#On this date in 2019 Big Finish celebrated 20 years of Doctor Who stories with The Legacy of Time

[doctorwho2022]

Doctor Who episodes that aired on the 17th of July…

In 1965, A Battle of Wits (the 3rd episode of The Time Meddler)

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Celebrate 20 Years of Doctor Who at Big Finish with a 20-hour Livestream | Doctor Who

To celebrate 20 years of Doctor Who on audio at Big Finish, the official Doctor Who YouTube channel will host a 20-hour weekend livestream marathon of their audio dramas - and everyone’s invited to the party!

Over two days on the 20th and 21st July, the official home of Doctor Who on YouTube will broadcast more than 20 episodes of Big Finish audio adventures featuring David Tennant, Billie Piper, Alex Kingston, John Barrowman, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Bradley, Sophie Aldred, Katy Manning, Nicola Walker, Sir Derek Jacobi and many more. Plus, there will be video appearances from plenty of the Doctor’s friends, past and present, to join in the festivities. As the stories are livestreamed on YouTube, fans will be able to join in the conversation via the live chat. Save the dates, as you won’t want to miss a minute of this!

Big Finish Productions was first granted a licence to create Doctor Who adventures in audio format back in 1999. Its first production was Doctor Who: The Sirens of Time, starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. The company has since expanded its ranges, producing and distributing over 300 hours of audio drama each year. To date, over 850 titles from Doctor Who and its various spin-offs have been released - and that number grows by the day, with more Doctor Who stories confirmed from Big Finish until at least 2025.

In honour of this brilliant achievement, over 20 hours of Doctor Who audio drama will be livestreamed on the BBC’s official Doctor Who YouTube channel over the 20th and 21st July (full scheduled to be confirmed soon). Doctor Who fans will hear stories from their heroes, as well as never-before-heard snippets, interviews and guest cameos from some of their favourite stars and much more!

Also premiering during the event is the first episode of Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time - a special anniversary boxset release celebrating 20 years of Doctor Who at Big Finish. This first episode stars Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, Alex Kingston as Professor River Song and Lisa Bowerman as Professor Bernice Summerfield. Does the Doctor have room for two time-travelling archaeologists in his life?

Nicholas Briggs, creative director and executive producer at Big Finish, said:

“Has it been 20 years already? But we've only just got started! Honestly, it has been an absolute delight to have worked alongside the Doctor these past two decades. I started my life as a fan, in the days before on-demand and downloads, recording the soundtracks of Doctor Who episodes on audio tape. And now it's my job to place every incarnation of the Time Lord (give or take) in peril in so many exciting audio adventures. I have to pinch myself. I'd like to thank everyone, from the cast in front of the mic to the writers, directors, sound designers and more behind it, for making it such an amazing journey. Here's to the future! (Or is it the past?)”

Jason Haigh-Ellery, chairman and executive producer at Big Finish, added:

“In July 1999 we released 'The Sirens of Time'. In July 2019 we're releasing 'The Legacy of Time'. Those two decades have been so fulfilling for us at Big Finish - a chance to work with so many great and talented actors, writers, production crews and all of our friends at the BBC. This is a celebration of it all, with lots of surprise returns and references. Think of it as one massive Doctor Who party - and everyone is invited…”

Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time will be available from Big Finish on download and also released in an eight-disc CD deluxe package set with a limited edition of just 4,000 units.

Set the date! July 20th & 21st is going to be a weekend to remember. Check back here soon for the full weekend schedule. And don't forget to click here to subscribe to the official Doctor Who YouTube channel.

[your-dietician]

Family of Marine 'Iron Man' from Jefferson advocating for mental health help | Jefferson

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/health/family-of-marine-iron-man-from-jefferson-advocating-for-mental-health-help-jefferson/

Family of Marine 'Iron Man' from Jefferson advocating for mental health help | Jefferson

Ryan Nelson helped others around him.

That is the person he had always been.

Friendly and outgoing, he found it easy to talk to everyone, including fellow Marines who found out he was a true “Iron Man.”

After a stellar athletic career in high school, he headed to Marine training the day after graduation, outperforming all of the other recruits in the grueling, 54-hour-straight Crucible challenge. His first-place finish out of 600 recruits earned him “Iron Man” honors and the honor of leading the full procession of recruits as they were accepted as full Marines.

In his Marine journal he wrote a quote at the top of his priority list: “God above all else.”

The product of a close, warm family and well connected in his home community, Nelson nevertheless struggled when he re-entered civilian life after his training.

He did everything he was supposed to — seeking professional help, enlisting his family for support, talking to his minister and praying.

But on a dark night in September 2020, Nelson took his own life.

Several months later, the family still is reeling from the loss, and Ryan’s parents, Ken and Jill Nelson, are seeking to direct their grief in a positive way by advocating for others who suffer from mental illness and suicidal thoughts.

Family members remember Ryan as a funny guy, “the life of the party,” but also sincere and personable.

He got both of his farm jobs on the spot just by approaching the farmers to see if they were looking to hire help.

“He was very gifted, very skilled, and a loyal and dedicated friend,” said Ryan’s mom, Jill. “We heard from so many people after his funeral, so many people who said Ryan had saved their lives.”

As a Bible camp counselor for many years, Ryan apparently had served as a listening ear and a comforting heart for many young people in trouble. Some said his support helped them to turn aside their own suicidal thoughts.

Friends Ryan’s own age told the family that Ryan actually had walked in on a friend’s suicide attempt and intervened to save that friend’s life.

Iron Man

Ryan graduated from Jefferson High School in 2019 and immediately entered boot camp, going through 13 weeks of training to become a Marine.

In the initial part of Marine training, Ryan said when he spoke of the experience in September of 2019, recruits learned to obey orders instantly and were stripped of their individual identity to build them up as a team.

Later in their training, recruits focused on the skills they would need as a Marine, including shooting, hiking and troop movements. Ryan, an experienced hunter, proved an excellent shot with the military weapons and earned “sharpshooter” honors.

The recruits’ experience culminated with “The Crucible,” in which Marine hopefuls undertake a grueling slog under adverse conditions. The sleepless slog takes place over 56 hours and 48 miles of foggy mountainous terrain, all while carrying a 45-pound pack.

Ryan performed superbly, not only leading his fellow recruits but also going back to carry others who fell along the way.

Named the most physically fit of that class of 600 recruits, Ryan earned the honor of carrying the flag at the forefront of their whole group at the ceremony where they were accepted as full Marines.

Several of those who became Marines alongside Ryan later relayed to his parents, “I am a Marine today because your son carried me.”

After being named a full Marine, Ryan came home for 10 days leave, then headed off to combat training. He was there eight weeks, returning in November. of 2019

After completing his training, Ryan entered the reserves, moving out of his family home and moving in with friends in Madison while continuing his education.

It was on Christmas Eve 2019 that Ryan opened up to his family that he was struggling with his mental health.

The family immediately worked together to try to get him some help. They wondered, however, whether he had to work with the Marines (no, they later found out) to access this help.

Just a few months later, COVID-19 hit, and the pandemic year brought blow after blow for the young Marine.

Nelson was planning to become a police officer, but backed out of pursuing that field when talk of “defunding the police” left him wondering whether that was still a wise career choice.

Then his job at the airport car rental business dried up as air traffic stalled in the wake of the pandemic.

“It was a perfect storm,” Ken said.

Ryan, who had already been struggling, attempted to regain his balance in this very unsettling and isolating time.

“We know he did seek help. He did talk to our pastor,” Jill said.

By midsummer, when Ryan’s depression was not getting better, he asked to set up an appointment with a doctor.

His mom remembers responding, “We don’t care what the Marine stance is. We don’t care whether you are a Marine anymore. We just want you to be healthy.”

Ryan made an appointment to see his regular physician in August and started taking prescription antidepressants, though he was told to be patient, as they don’t take effect right away but only make a difference over time.

The doctor also recommended that Ryan enter counseling.

Not finding the energy to advocate for himself, Ryan asked for Jill’s help in setting an appointment, and she attempted to do so but was told since he was legally an adult, he had to make the appointment for himself.

“I did reach out to him to ask if he got an appointment, and apparently, he was getting some resources through the military,” Jill said.

Ryan did take steps to address his depression. He started on a prescription aimed at alleviating the hopeless feeling he was experiencing. He talked with family members and his minister.

But though he was just 19 and in the depths of depression, the law required that he take charge of his own care. His parents could not legally step in and schedule doctor’s or counseling appointments or fill prescriptions.

“With anyone who is struggling with any illness, to ask him to do it on his own, I don’t think is realistic,” Jill said.

The family kept in regular touch by telephone and frequently invited Ryan to join in meals and family get-togethers.

Ryan turned 20 Sept. 7 and the family marked the occasion with a get-together.

But his parents noted that their son’s emotions seemed flat. They knew this could be a side effect of his new medications, still in their trial phase, but they worried.

On Sept. 12, his folks again invited Ryan home for a cookout, but the young man declined, saying he had a date.

On Sept. 13, this promising young man, who had helped so many other people out of their own depths, took his own life.

In the interim, his family learned, Ryan had received some misinformation from a fellow Marine who relayed that he had been kicked out of the service over mental health issues. A higher ranking officer later told the Nelsons this individual had been discharged for another reason, and that when it came to mental health, “We take this very seriously. Marines stand by our own.”

The culmination of all of the year’s doubts and disappointments weighed heavily on Ryan. He struggled to the end.

“The crisis line for the military was in his car,” Jill said.

But the family didn’t know quite how badly Ryan was suffering. He was still talking about the future, making plans, looking forward to buying a motorcycle.

In the early hours of the morning Sept. 13, Ryan made his last phone call, to his commanding officer (who was himself only 21 years old.)

The family did not even want to know the content of that call — they’re only thankful that the young officer went above and beyond to listen to their son at a time of great trial.

It was later that day the family received news of Ryan’s passing. Suddenly, the family was thrust into its own “Crucible,” which only other grieving parents will fully understand.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE

So it was that family members who had so recently gathered to celebrate the anniversary of Ryan’s birth found themselves planning the 20-year-old’s funeral, which they preferred to view as a “celebration of life.”

Some 600 people came to the outdoor event, even though the area was then at the height of the pandemic.

The Nelsons are grateful for the stories mourners relayed — so many of them — about the ways, small and big, Ryan had touched and enriched others’ lives.

They also heard from many other people they never would have guessed had also suffered experienced mental health crises and thoughts of suicide.

Among the guests at the funeral was a woman they had never met, whose son had lost his own battle with suicide five years before.

“She came to Ryan’s service out of love, graciousness and mercy, and offered to help in any way she could,” Jill said.

Many, many people donated money in Ryan’s memory, every penny of which went to help others in similar straits. The family split the donations they received between Phantom Ranch Bible Camp, where Ryan had served as a counselor in years past, and the counseling fund at Real Hope Community Church of Lake Mills, which pays for independent (not affiliated with the church) Christian counseling for church members and non-members alike.

DEALING WITH THE LOSS

It has been only months since their son’s death and the Nelsons are still processing the loss.

On Memorial Day weekend, a small group of family and friends gathered at the Nelsons’ home to create a memory garden dedicated to Ryan right outside the kitchen windows.

Ground Affects Landscaping had refused to take payment for the materials, and family and friends were all pitching in to help with the work.

The Nelsons said they’re so grateful for the outpouring of support they received from friends, neighbors, the school district, their church community and the Jefferson area as a whole.

Still, the experience has been isolating. As the pandemic lifts and people engage in all of the celebrations of spring, for the Nelsons every occasion is punctuated with a Ryan-shaped hole as they go through these milestones without him.

“It’s a burden for us to walk through every day,” Ken said.

“We are strong in our faith in Christ,” Jill said. “We know going through the path of guilt and blame is not going to bear good fruit.

“I wish this weren’t our story, but it is our story,” she said. “We only hope by sharing, we can help someone else.”

The experience has raised their awareness of mental health issues in general, including the subtle ways our society minimizes or even contributes to the problem.

For example, the old-fashioned term of “committing suicide” is hurtful and puts the onus on the person who is suffering, as if they were committing some crime. The more acceptable phrase is “died by suicide.”

“The fact that we still say ‘commit’ makes people more hesitant to seek help,” Ken said.

Then there’s the way that suicide, and mental health issues overall, are “hushed up,” as if they’re some kind of fault or weakness.

As a society, we ask people how they are, but don’t want an honest answer. The only socially acceptable answer still seems to be “fine.”

“You can’t do a blood test and see how much a person is suffering,” Jill said.

Because mental health struggles are not visible like many physical injuries or ailments, people who have mental health concerns are reluctant to step forward — perhaps even writing themselves off as “crazy.”

And without acknowledging the problem, how are people to gain the help that is out there, the treatments and therapies, which while not a panacea, are proven to help?

“At the end of the day, being an ‘Iron Man’ was irrelevant,” Ken said, noting that despite his great fitness in other areas and the strength he had exhibited for other people in crisis, Ryan was still vulnerable.

“We are not looking to assign blame anywhere, but it is important to shine a light on the issue,” Jill said. “As a society, there are ways we can improve to better help people who struggle.”

Looking into the future, the Nelsons hope to establish a Ryan Nelson Memorial Fund to pay for extended counseling for people in mental health crisis.

This fund would be supported by fundraisers like a 5K, a memorial walk, or sales of T-shirts the Nelsons initially printed just for their own family members. They were soon surprised by hundreds of requests for reprints.

The shirts feature a handwritten quote from Ryan’s Marine journal, on which he had written at the top of his priority list, “God above all else.”

Eventually, the Nelsons would like to see a more concerted outreach program for people struggling with their mental health, and for the families of people who have lost a loved one to suicide.

And finally, they want to help erase the unwritten taboo that prevents people from talking about mental health. They want to see depression and related conditions discussed as a disease, like cancer, not a source of shame.

“We really want to thank God for getting us through the past eight months,” Ken said, “God and the true friends who have stuck by us, who have shown their commitment and concern.”

Meanwhile, a phrase Jill uttered while sharing her son’s Ironman experience with the Jefferson Rotary Club back in September of 2019 echoes with added meaning.

At the time, she had said she was looking forward to her son’s service as a Marine with equal parts pride and trepidation.

Though his service would mean long absences and untold sacrifices, she said at the time, she had to keep in mind that “he is not ours; he never was. God gave him to us on loan for a while.”

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[dr-r-song]

River Song going to return next year – and she’ll be back again and again!

Big finish gives us The Diary of River Song Series 3, 4, and 5! 

The Diary of River Song is all set to continue as Alex Kingston will be reprising her role as River Song for another three series, at least.

Having encountered the Doctor’s Sixth and Seventh incarnations in Series Two, and the Eighth in Series One, River Song will be brushing past a couple more Doctors in her future. Let’s hope she doesn’t trip over any long scarves...

As revealed in Doctor Who Magazine this month, The Diary of River Song Series Three will be released in January 2018, with the Fifth Doctor (played by Peter Davison) facing off against the most evil midwife in Doctor Who history, Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber).

This action-packed box set will contain four hour-long adventures where the Doctor’s wife, archaeologist, crack shot with an intoxicating kiss and time traveller will have to face the demons of her past, present and future.

Today we can reveal the synopses of this upcoming release. These four new tales come from favourite Big Finish writers:

When River Song goes shopping for a whole load of unclaimed loyalty points, she uncovers secrets linked to her tangled past.

The Doctor arrives, and the mystery deepens. He is already exploring the universe with another companion – someone River knows nothing about.

Madame Kovarian has been busy, and this time she will not accept failure…

3.1 – The Lady in the Lake by Nev Fountain

On Terminus Prime, clients choose their own means of demise. Something exciting, meaningful, or heroic to end it all.

But when River discovers that there are repeat customers, she knows something more is going on.

She begins to uncover a cult with worrying abilities. Its members can apparently cheat death, and that’s not all they have in common with River…

3.2 – A Requiem for the Doctor by Jac Rayner

River has joined the Doctor and his friend Brooke on their travels, and they stop off in 18th century Vienna.

Brooke thinks history is dull. Until people start dying.

Mozart’s legacy is not just his music. River has more than one mystery to solve before a killer is let loose on the people of Vienna – and on the Doctor.

3.3 – My Dinner with Andrew by John Dorney

Welcome, Mesdames et Messieurs, to The Bumptious Gastropod.

The most exclusive, most discreet dining experience outside the universe. For the restaurant exists beyond spacetime itself, and the usual rules of causality do not apply. Anything could happen.

It is here that the Doctor has a date. With River Song. And with death.

3.4 – The Furies by Matt Fitton

Stories of the Furies abound across the cosmos: vengeful spirits hounding guilty souls to death. Madame Kovarian taught them to a child raised in fear, trained to kill, and placed inside a spacesuit.

Kovarian knows the universe’s greatest threat. The Doctor must be eliminated. An assassin was created for that purpose.

But if Melody Pond has failed, Kovarian will simply have to try again…

And in Series Four River will be encountering the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker. More details on this series will be announced in the future.

To celebrate, you can pre-order each series of The Diary of River Song, at £23 on CD or £20 on download.

Or you can pre-order some of these releases in a bundle. Pre-order Series Four (out August 2018) and Series Five (out January 2019) of The Diary of River Song from today at £45 on CD or £40 on download. Don’t forget that all CD purchases unlock a download exclusive from the Big Finish App and the Big Finish site.

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Hannibal: Did Author Thomas Harris Try to Destroy Dr. Lecter?

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It’s appeared for a while now that Dr. Hannibal Lecter–the forensic psychiatrist, cannibalistic serial killer, and pop culture icon featured in four novels, five movies, and a TV show–has been unstoppable. Several of those projects were highly acclaimed by critics and tremendous hits with audiences. And Anthony Hopkins even earned an Oscar for playing the doctor The Silence of the Lambs, which itself went on to sweep the Academy Awards.

So why did it seem like Thomas Harris, the reclusive author who created Dr. Lecter and wrote the novels, tried his best to kill off the public interest in Hannibal–if not Hannibal himself–at the height of the character’s fame? Because that appears to be almost exactly what Harris attempted to do with Hannibal, the third book featuring the erudite monster, which was published in 1999. Less than two years later, the film version arrived in theaters (20 years ago this week, in fact) and received just as polarizing a response as Harris’ book.

Two decades later, Hannibal, a top shelf, A-list Hollywood production directed by Ridley Scott and featuring Hopkins in his second portrayal of Lecter, remains a bizarre, flawed artifact. Mostly faithful to the equally weird and at times repugnant book, it’s a borderline insane movie that turns the murderous Lecter into ostensibly a hero and, while not going quite off the deep end as the novel, features one of the most gruesomely bonkers climactic scenes ever filmed for a mainstream motion picture. Why?!

Well…

The Road to Hannibal

Harris, now 80 years old and a former journalist for the Associated Press, published his second novel, Red Dragon, in 1981. That story introduced Hannibal Lecter fto the world for the first time. When the book begins, Lecter is already imprisoned for his ghastly crimes, having been caught by the haunted FBI profiler Will Graham. When Graham is called out of retirement to catch another killer, he consults with Dr. Lecter on the case despite the serial killer’s ability to manipulate Graham psychologically. Lecter is very much a supporting character in Red Dragon, which was also reflected in the first film made from the book, Michael Mann’s Manhunter.

Released in 1986, the movie starred William Petersen (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) as Graham and Scottish actor Brian Cox (Succession) as Lecter (spelled “Lektor” in the movie). Cox is only in a handful of scenes, but makes a strong impression in his few minutes of screen time; both his performance and the film–which was not a success with either critics or audiences in its initial release- have grown in popular stature over the years.

Two years later, in 1988, Harris published his third novel, The Silence of the Lambs. Dr. Lecter is a much larger figure here, as he’s called upon to advise on a new serial killer case by Clarice Starling, an FBI agent in training whose innate decency and compassion stirs respect and even admiration in the otherwise psychopathic doctor. The parallel storylines, the introduction of a superb character in Clarice, and the further development of Lecter, plus the macabre aspects of the narrative made the book an instant classic and one of the great psychological horror novels of its time.

The Silence of the Lambs was a runaway bestseller, but this time the book’s success was equaled by that of its screen adaptation. Jonathan Demme directed the 1991 film based on Harris’ novel, in which Anthony Hopkins played Lecter for the first time, earning for himself both full-fledged movie stardom and an Oscar for Best Actor. Jodie Foster played Clarice, also landing an Oscar for her work; and the movie was just the third in history to sweep all five major awards by also picking up Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

With the film version of The Silence of the Lambs a box office success, and Lecter entering the pop culture zeitgeist (along with catchphrases like “A nice Chianti…”) as a monster with intelligence, wit and taste, the movie’s producers and the public began to clamor for a sequel.

Hannibal Emerges from His Slumber

It was 11 years before we heard from Thomas Harris and Hannibal Lecter again on the page, with Harris in no rush to deliver a new adventure for the doctor. In his book Making Murder: The Fiction of Thomas Harris, author Philip L. Simpson quotes Harris as saying, “I can’t write it until I believe it.” But in 1999, he finally delivered Hannibal, his longest book to date (484 pages in first edition hardback), and the first in which Lecter is clearly, and perhaps ill-advisedly, the central character.

Taking place seven years after The Silence of the Lambs, the story finds Clarice facing a career crisis when she is blamed for a botched drug raid. But when a letter from Dr. Lecter to Clarice shows up, the FBI puts Clarice back on the doctor’s trail. Meanwhile Lecter is living in Florence under a different identity but is pursued by an Italian detective named Pazzi. The latter aims to collect a huge bounty placed on Lecter’s head by Mason Verger, an incredibly wealthy pedophile who wants revenge on Lecter for disfiguring him during a drug-fueled therapy session years earlier.

To Harris’ credit, Hannibal does not simply retread the same ground as the classic novel that preceded it. According to a new introduction he wrote for Red Dragon, Harris reportedly “dreaded doing Hannibal… dreaded the choices I would have to watch, feared for Starling.” The book is nothing if not filled with dread, and its main theme is that every single human being is capable of corruption, evil, and depravity–a bleak assessment of the species, even for this book series.

Harris expounded upon his theme by making Hannibal his grisliest novel. Lecter murders Pazzi by disemboweling him and hanging him from Florence’s famed Palazzo Vecchio while the hideous-looking Verger, his face and body all but destroyed, plans to enact his vengeance on Lecter by feeding him alive to wild boars. Verger himself meets his end at the hands of his sister, who chokes Verger to death with his pet moray eel–and after violently extracting some of his sperm so she can have a baby with her lesbian partner.

The book ends on its most controversial and polarizing note: Lecter rescues himself and an injured Starling from Verger’s plan, then captures Starling’s nemesis at the Justice Department, Paul Krendler, and prepares a dinner in which he and Starling eat a portion of Krendler’s brain before Lecter kills him. Lecter then digs up the bones of Starling’s father and uses hypnosis to allow her to “see” her father and say goodbye to him, after which Lecter and Starling become lovers and vanish to Buenos Aires.

In the book’s logic, Starling finally accepts the love of the one man in her adult life who has treated her with respect.

What Was Thomas Harris Thinking?

Hannibal, the book, was the second biggest pop culture phenomenon of the summer of 1999 after the release of Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Some 1.5 million copies of the novel were shipped to bookstores. Other publishers, like movie studios getting out of the way of an Avengers flick, shifted their big titles away from June of that year. An advance review from no less an authority than Stephen King called it “one of the two most frightening popular novels of our time,” placing it alongside The Exorcist, in his New York Times review.

Then more critics got to read and review it. So did the public.

The novel, and especially its shockingly subversive ending, scrambled the brains of everyone who read it. An analysis of the book by the influential Kirkus Reviews had positive things to say about Harris’ “baroque new approach” to the serial killer genre and his “audacious epilogue,” but directly compared the Dr. Lecter saga to Star Wars in the sense that both had become a brand.

It was true: in the years since the release of The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter had transformed into a tangible intellectual property, becoming the subject of jokes and parodies, and a meme before we even knew what those were. The terrifying monster of Red Dragon and Silence had become the murderer everyone loved and laughed over–a transition which even Anthony Hopkins reportedly found unfortunate and disturbing.

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Yet it’s worth wondering then if that is the point in Hannibal. Harris is an intensely private person who did not care for the public spotlight. He told the New York Times in 2019, in his only interview in decades, that he found fame to be “more of a nuisance than anything else.” It is easy to imagine he might’ve viewed Hannibal as a way to short-circuit both the overhyped expectations of the public and the evolution of Lecter into some kind of weird fictional celebrity. And perhaps he saw his book as a way of moving past Lecter himself and freeing himself to write new stories?

“I like to think Harris at least partly ups-the-grotesque-ante in Hannibal to rub our collective noses in our collective love for a serial killer,” wrote Patrick J. Sauer in 2019–the book’s 20th anniversary–at Crimereads. “Maybe Harris knew another straight-forward thriller wouldn’t cut it, so he had no choice but to go Grand Guignol on his readers.”

Professor Mark Jancovich of the University of East Anglia (UK), mused in the same article that Harris had other ambitions. “I think Harris might just have wanted to finish Lecter off like Arthur Conan Doyle tried with Sherlock Holmes,” he said. “But there’s also the sense he might have been under huge pressure by the publishers. It’s not really clear what the impetus for the book is, other than the obvious commercial one.”

Whatever Harris tried to do with Hannibal, it doesn’t really work. While the book is gripping and the prose precise, making Dr. Lecter the ostensible protagonist is a mistake. We learn more about his background for one thing, including the unspeakable death of his younger sister during World War II, but that robs him of being the unknowable, terrifying force of nature that he is in the first two novels.

Meanwhile the once-formidable Starling is reduced to an almost passive supporting role, buffeted around without agency until she just essentially gives up and is saved by Lecter. Maybe Harris really did want to turn off his public so that he would never have to write about Hannibal Lecter again.

Hannibal Now Playing at a Theater Near You

The film rights to Hannibal were snapped up in record time for $10 million by Italian producer Dino de Laurentiis, who had produced Manhunter yet passed on Silence. But there was a problem: Director Jonathan Demme, star Jodie Foster, and screenwriter Ted Tally–all major components of the success of Silence, along with Hopkins–had no interest in coming back after reading the book.

Demme was reportedly disappointed by the novel’s copious gore and skewing of Starling’s character, with Foster also dismayed by the latter. Although she said at the time that she was committed to another project, she later came clean and told Total Film, “Clarice meant so much to Jonathan and I, she really did, and I know it sounds kind of strange to say but there was no way that either of us could really trample on her.”

Hopkins did return, however, and the role of Clarice was recast with Julianne Moore taking the part. According to the “making-of” feature on the DVD, Angelina Jolie, Hilary Swank, and Cate Blanchett were all considered as well. However, Hopkins personally lobbied for Moore after working with her in Surviving Picasso.

“In instances like this, the comparisons are inevitable and of course there’s some apprehension about it, because Jodie was really, really fantastic… I mean, she’s a great actress,” said Moore on the DVD. “But it’s a different movie, so that’s the way I have to approach it.”

An unbilled, unrecognizable Gary Oldman played the disfigured, malevolent Verger, while Ray Liotta took the role of Krendler. Inheriting the director’s chair was Ridley Scott, of Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise and Gladiator fame, while the script was handled initially by David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross) and then again by a major Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) rewrite. With all that talent, the budget was said to exceed $100 million.

But there was a problem: that ending. While Scott found a certain baroque tone that echoed Harris’ book in some ways, and was perfectly happy to retain the gutting of Detective Pazzi (played by Giancarlo Giannini), the wild boars, and even the cooking of Krendler’s brains by Lecter–a scene which ranks high on the all-time insane list–there was no way the filmmakers were going to alienate audiences by having Clarice Starling eat those brains and then make love to the doctor. Not a chance.

“I couldn’t take that quantum leap emotionally on behalf of Starling,” Ridley Scott told the Guardian at the time. “Certainly, on behalf of Hannibal–I’m sure that’s been in the back of his mind for a number of years. But for Starling, no. I think one of the attractions about Starling to Hannibal is what a straight arrow she is.”

In the film, Clarice does not dine with Lecter and does not fall into the drug-induced hypnosis of the book. With the law closing in on them, Lecter finally professes his love for Starling, and when she manages to handcuff the two of them together so that he cannot escape, he sacrifices either his own hand or at least a finger (it’s never made clear) to slip out of the cuffs and escape into the night.

When we last see him, he’s on a plane to a destination unknown and he’s feeding a slice of leftover Krendler to a young boy seated next to him. Starling remains behind, her future also unknown.

Hannibal, the movie, was released nearly 10 years to the day that The Silence of the Lambs arrived in theaters. The R-rated movie scored $58 million in its opening weekend, the highest opening for a film with that rating until The Passion of the Christ came out in 2004. The movie ended up earning $165 million in the U.S. and a total of $351 million worldwide, good enough for 10th highest gross of that year.

Critics were less kind than audiences, with the film scoring just 39 percent at Rotten Tomatoes. The reviews were split along the same lines as those for the book. While some critics praised the film’s style and audacity, others bemoaned the lack of great character interaction and thematic resonance that made The Silence of the Lambs a masterpiece.

And it was true: Hannibal, as both a movie and a book, exhibits the same strengths and suffers from the same problems. The projects are stylish, exquisitely written/produced, and possessed of a fair amount of black humor and boldness. But putting Lecter front and center, while robbing Starling of her agency and motivation, creates a box from which the story cannot escape. Both characters are offscreen (so to speak) for long stretches while the Verger and Pazzi stories play out, and the story is so damning of essentially all of humanity that it’s hard to get a handle on anybody.

Yet both the book and the movie were monster hits, so if Harris really did intend to stop Lecter in his tracks with that bizarre ending, he failed.

The Aftermath of Hannibal

Producer Dino de Laurentiis insisted on making more Lecter movies. First he ramped up a faithful remake of Red Dragon, this time under its original title and with Hopkins once again in the role of Lecter, joined by Edward Norton as Will Graham and Ralph Fiennes as killer Francis Dolarhyde. Directed by Brett Ratner, the film grossed $93 million in the U.S. and $209 million worldwide, with critics again giving it mixed reviews but actually rating it higher (68 percent) than Hannibal.

De Laurentiis demanded more, and told Harris he’d move forward without him if the author did not wish to be involved. So Harris wrote a novel and a screenplay at the same time: Hannibal Rising, which explored–in excruciating detail–Hannibal’s entire early life, robbing him once and for all of any mystery he might have clung to. The film also didn’t really work, with French actor Gaspard Ulliel playing the young cannibal. He ultimately became the George Lazenby of the franchise. The movie was a dud all around, grossing just a paltry $82 million worldwide.

That seemed to be the end of the meal for Lecter, until he was resurrected again in the form of Mads Mikkelsen in the NBC-TV series Hannibal. The series, which ran for three years and featured elements of Red Dragon and the book Hannibal in addition to original material, was acclaimed for its macabre tone and painterly production values. Yet it never became more than a cult favorite, with ratings unable to sustain it past three seasons (although talk persists of a revival). Yet another TV series, Clarice, entered on special agent Starling in the years between Silence and Hannibal, also just premiered on CBS All Access to mixed reviews.

Even if Thomas Harris wanted to strip Hannibal Lecter of his popular veneer and make him a monster again with Hannibal, it didn’t really work. He left us instead with his most bizarre book to date and a movie that has its own depraved charms, yet ultimately pales next to its predecessors. And in the end, Harris may not quite be done with his most famous creation yet. While discussing Cari Mora, his latest novel, and the first in 38 years not involving Lecter, Harris teased the Times that “the Hannibal character still occurs to me, and I wonder sometimes what it’s up to.”

Perhaps creator and creation will once again sit down to dinner. Someday.

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The post Hannibal: Did Author Thomas Harris Try to Destroy Dr. Lecter? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, October 5

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Cops in the Crosshairs

Page 2: Fears for the health of Ryan Seacrest as Keeping Up with the Kardashians which is his cash cow is being put out to pasture -- Ryan is pulling his hair out about the potential loss of revenue and racking his brain trying to come up with something that can replace it 

Page 3: Ellen DeGeneres is in a panic fearing she may lose her daytime TV show and wife Portia de Rossi in the wake of the scandal that’s tarnished her once pristine reputation as the Queen of Nice -- Ellen is in the deepest funk of her life as most of her high-powered Hollywood pals have been ghosting her and she is convinced there may be no coming back from this -- what’s more Ellen is concerned additional bad news may drive away her wife Portia 

Page 4: Kelly Clarkson has vowed to remain silent about the nightmare behind her divorce from Brandon Blackstock to protect her kids -- Kelly is known for oversharing but she’s keeping her lips zipped about Brandon because she never wants her children to know how bad things really were with their dad 

Page 5: Cardi B’s divorce filing from Offset described her marriage as irretrievably broken -- Cardi accused Offset of cheating in 2018 five months after the birth of their daughter Kulture and Offset seemed to own up to his infidelities on Instagram -- following the massive success of WAP Cardi finally listened to pals who have been telling her to toss the cheater but she wants the break to be amicable and will accept a joint custody arrangement for Kulture 

Page 6: Kanye West is crowing he personally engineered the downfall of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and that he’s the one calling the shots in his marriage to Kim Kardashian from now on -- Kanye hated the show and his constant negativity wore Kim down and killed it for her too and without her it couldn’t possibly go on -- Kanye believes Kim’s appearance on the show was at the heart of all their problems and now that she’s out of there he’s got every hope they can fix things 

Page 7: Endless renovations at their Los Angeles mansion have left George and Amal Clooney at each other’s throats and the feuding twosome are on the brink of a $500 million divorce -- the construction work which has soared over budget to more than $1 million has confined them to close quarters with their twins Ella and Alexander and they’re constantly bumping heads, love-hungry Katie Holmes is heading for a showdown with new boyfriend Emilio Vitolo Jr.’s scorned ex Rachel Emmons who was blindsided by Emilio and now she’s demanding answers from both him and Katie -- Katie knew Emilio was engaged to the designer but launched a steamy fling with him anyway and Rachel is not finished with Emilio or Katie by a long shot 

Page 8: Hollywood Hookups -- Ray J and Princess Love split again, Kaia Gerber and Jacob Elordi dating, Cassie Randolph gets a restraining order from Colton Underwood 

Page 9: Queen Elizabeth snubbed Tom Cruise’s request for a private chat and it’s got the snobby superstar’s nose out of joint -- the Scientology poster boy got the bright idea to drop in on the British royal while filming the latest Mission: Impossible movies using London as a base because he is a huge royal fan but so far no one from the palace has responded and Tom’s ego is hurt because almost no one refuses the opportunity to meet with Tom and no isn’t a word he’s used to hearing and being ignored happens even less -- Her majesty would barely know who Tom Cruise is and he’d be just another American pipsqueak to her and Hollywood is not exactly her favorite place at the moment 

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Kristen Taekman of The Real Housewives of New York City in California, Riley Keough at the beach in Malibu, Frances McDormand offered the Vulcan salute before the L.A. screening of her film Nomadland, Jennifer Lopez at a lunch date in NYC, Bruce Willis out and about in Brentwood 

Page 11: A skin cancer scare has friends of sun-worshipping Caitlyn Jenner worried she’s playing Russian roulette with her health -- Caitlyn recently revealed a doctor took all the skin off her nose and reattached it to patch up a skin cancer scar -- she’s been treated for skin cancers on her cheek and nose but she’s a self-confessed tanning freak and can often be seen playing golf under the blazing California sun, Sofia Richie is getting revenge on ex Scott Disick by flirting up a storm with Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith and a string of other studs -- her phone was ringing off the hook with hot guys wanting a date and now that Sofia’s finally got Scott out of her hair she plans to show him what he’s missing

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Gavin Rossdale plays tennis (picture), Kelly Ripa is fuming over Drew Barrymore’s new talk show and it’s been made clear to A-listers if they appear on Drew’s show they will not be welcomed back to talk with Kelly and Ryan Seacrest any time soon and the competition between talk shows to book big-name celebrity guests has never been more intense, there’s a new stud in town at ABC and it’s got World News Tonight anchor David Muir’s knickers in a twist because weekend anchor Tom Llamas is horning in on David’s spotlight, Britney Spears and her little sister Jamie Lynn Spears are looking for a home together because Jamie Lynn has accepted that she’ll need to help look after Britney for the rest of her life and Britney can afford to buy a house with separate wings so they’ll each have their privacy but Jamie Lynn can keep an eye on Britney 

Page 13: In the latest sex scandal to hit the Fox News network senior legal analyst and former New Jersey judge Andrew Napolitano is battling back against allegations he sexually abused a New Jersey man in the 1980s, frail Ryan O’Neal reconciled with daughter Tatum O’Neal after 17 years but he’s a long way off from doing the same with son Redmond O’Neal -- ailing Ryan has distanced himself from his only child with the late Farrah Fawcett since Redmond was arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon and brandishing a knife and battery in 2018 -- Ryan sees Redmond’s troubles and demons as his alone to conquer and may even cut Redmond out of his will 

Page 14: Crime

Page 15: Reality show train-wrecks Kate and Jon Gosselin have renewed their toxic battle as the bickering exes engage in an ugly war of words over child abuse charges 

Page 16: Goodfellas movie gangster Ray Liotta has taken his whirlwind romance with brunette stunner Jacy Nittolo to the next level by tying the knot -- his new bride’s father was a real-life killer Stewart Woodman who was found guilty in 1990 of the execution-style slaying of his parents, Zac Efron’s summer lovin’ with an Aussie waitress seems to have already hit a sour note -- Zac has been living the high life Down Under with Vanessa Valladares since he hit up her boss for her number two months ago but by early September the pair were caught on camera in an outdoor cafe reportedly locked in a heated argument about their future -- this has been a fun fling for Zac but the reality is he has to head back to the U.S. and attend to his career while Vanessa is just a kid and her whole life is in Australia 

Page 17: Denise Richards is ditching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in a desperate bid to save her marriage -- the endless rehash of former co-star Brandi Glanville’s allegations they shared a same-sex fling despite Denise’s denials has pushed her relationship with alt-medicine guru Aaron Phypers onto life support 

Page 18: American Life -- I was trapped in wildfire hell 

Page 19: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood plan to tell their story in a no-holds-barred documentary -- the country duo hopes to mimic the success of Walk the Line which was a biopic about Johnny Cash and June Carter’s fiery romance and they’ve been talking to producers and writers -- they’ll also discuss their weight battles and food binges and how they got back in shape with clips of Garth working out and Trisha whipping up some of her healthier meals 

Page 20: America’s colleges infested by spies -- enemy nations using top schools to steal vital secrets and recruit moles 

Page 22: They Stayed After Partners Strayed -- cheating scandals that couldn’t tear star couples apart -- Jay-Z and Beyonce, David Letterman and Regina Lasko, Woody Harrelson and Laura Louie 

Page 23: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish 

Page 26: Jaime King is locked in a vicious war with estranged husband Kyle Newman who has accused her of being a chronic drug addict and alcoholic and cleaning out their bank accounts -- Kyle also claims Jaime was abusing drugs during her two pregnancies and that their son Leo was born addicted to opiates -- Kyle said he makes $750 a month now as a writer and claimed he had to give up his directing career to look after their family and after their unsuccessful settlement talks in June he claimed Jaime went to Canada to film her show Black Summer leaving the boys with him for four months without support or any funds 

Page 27: Hoops phenom Maya Moore recently revealed she married Jonathan Irons the man she put her high-flying sports career on hold for as she helped free him from prison following his wrongful conviction more than 20 years ago -- Maya considered one of the greatest WNBA players ever ditched the league in 2019 to focus on social justice issues and secure Jonathan’s release -- Jonathan now 40 was only 16 when he was slapped with a 50-year sentence for burglary and assault in Missouri 

Page 28: Cover Story -- Cops in the crosshairs

Page 32: Acting legend Diana Rigg’s dying regret was that she never took advantage of the steamy chemistry she shared with Avengers co-star Patrick Macnee -- their sexual tension drove the series and young Diana always wanted to make it a reality but Patrick was married to Katherine Woodville at the time 

Page 34: Health Watch 

Page 36: Film femme fatale Sharon Stone is 62 but griped that folks are still angling to get an eyeful of her rack -- she compared her situation to Marilyn Monroe’s where she did movies that mattered but she still couldn’t get completely out of being that thing, Duane “Dog” Chapman claimed his late wife Beth haunted him after he found new love with fiancee Francie Frane 

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Robert Pattinson 

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Laurence Leboeuf and Kenny Wong on Transplant 

Page 47: Odd List 

[doctorwhonews]

Big Finish plans 20 hour livestream

Latest from the news site: To celebrate 20 years of Doctor Who on audio, BBC Studios and Big Finish Productions present a 20-hour weekend live stream marathon of Doctor Who audio dramas on YouTube. Over two days on the 20th and 21st July, the official home of Doctor Who on YouTube will broadcast more than 20 episodes of Big Finish audio adventures, featuring David Tennant, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and David Bradley, among many others. Plus, there will be video appearances from plenty of the Doctor’s friends, past and present, to join in the festivities. As the stories are live streamed on YouTube, fans will be able to join in the conversation via the live chat. Big Finish Productions was first granted a licence to create Doctor Who adventures in audio format back in 1999. Its first production was Doctor Who: The Sirens of Time, starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. The company has since expanded its ranges, producing and distributing over 300 hours of audio drama each year. To date, over 850 titles from Doctor Who and its various spin-offs have been released - and that number grows by the day, with more Doctor Who stories confirmed from Big Finish until at least 2023. In honour of this achievement, over 20 hours of Doctor Who audio drama will be live-streamed on the BBC’s Doctor Who YouTube channel over the 20th and 21st July. Doctor Who fans will hear stories from their heroes, as well as never before heard snippets, interviews and guest cameos from some of their favourite stars, and much much more! Anyone joining in the live stream will be able to comment and chat along with other fans about the adventures in the TARDIS, while hearing audio productions starring the likes of David Tennant, Billie Piper, Alex Kingston, John Barrowman, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Bradley, Sophie Aldred, Katy Manning, Nicola Walker, Sir Derek Jacobi and many more. Also premiering during the event is the first episode of Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time - a special anniversary box set release celebrating 20 years of Doctor Who at Big Finish. This first episode stars Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, Alex Kingston as Professor River Song and Lisa Bowerman as Professor Bernice Summerfield. Does the Doctor have room for two time-travelling archaeologists in his life? Nicholas Briggs, Creative Director and executive producer at Big Finish, said: Has it been 20 years already? But we've only just got started! Honestly, it has been an absolute delight to have worked alongside the Doctor these past two decades. I started my life as a fan, in the days before on demand and downloads, recording the soundtracks of Doctor Who episodes on audio tape. And now it's my job to place every incarnation of the Time Lord (give or take) in peril in so many exciting audio adventures. I have to pinch myself. I'd like to thank everyone, from the cast in front of the mic, to the writers, directors, sound designers and more behind it, for making it such an amazing journey. Here's to the future! (Or is it the past?) Jason Haigh-Ellery, Chairman and executive producer at Big Finish, added: In July 1999 we released The Sirens of Time. In July 2019 we're releasing The Legacy of Time. Those two decades have been so fulfilling for us at Big Finish - a chance to work with so many great and talented actors, writers, production crews and all of our friends at the BBC. This is a celebration of it all, with lots of surprise returns and references. Think of it as one massive Doctor Who party - and everyone is invited… Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time will be available from www.bigfinish.com on download and also released in an eight-disc CD deluxe package set with a limited edition of just 4,000. Doctor Who News http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2019/06/big-finish-plans-20-hour-livestream.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[vintage1981]

River Song Returns!

River Song is going to return next year – and she’ll be back again and again!

The Diary of River Song is all set to continue as Alex Kingston will be reprising her role as River Song for another three series, at least.

Having encountered the Doctor’s Sixth and Seventh incarnations in Series Two, and the Eighth in Series One, River Song will be brushing past a couple more Doctors in her future. Let’s hope she doesn’t trip over any long scarves...

As revealed in Doctor Who Magazine this month, The Diary of River Song Series Three will be released in January 2018, with the Fifth Doctor (played by Peter Davison) facing off against the most evil midwife in Doctor Who history, Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber).

This action-packed box set will contain four hour-long adventures where the Doctor’s wife, archaeologist, crack shot with an intoxicating kiss and time traveller will have to face the demons of her past, present and future.

Today we can reveal the synopses of this upcoming release. These four new tales come from favourite Big Finish writers:

When River Song goes shopping for a whole load of unclaimed loyalty points, she uncovers secrets linked to her tangled past.

The Doctor arrives, and the mystery deepens. He is already exploring the universe with another companion – someone River knows nothing about.

Madame Kovarian has been busy, and this time she will not accept failure…

3.1 – The Lady in the Lake by Nev Fountain

On Terminus Prime, clients choose their own means of demise. Something exciting, meaningful, or heroic to end it all.

But when River discovers that there are repeat customers, she knows something more is going on.

She begins to uncover a cult with worrying abilities. Its members can apparently cheat death, and that’s not all they have in common with River…

3.2 – A Requiem for the Doctor by Jac Rayner

River has joined the Doctor and his friend Brooke on their travels, and they stop off in 18th century Vienna.

Brooke thinks history is dull. Until people start dying.

Mozart’s legacy is not just his music. River has more than one mystery to solve before a killer is let loose on the people of Vienna – and on the Doctor.

3.3 – My Dinner with Andrew by John Dorney

Welcome, Mesdames et Messieurs, to The Bumptious Gastropod.

The most exclusive, most discreet dining experience outside the universe. For the restaurant exists beyond spacetime itself, and the usual rules of causality do not apply. Anything could happen.

It is here that the Doctor has a date. With River Song. And with death.

3.4 – The Furies by Matt Fitton

Stories of the Furies abound across the cosmos: vengeful spirits hounding guilty souls to death. Madame Kovarian taught them to a child raised in fear, trained to kill, and placed inside a spacesuit.

Kovarian knows the universe’s greatest threat. The Doctor must be eliminated. An assassin was created for that purpose.

But if Melody Pond has failed, Kovarian will simply have to try again…

And in Series Four River will be encountering the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker. More details on this series will be announced in the future.

To celebrate, you can pre-order each series of The Diary of River Song, at £23 on CD or £20 on download.

Or you can pre-order some of these releases in a bundle. Pre-order Series Four (out August 2018) and Series Five (out January 2019) of The Diary of River Song from today at £45 on CD or £40 on download. Don’t forget that all CD purchases unlock a download exclusive from the Big Finish App and the Big Finish site.