Neil Gaiman on writing a scarier Cyberman in 'Doctor Who'

BY AARON SAGERS

Neil Gaiman doesn’t have time for Doctor Who. The first episode the acclaimed writer penned for the series, 2011’s “The Doctor’s Wife,” won Hugo and Bradbury awards and has become a fan favorite. But it also took Gaiman more than a year to complete, but showrunner Steven Moffat says that’s precisely what makes him perfect for the job.

“I’m looking for people too busy to do it but do it anyway,” said Moffat in a phone interview. He further joked the perfect “Who” scribe are “people who have been waiting all their life to have a shot at the TARDIS, and will screw up their career and family life for a couple of months to get it done.”

While the ramifications on his career and family are likely minimal for Gaiman, he acknowledges that the return to “Who” was a time demand, which is somewhat ironic for a show revolving around manipulating that very concept.

Yet Gaiman has returned to the season’s penultimate episode, a Cybermen spectactular titled “Nightmare in Silver,” which airs tomorrow at 8 p.m. EDT on BBC America.

Set on a creepy, dilapidated amusement park planet, the Doctor’s old foes return with some interesting...

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Ron Howard to raise 'The Graveyard Book' for movie?

English author and nerd royalty Neil Gaiman’s Hugo Award Winning children’s fantasy novel The Graveyard Book (http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060530944) may finally be making its way to the big screen - and courtesy Ron Howard.

The Graveyard Book was written by Gaiman after he was inspired by his son riding his bike through a graveyard. He wanted the book to be akin to Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 classic,The Jungle Book, but set in a graveyard.

The tale is of a toddler who escapes the mass murder of his family and finds a "home" in a nearby graveyard where its resident ghosts find and raise him. He acquires the nickname "Bod" which is short for "Nobody" and attains supernatural abilities such as fading, haunting and dream walking. The book is filled with adventure and will no doubt make an entertaining film.

The man who is currently in talks to direct the screen adaptation is none other than Ron Howard. Howard is no stranger to directing fantasies, such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Splash. According to an article on Latino Review the film was originally going to be directed by Henry Selick (who directed Gaiman’s imaginative stop-motion animation film Coraline).

The site states, "Previously, Selick was suppose to direct the film as a stop-motion picture, but when he parted ways with the studio, the project was dropped. The film will no longer going to be in stop-action animation, it’ll just be a regular live-action movie."

Is this a film you’d want to check out? We’ll keep you posted on when The Graveyard Book is finally going to be in your local theaters.

Re-enter The Sandman: Neil Gaiman talks more about vampires

Neil Gaiman is one of those guys in paranormal pop culture that just seem to get it. Like Stephen King, Gaiman is a genius who possesses a knack for creating fully-realized worlds, and his work reflects an influence and old-school appreciation of fantasy, sci-fi and horror without being derivative.

Obviously, I'm a fan. That's why it was interesting to hear his take on the current vampire trend in July's Entertainment Weekly, where he said the bloodsuckers had reached a saturation point. Well, apparently I wasn't the only one who liked The Sandman creator's thoughts on the genre, because EW went back for more (technically it seems they just expanded the previous interview, but it's more to me).

Check it out.

-aaron sagers