Doctor Who News Round-up

[rogartheranger]

Welcome to my latest round-up of Doctor Who related news. There have been a series of announcements in the Press, TV, and in Doctor Who Magazine recently regarding the future of the show and its spin-offs, and so I thought I would collate all these together on this page for those who are interested.


1. First off is the casting announcement of the 11th Doctor’s new companion who will be played by 21 year-old Karen Gillan. As some of you may have heard, Karen previously played the role of the Soothsayer in last year’s Doctor Who episode “The Fires of Pompeii”. No news yet on the name of her character, but if you fancy seeing some nice publicity shots of her posing with the TARDIS, then follow this web-link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/misc/galleries/karen_gillan.

2. David Tennant finished filming his final adventure (episode 4.18) as the 10th Doctor on Wednesday 20th May, (RTD has tantalisingly hinted that the title is probably 4 words long). The handover to the new production team is now underway and filming is due to commence on Series 5 (or should that be Season 31?) in July.

3. For those of you (like me) who are bemoaning the lack of new-Doctor Who this year, (and unable to wait until The Waters of Mars in November) will be pleased to hear that David Tennant will also be reprising his role as the 10th Doctor in three special projects that will be heading for your screens during the autumn months:-

• Special Project 1: The Sarah Jane Adventures / Doctor Who crossover.
The 10th Doctor will be appearing in two episodes from the forthcoming 3rd series of the Sarah-Jane Adventures. Just to clarify this is not cameo appearance, but a proper two-part adventure with the Doctor in episodes 5 and 6. Plot details are firmly under wraps at the moment although RTD has hinted that the Doctor’s arrival has something to do with Sarah-Jane’s wedding-day! The new 12-part series of the Sarah-Jane Adventures will comprise of 6 two-part stories and should debut in September. K9 (Mark IV) will also be appearing in 6 of these episodes and so it looks like he won’t be cooped up in that attic-cupboard for very much longer!

• Special Project 2: Doctor Who: Dreamland (animated adventure).
This brand new animated serial will be broadcast in the autumn via the BBCs Red-button service and on Children’s BBC. The adventure will be broadcast over seven episodes of approximately 6 minutes long. The voice-recordings have already been completed, and I hear that joining David Tennant in this serial will be Georgia Moffett and David Warner. In case you’re wondering, Georgia Moffett will not be reprising her role as the ‘Doctor’s Daughter’ in this feature but as a new character called Cassie Rice.

• Special Project 3: ???????
Russell T Davies recently revealed to Doctor Who Magazine this month that “With the Doctor’s appearance in the Sarah Jane Adventures as Special Project 1, and the Dreamland animation as Special Project 2, it would be nice to round things off for Doctor Who in 2009 with a Special Project 3, don’t you think? Well…keep watching! We’re working on it! News as and when, but I can promise, it’s worth waiting for!” Let speculation begin….Hmmm…lets see now….how about a Torchwood / Doctor Who crossover? Or maybe it could be a Children in Need special-scene to lead us into the Christmas special?


4. John Barrowman recently hosted a Saturday Night Entertainment Show for the BBC called, “Tonight’s the Night”, in which the program makers attempted to make people’s dreams come true. One special-feature of this show was a Doctor Who Design a Monster competition which was won by fan Tim Ingham. His reward, was a trip to the Doctor Who set to film a special Russell T Davies scripted-scene of him (in his monster costume), sparring with Captain Jack in the TARDIS. For those who missed the chance to see this sketch (or would like to see it again), then I have the web-link right here to direct you to the 3-min scene which I hope you will find amusing:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/misc/media/tntnspesh.sthml.


5. Torchwood: Children of Earth
A new extended preview of the 3rd series can now be viewed on the BBC website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/
BBC America have confirmed that they will be debuting this series over 5 consecutive nights from 20th July, and so I would therefore hazard a guess that we should get to see this in the UK before them at the end of June or early July. Whilst we wait for an airdate, there are three new, 45min Torchwood radio plays that are due to be broadcast on Radio 4’s Afternoon Play slot which will bridge the gap between Torchwood: Lost Souls (last year’s radio drama) and the forthcoming Children of Earth series. Episode titles for the radio plays are: Asylum, Golden Age, and The Dead Line. I should be able to provide transmission details in the next couple of weeks.

Not long to wait now......


Happy Times and Places

Chris


"Keeping the focus on the Doctor and Wilfred - that's the biggest challenge..." (Director Euros Lynn speaking on the filming of Tennant's finale).

[Renny]

Well, lots of news but I have to say i'm very disappointed that the new Doctor's companion is yet again going to be a young woman. Would have liked to see them change the dynamic a bit.

[rogartheranger]

Well if you look back to the last series, the Doctor's assistant was played by Catherine Tate who was 41 years old which you have to admit was a nice change from the traditional line-up of young twenty-somethings that usually accompany out favourite Timelord.

Also looking ahead to the Waters of Mars, the Doctor's assistant will be played by Lindsay Duncan who is 59 years old, and then of course in his final Xmas adventure we've got Bernard Cribbins in the companion-role, who at 81 years old will be the oldest assistant to feature in the show (and also not female either which breaks the mould a bit too).

I expect they may have ultimately opted for a younger actress again to help hook the younger-demographic of girls and boys watching the show next year, (like they did with Billie Piper). In addition if they had instead picked an older (more well-known) actress then there might be the danger that she could overshadow Matt Smith in his debut series, when he needs to be seen as the main focus of the show.

[Renny]

I'm a big fan of Catherine Tate's part in the show. I think you're missing my point though. Why not a male companion, why not an alien companion etc...It's too easy for the producers to fall into the unrequited love trap, I think. And i don't mean one off companion's, I mean the ongoing role. Time will tell.

[Mykilus]

Must be getting synacle in my old age but i am sure that the producers know what they are doing, we may not like it, but thay have a plan(mmmm where have i heard that before), With the younger Docter?? and the young assistant it does appear at first glance to be turning into TeenWho, But without a single frame being filmed it is impossible to tell at the moment what the end result will be, Time will tell.

Myke

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