David Tennant ,new Doctor Who, Boxing Day 8 pm

[Gian-Luca]

I don't know how many non-UK posters on these boards would be interested in this news, but I don't care. [^] It's just been announced by the BBC that British Actor Christopher Ecclestone will be play the new Doctor Who in the new tv series set to start filming in Wales at the end of May (as a Canadian soccer fan who is also a massive Doctor Who fan, I really know where I should be at the end of May!).

If any of you have seen the movie Shallow Grave, Ecclestone was one of the 2 male leads (with Ewan "Ben Kenboi" McGregor being the other one), the one who turns psycho after cutting up the body. I know him best from being a regular in the 1st two seasons of the great 90's British series Cracker. He apparently also was in 28 Days Later, but I haven't seen that. I might have to now. :) He's been in loads of other stuff including a TV movie on the Hillsborough tragedy to keep this in a soccer context.

I'll have to give one of my now famous GL big thumbs up at this news! [^] :D

[Gian-Luca]

Here's the official newsstory from the BBC website, for any other fans of the series:

Shallow Grave actor is new Dr Who


Christopher Eccleston will become the ninth Doctor Who
Shallow Grave actor Christopher Eccleston has been named as the new Doctor Who to front the cult BBC sci-fi show when it returns next year.
Eccleston, who starred alongside Nicole Kidman in the horror movie The Others, will be the ninth TV Time Lord to control the Tardis in a 13-part series.

The 40-year-old has starred in Flesh and Blood, The Second Coming, and BBC series Our Friends in the North.

The BBC said the Salford-born actor would take "a fresh, modern approach".


'Edgy and eccentric'

Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, said: "We are delighted to have cast an actor of such calibre in one of British television's most iconic roles.

It's going to be a magnificent, epic, entertaining journey

Russell T Davies
BBC executive producer
"It signals our intention to take Doctor Who into the 21st century, as well as retaining its core traditional values - to be surprising, edgy and eccentric."

Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies said: "Christopher was our first choice.

"His casting raises the bar for all of us. It's going to be a magnificent, epic, entertaining journey, and I can't wait to start."


Doctor Who's most notorious enemies - the Daleks
The hugely-popular Doctor Who show ran for 26 years from 1963 and the new series will be filmed in Cardiff later this year.


Eccleston follows in the footsteps of William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann.

He first came to public attention with his portrayal of Derek Bentley in the film, Let Him Have It before notching up a wealth of TV and movie credits.

He was then snapped up by Hollywood and was cast in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ with Jude Law, and Gone in Sixty Seconds with Nicholas Cage.

He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

[Gian-Luca]

Here's the official newsstory from the BBC website, for any other fans of the series:

Shallow Grave actor is new Dr Who


Christopher Eccleston will become the ninth Doctor Who
Shallow Grave actor Christopher Eccleston has been named as the new Doctor Who to front the cult BBC sci-fi show when it returns next year.
Eccleston, who starred alongside Nicole Kidman in the horror movie The Others, will be the ninth TV Time Lord to control the Tardis in a 13-part series.

The 40-year-old has starred in Flesh and Blood, The Second Coming, and BBC series Our Friends in the North.

The BBC said the Salford-born actor would take "a fresh, modern approach".


'Edgy and eccentric'

Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, said: "We are delighted to have cast an actor of such calibre in one of British television's most iconic roles.

It's going to be a magnificent, epic, entertaining journey

Russell T Davies
BBC executive producer
"It signals our intention to take Doctor Who into the 21st century, as well as retaining its core traditional values - to be surprising, edgy and eccentric."

Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies said: "Christopher was our first choice.

"His casting raises the bar for all of us. It's going to be a magnificent, epic, entertaining journey, and I can't wait to start."


Doctor Who's most notorious enemies - the Daleks
The hugely-popular Doctor Who show ran for 26 years from 1963 and the new series will be filmed in Cardiff later this year.


Eccleston follows in the footsteps of William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann.

He first came to public attention with his portrayal of Derek Bentley in the film, Let Him Have It before notching up a wealth of TV and movie credits.

He was then snapped up by Hollywood and was cast in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ with Jude Law, and Gone in Sixty Seconds with Nicholas Cage.

He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

[torontosupport]

Glad to hear the series will start up again - but much of my adolescence was indebted to Tom Baker.

[beachesl]

Dr. Who was on CBC afternoons in the 60's and early 70's. That, and the first Star Trek, was the baby-boomer's first real introduction to sci-fi. Even with all those cheezy props and backgrounds, it used to engender some fantastic feelings of fear, exaltation and wonder. Had lost contact with the series since then due to travel and weird cable shifts of the series, would love it if it were brought back and made a regular part of the "broadcast" schedule. Hopefully the Space Channel, or some other "non-extra" Channel, will pick it up and give it some serious exposure in Canada.

Wasn't Ecclestone on that series last year about Jesus Christ returning in the body of a Manchester working class bloke, in that series Space Channel was forced to pull after the first episode?

[Gian-Luca]

Yup, that was indeed Ecclestone in a series called "The Second Coming", which I haven't seen yet, but have heard a lot of good things about (I think it won some awards in the UK) & would love to. Not only does it star Ecclestone, but its written by Russell T. Davies (who created "Queer as Folk" and is the principle writer/producer of the new series of Doctor Who.

I've heard rumours that a couple of "mainstream" cable channels in the US are interested in showing the new series there (ie. something other than PBS), so I'd expect that the same might happen in Canada - perhaps something like Showcase, if not Space.

As for Tom Baker, he has joked that he'd like to return as the Doctor's arch-enemy, the Master. I don't think that is gonna happen. :)

[PaulV]

Shows you how much I know. When I saw the subject line I thought this was going to be a thread about Formula 1. (any relation?)

Tom Baker is also the Doctor that I grew up with. I didn't mind Tristan Farnon too much, but I preferred Baker.

The old series is still on BBC Kids here (i.e. in Canada).

[argh1]

Ohhhhh, now I want a remake of the Patrick McGoogan seies "THE PRISIONER" rolling huge white ball and all.
Or was that an acid trip.....hmmmmmmm.
As Johnny Fever said : "the sixties (and early 70's) are a blurr"

[beachesl]

Well, a new Dr. Who would not be a "remake". It is a natural continuation of the series in a proper fashion. The premise is that each of these actors are the same Dr. Who who have just metamorphazized over "time". I hope they don't jazz it up, they have to continue the same backyard feel of the original series. It would have to feel natural and understandable if it were to be transported back 40 years to that 60's kid to whom computers, extra-orbital travel, microwave ovens, cellphones, genetic engineering and Canada advancing beyond the first round of WCQ would be totally alien quantities except in a teevee series. The true Dr. Who is alpha and omega.

They could never remake "The Prisoner". Not succesfully anyways. It ended. They could make a good variation of it projected into the present day with different characters and different premises though. "Remakes" are a cultural crime against humanity.

[Gian-Luca]

I also agree that they couldn't (& shouldn't) re-make The Prisoner. I can't really see the need to do so. The series was fantastic but definitely a product of the 60's, something that would be difficult to capture nowadays without making it look like it was being "sent up".

Mind you, I didn't really see the need to re-make Battlestar Galactica, but they went ahead & did that anyway......

[argh1]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

I also agree that they couldn't (& shouldn't) re-make The Prisoner. I can't really see the need to do so. The series was fantastic but definitely a product of the 60's, something that would be difficult to capture nowadays without making it look like it was being "sent up".

Mind you, I didn't really see the need to re-make Battlestar Galactica, but they went ahead & did that anyway....

I, know . Bring back "UP POMPEI" . Remebember , "THE PROLOGUE"
You guys are giving me flash-backs;)
How did I get this old , and why don't I get TOM GREEN[?]

[ray]

Glad the new series is making good progress with the selection of the new Doctor. I suppose the (almost) obligatory companion is next.

To the show's producers I would say that the story is the thing. Fan's will put up with lack-lustre special effects if the plot is thoughtful and interesting.

My first Doctor was Jon Pertwee but my favourite was Tom Baker. Peter Davison is a great actor but I felt his talent was wasted and misused during his stint as the Doctor.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by ray



To the show's producers I would say that the story is the thing. Fan's will put up with lack-lustre special effects if the plot is thoughtful and interesting.




No worries on that front, I think. They have 5 award-winning writers working on the first new season, and apparently its the strength of the scripts (which they focused on first) and the reputation of the writers involved that helped to encourage Eccleston (who was already getting a healty dose of major film work) to take on role. At the rate they are going with the top-talent that is coming to work on the show I'm now expecting that the companion will be someone with a good reputation as well (rather than a total newcommer, as they often used to be).

Having said that, while you are correct that the older fans like myself will likely put up with less-than-impressive special effects (which we do almost every time we watch an old episode from the 60's & 70's), the BBC wants to capture a whole new generation of fans (ie. kids) with this show and those new kids are used to seeing effects the quality of Buffy, Angel, Xena, the endless Star Trek spin-offs etc. I think they will spend enough money on it to achieve similar quality effects, though at the same time you can do good effects for a lot less money nowadays than you could before, what with the advent of CGI. But as was always the case, the storylines & characters will be the most important thing.

As for favourite Doctor, hmmmm....I don't really have one. I think the 7th Doctor (Sylvestor McCoy) would be my least favourite. He was all right, but probably the weakest actor to take on the part. But I'm hard pressed to pick & choose between the others. Tom Baker was my first Doctor and got me initially interested in the show, but I probably became a passionate fan when I saw Peter Davison's episodes for the first time. Interestingly enough it was at the same time that my passion for Canadian soccer went into over-drive as well around the very same time (1984/85), and soon after I was to re-kindle my passion for the Leafs (after it dwindled in the early 80's when Imlach & Ballard destroyed the Leaf team of the 70's I first became a fan of). In hindsight, this suggests to me that when I reached the age of 12, I didn't become a teenager, I became a fan. ;)

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by argh1


quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

I also agree that they couldn't (& shouldn't) re-make The Prisoner. I can't really see the need to do so. The series was fantastic but definitely a product of the 60's, something that would be difficult to capture nowadays without making it look like it was being "sent up".

Mind you, I didn't really see the need to re-make Battlestar Galactica, but they went ahead & did that anyway....

I, know . Bring back "UP POMPEI" . Remebember , "THE PROLOGUE"
You guys are giving me flash-backs;)
How did I get this old , and why don't I get TOM GREEN[?]


You mean "the prologue" that Howard started but never finished because he kept getting interrupted? (or are you taking about a TV series by that name, never heard of it). Yeah, that was a great comic premise, but I was never a great fan of British "Carry-On" or "Benny Hill" style farce. Must say I had a few fantasies of getting in the baths with Ammonia and Exotica though! The English were always better at more contemporary situational comedy such as "Man About the House" (the idea for the terrible Three's Company) or absurdist parodies like "Monty Python". "Fawlty Towers", in my humble opinion was the funniest thing ever made anywhere, anytime, even if it was a bit politically incorrect.

What is it about the English that they are capable of producing such
great television series? The Saint, Rumpole, Sherlock Holmes, Cracker, Morse....The North American series can't touch them for depth of character, acting, continuity or unpredictability. Other than a few series like The Fugitive, X-Files, 24, The Bunkers, Northern Exposure, Hill Street Blues, the original Twilght Zone, there has been nothing to crow about in 5 decades of TV in North America. I'm still convinced Canadian dramatic television has gone downhill since "The Littlest Hobo" (the series from the early 60's, not the remakes).

Anybody got the e-mail address for the people responsible for programming for the Space Channel? I've been trying to find it to get them to play the great BBC science fiction series like Quartermass, Tomorrow's Children, Blake's 7, Chocky. One of my favourites was an incredible series from 1975 to 1977 that CBC carried after midnight (Thursdays I think it was) called "The Survivors". It concerned the plight of a group people who had survived a plague that had killed 99% of the entire population of the planet, sort of the original idea of 28 Days Later. Great stuff. Ever get a chance to see "The Survivors", then grab it, you won't be disappointed.

[Gian-Luca]

I've seen every episode of The Survivors and agree, it was a great series. Written by Terry Nation, who also created Blake's 7 (another fantastic series, supposed to be coming to Region 1 DVD sometime soon) and the Daleks for Doctor Who.

I only saw Quatermass IV, not the first 3 series, but I did enjoy the 4th one. By "Tomorrow's Children" I'm assuming you mean The Tomorrow People? Perhaps if I saw that as a kid in England in the 1970's I would have been a fan, but I first saw that on YTV at a 17 year old and thought it was absolutely awful, with special effects of a low enough quality that it made Doctor Who's effects look like they were made by Industrial Light & Magic. Perhaps only the special effects for "The Starlost" a fairly lousy old Canadian sci-fi series on CTV were worse for any series made in the 1970's.

Chocky I've never seen but I have been fortunate enough to see Doomwatch & Sapphire and Steele, two other high-quality but more obscure British series from the 70's.

I don't have an email address for people at Space but they have a website I'm sure where you can get one. I'm in favour of voicing support for more quality British sci-fi series on that station, but don't hold your breath. They've been a very disappointing station from the start, and the only British sci-fi they've shown was the original black & white Doctor Who episodes - why they decided to show only those (and in a prime time slot to boot) and not the more popular and more imporantly, colour episodes of the 70's & 80's is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, the 60's episodes I think are great but it is incredibly naive for anyone (let alone people in the TV industry who are supposed to know what they are doing) to broadcast black & white episodes of any series in prime time and expect to get good ratings. As it was the ratings for the b&w episodes were unsurprisingly poor and they never bothered to purchase the more popular colour episodes, and I believe that since they are of the view that Doctor Who is the most popular British Sci-Fi series (and they are correct about that at least), they have concluded that if Doctor Who didn't do well, then no other British series would, because they have never bothered to pick up any other British series, AFAIK. The whole colour/b&w issue doesn't seem to have occured to them, though at the same time I believe they've never shown the original b&w Twilight Zones (which of course, are the good ones) but have shown the colour ones (which were nowhere near as good), presumably because new generations of viewers don't watch black & white anymore. Did you know that they colourised the b&w Gilligan's Islands? Again, kids wouldn't watch them in b&w.

[Gian-Luca]

I've seen every episode of The Survivors and agree, it was a great series. Written by Terry Nation, who also created Blake's 7 (another fantastic series, supposed to be coming to Region 1 DVD sometime soon) and the Daleks for Doctor Who.

I only saw Quatermass IV, not the first 3 series, but I did enjoy the 4th one. By "Tomorrow's Children" I'm assuming you mean The Tomorrow People? Perhaps if I saw that as a kid in England in the 1970's I would have been a fan, but I first saw that on YTV at a 17 year old and thought it was absolutely awful, with special effects of a low enough quality that it made Doctor Who's effects look like they were made by Industrial Light & Magic. Perhaps only the special effects for "The Starlost" a fairly lousy old Canadian sci-fi series on CTV were worse for any series made in the 1970's.

Chocky I've never seen but I have been fortunate enough to see Doomwatch & Sapphire and Steele, two other high-quality but more obscure British series from the 70's.

I don't have an email address for people at Space but they have a website I'm sure where you can get one. I'm in favour of voicing support for more quality British sci-fi series on that station, but don't hold your breath. They've been a very disappointing station from the start, and the only British sci-fi they've shown was the original black & white Doctor Who episodes - why they decided to show only those (and in a prime time slot to boot) and not the more popular and more imporantly, colour episodes of the 70's & 80's is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, the 60's episodes I think are great but it is incredibly naive for anyone (let alone people in the TV industry who are supposed to know what they are doing) to broadcast black & white episodes of any series in prime time and expect to get good ratings. As it was the ratings for the b&w episodes were unsurprisingly poor and they never bothered to purchase the more popular colour episodes, and I believe that since they are of the view that Doctor Who is the most popular British Sci-Fi series (and they are correct about that at least), they have concluded that if Doctor Who didn't do well, then no other British series would, because they have never bothered to pick up any other British series, AFAIK. The whole colour/b&w issue doesn't seem to have occured to them, though at the same time I believe they've never shown the original b&w Twilight Zones (which of course, are the good ones) but have shown the colour ones (which were nowhere near as good), presumably because new generations of viewers don't watch black & white anymore. Did you know that they colourised the b&w Gilligan's Islands? Again, kids wouldn't watch them in b&w.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by ray

Glad the new series is making good progress with the selection of the new Doctor. I suppose the (almost) obligatory companion is next.



She's been cast - 21-year old Actress Billie Piper, apparently also a well-known pop-star in the UK in the Britney Spears mold, but somebody who can actually act as well. Never seen her in anything yet myself, though she is a cutie.

[Krammerhead]

Seek, locate, exterminate!

I still think I have my old Doctor Who fan club of America card somewhere.

[Gian-Luca]

I was a member of that as well briefly - I think they sent me one issue of their magazine & a heat-sensitive button & I never heard from them again after that. Needless to say I didn't renew! The Canadian fan club was much better though.

I should have guessed you were a fan - anybody who likes The Rutles, Doctor in the House & Reggie Perrin is obviously on the right track when it comes to television. :)

[Gian-Luca]

I was a member of that as well briefly - I think they sent me one issue of their magazine & a heat-sensitive button & I never heard from them again after that. Needless to say I didn't renew! The Canadian fan club was much better though.

I should have guessed you were a fan - anybody who likes The Rutles, Doctor in the House & Reggie Perrin is obviously on the right track when it comes to television. :)

[Krammerhead]

Gian-Luca, thats exactly what I got! A heat sensitive badge (I still have it), the membership card and one issue of the newspaper and I never heard from them again.

Bastards.

[Gian-Luca]

Yeah, I think it also happened to a friend of mine who joined the same time I did. We got the same issue (I think it had the then-new 7th Doctor on the cover) & that was it. What a rip! I remember hearing something about the guys running the club quitting as they couldn't keep up with the huge numbers of people joining back then (ironic as I seem to recall the membership form boasting about the club being the biggest one in the world). In contrast, the much smaller Canadian club is still around today. I never got a badge from them but at least they kept regularly sending me new issues of the magazine.

I'm not sure if I still have that badge though. When I'm moving house I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

[Gian-Luca]

Well for all you fellow fans out there, we have an official CBC broadcast date now for this series on the cbc.ca site. Tuesday April 5th at 8pm,and the next 12 Tuesdays following. One good thing about their being no playoff hockey is that we will only have to wait about 10 days to get the latest episodes after they are shown in England, thus I only have to avoid spoilers on the internet for little over a week. ;) What a change from the series heyday for popularity on this side of the Atlantic back in the 80's, when we were 3 years behind the UK.

And by starting on the 5th they should be done a couple of weeks before the Tuesday night Gold Cup game against Cuba, so I don't have to worry about any conflicts there if I'm in Foxboro at the time. :)

[ted]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Well for all you fellow fans out there, we have an official CBC broadcast date...

Sweeeeeeeeet! Battlestar Galactica and now Doctor Who! The holy trinity wil be complete when someone remakes Space: 1999. :D

[Gian-Luca]

You know, with everything else going on it wouldn't surprise me if they re-made Space:1999 - though I'd imagine they'd have to change the date in the title! :)

Though I should note briefly that this isn't actually a "re-make" of Doctor Who (the way the new Battlestar Galactica is), but rather a continuation.

[ted]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

You know, with everything else going on it wouldn't surprise me if they re-made Space:1999 - though I'd imagine they'd have to change the date in the title! :)

Though I should note briefly that this isn't actually a "re-make" of Doctor Who (the way the new Battlestar Galactica is), but rather a continuation.


Well, I loved the original but the new BSG is not really a remake so much as a re-invention based on the original premise (and waaaaaay better so far). :D As for "Space:1999", I guess "Space:2099" just doesn't have the same buzz. Perhaps "Moonbase Alpha" or "Eagle's Moon".

And just for the record, Tom Baker was a glitzy showboat signing (like Maradonnna or Gazza), Jon Pertwee will always be my Doctor Who. [8D]

[matthew]

I'm not really a Doctor Who fan, but I do think its theme song is the greatest in the history of television.

Which makes this web site stupidly addictive:

http://www0.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/news/radiophonatron.shtml

I like a little neow and roar, drop the spangle loop, get the low end going with the didly dum and a little oo-ee-oo. Some wee-wah-woo, some oo-la and then when you've got a really good Phil Spector thing going drop the mouse organ.

I'm getting nothing done at work today.

cheers,
matthew

[ray]

So what did everyone think? I liked it overall. They could lose some of the incidental music but not bad.

Acting was OK. I was comfortable with Eccleston as the Doctor. Humour reminded me of Tom Baker. Billie Piper is a good companion as Rose.

As with the old series there isn't much effort to explain the whys and hows of the story like they do in Star Trek. You pretty much have to suspend your disbelief.

Glad to see the Doctor back!

[DoyleG]

Forgot to record it last night. :(

[Daniel]

I recorded it, but my little cousins turned on the VCR and I only noticed at 8:45 :(. Bittorrent for me, I guess. Anyone know where to find it?

[Loud Mouth Soup]

If you arent aware, Eccleston has already quit as Doctor Who.

[DoyleG]

quote:Originally posted by Loud Mouth Soup

If you arent aware, Eccleston has already quit as Doctor Who.


Something about being typcast.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

You have to wonder why he didn't think about the 'being typecast' BEFORE signing on.

Dumbass.

[Gian-Luca]

The typecasting story isn't true - the BBC have issued a statement denying that, as well as the story that he quit because the filming schedule was too demanding. That's something the UK press have essentially made up, though part of it is the fault of the BBC for rushing a press release which hinted at these factors. The BBC have publicly apologized to Eccleston because he has received a lot of un-fair & inaccurate comments like the one above from Loud Mouth Soup, understandable as they might be without further info. As it stands, its unclear whether he "quit" at all.

According to the show's Exec. Producer & Main writer, Eccleston's departure has been planned for a long time. What has happened is that the UK press have ruined the surprise ending to the season, which would have been awesome if they had gotten away with it because absolutely nobody was expecting it. The rabid UK tabloid press somehow got hold of the news that the BBC were approaching another actor to play the role next year, and they promptly ruined the surprise for 10 million viewers in the UK, not to mention all of the other countries its been sold to. Thanks a lot! I wasn't going to mention anything in this thread (I knew he was leaving some time ago thanks to some inside sources I have) in case people didn't know and it ruined the surprise for them, but as somebody else already has I guess there's no point in holding back the news now. You can check out more info at the cbc.ca/doctorwho site (where a certain Voyageur writes the news stories for.......)

The next Doctor is likely to be David Tennant - who is going to be great if he's anything like he is in the BBC series Casanova, which he co-stars with Peter O'Toole. He's also going to be in the next Harry Potter film, which he's currently filming. He's not as well-known as Eccleston - yet.

For those that don't know the show has done so well in the ratings in the UK, thrashing the opposition, that they have already ordered a special episode for around Xmas time (which I think will be the debut of the new Doctor) followed by another season next year.

As for the episode, well I actually saw it for the first time 1 month ago, and loved it. I've also seen the 2nd episode, and its fantastic as well, better than the first for viewers familiar with the show because they aren't really spending time introducing the concept of the show to new viewers, which they spent most of the first episode doing. I think most will like the incidental music more in the 2nd episode (even though its by the same composer).

Future episodes feature Simon Callow as Charles Dickens (in Episode 3, sent in Victorian London) and Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg in episode 7. Should be good. And for those that liked Billie Piper (in more ways than one for me :D ) she will be back next year.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by Daniel

I recorded it, but my little cousins turned on the VCR and I only noticed at 8:45 :(. Bittorrent for me, I guess. Anyone know where to find it?


Friends of mine use a site called "UK Nova" or something like that. The first episode was leaked on to the internet a month ago (by a Canadian, incidentally), so it shouldn't be too hard to find, I would think.

[Daniel]

Yeah. A helpful V sent me to a bittorrent website.

[Blue and White Army]

uknova.com - better than s*x. I will cry when this site is taken down. Suprnova.org had nothing on this site!

[Massive Attack]

Some more torrent sites (no sign up required):

isohunt.com (goes down a lot)
torrentportal.com
torrentreactor.net
piratebay.org

[ray]

quote:Originally posted by Loud Mouth Soup

If you arent aware, Eccleston has already quit as Doctor Who.


One season?! Argh! :( How can fans identify the the show if the lead actor changes season to season? The BBC better get it right with the next guy. I mean the Doc is running out of regenerations fast :D.

[Metro]

When is the Doctor going to regenerate back into Tom Baker? [8D]

[Metro]

When is the Doctor going to regenerate back into Tom Baker? [8D]

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by ray
[One season?! Argh! :( How can fans identify the the show if the lead actor changes season to season? The BBC better get it right with the next guy. I mean the Doc is running out of regenerations fast :D.


I was disappointed as well when I heard, but more irritated at the UK press for spoiling the surprise. He's such a fantastic actor though that I'm grateful that they were able to get him for even the one year - he gets regular film work, including Hollywood films, so it wasn't very likely that he was going to stick around too long in the part, but I had hoped for a 2nd season from him. Just means I'll have to appreciate this season all that much more I guess!

I don't think identifying with the character though has ever been much of a problem for this show however - its really the only show that can regularly change lead actors and still forge ahead. After all, its the same character they are playing. I suspect Tennant (if it is him) will play the part for much longer.

Oh, and I know you were joking, but nobody need worry about the number of regenerations running out - if the show runs for years the way the original did, there's no way they will pull the plug on such a huge success simply because of some rule they invented for the character in a line in a story back in 1976. They can always un-invent that rule if need be. ;)

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by ray
[One season?! Argh! :( How can fans identify the the show if the lead actor changes season to season? The BBC better get it right with the next guy. I mean the Doc is running out of regenerations fast :D.


I was disappointed as well when I heard, but more irritated at the UK press for spoiling the surprise. He's such a fantastic actor though that I'm grateful that they were able to get him for even the one year - he gets regular film work, including Hollywood films, so it wasn't very likely that he was going to stick around too long in the part, but I had hoped for a 2nd season from him. Just means I'll have to appreciate this season all that much more I guess!

I don't think identifying with the character though has ever been much of a problem for this show however - its really the only show that can regularly change lead actors and still forge ahead. After all, its the same character they are playing. I suspect Tennant (if it is him) will play the part for much longer.

Oh, and I know you were joking, but nobody need worry about the number of regenerations running out - if the show runs for years the way the original did, there's no way they will pull the plug on such a huge success simply because of some rule they invented for the character in a line in a story back in 1976. They can always un-invent that rule if need be. ;)

[PaulV]

I was just listening to Ontario Today (on CBC Radio 1) and they had a phone in show about the new Dr. Who. Their special guest was someone named Gianluca from the Dr. Who Information Network. Was that you, Gian-Luca? Good show. They usually have the Ontario Today phone-in shows archived on the web site, for those who are interested.

[Gian-Luca]

Yup that was me. DWIN (Dr.Who Info Network) is the other fan organization (outside of this one) I'm involved in (www.dwin.org if anyone's interested in learning more). I was at CBC studios in Toronto, while Alan Neil was in Ottawa. Glad you enjoyed the show. I was glad for the opportunity to set the record straight on Eccleston's departure (I knew that question was going to come up!). I even managed not to piss myself laughing live on air when a friend of mine called in right at the very end pretending to be "Soldeed from Skonnos". I've done interviews for German radio on Canadian soccer, and television interviews for Ecuadoran television on Canadian soccer, but this is the first time I've done an interview for Canadian broadcast media - and typical that it wasn't on Canadian soccer.

Apparently the ratings for the first episode on the CBC were excellent. Bodes well for them picking up the future episodes they are planning to make for 2006 & hopefully beyond.

[Blue and White Army]

They've already got the new Doc on CBC? Wow, that was fast.

[Daniel]

I enjoyed tonight's episode. Fun stuff. The Doctor also showed his more serious side compared to his clownish one in the opening episode.

[devioustrevor]

I finally got around to watching it tonight too. I tuned in on the CBC early to watch 'This is Wonderland' and ended up hearing that intro music, look up to see what it was and said aloud 'I wanted to check this out'

Quite the dichotomy though, watching Dr Who while reading 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'

[Gian-Luca]

Well its confirmed (guess I should change the thread title :) ) - David Tennant will be taking over from Eccleston in time for the Xmas special in December, and then the second season of the new series in 2006. You should be able to link to the press release I wrote on the CBC.ca/doctorwho website soon (it's been sent to them, depends on how quick they are putting it up - and they may have by the time you read this).

Also here's an article from the Daily Telegraph. Note the bit about the BBC apologising to Eccleston for their earlier mistake about why he left.

It's Dr No 10 as Tennant takes on the Tardis
By Richard Alleyne
(Filed: 16/04/2005)

The BBC last night confirmed that David Tennant, currently starring in the BBC drama Casanova, will take over as Doctor Who in the second series of the resurrected show.



Tennant, 33, whose credits include Blackpool and He Knew He Was Right, will star with Billie Piper, who returns as the Doctor's companion Rose.

Confirmation of Tennant as the tenth Doctor comes two weeks after the BBC announced that Christopher Eccleston, 41, the current Doctor, was quitting the show after just one series. The BBC later apologised to him for "falsely" saying that he had quit because of fears of burn-out and being typecast.

Eccleston's resurrection of the role, back on BBC1 after 16 years, has won almost 10 million viewers and widespread praise. His final appearance in the role will be a Christmas special after which Tennant will take over for a 13-show series, written by Russell T Davies, who wrote some of the present series and Casanova.

Yesterday Tennant said: "I am delighted, excited and honoured to be the tenth Doctor. I grew up loving Doctor Who and it has been a lifelong dream to get my very own Tardis.

"Taking over from Chris is a daunting prospect. He has done a fantastic job of reinventing the Doctor."
___________________________________________

Having had a chance to see Tennant in Casanova, I have to say he's an awesome choice to take over for Eccleston! He's not as well-known (yet) as Eccleston, so I don't know where to point Canadian viewers to where they can have a look at him if they are curious, though he does have a major role in the next Harry Potter film, but I'm not sure when that's coming out.

[shaku_bert]

I forgot to tape the episode this week and the wife is ticked. As such, I thought I might try this Torrent thing. A few questions from a torrent newbie: I found this Link: http://www.thevoyageurs.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5870
Which program do people suggest? (a couple were listed)? Is it at all likely that I'll actually find this episode? I'm not sure I want to go to the bother of signing uo etc if there'll be nothing to download.

thanks!

[Massive Attack]

I just checked isohunt.com and they have the first five episodes of the new Doctor Who. You don't need to sign up to isohunt.com to download from it, but you do need to have Bit Torrent set up on your computer.

[shaku_bert]

do you use azureus or g3?
(thanks for link to isohunt!!!!!!!)

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by shaku_bert

do you use azureus or g3?
(thanks for link to isohunt!!!!!!!)


The one I use is called Blog Torrent. I downloaded it a long time ago when I wanted to hear The Grey Album by Danger Mouse. I went to bannedmusic.org and it gave me a link to an easy self-installation program.

Here is the link to download the same Bit Torrent program that I use:

http://bannedmusic.org/bt/btdownload.php?type=exe&file=greyalbum.zip.torrent

Just cancel the Grey Album download when it starts, you'll be able to use Bit Torrent from then on.

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by shaku_bert

I found this Link: http://www.thevoyageurs.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5870
Which program do people suggest? (a couple were listed)?It doesn't really matter which program you use. The only reason I mentioned Azureus is because it's the most popular one (I bet for no reason other than the snowball effect; personally I think it's way too bloated). The only reason I mentioned G3 Torrent is because it's the one I use and I could therefore provide more help to newbies who choose it, though chances are once you understand the stuff I wrote in that thread you probably won't need any more help.

The trickiest part is configuring your firewall — or even realizing that you have to do that (took me a while). But I get the sense that most people don't have a firewall — that's BAD, get one now!

[Gian-Luca]

Yeah, you'll definitely want to get a copy of the fourth episode, "Aliens of London" soon and be sure watch it before next week as it is the first part of a two-part story that concludes this upcoming Tuesday. It was great to see a good old traditional Doctor Who cliffhanger!

Some advice in case the bit-torrent thing doesn't work out - I think CBC is likely to repeat the series over the summer as its become one of their top rated shows, particularly in the absence of playoff hockey. Otherwise, it may be a while before the episodes are available on DVD here because despite the series being a huge hit in the UK, a big hit for the CBC in Canada, and sold to a whole bunch of other countries (including even Holland and Italy), the US surprisingly hasn't yet bought the series, and until they do its unlikely that we will get a Region 1 DVD release. Mind you those of you with multi-region DVD players can always order the Region 2 sets starting in May, though they are first being released as cheap "vanilla" (ie. no extras) version this spring before a full box set with all of the extras comes out in November. But I don't know how long it will be before we get that here, so that just might be enough to get me to purchase a multi-region DVD player, particularly as I've heard that they aren't all that expensive.

[shaku_bert]

thanks for all your help guys!. I DL'd G3 and have begun to DL Aliens of London on isohunt. Says its gonna be 13 hours. Oh well. I've done 80Mg of 700 in a couple of hours. And I've got high speed internet. Must be dependent on the other guys speed. To bask in total nerdiness, my wife and I have been married for 11 years and together for 16 or so. I remember Dr Who on PBS (prairie public broadcast) on Friday night when we were dating. Spent many a evening "watching" the doctor in my folks basement.

[shaku_bert]

well it took a day but I got it. Now windows media player won't play as I am missing a codec. So I DL'ed the latest version of DivX (thinking that it was a DivX codec I was missing and tried to open the file in the DivX player. DivX won't play it either. Any suggestions? Sorry to litter a soccer forum with this kind of crap but I don't know where else to turn!

BTW, the extension appears to (x)SVCD as opposed to .avi or .mpeg
yet windows tells me it is an mpeg

[Massive Attack]

Don't download DivX unless you plan to actually make DivX files. Instead download XviD. Xvid will allow you to play DivX files along with XviD files on WMP. This essentially allows you to kill 2 birds with one stone, plus it doesn't require you to downlad the DivX movie player, and it won't install the Google toolbar on IE.

Download it here: http://www.xvid.org/downloads.html

[shaku_bert]

thanks for the tip. sadly, the installation of xvid is beyond me.
here is the instructions for installation:
2/ Generic install procedure for Win32/MSVC.
============================================



2.a/ Requirements.
------------------

- MS VisualDev 6 Processor Pack 5 or MS VisualDev 7
- nasm installed as 'nasm' in the msvc binary search paths.

2.b/ How to build the VFW frontend from a release tarball.
----------------------------------------------------------

Download the latest source distribution from http://www.xvid.org/ and
uncompress it on your disk. Let's call this directory ${xvidcore}.

- Open the workspace xvidcore.dsw located in
${xvidcore}/build/win32.
- Then choose the libxvidcore project as the Active project of the
workspace.
- Make sure the Active configuration is
'libxvidcore Win32 Release'
- Build the project (F7)
- Open the project vfw.dsp file located in ${xvidcore}/vfw.
- Make sure the Active configuration is
'vfw Win32 Release'
- Build the project (F7)
- Install the resulting VFW frontend using the xvid.inf file
provided in ${xvidcore}/vfw/bin. Right click on the file, and
then click 'Install'


I can't do that
:-)
cheers!

[andyb]

Thats because you support southampton bert.

ps i wouldnt have a clue either to be honest:)

[DJT]

Not to go against Massive Attack, but I forget WMP altogether. I use VLC media player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc). It plays virtually everything you'll come across (except Real because it's proprietary) without having to add any additional codecs. And it's open source. Unfortunately they now have a notice on their site saying that they might have to stop distributing the program due to patents issues, so grab it now.

[Massive Attack]

Shaku_bert, sorry that the page is so confusing. When I downloaded the working version of XviD a few months ago, the site wasn't as confusing. I have the install file. It is only 620 KB (as opposed to the 9 MB for the DivX player). I can email it to you if you like. That would probably be easier for you.

As for the VLC media player. Its a piece of sh.it. It has poor video quality, especially when you try to move to different points in the video you are playing.

[shaku_bert]

massive attack, I have sent you an e-mail to your mail in your user name properties. perhaps you could mail back to the return address.

Thanks! (last night I spent a couple hours trying like crazy to get that freaking thing to work - I am truly a hopeless accountant!!!)

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by shaku_bert

massive attack, I have sent you an e-mail to your mail in your user name properties. perhaps you could mail back to the return address.

Thanks! (last night I spent a couple hours trying like crazy to get that freaking thing to work - I am truly a hopeless accountant!!!)


I just sent it to you. If you have any more problems, just let me know.

[shaku_bert]

i got it. many thanks to you!

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

As for the VLC media player. Its a piece of sh.it. It has poor video quality, especially when you try to move to different points in the video you are playing.Hmm, it is a bit of a nuisance to move to different points in the video, but I don't really do that very often. Other than that I haven't noticed any problems, and it offers some benefits to WMP.

[Gian-Luca]

CBC screwed up the broadcast of tonight's episode - they cut out 30 seconds of footage from the opening re-cap of last week, not noticing that it was new footage showing how the cliffhanger from last week's episode was resolved! In the BBC broadcast the cliffhanger is resolved before the opening credits, but here they cut that bit out inadvertantly, went straight to the opening credits and then into the rest of the episode.

Thankfully I saw the BBC broadcast version 10 days ago, but not everyone will be so lucky. I hope the CBC are more careful in the future as there must be a lot of viewers who were asking "WTF?" though I suspect most have twigged that there is some footage missing.

[Daniel]

I agree about the CBC cut (although I watched the second part on BitTorrent).

This two-parter was really great. Taking time for the story, with action, suspense and nice twists. And proof that CGI isn't always the best solution (the aliens were part-CGI - in movement - part costume).

[shaku_bert]

<Bump>

Considering we're nearly done with the new series, any further comments on the newest doctor?

I wasn't too keen on Ecclestone at at first but he has grown on me. Also, some of the writing has been very good ("Father's Day" episode was especially good). One thing I'm not getting is the "Rose is a babe" thing. I don't think she's terribly hot. But I actually like her character as a companion to the doctor.

I've been watching most of the episodes as torrents. Way better video quality than if I taped it to watch it at my convenience. Many thanks to the peeps who got me up and running on that technology!

[PaulV]

quote:Originally posted by shaku_bert

<Bump>

Considering we're nearly done with the new series, any further comments on the newest doctor?


Ecclestone has bumped out Tom Baker as my favourite Doctor, I'm now thinking. I wasn't a really big Dr. Who fan as a kid but I watched it a bit (and was happy to see the old ones on BBC Kids which I subscribed to it....for my daughter, of course...yeah right). It's now one of the few shows (i.e. the new series) that my wife and I both enjoy watching. The writing is excellent, as is the character development. Hoping the next series will be as good, I'll keep an open mind regarding the new Doctor. I was glad to hear that Piper was returning for the entire series; it would have been too much to have to replace both of them.

[Gian-Luca]

This seasons final story starts tonight (its a two-parter) and I think its fantastic (already seen it) - tonight's episode may be the best single episode of the season, though I'm not sure if the story as whole beats out the last two-parter, The Empty Child, which was just fantastic.

As a whole I've been very happy with the season - doing several 45-minute stories (most in the classic series were at least 90 minutes long) has worked better than I thought. I could nit-pick in certain places, but overall no complaints. I think Eccleston's been great but I expected no less. I do think Billie Piper's hot, and I've liked latest companion Captain Jack more than I expected to - I wasn't sure how they were going to handle having an openly bi-sexual companion in the TARDIS and still make it a family show, but they've managed to do that.

In case people haven't heard, the series has done so well in the UK & with foreign sales that its been commissioned for at least another two 13 episode seasons, along with two 60 minute "Christmas specials", one for this December and then another for December 2006. Not sure if they will both have anything to do with Xmas other than being broadcast at that time of the year, but the one for this upcoming December, which will be David Tennant's first story as the Doctor, is called "The Christmas Invasion". I think Tennant (appropriate last name for the 10th Doctor) is going to be good as well, though I will miss Eccleston.

We will also get to see some alien planets next year, for those of you that may be wondering. As well as the return of another familiar face or two......

[ted]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

... I think Eccleston's been great but I expected no less. I do think Billie Piper's hot, and I've liked latest companion Captain Jack more than I expected to - I wasn't sure how they were going to handle having an openly bi-sexual companion in the TARDIS and still make it a family show, but they've managed to do that.

Wow, I know I have been distracted by Piper [:p] but Captain Jack is "openly bi-sexual"? Not that I care but usually I notice such things. BTW is he a "permanent" companion now?

The series has been brilliant and Eccleston will be a hard act to follow BUT the writing is what is making the show so fantastic so I hope the same writers will stay with the show.

[Gian-Luca]

Well I don't think he would be to kids, the references would be over their heads. And I guess some adults too. ;) Its subtle, but its there. Given the target audience for the show (families, including kids) its unlikely (if not impossible) that we're going to see anything too graphic or adult. But yes, he's meant to be bi.

I don't want to spoil things about Captain Jack's status as a companion next year just yet, as it would be likely be a spoiler for the final story of the season. We can come back to this after June 28th & I'll tell you more. :)

BTW, if anybody missed any episodes CBC has started to repeat them Sundays at 7pm, with the debut story "Rose" just shown two days ago. A DVD release in North American is delayed until the US gets their act together with Doctor Who (its been sold all over the world, but the BBC are still holding out for something bigger than PBS or BBC America over there).

[shaku_bert]

I never ever watched the doctor as a kid. Mind you, I'm 38 so I was a little 'un back in the 70's and I'm not sure it was available in Canada. I started watching the doctor on PBS in my 20's. I never thought of it as being for kids, per se. I was surprised that it was being shown on BBC Kids.

Re: Ecclestone bumping Tom Baker out as favorite Doctor: Wow that's extreme! I liked Ecclestone but he's no Tom Baker (my humble opinion only). Favorite companion for me was the Aussie girl who was with Tom Baker. You know, the one that screamed alot. Forget her name.

[Gian-Luca]

There was an Australian companion by the name of Tegan, but she was only with Tom Baker for his final story, Logopolis. Most of her time was spent with Peter Davison. I'm not sure if that's who you have in mind, as Tegan was a rather bossy Aussie who didn't scream all that much.

4th Doctor's female companions were Sarah Jane Smith (reporter who screamed a lot - thinking of her?), Leela (scantily-clad savage alien huntress), and Romana (a time-lord who accompanied the Doctor & K9 on a quest for the Key to Time as a brunette, then regenerated into a blonde for nearly the rest of Tom Baker's era. The latter actress, Lalla Ward, got married to Tom Baker for a while after she left the show but they split up not too long after).

Doctor Who isn't exclusively for kids of course, but they form a large part of the audience. Its a show for all ages, which is part of the secret to success - it doesn't cut out any part of the market. The show was available in Ontario in the 1970's on TVOntario, but most PBS stations didn't carry it until 1978, so whether it was available elsewhere in Canada in that time is a little patchy depending upon what area you were in.

There was a station in Vancouver, CKVU, that also showed it in the late 70's & early 80's, IIRC.

Going wayyyyyy back to the 1960's, Doctor Who was first shown in Canada on the CBC in 1965, the first 26 episodes, before the CBC stopped showing it. Doesn't look like that will happen this time as the CBC is very happy with the ratings for the new show so I expect they will purchases as much as the BBC is willing to make.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

I'm shocked that the CBC is showing a good show that gets ratings that doesn't involved ice, sticks and a puck.

"CBC" and "success" are polar opposites, aren't they?

[shaku_bert]

sorry, you are right, it was sarah Jane smith.

[PaulV]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Going wayyyyyy back to the 1960's, Doctor Who was first shown in Canada on the CBC in 1965, the first 26 episodes, before the CBC stopped showing it. Doesn't look like that will happen this time as the CBC is very happy with the ratings for the new show so I expect they will purchases as much as the BBC is willing to make.


Wasn't Canada responsible for 'rescuing' some lost Dr. Who episodes? I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall reading that some shows that were thought to be lost forever, turned up in some vault here in Canada.

FWIW...loved tonight's episode, great stuff.

[Gian-Luca]

Its a complicated story, but yes and no. Canada (or TVOntario in particular) is responsible for turning up some of the colour copies of Jon Pertwee's stories that the BBC had only retained in black and white (as sales copies to countries in places like Africa that hadn't gone to colour tv by the early 70's when the Pertwee stories were made). But I'm not aware of any episodes thought be lost forever completely) turning up in Canada. The only story that is currently missing from the BBC archives that was broadcast here in the sixties is the 7-part story "Marco Polo", one of the few stories in which no footage at all exists (though the soundtrack has now been released on CD so I've now heard the story, and it is quite good!). There are 108 missing episodes altogether, though that number could have been a lot higher as all 270 black & white episodes made from 1963 to 1969 were supposed to have been wiped (the BBC sadly didn't foresee the home video age in the early 70's when they started to either lose or destroy episodes - not just of this show, but of lots of their 60's programmes). The most recent episode was discovered just last year after missing for 39 years (!), episode 2 of the 12-part "Dalek Master Plan", so we are slowly getting that number down, and I'm sure there are more out there (though I don't think they'll ever find them all). However, we can at least listen to the every missing episode as the fans recorded the sound off the tv back in the 60's, kept their copies for decades and they have now been released on CD (it was actually the fans that put a stop to the BBC junking DW episodes in 1978 when they discovered what the BBC was doing and asked them if they were insane.)

There are still some Jon Pertwee episodes that only exist in b&w, but I think eventually they will be re-colourised (some of them have been already using off-air home video copies recorded by US fans in 1976!)

And yes, last night's episode rocked......

[PaulV]

Ok, thanks for the synopsis. I didn't trust my memory but thought I heard something about that.

That's incredible that the Beeb was destroying the old episodes like that, up until 78. Impressive though how they are being put back together from so many different sources! Speaks volumes about how dedicated the fans have been.

[Gian-Luca]

So what did people think of the finale?

We're only 6 months away from The Christmas Invasion.........

[beachesl]

G-L, is the CBC supposed to replay the finale over the next week or so?

A friend of mine was supposed to tape it for me last night but forgot.

[Gian-Luca]

They are re-running the series Sunday nights at 7pm, but they won't get to the final episode for another 10 & a half weeks. Ep.3, The Unquiet Dead is on this Sunday (they actually started repeats on Sundays before they finished showing all of the episodes the first time, which is a bit bizarre).

If you are into that bittorrent thing you could get it sooner, I'm sure.

[Daniel]

I thought that the transformation wasn't exactly gut-wrenching. The Doctor is still the same, just with a different appearance.

I liked David Tennant's wacky look, but he won't bring the maturity of Eccleston.

[Gian-Luca]

Just off the BBC site re: CBC broadcasts:

Following the success of the first series of Doctor Who, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have agreed to screen series two and the Christmas Special.

"We're delighted to have the CBC on board for another season," said Russell T Davies. "They have been the perfect partner on Doctor Who - sharing the editorial vision at the outset, then running a strong campaign from sexy posters to slick witty trailers, and best of all having the confidence to schedule the series in a big showy prime time slot.

"Once again Canadian viewers will be amongst the first to see the adventure. It all kicks off with a Christmas Special - just wait till you see what we do with Santa..."

Slawko Klymkiw, Executive Director Programming, CBC Television said, "It is great being part of such an innovative project with BBC. We've enjoyed great success with the first season of Doctor Who and are looking forward to season two with great relish."

[ted]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

They are re-running the series Sunday nights at 7pm...


Great! That means I get to see the episode that aired May 17 which was bumped by provincial election coverage here in BC. It will be nice to see what the later episodes refered to [:p].

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by ted


quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

They are re-running the series Sunday nights at 7pm...


Great! That means I get to see the episode that aired May 17 which was bumped by provincial election coverage here in BC. It will be nice to see what the later episodes refered to [:p].




I guess you weren't made aware of this at the time, but that episode was shown in BC on the following weekend after the election. The good old CBC publicity machine doing its job again I see.;) They actually weren't going to show it at all in BC (which seems stupid to me) but the viewers in BC complained and they arranged a special time on the weekend.

Anyway, in another month you get another chance to see it.

[Gian-Luca]

Bump - Edited the title since its out of date & I figured the board didn't need two threads on Doctor Who. Pics of the of the new Doctor in his outfit (along with a tanned Billie Piper) are available at doctorwhoblog.com or bbc.co.uk/doctorwho, having just been released today.

[Gian-Luca]

Bump - Edited the title since its out of date & I figured the board didn't need two threads on Doctor Who. Pics of the of the new Doctor in his outfit (along with a tanned Billie Piper) are available at doctorwhoblog.com or bbc.co.uk/doctorwho, having just been released today.

[Daniel]

Photo (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/gallery/tennant/800/t4.jpg)

Like the look, suit with sneakers.

[youllneverwalkalone]

For all you Ispwich supporters:

http://www.football365.com/mediastore/Story_Images/F365_Homepage/Lookalikes/roylesontaran.jpg

[Gian-Luca]

LOL! And for you Lynx supporters, the first Sontaran to appear in Doctor Who was called "Lynx"!

[Gian-Luca]

No doubt the mods will move this thread to the other General section since it has nowt to do with soccer, but they announced today that the first season of the new series will be released on DVD in Canada in February, despite the lack of a US broadcast sale to date (usually they release Doctor Who DVD's in Canada & the US at same time, which is what most thought would happen here, but have have essentially said to hell with the US for the time being and are going ahead with a Canada-only release). The box set has a ton of extras including commentaries on every single episode - not bad!

Also, the Christmas special that will see the full debut of the new Doctor David Tennant, entitled The Christmas Invasion, is set for broadcast in Canada on Boxing Day, Monday December 26th. The UK broadcast will either be earlier that day (due to them being a few hours ahead) or on Xmas day. Now that is quick - I can still remember watching the series as a young kid in the early 1980's when we were three years behind the UK with the new episodes, now its down to possibly a few hours!

Also, in case you haven't seen it in the papers (the Toronto Sun for one had an article on it) they announced yesterday that Captain Jack is getting his own spin-off series entitled "Torchwood" (which is an anagram of......). I guess that helps to explain why he won't be in the second series (though the last I heard is expected back for the 3rd). The series concerns a renegade group of investigators from the UK who are charged with locating alien technology, and without letting the FBI or the UN know about it. Characters may cross-over with Doctor Who, but storylines will not. Its going to be written by some of the same writers that work on Doctor Who, but also different ones. It will debut right after the next season of Doctor Who finishes airing in the UK (summer 2006) - no word yet on a Canadian purchaser, but given the success of the new series of Doctor Who I wouldn't be surprised if CBC picks this one up as well (though it will apparently be aimed primarily aimed at adults, unlike Doctor Who which is aimed at all ages).

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

No doubt the mods will move this thread to the other General section since it has nowt to do with soccerYeah, it will take some time to move all the non-soccer topics, especially the older ones.

[shaku_bert]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca


they announced yesterday that Captain Jack is getting his own spin-off series entitled "Torchwood" (which is an anagram of......).




I am an accountant with absolutely no powers of creativity. What's the frigging anagram. Please and thanks.

Putting on my "dork" hat ---- I can hardly wait for the DVD box set set! I bought a set of all the Bond films and the extras are awesome!

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by shaku_bert


quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca


they announced yesterday that Captain Jack is getting his own spin-off series entitled "Torchwood" (which is an anagram of......).




I am an accountant with absolutely no powers of creativity. What's the frigging anagram. Please and thanks.

Putting on my "dork" hat ---- I can hardly wait for the DVD box set set! I bought a set of all the Bond films and the extras are awesome!



Its an anagram of "Doctor Who". :)

By the way, (should have mentioned this earlier but I've been too busy arguing in my spare time) fans in Toronto may wish to check out Bad Wolf 1 (www.dwin.org for details) - a fan gathering with some new videos, including tonight's new "Charity" episode of Doctor Who.

[Gian-Luca]

You can actually watch the new 5 minute episode (which picks up right where the last season left off) on-line:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/appealnight/doctor_who_special.shtml

Not sure how long the link will be good for, and remember it is for Charity.

[beachesl]

Doctor Who takes anti-war stance



WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS PLOT SP0ILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



By Tom Bishop
BBC News entertainment reporter



David Tennant says he "fully intends" to remain in the role
A Christmas Day special of sci-fi series Doctor Who contains an anti-war message, as new Doctor David Tennant tackles an alien invasion of Earth.
"It's Christmas Day, a day of peace," said chief writer Russell T Davies. "There is absolutely an anti-war message because that's what I think."

Actress Penelope Wilton plays the Prime Minister in the hour-long show.

In one scene she says of the US president: "He is not my boss and he is certainly not turning this into a war."

Decision condemned

A later scene echoes former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to sink the General Belgrano during the Falklands conflict in 1982.

Wilton's Prime Minister orders the destruction of a retreating alien spaceship, a decision condemned by the Doctor.

"She does that very easy speech about not listening to the American president but at the end she's out of her depth and she does the wrong thing," said Mr Davies.


The Doctor is hunted by robot Santas and a killer Christmas tree
Entitled The Christmas Invasion, the episode also features a gang of deadly robot Santas and a killer Christmas tree.

It is David Tennant's first full episode in the role, as he replaced Christopher Eccleston who left the hit show after one series.

When asked how long he would play the Doctor, Tennant said: "I fully intend to be here this time next year, and let's wait and see what happens after that."

Asked whether Billie Piper would quit her role as assistant Rose Tyler after the forthcoming series, Mr Davies said: "You will have to wait and see."

Tennant said he was having "lots of fun" in the coveted role. "It's a thrill to be part of it," he said.

"It is like no other job in the world - you are sword-fighting one day, swinging off ledges on another. It never fails to surprise and delight."


Penelope Wilton (left) plays the UK's Prime Minister in the special
The new series will feature a brief kiss between the Doctor and Rose. "There is a lot more of that to come but we don't like to give anything away," said Mr Davies.

For the first time in the show's history, the previous series encouraged viewers to empathise with murderous villains The Daleks.

Amid the action and humour in the forthcoming series, would viewers be asked to sympathise with returning monsters The Cybermen?

"There is a moment with them - it is a very 'feely' show," Mr Davies said. "We want to treat them as real, to discover why they are the way they are."

Long-term Doctor Who fan Tennant added: "Cybermen are part human, in a way. We want to look into that."

Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion will be screened on BBC One on Christmas Day at 1900 GMT.

----Note: To avoid going back to search other pages, this is to confirm that CBC will be airing the special with the "new" Dr on Boxing Day 8 pm (8:30 in newfyland).

Thanks for the update as to broadcast below, Gian-luca! I certainly am looking forward to it with relish.:D

wha..wha..wha..DA DA DA-DA ...DA DA DA-DA .....[8D]

[Gian-Luca]

8pm to 9:30pm on Boxing Day on the CBC, not Christmas Day (the BBC are showing in on Christmas Day). The special is hosted exclusively for CBC viewers by Billie Piper. Hopefully (though I don't know this for sure) we will also get the 5 min. prelude scene that was broadcast on the BBC in November as part of a Charity special programme (which was available on-line for about a week). The Christmas Special is a full 60 minutes without commercials, so I doubt CBC will be showing 30 minutes of commercials in the 90 minutes. The Billie Piper intros and (hopefully) the 5 min prelude will take up the remaining time in the broadcast slot.

As for this article, its making a mountain out of a mole-hill IMO, in an attempt to sell papers. Doctor Who hasn't exactly been a war-mongering character previous to this - he's always prefers there to be peace!

[Blue and White Army]

When's the next convention, boys? ;)

[Blue and White Army]

Hmmm. Charismatic Doctor - good. Overt cheesiness - bad.

Bit of a surprise ending to the Christmas episode.

Oh, and K9 is due to return later in the series. Narf narf.

[Gian-Luca]

The CBC have been pleased with Doctor Who's ratings thus far, but check out the ratings for the BBC in the UK. Overnight viewing figures put the Christmas special at 9.8 million viewers! That doesn't include the people who recorded it on their VCR's etc. to watch it later, once those are added it will surpass 10 million. Ay carumba!

[shaku_bert]

hmmmm, i'm partway through D/L'ing it on isohunt but just finished taping it. think the wife will make me watch the tape ( I sorta like watching it on the computer). Hope this series is as good as the last!

[Gian-Luca]

Well I thought it was a good debut for the new Doc. Nice to see him be the out & out hero once again (Eccleston's Doctor was written so that he was always inspiring somebody else to play that role, which is fine, but one year of that was enough). Not sure where the surprise ending was or the overt cheesiness was, but love the mouth-watering preview clips of the episodes to come in the next season (which in the UK will start in March, but CBC might not show until September because of their playoff hockey committments). The Cybermen are on their way back.....

[Blue and White Army]

"Surprise ending" is perhaps not the best term. I was alluding to how the Prime Minister ordered the departing alien ship to be shot down, despite it already leaving. Was a surprise because the show had already entered into a sort of Hollywood-esque cheese for a happy ending, then suddenly that.

[Saviola7]

I like Tennant. His goofiness is very Tom Baker reminisent, which is very good for most Doctor Who fans. For a moment I was worried that there would be more of this "Heart of the Tardis" silliness.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by Blue and White Army

"Surprise ending" is perhaps not the best term. I was alluding to how the Prime Minister ordered the departing alien ship to be shot down, despite it already leaving. Was a surprise because the show had already entered into a sort of Hollywood-esque cheese for a happy ending, then suddenly that.


Yes, uncharacteristicly nasty and dishonourable of Harriet Jones. Guess I gotta dump her as my main squeeze.

[Daniel]

Just watched the special and downloaded the first episode of the new season. Good, more of the same.

What's the news with the new season on CBC?

[Gian-Luca]

With NHL hockey playoffs about to start, they probably start showing them won't show them on CBC until September. Not including hockey Doctor Who ended up being CBC's #1 show ratings wise, so since they can't show them now, you know that they aren't going to want to bury in a summer slot, the summer season it will be. The plus side of this for people waiting to watch on CBC is that there will be almost no gap between their broadcast of the second series (or the 28th Season if you count right from the beginning) and the next Christmas special, to be broadcast in the UK this December.

I also saw the first episode of the new season and liked it, but I've seen some preview clips of the next few episodes as well and all I can say is - wow!

[shaku_bert]

Does anyone have a good site for finding bit torrents? The two sites I have used in the past are either shut down or seem to have less traffic.