Doctor Who New Series 2005 (spoilers ahoy)

Considering the amount of money they're splashing out on it, I doubt the BBC are going to be it in the graveyard slot opposite Corrie. And there have been strong suggestions I gather that it'll be on Saturday, rather than any other day.

I suspect myself it will do very well; the schedules have really been crying out for this sort of show... with good publicity, it'll be rather the hit, I should think. They will easily get fans of the Gatiss/Pegg type shows on board, obv., the question is whether they can get a significant proportion of the wider LOTR or Harry Potter multitudes hooked. The central role of Russell T. Davies reassures me more than anything; the man is one of the shrewdest writers of TV drama (often comedy to some degree too) around. Even if not perfect as a writer - his way with endings can possibly be questioned - he is largely quite a giant in today's 'TV dramatist' world, c.f. the BBC being so keen to get him to write a show for them that they agreed to it being Dr Who, after his insistence. The recent "Mine All Mine" has only confirmed the man's great strengths; quite riproaring fun. It is also a good omen that writers like Paul Cornell and Rob Shearman are on board, writers of good DW in other media. And of course, Steven Moffat... and what seems like possibly inspired casting for the lead roles.

I imagine Eccleston will be multi-faceted; he only seems to have accepted the role with key assurances, and of course, the presence of Davies. Colin Baker won't be a satisfactory comparison point; he was landed in it by the 'creative team' around him, and various errs. McCoy showed 'range' in a pendulum swing from an amateurish, if not always misfiring turn in his first year, to a well sustained 'darker' portrayal in the final 1989 series. I should think the best comparisons might be Hartnell, Troughton, T. Baker and Davison, really... all actors with a good deal of range (though WH and TB had rather more distinct 'personality' types - indeed Hartnell's sergeant majoring type-casting in various British films, and Baker claimed to use a good deal of his own personality in his portrayal of the Doctor).

Eccleston has I believe intimated that he'd like to bring some humour to the role, so it's not necessarily going to be an 'overly serious' piece of Stanislavskian acting. I was very pleased to hear that he was intent on getting to the bottom of the character, and not playing it as a limited type, aka C. Baker (pompous, overbearing, arrogant blusterer in erm, a coat...) or Pertwee (using the role to do a bit of Bondian business, dispense moral homilies, and generally appear a very 'straight' partriarchal hero...).

I can't find the original press release but:

http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Dwnewseries.htm

The Doctor and his friend Rose will be able to travel anywhere, any time, every Saturday night.

http://dwas.drwho.org/news/newseries

Riches warns against scripting a love affair for the Doctor that turns more passionate given the BBC's intention to give it a tea-time Saturday slot.

http://gallifreyone.com/newseriesfaq.php

The story broke in the September [2003] London Daily Telegraph newspaper in an article called "Doctor Who ready to come out of the Tardis for Saturday TV series," which caused a whirlwind of press coverage and was shortly thereafter confirmed by an official BBC press release.

Anyway, BBC1 is running promotions on air now. No dates or anything.

Queer as Folk had the second worst ending of anything ever. If he does that to Doctor Who, I'll... stop watching.

I won't form an opinion until I see the thing; until then, I trust the judgement of loads of people at the BBC who want it to succeed.

Disappointed they won't show a regeneration this time, he'll be introduced cold. I guess this lets them get right to the point with new stories rather then wasting three months with a dazed guy wandering around figuring out what the hell is up with himself. It always did take half a season to pick up every time he regenerated anyway. but I like the transformation sequences themselves.

Kyle: The regeneration would alienate viewers. I actually really like the idea of coming into it cold, and with no assumption of prior knowledge [this is the only way to pick up a new audience]. A regeneration would give new viewers the impression that they missed something, which is never a good ploy for any show's first series. Perhaps an 8-9 regeneration will be shown in flashback next year or something, so newbies get an insight into the Doctor's origins.

Although it continues an existing concept, it's very much a whole new television show. This excites me more than anything.

(also, I remember reading an interview with the actress who played Marcie, and she said that Davies had quite a Tom Baker obsession, so perhaps he's spinning things for a more general audience in that interview?)

Doing away with the awkward regeneration period is a pretty good idea though. I never would have believed that 2005 would bring both a new Doctor Who series and a big-budget Hitchhiker's Guide movie.

AUTONS! OK, this has been no secret since the very beginning, but hooray for the return of MY FAVOURITE WHO MONSTER EVAH! There's a biohazard sign in one of the photos, which may be a nice reference to the first BBV auton film.

I should be ashamed of being excited at the photo of Baldy Briggs doing dalek voices (reprising his current role in Dalek Empire?). I am not. It is a badge of courage.

According to a Russell Davies interview, he showed a reporter "very impressive" footage of the Doctor haranguing a dalek he has chained up. The dalek plot appears to have been shot in modern London (or the bits of Cardiff that look like London) so this may well tie in with all the House Of Commons and government stuff that has been seen. A dalek invasion force?

There is what appears to be a 20th century plot featuring a church on the coast and something mysterious which turns up in the water. As long as this doesn't end up looking like a Curse Of Fenric rewrite, it could be great. I suspect the pictures of extras on a bus come from here.

There is what looks like a 19th (or very early 20th) century plot about a missing sea vessel - this could be the same thing as the previous plot I mentioned, or it could be a Bermuda Triangle/lost at sea plot a bit like Carnival Of Monsters?

There are several book files detailing "sightings" in the USA in the 60s. These may well tie in with the clapperboard marked "outer space". There's also a folk-art abduction piece, and evidence there's a story in America. Maybe the missing vessel ties into this?

There's an intriguing photo captioned "the person in this picture isn't important, but the angle he's been seen from is". It's a shot looking up from the floor. Since they're making a point over it... Cybermat? Unlikely, since there are two well known returning monsters already. Kaled? A decent call, but not revealing anything given we know about the daleks already. On that basis, I'm going to stick my neck out and say Rutan. The only problem with that is looking slightly cynical, what with Fang Rock released at about the same time.

There's an equally intriguing photo of a silver ball... not an aspect of The Great Intelligence, surely? So, say I was wrong about the Rutans...

So, a dalek three parter, an auton three parter, a rutan (or Great Intelligence) two parter, an English pastoral three parter and a US alien abduction two parter?

I strongly suspect the Eccleston Doctor will be somewhere between Hartnell and final-series McCoy. Time will tell.

I also think there's a far more prosaic reason why there isn't a regeneration scene planned. It stops Davies having to answer the question of the canonicity of the McGann 'Doctor'. (This may surprise those casually interested but it's a cause of major schism in Who fandom - I, for example, insist he is a Doctor because we see him regenerate from McCoy; whereas Frances insists it cannot be a valid regeneration since it's a film and FILMS DON'T COUNT. We were quite looking forward to seeing who Ecclestone regenerated from, just to prove this very point. If you don't believe me, look up 'Fictional Canon' on wikipedia )

Although there is some between-films continuity (e.g. references to the death of Bond's wife), the ever-changing cast has rendered any sort of canon determination virtually impossible.

What puny minds these humans have.

Also it mystifyingly omits any mention of Star Wars canon, where the books and games and comics have their own separate continuities with strong links but no hierarchy.

i notice you have time to write on message boards regarding Dr Who the series, despite the fact that you still have 983489273465891273465 Dr Who BOOKS to write about as PROMISED on do you see....

...i for one am greatly disappointed...

Now back to lurking before I am overwhelmed by the smell of geek.

That reminds me, I have more Not Who reviews I could probably put up...

YES to K9!!! That will be awesome if K9 comes back but they'll probably give him some new bubbly, sleek design which makes him look all dumb and modern.

1) He's in some great storylines (c.f. Key To Time).

2) He's better than Kamelion (Deny that Dan).

3) The Invisible Enemy was really good as well.

4) John Leeson was 1000x better than Sophie Aldred.

5) Or Bonnie Langford.

6) And he acted with Tom Baker, which was more than Julian Glover ever did (much as I love City Of Death).

7) K9 didn't outstay his welcome as a companion compared to some (the aforementioned Mel and Ace).

8) He had a whole spin-off with Liz Sladen, which in actual fact was a spin-off of the never-piloted SJS Journalist show which was discussed several times.

9) He got to call Lalla Ward "mistress".

All these things are in his favour.

1) He's in some great storylines (c.f. Key To Time).

Granted, but that's nothing to do with him being in it. He can't even roll into the Tardis properly ffs. Anyway, Romana I is way hotter than him.

2) He's better than Kamelion (Deny that Dan).

So's Adric. And Nyssa. I mean really.

4) John Leeson was 1000x better than Sophie Aldred.

FITE! Ace is my darling.

5) Or Bonnie Langford.

At least Mel did something, even if that something was screaming loads and wearing the kind of high-slung slacks my grandmother wears to lawn bowls.

6) And he acted with Tom Baker, which was more than Julian Glover ever did (much as I love City Of Death).

Pffft. I'm not convinced saying 'yes master' in a monotone voice every 12 seconds counts as acting.

7) K9 didn't outstay his welcome as a companion compared to some (the aforementioned Mel and Ace).

What, Mark I, II or III? At least Mel didn't come back in subsequent incarnations, and if she did she'd have improved. K-9 didn't even grow legs.

8) He had a whole spin-off with Liz Sladen, which in actual fact was a spin-off of the never-piloted SJS Journalist show which was discussed several times.

You managed to sit through that thing? omg you deserve a medal.

9) He got to call Lalla Ward "mistress".

So did Tom Baker.

I reckon that's just a Dalek thing.

I also think there's a far more prosaic reason why there isn't a regeneration scene planned. It stops Davies having to answer the question of the canonicity of the McGann 'Doctor'.

Davies has already said Eccleston is playing the ninth Doctor, and I think he even said he considers McGann'S Doctor a proper one. After 500 audio dramas and 2398742938742934 books, he couldn't really not be 'canon', could he? [even if the actual stories are not]

Anyway, the whole 'canon' thing is a wank. I'm hoping Davies deliberately contradicts so much of the old series than anorak fannies have no choice but to fuck off. Here are my suggestions:

1. The Doctor is half-human, half-Ice Warrior, and was adopted by Davros's two incestuous love children whilst on holiday in Gallifrey

2. The Tardis's VWORP-VWORP-VWORP noise turns out to be caused by a carrot in the mechanism, which once removed causes the Tardis to make a lovely sound akin to pixie dust

3. The Doctor had a leather fetish all along, and kills animals in his spare time

4. Peladon doesn't really exist, and was all just a dream [I'd pay to see that]

5. Romana regenerated because he got her up the duff

10) As noted by Eric Saward (I'm sure it was him, although writing the rest of it makes me think it might actually have been Sarah Sutton) in the Earthshock documentary, the Three Companion era was dominated by two of them going off doing things with the Doctor while one remained stuck back in the TARDIS. K9 pioneered this radical approach to companions.

11) K9 was useful, even when broken (as in Full Circle, where the Doctor uses his head to scare the Marshmen). Ace was useless, even when not broken.

12) Waggling his tail unjams his probe circuit (with the advantage of curing Chronic Hysteresis).

13) He wasn't in Time And The Rani or Paradise Towers.

(This is turning into Defend The Indefensible: K9, isn't it?)

Only because they couldn't leave him on his own.

11) K9 was useful, even when broken (as in Full Circle, where the Doctor uses his head to scare the Marshmen). Ace was useless, even when not broken.

LEAVE OFF MY ACE OR THERE'LL BE TROUBLE.

Anyway, Ace had guts. K-9 had a pissy little death ray that didn't even work half the time.

12) Waggling his tail unjams his probe circuit (with the advantage of curing Chronic Hysteresis).

Shouldn't get jammed in the first place. He's a futuristic robot ffs.

13) He wasn't in Time And The Rani or Paradise Towers.

Um... I can't challenge that.

(This is turning into Defend The Indefensible: K9, isn't it?)

Heh, it needs its own thread now. :)

(I'll continue to argue Ace with you though, because she was TEH FCUKIN' RUBBIDGE. Have you never watched Mindgame, which shows the full extent of Sophie's acting abilities i.e. FUCK ALL?)

"Acording to RTD's production notes in DWM following the book continuity directly would make the BBC's public charter go BOOM as people would be obliged to spend money on the books to understand the story"

so i think they are ignoring books entirely. this is the canon within the canon

Also hoping for the Dalek to self destruct due to believing too much contraidctory information from t'interweb.

Other things: More satire! More a kind of political commentary this time. The Doctor can be a very cross person. Simon Bash the PEGG! Tamisn GRIEG! The return of the Face of BO!

I liked the Face Of Boe popping up.

I did not spot any Bad Wolf references. Then again, I never do.

surely the satire on orgs which "know everything" is always that they CAN'T know everything*: that they will overlook something small and not in their mind (cf also LoTR!!) --- anyway ecclestone used his sonic screwdriver to get infinite credit, so presumably it has an "infinite credit w/o being noticed setting")

*if they did they'd know why and how not to be evil!!

still like the dialog and style ("He's your boyfriend" = "YOURS!"), but that was def worse than TEOTW even.

http://ag.arizona.edu/~epfirman/hopper.gif

I am guessing from the trailer that next week's episode will be to explain why The Doctor can't just go back in time to fix random stuff. Because if he did, he'd be attacked by giant flying gargoyles whose job is to Mend Time.

It seems to me that time travel shows shouldnt have stories that look too closely at the whole idea of it.

That said as a story I bet it's going to be grebt.

The Doctor has saved this world, in particular, so often without any sense that he knows the outcome in advance. I don't think he's ever said "Just sit back and relax - I know the Daleks/Cybermen/giant alien koalas don't take over the Earth."

he didn't know what would happen with The Slitheen although he did seem quite casual about the whole scenario. i like to think that he knows he could intervene and save more people/change situations but realises it would cause a knock-on effect and result in something even worse happening probably, as a direct result of his meddling. it's like when the fourth Doctor had the chance to destroy the Daleks before they even came into being but he just couldn't handle that responsibility. which in turn means i'm very interested in finding out why the Ninth HAD to destroy the Daleks ("i had no choice") so roll on Bad Wolf.

- Existence of daleks helps other races of the galaxy unite not fight!
- Doc4 changes history ANYWAY by sowing doubt in Davros which means he survives dalek attempt to kill him, daleks with Davros terminally factional and useless, Daleks w/o Davros deadly time-travelling universe conquerors.

eg as per chaos theory, systems have all kinds of variations built into them which still basically point in the same direction, but CERTAIN variations (even apparently tiny ones) which bring about systemic breakdown: maybe being a time lord allows you to be supersensitive to the latter, but the reasons you would be sensitive to the former are what humans are eg more sensitive to

(ie to rose "my dad is dead" is more horrible than "the universe is coming to pieces; to the doctor it's vice versa)

But has he saved the life of someone who has already died? Rose's dad did die, was dead in the future - his daughter went back and changed that(+changed the future).
I don't know much about DW's 'history' but seems to me he operates in only this universe and if he saves someone/thwarts baddie - even if he has just suddenly appeared from another time - he was 'meant' to, and if someone dies they're dead dead dead.

Other Tom is right - this was a total Sunmakers tribute, except with "taxation" replaced by "media". But I adore the Sunmakers so I didn't mind.

also i think i missed the "how to beat baddie" bit. i'd have to watch again, but it looked like ally goes "right!" then uses magical scifi device in reverse, causes system failure, upsets the aliums clever life support, bang.

i got the heat pump thing OK, but the method of upsetting the balance didn't seem to make sense.

Yeah, I guess there was a taking for granted that interfacing with the amazing wonder gizmo would switch off the heat pump, when thingummy sat down in the chair I thought what she might be doing was transmitting everything to all 600 channels so the world would go "OH NO AN ALIEN" and realise The Truth. I still find this more forgiveable though than the magic password buffalo.

Bill Bailey
Dave Gorman
Anna Friel
Robert Carlyle
Peter Serafinowicz
Josie D'arby
Dizzee Rascal
Mackenzie Crook
Sanjeev Bhaksar
the ginger bloke from The Full Monty
Robbie Coltrane
Dexter Fletcher
Julia Sawalha
Bob Mortimer
Kevin Eldon

Isn't it about time this thread regenerated?

How big bogey bat monsetr ever took over Satellite 5 considering its absolutely rubbish physiology is unclear. Furthermore why not vent the heat int - er -space. Whot is ver ver cold after all.

Was the aliang the bad guy really - killing all those people and controlling the Earth's media to keep them down, or was it the businessman Pegg, in his suit and time, working for banks eh?

Time war misplaces stuff in time?

Because Pete demanded it.