BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Doctor Who returns?

  
  

Page: 123(4)567

 
 
■
20:07 / 19.03.04
You know who he'll be up against, don't you? James Lance. That guy off Book Group and Absolute Power. Betcha. The only man strange enough to pull Who off for the new generation is The Actor Kevin Eldon. Ben Browder or Tony Head would be fun, though.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
00:11 / 20.03.04
Oh... shit.

New Dr Who officially announced, and it's Christopher Eccleston.

http://www.gallifreyone.com/newstv.php#newsitemEpZAZukFFAzXgzvMUL

Eccleston to Take Control of the Tardis
By Rachel Williams, PA News

Actor Christopher Eccleston is to be the new Doctor Who when the cult sci-fi show returns to our screens next year, it was announced tonight.

Eccleston, star of Flesh and Blood and The Second Coming, will appear as the TV Time Lord in the 13-part BBC1 series to be shown in 2005.

The BBC said the Salford-born 40-year-old would take the famous doctor into the 21st century in a “fresh and modern approach” involving travelling through time and space and fighting monsters on all fronts.

Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, said: “We are delighted to have cast an actor of such calibre in one of British television’s most iconic roles.

“It signals our intention to take Doctor Who into the 21st century, as well as retaining its core traditional values – to be surprising, edgy and eccentric.

“We have chosen one of Britain’s finest actors to play what, in effect, will be an overtly modern hero.”

Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies said: “We considered many great actors for this wonderful part, but Christopher was our first choice.

“This man can give the Doctor a wisdom, wit and emotional range as far-reaching as the Doctor’s travels in time and space.

“His casting raises the bar for all of us. It’s going to be a magnificent, epic, entertaining journey, and I can’t wait to start.”

The series will be filmed in Cardiff later this year.
 
 
Gary Lactus
12:28 / 20.03.04
I'm warming to the idea a bit now. He's kinda lanky and has a big nose. It's all about the outfit now.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
12:35 / 20.03.04
Yeah, a fan posted a pic of him in his outrageous getup from his appearance in the League of Gentlemen... sadly it was well-received. I don't know what to think. From his performances in Shallow Grave and 28 Days, I think he has a decent range, but I pretty much realized that no matter who they cast, I'd have little reaction at best. I mean, the first pic I saw of McCoy had no bearing, while Colin Baker... well I hated him right off on account of the costume.

So hopefully we'll get bits and pieces leading up to the first episode, so we can get an idea of what to expect.

I guess a large bone of contention is being whipped 'round about what number Doctor this is, meaning 'does the 1996 TV Movie count?'
 
 
Bed Head
12:50 / 20.03.04
Well...

It could have been worse. He’s tall, he's gangly, he's got Time-Lord eyes. And at 40, he’s the right age. He’ll have to grow a mop though.

Still a bit narked that Paul Cornell gets a writing gig while Gareth Roberts gets overlooked, GR being one of those fan writers who pretty much pinned down all the groovy things that make the Tom/Lalla/Graham Williams era rule. Still, the Tom/Sarah/Philip Hinchcliffe stuff is, y’know, pretty good too. I just hope the casting of scowly-face Ecclestone doesn’t mean it’ll be all po-faced and over-serious. Yer gothic horrors is all well and good, but hopefully they’ll have the nerve to include all the playful whimsy that I love, but more well-adjusted grown ups than me seem to find so childish and embarrassing.

City Of Death will always rock more than Pyramids Of Mars. Just felt compelled to blurt that out, mid-thread. Pyramids is great and all, but been getting way too much praise this year.
 
 
Bed Head
12:53 / 20.03.04
Oh, and that if Ecclestone’s going to do it in his Manc accent, there’s definitely potential there for a Happiness Patrol/Candyman-style appearance from Frank Sidebottom. Factory Records version of the theme tune, bleeps by New Order, shimmering Happy Mondays-esque guitar. I’d watch that.

*sigh* If only...
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
15:00 / 20.03.04
Just read on 'eye of horus' that there is a feature film rumored in 2006/7, strengthened by the new series with Ecc.

Also, cgi Daleks, Autons (my fave), a WW2 story and an 1800s tale as well as McGann featured as outgoing Doctor are rumored... but eyeofhorus is very rumor-oriented.
 
 
■
17:17 / 20.03.04
I'll accept Ecclestone. The Second Coming was great, and that was Russell T Davis, wasn't it? Nice effects done quite cheap. Yeah, I reckon as long as Davis is still involved (he is, isn't he?) then it'll work.
 
 
Gary Lactus
09:09 / 21.03.04
"while Colin Baker... well I hated him right off on account of the costume."

Don't you dare slag Colin. His costume was one of the bravest moves in Who history, a gamble that payed off IMHO. I subscribe to Colin Cuts magazine. I'm staring at issue 200 (March 2001) as I type and it's packed full of Colinformation and features such as "Prepare to meet thy Baker", "Colinquizition" anda review of the new Colinovel "Dedlos" by Peter Grimewad. Edited by Sebastian Briere-Edney and Duncan Games, this publication is a must for any Whovian. Also, check out "Simply Sylvester", the Sylvester McCoy 7th Doctor Fanzine and "Ainley Retentive", the Anthony Ainly (played The Master) magazine, both of which are edited by the same award winning team as Colin Cuts. Duncan and Seb are great guys. Back in 2001 they presented their Colinstallation at the Phoenix Gallery in Brighton. It was great and really managed to raise the profile of the all too often overlooked 6th Doctor.
 
 
Gary Lactus
09:20 / 21.03.04
And another thing:

They better get the theme tune right. That pompous orchestral version they used for the McGann movie was all wrong. I reckon Richard James could do a decent update. He's cutting edge and has the right fondness for the work of Delia Derbyshire and the Radiophonic Workshop. Hopefully they'll keep the idiosyncratic approach to sound design in mind, too.

Bit fired up about Who at the moment. Actually dreamt about it the other night.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
14:06 / 21.03.04
Um... don't know where to start... but I did own a 6th Doctor costume at one point.

But my point was that I don't recall ever being excited by an announcement of who the new Doctor is. Actually, that's not true. I thought Richard E was good news.

But I was obviously insane.

There have been numerous other versions of the theme tune (the cast has been doing audio adventures all this time). The one used for the webcast Scream of the Shalka was OK. eyeofhorus had some rumors on what the new tune will be like.

Gotta get back to my Mark Strickson site!
 
 
.
17:09 / 21.03.04
They better get the theme tune right. That pompous orchestral version they used for the McGann movie was all wrong.

Aye to that. And no leaves blowing around inside the Tardis this time neither! It's supposed to be a futuristic time machine damnit, not some sort of transdimensional galactic greenhouse. Unless Alan Titchmarsh was cast as the new Doctor. Which aint such a bad idea, come to think of it.
 
 
Panic
18:29 / 21.03.04
Am I the only one who liked the TARDIS interior in the TV movie, then?

That said, Eccleston's an odd choice, but then I've only seen his work in Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later and Death and the Compass.

Hope someone Stateside will pick this up.
 
 
Bed Head
00:19 / 22.03.04
And no leaves blowing around inside the Tardis this time neither!

Oh, bosh. I dig the leaves. But I dug the cloister room, too. And I dug the brick corridors and swimming pool stuff in Invasion of Time.

All I want right now is Ecclestone Doctor to wear a fab medallion, like Doctor Strange. Or, er, Mister Six.
 
 
Gary Lactus
08:23 / 22.03.04
Preferred the old Tardis. It makes a great helm and reception area. I really like the idea of the Tardis opening out and becoming more architecturally mixed as you go deeper into the mystery of the place. Like one of those dreams of a familliar place but with extra doors and stuff.
 
 
Jack The Bodiless
11:29 / 23.03.04
?!

You people are odd. Christopher Eccleston is one of the finest actors in the UK today, and as for how appropriate - anyone remember Let Him Have It, Jude, Elizabeth? He's compellingly strange looking, too, and I've always preferred the tall Doctors. Go Eccles! W00t!
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
11:33 / 23.03.04
Speaking as someone who loved The Second Coming, I also think he's a great choice. In that and 28 Days Later, he really nails that morally ambiguous messiah figure thing that the best Doctor Who storylines often involve.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
11:38 / 23.03.04
Yeah, I was doubting Eccleston severely until I was reminded of The Second Coming and realised he might pull it off. It's just that I've seen the madness in his eyes so many times I'm a little worried he might overplay the Doctor horribly.
 
 
cusm
12:14 / 23.03.04
Overplay? The Doctor? Have we been watching the same series?
 
 
Bed Head
12:18 / 23.03.04
(Looks at camera, boggles eyes)

That’s what I thought they said!
 
 
Sax
12:20 / 23.03.04
He looked so good in uniform in 28 Days Later, mind, that they maybe should have cast him as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
13:13 / 23.03.04
Ah yes, the old joke for Doctor Who fans. Paul McCartney visits UNIT. The Brig shouts "Chap with wings there. Five rounds rapid!"

You had to be there.

Hmmm, Eccleston is an interesting choice. I would have thought from other stuff he'd be a bit precious to do this, especially as he got bored with Cracker after one series and asked to be written out. Still, at least it wasn't Alan Davies. Or Joanna Lumley.
 
 
rory
12:26 / 02.04.04
Anyone who saw Ecclestone doing the ventriloquist bit with a skull in Alex Cox's Revengers Tragedy knows that this is an inspired choice. 'Revenge! Revenge!'
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
20:13 / 03.04.04
Recently, Eccleston was interviewed on Breakfast time. BBC has a clip at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39995000/rm/_39995455_drwho_vi.ram

but here are a few excerpts...


Sian: Yes you've got to have a thing.

CE: Oh I've got a thing but..

Sian: Have you? What's your thing? Can you tell us?

CE: Off Camera (laughs)

Bill: (laughs)It's gonna be a surprise

CE: Scarves and hats won't be part of it

Bill: Right

CE: No I mean.... No, that's all to be decided - what he's going to look like, what he's going to wear but I don't think he's gonna be quite as eccentric and as foppish as he was in the... in some of his incarnations.

Female presenter (while showing a clip from Inside the Spaceship): Some of us... Some people have been writing in today, well actually lots of people have be writing but one person said that they think that with you in the role he might be a bit more machievellian

CE: ermm...

Sian: or that he might have a bit of a dark side.

CE: I think he should have a slight dark side but you know I think it'd be quite nice to bring out perhaps something in me that I've not done a great deal of which is the lighter stuff as well so it'll be a combination of the two. I mean... he's written in the first episode there's the line about most of all this is a man who enjoys himself so he's a man of fantastic enthusiasm and curiosity erm...

Bill: Sidekick?

CE: Sidekick - they're meeting lots of people at the moment..

Bill: so he will have one?

CE: He ... yes he will have a... Rose Tyler is her name...

Sian: Can she do more than just run around screaming cos.. you know...

CE: Well Russell... I mean that's the sort of thing that Russell's on board to do you know...

Sian: it would be nice would...

CE: exactly yeah...

Sian: Give her more of a role for heaven sakes...

CE: I'll be doing the running around screaming (laughs)

Sian: oh ok (laughs) She'll be sorting things out.

CE: She's going to be much more er... intelligent, sort of.. proactive

Sian: yeah.. In a way, you know, it's quite difficult to be scary these days because we get so much of it don't we? I mean...

CE: mmm

Sian: Are you going to use a lot of computer graphics or trickery like that in order to create that or...

CE: I would imagine so I mean technology has moved on so much and so quickly that you know there's great things to be done. I don't tend to get too concerned... I leave that ... but I'll be concentrating... I leave that to the people who know, I'll be concentrating on the character and... my concern will be that without becoming soap boxing and pompous that we can sort of address social issues with.. and address what's going on around us to a certain extent for young people and whoever else is watching...

Sian: That's an interesting thought...

CE: And again I think that's why... I mean you can parallel things with science fiction...erm...scenario you can parallel certain world situations and things - threats to mankind can always be you know highlighted.

Sian: That's a really interesting point...bringing up social issues...

CE: And I think... yeah I think that's what Russell will do, not just international but also national... and I think that'll probably be addressed by the casting of Rose and where Rose comes from and why she chooses to time travel...there's gonna be quite a strong emotional story for Rose I think and why she chooses....

Male Presenter... Oh hang on, hang on...surely not love interest

CE: I would hope so

Bill: Oh really...

CE: yeah I would hope so...

Bill: and do you...

CE: he's got two hearts, doctor who, so you know...they can both be broken....

Sian: (laughs) room for more than one woman.

Bill: Did you watch when you were younger?

CE: Chris (over clip of time and the rani): I did yeah. I remember Patrick Troughton....

Bill: yes

CE: ...he's the first face I remember of it... the music and that face, that haunted face,

Sian: this is sylvester...(clip changes to The Movie).. oh no you see...you're just seeing sylvester mccoy and here we are, Paul McGann...

CE: Paul McGann...

Sian: mm hmmm

Bill: And the other question we're interested in... you're from the north of england but you can do all... I remember shallow grave you had a fantastic scots accent but will he be received pronunciation like most of the doctors have been or...

CE: No... I don't wanna sound like a member of the royal family no... erm.. nor will I be perhaps, my accent be as strong as it is now.. I think it'll just be my voice, you know my accent has been poshed up since I became an actor...so he'll sound like me... we're not gonna do anything too clever either way...

Sian: Will you be revisiting old enemies?

CE: Yep... I think so...

Sian: Really?

CE: yeah...sont-

Sian: bring back the daleks?

CE: The one's that frightened me were the ones that looked like baked potatoes...Sontarons or the sontarins? Do you remember them?

Sian: no you see I got completely freaked out by the ones that came out of the sea...

CE: ohhh I remember that...

Sian: cause when it was announced that you were doing it we had this .... they were called the sea monsters and when I said they were called the sea monsters lots of breakfast viewers wrote in and said that no they're from the Silurian Race...so you've gotta get these things..

CE: Of course...you should have known that...
 
 
Gary Lactus
16:08 / 11.05.04
"I am The Master... and you will obey me!"
Antony Ainley has died. May he rest in peace.

Thought you should all know.
 
 
Bed Head
16:00 / 24.05.04
No. No,no,no,no,no,no,no,no.

Official news: the new Bonnie Langford. Gahh.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
19:13 / 24.05.04
Eccleston? Pfffeh.

Steve Guttenberg is the new doctor.
 
 
Seth
19:24 / 24.05.04
A rare Guttenberg alignment. Look at the posting times to confirm the synchronicity. What can it mean?
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
13:39 / 25.05.04
I'm not too bothered by the casting of Billie Piper, if only because the consensus amongst TV critic types is that her recent ventures into acting have been nothing to sneer at - plus I don't want to fall in with the "she was a pop star, she must be rubbish!" kneejerk sci-fi beardiness.

What does annoy me is all this "for the first time, the Doctor's assistant will not run around screaming - she will be pro-active!" nonsense. Nevermind the fact that that word itself just screams 'Poochy'... How soon they forget:



There's nothing more pro-active than blowing things up.
 
 
Bed Head
14:23 / 25.05.04
Don’t you aim those accusations of kneejerk sci-fi beardiness at me. I haven’t seen her acting. I’m bothered by the apparent lack of poshness and newness in this version of Doctor Who, is all. Thousands of posh girls graduate from British drama schools every year, and Doctor Who has always been a perfectly acceptable BBC backwater for them to swirl around in while they get their bearings. Acting ability doesn’t come into it.



Plus, I’ll see your



and raise you a



because feisty journalists can be pro-active too. Especially if they’ve got a robot dog.
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
17:28 / 25.05.04
Shit, with Richard Biggs and Anthony Ainley, I reckon we'll see a Blakes Seven cast member pop their clogs next to satisfy the law of threes.

And Billie Piper? I don't care if she's a good actress, far too wholesome... Why can't we have a male companion again? I miss Turlough. Or why not break with convention and have the first non-white companion?

Mmmm, Turlough...
  
 
grant
19:23 / 25.05.04
Leela had to keep being restrained from cutting people's heads off with a knife, so nuts to your juvenile bomb maniac and screamy lady reporter.

Leela is Conan.
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
21:16 / 25.05.04
What, nothing about Slipknott doing the theme tune, here?
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
00:37 / 26.05.04
Aliens of London From the Daily Mirror:

DOCTOR Who is going to face an enemy even worse than the Daleks - in the shape of David Beckham. In the new series, aliens intent on conquering the earth use the waxworks at Madame Tussauds to terrorise the capital. A lifelike dummy of the 29-year-old England captain will lead a horde of modelled celebs in a raid on Downing Street. These could include Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford and even Madonna. Becks, the leader of the sinister celebrity army, will blast everything in his path with a ray gun hidden in his left wrist. The waxworks, who appear in an episode called Aliens of London, are under the control of a deadly extra-terrestrial race known as the Autons. They have no physical form but attack humans by manipulating anything made of wax or plastic. A BBC insider revealed: "They plan to replace leaders like Tony Blair and George Bush with lookalikes from Tussauds but it fails so they bring a host of celebrities alive to attack Parliament." The Autons were twice thwarted in the early 70s. This time ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston will tackle Beckham's replica in one of the first episodes of next year's 13-part series. He will also face updated Daleks.
 
 
Gary Lactus
07:08 / 26.05.04
That's a great idea! I love Harrison Ford! Beckham's face locked in an unsure waxwork smile as he strangles Billie Piper! Absurd but kind of spooky too.

I have no objection to Piper. Anna Friel was in the running which worried me more. I don't care how fit she is, she can't act for shit.
 
  

Page: 123(4)567

 
  
Add Your Reply