Doctor Who

[neroden1]

I think Davies is contrasting the future companions with the worse companion portrayals on-screen, rather than the better ones (or the consistently better portrayals in the books and audios). A lot of people still remember Jo Grant (who is portrayed as very stupid in an unfortunate number of stories). Sarah Jane Smith, probably the best-remembered companion, is portrayed as intelligent and sophisticated in some stories -- and as stupid and headstrong in others. Peri was used mainly as a sex object (although she was in some of the worst scripts the show ever had). Then there's the severely overused plot device of "companion does something stupid and has to be rescued by the Doctor".



You have to remember that that interview was for the general press, who have vague memories of Doctor Who, rather than the specialist press -- I look forward to seeing what Davies says in his upcoming DWM interview....



I've been a solid Doctor Who fan to the point where I actually have all the books and audios. They have gotten rather tiresome lately. The 8th Doctor books just wrote out a really good companion (Anji) while wiffling on with lots of grand universe-spanning, yet vague, inconsistent, and incomprehensible plots. The audios were doing pretty well at sticking to decent stories, but unfortunately I just heard Zagreus and I have to give it an F.



I came up with a theory a while back that Doctor Who was best if its production team changed every few years, and that many of the worst periods occurred as a result of stagnant, tired production teams. Big Finish has now had the same production team for two years, the books for longer than that....



I look forward to Davies' interpretation -- and I hope after a few years he hands it off to someone else. :-)





Edited to add -- the books feature the first defintely bi companions, as a matter of fact. Sam is bi thanks to Kate Orman (in Seeing I), although the subsequent authors seem not to have noticed. Benny is bi thanks to her creator Paul Cornell, although again most of the subsequent authors seem not to have noticed. Wish they'd kept continuity....

Edited by: neroden1 at: 12/12/03 9:13 am

[BBOvenGuy]

I wouldn't go so far as to give "Zagreus" an F (how can you give something an F with Sylvester McCoy playing a Walt Disney parody who calls himself "Uncle Winkie?" ), but I didn't like the direction it took the series. Not at all. And I didn't really see the point of taking the series in that direction when the new TV show is going to come along and invalidate it.



I hope they do more audios with Doctors 5, 6 and 7, though. They've been a great way to endure the wait until 2005...

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[sam7777]

Alan Davies is still considered a front runner for Dr Who:

Saffy's secret wedding

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Alan, 37, who first rose to prominence as a stand-up comedian, is now one of the nation's best-known actors, with a string of dramatic successes to his name. Such is his current bankability that he is the hot favourite to be the new Dr Who in this year's BBC remake of the cult science fiction drama.

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He recently married Julia Sawalha who plays Saffy in ABFAB.

Quote:

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"Trek" and "Doctor Who" have their immortality assured.



You could ask them about a certain other show and I would bet you anything that less than 5% even knew what you were talking about.

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Tim, too true. Trek and "Dr Who" are real cutural phenomenons that stand the test of time not tredny flash in the pan shite that already is outdated like other shows I could name.

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

Edited by: sam7777  at: 1/7/04 2:34 pm

[J uk]

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He recently married Julia Sawalha who plays Saffy in ABFAB.

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They've said that they're not even engaged, and are suing the newspapers who printed the story.



Anyway, on topic:

www.teletext.co.uk/tvplus...=1&ref=305

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Doctor Who to return in 12-part mega-series

Exclusive by Simon Holden



The Daleks and Cybermen are on course for a galactic conflict with the new Doctor Who.



The BBC is poised to spend over £4m on a 12-part series and wants to stay true to the spirit of the classic science-fiction show.



Scripts are being written and BBC drama boss Mal Young has pledged there will be no room for giant rubber slugs and furry-suited yetis. The last Doctor will be regenerated into the new one and have a glamorous female sidekick.



Young has promised to make the new series look just as good as Buffy and The X-Files.



He exclusively told TV Plus: "Viewers are used to the production values of Buffy and sci-fi movies and if we do it in a studio with a cardboard cut-out and a rubber monster, viewers will shoot us down. They are sophisticated enough to want quality.



"It is expensive but technology now allows you to do things with computers that weren't possible five years ago."



Although BBC chiefs haven't cast the new Doctor Who or his assistant, they look certain to bring back his arch enemies.



Young said: "We're not ruling out any characters. We have a great central character and we want to remain true to his spirit.



"He will regenerate but we will bring it up to date, modernise the storytelling. People will expect great monsters, battles and saving the world."



Young said: "It isn't as expensive as it could have been. But we're not going to scrimp on this because the viewers won't like it."



The last Doctor Who drama starred Paul McGann in an Anglo-American production screened in 1996.



He is almost certain to appear in the first episode of the new series to be regenerated into the new Doctor.



Scripts are being written by award winner Russell T Davies and the drama will be made by BBC Wales but, as Young pointed out, there is already strong interest worldwide.



"The speculation around this show has gobsmacked us. The minute we announced this show we were getting hundreds of e-mails from Australia and New Zealand."



17/01/2004

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[Scarecrow]

Heh, just wanna throw in my views on "Zagreus".



Awsome.



Why? Because, after 40 years, it was DIFFERENT, INVENTIVE, SHOCKING and, overall, NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED. Anyone can throw out a multi-Doc story and they aren't usually great. Everyone expected Three past Docs battle against an Evil McGann. But, we have the Valeyard and Master as "Evil Doctor" types and it would of been the same.



Instead we get an elaborate, epic story which twists and turns and gives us a tale we never expected. It was Doctor Who not bound by convention or view; it was a celebration of the shows unique format.



And it came togetehr in a FANTASTIC final episode. I had chills down my back as Zagrues (McGann) was heard smashing a hammer against the anvil and speaking one of the rhymes.



Overall, a wonderful celebration which, despit eperhaps dragging in the middle, told an epic, powerful story and proved Doctor Who can still surprise.



- Scarecrow

"Everything is turning out so dark"

[BBOvenGuy]

Here are a couple of shots from today's events at the Gallifrey One convention in Van Nuys CA.



First, Paul McGann and India Fisher with their producer, Jason Haigh-Ellery.







Second, Sylvester McCoy with Producer Gary Russell.







For a write-up of the day's events, you can check out my LiveJournal entry here.



More news and pics tomorrow. Later in the week, I'll be getting the pictures from my 35mm camera, which should be much better.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[Scarecrow]

I'm so lucky.



In February 2002, Paul McGann actuall visited my school as part of our Sixth Forms programme for celebrity talks (year before was Kate Aidie).



Knowing how big a DW fan I was I was invited by the organisers to have lunch with him. Got his autograph, he signed my TV Movie DVD and I spent the rest of the day sat in awe and occasionaly managing to say a few words.



He nicknamed me "Spooky" by the end...



- Scarecrow

"Everything is turning out so dark"

[Sheridan]

Actually the Buffy comparison for companions is a fair one, because by the end Buffy was just a foil for a strong male lead to show how great they were, though frankly most of the doctors companions were given more dsignity than the Slayer of the later seasons.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[BBOvenGuy]

Oh come on, it's not even close! Someone like Ace or Sarah Jane or even a 60's companion like Zoe got much more respect than Buffy was getting in S6 & S7.



By the way, here are more pics from Gallifrey One.







Paul McGann with "Shada" co-star Susannah Harker (from Ultraviolet)







India Fisher







Sylvester McCoy and Janet Fielding



And you can find my LiveJournal entry about Day 2 of the convention here.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[WebWarlock]

Wow, my favorite Doctor (the 7th) and one of my favorite companions, Teagan, on the same stage.



It's funny how I think I am over Who and I read Bob's posts here or his blog and whoosh! I am sucked right back into it.



Long live the Doctor!



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"Razzle, dazzle, drazzle, drone, time for this one to come home." - The Replacements, "Hold My Life"

[Scarecrow]

Some news of interest.



Big Finish, who do the aduio plays, have announced they are attempting to start up an audio series of...



Ultraviolet.



Damn I loved that show, hope they pull this off!



- Scarecrow

"Everything is turning out so dark"

[BBOvenGuy]

That doesn't surprise me. They do several series now, including The Tomorrow People and Judge Dredd (although not the Sylvester Stallone version, who I heard one person at Gallifrey One refer to as "a Bronx Inspector Clouseau" ).



Besides, they've already worked with Susannah Harker on "Shada."



Oh, and sorry to say this Tim, but don't look for Tegan to make a return in the Big Finish audios. Janet Fielding is most definitely out of the acting biz now.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[Scarecrow]

The writers for the new series have been announced!



Russle T Davis will be writing 7 of the 13 episodes.



The others will be written by:



Stephen Moffat

Paul Cornell

Robert Shearman

Mark Gatis (the League of Gentlemen)



Great news!



- Scarecrow

"Everything is turning out so dark"

[shivermetimbers]

I vaguely remember seeing an episode when I was a kid that ended with Adric (the doctor's boy companion) crashing a space ship into the Earth leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs.



Does anyone know the title of this episode or if it really existed?



Thanks.

"All of the world is designed to remind you, all of the love you can find, is inside, under all of the noise, here's your chance to be overjoyed" - Christine Kane

[sam7777]

My bro is a big fan but I never got into it. Still this 12 episode series may be my ticker to Dr Whodom.



Scarecrow: I love Ultraviolet too. It was the best modern vamp series on TV bar none IMHO. An audio series would be cool but I would love to see the show continued.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[WebWarlock]

smt said,

Quote:

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I vaguely remember seeing an episode when I was a kid that ended with Adric (the doctor's boy companion) crashing a space ship into the Earth leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs.



Does anyone know the title of this episode or if it really existed?



Thanks.

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It is called "Earthshock" from around 82. It was not the first time a companion was killed off, but it was one of more memorable times.



Oh, and unlike some shows, Adric was mourned and his loss was felt even a year after the fact.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"Razzle, dazzle, drazzle, drone, time for this one to come home." - The Replacements, "Hold My Life"

[BBOvenGuy]

Quote:

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unlike some shows, Adric was mourned and his loss was felt even a year after the fact.

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Not only that, but Adric was mentioned in two of the Big Finish audio dramas that Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton have done recently, roughly twenty years later.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[shivermetimbers]

Hey thanks for all the groovy Adric information. I had a huge crush on him as a kid, back when I used to swing that way. I'm going to see if I can get the series on DVD or video



Amazing how he was kept alive in the Doctor Who universe and Tara was so disposable in Joss's that she was hardly even mentioned by name the entire first year after her death.

"All of the world is designed to remind you, all of the love you can find, is inside, under all of the noise, here's your chance to be overjoyed" - Christine Kane

[Ben Varkentine]

He is Christopher Eccleston. The story is here:



www.mirror.co.uk/news/all..._page.html

Ben



"Never be discouraged from being an activist because people tell you that you'll not succeed. You have already succeeded if you're out there representing truth or justice or compassion or fairness or love."

-- Doris 'Granny D' Haddock

[J uk]

Heh. This morning the Daily Mail printed that Bill Nighy will play the Doctor, narrowly beating Richard E. Grant and Alan "Jonathan Creek" Davies.



But, here's the official word from Auntie:

www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctor...0073.shtml

[BBOvenGuy]

And so once again, after months of tossing around every well-known British actor's name people can think of, the BBC goes and chooses someone nobody ever considered. Hey, it's worked every time before, so I'm not complaining.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[Scarecrow]

I'm very excited by this choice, he's a great actor whose been in some wonderful pieces.



And with Russel T Davies producing what could go wrong? He created "The Dark Season", "Queer as Folk" and "The Second Coming" all of which were fantastic.



Can't wait to see what stories he comes up with!



- Scarecrow

"Everything is turning out so dark"

[Twisted Minstrel]

It's been posted on aintitcoolnews that the new Doctor Who will be played by Christopher Eccelston (Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, The Others). I"m assuming this is official.



A Peter Davison clone? Interesting choice?

[BBOvenGuy]

Something you'll never see happen in the USA:



The BBC has a new Chairman - Michael Grade, Controller of BBC1 in the 1980s and the man who put Doctor Who on hiatus for 18 months between seasons 22 and 23 and then cancelled the series alltogether in 1989. He's on record in several instances as saying he hated the show.



Now several Members of Parliament, representing all three of the UK's major political parties, have written an open letter to Mr. Grade, urging him to keep his hands off Doctor Who. They worry that he'll cancel the show, "potentially wasting significant sums of licence payers’ money."



Somehow, I doubt you'd ever see any Congressmen running ads in Variety to support an American TV show.



You can read more about the letter here.



Edited to add: I just found an interview with Mr. Grade himself, and here's what he had to say - "The last time I axed Doctor Who, there was all sorts of consternation amongst the Board of Governors. It's not a matter for the Governors, it's a matter for the Management... This time it's none of my business what happens to Doctor Who, as long as I don't have to watch it."

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 4/3/04 12:56 pm

[WebWarlock]

Exactly Bob.



Well we did have a Vice President (Al Gore) freely admit he was a "Trekker", that is about as close as we got.



I remember all too well the fiasco around Grade, called "the Valeyard" by some Who fans (in reference to one of the Doctors most evil foes).



The actions and activism done then was enough to make recent cancelations look like sad little pity-parties. Oh wait.



In any case, so looking forward to new Who!



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"I am the god of hellfire! And I bring you Fire!" - Arthur Brown, "Fire" The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

[Sheridan]

Well when I heard about Grade I offered my commiserations to my brother who is a major fan of the Doctor. Is it just coincidence that Grade takes the job after the return of Doctor Who is announced or is he still on his sacred mission to finish it off?

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[Ben Varkentine]

It's being reported that Anthony Ainley, the second actor to play The Master as a major character on the show, has passed on.

Ben



"Never be discouraged from being an activist because people tell you that you'll not succeed. You have already succeeded if you're out there representing truth or justice or compassion or fairness or love."

-- Doris 'Granny D' Haddock

[BBOvenGuy]

Wow, and I didn't think he was that old. Any details on what happened?



By the way, Anthony Ainley was the fourth actor to play the Master - he was played by Peter Pratt in "The Deadly Assassin" and Geoffrey Beevers in "The Keeper of Traken." Geoffrey Beevers has reprised the role in the Big Finish audio adventures, beginning with the story "Dust Breeding." They made up some technobabble about how some kind of accident killed the Tremas body the Master had hijacked, and so he reverted to the withered near-death self that Geoffrey Beevers had played before.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 5/11/04 12:53 pm

[justin]

Anthony Ainley was 71 years old. The only details I've been able to find after a quick search was that it was following a lengthy illness.

There's more than one way to do it. - The Perl mantra

[Ben Varkentine]

Quote:

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By the way, Anthony Ainley was the fourth actor to play the Master - he was played by Peter Pratt in "The Deadly Assassin" and Geoffrey Beevers in "The Keeper of Traken."

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I'm well aware of that, Bob--hence my use of the words "As a major character," IE, recurring semiregular.

Ben



"Never be discouraged from being an activist because people tell you that you'll not succeed. You have already succeeded if you're out there representing truth or justice or compassion or fairness or love."

-- Doris 'Granny D' Haddock