Doctor Who

[guptasa1]

Just wondering if anyone else is really digging the new Doctor Who (British Series that just came to the US on Sci-Fi). I have to say I was skeptical at first (never saw the original long-running series) and not too excited about this series, but I decided to give it a chance, and am I glad I did! Hilarious, smart and just one of the most fun series I've come across in years. (Though it IS cheesey at times, so you have to have a stomach for that, but it's pretty obvious it's intentional, and I personally think that makes it all the more endearing).

[JT Brooklyn]

gup..Especially since the very Hunky "Capt Jack" the "Bi Guy", has joined the cast! Hopefully he will be getting plenty of Screen Time!

 

The Best "Dr Who" though IMHO.... was the Old Original WHO, with the Big Eyed Frizzy Haired Doctor! LOL :P

[+ ArVaGuy]

I have watched it a few times and genuinely like the show. Its very well done and very imaginative. The cheesy aspects are funny and harken back to the "original" series and the low special effects budgets at the time. Since the producers never had the budgets like a US series they concentrated on the writing and characters.

 

I find the "new" Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston to be very hot. Certainly the best looking guy to ever play the role. Jack Barrowman who plays Captain Jack is also hot and may be getting a spin off series. Yum!

[Guest skrubber]

I was addicted to the "original" series and have this one set on my DVR as a sreies recording. It is funny and I am loving the new Doctor.

[Guest rohale]

When I first read that the BBC were planning on resurrecting Doctor Who for a whole new generation of people to watch and enjoy, worldwide. I thought to myself well they've been talking about this for years now, so what's new. In the early 1990's, Steve Spielberg Productions were attached to the project. Obviously nothing ever materialised. Then in 1996, the Fox Television Network in America announced a new Doctor Who movie made for television would go into production. Paul McGann was chosen in the lead role, unfortunatly the tv movie didn't draw the ratings that Fox had hoped for and the follow up movie never made it off the canvas. For a good number of years there was nothing, except the talk of doing a big movie production in attempts to find an audience for the big screen. All of a sudden the BBC announced in 2004 that a new Doctor Who series were to be commissioned for television and production would start for a transmission time frame for 2005. I was definitely shocked and somewhat taken aback.

 

After giving some thought, I was a bit dubious to the fact that the first Serial which had a 26 year non-stop run had at times been successful and not so successful. Therefore I thought why would anyone want to tinker with a franchise that had been off the air for almost 15 years. To my delight, when I found out that Russel T Davies ( creator of QAF ) was the executive producer of the new serial and standing alongside would be producer, Phillip Collinson. A great creative guy in his own right. I thought to myself well this could work, especially since BBC Controller Julie Gardner and Mr Davies made it clear that the new serial would be very much family friendly. Offcourse with ITV absolutely messing things up for their Saturday early evening schedule, Doctor Who's main competition came from " Celebrity Boxing " on ITV and no one really watched it. In essence Doctor Who and the BBC had the chance to capitalise and allow the programme to gain some momentum. Britain has a population of 70 mill, so when 10 million people watch the show, that says awful lot of where the potential of a television could go if the stories turn out to be really good. So far for the most part very few viewers have been disappointed. Offcourse a second serial has been commissioned and so far there is a good buzz about potential future storylines.

 

A friend of mine in England sent me a tape late last year and my first impression was thinking they actually put some money into the whole series and every penny seems to be well worth spent. The acting overall is pretty good, the chemistry between Chris Ecclelston and Billie Piper ( Rose ) was absolutely fantastic. For me she is the anchor of the show as well as a major bird to look at on television. Also the supporting cast have been some very inspired choices. John Barrowman is absolutely fantastic in his re-curring role as the flashy captain. In America, some of you might remember him from CPW ( Central Park West, CBS mid -1990's show with a Melrose Place feel for a younger audience after the network lost the NFL to FOX tv ). Noel Clarke is a great find for the show. When all is said and done with his stint in Who, I hope he goes on to do nice things.

 

Offcourse some of the visiting actors like Anthony Heald, British Veteran Actor, Leslie Howard ( very grand and very famous for his acting alongside Sydney James. Kenneth Williams, Joan Simms and Barbara Windsor on the Carry On film series in the 1960's, which would later inspire John Cleese to create Monthy Python ), Roger Lloyd-Black ( the great Brit Classic, Only Fools And Horses ), Don Warrington ( 1970's Brit Classic, Rising Damp ), Australian Actor, Adam Garcia. Barbara Windsor ( Peggy Mitchell from Eastenders ), Wendy Richards ( Eastenders ) Mark Gattis. I know Sean Bean ( Sharpes Revenge, National Treasure ) has expressed in wanting to make a future appearance on the show.

 

Saving the best for last, the return of former Doctor Who companion Elizebeth Sladen, reprising her role as Sarah Jane-Smith. Miss Sladen had become part of Doctor Who in the final year of Jon Pertwee's era of Doctor Who which was back in 1974. She did this wonderful leap from Jon Pertwee to Tom Baker and worked with him for his first two years in Doctor Who. I musn't forget to mention everybody's favourite tin dog is back. K9 is making is comeback to Who starring alongside Liz Sladen, the wonderful soft hearted, John Leeson is once again provding the voice over for the tin dog.

 

In fact Billie Piper does have one thing in common with Elizabeth Sladen. She too had to make a transition from one Doctor Who to another. To those who dont know, Chris Eccleston is no longer part of the programme. He originally signed a contract with the BBC for one year and decided to fulfill his obligation without resigning and therefore left before he felt being type-cast because of his association with Who. The new Doctor Who is again a rather inspired choice in the form of David Tennant ( Casanova ). I got awfully lucky, I was staying with my family in England when I got to watch " A Parting Of The Ways " very much a good Dalek story with in turn lead to the regeneration sequence from Chris to David. It was the best regeneration sequence that I can remember from any of the previous Doctor Who's. From a special effects point of view, it really worked and was well done. For a television viewer, it's somewhat sad because one actor is leaving, but at the same a level of excitment to see who the new actor will ultimately turn out to be. To give an actor is due, Chris Eccleston proved his worth and definitely left his stamp on the show. Due to his good acting, he essentially cemented Doctor Who for the time being as a bona-fide show to be reckoned with. Now it's up to David to carry on and put make the lead role his own and like Chris will have to prove his worth not just to a television audience but to the BBC and prove that it's worth it to keep the programme on television.

 

So now David Tennant is the new Doctor Who and at some point in time, the Sci-Fi channel in the States will beging airing his stories. I hope people give him a chance and prove his worth. So far the buzz for David is exceptional positive and thus far has a good working rapport with Billie Piper. The credit really boils down to Russel T Davies for hiring two completely different but good actors to play the lead and a great young actress, Billie Piper. Offcourse BBC Controller Julie Gardner for bringing back and old show and giving it a new lease on life for television and for a whole new generation of youngsters, their mums and dads and making family viewing redeemable again for every Saturday early evening.

 

Rohale

 

 

Tom Baker, on leaving Doctor Who - " It was a long time and I thought I had done a lot of them, I thought I'd better give somebody else a go, I dont regret it, I think I got out at the right time "

 

Jon Pertwee, on leaving Doctor Who - " Well, I hate teams breaking up, yes I good sod over it, If I did this role again in five minutes, I'd probably have another cry all over again "

[Guest rohale]

>I have watched it a few times and genuinely like the show.

>Its very well done and very imaginative. The cheesy aspects

>are funny and harken back to the "original" series and the low

>special effects budgets at the time. Since the producers

>never had the budgets like a US series they concentrated on

>the writing and characters.

 

 

Even by British standards, Doctor Who like most BBC programmes back in the 1970's and 80's were very much underfunded. The problem was as technology got better, the budgets for the shows never reflected that. I know both Christopher Doyle-John and John Nathan=Turner who were both Unit Production Managers ( PUMS) had shared this particular angst thru putlic sentiment in different interviews. It would normally be at the end of every season, there was no money left and literally the production teams were using kitchen supplies to fill a scene up with extra gadgets. By the time Doctor Who ended it's original run in 1989, sets were constantly falling apart and it would be tremendously tasking for the camera crews in having to remount a particular camera shot because everything was coming apart at the seams.

 

Even another Sc-Fi show like Blake 7 which was created by Douglas Adams ( writer of the sci-fi classic " Hitchers Guide To The Galazy ")very much suffered the same fate as Doctor Who, meaning a lack of available funds to make the series look good. Ultimately Blake 7was cancelled because the BBC felt that even though Doctor Who was being broadcast on BBC1 and Blake 7 was being transmitted on BB2 in those days. They couldn't afford to keep two sc-fi shows going simultaneously. Over the course of the last twenty five years, Blake 7 like Doctor Who is enjoying cult status these days.

 

At least with the current Doctor Who series, they're putting a hell of a lot more money into the productions. The key has been in the BBC finding outside business partnerships in funding their programmes, something that could never have happened 20 or even 30 years ago. Now the BBC is a little more savy and self-conscience about image, particularily in a very competetive television market age against more modern American Sc-Fi productions.

[JamesK840]

Yep, it's the best Sci-Fi on right now, which is the great thing about Sci-Fi channel choosing to run it when their original stuff is in repeats.

 

Unfortunately we're about a season behind the UK, So I was kinda hoping no spoilers would pop up... As Rohale points out, and I found when I picked up a UK mag that had Dr. Who on the cover, there are some major coming changes and I was a bit dissapointed to read about them. It sounds like they're going more for sexual tension then humor in the next season. Damn, I really liked the formula so far.

[guptasa1]

Re the changes coming (without going into specifics), I'm worried about 'em too and one specific change will be hard to get past for as I love the energy and dynamic that's already there also, but I'm going to give it a chance and hope for the best. So far, I've heard very good things about the new season (been avoiding specifics, but I know people like it), and I definitely hope Sci-Fi picks it up.

[JT Brooklyn]

I'm definitely hoping the Goodlooking "Capt Jack" Survive's the Upcoming Changes!

But I have a funny feeling he was Saved Last Week, only to meet his Fate very soon! LOL :P

[guptasa1]

As someone mentioned, I also read rumors he (Jack) may be getting his own series. So I think that fares pretty well for his survival. =oP

[JT Brooklyn]

Capt Jack sure looked good in Friday's Episode.

He definitely has a Nice Body. Unlike alot of English Actor's!

 

The New James Bond also works out quite a bit! I Luv the accent when it comes from a "Hunky" Englishmen! LOL :P

[Michael]

> Even another Sc-Fi show like Blake 7 which was created by

> Douglas Adams ( writer of the sci-fi classic " Hitchers Guide

> To The Galazy ")very much suffered the same fate as Doctor

> Who, meaning a lack of available funds to make the series look

> good.

 

Hmm - are you *sure* about that.

 

I always thought that Blake's 7 was created by Terry Nation, and that is who is credited by, among others, the BBC's own web site.

 

Douglas Adams was certainly writing scripts for the BBC around that time so it is quite possible that he worked on the series, but if he did it was something that he seems to have kept pretty quiet about.

[Guest rohale]

>I always thought that Blake's 7 was created by Terry Nation,

>and that is who is credited by, among others, the BBC's own

>web site.

>

>Douglas Adams was certainly writing scripts for the BBC around

>that time so it is quite possible that he worked on the

>series, but if he did it was something that he seems to have

>kept pretty quiet about.

>

 

 

There was a wonderful story that used to be told by Terry Sampson who very much ran BBC Enterprises in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The story goes like this, when the BBC decided to have another crack in making a new sci-fi serial for television. The BBC very much wanted the input to come from Terry Nation. Now to his credit, he realised that he couldn't possibly do this on his own, offcourse being a bit clever, he enlisted the help of Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks and the late great Douglas Adams. In those days Terry had a reputation of being extremely propiertorial and he found himself constantly at loggerheads with both Barry and Terrance.

 

Now Barry realised that there was no point in staying on and trying to come to creative grips with Terry. It wasn't before long when the BBC had approached Barry and asked him to serve as Executive Producer of Doctor Who in Tom Baker's final year in Doctor Who. The idea being that Producer Graham Williams had left the television serial in late 1979 and his successor would turn out to be Unit Production Manager John Nathan-Turner. So basically Barry's job would be to help John establish himself as the new producer of Doctor Who in early 1980.

 

Now Terrance Dicks on the other hand thought he could brazen thru with Terry Nation. At the end of the day he too found himself not liking Terry's creative ideas and ultimately Terrance decided to go back into script editing. Mr Sampson used to say that with Douglas it was rather a lack of interest. By that stage the BBC very much wanted to make Douglas Adam's great creation " Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy " a radio serial drama. It proved to be hugely successful for Mr Adams and wanted him to create a television serial for BBC2 to which he happily obliged.

 

At the same Douglas received an offer that he just couldn't refuse. During Tom Baker's first three years in Doctor Who, Phillip Hinchcliffe had been producer and he very much wanted to make Doctor Who more sophisticated in terms of more adult storylines as opposed to his predecessor Barry Letts who very much tried to make John Pertwee's Doctor Who stories more kid friendly. What Mr Hinchcliffe did was enlist the help of Script Editor Robert Holmes to create storys with a gothic feel. To this day there are people who feel that the Hinchcliffe Era of Doctor Who were by far the best Doctor Who stories ever conceived in it's original 27 year run.

 

When Mr Hinchcliffe decided to move on, Graham Williams took over and he felt that Doctor Who again needed to be more kid friendly. By that stage Robert Holmes had expressed his interest in wanting to move on to other television projects. Graham needed someone very badly who could write for Tom's Doctor, but with more emphasis on the humour level involving the undergraduate humour. Who better than Douglas Adams to tackle and envision Graham's ideas. After Douglas was completely the opposite of Bob Holmes who was very much cerebral in his approach to stories. Whereas Douglas has the idea that if a story called for a Sweedish girl, he would advocate the idea of using sixteen girls to get the dads glued to the television screens. He very much played up to Tom's essectric characteristics of his own personna. I always felt that Douglas approached his writing in a quadrill sort of way,

 

With the three main characters out of the picture, Terry Nation proceeded to make Blake 7 all on his own. Afterall he was the last man standing when production began. The only arguement that was to ever come about was when Terrance Dicks made an appearance in the early 1980's on a BBC television show called " Pebble Mill At One ". At that stage in time, he claimed that it was his idea to try and cast Paul Darrow in the lead role for " Blake 7 " to which Terry Nation absolutely denied Terrance's involvement. As to why I credit Douglas for helping create Blake 7, even though he probably didn't get paid for it because he exited fairly quickly. For me it's right thing to do and give where credit should be given and not just to Terry Nation.

 

I've always felt that the only reason the BBC gave Terry the chance to make his own sci-fi show is because they were afraid of him. In the early days of Doctor Who around the mid 1960's, there was no certainty as to whether Doctor Who would come back to television each following consecutive year. I think Verity Lambert realised that a sc-fi show needs to have a great villain. What established Doctor Who was the introduction of the Daleks, which was very much Terry Nation's creation. The daleks were very much based on the German SS from the second world war. This was something that many people involved in Doctor Who had been saying throughout the early days of Doctor Who, but no not Terry Nation. He refused to concede this point until the early 1980's. He could be very stubborn when he wanted to.

 

Offcourse Being a smart businessman, everytime the various producers of Doctor Who wanted to make a story involving the Daleks, the BBC had to get permission from Terry Nation's estate. Unfortunatly he used to create so much trouble that he literally wanted to have final say in any spproval of any scripts involving his beloved Daleks. Fearing any potential problems I think the BBC decided to kind of shut him up a bit and give him a show with his creative stamp on it. Right or wrong, Terry got what he wanted from the BBC.

 

Now the irony of everything pertaining to " Blake 7 ". After many years or legal haggling between the Nation Estate and former Blake 7 actor the wonderful Paul Darrow as to who owns the rights to the show. The ultimate winner turned out to be the British veteran actor who has had quite an impressive on stage for almost 25 years. He's a wonderful actor and I'm glad that in 2005 he was awarded the rights to " Blake 7 ". If I remember correctly the BBC has given him something like over 1 million in sterling money to document and catalogue the past 25 years of influence from " Blake 7 " upon the British pop culture. From mediocre success in it's original run to cult status within the new millenium. There is even talk of a possible revival of the sci-fi classic. It'll probably never see the light of day.

 

Now looking back, Terry amongst others created something really special in the world of science fiction television. Now Paul Darrow has the opportunity and chance to carry on that legacy. As the years progress, hopefully the show's history will continue to with stand the test of time.

 

Rohale

[JT Brooklyn]

I do believe Tonite Fri 6/9 Is The Season Finale! and Whatever happens to the DOCTOR..at least it won't be a Soprano, long drawn out affair from One season to the Next! Hopefully? LOL :P

[guptasa1]

Loved the episode, and even smiled at the end. Looking forward to Season 2 (though of course some things will be definitely missed)!

[JamesK840]

Yeah, I had to know what happens so I started downloading (through bit torrent) the first couple S2 episodes. Just watched the first one. All I'll say is I'm a little disapointed how little impact the loss/change seems to have... they just seem to go right on their merry way. With double the sexual tension, which I was afraid of.

[JT Brooklyn]

I'll miss the Doc, But the Replacement looks like he will handle it in a slightly different way. I'm hoping "Capt Jack" hangs on for awhile!

 

He definitely is a Sexy Guy, I always was a Sucker for Cute and Dimpled! LOL :P

[guptasa1]

You might want to check out (either on Youtube or a P2P network) the charity episode of Doctor Who that aired for Children in Need. It takes place directly after the end of "The Parting of the Ways" and before the first ep. of Season 2 (which I haven't seen yet and probably won't until Sci-Fi decides to air it, but I think that's promising and there's even speculation maybe in October). I also think it's really cool they used the show's popularity in Britain to support a charity drive like this - I guess the Doctor Who of old used to do things to support this same charity (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/). =o)

 

Anyways, the actual video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrmj97PgsxM&search=doctor%20who%20christmas (or it's available on P2P networks in a higher quality version if you do a search for "Doctor Who Children in Need").

 

It's short, around 7 minutes, but fun nonetheless and gives you a glimpse of what's coming...

 

Oh, and as for Cap'n Jack, I dunno if he'll be making an appearance in Doctor Who again anytime soon, but Torchwood's definitely coming (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2005/10/17/25634.shtml).

[JT Brooklyn]

FYI....Apparently there will be One More Goodbye to the Old Doc!

 

Sci-fi is running Episode's from 8 to 12 Fri Nite 6/16.... :P

[Guest rohale]

>You might want to check out (either on Youtube or a P2P

>network) the charity episode of Doctor Who that aired for

>Children in Need. It takes place directly after the end of

>"The Parting of the Ways" and before the first ep. of Season 2

>(which I haven't seen yet and probably won't until Sci-Fi

>decides to air it, but I think that's promising and there's

>even speculation maybe in October). I also think it's really

>cool they used the show's popularity in Britain to support a

>charity drive like this - I guess the Doctor Who of old used

>to do things to support this same charity

>(http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/). =o)

>

 

I think Terry Wogan was the organziser and creator for " Children In Need " telethon which now dates back well over 20 years. To those who have no idea who Terry Wogan is, he's a celebrity talk show host whose programme ironically is about as old as his " Children In Need " telethon. Offcourse his main competitor has always been Michael Parkinson. They say these two gentlemen abosolutely hate eachother.

 

Now as to Doctor Who's involvement with this wonderful charity. I think the 1993 telethon might have been Who's biggest involvement. What precipitated the idea of using Doctor Who with this charity, I think the idea might have been sparked from Wendy Richards ( BBC Eastenders ) who was very close friends with Third Doctor Who, the late great Mr Jon Pertwee. The realisation was that Doctor Who was about to celebrate it's 30th anniversary. It was Wendy who suggested that perhaps they should do something together that ties " Doctor Who " and her hit show " Eastenders " with the telethon.

 

Somehow former Doctor Who Producer, John Nathan-Turner got involved. What John did was enlist the help from Ken Davies. A little bit of a back story, around 1992, the BBC had approached Ken Davies to write a script for a possible big screen production. The idea being that it was to be the best ever Doctor Who production ever made. The idea to use as many former Doctor Who's as possible, as many companinon as could be fit upon a script page and as many Doctor Who villains as possible. In fact Graeme Harper had very much been contracted to serve as director for the film project. The title of the film itself would " Dark Dimensions In Time '. As Ken Davies used to say they got awfully close to getting the film production up and running. Unfortunately at the last minute, the whole deal fell apart and Mr Davies was informed that his script was going to be shelved.

 

Now fast forward to 1993, John Nathan-Turner needed a script very badly. The BBC wanted Former 1980's Doctor Who Script Editor, Eric Saward to write to the short story. John and Eric by stage were not on speaking terms. So the possibility of Mr Saward seemed at best very remote. It was suggested by the BBC that perhaps John should consider utilising the talents of Ken Davies. The old story goes that they talked it over a couple of pints of beer and hammered the idea of rather than trying to come with an original storyline plus script on such short notice, take Ken Davies old script of " Dimensions ", revise it by using the best bits.

 

The BBC liked the idea, they presented the concept to Terry Wogan and he too loved it. So now came the hard task in trying to get as many people from Doctor Who's past to come back and see what could be put on film. Peter Davison and Colin Baker instantly said yes, but the stumbling blocks would ultimately turn out to be both Jon Pertwee and offcourse Tom Baker. At first Tom agreed to show up without any stipulations or reservations. Then he started to make demands that if he had to be on screen, he had no wish or desire to be seen with any of the other Doctor Who's. Now when Jon Pertwee found out, he was absolutely livid with the fact that Tom Baker thought he was too good to be seen with any of the actors who played the same part as he did. Nathan-Turner being the great diplomat sorted that situation out.

 

I think the only disappointed being expressed had come from Peter Davison himself. As he used to say that he very much wanted to work with Tom Baker. When in 1983 to celebrate the 20th anniversary, Peter Davison was then Doctor Who and the BBC wanted something special to be shown on television. The producer JNT ( John Nathan_turner ) came up with the idea for the Five Doctors. Eric Saward wrote the script and all the living Doctor Who's were going to be used. Originally the story had been written around Tom Baker's doctor, just to entice him to consider making an appearance in the story. Peter Moffat who directed the story objected to the idea, he argued that Tom was no longer the Doctor and the minds of the viewer, Peter Davison was the Doctor. JNT and Eric agreed and supposedly informed Tom that he would basically be serving in the background to Peter. At the eleventh hour, Tom decided that he still hadn't gotten used to of not being the doctor and he felt that there would be a clash of egos with all these other actors in the story and therefore dropped out. What Peter Moffat to compensate for a lack of Tom Baker in first person was to used bits of clips from a 1979 storyline called " Shada " which was never completed because of an industrial strike. Later around 1992, Tom Baker would provide the missing link in storyline thru narrative format. Anways in 1983 it worked for Peter Moffat and I dont think anyone seemed to have noticed that Tom Baker himself was not part of the Five Doctors. Being the new boy, I think Peter might have been a little disappointed that Tom decided not to make an appearance.

 

I think the same situation happened ten years later in 1993 with Tom's refusal not to be involved with anyone for the telethon. At the end of the day, I think the whole telethon seemed to appeal to everybody. I think Nicholas Courtney might have been the only actor to have starred with the all the first seven Doctor Who's. In fact this was his first in sharing screen time with Sixth Doctor Who, Colin Baker. Even Lala Ward finally got to make an appearance and work with Jon Pertwee. I hope Lala returns to her roots on the London stage. A lot of actors and actresses got to work with eachother and I think the audience really enjoyed it in 3-D. Offcourse to have actors from EastEnders such as Ross Kemp, Steve McFadden and Wendy Richards being part of the production made it more sweeter for the televsion viewers.

 

Overall it was really nice for that particular year of 1993 and it really hasn't been duplicated to that level ever since. However it's nice to see that the current Doctor Who production team stll want to participate in the charity, so it's a win-win situation for everbody involved and especially the youngsters. I hope the participation continues for years to come.

 

Ro

[guptasa1]

Wow - interesting background; I never realized the level of involvement before even though I'd heard of the Five Doctors. I really need to see some of the previous doctors to see who some of these people are - the 9th was the first for me, so I have yet to see any of the classic stuff (besides a few clips on the BBC website). (It's just, in a way, overwhelming there's so much of it, because I'll never be able to see it all, but I can at least get a taste.)

 

Oh, and even though this season's ended, it appears there's another marathon on July 5th. That says to me they're liking the ratings and it's still looking good for Season 2 (or 28 depending on your perspective) here in the US. W00T. =oP

[Guest rohale]

>Wow - interesting background; I never realized the level of

>involvement before even though I'd heard of the Five Doctors.

>I really need to see some of the previous doctors to see who

>some of these people are - the 9th was the first for me, so I

>have yet to see any of the classic stuff (besides a few clips

>on the BBC website). (It's just, in a way, overwhelming

>there's so much of it, because I'll never be able to see it

>all, but I can at least get a taste.)

>

>Oh, and even though this season's ended, it appears there's

>another marathon on July 5th. That says to me they're liking

>the ratings and it's still looking good for Season 2 (or 28

>depending on your perspective) here in the US. W00T. =oP

 

I wish I had replied to this weeks ago now, but then better late than never I suppose. Now, I'm glad you mentioned the classic stuff from Doctor Who, nowadays most people who are aware of Doctor Who and have an avid interest take the original clips in terms of availablity for granted. Here's why I say this as it mainly pertains to the first three Doctor Who's, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee. In October, 1980 during Season 18 in the midst of recording " Warrior's Gate ". The BBC anounced that Tom Baker after seven years of playing the character of the " Doctor " was leaving the long running sci-fi programme. The actor who was going to take over was a rather much younger man coming off huge success in " All Creatures Great And Small " was none other than Peter Davison.

 

The producer, John Nathan-Turner had a dilemma on his hands. He realised that Tom had played the lead part for so long and enjoyed tremendous success that it was really hard for anyone to even remember let alone think that there indeed had been three other actors prior to Tom who played " Doctor Who ". So what John decided to do in preparation for arrival of Peter Davison in the programme was to establish and try at best to show past episodes of Doctor Who to basically remind the audience of this. What JNT decided to do was go into the BBC archives and see what was available. Being producer, JNT had no time what so ever to sift thru the endless material. It was then suggested to him that perhaps he should contact Ian Levine who at that time was working for the BBC and had a good sizeable knowledge of British television history.

 

With Ian Levine on board, it seemed almost easy until what could have been a fateful day for most Doctor Who fans of the early years. When Ian arrived to take a look at the master tapes, to his shock and horror. He could not believe that a lot of the master tapes were in absolute poor condition and some were rotting away because of years of neglect. In fact as Ian used to say there were quite a number of master tapes that had been marked for destruction. It seemed the BBC were not very good caretakers. They didn't really care. To Ian's credit he called up the BBC head office and with permission tried to salvage every master tape that he could get his hands on. Also had Ian not have arrived, the following day most of the original tapes would have been destroyed and no one would have ever noticed, certainly not at that time.

 

Unfortunately to this very day there are still missing episodes of various stories from the Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee era's of Doctor Who. Luckily all of Tom Baker's stories were stored in a different vault and still remain intact to this very day. Anyways back to 1980, both JNT and Ian sifted thru all the material and chose what they felt were the best stories from each of the first three Doctor Who's. Incidentitly they were called " The First Five Faces Of Doctor Who ". In fact they did very well with the ratings. For the casual fan or viewer it was rather enjoyable to watch a blast from the past.

 

For the last twenty odd years, with the release of the video tapes, these days the availablity of downloading past episodes and offcourse with the release of dvd's. In fact speaking of dvd's one of the nice changes with regard to technology and in attempts to restore some of the lost of missing links in episodes is the use of animation to help create scenes that coincide with the existing soundtracks. This is really a test experiment and I think may one or two of Patrick Troughton's stories will be getting this special treatment. Again most of the Doctor Who episodes from the early years might not exist today if it hadn't been the efforts of one man in particular, Mr Ian Levine who is now the official care-taker of all Doctor Who master material tapes that still exist within the BBC vaults today and that's a bloody good thing.

 

Speaking about the first five Doctor Who's, since you started watching Doctor Who with the current ninth Doctor Who. This is where you and I have certain similarities. I really grew up with the Fourth and Fifth Doctor Who's. In other words it was Tom Baker and Peter Davison that I identified with the programme. The first time I ever realised that there had been other actors prior to Tom was back in 1983. My parents used to watch this BBC programme called " Nationwide ". It was a regional news programmes that covered events within the South East of England and I suppose East Anglia too. It was really around the time of the 20th annivarsary of Doctor Who and what I remember was watching these five actors chuck it all up and watching Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee handing out Jelly Babies, mainly to eachother in mock version. I instantly recognised both Tom and Peter. I remember my mum teasing me about Jon Pertwee, beacuse she remembered him from Doctor Who and I remembered him from a very popular LWT ( London Weekend Television ) children's programme called " Worzel Gummidge " in which he played a scarecrow. I had absolutely no idea who Patrick Troughton was at that stage in time and nor was I ever aware of Richard Trundrall ( filling in for the late William Hartnell ). Nowadays I have tremendous respect for these two wonderful actors, not just for their contribution to Doctor Who, but also and more importantly their respective "Who" post careers.

 

Over the years the nice aspect is I've come to realise how good the first three doctor who's were in their repective era's. As for Season 2 or 28 depending upon one's own point of view. I look at Doctor Who like this. Like you, I see the current serial as Season 2. The main reason being that there was a fifteen year gap between the two Doctor Who serials and also the makeup of the audience have changed over the years. If the producers tried to harken back to let's say Who from the 80's in terms of stories were created and tried to sell the end product to an audience of today, it was absolutely distasterous. What worked twenty years ago is not going to work in today's television climate because the makeup of the audience has changed over the years. For me Doctor Who like most television has to reflect the times we live in.

 

With the current Doctor Who serial, I'm glad that the producers decided not to go the for the Eduardian look in terms of costume for both Chris and now David. They've given Doctor Who a certain amount of street cred which I think is important to distance the programe from it's past. Also I may get into trouble for this, but then I dont really care. I hope the producers in the future do not attempt to cater Doctor Who towards an American audience. There is this lovely British way of playing against the type or the lines. I personally dont want to see these types of quirks become convulated in favour of a more straight forward approach as this probably works better in America more than in Britain.

 

This approach has already been tried once before in 1984 with Nicola Bryant playing an American in hopes of expanding the fan base in the USA. This was John Nathan-Turner's idea. The British viewing audience didn't really take to it back then and I doubt it'll be any different in today's day and age. Also Doctor Who might find itself with an ever so diminishing telivision audience in Britain and this where it counts the most. Besides Doctor Who is very British and it should remain this way. On the other hand there is always Tom Baker who is relentless in his complaint that Doctor Who is becoming too much of a Welsh tradition. The programme is filmed in Wales as it's ever so increasingly expensive to shoot in Southern England. As Tom likes to say it could be worse, especially if the show were to be fimed in Ireland, then the drunken blaggards would take over. Only Tom would think along these lines and that's what makes him endearing to so many people over the years, his dry wit and knock em down flattery. This is I think is a good way to end it.

 

Rohale

[guptasa1]

Wow - interesting post!

 

I had heard about a lot of the early eps of Doctor Who being destroyed, and it's a shame, but I didn't know how close it came to having many more gone. I'll definitely hafta check out just a few of the old eps that are available to see what it was like - especially like the Daleks, so maybe I'll check out a few of those episodes. =o)

 

As to your comment about keeping Doctor Who British, I'm an American, and I absolutely agree with you. Part of the whole charm of the series, IMO, is its British wit and seasoning, and I definitely agree it would lose something without that. The only thing I *do* really hope is they continue airing it in the US - Sci-Fi hasn't announced anything regarding Season 2 as of yet, but I think the ratings were pretty good, so I still think/hope it will happen.

[Guest rohale]

>I'll definitely hafta check

>out just a few of the old eps that are available to see what

>it was like - especially like the Daleks, so maybe I'll check

>out a few of those episodes. =o)

 

 

If I could be brave enough to make a possible suggestion of maybe one or two good Dalek stories. There was a really good Dalek story from the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who called " Genesis Of The Daleks ". It's a very strong story and I think what makes this particular six parter episodic story different from previous Dalek stories is the level violence throughout the story. Offcourse Script Editor Robert Holmes who wanted to add and build more tension within the main characters. In those days I think it might have been David Maloney who directed this particular story like a steamroller. This is certainly one of the more popular Dalek stories.

 

The second suggestion would be a Dalek story from the Sylvester McCoy years of Doctor Who called " Remembrance Of The Daleks ". It was to be the very last of the Dalek stories and the fans still love it to this very day. I think it might have been a sort of time travel story and at one point in time the companion was the character " Ace " played by the lovely and ever so talented Sophie Allred. In fact there was a tremendous amount of rapport between Sophie and Sylv. They worked very well together and were absolutely timeless.

 

The above mentioned " Dalek " stories are the more popular ones. There are others which really aren't so great like the 1979 story " Destiny Of The Daleks " the second of the Tom Baker serials to feature the ever so horrid villains. By that stage Graham Williams was the producer and he and the late great Douglas Adams in some ways made the story a bit too jokey by lessening the level of tension to made the story work.

 

How about other Dalek stories. From the Peter Davison era " Resurrection Of The Daleks ", not terribly good, but Terry Malloy was absolutely brilliant in playing the main villain " Davros ". During Colin Baker's era " Revelation Of The Daleks " again to feature Terry Malloy as I understand it. In all honesty I dont know anything at all about this story. After Peter Davison left Doctor Who in 1984, I hardly ever watched the show, except on the odd occassion or by accident if I happened to be passing an appliance store and Doctor Who was being shown on the video monitor. So for now these are the only Dalek stories that I can think of that were actually recorded in technicolour.

 

As for the Sci-Fi showing Doctor Who, I hope so too. It's really just a question of licence fees and that's about it. Hopefull sooner rather than later.

 

I want to make a brief comment about Russel T Davies. It's so hard to fathom that's it's been almost ten years now when the British version of QAF ( Queer As Folk ) was being transmitted on the small screen on Chanel 4 on a Thursday night in primetime. Back then Mr Davies was so hated and reviled by the general public for the product he produced and in fact at one stage in time he was even more unpopular than the moronic Arthur Scargill, which is very hard to do these days unless one is a politician. During his run with QAF, Russel helped discover Charlie Hunnam and helped him establish a career to which is still going strong.

 

Now ten years later after all the mud-slinging, the name calling, death threats upon Russel's life all behind him in the distant past. Due to his associaton with Doctor Who, it's somewhat uncanny at times to fathom that these days he's absolutely loved by critics and fans alike. He's become the darling of the family hour of quality television within Britain. What's a difference ten years can make for a man's career. These days Russel is enjoying the spoils and deservedly so. The day Russel hangs it up as the creative force behind the current serial of Doctor Who, his successor will have a lot not just to live up to, but more importantly to build upon as the new ideasman behind the scenes.

 

Ro

[guptasa1]

Thanks for the suggestions of stories to check out as well as the background of Davies - I never had made the connection with QAF even though I think I knew it somewhere. You really know your stuff! And I'm glad he's enjoying such success now!