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Sci-Fi Media Television

BBC Apologizes To Who Star 297

Posted by Zonk from the sorry-doc dept.
An anonymous reader writes "SciFi Wire is reporting that 'The BBC, which earlier reported that Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston was leaving the show after the first season, issued an unusual apology to the actor for mischaracterizing his reasons for departing...the network broke an agreement with Eccleston not to reveal that he had planned to film just one season of the hit show all along.'" We covered the announcement of his resignation late last month.
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BBC Apologizes To Who Star More

BBC Apologizes To Who Star

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  • Is it just me (Score:4, Insightful)

    by elid ( 672471 ) <eli.ipod@g m a il.com> on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:46PM (#12197312)
    or does anyone else find it odd that he only planned on being in one season...

    • Re:Is it just me (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Staplerh ( 806722 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:50PM (#12197331) Homepage
      does anyone else find it odd that he only planned on being in one season...

      An insightful post. One has to wonder what Eccleson thought, signing on to a series that one must have thought he must have hoped would have been successful? Either he was banking on Dr. Who tanking (doubtful) or simply wasn't thinking ahead.

      Now this is just a wild-assed guess, but perhaps he's trying to make the leap off the small screen and Dr. Who was seen as a mechanism for him to make the transition. He certainly has recieved more media attention in light of this move - the initial reports of his departure from the show as well as the reports of the BBC apology?

      Suppose that's just free publicity. He did get two appearances on Slashdot however.... and that can't mean nothing can it?!

    • Re:Is it just me (Score:3, Insightful)

      by OzRoy ( 602691 )
      Not really. But I do find it odd that the BBC would hire someone who was only interested in doing one season. I would of thought the usual practice is to contract someone for many seasons to prevent this sort of thing happening.
    • He probably thought he would get his face splashed all across England, then be free for a high paying TV/film offering afterwards. It was advertising, pure and simple. Get himself known to the public and producers, then move on to (in his mind) bigger and better things.
    • Especially considering that Dr. Who was only supposed to have nine lives (IIRC). Once he runs out, how will the Beeb explain the changes everytime?

      • Re:Is it just me (Score:3, Interesting)

        by mollymoo ( 202721 )
        Dr. Who is a Timelord (or is that Time Lord?), bending space and time is what he's about. Why not extend that to his face? At least in sci-fi you can invent some vaguley plausible (in the context...) excuse for using a new actor. In soaps they just stick someone else in and carry on regardless. Of all the series where you have to worry about replacing an actor Dr. Who ranks pretty low, even without the reincarnation mechanism.

      • Re:Is it just me (Score:3, Informative)

        by EverDense ( 575518 )
        Timelords are supposed to have 12 regenerations, so there is still a little leeway.

      • Re:Is it just me (Score:2, Informative)

        by Golias ( 176380 )
        You recall incorrectly. Doctor Who gets 13 lives, and his main rival has already broken that rule.
    • It baffles me more that the eighth Doctor [imdb.com] was reported to be keen to take the role back for the latest series, but the BBC instead decided to hire a guy who was ready to quit after only one season.

      • Re:Is it just me (Score:3, Insightful)

        by R.Caley ( 126968 )
        McGann was terminally contaminated by association with the american TV movie. If he'd been the doctor in the new series I probably wouldn't have watched it.

    • Re:Is it just me (Score:3, Insightful)

      by spectecjr ( 31235 )
      Apparently, the BBC managed to completely blow a huge surprise which was planned for this season of Doctor Who - which was that at the end of this season, the Doctor would die.

      So Eccleston was only ever meant to be around for one season - and it was meant to be a huge shocker.
    • It's not like it matters that much... this show is well known (even to those non-watchers like me) for going through lead actors like a kid through M&Ms. They'll just switch actors again and write it off like they have every time previously with the magical plot-wand. (And, apparently, those who do watch the show don't seem to care -- not to offend any of them, just to note a fact).

    • I don't find it too odd, although I realise I seem to be in quite the minority about that.

      This new series seems to currently be focussing on introducing the basic concepts, as well as hinting at the backgrounds, for a whole new generation of viewers. The audience, through Rose, is learning all of the essentions - the Doctor not being human, him being alive for a long time, him travelling through time and space in a machine with a "disguise" that makes it rather too conspicuous.
      In a way it would follow th

    • I don't know how the rest of the season will pan out...but given this info I think what could work is if after the next Doctor has had a go there's a series of 'Time War' related material....that way there's a branding thing and the chance to go through some of what is a big event in the Dr Who universe.

      Or have the Time Wars been covered previously as well?

  • Good response (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Staplerh ( 806722 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:48PM (#12197315) Homepage
    "The BBC regrets not speaking to Christopher before it responded to the press questions on Wednesday 30 March," the BBC's head of drama and commissioning, Jane Tranter, said in a statement. "The BBC further regrets that it falsely attributed a statement to Christopher and apologizes to him."

    Good apology for the BBC. Now, I'd reckon that this is out of fear of a libel [wikipedia.org] case being filed against the BBC. Eccleson should be rightly miffed that the BBC would slag his good name, which of course lead to great consternation and comment on Slashdot.

    I guess he just pissed off the BBC management and they gave the green light on a report that just happened to jump the gun.

  • Who? (Score:4, Funny)

    by nxtr ( 813179 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:49PM (#12197326)
    Doctor Who!
    Doctor who?
    Doctor who!
    Doctor Who?
    Not the pronoun, but rather a doctor with the unlikely name of "Who"

    • Re:Who? (Score:5, Funny)

      by nacturation ( 646836 ) <nacturation&gmail,com> on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:52PM (#12197652) Journal
      Not the pronoun, but rather a doctor with the unlikely name of "Who"

      Were it the former, we'd have a bunch of grammar nazis claiming that the title should read "BBC Apologizes To Whom Star". Not to mention the ensuing thread of replies pointing out how it still isn't correct.
    • I should've never saved you from those seals!
    • I believe it *is* the pronoun. The Doctor's name isn't "who"; he's simply The Doctor.
    • The only time anyone EVER said "Doctor Who" on the show, it was a question, after he and his assistant had bolted and the people they'd helped were doing the end-of-show everyone-lives-happily-ever-after scene, IIRC. I don't recally much else than the guy going, "Doctor... Doctor who?"

      And yes, I HAVE seen that episode. And YES, I have gotten laid in the historical past. Astounding...

    • The BBC seems to apologize a lot for their reporting, do a quick search and you will find many examples Probably because, unlike the American press, they really do reporting i.e. they don't just print off Press Releases & Talking Points. If 95% of your reporting were based off Press Releases + Talking Points issued by different people, then there would very little reason why the press would need to apologize.

      • Facts vs. Opinions (Score:3, Insightful)

        by brandonp ( 126 ) *
        The Press should take the available facts and report. So yes, if the news outlet reports from available facts, they will have a difficult time finding reason to apologize.

        On the other hand, if you tend to take a stance and build your case with items that make your case, it will eventually cause you trouble.

        This isn't something found in one particular media outlet, all media outlets have to be on guard and keep this from occuring. Just seems that some media outlets have had particular trouble with the pr

        • This isn't something found in one particular media outlet, all media outlets have to be on guard and keep this from occuring. Just seems that some media outlets have had particular trouble with the problem in the recent past.

          There is also another issue especially in the USA.
          Many times even if a news organization publishes a true report, corporations have ways & means of silencing them i.e. by expensive lawsuits, by pulling out Advertising etc. Hence sometimes press has to apologize. Because of this
        • The Press should take the available facts and report. So yes, if the news outlet reports from available facts, they will have a difficult time finding reason to apologize.

          The only facts that conveniently materialise in front of a reporter are the ones put there by interested (ie biased) parties.

      • Probably because, unlike the American press, they really do reporting i.e. they don't just print off Press Releases & Talking Points.

        Or even print fiction... It certainly dosn't help if the media concerned is more interested in producing entertainment.

    • Re:The BBC seems to apologize a lot (Score:5, Insightful)

      by quacking duck ( 607555 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:08PM (#12197423)
      Far, far better to apologize when you're wrong, than to ignore (and if that doesn't work, deny) that there was ever an issue.

      Too often these days big media are guilty of going the ignore/deny route. That the BBC at least attempts to rectify incidents of bad reporting puts them heads and shoulders above most others, because let's face it, no media outlet is always correct, especially where biases may affect the reporting.

    • Re:The BBC seems to apologize a lot (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mollymoo ( 202721 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @11:14PM (#12197719) Journal
      Naughty BBC for apologising when they get something wrong, what a shocking example to set for the children.
    • Fox News makes "improper reporting" hour after hour, day after day, and they never apologize.
    • Yes, but then they a huge ammount of articles a day. Regional, National and International. I would even dare to say 1000s of articles a day. So your bound to get mistakes.
    • They're obviously just in the habit of making things up. Look at the other "apology" here [bbc.co.uk]:

      The BBC also released a quote from Christopher, claiming he had said he hoped viewers "continued to enjoy the series," but it's now admitted it did not consult him about that statement.

      So: they "released a quote" without "consulting" the author of the "quote"?

      I think what they're trying to say is: "Also, we made up a statement from Christopher that he didn't actually say, but it sounded nice, so we published it

      • Re:The BBC seems to apologize a lot (Score:4, Interesting)

        by dylan_- ( 1661 ) on Monday April 11, 2005 @06:58AM (#12199233) Homepage
        This isn't BBC News apologising, it's the BBC channel. If a complaint is upheld against any of the UK broadcast channels they are obliged to apologise. I don't know why this was described as "unusual" because it's actually quite common.

        As far as the quotes go, it seems you don't know how journalists work (in the UK anyway, I don't know if it's worldwide).

        Step 1: Write your story with likely sounding quotes

        Step 2: Secure your quotes
        Journalist: "So, would you say you don't want to be typecast as The Doctor?"
        Christopher: "Yeah, I suppose so"

        Step 3: Print
        "I don't want to be typecast as The Doctor," said Christopher.

        Someone screwed up and forgot to do Step 2.

  • For those who do not know who Dr. Who is (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:50PM (#12197332)
    There is a wikipedia article on Dr. Who:
    Doctor Who - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [wikipedia.org]

  • The doctor is a cylon (Score:5, Funny)

    by loggia ( 309962 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:52PM (#12197341)
    Very subtle joke for the attentive.
  • Stories only going for one hour, Doctors leaving after only one season, what's next? The tardis only having 50 rooms?

  • Time is, after all, always in flux (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Leontes ( 653331 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:58PM (#12197374)
    I just re-watched Rose (oh thank you bittorrent for given me the chance to watch these even though being out of the uk), and realized that the doctor could very well have recognized Rose from previous interaction with her. So if Eccleston guest stars and Piper is still on the program, it wouldn't necessarily violate continuity. I personally have very little problem with Eccleston's decision. I think that he's done so far a marvelous job in re-igniting the Who franchise. I think his reading of the doctor is marvelous and hope they find someone else who interpret the character so excellently. What about the doctor being his own companion for several episodes, if Eccleston returns for a guest spot? That would be interesting. I always thought "the * doctors episodes" were among the most compelling as a child.
    • and realized that the doctor could very well have recognized Rose from previous interaction with her.

      You didn't notice how Eccelston's Doctor was clearly behaving as if he was just recovering from a regeneration? Not that a previous Doctor couldn't have met with Rose, but when you thread your way through time and space, anything like that can happen.

  • IMO (Score:2, Funny)

    by munrom ( 853142 )
    They should apologise to the fans for wasting a regeneration

  • Air it in the United States already! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by shadowlight1 ( 77239 ) <chris@feyrer.gmail@com> on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:02PM (#12197391) Homepage
    When will a station finally pick the show up in the United States??? It's showing in Australia, the UK, Canada, and Italy to record ratings. Someone needs to wake up the execs that be and get this show on the air before we look like complete morons.

  • This isn't terribly surprising. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by A Sea and Cake ( 874933 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:03PM (#12197401)
    Networks can be incredibly forgiving of actors if they really want them - the one-season limit of Christopher Eccleston seems to fall under that rule. Hell, The producers of Witchblade kept Yancy Butler when filming Witchblade, even though she had a substance abuse problem. They went so far as bringing her mom on set to keep her sober and filming shots where she wobbled after throwing a punch again.

    Whereas if a crew member showed up once just a bit inebriated, they'd probably have been sacked. Cogs in the wheel, I suppose.

    What are they going to do for next season, though? Ignore the elephant on the sofa, and change characters? Do an episode where Dr. Who wakes up in a different body due to some bizarre transformation gun he gets hit with? Deal with it Ed Wood style and have him killed off-screen?

    • Re:This isn't terribly surprising. (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Fortunately it is easy enough to change actors - regeneration. They have been doing it since the 1960s. And the previous actor isn't necessary for the regeneration to occur - just put the current actor in a wig (although that might be a bit difficult in this case). The only problem will be when they have the twelfth regeneration and reach the limit - although exceeding that limit has already been done by the arch nemisis.

      • Re:This isn't terribly surprising. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Dachannien ( 617929 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:16PM (#12197466)
        The only problem will be when they have the twelfth regeneration and reach the limit

        Well, it wouldn't be the first sci-fi series [imdb.com] to shoot the canon all to hell, so to speak.

        • Re:This isn't terribly surprising. (Score:4, Funny)

          by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:49PM (#12197635) Homepage Journal
          "Well, it wouldn't be the first sci-fi series to shoot the canon all to hell, so to speak."

          Are we still on this? Am I the only one that caught the numerous episodes that explained that time was being messed with and First Contact that polluted the time line in the first place?

          "You've insulted my thorough command of 21 seasons of Star Trek Trivia!! Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch..."
        • They don't need to violate continuity if they really want to give him more than 12 lives. The Master, another Time Lord, has gone past that limit by stealing bodies from others. So there's an easy out by having others sacrifice themselves for the Doctor (or perhaps having another Time Lord volunteer regenerations).

          Oh. Were you actually interested, or just another Trek weenie slagging off Enterprise?
          • Even more than that, the Timelords were once willing to offer the Master a proper chance to again regenerate with a "completely new life cycle" in exchange for his cooperation in "The Five Doctors". Now it seems that the Master wasn't entirely helpful so he didn't receive the reward promised, but the precedent is there at least, so they don't have to break continuity to give the Doctor additional regenerations. If the Doctor did something noteworthy enough for the Timelords, I have little doubt they would
      • The only problem will be when they have the twelfth regeneration and reach the limit - although exceeding that limit has already been done by the arch nemisis.

        Look, I don't even pretend to have writing skills popular enough to merit working on a TV series, but this is science fiction: Nothing is out of bounds.

        Even I can come up with a number of plot twists or elements which would allow for "extra" lives, so to speak:

        The Doctor & Rose visit an ancient alien who seems kind enough, but turns out to be

    • Re:This isn't terribly surprising. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 10, 2005 @11:01PM (#12197679)
      Do an episode where Dr. Who wakes up in a different body due to some bizarre transformation gun he gets hit with?

      Not a big Dr. Who fan I see.

  • The Doctor What? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "I am the Doctor."

    "Oh great, 'cause I have this really nasty rash on my back ..."

    "Not that kind of doctor. THE Doctor."

    "The Doctor what?"

    "That's near enough ..."

  • Shame.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:17PM (#12197473) Journal
    It's a shame he is leaving after one season. As I grew up I never had any intrest in Dr. Who, it always seemed to drag on and be boring when I watched it (so did episode 3 of the new series to a point though..). But the new Dr. Who intrests me, the humour is very... classic so to speak. Rather then the "heres a few black people or a daughter living with her player father" crap we see every week in and out, Dr. Who is infact funny when it's ment to be. You don't sit there going "hey go on make a joke!" but when you do get a joke it's most the time at least slightly amusing. I'll probably follow the full series through and see how much I like/dislike the new Dr. as to what I do next season, but right now Christopher is carrying the series.

    Billie Piper is "okay" but her tone just ruins it for me, she sounds like she needs to be pregnant and have several kids just to get a free house and some extra (free) money from the government. Now theres no problem with sounding like that in modern stuff, but when you're traveling time and no one notices you've got a weird voice somethings up... ep 3 did... minorly cover this issue, but again very minorly..

    Where it really stands out is how Christopher plays the Doctor. He bounces and bounds and generally seems to rather enjoy traveling time, saving the Earth and quite frankly having a bit of a giggle while he's at it. I've not seen him in anything else and don't really desire to, but as the doctor he's perfect.

    Hopefully the BBC can get him to do a few more seasons. Everyone saying "he's using it as a stepping stone", the other way could be he's trying to revive Dr. who so it will open up sci fi again beyond "star gate and enterprise" on channel 4 every bloody weekend. While he may "waste" a regeneration he's still managed to win over thousands of fans new and old, maybe even some hated enemies of the show.

    So like him or not, or his actions. He deserves all the respect he gets for being a magnificent actor in his current rule and reviving not only Dr. Who, but decent comedy which isn't a parody or steriotyped.

    • Re:Shame.. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Leontes ( 653331 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:27PM (#12197518)
      Doctor who on television was dead, though. If it means having a really amazing doctor for one year vs keeping the television program off the air, I'd prefer the one year of interesting shows. I'm not so sure if I agree or even understand your criticism of Piper. Accent accuracy and response by others within the context temporally can either be explained by the translator field generated by the TARDIS or just adorable kitsch campy production value. The fact you find her accent to be low class and that of a stereotypical welfare abuser suggests to me they've done a great job in casting, since I feel, people whom have such thoughts should be exposed to stimuli that counters to such harmful, ridiculous stereotyping.
      • I'm working class myself. I grew up in the country side so I admit I'm a bit "out of it" compared to London and what I would consider the "UK slums" (AKA council estates and places like that). But I'm tired of her cutting off letters like "Happen" is now "'appen". It's really annoying to me personal. I like the idea of some girl going on a magical adventure with the doctor and they are doing it well, but I just wish she could use English in a better form. I'm not perfect with my English and don't claim to b
        • But I wish she would at least try not to use English a bit better.

          Right! ;)
        • The point they're trying to make with Rose isn't that she's a baby dropping, welfare scrounger it's the fact that she's a nice intelligent girl who made some bad choices early in life and is regretting them. She's stuck in a dead end job with no prospects and a wet drip of a boyfriend. Then she meets a man who shows her that there's a universe out there. Full of wonder and sights to behold.

          This series is as much Rose's journey as it is the Doctor's.

    • Re:Shame.. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by mbourgon ( 186257 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:49PM (#12197634) Homepage
      I find this part quite insightful:
      the other way could be he's trying to revive Dr. who so it will open up sci fi again
      A-men. I have no idea how popular it is, but my suspicion is that they got a very good, non-genre actor to fill the part, to get people excited about it, and then (as someone posted in the prior thread about The Doctor) regenerate him to someone else, both showing off the ability, as well getting higher ratings.

      Doctor Who fanboy comments follow:
      All that being said, I'm really curious how they're going to deal with regeneration #12 (especially since 12 merges with 4 to help regenerate into 5). Then again, it took us 10 years to go from 8 to 9, so maybe I shouldn't worry so much.
    • "(Billie Piper) sounds like she needs to be pregnant and have several kids"

      I, for one, would be most willing to help her with that.

    • she sounds like she needs to be pregnant and have several kids just to get a free house and some extra (free) money from the government.

      Indeed, you'd think she was playing a shop assistant with limited education who lives on a council estate... oh, wait, er, ...

      • Indeed. if you see my above post you will see my "problem" with that. It's not really a problem at all.. I'd just rather not think "fucking chav" every time she talks. Which TBH is all I do think. I replied to another guy above (mentioning the TARDIS fields) and posted about it there. It's 6am and I need to sleep so I'll just point you there rather than mess around.

        • Re:Shame.. (Score:4, Interesting)

          by R.Caley ( 126968 ) on Monday April 11, 2005 @12:34AM (#12198037)
          I'd just rather not think "fucking chav" every time she talks

          The stories of the doctor's side kicks are often, perhaps usually, redemptive. To run a redemptive story arc you have to start with someone who makes you want to beat them around the head with the clue stick.

          Rose is being played as someone who has stupidly wasted her opportunities and is being given a chance to try again. She's clearly supposed to be brighter than her initial situation would imply. She's being played as one of the comanions who can hold their own against the Doctor (Liz, Sarah Jane, Leela, Romana) arther than a screaming unit.

          As to her accent, her English is no more non-`standard' and low-value than Eccleston's. His is the real departure, all the previous doctors have had high-status accents. Combined with his clearly being deeply fucked up over what has happened in the recent past, he's definitely an interesting doctor.

          • "Rose is being played as someone who has stupidly wasted her opportunities and is being given a chance to try again. She's clearly supposed to be brighter than her initial situation would imply. She's being played as one of the comanions who can hold their own against the Doctor (Liz, Sarah Jane, Leela, Romana) arther than a screaming unit."

            Absolutely. I was going to post something similar but you saved me the trouble. I'm originally from darn sarf and although my accent isn't quite as lazy as Rose's it'
    • Wow. Prejudiced much? I suppose you're from Oxfordshire and look down your nose at anybody from north of Luton?

    • Re:Shame.. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by vidarh ( 309115 ) <vidar@hokstad.com> on Monday April 11, 2005 @04:08AM (#12198733) Homepage Journal
      I find the criticism of Billie Piper's English quite amazing... Personally I react extremely strongly to dialects I don't like. I find many English dialects extremely painful to listen to, but I haven't even noticed hers. Perhaps it's the fact that I live in London, and it's more common than not for me to hear young people talk like that on a daily basis - including in the upmarket parts. As for language understanding when travelling time, it's a moot point as someone else has pointed out, as the second episode made a big point of how the Tardis would translate for them.

  • Doctor Who - More actors then Ophra Winfrey (Score:4, Insightful)

    by infonography ( 566403 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @10:43PM (#12197600) Homepage
    For those of you outside the US, Ophra Winfrey is actually a role in a Situation Comedy pretending to be a Talk Show. (Like the Daily Show, only not as funny) Wacky stunts like giving cars away to the whole audience and stuff isn't real. This explains why 'Her' Weight seems to bounce up and down. It's a mask. Different Women and sometimes Men pay the part.

    At this point your asking yourself why am I getting off target. The thing is the the actors playing Ophra have now numbered over 8 and that's threatening the number of people who have played the Doctor. The BBC is trying disparately to regain the title of most actors playing one role in an ongoing series.

    They need to add three more doctors to keep up.

  • If they were really intelligent... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ashitaka ( 27544 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @11:03PM (#12197683) Homepage
    They would make taking a turn as the Doctor into something all well-known actors would aspire to, just like the guest spot on the Muppet Show used to be.

    This would set off raging discussions online about who the next Doctor will be, who the next Doctor should be, who the best Doctor was, etc.

    Built-in buzz. C'mon BBC get with it.

  • How many lives do Timelords have? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by snuf23 ( 182335 ) on Sunday April 10, 2005 @11:07PM (#12197699)
    Gee - I though Dr. Who was all washed up after he turned into a woman and ran off with the Master in the Curse of the Fatal Death [imdb.com]?

    *Seriously, if you are, were or ever will be a Dr. Who fan you must see this!

  • Bring back Paul McGann (Score:3, Insightful)

    by borgheron ( 172546 ) on Monday April 11, 2005 @01:06AM (#12198142) Homepage Journal
    He was good as the doctor in the 1996 movie. The story just sucked.

    GJC
  • BBC previously said that Eccleston left for fear of being typecast. Now they apologise and say he left because he only signed up for one season. But that's an opportunity to leave, not a reason. I think he did leave for fear of being typecast, and the BBC is just covering their ass.
  • ...or shouldn't we solve our problems on this planet that is in the real world before we start producing sci-fi shows about other worlds?

  • Eddie Izzard for the next Doctor! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 11, 2005 @02:51AM (#12198525)
    You know it makes sense!

  • The thing everyone seems to miss... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bill_Mische ( 253534 ) on Monday April 11, 2005 @05:17AM (#12198910)
    ...is that the new series of Dr Who is a return to proper Saturday night family entertainment. You know when the whole family sit and watch something together. (My six year old sits on my lap and peeks over my arm at the scary bits - makes me all nostalgic).

    Oh and actually on the main story - Christopher Ecclestone is well known in the UK, and *he* asked the head writer for the part. That he didn't run to two series is a pity but since it took 8 months and the second series wasn't actually confirmed until after the first episode went out understandable. He is committed to a Christmas special so that's when to expect the next regeneration.

    Anyway, it's back, they'll have trouble getting rid of it a second time and the new Chairman of the Governors has been strangely quiet;-)

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