Downtime Revisited...

[SiHart]

Oh yes, it's happening...

A new version of DOWNTIME!

With...

Wait for it...

Sylvester McCoy!

Oh yes!

More details here: http://www.shadowlocked.com/20110316...last-week.html

Though that looks to me like a Toymaker style thingy, no matter what the captions try and tell you...

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

This is beyond amazing.

Is this another of Ian Levine's projects that he can't release officially but that he's just making for his own enjoyment?

Si.

[SiHart]

Who knows Si. Probably, but it's jaw dropping nonetheless!

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

You're right though, something's fishy about that article.

Why use the Seventh Doctor to remake "Downtime"? If you've got him, wouldn't you make something a bit more interesting, like one of his lost Season 27 stories or something? Or something new? The Doctor wasn't even in "Downtime" so it'd almost be a new story anyway. And why does the Trilogic Game and the Celestial Toymaker appear to be in shot? And if The TARDIS is going to be CSO'd in there, well, wouldn't you BUILD a TARDIS set rather than CSO it?

Si.

[Simon R]

Sylv looks like Bill Tarmey in that photo.

Why is the top of his umbrella cut off too?

Levine's Domintemporal Productions had a hand in Downtime so I suspect he dug out some paper work and discovered he still owned the rights to make it or something.

[Lissa]

With no new Doctor Who on TV we need projects like this to keep the series alive. Good for Ian and I hope no one spoils his fun by telling him which decade the rest of us are living in.

[Si Hunt]

Whatever this is, it's cheap and it's nasty. If you zoom in, the thing the Trilogic game is sat on is a bit of painted corrugated cardboard.

Also, notice the question mark pullover is gone.

Si.

[SiHart]

Whatever this is, it's cheap and it's nasty. If you zoom in, the thing the Trilogic game is sat on is a bit of painted corrugated cardboard.

To be fair, that's a probably an accurate recreation.

Si xx

[SiHart]

There's an interview with Slyv on the same site that has a little more detail (and some hints about other stuff too, bizarrely):

Are you a fan of working with special effects? You're fairly used to it by now, I should imagine...

Yes, I am. Funny enough, I was doing some stuff like that yesterday. Working with a green screen background, I had to recreate the inside of the TARDIS - and it wasn't there [laughs]. Good fun, and all very silly!

What was the project?

Ian Levine's putting together a piece of work that didn't get completed over the years, and I was there as The Doctor to kind of 'Doctor Who' them up. There are pieces that have been done too for The Brigadier and The Master that were never quite completed, so that work will make them a rounded whole. Also there's the 30th anniversary show of Doctor Who that was never made, and we're going to do a cartoon version of that. I was doing my role in that as well.

...there were a couple of projects that we were doing. One was actually filming to beef up a piece that's already been done, and the other was recording voices with camera so they can do a lip-sync for the cartoon.

So the reconstruction of the TARDIS is for a disc release?

Yes.

Can I ask which story that is?

There are a few...Downtime - that's one that's got a lot of dialogue. The [inaudible] Vortex - much shorter. Search Out Space; and Destiny Of The Doctors...also some audio lines for Dark Dimension.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Am I going to wake up in a minute? This is weirder than one of my dreams!

Si.

[shada pavlova]

Why is Padmasambhava credited as a "new villian"?

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm intrigued that out of all this weirdness, you single that out!!

I can't quite fathom any of this - is our beloved Mr Levine now recording dialogue for every possible unmade piece of Who ever, in the event of being able to film/animate/CGI it? Shada is one thing, but... Destiny of the Doctors?

[Simon R]

I bet he's only doing this so he can fake official looking DVD covers for them and have them in the correct place on his shelf.

Surely Davison, the Bakers and the rest won't be involved?

[Rob McCow]

I agree with Lissa, it'll be great to have some new Doctor Who at last!

Also there's the 30th anniversary show of Doctor Who that was never made, and we're going to do a cartoon version of that.

Goooooood Griiiiiiiiiiieeeefff!!!! This is like Dawn of The Dead Doctor Who Stories! They're clawing their way out of the ground long after they were thoroughly buried, forgotten and their headstones whithered by time's passage.

Why is Padmasambhava credited as a "new villian"?

To ensure that your brain is melted, Harry.

[SiHart]

It does seem rather bizarre, because if the Doctor is involved, I can't see the BBC granting him a licence to do anything with the material he's shot, as they're so protective of the brand these days.

That said, it doesn't seem to have bothered him over Shada, so I'm not really all that surprised!

Whether anyone gets to see this stuff is a whole different matter...

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

How rich must he be? And how did he make so much cash?

Si.

[shada pavlova]

To ensure that your brain is melted, Harry.

Well, it certainly worked. Only problem now is clearing up these puddles of brain everywhere...

[Jon Masters]

How rich must he be? And how did he make so much cash?

Si.

Selling wiped video tape

[WhiteCrowNZ]

How rich must he be? And how did he make so much cash?

Si.

Doctor in Distress royalties?

[Stuart Wallis]

...as in, "Pay up or I'll play it again!"

[Thasc]

Yikes

[SiHart]

A review of the new revisited Downtime from GB:
Downtime Re-Edit Review
by Dan Armitage

I am happy for this review to be reposted elsewhere as long as I am credited as the writer of it. Please do not repost the images elsewhere unless included as part of this review.

"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do."

The classic series ended with that now famous quote by the Doctor. He and Ace went into bold new adventures which have been detailed in the Big Finish audios and BBC novels alike. And while Sylvester McCoy would return in guest spots several more times, it was definitive that classic Doctor Who was dead. Right? Wrong!

This Reeltime Production, originally released in 1995, featured most notably Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen reprising their roles as The Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith respectively. However, due to the problems with copyright, no participation by the Doctor was possible. But now, thanks to award winning record producer, Ian Levine, the story features brand new specially filmed footage, returning Sylvester McCoy to his rightful place as the Doctor.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a private screening of this new version of Downtime by Mr Levine himself and I was floored. Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions however, I was not allowed a copy. Unless the BBC choose to do something with the story, this new version can NEVER and will NEVER be released.

While the new Sylvester McCoy footage is obviously the staple of this new release, this review will also look at how the original story is enhanced by his involvement in the events that are detailed in the film. Now, after that very bloated introduction, are we sitting comfortably? Then let us begin...

The story opens up with Sylvester McCoy era opening credits and no matter how small the addition is, it is great to see the title "Downtime" underneath the Doctor Who logo. A real new classic Doctor Who story.



We fade in to the TARDIS and there he is. Sylvester McCoy playing the Doctor once more. Months ago we saw a few a green screen snaps with the Doctor and I bet a few people were a little ambivalent as to whether the TARDIS could be effectively recreated. I have to say it floored me. If I didn't know that it was Green-screened, I'd be certain that someone had built a TARDIS console from scratch. We have a quick reference to Ace in Perivale visiting friends and then - the cloister bell! The sound of disaster! And with a "Great galloping gobstoppers!" the Doctor is away, back on the adventure of a lifetime!



The TARDIS materializes in a crypt which I have to add, has been gloriously CGI'd in. The work that Mr Levine has put into this is astounding. I hasten to add, I have never seen the original Downtime so this new version was really fun for me to watch as every single scene was new from my perspective!

Sitting across from a very familiar face (SPOILERS!), the Doctor is told that his companions are being manipulated and the Doctor is forced to watch! And six clay models of various companions and villains stand between the Doctor and his enemy. A sight very reminiscent of The Five Doctors!

And then we see them. The Brigadier. Supping tea once more, having a gentle walk along the beach. Or is he? Sarah Jane Smith investigates! Seeing the two recently departed again in a brand new story is an epic achievement. Something to be very proud of.

And and and...I could go on. The story involves so many "wow!" moments and I've just mentioned a couple of these. How does the new footage affect the old footage? Brilliantly! Before, Downtime was a fan video like any other. Now, it looks like a proper Doctor Who story, featuring the return of Sylvester McCoy, Nicholas Courtney, Elisabeth Sladen and Deborah Watling.

I have to finish with a huge thank you to Mr Levine, Sylvester McCoy and everyone else involved in making this production. It truly is Doctor Who at it's best!

So there we go, or do we? Who knows!

[SiHart]

some images:

[Perry Vale]

I'm not really up on these things, but isn't that the wrong console for the McCoy era?

[SiHart]

No, it's definitely the right console. Not sure about the hat though!