Comments on: Doctor Who?

Doctor Who?

Mwongozi — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:05:38 -0800

By: bkdelong

bkdelong — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:13:57 -0800

I have to admit, Tom Baker was and continues to be my favorite Doctor.

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:22:07 -0800

Would you like a Jelly Baby?

By: unreason

unreason — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:24:08 -0800

This is awesome...I used to watch that all the time on PBS (American public broadcasting station) when I was a kid. I wonder who they'll get to be the new Doctor? Probably someone relatively unknown, would be my guess...

By: rushmc

rushmc — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:25:21 -0800

The question is, will they ignore the American travesty and all that it entailed (i.e., half-human, love interest, etc.), or will they include that in the backstory of the new series?

By: davehat

davehat — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:26:27 -0800

Yay, just in time for my first kid! bkdelong: What you say is unarguable fact. Has anyone seen the sketch in Deadringers where Dr Who goes speed dating? Comedy gold.......

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:30:29 -0800

I think it can almost be guaranteed that Paul McGann will make an appearance in the first episode to maintain the tradition of the on-screen transformation into the "next" doctor... Of course, the term cyber-men has a bit of a different slant, these days. Notice, too, at the bottom of the page the reference of an animated series with Richard E. Grant (who would be a fantastic doctor, I reckon) to mark the 40th anniversary.

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:32:12 -0800

Sorry, as much as I love Tom Baker, it is not unarguable fact that he is the best Who. If I was *forced* to decide, I'm afraid I'd have to go with Patrick Troughton.

By: t r a c y

t r a c y — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:33:33 -0800

I have to admit, Tom Baker was and continues to be my favorite Doctor me too, tom baker is my all time fave doctor, with sarah jane smith as his girly sidekick. but i've enjoyed the doctor in all his incarnations so this is awesome good news, wheee...!

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:34:38 -0800

Although, taken literally, I concede its unarguable that Baker is bkdelong's favourite - but I don't think that's what davehat meant ;)

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:40:26 -0800

According to BBC News, the three runners to play the "new" Doctor are, Richard E. Grant, Alan Davies, and Paul McGann.

By: t r a c y

t r a c y — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:44:42 -0800

*grabs handful of jelly babies* i vote for alan davies

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 08:08:44 -0800

Tom Baker does rock the TARDIS, but Romana (the 2nd incarnation - not the 1st) was a ~~cuter~~ better sidekick.

By: a3matrix

a3matrix — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 08:35:15 -0800

I wonder who they'll get to be the new Doctor? If you have seen the A&E series, Horatio Hornblower, the actor that played HH I thought would be a good choice. His name is Ioan Gruffudd. Tom Baker is also my favorite. Dr's 3,4 and 5 all had good characters imo. I watched it on PBS as well. Even went so far as to donate and get a coffee mug. Right after I donated, they cut it from the lineup ;-(

By: SentientAI

SentientAI — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 08:41:47 -0800

God, I used to LURVE Tegan. Also in time for my second child, davehat. I can't wait to introduce them both to what my Saturday evenings used to consist of. God bless WPBT in Miami.

By: ursus_comiter

ursus_comiter — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:01:08 -0800

Give a little love to Sylvester McCoy and Ace! I liked Tom Baker fine, but I like my Doctor a lot more acerbic, thanks. And Ace was the bomb. I even had an Ace action figure back in the day.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:05:55 -0800

Can any Dr. Who fans recommend a good overview site, preferably with a timeline? It's one of those iconic pieces of teevee that I really always wanted to know more about.

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:14:02 -0800

Doctor Who is cack

By: vraxoin

vraxoin — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:16:54 -0800

God, I used to LURVE Tegan. That Australian's nightmare? No, the only girl for me is Nyssa. Although the image of Sarah Jane running around in a pink jumper with teddy bears on it, growling "Eldrad MUST live!" is weirdly compelling.

By: couch

couch — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:32:55 -0800

A timeline of The Doctor would be just a little confusing. I mean, which point of view would you take? The Universal one would be odd, and his own would be knotted ! (what with the 2,3 and 5 doctors). With this and Blakes7 (ii) coming it looks like I'll have something to watch when Angel finishes (insert farscape grumble here)

By: Dan Brilliant

Dan Brilliant — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:53:14 -0800

God, I used to LURVE Tegan. That Australian's nightmare? No, the only girl for me is Nyssa. You poor confused people. It is Peri who claims the title. A quick GIS leads me to a drawing of her that some lunatic has done.

By: evilelf

evilelf — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 10:07:22 -0800

Wait, wait, wait... Who could forget Leela?

By: cell

cell — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 10:35:11 -0800

This is good. From the 3 mentioned above, I'd pick Alan Davies. It'd be better to go for an unknown though.

By: davros42

davros42 — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 10:53:56 -0800

EXTERMINATE!

By: ilsa

ilsa — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 11:01:48 -0800

If the BBC calls looking for someone to play a new female sidekick, please let them know I am out back doing a Happy Dance™. At least Dr. Who aliens aren't all people with prosthetic foreheads on their real heads. Oh imagine the things they will be able to do with CGI effects.

By: Shoeburyness

Shoeburyness — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 11:06:44 -0800

Leela was always the favorite companion in my family. The males liked her skimpy outfits, and I liked her because she was far less of a screaming-mimi damsel-in-distress than the others. She was the proto-Buffy. I'd have to pick Alan Davies, too, although he reminds me too much (looks-wise) of the absolutely wretched Colin Baker. Better than the other two. Paul McGann would be like having Lawrence Llewyllen-Bowen as the doctor. And Withnail as the doctor? Meh. Tom Baker was my favorite, although I'm also partial to Peter Davison... even though his acting was not very good. And when you notice bad acting as a kid... it's gotta be pretty bad. It won't quite be the same with non-utter-crap special effects, though, will it?

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 11:08:42 -0800

"Oh imagine the things they will be able to do with CGI effects." Who cares? Good script and a decent story, please.

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 11:28:49 -0800

The best Doctor Who timeline is almost certainly the BBC's own.

By: soren

soren — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 11:40:13 -0800

Give a little love to Sylvester McCoy and Ace! Oh yeah Ace ruled, she was such a Bad Girl and she blew shit up.

By: konolia

konolia — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 11:49:27 -0800

That is the best news I have heard all day. Now if they will only release the reruns...

By: webmutant

webmutant — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 12:26:22 -0800

All day? This is the bestest news in the history of ever. Here's holding out hope for Paul McGann. The FOX movie was pretty awful, but he was lovely in it.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 12:27:46 -0800

I'd be happy enough to see Paul McGann get it, he was a fine Doctor in and of himself and it'd be a shame to let the way they buggered up the Canon for the TV-movie overshadow that. (On preview: what webmutant said.) Next Doctor? I'm sure the producers don't consider it an option but I've always liked the idea of a female incarnation. But I suppose that wouldn't be a good way to kick off a series revival, and presumably Gallifreyans are meant to stay the same sex through all their lifetimes.

By: piskycritter

piskycritter — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:06:16 -0800

One of my closest brushes with fame was sitting next to Ace (Sophie Aldred) during a diner hosted by my local PBS. As far as timelines go, I think they should go back in time before the first Doctor (William Hartnell), and do a prequel. All the other science fiction shows are doing it.

By: solistrato

solistrato — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:17:16 -0800

Ahh, the stench of dork...

By: rough ashlar

rough ashlar — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:35:47 -0800

the stench of dork Well, go use some Linux and wash that stench off, M'kay?

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 16:11:12 -0800

Yay, just in time for my first kid! Amazing you don't have any, what with all the ass Doctor Who fans get. All-too-easy aside, this is great news.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 17:21:32 -0800

My favorite Doctor Who (not-so-)Fun Fact... The debut episode of the series was postponed by one day by breaking news coverage on the BBC of President Kennedy's Assassination. In fact, it was the first thing Auntie Beeb aired when they returned to 'regular programming'. For the record, forget the flying car; I want a sonic screwdriver and a K9 robot... okay, and Sarah Jane.

By: jazon

jazon — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 17:25:56 -0800

Time to break out the huge scarf and eat some jelly babies. Glad to see Dr Who returning.

By: backOfYourMind

backOfYourMind — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 18:21:29 -0800

That is the best news I have heard all day. Now if they will only release the reruns... Thanks to budget cuts at the ABC, we lucky Australians can now watch every episode of the good Doctor's adventures, starting with the very first episode. Re-running ancient BBC shows when cash is tight is something of an ABC tradition, so presumably we can look forward to the return of Robin's Nest and Love Thy Neighbour in the near future!

By: t r a c y

t r a c y — Sat, 27 Sep 2003 02:37:20 -0800

Now if they will only release the reruns... konollia - canadians can watch the reruns on our version of bbc kids, every sunday evening. right now we're in season 13 with tom baker and sarah jane, most recent ep "terror of the zygons". maybe they have a bbc kids america that you can subscribe to...?

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sat, 27 Sep 2003 05:05:38 -0800

Romana #2 was by far the hottest and sassiest of the companions. As for best doctors -- naturally Tom Baker, though I like 5th doctor episodes more, generally speaking (with the exception of the Talons of Weng Chiang and the ones with Anthony Ainly as the master). Paul McGann would be a fine replacement -- he's got 4th doctor hair, but with a 5th doctor youthfulness and 2nd doctor charm. And he's just plain cool. Richard E. Grant would be killer as a doctor as well. He'd completely reinvent the role. Honestly, I'd take Withnail or I.

By: konolia

konolia — Sat, 27 Sep 2003 08:07:06 -0800

Funny-it was my understanding that whoever held the rights to the reruns was refusing to let them be shown. I guess that changed somewhere along the line.

By: feelinglistless

feelinglistless — Sat, 27 Sep 2003 13:05:07 -0800

The best Doctor Who timeline is almost certainly the BBC's own. Can I disagree? The timelines which everyone involved currently in making Who (novels, Big Finish audios etc) seem to subscribed to The Canon Keeper's Guide at Outpost Gallifrey, which somehow manages to work in anything which isn't based in an alternate reality. Or as they say: "What is "canon"? It's what's generally debated by everyone in fandom... what's accepted as "official" varies depending on who you talk to. Canon can be the subject of much scorn by those who deliberate it... but most will agree that it's up to the person who's doing the considering as to what they do and do not consider to be canon. For some, it's the television series and the '96 movie. For others, it includes the TV series, the Virgin & BBC novels and the Big Finish audios. And for those of us with the stamina to put everything in the world of Doctor Who into one giant collection... it's all of that, the Doctor Who Magazine strips, TV Action, Countdown, the Annuals, the Charity Anthologies, the BBV spinoffs, the Bernice Summerfield stories, and so much more. And... all of it in order. " Judging by what I've read here, the canon isn't going to be dumped wholesale, which is good. I refer everyone to this, which I wrote a few years ago ... A vision for the future of television Doctor Who: Main Characters: The Doctor Female companion The TARDIS (1) Six one hour episodes. (2) First episode - Cybermen. Last episode – Daleks (with cliffhanger ending) (3) In between, The Doctor takes his companion to see the first civilisations (Stonehenge, Ancient Egypt, even earlier) and the end of time (last surviving human, aliens trading the last human DNA remains). Episode set on a strange alien planet, episode on a starship. (4) Ignore continuity references, but don’t contradict anything too much. (5) No romance, but lots of flirting. (6) Family show, but scary enough to need a sofa (7) And some justifications . . . (1) Familiarity. Turn on your average post-Troughton story this is your set up. The companion explores the problem at hand, The Doctor explains and solves it. The average viewer isn’t expecting three ‘teenagers’ and a robot. Better to give depth to one companion than have two or three ciphers. (2) Clarity, attention span, budget. With judicious and careful editing most tv Who stories could be told in an hour – the audio version of ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ proves this. Yes, it’s nice to see Tom and Lalla running around Paris in ‘City of Death’ but it doesn’t exactly drive the plot forward does it? If ‘Buffy’ can do it, so can ‘Who’. (3) Nice and familiar. Monsters, and monsters the public have heard of. Could redesign the Cybermen a bit, but keep the Daleks as pepper pots (that’s half their appeal). Daleks in last episode not first so as not to show all your good cards. (4) The Hartnell era might be a good pattern to follow. So two sci-fi, one quasi-historical, one pure historical. Random order. I’d have the historical as episode two, sci-fi three, then follow in ‘The Time Meddlers’ footsteps and sell the quasi-historical initially as a historical. Then Sci-Fi, then that Dalek story. Returns the show to unpredictability; the TARDIS guidance circuits have malfunctioned so he doesn’t know (and therefore we don’t know) where he’ll end up next (that’s real adventure isn’t it?). Historicals potentially an easier sell now alongside the monster stories. (5) Base everything on what the general public probably knows – yes, we know The Doctor is a Timelord, but do we need some boring old episode on Gallifrey to prove the point? Only exposition relating to plot at hand then, and make the stories self contained. No need to keep referring back to ‘the canon’ all the time, but don’t contract it. (6) That way the fans will be content that this isn’t a re-boot, but the fans won’t start turning off in their droves when it becomes clear that they should have seen half a dozen old stories and read four novels to make the story at all comprehensible (‘Attack of the Cybermen’ – aaaaaaaaaah!) (7) See Pertwee and Jo Grant; Tom Baker and everyone (apart from Harry); whilst I personally had no problem with ‘that kiss’ this is a family show. (8) Everyone says they hid behind the sofa. Nothing wrong here – scary monsters and cartoon violence. But keep to the model of The Doctor using his mind to outwit his opponents.

By: t r a c y

t r a c y — Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:14:52 -0800

how to make your very own replica doctor who scarf

By: feelinglistless

feelinglistless — Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:29:30 -0800

The web of time seems have gone a bit haywire with my comment above. Justification (6) should go with comment five, (7) with six, (8) with seven. I don't know I'm offline for a week and everything goes horribly wrong ...

By: syscom

syscom — Sat, 27 Sep 2003 15:29:31 -0800

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Sun, 28 Sep 2003 03:25:56 -0800

re: Ioan Gruffudd as Doctor Who. Rumour had it that he'd be busy working on a different long running series. although there are also suggestions that he's turned the Bond role down.