Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction . Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality.
96-567: The Great Intelligence is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who . Although the Great Intelligence has no physical form, it is capable of communicating, both by itself and through possession, with other characters within the series. The Great Intelligence was originally created by Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen where it encountered
192-603: A back-up comic strip in Doctor Who Weekly Nos. 31–34. The Great Intelligence had no physical form and thus relied on possession of living creatures to manipulate its environment. It existed on the astral plane and could enter the people it encountered. It allowed Padmasambhava to live over 300 years while he created the Robot Yeti and it also reanimated dead bodies like Staff Sergeant Arnold. It had considerable mental powers such as mind control and could even mentally attack
288-594: A café. Clara uses computer skills that she picked up from her uploading experience to track the uploaders to their base at The Shard . The Doctor encounters people inside the café under the control of Miss Kizlet, who explains that living human minds are being fed to her client. Miss Kizlet distracts the Doctor long enough for a server disguised as the Doctor to upload Clara's mind completely. An angered Doctor reprograms this server and sends it out to Miss Kizlet's office inside The Shard. The Doctor server demands that she release all
384-556: A combination of techniques; a ray gun might require a pyrotechnic during filming, and then an optical glowing line added to the film image in post-production. Stunts are another important category of physical effects. In general, all kinds of special effects must be carefully planned during pre-production . Babylon 5 was the first series to use computer-generated imagery , or "CGI", for all exterior space scenes, even those with characters in space suits. The technology has made this more practical, so that today models are rarely used. In
480-466: A crystalline organism that looks like snow and responds to the thoughts of others. The snow-like organism became influenced by the thoughts of a young boy, Walter Simeon, during the 1800s, forming a mental symbiosis. From there, the Great Intelligence had the adult Dr. Simeon ( Richard E. Grant ) create "The Great Intelligence Institute" and orchestrate a scheme to obtain the DNA of a governess who froze to death in
576-528: A female superhero, wears traditional folkloric clothes and tries to save traditional elements of Dutch society against the factory owners. Italian TV shows include A come Andromeda (1972) which was a remake of 1962 BBC serial, A for Andromeda (from the novels of Hoyle and Elliott), Geminus (1968), Il segno del comando (1971), Gamma (1974) and La traccia verde (1975). French series are Highlander: The Series , French science-fiction/fantasy television series (both co-produced with Canada) and
672-610: A focus on scares. He has also said that the Spoonheads are not a critique on contemporary obsessions with technology and that the Wi-Fi concept was more of an invasion method new to Doctor Who . In " The Name of the Doctor ", the Great Intelligence is assisted by the Whisper Men, invulnerable manifestations that whisper in rhymes. They appear as Victorian gentlemen, with no facial features other than mouths with sharp teeth. The Great Intelligence
768-449: A group of Dutch space explorers and their adventures, De duivelsgrot (The devil's cave), broadcast from 1963 to 1964, about a scientist who finds the map of a cave that leads to the center of the Earth and Treinreis naar de Toekomst (Train journey to the future) about two young children who are taken to the future by robots who try to recreate humanity, but are unable to give the cloned humans
864-611: A growing number of followers. The British series, Doctor Who , has similarly attracted a devoted following. In the late 1990s, a market for celebrity autographs emerged on eBay , which created a new source of income for actors, who began to charge money for autographs that they had previously been doing for free. This became significant enough that lesser-known actors would come to conventions without requesting any appearance fee, simply to be allowed to sell their own autographs (commonly on publicity photos). Today most events with actor appearances are organized by commercial promoters, though
960-470: A large amount of superhero -themed animation, much of this adapted from comics series, while the impossible characters and settings allowed in animation made this a preferred medium for both fantasy and for series aimed at young audiences. Originally, animation was all hand-drawn by artists, though in the 1980s, beginning with Captain Power , computers began to automate the task of creating repeated images; by
1056-626: A man who becomes trapped in a telephone booth, while passersby seem unable to help him, won the 1973 International Emmy Award for Fiction. The series Plutón B.R.B. Nero (2008) was a brutal SF comedy by Álex de la Iglesia , in the line of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Red Dwarf , or Doctor Who , with 26 episodes of 35 minutes. Other series of the 2010s were Los protegidos (2010-2012), El barco (2011-2013), and El internado (2007-2010), all three inspired by North American productions, with minor SF elements. The latest success
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#17330856705661152-499: A mobile robotic server disguised as a young girl using the Wi-Fi . The Doctor halts the upload and successfully reverses it, sending a message that Clara is under his protection. The Doctor and Clara are outside when the uploaders cause an airplane to descend at them. The Doctor and Clara board the TARDIS and land on the plane, and the Doctor saves it from crashing. The Doctor and Clara travel to
1248-464: A number of fan-run conventions still exist, such as Toronto Trek and Shore Leave . The 1985 series Robotech is most often credited as the catalyst for the Western interest in anime. The series inspired a few fanzines such as Protoculture Addicts and Animag both of which in turn promoted interest in the wide world of anime in general. Anime's first notable appearance at SF or comic book conventions
1344-428: A number of smaller fiction/fantasy television series, including Tang in 1971, about a secret organization that attempts to control the world with a new super weapon, "Les atomistes" and 1970 miniseries "La brigade des maléfices". Another French-produced science fiction series was the new age animated series Il était une fois... l'espace (English: Once upon a time...space ). Anime-influenced animation includes
1440-504: A quiet place for a think, and then can remember where she put it. As the girl leaves, it is revealed that she is Clara Oswald . The Doctor has retreated to a monastery in Cumbria in 1207 to contemplate the mystery of Clara Oswald, a woman he had met twice previously but who died both times. The Doctor answers the exterior phone on the TARDIS when it starts ringing. On the other end is Clara, whom
1536-659: A science fiction television series based upon Zoran Živković's story, winner of a World Fantasy Award . Návštěvníci (The Visitors) was a Czechoslovak (and Federal German, Swiss and French) TV series produced in 1981 to 1983. The family show aired in a larger number of European countries. For a list of notable science fiction series and programs on television, see: List of science fiction television programs . People who have influenced science fiction on television include: [REDACTED] Media related to Science fiction television programmes at Wikimedia Commons The Bells of Saint John " The Bells of Saint John "
1632-400: A series of French-Japanese cartoons / anime , including such titles as Ulysses 31 (1981), The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982), and Ōban Star-Racers (2006). The first Spanish SF series was Diego Valor , a 22 episode TV adaption of a radio show hero of the same name based on Dan Dare , aired weekly between 1958 and 1959. Nothing was survived of this series, not a single still; it
1728-427: A small number of dedicated craft practitioners, while the reusability of props, models, effects, or animation techniques made it easier to keep using them. The combination of high initial cost and lower maintenance cost pushed producers into building these techniques into the basic concept of a series, influencing all the artistic choices. By the late 1990s, improved technology and more training and cross-training within
1824-456: A soul. All three of these television series were aimed mostly at children. Later television series were Professor Vreemdeling (1977) about a strange professor who wants to make plants speak and Zeeuws Meisje [ nl ] (1997) a nationalistic post-apocalyptic series where the Netherlands has been built full of housing and the highways are filled with traffic jams. The protagonist,
1920-485: A staggering array of models; the USS Enterprise had to be built in several different scales for different needs. Models fell out of use in filming in the 1990s as CGI became more affordable and practical, but even today, designers sometimes construct scale models which are then digitized for use in animation software. Models of characters are puppets . Gerry Anderson created a series of shows using puppets living in
2016-549: A universe of models and miniature sets, notably Thunderbirds . ALF depicted an alien living in a family, while Farscape included two puppets as regular characters. In Stargate SG-1 , the Asgard characters are puppets in scenes where they are sitting, standing, or lying down. In Mystery Science Theater 3000 , the characters of Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo , two of the show's main (and most iconic) characters, are puppets constructed from random household items. As animation
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#17330856705662112-428: A whole it didn't reach the heights of previous episodes". While he welcomed the departure in tone, he felt that the set-pieces were shoehorned in, and also expressed concern that Clara, despite Coleman's success, was too similar to previous companion Amy Pond ( Karen Gillan ). In Doctor Who Magazine , Graham Kibble-White gave it a positive review, describing it as "zestful and exciting Doctor Who ." He complimented
2208-472: A woman who died by freezing to death in a pond, and later still possesses the brain-dead body of its aide Dr. Walter Simeon ( Richard E. Grant ) after he was bitten by a Memory Worm that wipes out all his memories. The Spoonheads are robots used by the Great Intelligence's operatives in " The Bells of Saint John " to harvest human minds for him to feast upon. They are also referred to as "Servers" by Miss Kizlet ( Celia Imrie ) and as walking Wi-Fi base stations by
2304-499: Is El ministerio del tiempo ( The ministry of time ), premiered on February 24, 2015 on TVE 's main channel La 1 . The series follows the exploits of a patrol of the fictional Ministry of Time, which deals with incidents caused by time travel. It has garnered several national prizes in 2015, like the Ondas Prize , and has a thick following on-line, called los ministéricos . Serbia produced The Collector ( Sakupljač ),
2400-474: Is able to physically manifest in place of any of the individual Whisper Men, taking the form of his last human host, Walter Simeon ( Richard E. Grant ). Their whispers are implied to be prophetic, when chasing the Doctor on Trenzalore, whispering rhymes such as: "the man who lies will lie no more, when this man lies at Trenzalore," and "This man must fall as all men must, the fate of all is always dust." The rhymes often cryptically refer to past or future events that
2496-469: Is completely free of the constraints of gravity, momentum, and physical reality, it is an ideal technique for science fiction and fantasy on television. In a sense, virtually all animated series allow characters and objects to perform in unrealistic ways, so they are almost all considered to fit within the broadest category of speculative fiction (in the context of awards, criticism, marketing, etc.) The artistic affinity of animation to comic books has led to
2592-438: Is not known if the show was even recorded or just a live broadcast. The 60s were dominated by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador and Narciso Ibáñez Menta , who adapted SF works from Golden Age authors and others to a series titled Mañana puede ser verdad . Only 11 episodes were filmed. The 70s saw three important television films, Los pajaritos (1974), La Gioconda está triste (1977), and La cabina (1972), this last one, about
2688-404: Is on screen at once. In general, science fiction series are subject to the same financial constraints as other television shows. However, high production costs increase the financial risk, while limited audiences further complicate the business case for continuing production. Star Trek was the first television series to cost more than $ 100,000 per episode, while Star Trek: The Next Generation
2784-431: Is revealed the Doctor's travels through time have created a temporal rift "body" inside the dead husk of the future TARDIS. The Great Intelligence claims that it plans on getting revenge on the Doctor for foiling its schemes by scattering itself along the Doctor's timeline. Through scattering itself, the Great Intelligence intends to overturn all of the Doctor's various victories and destroy him, even though this would destroy
2880-487: Is the sixth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who . It premiered in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2013 on BBC One ; the episode was the first of the second half of the series. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Colm McCarthy . The episode marks the third appearance of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald , but her first official appearance as
2976-483: Is voiced by Sir Ian McKellen , which details the entity's origins. Richard E. Grant assumed the role in subsequent appearances in the seventh series of the revived show. Both the Great Intelligence and the Yeti appeared twice in the fifth season of the series as adversaries of the Doctor's second incarnation (Patrick Troughton). The 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen depicts the Great Intelligence as having possessed
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3072-513: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Later series made in the 1960s included The Interpretaris (1966) Vega 4 (1967), and Phoenix Five (1970). The country's best known Science Fiction series was Farscape ; an American co-production, it ran from 1999 to 2003. A significant proportion of Australian produced Science Fiction programmes are made for the teens/young Adults market, including The Girl from Tomorrow ,
3168-572: The Eleventh Doctor ( Matt Smith ). They have a spoon-shaped head through which they absorb a person's soul, and are able to disguise themselves as figures from the target's subconscious. Steven Moffat said that he wrote "The Bells of Saint John" as an "action rollercoaster", with the Spoonhead robots devised in contrast to other monsters he had created such as the Weeping Angels and Silence with
3264-489: The Eleventh Doctor 's new companion. The story focuses on alien time traveller the Doctor ( Matt Smith ) and his search for Oswald, following two previous encounters with her in different moments of time, both ending in her death. Finding a third version in present-day London, he soon becomes involved in saving her and the rest of Earth from Miss Kizlet ( Celia Imrie ) and her employer, the Great Intelligence , as they use
3360-717: The Super Robots such as Mitsuteru Yokoyama 's Tetsujin 28-go ( Gigantor ) and Go Nagai 's Mazinger Z , and the Real Robots such as Yoshiyuki Tomino 's Gundam series and Shōji Kawamori 's Macross series. Other primary aspects of Japanese science fiction television are the superhero tokusatsu (a term literally meaning special effects ) series, pioneered by programs such as Moonlight Mask and Planet Prince . The suitmation technique has been used in long running franchises include Eiji Tsuburaya 's Ultra Series , Shotaro Ishinomori 's Kamen Rider Series , and
3456-610: The Super Sentai Series. In addition, several dramas utilize science fiction elements as framing devices, but are not labeled as "tokusatsu" as they do not utilize actors in full body suits and other special effects. Among the notable German language productions are: Danish television broadcast the children's TV-series Crash in 1984 about a boy who finds out that his room is a space ship. Early Dutch television series were Morgen gebeurt het [ nl ] (Tomorrow it will happen), broadcast from 1957 to 1959, about
3552-570: The 1930s and once in the London Underground in the 1970s. The woman in the shop who gave Clara the Doctor's number is brought up in " Deep Breath ". The Twelfth Doctor remarks it seems as if someone is trying to bring the Doctor and Clara together. The episode " Death in Heaven " reveals it was the Master (as Missy ) who gave the number to Clara. Writer Steven Moffat described the premise as
3648-580: The 1950s". Doctor Who , which launched in 1963 and ran until 1989, then was revived in 2005, was listed in the Guinness World Records in 2006 as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world and as the "most successful" science fiction series of all time. Other cult British series in the science fiction genre include The Tomorrow People , Space: 1999 , Blake's 7 , Star Cops and Red Dwarf . Science fiction in Canada
3744-425: The 1990s, CGI required expensive processors and customized applications, but by the 2000s (decade), computing power has pushed capabilities down to personal laptops running a wide array of software. Models have been an essential tool in science fiction television since the beginning, when Buck Rogers took flight in spark-scattering spaceships wheeling across a matte backdrop sky. The original Star Trek required
3840-592: The 1990s, hand-drawn animation became defunct. In recent years as technology has improved, this has become more common, notably since the development of the Massive software application permits producers to include hordes of non-human characters to storm a city or space station. The robotic Cylons in the new version of Battlestar Galactica are usually animated characters, while the Asgard in Stargate SG-1 are animated when they are shown walking around or more than one
3936-619: The 1995 spin-off video film Downtime , produced by Reeltime and featuring Victoria Waterfield ( Deborah Watling ), the Brigadier ( Nicholas Courtney ) and Sarah Jane Smith ( Elisabeth Sladen ) with a now deceased Professor Travers (Jack Watling) serving as a vessel for the Intelligence. Here the Great Intelligence plans on infecting the Internet so as to use it as a new body, using control spheres to transform humans into Yeti servants. Downtime
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4032-447: The 2013 episode " The Bells of Saint John ", set in the present day. The Great Intelligence uses a woman called Miss Kizlet ( Celia Imrie ) to aid him in creating an organization based at the Shard to collect and harvest the minds of people using Wi-Fi for it to feed on. The Eleventh Doctor manages to upload Miss Kizlet into this "data cloud", forcing the workers to free the minds trapped in
4128-467: The 21st century before being permanently sent back to the early 20th century, and becoming the editor of her daughter 's detective novel/guidebook. The Great Intelligence makes its second appearance in a row after appearing in the preceding episode, " The Snowmen ". In the intervening time, the Great Intelligence has encountered the Doctor's second incarnation twice, once in the Himalayan mountains during
4224-541: The BBC in 1968 over their rights to the Great Intelligence and Quarks , the writers departed from the series and both the Great Intelligence and Yeti were retired. The Great Intelligence and its Yeti minions have since appeared in the 1990s Virgin Missing Adventures range of novels and the 1995 Reeltime spin-off production Downtime . The Great Intelligence returned in the 2012 Christmas Special " The Snowmen ", where it
4320-458: The Daleks " and " The Snowmen ", but "The Bells of Saint John" introduces the character who will be the Doctor's travelling companion. Coleman played each version of the character as a different individual with "trust that there would be a payoff" to her mystery. Moffat described this version of Clara as "more real-world", and actor Matt Smith stated that Clara "reignites [the Doctor's] curiosity in
4416-504: The Doctor and his companions. In the sequel The Web of Fear , aired in 1968 and set forty years after The Abominable Snowmen , the Great Intelligence returns when a control sphere is activated and enters a Yeti. The Great Intelligence uses an army of Yeti to take over the London Underground and begins filling London with a Web. The Great Intelligence primarily possesses the mind of Staff-Sergeant Arnold ( Jack Woolgar ) to sabotage
4512-517: The Doctor in lieu of the Daleks , whose creator and part-copyright owner Terry Nation desired to have appear in an American spin-off series. Writers Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman chose the stories of the yeti to base their new monster upon. The Yeti are controlled by the Great Intelligence through control spheres. These are depicted as capable of seeking out inactive Yeti, emitting a series of whistle-like beeps whilst doing so. The Web of Fear shows
4608-406: The Doctor initially does not recognise. Clara, having been given the TARDIS' number by "a woman in the shop" and believing it is a computer help line, asks for help to connect to the Internet. When Clara repeats a phrase that previous versions of Clara have said, the Doctor realises who she is. He sets off to meet her. Arriving in present-day London, the Doctor finds Clara's mind being "uploaded" via
4704-456: The Doctor, briefly taking on the voice of the young Simeon (Cameron Strefford) during the confrontation. The intelligence withdraws from his vessel when the Latimer family cries for the dying Clara, triggering his snow to melt. It is implied these events lead to The Web of Fear as the Doctor shows a map of the London Underground from 1966 to the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence appears in
4800-451: The Doctor, causing him great pain, and travel through time and space. The Great Intelligence could also manifest itself in simple forms such as a slime that glowed brightly, a dense fog that consumed anything that entered it, and a poisonous web/fungus that could trap the Doctor's TARDIS and could not be destroyed by chemicals, explosives or flamethrowers. The Yeti were an effort by the production team to create more recurring antagonists for
4896-411: The Great Intelligence itself. After it has entered the rift, however, the Doctor's companion Clara Oswald follows him, likewise scattering herself along the timeline, saving the Doctor, who in turn enters his own timeline to rescue Clara. The Intelligence is presumed destroyed, though multiple versions of it are laced in the Doctor's timeline. The Great Intelligence and its Yeti servants are featured in
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#17330856705664992-429: The Great Intelligence's return was overshadowed by the "fully formed and utterly unpredictable" performance of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald . The character's appearance, portrayed by Richard E Grant, in " The Bells of Saint John ", was perceived as establishing the Great Intelligence as a prominent antagonist for Series 7 . Simon Brew felt that the Great Intelligence's appearance was "very welcome" and compared
5088-408: The Latimer family's pond. He intends to use her DNA to create ice-based lifeforms incapable of melting to take over the world. After the ice creature is destroyed, the Doctor uses a "memory worm" on Dr Simeon to erase his memories, expecting this to destroy the Intelligence. However, the Great Intelligence has existed long enough to become an independent entity and uses Simeon's brain-dead husk to attack
5184-531: The Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria. The Great Intelligence tries to form a physical body so as to conquer the Earth, making use of Yeti robots that resemble the cryptozoological creatures . Initially the Great Intelligence used the Yeti robots to scare off curiosity seekers, only later using them as an army. Both the Intelligence and the Yeti returned in its sequel The Web of Fear . After disagreements arose between Lincoln and Haisman with
5280-463: The UK, peaking at 6.68 million, a 29.8% audience share; which put it in third place for the night. When time-shifted viewers were accounted for, the figure rose to 8.44 million viewers, placing second for the week on BBC One. "The Bells of Saint John" also received 0.96 million requests on BBC iPlayer for March, and 1.3 million requests for April. The episode received an Appreciation Index of 87. In 2013
5376-499: The Whisper Men had no obvious way of having knowing about. Critic Graham Sleight commented in an analysis of Doctor Who monsters that the use of Yeti robots by the Great Intelligence was uninteresting as they provided merely a physical and voiceless threat. Some reviewers have seen this as a strength, with Nick Page feeling that the Yeti being controlled by the Great Intelligence gave them greater menace, arguing that because "the Great Intelligence... always turned off their power when it
5472-563: The Whisper Men, changing the one it inhabits into the form of Dr Simeon. The Whispermen kidnap the Paternoster Gang , close associates of the Eleventh Doctor, taking them to Trenzalore, the site of the Doctor's future grave. Having thereby lured the Doctor to his own grave, the Great Intelligence gains access to the Doctor's tomb (his future dead TARDIS), by threatening the lives of the Gang. It
5568-519: The body of the High Lama Padmasamabhava ( Wolfe Morris ), ever since encountering the man on the astral plane some centuries ago. Using Padmasambhava the Great Intelligence moves small Yeti pieces around a chess-like map of the monastery and mountainside, with the Yeti protecting a cave hiding a pyramid of spheres that house the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence intends to create a physical body for itself, but these plans are foiled by
5664-463: The character's use to that of Moriarty in Steven Moffat's series Sherlock . Mark Snow described the Great Intelligence in his review as a " Big Bad " and felt that the character's involvement tied nicely into the Spoonhead plot. Neela Debnath of The Independent , despite feeling that the episode was a "rehash" of elements of " Blink " and Sherlock , commented that it appeared to be establishing
5760-444: The characters experimenting upon one of the spheres and eventually able to control the Yeti it is stored within by using a short-range remote control. In " The Snowmen ", the Great Intelligence's first appearance in the internal chronology of the series, the Great Intelligence in the form of psychic snowflakes – animated snowmen across Victorian London to fight for it. In the course of the episode, it also reanimates and takes control of
5856-482: The data cloud and return them to their bodies. To preserve its secrecy and hinder UNIT 's investigation, the Great Intelligence has Miss Kizlet wipe all memories of its existence from her and the other employees's memories. It communicated with humans on video screens using the likeness of Simeon. In the Series 7 finale, " The Name of the Doctor ", the Great Intelligence manifests through and manipulates dark creatures called
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#17330856705665952-522: The domestic television market, most Canadian productions involve partnerships with production studios based in the United States and Europe. However, in recent years, new partnership arrangements are allowing Canadian investors a growing share of control of projects produced in Canada and elsewhere. Australia's first locally produced Science Fiction series was The Stranger (1964–65) produced and screened by
6048-425: The early 1990s had become one of the most popular dramas on American television. Star Trek fans continued to grow in number, and first began organizing conventions in the 1970s. No other show attracted a large organized following until the 1990s, when Babylon 5 attracted both Star Trek fans and a large number of literary SF fans who previously had not been involved in media fandom. Other series began to attract
6144-474: The episode 8.2 out of 10. He praised the Wi-Fi concept but was underwhelmed by the Spoonheads, and felt that it was more low-key than it was promoted. The A.V. Club 's Alasdair Wilkins gave "The Bells of Saint John" a grade of B, explaining that the plot suffered just as previous companion introductions had because the threat was secondary to establishing Clara. He also wrote that the episode "struggles to make all its chosen genre elements compelling" and
6240-505: The episode be an "urban thriller", as the story would already be set in contemporary London to introduce Clara and the Wi-Fi monsters. Moffat compared the style to James Bond and The Bourne Identity . Moffat said that the episode was "an action roller coaster" rather than a story intended to be scary. Despite being announced as the actress to portray the new companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman had first appeared as two different characters, called Oswin and Clara respectively, in " Asylum of
6336-419: The episode received 2.61 million iPlayer views. "The Bells of Saint John" received generally positive reviews, but several critics felt underwhelmed by the story. Nick Setchfield of SFX gave the episode four-and-a-half out of five stars. He was positive towards the visual style and the plot, as well as the performances of Smith, Coleman, and Celia Imrie . A Radio Times reviewer was pleased that Coleman
6432-476: The fact that "the action sequences are played at a fury and the current anything's-possible flourishes continue unabated". He noted that "there's something pointless but pleasing in having Clara's charge, Artie, reading Summer Falls –a book written by Amelia Williams ". Additionally, he described the Spoonheads as "a very effective threat, albeit written as one of the foot soldiers of the Doctor Who world, with only
6528-451: The first decade of the 21st century, changes in provincial tax legislation prompted many production companies to move from Toronto to Vancouver . Recent popular series produced in Vancouver include The Dead Zone , Smallville , Andromeda , Stargate Atlantis , Stargate Universe , The 4400 , Sanctuary and the reimagined Battlestar Galactica . Because of the small size of
6624-413: The groundwork for a battle between the Doctor and Great Intelligence. Science fiction on television The need to portray imaginary settings or characters with properties and abilities beyond the reach of current reality obliges producers to make extensive use of specialized techniques of television production. Through most of the 20th century, many of these techniques were expensive and involved
6720-458: The industry made all of these techniques easier to use, so that directors of individual episodes could make decisions to use one or more methods, so such artistic choices no longer needed to be baked into the series concept. Special effects (or "SPFX") have been an essential tool throughout the history of science fiction on television: small explosives to simulate the effects of various rayguns , squibs of blood and gruesome prosthetics to simulate
6816-500: The long-running Mr. Squiggle , Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left , Ocean Girl , Crash Zone , Watch This Space and Spellbinder . Other series like Time Trax , Roar , and Space: Above and Beyond were filmed in Australia, but used mostly US crew and actors. Japan has a long history of producing science fiction series for television. Some of the most famous are anime such as Osamu Tezuka 's Astro Boy ,
6912-413: The majority of science fiction media fandom has been represented by males of all ages and for most of its modern existence, a fairly diverse racial demographic. The most highly publicized demographic for science fiction fans is the male adolescent; roughly the same demographic for American comic books . Female fans, while always present, were far fewer in number and less conspicuously present in fandom. With
7008-590: The mark". He found the monsters and plot familiar to past episodes, but noted that a "generic" opening episode had been common for the show when it was introducing a new companion, which was done successfully with Clara. Neela Debnath in The Independent echoed similar sentiments, feeling that it did not live up to the hype and reused several elements from previous episodes. Jon Cooper of the Daily Mirror wrote that "The Bells of Saint John" "had its moments" but "as
7104-419: The military resistance to the Yeti invasion. The invasion is revealed as a trap designed to draw in the Doctor so that the Great Intelligence can drain the Doctor's mind, but it is again defeated and banished. The 2012 Eleventh Doctor ( Matt Smith ) episode " The Snowmen " provides an origin for the Great Intelligence, whose voice is provided by Sir Ian McKellen . It reveals that the Intelligence originated as
7200-545: The minds that have been uploaded, but Miss Kizlet refuses. The Doctor then uses the server to upload Miss Kizlet to the network. Trapped in the network, she orders her subordinates to release her. But the only way they can release her is to release everyone, which they do, and so everyone else, including Clara, is restored. The restored Miss Kizlet contacts her client, the Great Intelligence , to report her failure to him. The Great Intelligence orders her to reset all people working there, including herself, clearing their memories in
7296-525: The monsters and victims in horror series, and the wire-flying entrances and exits of George Reeves as Superman . The broad term "special effects" includes all the techniques here, but more commonly there are two categories of effects. Visual effects ("VFX") involve photographic or digital manipulation of the onscreen image, usually done in post-production . Mechanical or physical effects involve props, pyrotechnics, and other physical methods used during principal photography itself. Some effects involved
7392-454: The network to demand the show remain on the air. Network executives were overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of correspondence, and they kept the show on the air. Although the series continued to receive low ratings and was canceled a year later, the enduring popularity of the series resulted in Paramount creating a set of movies, and then a new series Star Trek: The Next Generation , which by
7488-499: The plot and threat were lacking. On 23 March 2013, the BBC released a short prequel video to the episode, written by Steven Moffat . In the prequel, the Eleventh Doctor is sitting at the swings of a children's playground when he meets a little girl. They talk about losing things, and the Doctor states that he has lost someone twice and he hopes he might be able to find her again. The girl tells him that, when she loses something, she goes to
7584-407: The process. Meanwhile, the Doctor takes Clara home and offers her a chance to travel with him, which she refuses. She tells him to come back the next morning, as she may change her mind by then. Summer Falls , the book that Clara spots Artie, one of her charges, reading is written by "Amelia Williams", the married name of the Doctor's previous companion Amy Pond ; she had been a travel writer in
7680-404: The rising popularity of fanfiction , a large majority of which is categorized as slash fanfiction . Female fans comprise the majority of fanfiction writers. U.S. television science fiction has produced Lost In Space , Star Trek , The Twilight Zone , and The X-Files , among others. British television science fiction began in 1938 when the broadcast medium was in its infancy with
7776-424: The rising popularity of fanzines, female fans became increasingly vocal. Starting in the 2000s (decade), genre series began to offer more prominent female characters. Many series featured women as the main characters with males as supporting characters. True Blood is an example. Also, such shows premises moved away from heroic action-adventure and focused more on characters and their relationships. This has caused
7872-500: The traditional 'Doctor Who' thing of taking something omnipresent in your life and making it sinister, if something did get in the Wi-Fi, we'd be kind of screwed. Nobody had really done it before, so I thought, 'It's time to get kids frightened of Wi-Fi!' However, he denied that his intention was to give a warning about technology, but rather tell an adventure story about a "new way [for aliens] to invade" based on something viewers were familiar with. Producer Marcus Wilson suggested that
7968-455: The transmission of a partial adaptation of Karel Čapek 's play R.U.R. . Despite an occasionally chequered history, programmes in the genre have been produced by both the BBC and the largest commercial channel, ITV . Nigel Kneale 's The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and its sequels have been called "one of BBC Television's earliest audience successes" and Kneale became "one of the most influential television and film writers to emerge in
8064-646: The universe and gives him his mojo back". The read-through for "The Bells of Saint John" took place on 19 September 2012 at Roath Lock . It is the first Doctor Who episode to be directed by Colm McCarthy . Filming began on 8 October; some occurring in London, at the Westminster Bridge and alongside the River Thames , with motorbike scenes at the London locations shot around 16 October 2012. The rooftop scenes were filmed at Grange St Paul's Hotel. The location
8160-405: The world's Wi-Fi to upload people to a datacloud via robots known as Servers, casually referred to as Spoonheads. "The Bells of Saint John" was designed to be an "urban thriller", in that it is taking "something omnipresent in your life and making it sinister". It was watched by 8.44 million viewers in the UK. The episode received generally positive reviews, although several critics felt that
8256-454: Was "splendid" with good villains, though he felt that the plot was "insanely complicated" and hard to understand. Digital Spy 's Morgan Jeffery also rated "The Bells of Saint John" four stars, feeling that the threat "leaves a little to be desired" and the Spoonheads' physical appearance was not memorable. However, he said that "practically everything else here is wonderful", especially Clara's new characterisation. IGN reviewer Mark Snow rated
8352-460: Was "very well done". She especially praised the chemistry between Smith and Coleman. Ben Lawrence, writing in The Daily Telegraph , gave the episode four out of five stars, saying that it had much to "enthral" a present-day viewer and showed how Doctor Who was constantly reinventing itself. A similar statement was made by Euan Ferguson of The Observer , who also wrote that the episode
8448-588: Was in the form of video showings of popular anime, untranslated and often low quality VHS bootlegs. Starting in the 1990s, anime fans began organizing conventions. These quickly grew to sizes much larger than other science fiction and media conventions in the same communities; many cities now have anime conventions attracting five to ten thousand attendees. Many anime conventions are a hybrid between non-profit and commercial events, with volunteer organizers handling large revenue streams and dealing with commercial suppliers and professional marketing campaigns. For decades,
8544-677: Was intended to be in Covent Garden , but was changed to a location with a better view of The Shard. "The Bells of Saint John" first aired in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 30 March 2013, and on the same date in both the United States on BBC America and in Canada on Space . It aired on 31 March in both Australia on ABC1 , and in South Africa on BBC Entertainment . The episode aired on 11 April in New Zealand on Prime . The episode received an overnight rating of 6.18 million viewers in
8640-413: Was not positive towards the menace of the Wi-Fi and questioned how realistic the technology seen was. Despite this, he said that it was still "fun" with good performances. Dan Martin of The Guardian was disappointed, writing that it "makes a hearty meal of its iconic London locations ... But after the tour de force that was " The Snowmen ", it feels as though this handsome episode constantly just misses
8736-426: Was not required", this creates suspense when the characters interacted with a dormant Yeti. Ian McKellen's performance of the Great Intelligence's voice for its return in the 2012 Christmas Special was generally well received. Patrick Mulkern, writing for Radio Times , said "hats off to Steven Moffat" for reintroducing the character and described the casting of Ian McKellen as "a coup" and "wizardly". The character
8832-417: Was novelised by Marc Platt as part of Virgin's Missing Adventures range in 1996. The Great Intelligence also features in several novels ( All-Consuming Fire , Millennial Rites , Business Unusual , The Quantum Archangel and Divided Loyalties ) in which it is identified with H. P. Lovecraft 's Yog-Sothoth , a being from the universe before this one. The Great Intelligence also appeared in
8928-427: Was playing Clara as a straightforward companion, and highlighted her chemistry with Smith. He described it as "a hugely enjoyable episode that revels in its modern London setting", praising the way its ideas were realised visually on-screen. MSN 's Hilary Wardle gave "The Bells of Saint John" episode four out of five stars, noting that it moved at a fast pace and the plot was similar to " The Idiot's Lantern " (2006) but
9024-608: Was produced by the CBC as early as the 1950s. In the 1970s, CTV produced The Starlost . In the 1980s, Canadian animation studios including Nelvana , began producing a growing proportion of the world market in animation. In the 1990s, Canada became an important player in live action speculative fiction on television, with dozens of series like Forever Knight , Robocop , and most notably The X-Files and Stargate SG-1 . Many series have been produced for youth and children's markets, including Deepwater Black and MythQuest . In
9120-470: Was seen by some reviewers as being underdeveloped, with Kyle Anderson of the Nerdist feeling that although McKellen and Richard E. Grant , who portrayed its human minion Dr Simeon, were excellent casting choices the Great Intelligence's plan was "the least fleshed out part of the script". Matt Risley's review on IGN similarly praised the acting of McKellen and Grant, but felt the story was "stuffed with ideas" and
9216-473: Was the first to cost more than $ 1 million per episode. One of the earliest forms of media fandom was Star Trek fandom . Fans of the series became known to each other through the science fiction fandom . In 1968, NBC decided to cancel Star Trek . Bjo Trimble wrote letters to contacts in the National Fantasy Fan Foundation, asking people to organize their local friends to write to
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