[Spoilers] Doctor Who Specials casting

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[Spoilers] Doctor Who Specials casting

Post by Soontir C'boath »

Turn back now if you really don't want to know.
The Sun wrote:FORMER Doctor Who Paul McGann is making a surprise comeback to the Tardis next year.

The star of cult movie Withnail And I played the eighth Doc in a one-off TV film collaboration between the BBC and Fox in 1996.

But a follow-up series was never made and when the sci-fi show eventually returned to the Beeb in 2005, it starred Christopher Eccleston, 44, as the new Time Lord.

But Paul, 48, reprised his role in several audio adventures — some broadcast on radio — and has remained a firm favourite with fans.

He is expected to begin filming in October or November for one of four feature-length specials to be shown instead of a series in 2009.

Flashback scenes will see him battered from the Time War and shorn of the long hair he had in the film.

An insider said: “Fans loved Paul’s Doctor and feel he was never given the proper chance to shine. Reference is often made to the Time War which wiped out the Time Lords and this will give them a taste of that.”

Current Doc David Tennant will also appear.
Having listened to his Big Finish audios, I'm glad that he will be getting another appearance on television. :D
Sun wrote:CATHERINE Tate is being lined up for a shock Doctor Who comeback, TV Biz can reveal.

The 40-year-old comedy queen, who played the Time Lord’s dippy sidekick Donna Noble, will reappear in one of four Who specials planned for next year.

And fans will be delighted — and a bit scared — to learn Life On Mars star John Simm, 38, is also back.

He will reprise his sinister role as The Master — the Doctor’s sadistic rival Time Lord who was last seen dying in his arch-enemy’s arms.

Bernard Cribbins, 79, who played Catherine’s on-screen grandad Wilf will be back as well.

A show source said: “Fans will be delighted to see Catherine back. She was one of the wackiest companions of all time and she brought heaps of humour.

“And it’s great to have John back — he and David Tennant have a real nemesis chemistry.”

The last episode of this year’s BBC1 series saw the Doctor wipe Donna’s memory and return her to her family.

But our source said: “Anything can happen in Doctor Who. His assistants are always recurring and Donna is no exception. When you’re a Time Lord you can go back to any point in history and meet whoever you want.”

Next year’s specials replace the normal series, suspended so that Tennant, 37, could take time out for stage roles.

But we hear the wild-eyebrowed Scot is close to signing for a new full series of the sci-fi hit for 2010.

Our source said: “David loves filming Doctor Who. The upcoming specials have given him more freedom to work on other projects this year and now he’s ready to come back to film a proper series to go out in 2010.”
....What?
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Post by Dartzap »

Gods above, the McGann fangirls are going ballistic. I quite liked Simm as well...

As for Tate.....Blargh. I had heard they were going to film one is the US as well, with a Yank companion.

2/3rds good! :)
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Post by Thanas »

Urgh. More Tate?

Well, let's hope this does not screw anymore with Who than the finale already did.
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Post by CaptainChewbacca »

So... am I the only one who LIKED Catherine Tate?
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Post by Thanas »

^No, BO liked her as well.
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Post by Bounty »

Tate wasn't the problem, she's a perfectly good actress. Her character just wasn't written all that well. There was potential, it just never really materialized, with the writers still thinking what the series needed was more Rose melodrama.
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Post by Admiral Valdemar »

Simm Master kills Donna.

Instant win.
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Post by NecronLord »

I liked Catherine Tate.

More importantly... Paul McGann flashback - win.
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Post by Thanas »

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Simm Master kills Donna.

Instant win.
YES! Preferrably with his laser screwdriver.

On a more serious note, aren't those specials taking place before the S4 finale?
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Re: [Spoilers] Doctor Who Specials casting

Post by NecronLord »

Soontir C'boath wrote:
When you’re a Time Lord you can go back to any point in history and meet whoever you want.”
....What?
Yeah. That's always been the case. The Laws of Time are (were?) there for a reason, but it's always been easily possible. It's just dangerous.
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Post by Stark »

Odds of watching season 5 approach zero.

I wonder if they'll send McGann to the gym before they let him in front of a camera? LOL!
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Post by NecronLord »

Stark wrote:Odds of watching season 5 approach zero.

I wonder if they'll send McGann to the gym before they let him in front of a camera? LOL!
Huh? Has he put on a lot of weight since the nineties?
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Post by Stark »

I've seen pictures of him from conventions etc, and it's pretty scary. I'm at work so I can't find any - but I think someone has posted one or two before, so maybe they could post them?
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Post by NecronLord »

Eh. Must have really let himself go then. He was pretty attractive right up to 03...

Allbeit in a kinda thin, gaunt way. Which works for 'haggard and war scarred.'
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Post by Stark »

Yeah, you guys enjoy your B5 TV movie + wistful staring crime against humanity. :) Maybe we'll get some war TARDISes in there and I can officially divorce myself from the entire show? :)
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Post by Patrick Degan »

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Simm Master kills Donna.

Instant win.
Then McGann Doctor kills Simm Master and it's a two-fer.

Seriously, I also didn't mind Catherine Tate so much. She just needed better writing to back her character up.
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Post by Stark »

That's a worthless statement - you might as well say 'season four wasn't that bad - it just needed better writing'. PS, writing quality is a major factor in quality so by removing it from consideration you can make pretty much anything look good.

Man, I'm thinking about the S4 finale and trying to imagine a way for them to do a McGann story without fucking shit up, and I just can't do it. Anyone got some Kool-Aid down here?
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Post by Patrick Degan »

Stark wrote:That's a worthless statement - you might as well say 'season four wasn't that bad - it just needed better writing'. PS, writing quality is a major factor in quality so by removing it from consideration you can make pretty much anything look good.
No, that is not a worthless statement, and who said anything about removing writing from consideration? Catherine Tate is a talented comedienne and a decent actress, and even in season 4 she had her moments. That doesn't excuse poor episodes or that utter crap finale, of course. But the point is that even the best actor or actress hasn't got a fucking chance if the scripts are garbage. Even Elisabeth Sladen had trouble looking good in "Journey's End" and that's an actress who's saved other poor efforts (K9 & Company, "Dementia In Time") simply by her on-screen presence.
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Post by Stark »

So you're agreeing she was a complete failure in S4? Great. I've never seen her in anything else, and hopefully never will, and my attitude towards S4 is not changed by making excuses or talking about what a great actress she is - it was terrible, the end. I simply don't understand the need to shift the blame; when I say 'she was terrible', obviuosly I mean in context of S4, and I don't really give a shit why this was or how much of it was her personal fault. The whole SEASON could have been good with decent writing, not just her character or performance.

And EVERYONE sucked in the finale, with the possible exception of Barrowman, who seemed to be about average for himself. His role in the story was still complete garbage.
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Post by Anarchist Bunny »

Eh, I did enjoy the lastest incarnation of the master, but he got shot and killed. Yes yes, the ring and the "hand of Rani" and what not but still. Let him be dead for a while and maybe in a few years bring him back.

And while I am not on the Donna Noble hate bandwagon, let her be wrapped up and done.

How ever I do like the idea of bring the 8th Doctor back, cementing him in the continuity(besides the cameo sketch in Family of Blood), and bridging the gap between 8 and 9.
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Post by Stark »

My concern with the 8th Doctor thing is RTD might go totally insane and decide to make something very closely linked to the rest of the series and fuck it up, thus breaking a lot of drama, isntead of keeping it 'self-cleaning'. There's scope for damage to the entire series, which is bad.
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Post by NecronLord »

I'm rather disappointed in Simm's master being back, I've got to say. They didn't keep him dead for long. Sure, he was great, and I'm sure he's lots of fun, but if you can't keep them dead for at least a couple of years, do not kill them.
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Post by Hillary »

Do remember that this is the Sun, though. Some or all of it may be complete fabrication.
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Post by Stark »

Hillary wrote:Do remember that this is the Sun, though. Some or all of it may be complete fabrication.
But it's so damnably believable. I wouldn't bat an eye if it was 100% fact. I'd laugh, and I wouldn't watch it, but it wouldn't SURPRISE me.
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