|
|
Post by dalekhunter on Mar 8, 2005 21:04:20 GMT
My favorite show of all time is back 26th march 7pm bbc one omg!! I am so excited I have been watching the mini trailers all night
|
|
|
|
Post by FALLINGSTAR on Mar 8, 2005 21:08:09 GMT
Blast, don't tell me I've missed em! What night were they on?
|
|
|
|
Post by jeffwaynefan on Mar 8, 2005 21:09:59 GMT
Tonight. . . When thre BBC finds a 2 second gap, they shove one in.
|
|
|
|
Post by FALLINGSTAR on Mar 8, 2005 21:11:58 GMT
Tonight. . . When thre BBC finds a 2 second gap, they shove one in. Right, I'm off to have a look! |
|
|
|
Post by Happy Chappy on Mar 8, 2005 21:18:33 GMT
|
|
Crook
Junior Member
Posts: 35
|
Post by Crook on Mar 8, 2005 22:26:35 GMT
And as a Dr Who fan, I must say this forst episode doesn't dissappoint. It's great! Far better than the TV movie done a few years back.
|
|
|
|
Post by EvilNerfherder on Mar 8, 2005 22:46:42 GMT
I've seen those..
I like the rejigged theme, nice and dramatic.
The Doc's modern look is good and Billie Piper is pretty cute.
Looking forward to the start of the series!
Oh..
Does the Doc regenerate from Paul MacGann or does the series start with him in Ecclestone form?
|
|
|
|
Post by FALLINGSTAR on Mar 8, 2005 22:54:12 GMT
I've just seen the ads. Not much of a glimpse but Chris E. certainly looks the part and the Tardis interior looks quite impressive. Billie don't look too bad either!
I've read though over on AICNEWS that the first episode [ that was leaked on to the net ] is a bit dodgy. Anyone else read this?
|
|
|
|
Post by Happy Chappy on Mar 8, 2005 23:02:11 GMT
I think Ecclestone will make a great Doctor. He is a great actor. Did any of you guys see that mini-series a couple of years back where he played the new Messiah? fantastic.
He was also very good in "Let Him Have It".
|
|
|
|
Post by dalekhunter on Mar 9, 2005 23:20:55 GMT
That was called the second coming! it was written by noneother than russell t davis ..who has written most of new series of dr who ..thats why they had eccleston in mind and to ...answer the regeneration question ..no he does not regenerate from mcgann he is already as this doctor its i suppose gonna be explained as a kinda flash back episode i reckon in second season...the new theme is the original hartnell theme with extra bits to make it sound more now ..it looks so great
|
|
|
|
Post by EvilNerfherder on Mar 10, 2005 0:22:47 GMT
Thanks Dalekhunter.  |
|
|
|
Post by Amasov on Mar 10, 2005 2:06:37 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by paco417 on Mar 10, 2005 3:16:50 GMT
Woo Hoo! after reading about the press reports (all thumbs up) i get the feeling that the BBC has a massive hit ready to appear. about time too!
a saturday night screening! happy days are here again! ;D ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Refugee on Mar 10, 2005 18:22:54 GMT
The new TARDIS interior is quite impressive and the first episode of the series is great. Not sure how I feel about it being leaked early ie. extatic but not really wanting to spoil the supprise but from what I have seen and heard, it is an incomplete version. The new theme sounds nice and modern whilst maintaining its mellow-dramatic spooky-ness. I want it now! But I will just have to wait.
|
|
|
|
Post by FALLINGSTAR on Mar 10, 2005 20:39:30 GMT
Thanks for the info but after reading the Guardian article I've gotta say I'm a bit dismayed. Especially when the reviewer says that it's aimed at it's youngest ever audience. I know it started out supposedly as a kids show but things have moved on now and even though I suppose it has to appeal to the young un's it appears that once again the older fans aren't really being taken in to consideration. Just like that appalling Thunderbirds travesty recently. All I seem to have heard so far about it is - how funny it is, or how much the kids will like it and because it's Doctor Who it can't be taken seriously [ usual giggling, smirking tv presenters talking about it ]. When are they going to realise that to appeal to kids a show like this doesn't have to be childish or specifically aimed at them. |
|
|
|
Post by EvilNerfherder on Mar 10, 2005 20:52:45 GMT
Actually, watching some of the old episodes in more recent times I was struck more, not by the wobbly sets and the naff FX, but more by the cleverness and the craftmanship that went into the scripts. I can honestly say that I enjoyed them more in recent times than from bnehind the sofa as a kid.
It's all very well having better FX but I'll be watching for some of the old magic in the stories themselves.
That said, there's no shortage of writing talent who want to write Who stories, as you can see from the piles and piles of Who novels on the shelves in bookshops. Those and the 'Big Finish' audio episodes.
I daresay, should the series become a hit we'll have talented people like Mark Gatiss (League of Gentleman star and Who author) writing scripts for the show.
It's a great opportunity.
|
|
|
|
Post by FALLINGSTAR on Mar 10, 2005 21:16:20 GMT
Actually, watching some of the old episodes in more recent times I was struck more, not by the wobbly sets and the naff FX, but more by the cleverness and the craftmanship that went into the scripts. I can honestly say that I enjoyed them more in recent times than from bnehind the sofa as a kid. It's all very well having better FX but I'll be watching for some of the old magic in the stories themselves. That said, there's no shortage of writing talent who want to write Who stories, as you can see from the piles and piles of Who novels on the shelves in bookshops. Those and the 'Big Finish' audio episodes. I daresay, should the series become a hit we'll have talented people like Mark Gatiss (League of Gentleman star and Who author) writing scripts for the show. It's a great opportunity. I'm sure I've read that some of the people involved in the League of Gentleman have in fact written a few of the episodes already but I might be wrong. That brings me back to the point about the humour though. You're right a lot of the scripts were very inventive [ especially with the Tom Bakers years ] but it seems to me that instead of taking the new show seriously [ like Star Trek ] they seem to think that because it's Who it has to be quirky, oddball and with this new series slapstick. I always thought the old show was at it's best when it was more 'horror' orientated and took itself more seriously. I think the rot really set in when campmonger John Nathan Turner took over. Especially with the absolutely ridiculous suits the doctor wore - after T. Baker left. Unfortunately even though the good Doctors dress sense is a darn sight better now, I fear Russell T. Davies could well end up being another campmonger and the show will start to get silly again. |
|
|
|
Post by Amasov on Mar 10, 2005 22:50:10 GMT
From: media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1434047,00.html Doctor whose time has come Flying Daleks and Hollywood-style special effects as BBC aims to get families cowering behind sofas again with revival of TV series Owen Gibson, media correspondent Thursday March 10, 2005 The Guardian Many in the broadcasting industry would say it's a task beyond even an alien from the planet Gallifrey, but the BBC is banking on Doctor Who to turn back time and revive the concept of mass family viewing on Saturday nights. The much anticipated revival of Doctor Who after 15 years offscreen, save for a poorly received one-off television movie, has more riding on it than just the reputations of the acclaimed writer Russell T Davies and the lead actor, Christopher Eccleston, the ninth Doctor. BBC executives are hoping it will play a key role in combating ITV's Ant and Dec in the ratings battle, as well as highlighting the kind of high quality, public service fare that will help win the corporation's argument for the retention of the licence fee. Wobbly sets, quirky costumes and shrieking female sidekicks are out in the new series, to be replaced by Hollywood-style special effects, a multimillion-pound budget and the Doctor's newly empowered partner, Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. Even the theme tune has had a remix. But to the relief of traditionalists, the Tardis, the wry British humour and all the key premises remain. The Daleks also return, although this time they can fly. After the premiere of the first episode of the new 13-part series in Cardiff on Tuesday night, in which the Doctor turns up in London to take on marauding shop dummies who come to life, the old hands behind the show's golden era gave the latest incarnation their seal of approval. "They've kept the feeling of the show. It's still Doctor Who and I think Christopher Eccleston is very good," said Terrance d*cks, script editor on the show for a period covering three Doctors - Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. But while the show has also been well received by most fans, it faces a harder task in appealing to today's eight- to 12-year-olds, at whom it is aimed. "If you're an eight-year-old watching today, you don't want a whole load of baggage from the past. You want a new start," said Davies, the executive producer, who also wrote the comeback episode and several others in the new series. But in an age of PlayStations, DVDs, multichannel TV and the internet, he accepts that it will take more than a handful of Cybermen to get them cowering behind the sofa. "We knew we were going after that family audience and we wanted to be as scary as we could, while being really responsible," added Davies. BBC1's controller, Lorraine Heggessey, insists there is still a place for family viewing. "You can see it with Strictly Come Dancing; with Ant and Dec. Saturday is still the time when the family comes together. They might split up later in the evening, but there's still this hearthside effect between 6pm and 8pm." There are significant changes in the new series, to bring the characters up to date. Rose is a go-getting teen in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer mould. "She's positive, ambitious and full of conviction and confidence," said Piper. "She's ballsy and goes with her gut instinct. She's a good character to relate to or aspire to." "She's a heroine," adds Eccleston. "She teaches him huge emotional lessons. They love each other. I think it's love at first sight, but it's not a conventional love affair, it's far more mysterious than that." Davies, whose past credits include The Second Coming, said that the key to scaring and gripping today's pre-teens was rooting the show in reality. "It's the story of an ordinary girl on an ordinary day, whose life is turned upside down. If we'd started on a planet with purple skies and three moons, people would have just turned over to Ant and Dec." Who likes Who as the Tardis reappears Terrance d*cks, one-time Doctor Who script editor, author of 50 Doctor Who novels "I'm so pleased. The last Who, I hated it. It was aimed at the mid-Atlantic; I've always said it should be made in England. They've kept the feeling of the show. I think Christopher Eccleston is very good. There's a gap in the market for something both good and popular. There's stuff that's critically acclaimed and stuff that's popular, like reality TV. But this does both." David Bassom, executive editor Dreamwatch magazine "It successfully updates the classic series for the 21st century. Energetic, engaging and most of all fun, Russell T Davies' series is set to captivate children of all ages and will keep older viewers almost equally enthralled. Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper are enjoying their roles. It's great to see the show's writing and performances being supported by some decent production values - the BBC have definitely got it right this time." Barry Letts, Doctor Who producer 1969-75 "I was desperate for it to work and it has. Russell T Davies said what he was doing was carrying on the torch from our time. He's a big fan. It's a relay race, you stagger on for so many years, then pass the baton on when you're exhausted. They've managed to give a few nods to the past, which the old Doctor Who fans will appreciate, without making it confusing for anybody coming to it fresh. They've done a brilliant job of updating it." Tom Spilsbury, deputy editor, Doctor Who Magazine "I really enjoyed it. Chris and Billie were great. It was great to see everyone else enjoying it. They laughed at the funny bits and were scared by the scary bits. It bodes very well for the series. I think kids will love it. It's exactly the sort of thing I fell in love with as a child. Christopher Eccleston still feels like a Doctor Who. He'll be looked back on by kids in 20 years' time as their doctor." Alexandra Looseley-Saul, owner of The Who Shop in East Ham, London "It's wonderful to see how a new approach and superb writer can bring something completely back to life again. It's great to see we've got a [Dr Who] companion who's strong and independent." |
|
|
|
Post by Amasov on Mar 10, 2005 22:59:18 GMT
I'm sure I've read that some of the people involved in the League of Gentleman have in fact written a few of the episodes already but I might be wrong. That brings me back to the point about the humour though. You're right a lot of the scripts were very inventive [ especially with the Tom Bakers years ] but it seems to me that instead of taking the new show seriously [ like Star Trek ] they seem to think that because it's Who it has to be quirky, oddball and with this new series slapstick. I always thought the old show was at it's best when it was more 'horror' orientated and took itself more seriously. I think the rot really set in when campmonger John Nathan Turner took over. Especially with the absolutely ridiculous suits the doctor wore - after T. Baker left. Unfortunately even though the good Doctors dress sense is a darn sight better now, I fear Russell T. Davies could well end up being another campmonger and the show will start to get silly again. From the FAQ at Outpost Gallifrey: (Part One) What will the new series be like? Will it "feel" like Doctor Who? According to many of those in the production team, including Davies, Eccleston and several writers, we can expect something that very much feels like the Doctor Who we know and love, but updated for contemporary audiences. To quote Davies: "It will be very traditional, the same old Time Lord, the same old Tardis, the same old adventures in space and time. I'm using the best things it has, and giving them a kick up the backside!" As far as what the show will be like, well, obviously we won't know the answer to this question until we sit down and watch it. However, the production team have been dropping hints here and there, both on what will be kept from the past and what new elements will likely be introduced. Traditional Who elements: Particularly in the first episode, Davies and company are looking to recapture the sense of wonder, the excitement and amazement of first realizing that this thing that looks like a police-box, stuck in a junk-yard, can go anywhere in time and space. A sense of wonder will likely be intrinsic to the new series. Similarly Mark Gatiss has pointed out how much fun the 4th Doctor and Sarah seemed to be having on their travels and that the production team were trying to recapture something of that relationship: the Doctor and Companion traveling through time and space, facing dangers with a "fast and funny fighting spirit". Horror will probably be a major focus, possibly taking the Hinchcliffe era as a model (the "Hinchcliffe era" being the reign of original series producer Philip Hinchcliffe, who produced two seasons of stories for actor Tom Baker and is widely considered to be a superior, "gothic horror" style era of the show.) According to Mark Gatiss, Davies believes Doctor Who is actually best when it is a horror show, not a science fiction series. Everyone is talking about scaring a whole new generation of kids. In his Doctor Who Magazine interview a few years back, RTD's said that at its core, Doctor Who was about Death and the existential anxiety which surounds it. Death stalks every corner, and makes you love the survivors all the more. Mark Gatiss has emphasized that they will be trying to do some classic Doctor Who setusps, specifically mentioning "base under siege." He also called the T. Baker-Liz Sladen era the "zenith" of Doctor Who, so we may well get a series inspired in part by the gothic horror of this era: creepy, scary, suspenseful, yet with a warm feel. There will be a mix of story styles, including some more humorous and some straight-out scary, with a different feel and directoral tone to each, as fits the script. On the one hand, we are definitley going to have adventures in Time and Space rather than the Tardis being earthbound since Russell T Davies thinks the budget will stretch to it and wants to capture that sense of wonder mentioned earlier. On the other hand, Davies has said that he thinks setting frightening things in the context of the 9-5 world of mortgages and pubs is much more effective than doing so on an alien planet, and that if the series gets too "out there" the general public starts switching off in droves. We will probably see both earth and space based stories, but great care will be taken to make all of them seem authentic. It has also been suggested that we will see some Saphire-and-Steel style mucking about with time. All told, a good start, capturing much of the best of what made Doctor Who what it was. Now for what Davies and others have said will be added into the mix: More emphasis on charachterization, more complex and fully fleshed-out characters than the original series had, likely with character-arcs. Eccleston in particular has expressed a great interest in the ambiguities of the charachter and making his performance multi-layered. Also, according to RTD, Mal Young, Christopher Eccleston and Rob Shearman - any female companions will be real charachters and as central to the plot as the Doctor is (and they will not scream like children). The writing, editing, and pacing will likely be much quicker, to suit modern viewing tastes. Russell T Davies says that modern audiences don't actually have short attention spans, they are just much sharper when they watch television: What used to take several scenes of dialogue to establish can now be communicated with a single shot. The word "pacier" seems to keep coming up, and the new series will likely move a lot faster than the show did in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. We will likely see a much more nuanced take on "evil", which is a very dangerous and ambigious term at best. Mr. Davies has spoken of looking at the motivations of villians and the reasons behind some of the horrible things that happen. Davies' book "Damaged Goods" is a great example of this. Christopher Eccleston spoke recently about how sad the Daleks are - poor scared creatures hiding behind weapons and armored shells. Similarly, the show is almost certain to touch on social issues, through allegory or directly. Both Davies and (especially) Eccleston seem very excited about the possibility of doing some social commentary, although the new Doctor suggests it will be done in a "light" way. Who's directing the first season of the television series? So far, there are three assigned directors we know of: Keith Boak is directing the "first block" of episodes -- which is episodes one, four and five ("Rose" and "Aliens of London" at press time). Euros Lyn is handling the "second block", comprised of episodes two and three ("The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead," currently); his previous directing credits include "Cutting It," "Belonging III," "Casualty," "Pam Fi Duw?" and "Sunday Stories". Joe Ahearne is responsible for the "third block," comprised of episodes 6 and 8, as well as "block 6" of episodes 12 and 13 (and possibly "block 5" solely of episode 11); his directing credits include the TV series "This Life," "Strange," "Trance" and "Walking with Spacement" as well as the miniseries "Ultraviolet". Brian Grant is responsible for "block 4A," comprised solely of episode 7; his directing credits include "Clocking Off," "Bugs," "Hex," "As If," "Love Bytes," "Highlander: The Raven" and "She-Wolf of London". James Hawes is responsible for "block 4B," comprised of episodes 9 and 10 (currently known as "The Empty Child"); his directing credits include "Sea of Souls," "Holby City," "The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries," "The Bill" and "Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World". |
|
|
|
Post by Amasov on Mar 10, 2005 23:00:41 GMT
FAQ (Part Two)
Who's writing the first season of the television series?
In addition to scripts by producer Russell T. Davies, four established writers with both experience in television as well as connections to Doctor Who of the recent past have signed on to pen episodes of the first series:
Mark Gatiss is best known as a member of the writing/performing team behind the award-winning comedy series "The League of Gentlemen." In addition, Gatiss has penned several Doctor Who novels including "Nightshade" and "Last of the Gaderene" and scripts for Big Finish's range of original Doctor Who audio adventures including "Invaders from Mars" starring Paul McGann. He was also a prime contributor to the BBC 2 Doctor Who night in 1999, to which he contributed three Doctor Who comedy sketches (in one of which he played the Doctor).
Steven Moffat is the creator of comedy series "Coupling" -- which recently spun off its own American version on NBC -- and "Chalk," and his previous experience with Doctor Who includes writing the screenplay for the 1999 Comic Relief charity skit "The Curse of Fatal Death" starring Rowan Atkinson, Julia Sawalha and Jonathan Pryce.
Paul Cornell is a very prolific screenwriter whose recent work includes episodes of "Casualty" and "Holby City," and has been one of the most acclaimed Doctor Who authors in recent years since his debut novel "Timewyrm: Revelation" in 1990. Cornell created Bernice Summerfield, the companion written exclusively for the Doctor Who novel series that spun off into her own line of audios and books; his most recent Doctor Who work was as the writer of The Scream of the Shalka, a fully-animated Doctor Who serial broadcast over the Internet on BBCi starring Richard E. Grant and Sophie Okonedo.
Rob Shearman is a critically acclaimed and award-winning playwright who has penned several of Big Finish's most popular Doctor Who audios including "The Holy Terror," "Jubilee," "Deadline" and "The Chimes of Midnight". He was recently voted Favorite Doctor Who Writer by the readers of Doctor Who Magazine.
|
|
