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May 3 DR Who's longest-serving producer has died aged 54.John Nathan-Turner led the BBC show for 130 episodes between 1980 and 1989.
The BBC said: "He died at Brigh
ton's Hove Hospital on Wednesday following a short illness. He joined the cult series as a floor assistant in 1969 when Patrick Troughton was playing the Doctor, and became producer during Tom Baker's stint in the Tardis.Mr Nathan-Turner was responsible for casting Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as Doctor Who.
He was credited for bringing a "lighter" edge to the long-running show, which did not always go down well with loyal fans, some of whom thought he contributed to the series finally coming to an end."
UP to three million fans could be affected by a Star Wars 'virus', it is feared. Businesses are convinced people will feign illness in order to see Attack of the Clones on the opening day.
Many US fans are already queuing, some even started in January, but in Britain there is less of a panic about seeing the new movie. Tickets have gone on sale already, and many cinemas will be having a midnight opening to cope with demand.
As someone who went to America to see Episode I in May rather than wait for the British release date in July, I've got some sympathy with people who can't wait. But Ean McMinnis, from England, has maybe gone a little too far. He told the BBC: "As the Star wars release is a worldwide release on the 16th May, I am flying to Australia to see it as they will be the first ones to see it."
BOUGHT the illustrated guide to Episode II today. Some new pictures and scenary shots, but a word of warning - it virtually gives the whole game away. I saw a couple of spoilers I didn't really want to before I slammed the book shut and hurled it to the other side of the room.
May 1 ADVANCE ticket sales for Attack of the Clones are reaching near-record proportions. TFN said in the UK Odeon Cinemas, UGC Cinemas, Warner Village Cinemas and UCI Cinemas now had ticket on sale.
Odeon, the biggest of the lot, has taken more than £100,000 in the first week of sales. And if you were thinking og going to the Odeon Leicester Square in London, then forget it - tickets for that sold out within hours.
A STRING of adverts are being played across America to promote the new Star Wars movie. You can view them all at the official site here, and can pick from Anakin, Artoo, Clone, Jango, Amidala, or several more. There have been several short ads over here in England too.
AMIDST all the fuss about Episode II, the new Spiderman movie is in danger of being overlooked. Ten years in the waiting and a year late with its release, it has something to live up to. Entertainment Weekly got hold of Spidey himself, Tobey Maguire, for a chat.
Tobey said of his figure-hugging costume: "The breathing was okay, but I lost a little peripheral vision, and sometimes the lenses would fog up, even though they're supposed to be non-fogging. And the shoes didn't have much support. I guess you could say it was an extremely glorified leotard. But it was fun to walk around in the thing with people tripping out, saying, ''There's Spider-Man!'' Read the full interview here.
April 28 THERE are very few occasions I'd recommend buying the sanctimonious Mail on Sunday. But today is an exception.
For today's Mail on Sunday has a special Attack of the Clones preview. There's a CD and an 84-page supplement, devoted to the new Star Wars movie.
The CD has an interview with Hayden Christensen, and a behind-the-scenes look at the new movie, although many of the photos aren't that new.
The supplement is superb, with numerous fresh photos, including one of an army of clones collecting their helmet.There's also a run-down on who the new characters are, a two-page spread of the entire Star Wars galaxy, plus an interview with George Lucas, a detailed look at the new spaceships and the monsters Reek, Nexu and Acklay. R2 reveals a little about his life, and Yoda tells, in his own unique style, of how his funeral would have been.
WAS Jar Jar really a Jedi? That's one of the more unlikely questions posed in a series of essays written about The Phantom Menace. Space.com ponders: "Is he just lucky? Or is he unconsciously using the Force? Is there a difference?" Other essay titles include Did the Jedi Have it Coming?, Has Star Wars Lost its Cool? and tongue-in-cheek Politically Correct Menace. They're not going to win any awards, but they do raise a few questions.
THE 1970s? The time sci-fi was reborn thanks to Star Wars, an era of coolness and revolution, right? Well, no. The 70s, as well as conjuring up Luke and co, was also responsible for some horrendous sci-fi shows. Space.com unearthes the terror that was Laserblast, and Battle Beyond the Stars in a fond look-back at where it all went wrong for some folk.
April 27 Have returned from my hols now, and not got any for the foreseeable future, so will knuckle down and get on with updating news about the new Star Wars movie and this year's convention.
There's less than three weeks to go before Attack of the Clones opens, and there seems to be a distinct lack of marketing so far. This could well be due to the major hyping of Episode I and its subsequent mauling from the critics, so it looks as though Lucas and co are playing things quieter this time around.
That said, things are definitely hotting up. There are bus posters all around with Anakin or Count Dooku on, Toys 'R' Us now has a special section of Episode II models and several cinemas are looking to open at midnight on May 16.
As you'd expect various major names have jumped on board the Lucas wagon again, and are offering special deal. Barnes and Noble, KMart, Toy 'R' Us and Wal Mart are among the names, but expect many more soon.
Mar 1 THE full two-and-a-half minute trailer for Attack of the Clones is out. It was shown in America last night, on GMTV in the UK this morning, and now it's available for downloading at the official Star Wars site.
As you'd expect, you need the patience of Yoda to see it, due to the millions of hits the site is getting, but it is worth the wait. If you're like I have been up to now and abhor spoilers of almost any sort, then look away now. But if, like me, you can't wait any more, then read on.
It begins with a Naboo-looking ship flying through a desert city, followed by a round-the-table chat between Palpatine and the Jedi Council.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is then seen in a shot almost identical to his later fight in Mos Eisley's Cantina bar, then there's an impressive sequence in the sky where Obi-Wan and Anakin chase an unidentified foe. The trailer then goes on to reveal more about The Clone Wars itself. Bounty hunter Jango Fett is being used to create an army of clones, which is all predictably Palpatine's idea. The Grand Army of the Republic are virtually stormtroopers, certainly far closer to them than the Battle Droids of TPM. There are hints of things to come too, with cosy chats between Palpatine and Anakin, and Republic ships that bear more than a passing resemblance to Star Destroyers. It does all look very smooth, maybe a little too smooth, everything is very polished and futuristic, whereas the old films did have a more lived-in look to them.
The trailer is certainly big on style and the effects and new planets and environments do look stunning. It goes into far more detail about the Clone Wars than had previously been known, and Anakin is more of a side-issue.
Mar 10 ANY minute soon the trailer for Attack of the Clones will be with us. The official Star Wars site sent out a Homing Beacon e-mail revealing the Clone Wars trailer would first be aired on Fox TV on Sunday, followed by its posting to the official site. It will then be in cinemas, in America at least, from March 15 where it will accompany Ice Age.
In the mail, Lucasfilm's Jim Ward said: "With this trailer, we start to look at the story and the state of the galaxy in Episode II. It sets the stage for what’s about to happen and how the characters are involved. We find out that the Republic is on the brink of war, and the Jedi are overburdened in trying to hold everything together."
The two-and-a-half minute trailer culminates with glimpses of some of the largest action sequences ever found in a Star Wars movie.And any early risers can also catch part of it on GMTV tomorrow morning.
MORE Brits are flocking to see films than any time in the past 30 years. The Guardian said blockbusters such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, movie attendance helped sell 141 million tickets in 2001, up four million on 2000.
The British Office for National Statistics also showed that it's still got some way to go to equal the pre-TV days of the 1950s, when ten times as many folk got off their backsides and went to see a film.
CLAIRE Davenport, who played Yarna in Return of the Jedi, has died. TFN reported that Claire, who was the large dancer in Jabba's Palace, passed away on March 4.
A RE-MAKE of the HG Wells classic The Time Machine has been generally slated by critics. IMDB said The Toronto Star described it as "a very bad remake of Planet of the Apes. No, it's worse than that. It's Beneath the Planet of the Apes."
IMDB said The New York Times chipped in with dubbing it "a drab, mostly colorless film." And on American TV, noting that the film was directed by Wells' great grandson, Simon, Joel Siegel remarked that it was too bad it hadn't been directed by the great grandson of Orson Welles. "If it had been, we might have had a shot," Siegel quipped.
Mar 2 THE full-length trailer for Attack of the Clones will be in cinemas from . American viewers to the Fox network will get to see it first on March 10, as it is played between episodes of The X-Files and Malcolm in the Middle.
Called 'Clone War', the two-and-a-half minute trailer will hit cinemas on March 15 with the movie Ice Age.
Feb 20 SPIDERMAN may scuttle across to give Attack of the Clones a clear run at the May box office returns. Empire has heard that Columbia, who were going to give it a showing from May 3 in the UK, have now had second thoughts and opted for June 17. Attack of the Clones comes out on May 16.
DAVID Duchovny is returning to the role of FBI Agent Fox Mulder in the two-hour finale of The X-Files, scifi.com has revealed. Duchovny quit the show at the end of the last season, but will also direct an episode that is due to air April 28, "based on a story idea he co-wrote with series creator and executive producer Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz".
With the series coming to an end, the final five shows will answer many of the show's mysteries.
THE lovely Kenny Baker has come under-fire from a Star Wars fan who begrudged paying £5 for his autograph. Richard Yeowart said: "As a Star Wars fan I was more than disappointed when I was confronted by Mr Baker's '£5 per autograph' statement. Has the little guy not got enough money from starring in the most popular films of all time?"
Jedinet added that Kenny replied by saying it was standard practice and that many shops sold his autograph for much more than £5. And rightly so. It seems a touch unfair to single out Kenny when, without exception, all actors who do public appearances charge for autographs.
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