Sci-Fi Doctor Who (2005-2021) [NuWho]

[Tim]

Okay, it certainly won't come on television where I am.........I'm not so sure I can watch a show with the suspense building up to the new Doctor, much like pulling lottery balls out of a machine.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is the actor I'd most like to do it though, although i fear his characters are always too serious/dangerous to let us think of the Doctor in the usual terms. Mind you, Christopher Eccleston was a shift from the norm. He had a 'dark' side to his acting the role.

one thing for sure, the show is a national treasure for us Brits. Any actor who gains the central role can surely die contented they reached their audience and were loved by so many for it.

 

[Kevin]

And right about now everybody in the US is going "Who is Peter Capaldi?!"

From USA Today...

And the sonic screwdriver goes to Peter Capaldi.

The Scottish actor was named the new star of the British sci-fi franchise Doctor Who on Sunday during a live broadcast on BBC America. He will replace the departing Matt Smith, whose time in the time-traveling police box the TARDIS ends later this year.

"It's so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer," said Capaldi, a lifelong fan of the show. "I haven't played Doctor Who since I was 9 on the playground."

Capaldi, 55, becomes the 12th man to play the Doctor since the cult show debuted in 1963 with star William Hartnell and the fourth Time Lord since executive producer Russell T Davies rebooted Doctor Who in 2005, following Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Smith.

Executive producer Steven Moffat had considered Capaldi when they were casting the 11th Doctor. "There comes a right time for the right person to play it," he said.

"We all had the same idea and it was a quite different idea," Moffat added. When he and his team made a video with Capaldi, "everybody saw it and was like, 'That's the Doctor.' "

American audiences most recently saw Capaldi as a World Health Organization doctor in the movie World War Z, and he also has big-screen roles in the upcoming The Fifth Estate this fall and next year's Maleficent.

The half-hour live special on BBC America, hosted by British TV personality Zoe Ball, also featured past Who stars, including Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor (1981-84).

"In a way it's the longest job in television. It's a whirlwind time when you do it, and it keeps on going after," said Davison, whose daughter is married to the 10th Doctor, Tennant.

Smith recalled that people initially met his casting with backlash, but fans ultimately came around for him as the Doctor.

"There are no parts like this," he said. "I loved it, I'll miss it, but when you gotta go, you gotta go."

Doctor Who has long been a hit in the U.K., but more recently the Doctor has gained a huge following in the USA, with the show becoming the highest-rated series on BBC America.

Capaldi will make his first appearance in the Doctor Who Christmas Special at the end of 2013, and it marks Smith's final jaunt as the Doctor. Fans get to see him one more time, though, when Smith stars with Jenna Coleman, John Hurt and Tennant in the 50th anniversary special airing on Nov. 23.

The main reason the series is still a fixture in global pop culture is because of anybody who's ever watched it, Capaldi said. "Doctor Who belongs to all of us. Everybody makes Doctor Who."
​

 

[Kevin]

The new Doctor has been announced and it'll be Peter Capaldi. What I'm curious about is that Capaldi is friends with comedian & TV host Craig Ferguson who is a Doctor Who fan, he even has a TARDIS cookie jar on his desk, so I wonder if there is now a chance that Ferguson will make an appearance on the show.

 

[Tim]

Tom Baker: how I made Doctor Who

I was keen to see it when it was transmitted – back then, you couldn't record programmes. I was on a signing tour of the country at the time, and I knocked on the door of a house in Preston, just as a father was settling down to watch it with his two five-year-old sons. He said nothing and just beckoned me inside. I crept into the room and sat quietly in a chair and, as my face came up on screen, you could see the stupefaction on the kids' faces as they noticed me. How could one person be in two places at once? It was just ecstasy.

When VHS/Betamax came along, everything changed! Not just being on the road, but living in far away countries where there is only one local tv channel, that hardly has any English programmes. Care packages containing VHS tapes of your favourite shows were brilliant to receive.

 

[Tim]

VIDEO: Doctor Who mini episode released ahead of 'The Night of the

Announcing the 75-minute special, the BBC promised: "In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion.

"All of reality is at stake as the Doctor's own dangerous past comes back to haunt him."

 

[Kevin]

Ooooh, nice! It fills in the gap between the TV movie and the resurrected "new Who" series. I wonder if the 50th anniversary will be taking on the '12 regenerations' thing or if that will be quietly suppressed.

 

[Tim]

A release pic from filming:

 

[Tim]

Well, if his assistant looks happy, I'm sure we'll be.

 

[Kevin]

Is Jenna-Louise Coleman supposed to be staying on as his assistant or just for a short bit as an interim to a new assistant? For some reason I thought she was existing the show as well but, at the moment, I don't recall where I read that or if I really did.

 

[Kevin]

... and the full costume has been revealed. With the red jacket lining it makes me think of Jon Pertwee's Doctor.

 

[Kevin]

A new 'teaser' trailer has been released with Peter Capaldi. With them calling it "Series 8", or "Season 8" as those of us in the US would call it, it irks me a little bit that it really isn't "Series 50-something" to take into account classic Who. It is great that the relaunched series has gained generations of new fans but there is a rich history behind the show that seems to be forgotten about at times.

 

[Gemma]

I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Doctor Who

Anyway, back to the point....

"I see into your soul, Doctor!"

 

[Kevin]

I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Doctor Who

Not even any of the old 'Classic' who episodes as a kid?

"I see into your soul, Doctor!"

With that voice it had better be Davros!


Since Gemma has never seen Who , Davros is the creator of the Daleks and has a history with the show going back to the late '60s. He has shown up in various places and has likely "died" more times then the Doctor but keeps popping back up in the most unexpected of places.

 

[Gemma]

Not even any of the old 'Classic' who episodes as a kid?

Nope, not even part of an episode.

 

[Kevin]

During the final game of the World Cup last night BBC aired the first full trailer for Doctor Who Season 8. The Daleks are definitely back as well as a pretty big number of other 'Who' universe characters.

The more I see of Capaldi in action the more I am reminded of the old classic 'Who' actors from the '60s & '70's. And, yes, that is a good thing.

 

[Gemma]

Deep Breath - Doctor Who - Series 8 Episode 1 Trailer - BBC One.

Starts on Saturday evening (UK)

 

[Kevin]

I had a chance to watch the first three episodes of series 8 with Peter Capaldi and so far they seem to be off to a good start.

One of the complaints from 'Old Who' fans was that 'New Who' was concentrating too much on attracting a youger audience, in particular with casting choices of each Doctor getting younger & younger and, by the end of series 7, the constant 'will they, won't they' flirtation between the Doctor and assistants like Clara. The first episode of series 8 with Capaldi quickly resolves that situation.

When the Doctor, now much older, tell Clara that "I am not your boyfriend." and, when Clara weakly says that she didn't think he was, the Doctor responds back with that she was not the one who made the mistake. The episode as a whole speaks out to the legion of 'New Who' fans who were more enamored with the actors then the actual stories and to 'Old Who' fans who disliked the direction the show was taking. Clara makes a point of saying that she doesn't know who the Doctor is anymore, speaking as proxy for the 'New Who' fans who aren't used to this type of Doctor who is older and a bit befuddled at times. When the Doctor tells Clara to look at him, that he was still there standing right in front of her, to give him a chance, it might as well had been a direct 4th-wall break in appealing to the younger 'New Who' fans to stick around now that all romantic implications have gone away.

I mentioned above that the previews with Capaldi reminded me of the episodes from the '60s & '70s. While that is true, the first few episodes of S8 shows that producer Moffat is trying to strike a balance between the two fan bases so that there is no 'Old Who' versus 'New Who', it is just a return to "Doctor Who". That's a good thing.

On a different note, it looks like "The Promised Land" will be the new "Bad Wolf" recurring theme for the larger story arc. I just wish that some new villains were introduced as two of the first three episodes reused existing Who villains.

 

[Kevin]

Had a chance to watch S8E4, "Listen", as well. When you watch be sure to watch the last couple of minutes carefully, there is a blink-and-you-will-miss-it scene with John Hurt's "War" Doctor that answers a question some viewers may have had about the ending of S7.

 

[Gemma]

I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Doctor Who

Not even any of the old 'Classic' who episodes as a kid?

I think this is about my level when it comes to Doctor Who

 

[Kevin]

The past few episodes we are starting to see the end of Clara as the Doctor's companion.

I'm not too sure about the big "surprise" reveal of who Missy really is. The return of that character should have been a bit more grandiose to match the traits of the character.