[Spoilers] Doctor Who Specials casting

Hillary · Post by **Hillary** » 2008-09-12 06:06am

Stark wrote:
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.

I'm trying to maintain a degree of optimism dammit

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2008-09-12 01:02pm

Update:

Digital Spy wrote:The BBC has rejected tabloid claims that Paul McGann has been cast in a forthcoming Doctor Who special.

McGann portrayed the eighth incarnation of The Doctor in a 1996 television movie and a series of spinoff audio adventures. The Sun claimed that he will reprise the role in a 2009 special written by Russell T. Davies.

The article stated that he is "expected to begin filming in October or November" and will shoot scenes set during the Time War, an event that is key to the current mythology of the revived series.

However, a spokeswoman for the show told Digital Spy: "There is no truth to the story at all."

Damn. He's pretty good in Big Finish's audios and it would've been great to see it come on-screen.

Digital Spy wrote:Davies wants Zeta-Jones for 'Who' film

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies wants Catherine Zeta-Jones to play The Doctor's assistant in a movie.

Davies, who was born in Swansea, said he would like the Welsh actress to star in a big screen adaptation of the cult BBC show.

He said: "Being from Wales myself, I would love to have Catherine Zeta-Jones as a companion for The Doctor."

Davies, 45, added that he can only imagine current Doctor David Tennant as the Time Lord, saying: "To have anyone else would be inconceivable."

Tennant is rumoured to be keen to sign a new deal with the BBC which commits him to a fifth series of the show and a spinoff movie.

How reliable is Digital Spy?

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2008-09-12 01:07pm

How reliable is Digital Spy?

Generally fairly accurate, if always slightly short on details.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-09-12 02:17pm

Davies wants Zeta-Jones for 'Who' film

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies wants Catherine Zeta-Jones to play The Doctor's assistant in a movie.

Davies, who was born in Swansea, said he would like the Welsh actress to star in a big screen adaptation of the cult BBC show.

He said: "Being from Wales myself, I would love to have Catherine Zeta-Jones as a companion for The Doctor."

Davies, 45, added that he can only imagine current Doctor David Tennant as the Time Lord, saying: "To have anyone else would be inconceivable."

Yeah, good luck on that one, Russ. You couldn't afford CZJ on a bet, and she's not at all likely to do a SF film. And as for how "inconceivable" it would be for anybody other than Tennant to play the Doctor in a big screen movie, that's simply bullshit. Johnny Depp could essay the character (yes, he's American but has played such a wide range of character roles that he can slip into just about any role like a well-tailored glove on the hand). Paul Bettany (The DaVinci Code, A Beautiful Mind, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, A Knight's Tale) is another possible big screen Doctor.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-12 06:01pm

Oh damn... now I can't use all the Fatty McGann jokes I'd been working on.

But as Patrick says, zowee, RTD appears to be insane.

If someone casts Johnny fucking Depp as the Doctor, I... ... I just don't know what I'd do. The idea boggles the mind with it's unknowable terror.

Frankly, I don't think the role is that complex and pretty much any decent actor could do it (this automatically excludes Depp lol). I'd dig on someone like Ian McKellan doing a 'crazy old person' Doctor; the character is flexible enough to include all kinds of shit (but not Depp's one character who's an x but CRAZY

). RTD is just unimaginative.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2008-09-12 07:18pm

Stark wrote:I'd dig on someone like Ian McKellan doing a 'crazy old person' Doctor;

William Hartnell already did that.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-12 07:22pm

Thanks for that you fucking cretin.

Let's play 'nobody can ever do anything that someone else vaguely did in a different way nearly fifty years go', okay? This totally invalidates my examples, and you're not a fucking dicksnap AT ALL.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2008-09-12 07:41pm

Stark wrote:Thanks for that you fucking cretin.

Let's play 'nobody can ever do anything that someone else vaguely did in a different way nearly fifty years go', okay? This totally invalidates my examples, and you're not a fucking dicksnap AT ALL.

Bwahaha! Stark, calm down. Go and watch "Journey's End" again and relieve some stress.

I find this whole thread hilarious. I sometimes wish the rumours were true, if only to see how it plays out and whether anyone else I know will lose hope. I have to say, McKellan would be a fine choice. We've had youthful Docs since the re-imagining of the franchise and it'd be interesting to see the role revert back to an eccentric old geezer, as the first instances of the character were like.

It'd make the young female companion's lusting after The Doc that much more fun. And by fun, I mean creepy.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-09-12 10:54pm

Stark wrote:I'd dig on someone like Ian McKellan doing a 'crazy old person' Doctor; the character is flexible enough to include all kinds of shit

Ian McKellan would be an interesting choice for the Doctor. Here's another: Ioan Griffuid (Horatio Hornblower, The Fantastic Four, Amazing Grace).

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2008-09-12 11:23pm

Gruffudd, y'mean.

I like that choice too, since he proved he could be quirky in FF, which is somewhat more necessary than acting SRSLY.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-09-13 04:43am

^Oh yes.

Another good choice would be Mark Sheppard.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2008-09-13 05:04pm

Meh...I don't know what to think, but here's hoping we don't have that gaping mouthed chav Rose back...., oh and please no more Martha Jones.

If RTD wanted to do something, if any part of the film was on Earth, couldn't he at least get Nicholas Courtney in?

Darth Nostril · Post by **Darth Nostril** » 2008-09-13 05:42pm

Am I the only one who thinks RTD should be assassinated for the sake of the franchise? This little twat shouldn't be let within 20 miles of Doctor Who ever again.
The abortion known as Journeys End should be enough to persuade the BBC to arm their security guards and issue them with orders to shoot the narcissitic tit on sight.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-13 05:52pm

I was a bit sad when I found out that he'll be doing s5 and Moffat won't be in until s6. By then, it'll be two years since I gave a shit, so it'll be hard for me to bother to watch again.

Darth Nostril · Post by **Darth Nostril** » 2008-09-13 07:07pm

Oh fuck, I thought RTD was out completely as of the end of s4.
Smeg, this arrogant little knob is going to do a Berman & Braga to DW, by the time Moffat gets the reigns it's going to be too late.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2008-09-13 07:56pm

Stark wrote:I was a bit sad when I found out that he'll be doing s5 and Moffat won't be in until s6. By then, it'll be two years since I gave a shit, so it'll be hard for me to bother to watch again.

This makes baby Jesus cry. Why, Stark? Why does the universe want to kill off Who using the force known as RTD?

Fitting, isn't it, that the guy who brought about the new series should also be its omega event.

Tychu · Post by **Tychu** » 2008-09-13 09:20pm

Dartzap wrote: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!

Wish it was me but no. Im not to happy about the returning characters. Yes I too like Simm but I was happy at the end of Season 3 that everything was new again. Hopefully what they do with the specials (are there 3 or 4?) is, the first should just be a tying up of loose ends and the other 2 should be brand new story arc directions. We'll just have to wait and see.

Oh and I spotted a "My other car is a TARDIS" bumber sticker at StonyBrook University. Wondering if that person is a SD.neter

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-09-13 11:14pm

Darth Nostril wrote:Am I the only one who thinks RTD should be assassinated for the sake of the franchise? This little twat shouldn't be let within 20 miles of Doctor Who ever again.
The abortion known as Journeys End should be enough to persuade the BBC to arm their security guards and issue them with orders to shoot the narcissitic tit on sight.

Back in the 80s, I used to think that John Nathan-Turner was running Doctor Who into the ground (partly helped by the very nasty in-house politics raging at Broadcast House in that time). But the worst that JNT inflicted on viewers didn't stink anywhere nearly as badly as the outright fanservice rubbish that was the "Journey's End" trilogy (I didn't think anything could make "Trial Of A Time Lord" look good). A very bad, very cliched fanzine story brought horribly to life on television, which should never have gotten past the initial story conference except that when it's producer Davies, head-writer Davies, and script-editor Davies involved in that story conference, there was no chance of it not being made. Shit, JNT at least had other people around him, even if he didn't like to listen to them most of the time and sacked Eric Saward (some bad blood developed between those two), but it wasn't entirely a one-man show the way RTD's been running things the past couple of years and in his last season as producer, JNT actually started listening to people again and letting them do their jobs and we got a fairly good 26th season out of it.

This is what RTD is not doing and it's becoming increasingly clear that he's letting his personal obsessions drive his creative decisions and it's harming Doctor Who as a whole. He seems to have a thing for putting David Tennant through wild emotional swings in the character and making the Doctor a victim —one thing that should be absolutely verbotten, as the Doctor just happens to be the lynchpin of the series. Take that away, and structure collapses. We saw that with "Journey's End" and to a slightly lesser extent with "The Sound Of Drums/Last Of The Time Lords" but it seems to be getting worse now.

Knowing that Davies wangled an extra season to his term does not make me comfortable.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2008-09-13 11:25pm

Someone post the article/source about Davis coming back for series five already. You should know better.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-09-13 11:29pm

Darth Nostril wrote:Smeg, this arrogant little knob is going to do a Berman & Braga to DW, by the time Moffat gets the reigns it's going to be too late.

Oh no no no, it's a lot worse than that. Think of the poisonous duo of Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath in charge of Star Trek and that might give you a better idea of what looks to be going on now with Doctor Who.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-14 05:54am

Soontir C'boath wrote:Someone post the article/source about Davis coming back for series five already. You should know better.

Absolutely. It's something I've heard, not something I actually have a source for. It just made me sad to think about it; I can't confirm it. Hearing that and then hearing these terrible rumours about specials just got me all down in the pants.

Crazedwraith · Post by **Crazedwraith** » 2008-09-14 06:31am

All these rumors make me very very sad. Except the false McGann one. Which was false. I lament.

Even if you like Donna. You have to admit going from "OMG! I can never ever ever see her again or her brain will EXPLODE!" to "Hey guyz I'm back!" is a jarring tonal shift at best.

Simms Master I'm iffy about, he's fun but thats also a bad thing, he's a little too wacky for my liking. I bitch about it every time but they totally wasted Jaccobi's potential as The Master.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2008-09-14 05:57pm

Have the ratings for Doctor Who drastically declined? Last time I checked the ratings have remaind high and actually increased in Season Four, despite the subjective comments about the show suppsoedly being in the absolute and total doldrums. "Journey's End" may have been overblown fanfiction and a retread of RTD's earlier (and mostly superior) season finales (but I liked it more than "LotTL"), it still drew in the crowds and the reviews by any critic I came across seemed surprisingly positive, jarringly out of synch with here.

RTD does not seem to be in the same objective red zone as JNT or B&B, since the franchise has not yet irreversably lost millions of viewers, but however that said his successful era has run it's course and Steven Moffat taking over the franchise bodes well. I want RTD's 'specials' next year to be more like "Midnight" or "Smith & Jones" rather than "Journey's End" or "Last of the Time Lords".

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-09-14 06:42pm

Big Orange wrote:Have the ratings for Doctor Who drastically declined? Last time I checked the ratings have remaind high and actually increased in Season Four, despite the subjective comments about the show suppsoedly being in the absolute and total doldrums. "Journey's End" may have been overblown fanfiction and a retread of RTD's earlier (and mostly superior) season finales (but I liked it more than "LotTL"), it still drew in the crowds and the reviews by any critic I came across seemed surprisingly positive, jarringly out of synch with here.

We already discussed that one, it ended with you running away and never answering my points.

So yeah, please go back to this thread and answer the points raised.

As for the critics, I have posts from several real authors slamming RTD, so the picture is not as uniformingly favorable as you might wish.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2008-09-14 06:44pm

The series four finale made it to number one on its week's ratings achieving officially 10.57 million viewers. Outpost Gallifrey: You're going to have to scroll down to July 16 or look at the graphs here.

Frankly, I wonder if it only made it up there because series five doesn't start until 2010.