display much larger!

Sincerely,

Bill

Since the finale featured Cybermen, I thought I'd slap together a simple composition depicting one.  Of course, I went "old school", paying homage to "The Invasion" which presented viewers with a radically new design (for the time), Cybermen with "ear-muffs".  One of the keenly remembered sequences had Cybermen emerging from the London sewer system, dislodging manhole covers and climbing from the access tubes leading to the drainage system.

I was rather surprised no (decent) free manhole covers could be found, so I veered from screen accuracy by using Coflik-Gnorg's "Vent Room" set which I already had in my runtime.  The figure is Dodger's "Invasion" styled Cybie with some personal modifications.

Sincerely,

Bill

Against expectations, I was able to convert and export a Blender based model as a .OBJ and successfully import it into Poser to render.

Brian Rocz modeled this incredibly accurate version of Peter Capaldi's TARDIS console room and once offered it to anyone who wanted it. (He has since removed the active download, but is supposedly still willing to share it if one contacts him via e-mail. (I'll provide his site when I return home.)

Brian stated he could not render this environment in one pass. Instead, he rendered it as separate elements and then combined them in PhotoShop. If Blender couldn't handle its native format, surely Poser would die screaming trying to handle this monster mesh (1.171 MILLION polygons!). To my shock, Poser did render it and did so within 30 seconds (yes, with the lights I added)! I was also stunned it exported from Blender with out 'glitches", like collections of back-facing polygons. I don't know what gypsy I pleased, but I'm not complaining.

Again, I did NOT model this. I merely converted it to a format Poser could read, positioned some point lights and a camera and rendered. Brian Rocz did all the hard work.

Sincerely,

Bill

Hell's bells, that's nice!

I'm eagerly awaiting the email addy of the talented gent who made it.

For the record, I think Capaldi is superb. I honestly don't think BBC have put a foot wrong with any of the Doctor castingsm since the return, Ecclestone included. I've been a fan since the Hartnell days, and as a little lad, I was very upset when Hartnell stepped down. I liked Troughton but I never liked him as much. Pertwee, well, I didn't care for many of the stories, although I was at the age where the female companions were beginning to become more interesting. :) Baker was, IMO, just brilliant and for me, the classic series never got a better Doctor.

I had grave misgivings about the return when I heard Billie Piper would be the companion; I had visions of the ginger screaming annoyance who hung around with Colin Baker. Boy, was I ever wrong. That lady can act.

For me, every single Doctor from 2005 on has been better than the previous one. It's nice to see the Doc as a grumpy older man once more. Capaldi is a favourite of mine; I loved him in The Crow Road, although he was - of necessity - not there much. If you want to see him in something really, really cringeworthy, though, check out "The Lair of the White Worm". It's Ken Russell at his most OTT. Totally, completly barking mad. Hugh Grant's in it, too, along with Amanda Donahoe and Catherine Oxenberg, both of whom seem to be short of clothes for much of the time. The Director of Cinematography is the unfortunately named Dick Bush.

Nothing personal against Eccleston. I saw him in Heroes, and thought he was great. I just think his Doctor wasn't my cup of tea.

I knew I had forgotten to do something last night. (I had hoped you would respond, Sam.)

Here's the site link.

http://rocz3d.com/2015/02/11/tardis-control-room-blender-model-download/

Again, you'll have to e-mail Brian to request the model.

I wrote to thank him, showing this render. He appreciated the kind words, admitting such a large model can be tricky to "convert"

Sincerely,

Bill

Thanks, Bill!

Redfern posted at 4:03PM Wed, 12 October 2016 - #4177272

The console and the walls, those are the efforts of Richard Marklew, a talented Blender artist,  The models were once available for download from his personal website, BlenderWho, but eventually he closed it in favor of a blog type site.  Sadly, he has not (yet) offered the console again.  It was a bit of a challenge "optimizing" it for Poser since the initial conversion process resulted in a "tonne" of backfacing polygons.  It took a lot of manual effort correcting those "flaws" (not Richard's fault), in many instances, flipping individual polys in tight spots.

The Console is available on the Wayback Machine...

http://web.archive.org/web/20100414202858/http://www.blenderwho.com/downloads/tardis/tardis.html

Neat! Thanks for the link, WandW. Just to clarify, that download is for the console by itself. Marklew once offered the entire room (console), walls, fault locator bank, the monitor, etc.) via a particular thread at the Who3D site. But that link now "dead ends". Still, the console is the "meat" of the meal, so to speak, and it's great that link is still valid ( as I tried it myself).

Grab it while you can, gang!

Sincerely,

Bill

What a great tribute to such a cult favorite that has endured.

Hmm, makes me wonder what one could do in it adapting it to Superfly.