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Doctor Who returns?

 
  

Page: 12(3)4567

 
 
osymandus
19:01 / 04.10.03
Re the above post , alas paranoia and scary weird quatermass style monters , die horribly at the hands of an intellectual surrelist protaganist like the doctor (I.e Tom Baker was always scarier then any monster he faced ). I mean facing down a cyber man with a jelly baby .

Could you imagine Eddie Izzard .

Cyberman: You will come with us Docotor.
DR Izzrad: In these heels and my jam trousers, i think not my silvery silver fish like friend. Behold the warth of Mrs Badcrubmle and the obo of spangerly goldy crunchy deathness.

Old woman leaps from shadows playing Acker bilcks greatest hits and spearing cybermen in the back with a gold plated woodwind instrument.

Dr Izzard : Well done my octogenarian assitant, but next time more free forming jazz, Ciao !
 
 
Mourne Kransky
18:59 / 05.10.03
Sunday papers are shooing Bill Nighy into the job today and that's the best news I've heard in a long time, if only because just about every other name I've heard filled me fury at the mere thought. Nighy has the face, the height, the gravitas laced with dry humour, and he's a cracking actor.

Russell T Davies must know that Richard E Grant is the antichrist. I have faith he'll get this right. And yes, Eddie Izzard would be fabulous. Probably a bit too fabulous and too busy.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
16:58 / 06.10.03
Now, Bill Nighy is interesting because he could really nail that "I'm the Doctor... and I might just be the bad guy" thing that the New Adventures were always pushing when I read them...
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
16:24 / 11.10.03
Two updates from gallifreyone.com

"Bill Nighy appears to be the front-runner for the role of the Doctor, being writer/producer Russell Davies' first choice. Now, another article in the Telegraph quotes television presenter Richard Bacon, who says the veteran actor is a "shoo-in" for the job. "I'm very good mates with the League of Gentlemen writer Mark Gatiss, who's going to be writing the show with Russell T. Davies. Mark says it's Nighy for the lead, and he's in the know on this." Of course, this is all second hand. (And the quest continues... Thanks to Matthew Sweet)"

"Eddie Izzard told BBC Radio 1 on Thursday that any casting of him as the new Doctor would be a surprise to him - probably too much of one. "Tom Baker threw my name up," Izzard says, "which was fantastic, it's a wonderful honour. I hadn't considered it, I didn't even know (the series) was happening, and I don't think the BBC would want me. They'd probably rather spit on me and slap me about with fish." Izzard, who is currently on tour in America, wasn't aware of the rumours or about the series revival. "I'm really into doing my films, and so 26 weeks is a big commitment. There are other people that are up for it that everyone else wants. I'm slightly more on the edge. I think the BBC would say 'Well we want someone simpler and safer.'. I think my breasts are too dangerous." Of course, stranger things have happened. (Thanks to Chuck Foster, William Duffy, Stuart Ian Burns, Michael Eggleston, Jason Zerdin)"
 
 
Tom Coates
20:09 / 11.10.03
He looks the part:

 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
18:02 / 12.10.03
Damn straight. With all due respect to Paul McGann, the Doctor as 'old bastard' is where it's at. I shall cry and break windows if they choose Alan Davies...
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
18:48 / 12.10.03
Bill Nighty. Yes.
 
 
Gary Lactus
13:40 / 13.10.03
Yes.

Actually getting quite excited.
 
 
Roland606
21:45 / 16.10.03
Living in America my only experiences with the Doctor come from some old second hand video tapes an ex girlfriend of mine had. Needless to say I fell in love with it right off the bat. Now because the only I've only seen a few scattered episodes (3 & 5 Doctors, Brain of Mobius, a few other unnamed ones with that guy before Tom Baker) I prolly don't have a complete grasp of the series, but the second I got done watching all those tapes I knew that somehow, someway, they had to bring that shit back.

Being that I'm an American and part of the MTV generation, most of you are prolly gonna rip this to shreds, but regardless, here's the revamp that I sat down and outlined for the series.

I'd make the new docotor a woman. Mid thirties, glasses, leather black mini skirt and go-go boots. Super smart, super capable. Good sense of humor, but no Tom Baker.

Anyway she's on her last regeneration(did they ever put a limit on those?) and the Time Lords have charged her with training her replacement. In a tip of the hat to The Invisibles, or course it would have to be a punkish younger kid. Keep the kid in the background, let him do some cool stuff, but avoid having him be someone that the Doctor always has to rescue or someone that always gets in the way.

Anyone ever find it odd that these old mean are always traveling around with these hot young girls? Translate that into the new one, but make it more sublime and in the background. No kissing, no heavy flirting, but scenes where they're changing infront of one another, or the kid gets hurt and the Doctor comes in in a sexy nurses outfit...

"I may be a doctor, but I'm better at playing nurse..."

I'd want to do season long story arcs. Go back and forth between UNIT episodes and otherworldly stuff. Actually have a few UNIT characters. Stuffy old British dude and hotshot young James Bond type guy(which the Who in training HATES). Bring in the Americans for the end of season one where some old school ass villian comes back. Gotta have the cybermen and that assasin android.

Music? The Who, The Kinks, Buzzcocks, Generation X, New Order, and in very rare moments of high drama...the Beatles.

This is an American who's only seen a few episodes take on the whole deal. Sure it boderlines on blasphemy to those of you across the pound.

Let the tearing of assholes ensue...
 
 
Spaniel
12:35 / 17.10.03
Co-written by a League of Gentlemen bod? Bloody hell, that is good news. We can look forward to some luverly surreal horror, then.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
01:40 / 21.10.03
From Gallifreyone.com

"Alan Davies appeared on BBC1's "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" on October 17, coming onstage to an a capella version of the Doctor Who theme by the house band. Davies, who has been featured as a possible new Doctor in the media, made some comments rejecting the press stories: "Well, now you see, that’s just paper talk. ... No. Sadly, I’m not the new Dr Who," he said. "I haven’t been asked. Two years ago it was in the News of the World, Go’ bless ‘em. They said I was signed up under a massive deal." Apparently a lot of his friends have already contacted him asking to play Daleks and/or Cybermen! They also showed an article from the Express newspaper that had a composite photograph of Alan in Tom Baker Who costume. Davies later talked about Mary Tamm and K-9, the Daleks, and even the new guy behind Doctor Who, his namesake, Russell T. Davies. "The thing is I would do Dr Who because Russell T Davies is writing it," he said. "He’s Britain’s nicest man and best writer and he wrote Bob & Rose, so I sent him an email saying if you’re really stuck and you can’t get who you want, I’ll fill in but I’m not wearing that hat." And who would make a good Doctor? "Annette Crosby," he answered, of BBC1's "One Foot in the Grave". "No, I mean it!" Davies cried. This all gives solace to -- or perhaps takes the wind out of the sails of -- a "prevent Alan Davies from being the next Doctor Who" campaign launched in the Diary column of Matthew Norman featured in the Guardian newspaper."

PHEW!
 
 
■
18:50 / 21.10.03
Can I just go [in a Tom Baker voice, natch]
"OOoooohh, Annette Crosbie... Yeeeeessss..."
I reckon she'd be f'ing great. Cynical, clever and versatile. and (most importantly) not sexy at all.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
14:08 / 23.10.03
Something to tide you over, this site has a number of great Who vids. Being in the states, I missed oit on Dr Who night... and will probably miss out on the insuing greatness of the new series as well.

Ah well.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/jj20/drwhospoofs.html
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
19:41 / 06.11.03
Gallifreyone.com
November 6, 2003

"Another rumour surrounding the choice of the new Doctor for the next television series appeared in the "Daily Mirror" (Page 14 in The Scurra column, to be precise) on Monday November 3. The article stated the following: "Television executives flying back from New York the other day were, I am told, discussing who they would most like to appear in their new Dr Who series. Rowan Atkinson, expect the call any day now." (Thanks to Terry Francis)"
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
10:21 / 10.11.03
Again, from gallifreyone.com

... NOOOOO!!!

"Comic and SF author Neil Gaiman, on his online blog today, posted a response to a question, which was "Russel T. Davies has suggested that the first season of new Doctor Who episodes will include 13 episodes at 45 minutes apiece. Any chance you would write an episode if asked?" Gaiman's answer: "If I have time, certainly. (It took five years to find time to write a Babylon 5 episode, of course...)" Gaiman recently penned the foreword for the forthcoming Telos Doctor Who novella "Eye of the Tyger" so he's obviously very familiar with the show... (Thanks to Steve Manfred)"
 
 
Eloi Tsabaoth
10:32 / 10.11.03
YEEEEESSSSS!!!!

Or at least

MAYYYYBEEEE, DEEEPEEENDINNGGG OOOONNN HOOOW GOOOOOD IIITTTT ISSSS!!!
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
11:44 / 10.11.03
Rowan Atkinson on current form would be an appalling choice, arguably even worse than Alan Davies... We don't want mugging and pratfalls, thanks.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
11:53 / 10.11.03
Well, I sit in my happy minority of disliking Gaiman most days anyway. But I also found this at gallifreyone, so apparently nothing is in stone, and I LIKE Mr. Davies' inspiration source.

"The Doctor has not been cast yet. No master plan to bring the show back was in the offing; it just sort of happened, as a consequence of Davies repeatedly telling the BBC that he'd only work with them if he got to do Doctor Who. There's a production meeting on December 8th; things may start inching ahead around then. There will be other writers on the show but they'll be writing to specific briefs Davies sets. There will be a mix of stories; the whole spectrum of stuff from the old series, plus some new types of stories. Davies mentioned "Sapphire & Steel-type stories" involving shenanigans with time as one possible type of story."
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
13:05 / 13.11.03
New Doctor Who cartoon started today on BBCi

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/

... eh.
 
 
El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt
20:36 / 14.11.03
I saw it. Seems to hit all the familiar notes. No surprises.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
16:19 / 22.11.03


Just since a few posters seem suddenly interested in the Doctor Who series return but have not found this thread.

Oh, and http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/ has info on the 40th Anniversary weekend (this weekend) as well as pics of the old still living Doctors on the Radio Times covers.

Happy 40th, Doctor Who.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
20:45 / 22.11.03
Well, the Radio Times interview with Davies has him saying ".. it'll be a good run... at least six episodes," which contradicts with other stuff posted in this thread and suggests that he doesn't have the first idea what the fuck's going on.

Six episodes and he needs to farm the scripts out? Promising...
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
18:09 / 23.11.03
I wager the RT interview was done earlier. It jives with earlier news.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
21:54 / 23.11.03
The current story is that it's a committed 5 year stint of Who:

from gallifreyone.com

"Journalist Matthew Sweet penned an article on the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who for the Independent on November 16, which has only now been made available to readers online. Click here to read the article. Very importantly, the article mentions the return of the series with some interesting information: "There'll be at least one important difference, though, between the programme's 20th and 21st-century incarnations," Sweet writes. "The new Doctor Who will be one of the BBC's flagship programmes. [Producer Russell T.] Davies and his co-conspirator, Mal Young, Controller of Continuing Drama Series, have secured a commitment to five series of 13, 45-minute episodes. They'll be able to afford an expensive actor for the lead role. They'll get billboard ads, Radio Times covers and publicity spots across the media. The original programme rarely enjoyed such security." The article then goes on to mention that "Russell T Davies has his first production meeting on 8 December." While we have no idea how definite any of this information is, it certainly breeds speculation that the BBC is fully committing itself to the production, and that good times may indeed be ahead."
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
23:06 / 03.03.04
Official Writers of the new Doctor Who announced at www.gallifreyone.com, where it also said to expect an announcement of who is the new Doctor in the next month or so.

"Both Doctor Who Magazine #341 and an internal BBC magazine, Ariel, have announced the writers signed for the first season of the new Doctor Who series. Joining producer Russell T. Davies, who will pen 8 episodes himself, are:

Mark Gatiss, best known as the writer and co-creator of "The League of Gentlemen" and the author of several Doctor Who stories including the novels "Last of the Gaderene," "St. Anthony's Fire," "The Roundheads" and "Nightshade" and the Big Finish audios "Phantasmagoria" and "Invaders from Mars," and who penned several of the P.R.o.B.e. videos for BBV

Steven Moffat, the creator of BBC2's popular comedy series "Coupling" which won "Sitcom of the Year" at the British Comedy Awards, and whose previous Doctor Who credit was the teleplay for the Comic Relief special "The Curse of Fatal Death" with Rowan Atkinson, Julia Sawalha and Jonathan Pryce

Paul Cornell, the popular writer whose work includes episodes of "Casualty," "Wavelength," "Doctors," "Children's Ward" and "Springhill," and whose Doctor Who works include such novels as "Happy Endings," "Love and War," "The Shadows of Avalon" and both the screenplay for and novelisation of BBCi's "The Scream of the Shalka"

Rob Shearman, an acclaimed playwright and stage writer who has written Big Finish's most popular Doctor Who audio teleplays including "The Holy Terror," "The Chimes of Midnight," "Jubilee," "Scherzo" and "Deadline," and who was awarded Writer of the Year at 2003's Doctor Who Magazine awards in London in November

Producer Mal Young told Ariel, "I've never received so many requests from writers and actors to be involved in a drama series, as I have had for Doctor Who." Added producer Julie Gardner, "Finding writers for the new series of Doctor Who has been one of the best jobs I've ever had. The talent available was exceptional." Davies himself noted that he believes that he has "the best people in the business now working on the best show. They'll be writing stories ranging across the whole of time and space. The Doctor and Rose already have the best allies on their journey - brilliant writers with brilliant scripts. It's an honour to work with these people who are so talented; they shouldn't be allowed to travel together!" Outpost Gallifrey has learned that one of these newly confirmed writers will pen two scripts for Davies; another unnamed participant decided to withdraw at an earlier time (solely due to schedule complications). All are said to be working off of "very basic" ideas - rather than full outlines, as has been reported elsewhere - from Davies, who will generate the major framework of the first series and is leaving the actual details to these experienced TV writers. Filming on the new series begins "in the spring." More details as we get them. (Thanks to BBCi and DWM)"
 
 
ThePirateKing
00:10 / 04.03.04
Thanks for posting.
 
 
Gary Lactus
09:53 / 04.03.04
Yeah, thanks for putting that info up. Sounds like there's a lot of enthusiasm behind Who. This is good. Shooting starts in spring? Fantastic! I'll be going now to hang around all the disused quarries in this fair isle hoping for a glimpse of Whovian activity.
 
 
Chubby P
10:12 / 04.03.04
Does anyone know how long it takes to make shows? If they're shooting in Spring does when are we likely to see this on TV? Could it be as early as Autumn 2004? Spring 2005? Autumn 2005?
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
20:30 / 04.03.04
Glad you guys like the news.

It SUCKS being a who fan in the US. We get fuck all as far as news. Can I pay someone to send any cool new Who stuff over to me in the US as the series progresses, like Radio Times issue or something?
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
22:26 / 05.03.04
Good sign from gallifreyone.com regarding horror influence

"Mark Gatiss, the writer recently announced to be part of the first season's new writing team, appeared on this evening's edition of BBC Radio 4's daily arts programme "Front Row". Among the items Gatiss mentioned: Although perceived as an SF series, the strength of Doctor Who was always horror, and the team would "love to get back to 'proper scares'" as well as appeal to a mainstream audience. Gatiss feels that the best moemnts of Doctor Who involve wanting to travel with the characters of the Doctor and his companion, and he cited the Tom Baker / Elisabeth Sladen relationship versus the bickering of later TARDIS crews. When Gatiss was pressured on who he visualized when writing his script, he jokingly replied "Me, only me!" (Gatiss is an actor as well as writer), but mentioned he didn't know who would play the role of the Doctor (but we may know soon). His choice for the role? David Warner, who he has mentioned in the past. Gatiss is currently working on the first draft of his script."
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
17:26 / 19.03.04
rumor from gallifreyone.com... this should be verified one way or the other by next week.

Fan sites (and our forums) are buzzing with a new rumor about actor Christopher Eccleston being cast as the new Doctor for the forthcoming series. At this time these are exactly that, just rumors to join the other casting rumors bandied about. According to our friends at BBCi this morning, the news last week that the Doctor still had not been cast is still true today. If and when this role is cast, expect a huge buzz in the media; Outpost Gallifrey will report on it if and when we hear a definite confirmation. Update: Eccleston's agent has denied that he has been cast in the role. Meanwhile, an apparent BBC internal memo states that casting is "down to a shortlist of three; discussions are on-going"; if Eccleston is one of these three finalists -- and we have not heard if he is or not -- the deal has not been signed and there are still decisions to be made.
 
 
Gary Lactus
18:53 / 19.03.04
Hmmm... Christopher Eccleston is a bit too good looking in a kind of rugged Sean Bean way for me. I don't want The Doctor being a bit of a spunk. I reckon he needs to be pretty asexual, really. It makes him more alien and eccentric.

Perhaps they won't try and sex Who up but Christopher Eccleston as a casting possibility suggests to me that they're considering it.
 
 
Gary Lactus
18:55 / 19.03.04
Incidentally, The Doctor should never appear with or be thought of as having an erection.
 
 
Gary Lactus
19:01 / 19.03.04
By the way, I am Fraely Boyce. Runce and I have unexpectedly been combined into the head (Runce)and legs (Fraely) of a giant fighting Robot. I suspect Torso and Arms shall arrive soon to join the party that my fiction suit has become. WOO!
 
 
■
20:02 / 19.03.04
Right. Over to celebdaq, quick! Nooooooo. He's not listed! I thought it was pretty much a cert that it was going to be REG, though.
 
  

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