NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 196: "Shada" Is Up!

"Did you just see what I didn't see?"
"No."
"Neither did I."
-- The Fourth Doctor and Chris Parsons, Doctor Who: "Shada"

Hello again, everyone!  My partner in time Jesse Jackson and I are back with another new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  This time, we're joined by special guest companion Dave Proctor to discuss "Shada", the unaired final serial from Doctor Who Season 17 in 1980, written by Douglas Adams and completed in 2017 using animation, featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Lalla Ward as the Second Romana, David Brierley as the voice of K-9, Denis Carey as as Professor Chronotis, and Christopher Neame as Skagra!

In this episode, Jesse, and I discuss things like Dave making his Next Stop Everywhere debut, how Dave got into Doctor Who, Dave getting his wife into Doctor Who, why Dave picked "Shada" to discuss, Douglas Adams using elements of "Shada" for his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, running down the timeline of events of how fans got to finally see "Shada" completed, more of Jesse discussing classic era pacing, Douglas Adams and Tom Baker being such a great pairing, 2017 Tom Baker reprising the Fourth Doctor at the end of "Shada", Warwick Davis in Willow, the Doctor parking the TARDIS in Professor Chronotis' office, the TARDIS helping humans find their way easily, the Doctor's telepathic contact, Salyavin being a political prisoner of the Time Lords, Professor Chronotis serving every visitor tea and biscuits, wondering why Skagra didn't have more Kraags, the Doctor riding a bicycle through Cambridge, our favorite quotes of the episode, my Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, new feedback from Holly Mac, my ultra-cheap sound effect machine, and more!

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We now have a NEW Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt with our current logo, which you can find on TeePublic right HERE!  This spiffy new shirt looks great when you're listening to your favorite Doctor Who podcast and travelling through time and space!  Or your could order all sorts of cool Next Stop Everywhere merch there as well!

And hey, if you'd like to pick up our classic logo Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can also find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show and feel free to post pictures on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as special guest companion John Takacs returns to Next Stop Everywhere and joins Jesse and me to discuss "The Gunfighters", the seventh serial from Doctor Who Season Three in 1966, featuring William Hartnell as the First Doctor, Peter Purves as Steven Taylor, Jackie Lane as "Dodo" Chaplet, and John Alderson as Wyatt Earp!

Hulu Developing HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY TV Series

Are you someone who really knows where your towel is?

Deadline has revealed that the Hulu streaming service is developing a television series based on Douglas Adams' beloved comedic sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

According to the article, the series "follows the intergalactic adventures of Arthur Dent, a hapless Englishman, following the destruction of Earth by the Vogons, a race of unpleasant and bureaucratic aliens."

Carlton Cuse and Jason Fuchs, both fans of Adams' five Hitchhiker's novels, will write, executive produce and serve as showrunners for the proposed series, a modern updating of the story.  The project is now in development at Hulu via ABC Signature and Cuse’ Genre Arts.  Fuchs is writing the pilot script.

Created by Adams in 1978, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy originally began as a BBC Radio series, with the first four parts adapted by Adams as a novel one year later.  The novel became extremely popular, with Adams writing four additional novels in the series -- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless.  A sixth installment, And Another Thing..., was published in 2009, eight years after Adams' death, and written by Eoin Colfer with the support of Jane Belson, Adams' widow.

The novel was first adapted as a BBC TV series in 1981, with six episodes starring Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, David Dixon as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, and Sandra Dickinson as Trillian.  In 2005, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film adaptation was released, with Adams co-writing the screenplay before his death in 2001.  The film starred Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Mos Def as Ford Prefect, Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, and Zooey Deschanel as Trillian.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 073: "The Pirate Planet" is Up!

"What is it you're really up to, eh?  What do you want?  You don't want to take over the universe do you?  No...You wouldn't know what to do with it beyond shout at it."

– The Fourth Doctor to The Pirate Captain, Doctor Who: "The Pirate Planet"

That's right, my partner in time Jesse Jackson and I are back once again with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  In this episode, we review "The Pirate Planet", the second serial from Season 16, a.k.a. "The Key to Time" season, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as the First Romana, and John Leeson as the voice of K-9!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like the Pirate Captain being like Donald Trump, Peter Capaldi showing up for the Women's March, Douglas Adams writing for Doctor Who before The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Red Woman on Game of Thrones, a special appearance by Jesse's son's dog Charlie, Romana trying to instruct the Doctor on how to fly the TARDIS, Tom Baker reciting Douglas Adams' lines, the TARDIS being a vintage time machine, Romana being prettier than the Doctor, the Fourth Doctor's neverending supply of jelly babies, robot dog vs. robot parrot, the Fourth Doctor walking the plank, wondering how the Fourth Doctor doesn't track mud into the TARDIS with his ridiculously long scarf, my Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, some feedback from Fred Firestine, more pimping of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

Google Play Music -- RIGHT HERE

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

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Direct MP3 downloads/Libsyn --  RIGHT HERE

Next Stop Everywhere's Facebook page

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And hey, if you'd like to pick up the officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show and feel free to post pictures on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back soon as Jesse and I review "The Stones of Blood", the third serial from Season 16, a.k.a. "The Key to Time" season, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as the First Romana, and John Leeson as the voice of K-9!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 035: "City of Death" is Up!

"I suppose the best way to find out where you've come from is to find out where you're going and then work backwards."

-- The Fourth Doctor, Doctor Who: "City of Death"

After another strange void in the time/space continuum, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson and I are back with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  And this time, we're joined by returning special guest companions Karen Lindsay and Ken Schaefer as we explore the Tom Baker classic "City of Death"!

Exploring this Season 17 story from 1979, Jesse, Karen, Ken and I discuss things like the importance of not calling in from your car, using "City of Death" to get people hooked on Doctor Who, the "David Agnew" pseudonym, the ascent of Douglas Adams, Eleanor Bron inspiring the song Eleanor Rigby, the greatness of Julian Glover, the launch of Doctor Who Magazine, Jesse's creepy love of Romana's schoolgirl uniform, watching Doctor Who on Syfy, how the Eleventh Doctor and River Song would work really well in this story, the Sonic Screwdriver as a rite of passage, Jesse's obligatory mention of Classic Who story pacing, our Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, how to handle an internet wacko tweeting you strange messages, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week for our preview of Doctor Who Series Nine starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher and the Southgate Media Group website!

Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently Returns to Television

Douglas Adams' holistic detective Dirk Gently returns for the first of three new episodes Monday night on BBC Four, but exactly how do they fundamentally interconnect with one another?

Since the original TV pilot aired in December 16, 2010, fans of Adams' Dirk Gently novels have been wondering if there would be any additional episodes made.  Critical reception was generally positive, attracting 1.1 million viewers for over three times the normal time slot average, so it seemed natural enough to develop the TV adaptation further.

In Episode 1 of this new three-part series, Dirk discovers the connection between two unrelated cases -- a client who believes the Pentagon are trying to kill him and another who’s horoscopes appear to be coming true.  In Episode 2, Dirk is called back to his old university to protect a valuable robot but within 24 hours it has been stolen and a dead body discovered, with Dirk and Macduff the prime suspect.  In Episode 3, they are alarmed to discover that Dirk’s old clients are being randomly murdered with Dirk as the only link.  Rather than talk to the police, Dirk elects to leave the country but is waylaid by a series of seemingly unconnected events.

Stephen Mangan returns as Dirk, with Darren Boyd as his sidekick business partner Richard Macduff.  Other characters from the pilot will return as well, with Helen Baxendale as Macduff’s girlfriend Susan in Episode 2, Jason Watkins as Detective Inspector Gilks in Episodes 1 and 3, and Lisa Jackson returning as the unpaid, unloved and quite deeply disturbed receptionist Janice Pearce during scenes throughout the series.

 

And if you'd like to see the full trailer for the upcoming series, you can view it below thanks to the BBC's own YouTube channel...

Dirk Gently's Holistic TV Adaptation of the Soul

At long last, Douglas Adams' literary creation Dirk Gently has finally been adapted for television...but will it be worth the wait?

Blastr have the lowdown on the new Dirk Gently series for BBC Four starring Stephen Mangan as the title character, including the first trailer which announces that the series is "Coming Soon," regardless of how soon "Soon" actually is.  Although based on Adams' two Dirk Gently novels, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, it seems this Dirk Gently series is also going to draw somewhat from the current series of Doctor Who and Sherlock, at least in terms of tone.  The BBC's official take on the series follows:

Stephen Mangan will play Douglas Adams' eccentric detective Dirk Gently in a new BBC Four drama based on the author's cult novel, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

He is joined by Darren Boyd as his unwitting sidekick Richard Macduff and Helen Baxendale as Richard's girlfriend Susan in the adaptation by Bafta-winning Howard Overman.

Anti-hero Dirk Gently operates his eponymous detective agency based on the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Perpetually broke, hopelessly chaotic and utterly infuriating, most people suspect Dirk is nothing more than a cheap conman. And they might be right – but nevertheless his methods, though unusual, do often produce surprising results.

When Dirk sets out to solve an apparently simple and harmless disappearance of a cat from an old lady's house, he unwittingly uncovers a double murder which, in turn, leads to a host of even more extraordinary events.



Personally, I've always imagined Dirk as a bit dirtier and seedier than what I'm seeing from this trailer.  They seem to be playing up the eccentricity to cater to Doctor Who and Sherlock fans, but as long as the spirit of the books remains intact, then I can deal just fine.  This is a Douglas Adams creation, after all, and if I can survive Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush as Zaphod Beeblebrox, I can certainly survive this.