Doctor Who News, Articles, Cast and Crew Interviews

[Nolamom]

he does enjoy being provocative

[Blencathra]

Ben Daniels talks 'Doctor Who' and the search for the 12th Doctor

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/do...th-doctor.html

Peter Capaldi was unveiled as Doctor Who's newest lead in August and will make his first appearance in the sci-fi hit's 2013 Christmas special, before taking control of the TARDIS full-time the following year...

But Digital Spy has exclusively learnt that other stars were considered for the role of the 12th Doctor - among them Ben Daniels, who was rumoured as a potential candidate and was at one point named as the bookies' favourite.

Daniels has joined the cast of The Paradise and, while promoting his role in series two of the BBC One period drama, gave DS his version of events...

"It was more than rumour.

"I was approached and asked if it was something I'd be interested in doing. Apparently, usually when it's announced that the [old] Doctor is leaving, the new Doctor's already firmly in place. But a BBC email had apparently been leaked, talking about Matt Smith's departure or something, so they had to announce it officially much sooner than they'd have liked.

"I don't know whether my name was also on that e-mail as was stated in lots of those rumours, but I was one of the names on one of their many lists they had as a possible replacement.

"So I was asked, and when I eventually managed to peel myself off the ceiling, I said, 'Yeah, of course it'd be something I'd be interested in doing,' and I was hugely excited by it.

"I was a huge fan of the show as a kid, like we all were really. My era was Jon Pertwee into Tom Baker and then also when it returned, penned thrillingly by the amazing Russell T Davies with Christopher Eccleston. To be thrown into that mix as a possibility was fantastic.

"But I also knew from the outset that there was a name ahead of my own on that list that they were very interested in. So after that initial conversation that I had with them, it was just a waiting game.

"I was consumed by the idea, even though I was heavily involved filming The Paradise at the time - often I'd call my agent and make them call Doctor Who and ask if it'd gone away as a possibility.

"It was just so I could stop thinking about it, but then my agent would call me back and say, 'No, you're still on the list'. This went on for a couple of months.

"So I had a good two months to really think about the ramifications of... not being able to go to the local pub and so on. I sort of live in the middle of three schools, so it was like, 'OK, maybe I'd have to move'.

"I think a lot of actors have no interest in doing that, but the Doctor is a fantastic character and... if you want to, there's a huge scope for an actor to really sink your teeth into. It'd be an absolute privilege.

"Then - I think it was about two weeks before that live reveal event - I was told that their shortlist had got much shorter! But it didn't mean I wouldn't come back into the frame.

"So I took that to mean the deal was being done with whoever was the frontrunner and if it all fell through, then those of us who were trailing behind would be in with a chance.

"After that, all communications went into lock-down infuriatingly, but I suppose they have to, so nothing leaked. I found out about that BBC live reveal programme a couple of days before it [aired].

"It was a really exciting couple-and-a-half months. I was thoroughly entertained reading all those daily rumours online - first I was cast, then I'd filmed, then I had to pull out for personal reasons! All of which had no basis whatsoever in reality, but they'd obviously latched onto something and I don't know where that all initially started. You never know with all those rumours.

"I can't wait to see what Peter Capaldi does. He's brilliant - such an amazing actor and it'll be completely unique and I'm looking forward, hugely, to his Doctor.

"I knew from the outset, from that initial conversation, that they wanted to cast someone older and I just think it's so great to shake it up. The Who fans are just so incredibly passionate about that show, which I absolutely love. They're really vocal. The debates they all have about who it should be and why it should be... but I think Peter Capaldi will just be fantastic."

The Paradise series two begins on Sunday at 8pm on BBC One.

______

Fingers crossed for Ben next time. He sounds to be a really nice bloke.

[Alan]

Doctor Who: How could the Doctor cheat the 12 regenerations rule in The Day of the Doctor?
Wednesday 16 Oct 2013 4:00 pm

Apparently the Doctor has just 12 regenerations – which could make Peter Capaldi Doctor No. 12 and the last Doctor. However, Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat says: ‘I think you should go back to your DVDs and count correctly this time. There’s something you’ve all missed.’

He’s talking about regenerations and the 50th anniversary show The Day of the Doctor.

On one hand, it is obvious that Moffat lies about the show and revels in his teasing. Equally, what might Whovians have missed?

Here are some of the more interesting (ludicrous?) ideas doing the rounds in the Doctor Who forum fanverse.

We’ve been miscounting all along
There’s a whole host of theories that suggest the Doctor tally is just wrong. But for argument’s sake let’s accept that Hartnell is No. 1 (and The Brain of Morbius – a Tom Baker/4th Doctor story that suggests otherwise) is bunkum.

Two ‘miscounting’ theories have credence. Firstly, that 1-3 are different aspects of one Doctor. It’s not made clear that Hartnell and Troughton are different regenerations, rather that it’s a rejuvenation. The Time Lords force Troughton’s Doctor to change in The War Games into Pertwee. It’s not called a regeneration directly.

This feels a weak argument when all appear as different incarnations in The Three and Five Doctors.

There’s much to mull too in the McGann/Eccleston + Hurt conundrum. Could Hurt and McGann be one and the same? Could Eccleston and McGann be the same Doctor? We haven’t seen several regenerations. Could all THREE be the ‘same’ Doctor? *shrugs*

What about the spare handy hand?
It seemed so throwaway when the Sycorax chopped off David Tennant’s hand and it grew back one Christmas Day in 2005 and the off-cut spawned the metacrisis Doctor with Donna’s help in Journey’s End.

In the same episode Ten said that the new part-human Doctor could never regenerate. But, the Doctor lies. Could his be a whole new timeline with a load more regenerations?

Swallowing the whole Time Vortex rewrote the sequence
Rose saved the universe and Eccleston’s Doctor saved Rose by swallowing the whole of the time vortex and no one’s supposed to do that. Surely such a shock to the system could rewrite the Time Lord rules of regeneration?

Becoming human reset the Doctor’s regenerations
It seemed to work for the Master, aka Professor Yana (played by Derek Jacobi in Utopia), in some sense (the Master hasn’t worried about regeneration for years). So when the Doctor used the chameleon arch in Human Nature, the Doctor might have changed the rules too. But that seems too low key a get-out for the Moff.

He’s got all of River Song’s regenerations in the bag
She gave them to him as he lay dying in Let’s Kill Hitler. Are they hers to give away? And anyway. How can she regenerate at all? Spoilers?

Hurt is a future Doctor
I like this idea best. And it fits well with the Great Intelligence’s reference to the Valeyard in The Name of the Doctor in the last series. Why has the Doctor never mentioned his dark self?

It hasn’t happened yet. Smith’s Doctor met him in the swirl of his own tomb timeline on Trenzalore. Hurt could easily be future stuff and not a past one. Wibbley wobbley timey wimey.

Link to original article here: http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/16/doctor...octor-4147862/

[Alan]

New promos for An Adventure in Space And Time are windows to the past

An Adventure in Space and Time, Mark Gatiss' drama about the creation of Doctor Who, might just be one of the most anticipated aspects of the show's 50th Birthday bash. This batch of new publicity pictures from the BBC show just one reason why: the frighteningly accurate looks of the cast!

Link to original article featuring five An Adventure in Space And Time promo photos here: http://observationdeck.io9.com/new-p...ndo-1447455183

[Nolamom]

Bradley looks FANTASTIC as Hartnell

[Teddybrown]

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/moffat-...tion-54034.htm
Moffat on Smiths final moments...

[Sealurk]

I've only just realised Doctor Who TV did publish my article on the Tenth Doctor's regeneration, back on 29th September!

I hope there are no objections to a shameless link...

[dipsofjazz]

I've only just realised Doctor Who TV did publish my article on the Tenth Doctor's regeneration, back on 29th September!

I hope there are no objections to a shameless link...

Excellent article!

[Nolamom]

very good article - excellent points!

[Alan]

BBC Trailer to Celebrate 50 Years of Doctor Who
Saturday, 19 October, 2013 - Reported by Harry Ward

The BBC have announced that they will be broadcasting a trailer to celebrate 50 years of Doctor Who. It will go out on BBC One at 8.20pm on Saturday 19 October just after Strictly Come Dancing and just before Atlantis. The announcement was made along with artwork featuring all eleven Doctors.

The BBC has issued a press release, which you can read below.

A specially created trailer celebrating the last 50 years of Doctor Who will air tonight on BBC One, as an exclusive image is revealed today featuring the 11 Doctors.

Travelling through time fans will be taken on a journey from the very beginning using state of the art technology. The special trailer is set to show all of the Doctors as they first appeared on screen, including William Hartnell in high res colour for the very first time, as celebrations ramp up to the 23 November.

A huge moment for the BBC, the 50th celebrations will culminate with the special episode, ‘The Day of the Doctor’, starring Matt Smith, David Tennant and Jenna Coleman with Billie Piper and John Hurt. A whole range of shows have also been commissioned across TV and radio to mark the anniversary.

The minute long trailer will air after Strictly Come Dancing tonight on BBC One and will be also be available on www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho

Link to original article featuring artwork here: http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2013/10...013002116.html

[Starfist]

Something to look forward to on television tonight then...

[Blencathra]

So this isn't THE trailer with footage from the 50th? It's a celebratory trailer about the last 50 years. Looking forward to it.

[Nolamom]

I will take anything I can get at this point - even a trailer that may or may not have much to do with the 50th...

[dipsofjazz]

I'm looking forward to the trailer tonight.

I have to say that I'm not impressed by the 11 Doctors artwork linked in Alan's post above. The heads are all different sizes and it would have been better with Matt looking in the same direction as the other Doctors, rather than in our direction.

[rushy]

Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee ARE different regenerations.
Matt Smith's Doctor has pointed out several times that he's the "eleventh", McGann's Doctor said "at the end of my seventh life..." and so forth.
Can't be those three.

Eccleston can't be McGann's Doctor, because both show up in the Eleventh Hour as different Doctors.