The return of Doctor Who (SPOILERS)

Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
edited April 2007 in Off Topic Chat
As the BBC have confirmed that Dr Who will return to our screens in 2005 after a 14 year break, the speculation is on as to who will will pick up the ? name.

As budgets etc. have still to be set, the BBC isn't speculating on cast yet, but there's decent support that the new Doctor should be a woman (and why not?). On the back of that, a central Scotland radio station this morning stated it's three favourites - Dame Judi Dench, Dame Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman. All in their mature years and all Bond women.

Personally I'd throw Zoe Wannamaker in there too... Any other thoughts?

( More...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3140786.stm )
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Comments

  • MBE_MBE_ USAPosts: 266MI6 Agent
    edited September 2003
    Cool! And yes why not a woman after all the body is ever changeable and rather irrelevent. My vote of the three would be Dame Diana. I'm tired of just seeing her introduce Mystery! It'sa waste. But does this mean they've given up on trying to make a Dr Who film since they'll be concentrating on a new series?

    MBE
  • Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
    As far as I'm aware the BBC always scoffed at rumours of a film version. But then again, the TV series may well be a good measure to test the water for such a venture, but it would more than likely be along the lines of the X-Files movie.

    Incidentally, Diana Rigg still appears in drama features with pivotal roles here in the UK, but she's also involved with Stirling University (I know she's Chancellor there, but she's either attending a course or helps out in some way).
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  • MBE_MBE_ USAPosts: 266MI6 Agent
    Thanks for the information. :)

    Now that I think about it Diana Rigg does have a rather recent (at least here it's recent ) Mystery detective series of her own. I wonder though what else I've been missing from her recently. :-/

    MBE
  • fire and icefire and ice EarthPosts: 149MI6 Agent
    edited September 2003
    Quoting Moonraker 5:
    As the BBC have confirmed that Dr Who will return to our screens in 2005 after a 14 year break, the speculation is on as to who will will pick up the ? name.

    As budgets etc. have still to be set, the BBC isn't speculating on cast yet, but there's decent support that the new Doctor should be a woman (and why not?). On the back of that, a central Scotland radio station this morning stated it's three favourites - Dame Judi Dench, Dame Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman. All in their mature years and all Bond women.

    Personally I'd throw Zoe Wannamaker in there too... Any other thoughts?

    ( More...
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3140786.stm )

    i have not seen dr who for many years, which is probably wise, i think my opinion of the show would be based on childhood nostalga. to be honest the first few incarnations of the doctor were ok, then it became ludicrus. i feel the writers never realy exploited the possibilies of the dr who charactor...the cheapness of the show did'nt help either. regarding a new version... who has the rights now bbc or itv (itv did a tv moviein the 90's), either way look at the type of programmes they make nowadays, very poor indeed. if an american studio got hold of the writes, say spielberg produced it, it could be good, i believe spielberg has been linked with a possible movie version for some time!
    '...exceptionally fine shot...'
  • Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
    edited September 2003
    Quoting FROSTY:
    A female Doctor?, a "NURSE Who"? - no thanks!
    An extremely sexist comment indeed. I sincerely hope it was meant as a joke, even at that not a particularly funny one.

    It wasn't the producers floating that suggestion either - they're not floating anything at all at this stage - it's the people.

    In response to your question, fire and ice, the BBC own the Who rights. The 1996 made-for-TV movie (if it was on ITV or where ever I can't remember) was co-produced by the BBC and some American outfit, according to the BBC webpage.

    Interestingly, which will no doubt catch MBE's eye, the BBC account of the feature film attempts includes candidates for the role such as John Cleese...and none other than Pierce Brosnan.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/features/brief_history/cancelled.shtml
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  • fire and icefire and ice EarthPosts: 149MI6 Agent
    has every new doctor got younger? excluding silvester mccoy. is doctor who supposed to be aging backwards, de-evolving or something to that effect, if that the case he would be in his late teens/early twenties now :)
    '...exceptionally fine shot...'
  • HardyboyHardyboy Posts: 5,882Chief of Staff
    Quoting FROSTY:
    Honor Blackman has already appeared in "DR. WHO",
    which would instantly remove her name from the list.

    Errr, not quite. . .Colin Baker appeared in the series during the Peter Davison era, playing some sort of guard who winds up shooting the Doctor; and of course CB himself won the title role about a year later.

    OK, traditionalist that I am, I don't like the idea of a female Doctor. . .let him be a cranky, eccentric Brit wearing Victorian/Edwardian togs. To me, the idea of a female Doctor is as unthinkable as a female Bond!
    Vox clamantis in deserto
  • Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
    edited September 2003
    Quoting Hardyboy:
    To me, the idea of a female Doctor is as unthinkable as a female Bond!
    Ah, but Bond can't regenerate his body while keeping his mind (not yet anyway...), so there's nothing to say that the Doctor can't be a dog, or some kind of alien...

    Still, I know where you're coming from, but I can visualise any one of the women mentioned above in exactly the same kind of quirky outfits that have gone before.

    Still, whoever takes on the role I'll just be glad to see it back. The preserved Police Boxes still on the streets of Glasgow (and elsewhere in Britain) will have a whole new meaning to a new generation.
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  • tirpitztirpitz Posts: 339MI6 Agent
    Who is Dr. Who?
  • NAOMI_FAN 1NAOMI_FAN 1 Posts: 85MI6 Agent
    When I watched Doctor Who growing up, I had the biggest crush on Elizabeth Sladen! I still like her! I wish I had her autograph in my collection!!
  • RoebuckRoebuck UKPosts: 25MI6 Agent
    edited September 2003
    Quoting Moonraker 5:
    Personally I'd throw Zoe Wannamaker in there too... /quote]

    Inspired casting. Zoë has those Elvin, almost otherworldly features that would fit the quirky nature of the show (at it's best).
    Hope the BBC has learned from recent events and don't try to 'sex up' the programme.
  • Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
    edited March 2004
    For those of you who haven't heard, and are vaguely interested, the BBC have signed their new Dr Who! 40 year old Shallow Grave star Christopher Ecclestone will don the eccentric costume and emerge from the police box next year as the 9th Doctor...

    _38209128_two_blood300.jpgBBC News: Ecclestone is new Doctor
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  • HardyboyHardyboy Posts: 5,882Chief of Staff
    HOLY SMOKES!! I really admire Eccleston as an actor, but isn't he a bit intense for the role? In every film I've seen him in he seems on the verge of imploding from his tortured psyche. Ah, well, I'm glad, though, that the series is returning, and I hope they explain that the Paul McGann debacle was something that happened in a parallel universe. Eric Roberts as the Master? The Doctor being half-human and gettin' it on with his companion in the TARDIS? I still grow nauseated at the thought!
    Vox clamantis in deserto
  • Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
    Quoting Hardyboy:
    HOLY SMOKES!! I really admire Eccleston as an actor, but isn't he a bit intense for the role? In every film I've seen him in he seems on the verge of imploding from his tortured psyche.
    Well, it goes hand in hand with the warnings that Dr Who is going to be a much darker show than we remember it, more than likely in hour long episodes which are self-contained. He'll have a female side-kick, who according to reports will try and engage the Doctor in discussions about the likes of Eastenders and ask his advice on relationship problems, though the Doctor will be dismissive and uninterested.

    Nonetheless, we are being told to expect a much deeper show. Though the BBC are currently locked in a copyright battle over the Daleks, which they hope to resolve before the first series begins production...
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  • MBE_MBE_ USAPosts: 266MI6 Agent
    edited March 2004
    Hardyboy, well you can feel comfort that you won't have a repeat performance of Dr Who getting it on in the TARDIS, not unless his companion was Cruella DeVille. Eccelston... : shudder :: Aside from being intense, he's one scary looking guy.

    MBE
  • jetsetwillyjetsetwilly Liverpool, UKPosts: 1,048MI6 Agent
    Eccleston's slightly barmy intensity sounds great for Who: think Tom Baker's "clearly barking" portrayal. And he can handle the twisted comedy needed for the part, if his League of Gentlemen performance is anything to go by (one of the writers of which, Mark Gatiss, is also writing for Who). On top of that, he's got a great working relationship with Russell T Davies after Second Coming. He sounds different to what was before, and yet of the same line.

    Bad news about the companion however: rumours have it that Billie Piper is hotly tipped...
    Founder of the Wint & Kidd Appreciation Society.

    @merseytart
  • wormloverwormlover Formerly Derbyshire, UKPosts: 46MI6 Agent
    I have a feeling they are going to ruin it...
  • PredatorPredator Posts: 790Chief of Staff
    I was getting very excited about the prospects until you mentioned Mrs Evans ... although I did see something recently with her in that was at least passable (sorry can't remember the piece), so it might not all be bad.
  • Moore Not LessMoore Not Less Posts: 1,095MI6 Agent
    The news of Christopher Ecclestone's casting as the Doctor came as something of a surprise to me. Earlier today I read an article in the Daily Mail which stated that Bill Nighy was going to be announced as the new Doctor. I forgot the old maxim, never believe everything that you read in the newspapers.

    According to the article, Bill Nighy beat off competition from Richard E Grant and Alan Davies. In one episode Nighy will be joined by actor Alfred Molina when the Doctor goes back in time for a plot involving Joan of Arc. The BBC is in talks with the star of French film Amelie, Audrey Tautou, to play Joan.

    Also, according to the article, the Doctor will be joined by a feisty young assistant called Rose Tyler, who is still to be cast.
  • Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
    The writers behind The League Of Gentlemen and Coupling have also signed up to be part of the writing team and filming begins in Cardiff this spring.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3533011.stm
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  • PredatorPredator Posts: 790Chief of Staff
    Quoting Moore Not Less:
    According to the article, Bill Nighy beat off competition from Richard E Grant and Alan Davies. In one episode Nighy will be joined by actor Alfred Molina when the Doctor goes back in time for a plot involving Joan of Arc. The BBC is in talks with the star of French film Amelie, Audrey Tautou, to play Joan.

    My wife thought the same (probably via Heat magazine) ... but the Nighy story was from October last year, when he was the front runner. Oh how quickly things can change (Nighy could have been asking for too much money given the success of his Billy Mack character in Love Actually ...
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    I read the Bill Nighy story as well and was pleased he had taken the role.Shame its an old story as he would be ten times better than Christopher Eccleston who,though he is fine actor,is too intense for Dr Who.
  • HardyboyHardyboy Posts: 5,882Chief of Staff
    Quoting jetsetwilly:
    Eccleston's slightly barmy intensity sounds great for Who: think Tom Baker's "clearly barking" portrayal.

    Ah, but Jetset, the beloved T. Baker (my favorite Doc, by the bye) always came across as a loveable and--to quote Douglas Adams--mostly harmless eccentric. I can't see Eccleston donning a 20-foot-long scarf or carrying around a bag of jelly babies. . .I see him in the Master's skin-tight black suit and mowing down the Cybermen by the intensity of his glare!

    Sigh. . .I don't like the idea of a "darker" take on Dr. Who. One of the charms of the original series was its willingness to be goofy: the cardboard sets, monsters with zippers on their backs, a squid-faced alien masquerading as Julian Glover dealing in art. . .those were the days!
    Vox clamantis in deserto
  • PredatorPredator Posts: 790Chief of Staff
    Eccleston is a very talented actor .. and just because he tends to be known for his darker roles (thank you Shallow Grave) doesn't mean to sasy he can turn his hand at something else ...

    However, the whole idea of Doctor Who has been on each actor change to change the personality of the Doctor himself (perhaps the cleverest of ideas). So you get Hartnell's crusty grandad to Troughton's off-kilter amiable Doctor to Pertwee's Edwardian action man to Baker's loopy student-type to Davidson's cricket fanatic to Colin Baker's genial and more portly creation to McCoy's figdity elf-like characterisation.

    Who knows how they will pitch Doctor number 7/8 (never sure whether to count McGann given his 90 minutes in the role ...
  • sainttemplarsainttemplar Posts: 2MI6 Agent
    he is the ninth doctor ( which means that Richard E Grant in Scream of the Shalka doesn't count).McGann definitely does and is the eighth
    incarnation.
    Rose Tyler may be played by Lucy Speed or Susan Earl but I suspect the Doctor will get his first non caucasian companion.
  • AlexAlex The Eastern SeaboardPosts: 2,694MI6 Agent
    The new Doctor!

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  • jetsetwillyjetsetwilly Liverpool, UKPosts: 1,048MI6 Agent
    Lucy Speed? As in Nat-uh-lie from EastEnders? Blimey...

    I would've liked to have seen Julia Sawalha get her chance (she was going to be the replacement for Ace, way back when). Sadly, her work as sidekick to a magical weirdo on Jonathan Creek probably rules her out. If there's going to be a darker Doctor, a lighter companion would be good - Lucy Davies from The Office perhaps, or Natalie Casey from Two Pints of Lager... (terrible show, but she's got a fantastic comic sense about her). Dare I even mention the words Patsy Palmer?
    Founder of the Wint & Kidd Appreciation Society.

    @merseytart
  • PredatorPredator Posts: 790Chief of Staff
    Quoting jetsetwilly:
    Dare I even mention the words P**** P*****?

    No ... now go away and don't darken our door again!!

    :)) ;)
  • sainttemplarsainttemplar Posts: 2MI6 Agent
    precisely what I was going to say!
    The perfect choice would have been Victoria Shalet but she has already said no
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    According the Daily Mail the other day,Billie Piper is in the frame.
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