FF:QLD Doctor Who

I am dubious and gleeful all at once. If this happens, great, but there are a few things that make me immediately think it's more wishful thinking than anything else.

Still, if it happens, fantastic.

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

We have Doctor Who news of the middling variety. I'm just posting the full text of the article as my Fairy Godmother didn't provide me with a link:

DOCTOR WHO'S TENNANT TO TAKE HAMLET BREAK

BBC1's Doctor Who is to take a year's hiatus to allow its star David Tennant to play Hamlet on stage, it has been confirmed.

Tennant, 36, is set to tread the boards at Stratford-upon-Avon next year, delaying the transmission of the fifth series of the award-winning sci-fi drama until 2010.

A statement from the BBC said that the fourth series of the Doctor's escapades, currently still in production, would debut on screens in spring next year, while it is hoped three special episodes set to be shown in 2009 will tide fans of the Time Lord over.

"Doctor Who is one of the BBC's best loved and most successful dramas," commented Jane Canter, the controller of BBC Fiction.

"It's journey over the past three series has been one of the most ambitious and exciting that we have had, and I'm delighted to be able to confirm not only three exciting specials for 2009, but a fifth series in 2010."

Since replacing Christopher Eccleston as the eponymous Doctor in the revitalised franchise two years ago to critical and popular acclaim, Tennant's career has gone from strength to strength.

When he takes to the stage in Hamlet next year he will star alongside former Star Trek and X-Men actor Patrick Stewart.

Doctor Who Fans are currently looking forward to this year's Christmas special, featuring Kylie Minogue.

The guest star of last year's December one-off, Catherine Tate, has already been confirmed as the Doctor's full-time assistant for next year's series four.

03/09/2007 16:23:23

This is actually very interesting; back in the day they'd have just regenerated him and moved along. The fact they want to keep Tennant around (and hey, who wouldn't) speaks volumes.

So no new Who for a year. Since we went without for nine years there, not a problem. The specials are intriguing, I'm sure you all know what I'd want them to be, so I'll refrain from getting Captain Obvious to throw his mighty shield once more

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

Ah, but you know The Captain, he'll oblige anyway.

This is indeed interesting news. Would have posted it myself earlier today if I'd gotten the chance to. I'm slightly disappointed that there'll be a break, and slightly disappointed that all of the specials are going to be written by Davies and not by certain other writers (*coughStephenMoffatcoughPaulCornellcoughcough*), but I can live with it. Magnus is right: the best thing about this is that fact that they plainly want to hang onto David Tennant as tightly as they possibly can, which is a Damn Good Thing, as I'm sure we can always agree. I can't imagine Tennant having any desire to leave, being the big fan he is, and the BBC would be insane to let go of him as he's one of the best Doctors to ever grace our screens.

Really, this is just wait 'n see territory. There's not really anything that can be said about it. The show must go on...

 

I love how press releases mask half-bad news with words with semi-ghost-written words like "delighted". I'm not thrilled, obviously, but three specials is an agreeable compromise.

Here's hoping they form some sort of epic event, rather than standalone stories. I still maintain that Davies writes damn well when he avoids his quirky indulgences in favour of nice character moments or pieces or everything-at-stake epics ("The Parting of the Ways" being a high point in both cases). There's a possibility these could be his last stories as Executive Producer, too, in which case he might want to go out with a bang.

That reminds me: we all seem to be assuming he's leaving after this, but as far as I can tell, this is only based on a few stray comments on par with John Howard saying he'd "consider his future" after term x.

As much as I'd like to avoid disappointment and banish those groundless rumours of Moffat taking over... I can't. I just can't. The reason? It's actually feasible. Entirely wishful thinking, but still feasible.

Fans like him. (He's as close to universally liked as you can get in a franchise so divisive that ANY given aspect has at least one rabid hater). The industry likes him. (Two Hugo awards in a row for his first two Doctor Who episodes. A nomination for "Blink" next year is a no-brainer.) Davies likes him. (He gets a go each season without fail.) And of course, the man's a massive Doctor Who fan, so his chances of accepting the gig are decent.

In short, absolutely everybody involved must be considering the idea. Thus, I can't bring myself to let go.

 

Neither can I. I think I'll start making up "Moffat in 2010" signs.


I completely agree with you about Davies; when the man decides to write something sensible and serious, he's great. I'm just concerned that a series of one-off specials is going to bring out the worst in him: stupid 'humour' (as opposed to actual humour) and annoying Desu Ex Machina endings (see Last Of The Time Lords, groan). Now, I really hope that these get treated as a 3-part miniseries with a plot arc that stretches over the year, that would be great. As long as we don't get three Runaway Brides, that's all I'm saying.

 

I'm not as in love with Dr Who as some of you, but I even think this kinda sucks! I need you guys to feel more enraged! Actors don't have this sort of power!!!
Pity most Who fans are reasonable, intelligent, wonderful people who don't mind waiting ( even another year! ) for the very best things.

I do think if we have to wait much longer for BSG we might revolt though.

 

Pity most Who fans are reasonable, intelligent, wonderful people who don't mind waiting ( even another year! ) for the very best things.

Actually we spoil you guys; most Who fans are slavering, unreasonable beasts. And New Who fans are even worse

The thing to understand is that we had no Doctor Who from 1989 to 2005 aside from the telemovie in 1996; that's 16 years without. What's another year?

Of course some of those more "unreasonable" fans are already saying it's just like 1984/1989 all over again when the show faced cancellation/was cancelled. The situation's much better than back then of course though.

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

You took the words right out of my mouth, Magnus. I only know the Outpost Gallifrey forums by reputation, but anyone who's ever visited any kind of Internet forum devoted to a franchise should know exactly what madness lies within. Think of the bubbling, vitriolic, barely rational hatred that many old Star Wars fans have for the prequels, and especially for those that dare to enjoy them, and you've got an idea of one of the main points of contention in the Who fandom. It's some of the most over-the-top "everything old is automatically good, everything new is automatically bad" complexes I've ever seen. That is, of course, but one facet of that particular kaleidescope of insanity, but it's the main one that manifests these days.


And yeah: it's not like it's 16 years of uncertainty. It's one year where we get a little bit less Who than we otherwise would have, followed by a confirmed, 100% definite return. It's a little bit of a drag, but I can't feel too unhappy about it. It's basically on the same level as being bummed about the delay for the start of Galactica season 4, mitigated just as much by the telemovie that will be coming out in the interim.

 

Ain't it the truth.


Anywho, I picked up "The Leisure Hive" for the sake of costume research.

I gotta say, those Argolin chaps have fabulous hair.

 

True, but I'm more impressed by Formasi girdle technology. They'd even hold Zap Brannigan in!

I picked that one up, along with Time-Flight/Arc of Infinity and Timelash.

Yeah...I dunno why either...

In all seriousness, a couple of the last Doctor Who DVD purchases I made were Colin Baker serials, and what is surprising is how well they actually hold up in the harsh light of hindsight. Timelash is one of those "not as bad as it's reputation" serials according to the Discontinuity Guide (which is, let's face the, the freakin' Bible on the subject now).

And it's got more Peri, and what red-blooded male doesn't like that?

As for Time-Flight/Arc of Infinity, they may well say that they released them together to get more content out to the public, but we all know it's cos no one would buy Time-Flight even on pain of death. A Concorde crashes in pre-Jurassic England?? Ye Gods...

Arc of Infinity while significantly better is laboured with lots of running scenes. Lots and lots of running scenes. Through Amsterdam. With rice crispy prosthetics. It's all very bizarre.

But, it has some rather big and noble ideas on display, and Nyssa gets to shoot loads of people.

The extras on Arc of Infinity are good; the writer asks the question all fans want to know, Why the Hell did the Doctor let Tegan come back?? But he doesn't answer it, cos even he doesn't know

The extras here also lend some credence to a recent rumour regarding Peter Davison; slap a wig on him and with the right lighting he is still the Doctor.

Finally, look what's finally getting a local release!

Ridiculous price, but I smell marathon potential there.

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

Destiny Of The Daleks and Davros Boxset for November.

Oh joy. Of course, when we'll get a local release is debatable, but hey - this will make getting reference shots a hell of a lot easier

 

Oh, we'll get a local release, never you mind that.

The Davros Boxset annoys me, as I've pretty much already got all of his appearances on DVD bar one; the Fifth Doctor's Resurrection of the Daleks. And yes, that is the right one. I looked it up I realy hope there aren't any compelling extras making me ponder a double dip...

The other interesting thing in that article; aside from the quote "Dalek voice artiste Nicholas Briggs"; is that they're releasing a boxset of Doctor Who and The Silurians, The Sea Devils and Warriors of the Deep. They're all good, but Warriors of the Deep is the reason the Fifth Doctor is my favourite Doctor, if only for his last line in that story.

And finally, The Doctor's Boys. This artist gets it.

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

"There had to be a better way"? Or am I muddling serials?

The Sarah Jane Adventures gets its proper start next week. I can't say I'll be downloading it religiously, but it should be worth at least a curious glance. The pilot was decent enough. A children's show, yes, but not one particularly alienating to adults.

I saw it the same day I finally confronted the 2006 Christmas Special of its parent show. Guess which episode I found more mature?

 

Speaking of Sarah Jane, guess what's getting released on DVD next year?


I'm going to go sit and stare incredulously into space for a while.

 

As much as I love Sarah Jane Smith and K9, it fills me with glee that this new DVD release will wound the New Who Fans to their core

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

Your sadism amuses me. New Who fans need to be taught a lesson, leastways.

Fortunately my general sense of completism when it comes to collecting serieses hasn't extended to the spin-offs (yet...).

 

Actually, it's the Old Fans who say, "SEE! The new series proves that the Doctor was OBVIOUSLY sleeping with his other companions!" that need to be taught a lesson.

However, they're probably immune to K9 & Company...

My only alternative is to form a posse and go to each of their houses and beat them up, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back style

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

One more, you are completely right. Those people should be pummelled with heavy, blunt objects.

 

Casting Update: Monster role for Young Ones star (Series Four spoiler!)

Ooh =D

 

SONTARANS OH GOD YES.

 

I know!


On a not really related note, Keith Topping has compiled Part Two of the Doctor Who Fan Phrasebook.

 

Another hilarious read. Thank you.

Dark:
Anything in which the Brigadier wears an eyepatch.

Great news about the Sontarans. I can't wait to see what they look like with the backing of a proper budget.

 

Christopher Ryan played Lord Kiv?? Man, never realised that!

So, they're going for really short Sontarans this time. Well that makes sense, they are supposed to be from a high-gravity environment.

Unfortunately I can't find any images of the Sontarans from Shakedown - The Return of the Sontarans, as that was Sontarans with the backing of a proper budget; their helmets finally covered their Probic Vents.

I'm sure that sounds dirty to anyone who has no idea what I'm talking about...

As for Part 2 of the Phrasebook, here's my favourite:

Series Five will be all specials - this cannot be allowed to stand:

So, let's review the situation, shall we? As a fandom we survived 16 years where we had 100 minutes of new Doctor Who on television and now we're worried about 12 months where we might have only, have 180 or 240 minutes instead. Aren't we just, like, the biggest bunch of badly spoiled brats you ever did see in all yer born days?

Though this one surprised me:

Felicity Kendall:

That's a very enterprising bit of casting.Felicity! Felicity! You fill me with electricity! But you are nice/sugar and spice. Like wot a real girly outta be.

That's from the Young Ones Book from the 80s, specifically Rik's poetry section. Wow, someone else actually read that trash...

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

RTD Caused Global Warming

I hadn't realised he'd put this up, but Mr Topping also posted a "best of" from this particular thread from Outpost Gallifrey.

RTD will one day surprise us all with a startling revelation that will make the reason for Dan Brown's continued existence obselete.

Given my general sense of loathing for Dan Brown, I really hope that's true


Series Five will be all specials - this cannot be allowed to stand ... Aren't we just, like, the biggest bunch of badly spoiled brats you ever did see in all yer born days?

Funny, yet rather sad because it's so very true.

Dark:
Anything in which the Brigadier wears an eyepatch.

Teehee. Très amusant.

 

Tabloid newspapers continue to wildly speculate on season 4 goings-on. Though it seems as though this particular season finale ****-fight tallys well with rumours that have been doing the rounds for some time now. True? Untrue? We'll see. It wouldn't surprise me, put it that way, and though I like the idea in general, I think it ought to be toned down in a few places to avoid stretching credibility.