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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Doctor Who returns?

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El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt

13:24 / 06.09.03

from http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-tv.html?2003-08/28/09.00.tv

BBC1 Exec Wants More Who

Lorraine Heggessey, the controller of the British TV network BBC1, announced that she wants to bring back Doctor Who to Saturday evenings, the BBCi Web site reported. Heggessey voiced her desire to bring back the show in an interview with the MediaGuardian, conducted at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, the site reported.

Heggessey said that rights issues were preventing a swift return of the Doctor to British television. "I would like to resurrect Doctor Who, but the rights situation is too complicated to do that at the moment," she said. "Maybe that will happen one day."

For its part, the site reported that it had looked into the rights issues and found nothing to prevent the show's return, though various writers hold the rights to various characters they created, such as Terry Nation and the Daleks.

14:27 / 06.09.03

they wouldn't have to use the Daleks. or UNIT (also partly owned by writers outside the Beeb). various officials have used the rights excuse for years.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

14:48 / 06.09.03

And it will... kinda... return this November with Richard E Grant as the ninth Doctor in a new online adventure on BBCi.

But it'll be a cartoon.

I'm not convinced it will be good.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

14:56 / 06.09.03

I wonder if 'the rights issue is complicated' due to that abortion of a relaunch in the mid-nineties with Paul McGann. I've often thought about how I'd go about resurrecting it, things to go in the series bible and stuff, but I'm not convinced that it could be done with any success. It needs more money than British networks would be able to spend and the sort of compromises needed to get American money into it would end up with something that wasn't Doctor Who.

16:13 / 06.09.03

..which is kind of ironic considering the number of great episodes they made back in the 70s with about the same budget as a sit-com..

19:56 / 06.09.03

They really do tend to bugger it up, which is a terrible shame. I've been thinking about this one for a while - they need the budget of Spooks, a serious and slightly creepy dramatic actor for the role of the Doctor, they also need to strip away some of the too-familiar iconography (no tardis in the credits, please - it's awesome, but it's not the star of the damn show), and concentrate on the idea of an intensely humanist flawed (slightly clumsy, slightly vain, slightly arrogant, slightly childish) science hero falling into sci-fi horror plots.

Richard E Grant is about as far from Doctor Who as a bearshit in the woods. He's typical of the approach they've taken though - concentrating on an idea of frivolous 'eccentricity' rather than on a certain eerie childlike enthusiasm and integrity wrapped around a character composed entirely of steel. Both Richard E Grant and the firm and beautiful er.. other guy.. were too WEEDY - as was Sylvester McCoy.

We should be looking towards identifiable eccentrics like Will Self! Not him, obviously, but someone like him - with that presence and apparant arrogance who also has a kind of powerful integrity (this is working on the principle that I don't really like Will Self, but understand without being told that he does PRECISELY what he thinks is best at all times). Someone who owns and constructed their own moral system based upon what they believe is right and is able to communicate that.

The other thing I'd do, which would kill the purists, is get rid of the name. Call it something simpler like The Doctor or something. And I'd try and do all the filming concurrently with BBC costume drama so that you could use some of the same costumes and sets for the show. And I'd keep all the continuity and not bugger it up - it debases the show to shed all that incredible backstory, although it probably would need some kind of rationalisation.

10:48 / 09.09.03

Is it time for a Dr. Who comeback?
Fuck, yes.

"It needs more money than British networks would be able to spend and the sort of compromises needed to get American money into it would end up with something that wasn't Doctor Who. "

Nah, a big budget would fuck it up. The concept only needs good stories to succeed (and what scope there is!), it does not need The Doctor riding around L.A. on a motorbike.

Tryphena Absent

10:56 / 09.09.03

Oh dear, reading Tom's post I got a sudden flash of Timothy Spall as Dr. Who.

11:28 / 09.09.03

Right then, although I'm not overly familiar with the rights issues surrounding the series, I feel it's worth chipping in with this quote from the Guardian's original article:

Ms Heggessey also revealed that she would like to bring back Dr Who to its traditional early Saturday evening slot on BBC1.

Okay, somehow I don't think this kind of comment (apparently unbidden) falls idly from the lips of a BBC controller. If she just wanted to placate a bunch of fanboys, well, I imagine she would have made a statement that was far less bold, along the lines of hyping the Dr Who projects that are moving forward.

Having family involved with the higher echelons of television, it is my experience that channels are very careful about the kind of information they drip-feed to the public.

There may be hope yet.

Nah, a big budget would fuck it up.

If they are planning to return it to Saturday night - a prime time spot if ever there was one - then it most certainly will have a large budget - we're talking flagship TV. Doesn't have to be all doom and gloom; Dr Who with a big budget and a good script sounds like the tits. The real worry here is mass audience appeal, whatever that means.

11:48 / 09.09.03

I think Richard E Grant would be a great Doctor Who but my own personal fantasy is to have Alan Cumming as the Doctor sporting his fashionista hair from the movie Titus.

Scott

Mister Six, whom all the girls

12:47 / 09.09.03

Some very great input and superb ideas on where to take the series... which unfortunately they probably won't do... Though personally I'd like the Doctor to be a cross between the Troughton and Tom Baker era. I think the series tried many many things (it IS the longest lasting TV sci-fi series in history, it'll have off times), but that John Nathan Turner was its death knell. Maybe he was just placating to the needs of the audience, I don't know. But From his first year on the show to his last it felt very very un-Who. Although I dig McCoy's last two years. At least he acted and was engaging as a lead!

On a side note, two things I'd like to point out:

RE: Riding around LA on a motor bike... watch any Jon Pertwee episode and you'll be happy he wasn't on a trike or bloody hovercraft!

RE: Announcement regarding Who's future. This has comne up about five times in as many years. Unfortunately it means little. I wish it did, but even Dr Who fans could care less what the Controller says. When it's on the Radio Times cover, it'll be news, not before. Rumors about the series returning have been ripe since it went off the air.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

19:25 / 10.09.03

Sorry Six, but please define 'Who' and then define 'un-Who', I'll admit that JNT made numerous mistakes but no more than any other producer, he justs lots of stick because it died on his watch and he took over as a rose-tinted era came to an end. Some of my favourite Who concepts are tucked away in the JNT era.

I'm not saying DW would need a big budget so he could drive through LA on a motorcycle. Remember when X-Files was good, in those first few seasons? Those sorts of special effects are what I had in mind, including those that you don't realise are special effects, and they probably cost a fair bit. Mind you, thinking of it the production values for Neverwhere were very good, they were just let down by shooting on video so it automatically looked shit. If they were to bring it back they could automatically improve it by shooting on film.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

00:41 / 11.09.03

No, fair enough.

The request also says a lot.

The series is many things, but I think it's ressurection would do best to take influences from Tom Baker's first four seasons (creepy horror) and Sylvester McCoy's last two seasons (bizzare quirky tales... at best).

I dislike JNT because his eras were more glitzy and plastic rayguns. I adore most of the series (except for Davison, but that's my opinion) and recognize that it has many many different 'takes' as different producers and Doctors took the helm. For example you had Troughton's alien of the week pulp (which I love), Pertwee under Barry Letts, which was action alien invasion, then space opera, followed by yet more Doctors and producers, etc etc.

My point is that there are several eras and several takes, but most fans or casual viewers have some idea of what Who is and what it isn't. I do agree that the 1996 film is NOT Who. But one of its main faults is a heavy reliance on mythology (Gallifrey, the Master, cameos of the Daleks, regeneration, etc etc).

This reliance on mythology is also my problem with JNT's time on the show.

But I'm not so pig-headed to say he was a terrible producer. I think he kept it on the air, but also did a lot of harm as well.

But what can you do? It's a mixed bag and it's in the past.

I'd just like to see the creepy Robert Holmes/Philip Hinchliff influence on the new series if it should ever happen. Stories like "Talons of Weng Chiang," "Brain of Morbius" and "Pyramids of Mars" are amongst my all-time favorites and I think that 'take' could flow quite well nowadays.

08:13 / 11.09.03

"The Talons of Weng Chieng" and "The Pyramids of Mars" absolutely rock.

That's probably my favourite period of the show .. where they seemed to be going for something like a Hammer horror only much weirder..

What was that episode where those evil primordial slug creatures got summoned using an ancient stone circle and the Doctor basically goes "giant slugs.. hmm.. get me ten tons of salt!"? Absolutely brilliant.

That had almost no relevance to this thread at all did it? Sorry.

09:08 / 11.09.03

My fantasy who would play up the creepy and bizzare lovecraftian, super-science angle.

Also - yes to Tom Baker, the Who of my childhood.

09:23 / 11.09.03

leftenannt? chap with the wings, three rounds rapid fire.

as long as they keep the brigadier. almost certainly be a woman though wouldn't it? well, as long as she has the burr

.

10:14 / 11.09.03

As long as they don't have leaves blowing around in the Tardis (a la the 96 film) I'll be happy.

Seriously though, there's so much history and different takes to DW that inevitably it's going to be hard to sculpt a new version without annoying some old fans. Personally I think they should strip it right right back to the very basics, ie. wierd old gentleman and friends turn up in eerie noirish place, get seperated and stalked by monster from the shadows... Then bolt on some sci-fi elements on the top.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

12:05 / 11.09.03

Yeah, they did do a female Brig... nuff said on that. It seems that the new animated BBCi thing will have a Brig-type of character and will be kinda spooky. We'll see.

I'd love to see a back to basics bit. It's interesting to see it as an old chap as well. I have a very hazy DVD docu that has all these former production lads saying how they feel the Doctor HAS to be an older gent, with Tom being on the young side.I agree with this, though I like McGann and feel given the chance he could have been great, he is too young. The Doctor has been an older guardian-type who watches over us, protecting us, etc. This is an important element. Look at Davison's performance. I wouldn't expect that guy to save me from bankruptcy, never mind a Dalek invasion. He always seemed out of breath and near sighted. But Hartnell through Tom would see us through, you know. They just had an interesting authority figure presence. While flawed, even Colin Baker had an authority that gave an air of invinsibility.

Can't place the giant slugs reference. It could be a mix of multiple stories you're remembering: Green Death (Pertwee), Frontios (Davison), Twin Dilemma (C Baker)... Stone circle: Stones of Blood? I dunno.

14:45 / 11.09.03

Yeah, I think it was Stones of Blood..

Certainly wasn't the Twin Dilemma, that was awful!

15:19 / 11.09.03

"Image of the Fendahl." my all-time favorite Who story, too.

15:21 / 11.09.03

the stone circle does appear in "The Stones of Blood".

The Return Of Rothkoid

14:29 / 12.09.03

Look at Davison's performance. I wouldn't expect that guy to save me from bankruptcy, never mind a Dalek invasion.

Strangely, he managed to crash-tackle a bagsnatcher or something the other year. And wasn't out of breath, which is strange given that he's carrying around a head as large as steroids have made Jerry Lewis's...

12:47 / 23.09.03

Readers of the Radio Times have voted overwhelmingly for Doctor Who as the series they would most like to see come back to TV.

The survey, drawn up by the listings magazine to celebrate its 80th birthday, asked readers a number of questions including which show readers would like to see revived.

Doctor Who came out on top, pulling in 31% of the whopping 12,000 votes.

Blackadder was second choice for a revival with 22% of votes and Fawlty Towers came third with 10%.

Source

14:20 / 23.09.03

I've always thought that former Pogues frontman Shane McGowan would make a good Dr Who. There's definitely space for the Doctor to regenerate with a toothless drunken incoherent persona. He'd just travel about through time getting into various drunken scrapes, his companions would be a bunch of other alkies he picks up in bars along the way, and the Tardis would get completely trashed at the end of each episode.

In this weeks episode, the Doctor defeats the Daleks by pouring beer over them, is sick on K9, then searches for his misplaced sonic screwdriver so he can start working his way through the Tardis's wine cellars.

Failing that, they could go for a wrestling angle and give the role to The Rock. he could lay out the Master with 'the Doctor's elbow' and everything. Got to be more appropriate than Richard E Grant.

14:58 / 23.09.03

The next Doctor should be Alan Davies. He has the hair.

17:32 / 23.09.03

Too Young. Too Comedy. The X-files comment is completely right. You're looking for something that's bordering on X-files only on other worlds / our world in other times and occcasionally consecutively. Contemporary versions of old stories - alien flesh-eating diseases carrying distributed consciousnesses, Morrisonesque viral corporations, failed biological enhancements on earth running riot in dark woodland locations, and what I'd personally really really like - a ludicrously complicated time paradox-based whodunnit in Georgian England.

20:27 / 23.09.03

I've always thought that former Pogues frontman Shane McGowan would make a good Dr Who. There's definitely space for the Doctor to regenerate with a toothless drunken incoherent persona. He'd just travel about through time getting into various drunken scrapes, his companions would be a bunch of other alkies he picks up in bars along the way, and the Tardis would get completely trashed at the end of each episode.

That is SUCH an awesome idea I can barely express it.

It MUST happen. I feel it should be filmed in the style of a fly-on-the-wall show and should feature a semi-improvised script and genuine drunkenness.

02:20 / 24.09.03

Has anyone seen the Dr.Who thing they did with Rowan Atkinson? Was it any good? Was he?

10:56 / 24.09.03

Strangely, I can imagine Mark E Smith being a good fit with the role. A kind of slow-burning, laconic disdain and arrogance

12:36 / 24.09.03

Whoever it is, it MUST NOT be an established, well known actor or celeb. It has to be a fresh face. As a viewer, I want to watch Doctor Who, not 'Rutger Hauer dressed up as Doctor Who', or 'Stephen Fry having a stab at the Doctor'.

Though if it does have to be a face, I quite fancy either Brian Sewell or Dr David Starkey in the part. Or maybe Felix Dexter.

12:51 / 24.09.03

Kegboy: Has anyone seen the Dr.Who thing they did with Rowan Atkinson? Was it any good? Was he?

I saw it. From what I can recall, it wasn't meant to be a serious piece of the Dr. Who saga but rather a piece of comedy. As such, it worked tolerably well and Rowan Atkinson was on fine form, although perhaps not his best.

12:57 / 24.09.03

How about Simon Callow as Dr. Who? I'm imagining his character from Four Weddings and Funeral only with the proper Whovian science talk and a big floppy hat. I think it would work well.

Barring that, Terence Stamp dressed all in black and smoking a cigarette.

13:43 / 24.09.03

Barring that, Terence Stamp dressed all in black and smoking a cigarette.

When I think of Terence Stamp in Dr.Who I can only picture him running around barking the words "Kneel before Zod!" in repetative Dalekian fashion.

Tony Blair for Dr.Who!!

Mister Six, whom all the girls

15:09 / 24.09.03

Kegboy: Has anyone seen the Dr.Who thing they did with Rowan Atkinson? Was it any good? Was he?

Actually, his LOOK was amazing. The design was astounding and it made me weep inwardly that it would be so easy to bring it back. Jonathan Price was outstanding as the Master. It was like he channeled Roger Delgado. But it was all for laughs in the end. That said, it had the best looking Daleks of any show. And atkinson played it 'his' way which was annoying because it could have worked with him in the role, I think. But I might be stretching it a tad.

League of Gentlemen's Mark Gattis did an amazing job with 'The Web of Caves' skit in a quarry. I liked that a lot. It was rumored at one point that he would be the next Doctor. Ah well... Maybe #10?

16:58 / 24.09.03

As everybody who's remotely interested proably knows already, Mark Gattis wrote a couple of Who books. I read one of them. I can't remember anything about it whatsoever though.

Whoever it is, it MUST NOT be an established, well known actor or celeb. It has to be a fresh face. As a viewer, I want to watch Doctor Who, not 'Rutger Hauer dressed up as Doctor Who', or 'Stephen Fry having a stab at the Doctor'.

Yeah that's a good point. None of the old doctors were very well known (as far as I know) before they took the role.. there must be tons of unknown 'eccentric character actor' talent out there waiting to be mined..

Although having said that;

Strangely, I can imagine Mark E Smith being a good fit with the role. A kind of slow-burning, laconic disdain and arrogance

That is perhaps the greatest idea I've heard in my life. If I was in charge of the BBC I'd be showering you with cheques right now..

My nightmares are going to be plagued by unlikely scenarios for "Mark E. Smith vs. the Cybermen"..

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