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The New Series (2003) Last Alteration: Friday 16 November 2018 In the early hours of Friday 26th September 2003, an announcement was released by Lorraine Heggessey, Controller of BBC1 ... an announcement that Doctor Who fans had been eagerly anticipating for some thirteen years ... the Doctor is finally returning to our screens in 2005! The model Kate Moss has started to take acting lessons, and has commented that: 'I would like to appear in a costume drama or something fun like Dr Who.', according to today's Metro newspaper. Bill Nighy recently commented on being considered for the role of the Doctor:
"I've no idea about that," he says. "No-one's actually asked me. I did hear a ru
mour, but that's as far as it goes. I don't know if I'd be up for it or not; it
would depend on so many things really. And I haven't got around to thinking what
kind of a doctor I would be - except I probably wouldn't wear a scarf." This weekend saw an article from the
Waveguide on the bid by Australian actor/writer Chris Thomas to be the next Doctor. Knowing that he would be a longshot hasn't deterred Thomas from submitting his details to the BBC for consideration: "I'm adamant anything is possible and I'm more than ready for the challenge." The Sun on Monday (6th) reckons that actor Andrew Lincoln is the one tipped to helm the TARDIS. However, they do state that a spokesman for Lincoln pointed out that he hadn't been approached as yet. On the 9th a Coventry City fan website threw up a slightly different list of names, wondering how the likes of Gordon Strachan, Doug Ellis or Arsene Wenger would be in the role!  Meanwhile, writer Russell T. Davies's personal favourite for the role, Bill Nighy, took on more weight, at least as far as
The Sunday Times on the 5th was concerned. Arts Editor Richard Brooks reported that the BBC were also interested in the actor for the role, and that friends of Nighy said that he was keen to play it.This was 'confirmed' in the Daily Telegraph on the 9th with television presenter Richard Bacon commenting that Nighy is a 'shoo-in' for the role. He also mentioned that Mark Gatiss would also be writing episodes alongside Davies. Eddie Izzard was interviewed by Radio One, where he expressed delight at being associated with the role, but thought it unlikely he'd actually get the part when the time comes. Says Izzard: Tom Baker threw my name up which was fantastic, it's a wonderful honour. I hadn't considered it, I didn't even know it was happening, and I don't think the BBC would want me. They'd probably rather spit on me and slap me about with fish. I'm really into doing my films and so 26 weeks is a big commitment and there are other people that are up for it that everyone else wants and I'm slightly more on the edge. I think the BBC would say: 'Well we want someone simpler and safer'. I think my breasts are too dangerous. The new Radio Times features further information on the new series developments. As well as reiterating the Saturday in 2005 scheduling, the article also suggests at least six episodes in the series. Russell T. Davies says that the script for the series will be written from January, and that the plot comes first: There really is no-one in mind yet. Let's create the story that we want, and then cast it. We want to approach brilliant people, and we want to approach them with a script. Former Doctor Who actor Tom Baker has been causing quite a stir this week, with his observations on who would be playing the Doctor in the new series! It all started off with an interview appearing in TV Plus (Teletext web site), where Tom indicated that he would favour comic actor Eddie Izzard in the role: "I think Eddie would be good as he's so strange, he looks like he has secrets. There is a benevolent alien quality to him.". He then went on to specify a suitable companion in former Sun Page Three girl Melinda Messenger: "Melinda would be good as she can scream and has bosoms. It doesn't really matter if she can act.". Upon a potential return to the series himself, he indicated he'd prefer to be the Master: "I want to play the villain instead of the goodie. Then the Doctor could say lines to me like, 'You look very familiar'." Since then, Tom has appeared on a number of television news and magazine programmes, including the BBC's on London News on Wednesday evening, where he first said that he was sworn to secrecy as to who the Doctor would be, but on very minimal interogation announced that Eddie had been cast. A number of papers picked up on this, leading to the BBC to point out that this is only speculation on Tom's part, and no decisions have been made yet! Listen to Tom: Further Reading: <.li>SlashDot, 6th Oct Since the news first broke in the early
hours of Friday morning, a very large number of news and entertainment
websites have taken up the story. What follows below is a compilation
of all the various sites that we currently know about.
THE UNITED KINGDOM The first detailed information about the series came from the BBC Press Office, their official Doctor Who web site, and BBCi news. Media-wise the first paper to cover the news was the Daily Telegraph - including front page news in the broadsheet that morning! Other major UK newspaper sites picked up on the news in due course: The Guardian, The Mirror The Sun, and the the London Standard. Elsewhere in the UK: Newspapers - Manchester Evening News; Scotland's Evening Times; Edinburgh's Evening News; Irish Examiner; News Sites - Sky News; News Wales; The Scotsman; The Register; Ananova; icWales; icCoventry; Other Interested Parties - Sci-Fi Online; Yahoo! TV; Games2XS (Manchester Online Gaming Site); UK.Gay.Com (Gay Interest Site); Waveguide Follow-ups on the news continued then over the weekend with: the Guardian taking a look at websites on the Doctor; The Independent welcomes the series back; the Telegraph printed a letter from DWAS's Coordinator Ian Wheeler on Russell T. Davies; the Daily Record chatting about Who in the old days; ` the Sunday Telegraph interviewing Paul McGann on his thoughts on who should play the Doctor; another item from Manchester News; and an article from Scotland on Sunday; Week beginning 29th September: The Guardian speculated on how a new series can succeed. (29th Sep); The Times quoted Paul McGann's comment from the weekend 4NI, Northern Ireland online news site (29th Sep); item from the Bristol Evening Post; Tom Baker citing Eddie Izzard for the Doctor on TV Plus, followed up by Ananova.in (1st Oct); Sue Carroll's column in the Mirroe references Ian Wheeler's letter to the Telegraph last Saturday (only online for 1st Oct) And finally, odds on who would take on the role of the Doctor were announced by gambling company William Hill, and this was reported on by Ananova and Read-A-Bet. NEWS AGENCY DISTRIBUTIONS Apart from the BBC's own sources, a number of newspapers and other news channels get their information from news feeds. Two of the most popular feeds are covered below, along with online sites that have referenced them in reporting the new series.
BBC1 Controller Lorraine Heggessey has mentioned before that she wishes to restore Saturday evening entertainment to its former glory; as part of the line-up, Doctor Who might well return to its traditional Saturday early evening slot, at least according to the TV Cream e-magazine! You can read more about this from the
latest edition on Yahoo.
Former Doctor Who actor Tom Baker has been causing quite a stir this week, with his observations on who would be playing the Doctor in the new series! It all started off with an interview appearing in TV Plus (Teletext web site), where Tom indicated that he would favour comic actor Eddie Izzard in the role: "I think Eddie would be good as he's so strange, he looks like he has secrets. There is a benevolent alien quality to him.". He then went on to specify a suitable companion in former Sun Page Three girl Melinda Messenger: "Melinda would be good as she can scream and has bosoms. It doesn't really matter if she can act.". Upon a potential return to the series himself, he indicated he'd prefer to be the Master: "I want to play the villain instead of the goodie. Then the Doctor could say lines to me like, 'You look very familiar'." Since then, Tom has appeared on a number of television news and magazine programmes, including the BBC's on London News on Wednesday evening, where he first said that he was sworn to secrecy as to who the Doctor would be, but on very minimal interogation announced that Eddie had been cast. A number of papers picked up on this, leading to the BBC to point out that this is only speculation on Tom's part, and no decisions have been made yet! See also: Thus introduces an article in the Sunday Telegraph featuring the thoughts of the 'current' Doctor, Paul McGann. In the article, Paul continues the tradition of an actress taking up the role: "I think it's high time that Doctor Who was a woman. There is nothing in the stories to say that the Time Lord can't be female." Citing actresses like Dame Maggie Smith or Diana Rigg's daughter Rachel Stirling, he would like to: "see the Doctor as diva, rather than being played by some dippy, wide-eyed girl." He also goes on to mention James Nesbitt as someone he expected to be cast, due to him being a ratings winner from the series Cold Feet, though he would like to see a black actor such as Chjwetel Ejiofor in the role. You can find the full article from the Telegraph website. BBC Radio 4's Today programme featured Clayton Hickman (DWM) and John Little (The Standard) chatting to John Humphries and Sarah Montague; during the conversation Clayton mentioned that Russell T. Davies's favourite for the role would be actor Bill Nighy - most recently seen on television like State of Play and Auf Wiedersehn Pet. and currently in UK cinemas in the film Underworld. Meanwhile, speculation continues on who might take on the mantle of the role; the favourite coming out of BBC Breakfast television on Friday (26th) was Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies, who is also tipped at number one (8-1) by William Hill; second listed by them is the 'ninth Doctor' Richard E. Grant (14-1), followed by Sean Pertwee and Patrick Stewart (16-1). No doubt there'll be several more names appearing in the local press over the next few days/weeks/months until the series finally enters full production!
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