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Sci-Fi Media Television

Doctor Who Comeback 538

Posted by michael from the rec.arts.drwho.moderated dept.
ElGuapoGolf writes "According to the Daily Telegraph, Doctor Who is set to return to the airwaves. According to the article, it's going to be written by the same guy who created the series 'Queer As Folk'. Not sure if we'll get to see it in the US, but I guess it's a good time to start bugging your cable company to carry BBC America if they don't already."
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Doctor Who Comeback More

Doctor Who Comeback

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  • Eeek! (Score:5, Funny)

    by dustmote ( 572761 ) <fleck55&hotmail,com> on Friday September 26, 2003 @08:57AM (#7062781) Homepage Journal
    My god, I think I just had a nerdgasm. I've been waiting to hear this for years. :)

    • Re:Eeek! (Score:3, Funny)

      by T-Kir ( 597145 )

      I saw the 'behind the series' program about Queer As Folk UK last week, and your nerdgasm takes on a whole new meaning (shampoo, err showergel?).

      In the interview though, Russell Davies is a huge fan of Dr Who... if there was ever someone who could have used their work to say 'I Love Dr Who' in giant pink neon lights, then Queer As Folk would be it.

      • Re:Eeek! (Score:3, Informative)

        by dustmote ( 572761 )
        The Doctor tended to be a nonsexual character, most of the time. I don't think it will be too much of an issue, if Davies is fan enough to stick to that as a vital part of the show. Having the Doctor get involved with his companions would probably screw the plots up something awful, although I expect we will all find something to complain about in the new series. I'm just happy to hear that something is being done at all, for now.

      • Re:Eeek! (Score:3, Interesting)

        by tiled_rainbows ( 686195 )
        It makes sense to me - for some reason, most diehard Dr. Who fans seem to be gay. I asked a gay Dr. Who fan (or "Whovian" as they style themselves) about the connection, and he said:

        Well, the vast majority of high-profile Dr Who fans are big gays, and I've heard at least one lament about the new level of acceptance people have of gaysexuality leading to a boring paucity of furtive, secretive trouser adventure. This is chronologically the reverse of your description of DW fandom. Also, to get all 3/4 angl

    • Time and Time Again (Score:3, Informative)

      by Channard ( 693317 )
      My god, I think I just had a nerdgasm. I've been waiting to hear this for years. :)

      We have been hearing this for years. There've been stories of a Dr Who revival cropping up every few months or so. There have been rumours about Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman and others appearing in a new movie/series etc, and nothing has ever come of it. Don't count your chickens till they've hit the small screen. Or something.

  • It's about time ! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by doc_smiley ( 710573 )
    Now if they can just get Tom Baker.... Still, I am not sure if this is going to be successful. People today don't seem to appreciate the 'intellectual' hero, they want action. Maybe they are going to cast Arnold as the new doc?

    • Re:It's about time ! (Score:5, Interesting)

      by nomadic ( 141991 ) <nomadicworld@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Friday September 26, 2003 @10:13AM (#7063379) Homepage
      People have rarely appreciated the intellectual hero. Isaac Asimov had a great essay on the subject of pulp heroes, where he pointed out the hero was usually physically powerful but mentally dense, while the villain was usually brilliant but physically weak, and the stories typically ended with the musclebound idiot beating up on the brilliant weakling. He thought it was an ugly idea, and arose from an intense anti-intellectualism in this country based on agrarian philosophies about where the worth of a man lay. I don't think the current time is much worse than the past in that regard; it's probably a little better now than it used to be.

  • No lead actor yet (Score:3, Funny)

    by henrygb ( 668225 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @08:59AM (#7062797)
    At least (unlike James Bond) they have an excuse for changing the main actor, and so keep costs down.

    If it is not cheap then it is not Doctor Who.

    • Re:No lead actor yet (Score:3, Interesting)

      by AlecC ( 512609 )
      If it is not cheap then it is not Doctor Who.

      Yes - up to a point. Certainly they won't have a chance of competing with Hollywood whizz-bang effects and shouldn't try. But things have moved on a bit, and expectations are higher. Thery have to be 2000s cheap, not 1970s cheap.

      On the other hand, al low budget can be a great stimulator of originality. The TV Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy did very well for cheap, I thought. We need just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek. If they take the great legacy of Dr

    • Re:No lead actor yet (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Jaysyn ( 203771 )
      I thought the deal behind the name James Bond was that it was just an identity given to whomever happend to be Agent 007 at the time.

      Jaysyn

  • Dr.Who is back! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BigBadBus ( 653823 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @08:59AM (#7062803) Homepage
    Funny, my post to Slashdot was rejected...grrr :( Anyway, now that the show is coming back, it might be worthwhile reminding fans that the history of the show is incomplete, so while Dr.Who's future is assured, its past is very patchy. Theres an initiative to find lost UK TV treasures: have a look here [btinternet.com]

  • YES!! (Score:4, Funny)

    by evilspyperson ( 708956 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @08:59AM (#7062804)
    Dr. who is comng back, kill the fatted calf, fetch our finest wine, Horray! I's about time this happened.

  • BitTorrent (Score:5, Funny)

    by SuperBanana ( 662181 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:00AM (#7062808)
    Not sure if we'll get to see it in the US

    I hear with this magical thing called The Internet, you can download TV shows and give those who want to control viewership, demographics, audience, and timed 'rollouts'(ie, UK now, US 4 months later, or vise-versa) a conniption.

    I've been watching the BBC's (unedited, ie, stupidified-and-more-commericals-for-us-market) Spooks, aka MI-5. I watched the start of season 2 while A&E was still running teasers for the previous show.

    I've also managed to watch Enterprise about 6 hours before it airs- and I can skip the #$@!ing annoying theme song. They should look on the bright side- with the commercials, I'd loose motivation after the first commercial break.

    • Re:BitTorrent (Score:3, Interesting)

      by sanqui ( 448244 )
      It's pretty funny to see it put that way: for geeks outside the US, grabbing TV shows on the net is pretty much de rigeur.

      But you should hear the laughing fits us non-USians go into when we see discussions about region-code-free DVD players for a north american audience...

      On topic: Russell T. Davies (the "guy" referred to in the article) is also a great big fan and an author of Doctor Who fiction. Queer As Folk gives a pretty good indication of his talent when it comes to putting "non-standard" content i
    • With all due respect, if the revival Dr Who is equivalent to the quality of Enterprise, I'd rather they not revive the series at all. I am still very skeptical, despite this article. I've heard at least a dozen 'credible' rumours of the past decade referring to the resurrection of the series -- Speilberg has optioned it; it will become a weekly radio play; Fox has optioned it; etc.

    • Re:BitTorrent (Score:2, Interesting)

      by lgftsa ( 617184 )
      I've also managed to watch Enterprise about 6 hours before it airs- and I can skip the #$@!ing annoying theme song. They should look on the bright side- with the commercials, I'd loose motivation after the first commercial break.

      By "They", I assume you mean the people behind the Enterprise series. I hate to break it to you, but they don't want you to watch the series, just the commercials. The revenue generated by the show(merchandise, etc) barely pays for the toilet paper in the restroom.

      They'd prefer

  • See it in the US (Score:5, Insightful)

    by QuackQuack ( 550293 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:01AM (#7062812) Journal
    I don't think we'll need to worry whether we will get to see it in the US, since the original series has a pretty well established following. Maybe BBC America will actually start showing something other than "Changing Rooms" or "Ground Forces" repeats, if not, there's always PBS, and SCI-FI
    • Amen - I was so happy to finally get BBC America to find that everytime I turn it on, they are in someones garden trying to make a 20x20' backyard look better.

      Kinda like turning on SCI-Fi and getting scare tactics and crossing over.

  • More info... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:01AM (#7062815)
    ...Direct from BBC News [bbc.co.uk]

  • Also on BBC News (Score:5, Informative)

    by WIAKywbfatw ( 307557 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:02AM (#7062818) Journal
    BBC News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_ra dio/3140786.stm [bbc.co.uk]

    BBC News discussion: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3142006.s tm [bbc.co.uk]

    Persononally, if Paul McGann isn't coming back to play the Doctor then I'd prefer Colin Firth, Sean Bean or Sean Pertwee (Jon Pertwee's, the third Doctor, son) to get the title role.

    • Re:Also on BBC News (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Elian ( 10270 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:08AM (#7062865) Homepage
      If they're not bringing back one of the previous actors, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll get Rowan Atkinson...

    • Re:Also on BBC News (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mccalli ( 323026 )
      ...or Sean Pertwee (Jon Pertwee's, the third Doctor, son) to get the title role.

      Sean Pertwee already ruled himself out a few months ago. He said he simply couldn't do it - he said he had very definite ideas about how the Doctor should be, the interviewer asked "You mean he was your dad?", and Sean just said "Yes".

      All in The Metro, a London freebie paper picked up my a fair number of commuters including myself.

      Cheers
      Ian

      • That's a real shame. I can see why he'd turn it down even if he was offered the gig - the comparisons with his father's version would be unending and, for an actor who's only just starting to be recognised for being more than his father's son, perhaps unbearable.

        Nevertheless, there are only a handful of young British actors that I think would be suitable for the role, and Sean Pertwee is one of them. Unfortunately, I don't think that older actors, such as Sir Ian McClellan, David Suchet, John Hurt, etc wou

    • Re:Also on BBC News (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ralphclark ( 11346 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:38AM (#7063066) Journal
      No - Alan Rickman for Dr Who!!

    • Re:Also on BBC News (Score:2, Interesting)

      by prbt ( 651156 )

      The Doctor is supposed to be hyper-intelligent; Colin Firth and Sean Bean just don't have the depth, I couldn't believe in either of them. Plus Sean Bean has not an ounce of humour about him.

      Sean Pertwee... interesting, off-the-wall choice. They could do worse (and probably will - if the rumours about Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann or Rowan Atkinson being the Doctor are to be believed).

      Now, Peter Firth (Harry in Spooks / MI-5), I could see...

  • Some more links... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Zocalo ( 252965 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:03AM (#7062823) Homepage
    And I was just about to submit this too... Still, here are some more links since the BBC [bbc.co.uk] and Sky News [sky.com] are covering it too. Looks like they might actually be serious about going ahead with it this time!

  • Reincarnations (Score:4, Insightful)

    by OwnedByTwoCats ( 124103 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:04AM (#7062835)
    Has it really been fourteen years since the last Dr. Who episode was made for television? Wow. I've missed the old timelord.

    I don't think I will ever be as excited as when Star Trek: The Next Generation came back on TV, but that was also, what, sixteen years ago? Time marches on. We get older, get real lives, more responsibilities. Sigh.

    • Second childhood (Score:5, Interesting)

      by mccalli ( 323026 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:19AM (#7062944) Homepage
      We get older, get real lives, more responsibilities. Sigh.

      Actually, I'm much more of a fan now than I was then. Don't get me wrong - I used to really enjoy it. It's just that I don't think I was old enough to really understand some of it.

      I started watching the reruns on UK Gold and, courtesy of Tivo, I watched from the beginning of the Pertwee era right through to the (merciful) end. Changed my views too - as a kid I remember Tom Baker being the best, but I personally prefer Pertwee and Davison now.

      Oh, and real life definitely caught up with me. I'm now working, married, have one kid and expecting another any day now, mortgage, two hungry cars to feed...all we need is a dog and we'd be the perfect TV advert family. I'm pretty hopeful about this - recent TV sci-fi has been very same'ish, and I'm looking forward to the different direction that Doctor Who took.

      Cheers,
      Ian

  • Quote (Score:3, Funny)

    by secondsun ( 195377 ) <secondsun@gmail.com> on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:06AM (#7062854) Journal
    Considering the writer's past...
    Dr: "Aren't you going to say it is bigger on the inside and on the outside?"
    Colonel: "I believe that is bloody obvious!"

    • I really think the ideal would be if there were some sort of British Josh Whedon to write this. With the sense of humor and darkness of Buffy, Doctor Who could be back with Tom Baker-level quality. But it would have to be a Brit, much as it stings my imperial running dog fascist American pride to say so.

      Fortunately, the guy is supposed to be a raving fan (though pretty much any Doctor Who fan is raving).
    • Dr: "Aren't you going to say it is bigger on the inside and on the outside?"

      My favourite one-liner was when the Doctor was installing some sort of detector in a Concorde.
      "My goodness, it's smaller on the inside than it is on the outside!"

  • But if it's written by . . . (Score:5, Funny)

    by TinheadNed ( 142620 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:07AM (#7062857) Homepage
    But if it's written by a gay guy, then we could have a camp Doctor, who dresses is really stupid clothes and doesn't seem particularly interested in women . . .

    Hang on . .

    PS Hurrah! Dr Who is back in 2005!
  • If anybody needed a "Queer Eye for the Geek Guy" make over, it Doc Who [plus.com]!

    Any technology that is distinguishable from magic is not sufficiently advanced.

  • Russell T Davies (Score:3, Informative)

    by nattt ( 568106 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:12AM (#7062895)
    Russell T Davies also wrote Century Falls and Dark Season, which were pretty good early 90s children's TV series. However, he is a fan of Doctor Who, so as long as he can keep the "fan wank" out of the script, it should be good.
    • "fanwank" is a term usually used when fans come up with explanations to bridge the gaps or plot-holes not explained by the show explicitly.

      Hence by definition if it's in an actual filmed script it's not fanwank.
    • > as long as he can keep the "fan wank" out of the script

      <smirk> You didn't see the first episode of "Queer as folk" then?

      Ade_
      /

  • No. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Moderation abuser ( 184013 )
    Dr Who's time is past and this is just sentimental nostalgia. It was fine for children 25 years ago but it's return will be nothing more than a disappointment.

  • Only ONE true Doctor (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MImeKillEr ( 445828 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:14AM (#7062913) Homepage Journal
    And that would be Tom Baker [allscifi.com]. 'Nuff said.

    I guess I like this iteration of The Doctor the most since he's the first one I ever saw.

    I get BBCAmerica. Unfortunately, Doctor Who airs while I'm at work, and its in the digital band so I can't use my PC to "tivo" it. Using the VCR to record it is so "90s".

    • Re:Only ONE true Doctor (Score:4, Interesting)

      by dustmote ( 572761 ) <fleck55&hotmail,com> on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:24AM (#7062973) Homepage Journal
      Eh, everyone likes whichever doctor they saw first, best. I'm a big fan of Pertwee, Baker, McCoy, in that order, although I like all of them. Well, the sixth doctor kind of got on my nerves, to tell the truth. And the bad Fox movie wasn't very good, although the actor who played the doctor was okay. And the Hammer films don't count. No, doggone it, they don't.
      • Fox movie?

        Hammer films?

        I missed these. Info??
      • I like Pertwee the best, though like most American's, Tom Baker is the one that I saw first.

        However, Colin Baker I think provided quite a breath of fresh air. In a lot of ways he actually reminded me of Hartnell's Doctor...rough, but caring underneath - just a little darker.
  • Oh how I love cookied-required web sites.

    "To see the report or section you have just selected, you need to login, or register if you have not previously done so. Registration takes a moment and gives you access to deeper levels of telegraph.co.uk content. We benefit from registration because we get a clearer view of our readership. You benefit because that view helps us to improve the site."

    Can anyone point to a good version?

  • Trust the BBC...now?? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ader ( 1402 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:40AM (#7063085) Homepage
    Hmmm, considering how well the BBC have looked after the show [fluff.org] in the past, I'd give this news only two cheers. Still, what next - the Goodies?

    Ade_
    /
    • Well, I'll take a planet where it rains all the time (ie. shooting in Wales) over the Voyager/Enterprise outside sets anyday. How many planets in the universe have little dwellings in the middle of a desert? A lot of them I guess. Then again, I remember the old days when the Doctor visited planets other than Earth on a regular basis.

  • Too busy (Score:3, Funny)

    by BenjyD ( 316700 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @09:40AM (#7063094)

    Doctor Who is far too busy making prank phone calls [bbc.co.uk] to make a new TV series.

  • The ABC [abc.net.au] in Australia is currently replaying the entire Dr Who. All of it. It's on Monday-Thursday at 6pm. It started playing on the 15th of September, and should continue for years :-)

    - proton
  • I always hear the Daleks refered to like that - watching behind the couch.

    Has anyone here ever been scared of the daleks? I think I was more scarred of some of the fuzzy CSO from the Pertwee era.

    (CSO - Color Serpation Overlay - ie blue-screen)
    • I only remember being scared by 1 episode. It seems like it was a Tom Baker episode and there was some monster that lived in a jungle like habitat. It entered a lab through some kind of portal thing, attacked people and then went back into hiding.

      As for the Daleks, I don't know. As a kid, I think they were one of the least scary foes the Dr. dealt with. They can't sneak up on you because they're noisy and always saying 'Exterminate'. They're fairly slow so you can run circles around them. If all els
  • Google's list [google.com], or just the BBC version [bbc.co.uk]. How could the BBC version not be linked to in the first place?!?

    (For those of us who reject persistent cookies and don't like being shown a registration screen over and over and over and over and over again.)

  • Hopeful! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Quixadhal ( 45024 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @10:00AM (#7063282) Homepage Journal
    This is great news, as it gives us the chance to have some science fiction on TV that doesn't have to be Yet Another T&A Star Trek Series (TM).

    Anyways, good writing will make or break this show. If they're smart (and since it's the BBC instead of some American marketing firm, they might be!) they'll continue the tradition of having DIFFERENT WRITERS do episodes, rather than locking in a team for a whole season and ending up with another Pip and Jane Baker travesty.

    Heh, I can't forgive them for what they did to my favorite Doctor (Colin Baker), who is quite a good actor, but had to work with things like "The Happiness Patrol". Perhaps they can go to work writing for Brenan and Braga's new series... Star Trek: Teen Bikini Force!
  • I would rather not see all the "classic" monsters recycled. These were very much a product of their times, exaggerations of then-current fears. Nuclear war/radiation/mutation --> Daleks. The new field of cybernetics and artificial limbs/organs --> Cybermen. And so on.

    I'd much prefer to see *new* stories with inventive new villians. It doesn't have to be "mystery science bogeyman" *every* week, but there are certainly some more topical lurking fears that could be put to good use. Quantum mechanics, nanomachines, genetic engineering, viruses, various forms of computing and communication technology taken to pathological extremes, and so on.

    Let's *really* scare the living crap out of people, eh? A pepper-pot with a plunger just won't cut it any more.

    I also think that if you take away the crutch of recycling old monsters and plots, you will get *much* better stories.

    As for the truth of the "return", I'll believe it when I see it. I've seen this kind of story turn out to be false too many times. I want it to be true, I really do, but the cynical side of me fears that the BBC just want to drive up DVD sales ... again.

  • Oh come ON! (Score:3, Redundant)

    by JimPooley ( 150814 ) on Friday September 26, 2003 @10:07AM (#7063338) Homepage
    Look. Just because Russell T. Davies is best known for Queer As Folk this does NOT mean Dr. Who is going to be gay all of a sudden. Well, any more gay than before. (An awful lot of Dr. Who fans are gay, and there's nothing wrong with that.)

    What this does mean is that Dr. Who is going to be written by someone who is not just an excellent writer of TV drama, but also by someone who is a long-term fan of Dr. Who, and so has a a love of his material!

    Give the man a chance, people! Wait and see....

    • this does NOT mean Dr. Who is going to be gay all of a sudden.

      Too bad. I'd like to see how a suddenly gay incarnation of the Doctor would gussy-up the Tardis. Can you imagine a Doctor dressed head-to-toe in Ralph Lauren's latest, sipping cosmopolitans after two hours in the gym? Queer Eye for that Timelord Guy...
  • That the Darleks will all have effeminate voices and run around suggesting to the Doctor that he "chase them big boy"? ;-)

    -psy
  • Queer as Who?
  • That should really be Doctor Who's Comeback. I had to read it like five times before I figured it out, then again I'm dumb.

    Anyways I remember the first time I watched Doctor Who, which is still on sci fi night on PBS btw, I was like WTF?!, but after watching a whole episode I thought it was the tre magnifique. One of these days I need to find it on DVD as well as the Red Dwarf series.

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