Category: News

Bleeding Cool has a report of a very lucky person who found something lost in the back of a Cardiff cab – a copy of the readthrough script for Neil Gaiman’s upcoming Doctor Who episode. Providing only a photo of the cover and a snippet of the cast list, it provides a number of spoilers, including:

• The title of the episode (assuming it doesn’t change – Neil’s first episode, The Doctor’s Wife was originally titled The House of Nothing among other names)
• The names of both Warwick Davis’ and, perhaps more  importantly, verification of Jenna-Louise Coleman’s character.
• Presumably, the name of the actor who lost the script, as it’s printed in big gray letters on the cover (and one must assume, every page) so it can be easily tracked whose it is in case, well, in case it gets left in a cab.

After much soul-searching, this reporter has chosen not to disclose these facts, for the sake of maintaining the fun of not knowing what cometh.  But it’s up at the link above.

The image first appeared on FaceBook, and since moved to Reddit, where it has garnered much interest, including, eventually, that of the BBC, who have made arrangements to have it returned.  One must assume a brief neuralyzer session will follow.

Warwick Davis will be making a foray into a new camp of sci-fi fandom in 2013 when he appears on fifty-year-old juggernaut Doctor Who. In an episode for the second half of this season, Davis will appear in an episode written by fifty-one year-old juggernaut Neil Gaiman, returning to the series after his Hugo-winning episode, The Doctor’s Wife. The BBC has not released the title, but revealed yesterday the episode will feature the Cybermen.  Also starring in the episode will be Jason Watkins (Being Human) and Tamzin Outhwaite (EastEnders).

Davis casts a long shadow over science fiction and fantasy.  Starting with his role as Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi, he’s enjoyed a long and varied career in many franchises.  He played the title character in George Lucas and Ron Howard’s Willow, and was similarly titular in the horror franchise Leprechaun.  He played Marvin the Paranoid Android in the recent Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy film,  appeared in the Harry Potter films as Professor Flitwick, and will be appearing in Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant-Killer.

Davis’ most recent triumph is the Ricky Gervais comedy Life’s Too Short, which recently completed a run on HBO.  In it he played an exaggerated version of himself, separated from his wife and straining under a massive tax bill, all while he produces and films a documentary about himself which chronicles these travails.  Davis shows remarkable comedic timing and ability to do physical comedy in the series, playing the perfect balance of a hateful, selfish interpretation of himself who you still feel sorry for when horrible things happen to him.

Keeping with the whimsical self-deprecating tone of the series, he’s released an iPhone app, PocketWarwick, which turns him into a 21st century Tamagotchi.  You are responsible for keeping him clean and fit as progressively more lucrative acting jobs are sent by his agent, as you attempt to bring you little thespian up from Z-lister to the A-list.

It’s rather safe to say that an appearance on the longest running science-fiction show his history will go a long way towards that goal. At this rate, he’ll have that tax-bill sorted in no time…

On November 7th, TwoMorrows Publishing will release Lou Scheimer: Creating The Filmation Generation. Scheimer and Filmation were responsible for many pulp animated projects, including The Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, and more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New autobiography of Lou Scheimer, co-founder of Filmation Studios, debuts November 7.

(RALEIGH, NC) On November 7, TwoMorrows Publishing releases LOU SCHEIMER: CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION, the new autobiography of the co-founder of the renowned Filmation animation studio. Hailed as one of the fathers of Saturday morning television, Scheimer devoted over 25 years to providing animated excitement for TV and film. Always at the forefront, Filmation created the first DC Comics cartoons with Superman, Batman, and Aquaman, ruled the song charts with The Archies, kept Trekkie hope alive with the Emmy-winning Star Trek: The Animated Series, taught morals with Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and swung into high adventure with Tarzan, The Lone Ranger, and Zorro.

Forays into live-action included Shazam! and The Secrets of Isis, plus ground-breaking special effects work on Jason of Star Command and others. And in the 1980s, Filmation single-handedly caused the syndication explosion with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and its successors. Now, with best-selling co-author Andy Mangels, Lou Scheimer tells his entire story, including how his father decked Adolf Hitler, memories of the comic books of the Golden Age, schooling with Andy Warhol, and what it meant to lead the last all-American animation company through nearly thirty years of innovation and fun. Profusely illustrated with photos, model sheets, storyboards, presentation art, looks at rare and unproduced series, and more — plus hundreds of tales about Filmation’s past, and rare Filmation-related art by Bruce Timm, Adam Hughes, Alex Ross, Phil Jimenez, Frank Cho, Gene Ha, and Mike McKone — this book shows the Filmation Generation the story behind the stories.

288-page Trade Paperback with COLOR, by Lou Scheimer with Andy Mangels
Print Edition: $29.95 cover price
Digital Edition: $9.95, available only at www.twomorrows.com

ISBN10: 1-60549-044-X
ISBN13: 978-1-60549-044-1
Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: JUL121245

Ordering link: http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=662

In anticipation of this book’s release, TwoMorrows Publishing is letting readers download a FREE PDF PREVIEW at this link: http://www.twomorrows.com/media/ScheimerPreview.pdf

ABOUT THE CO-AUTHOR: Andy Mangels is the USA Today best-selling author and co-author of over twenty fiction and nonfiction books — including Star Trek, Roswell, and Star Wars novels — and is an award-winning comic book anthology editor. He has also contributed to international magazines and newspapers, and has scripted, directed, and produced over forty DVD documentaries and Special Features projects.

LOU SCHEIMER: CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION will be in stores on Wednesday, November 7.

Since 1994, TwoMorrows Publishing has been bringing a new day to comics fandom, through its award-winning line of magazines and books.