The return of Doctor Who (SPOILERS)
Moonraker 5
Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
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 )
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 )
Comments
MBE
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).
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
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!
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
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!
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.
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...
MBE
Bad news about the companion however: rumours have it that Billie Piper is hotly tipped...
@merseytart
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.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3533011.stm
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 ...
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!
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 ...
incarnation.
Rose Tyler may be played by Lucy Speed or Susan Earl but I suspect the Doctor will get his first non caucasian companion.
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?
@merseytart
No ... now go away and don't darken our door again!!
The perfect choice would have been Victoria Shalet but she has already said no