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Ok everyone, time to show up for the new feature and vote for the future of Doctor Who.
Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/death/index.shtml
The webcast serves as an interest-tester. Obviously Big Finish's episodes are of a much higher quality, but then they also get paid to make them.
So far the vote stands roughly:
Bring Back Doctor Who: 99.1%
Don't Make Doctor Who: 0.9%
So is this for the show on TV? If so who will be the Doctor?
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Aslan Collas
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RPG_Trek; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rpg-trek
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Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
This is their webcast audio drama to drum up an idea of the interest.
The movie, and by extension the tv show will depend on the positive response they get. It is unclear right now if Paul McGann will reprise his role, or if they will get another actor. People keep talking about Hugh Grant for the movie but if the tv show takes off, they'd just have to make yet another Doctor as Hugh isn't THAT available and choosing him for a doctor isn't feasible unless you are really willing to throw away the few remaining bodies the Doctor has before he dies.
As for really good audio adventures, check out Big Finish Productions:
www.doctorwho.co.uk
They put out some capital work with the actors of Doctors #5, #6, #7 and #8 as well as companions such as Nissa, Peri, Turlough, Mel, Ace and an occasional Brigadeer Lethbridge-Stewart.
I've got the whole collection so far (sans the Dalek Empire mini-series and special edition music releases, etc...) and they just get better as they go.
Best part is, though the actors don't look quite like they used to, their voices havn't changed a bit.
Love to see come back to TV. I've missed it the 10 years or so it has been off air in Canada.
That McGann guy you were talking about, is he the actor who played the Doctor in the Fox Dr. Who tv movie? Really liked him. Although I didn't like the way they protrayed the Master, liked the actor, but they had him doing things I don't see him doing. Breaking that kids neck was so...not him, not subtle. As a whole I was hoping that the movie was a precussor to a new updated series.
Unfortunatly, I don't think my computer is set for web casts, so will watch here and keep my fingers crossed.
Oh, BTW anyone who saw the Fox Dr Who know why the Daleks were the judges at the Master's trial...did I miss something, they would have exterminated him and whoever arrived with him on the spot.
"I never thought I would be firing shots in anger at a wretched caterpillar!"
-Brig. Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
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In the Praetors Name!
Yes, I hated the Master in the Movie. As cardboard as the 60s props they used with even less effect.
Paul McGann's been doing some work in the audio adventures and that's where I've come to really appreciate the actor.
It's an audio-only and if you have the bandwidth RealPlayerG2 can add a comic-book illustration to it as it goes.
I do so like Stephen Fry playing a Timelord, the Minister of Chance. He'd make a good recurring character in the series. He's too silly to take the character completely serious. Afterall, many of the Timelords fit the category of eccentric in quite a few ways.
Eccentric!? My your being kind, some are down right fruitloops...Comes with living 12 lifetimes I imagine. http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif
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In the Praetors Name!
I'd be too if my first memory in my body involves looking in the mirror and going "Hmm, the nose is an improvement."
Oh, and for any in the DFW area, I've noticed Dr. Who started showing up on Friday nights on PBS. Havn't caught an episode yet, but they're half-hour blocks, last week was two half-hours back to back. I'm so used to the three-hour commercial-free ones. I remember watching them at night years ago. It was like a movie every weekend, it was great.
Yes, they should bring back the Good Doctor on TV. I really doubt Paul McGann would come back for a series so my list of the best actors to play the Doctor are:
1) Michael Praed: I realised about halfway through the second episode of SAJV that Michael Praed would make a very good Doctor.
2) Anthony Stewart Head: Again, a actor who would play a very good Doctor based on what I've seen him in (namely Buffy). Mind you, I've heard rumours that ASH has signed up to play the Master in one of Big Finish's audio drama's for next year.
3) That bloke off Hornblower (played Horatio).
4) Michael Troughton (Patrick's son).
I'll probably think of more, eventually.
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Kid Mama-san, what do they call that thing they shoot the cats out of?
Mama-san I'm not sure, but I think they call it a catapult.
Kid Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to say that line...
Samurai Pizza Cats
Patrick Stewart would make a great Dr. Who
While Patrik Stewart is a very good actor, I think Brent Spiner does a better job of being a good actor who can portray the Doctor's alien aspects. Brent Spiner can be wacky when it's necessary.
Trouble with a character who is able to live 12 lifetimes. Willian Harnell, Doc 1, was very serious, as was Jon Pertwee's, Doc 3. Compared to Tom Baker's somewhat off the wall protrayal. Peter Davidison and Colin Baker were evenly balanced serious when need, but always had a snappy come-back, particularly Colin.
I think the whacky award goes to Patrick Troughton.
So both Stewart and Spiner could work IMO as the Doctor. Though Stewarts military bearing would lend well to the Brigadier, if they were ever to bring him back for any lenth of time. I loved the UNIT years. http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif
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In the Praetors Name!
Well Colin (#6) portrayed the Doctor who never fully recovered from that state of mental instability during Regeneration, at least not at first. In Big Finish they portray him later as a much more mature version of his original state.
As far as Anthony Stewart Head, they've already officially denied they approached him about playing the Master, instead they plan for him to play a main villian in the three stories in the Excelis mini-series.
Whatever happened to the actor who played the Master in the series, Anthony Anliy, something like that it has been a while since I have fliped threw my Dr. Who library. He was the Master in my eyes, sauve, subtle and hypnotic. He just looked lethal. He had that "viperish" look I think you need to play the Master.
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In the Praetors Name!
I saw a reference to an interview with him once this year I think. Guess he's still around. That one guy who played the rotting Master in that one episode where he steals a new body just played the Master in a Big Finish episode. Still, they never used his real face, they tended to go for the more bearded bad-guy look.
Ever since Rober Delgado played the role shey seemed to have gone with the goatee look. I think it lends a sinisterness, is that a word, to the role.
Your mention of the decaying Master has reminded of something I thought of when I watched that story where the Doctor was on trial, Colin Baker era near the end of the show here in Canada. The "prosecutor" the guy called the "Valyard" who turned out to be the Doctor in a later regeneration, his last, he looked remarkably well. However when the Master hit life 12 he looked like he got hit by a bus and burned by a flamethrower. Why the difference?
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In the Praetors Name!
That should be Robert Delgado.
I can't remember, but as I understood it, the Master has been attempting to cheat death, and probably much longer than a Timelord should be able to, before he started stealing bodies.
Thing about the Valyard... wouldn't that mean he found a way to get around the temporal barrier that keeps Timelords from landing on Gallifrey outside their relative temporal position?
Oh well, it's been a while since I've seen it.
Have there been any successful attempts at Doctor Who RPGs in the past? The best I found was a group that met for a sim weekly which I could never show up for.
Well, my Doctor Who RPG campaign ran for two (school) years and they're still clamoring for more.
http://bancroft.tripod.com/DWintro.htm
Concerning the Master.
To the best of my knowledge the 12th Regeneration of the Master was the version played by the late, great Roger Delgado. Something crappy happened to the Master (namely Roger Delgado died in a car crash) and he managed to stave off dying and changed into the ugly bugger from Deadly Assassin and Keeper of Traken before absorbing Tremas and gaining a new body (but not more regenerations). In the TV Movie (yuck) the Master was finally put on trial for betraying the Daleks in one of the Pertwee stories (can't remember which) and was exterminated (as someone has already pointed out, why didn't they just exterminate him on sight?). Thankfully the Master had somehow learnt how to turn himself into a snake and take over another body (namely Eric Roberts, although given a choice I'd have gone with getting into the body of his sister) and that, as they say, is when it all hit the fan.
At least I think that's how it went.
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Kid Mama-san, what do they call that thing they shoot the cats out of?
Mama-san I'm not sure, but I think they call it a catapult.
Kid Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to say that line...
Samurai Pizza Cats
In the three days I've been watching the vote it's risen nearly 5000 points for Yes, and roughly oh... 30 for no. Looking good.
Of course, with any vote on a fansite, the Yes's will be in favor, so quantity becomes even more of a concern, when the execs look at the IP count and say "ok, we can suppose x-number of people for each vote, did that meet our goal?"
I hate to rain on your parade people but their is no way the BBC will bring back Doctor Who if they can help it. The Beeb has had a casual disrespect for Who fans since the 80's since the show is (in their opinion) a relic of the 70's and has no place in the twenty first century.
About 5 years ago the Beeb had a special where the public could vote for the best drama series the BBC had made.
The Beed dropped a load in their pants when Doctor Who won by a small margin. The Beeb claimed that the vote was fixed and (from what I've heard) nearly used this (uncomfirmed) fact as an excuse to give the number two series the title.
Me thinks Sylvester McCoy's acceptance speech didn't help either.
More recently the BBC showed most of the first John Pertwee season before jumping to Genesis of the Daleks (which had just been repeated a few years before and had just been released on video in the UK recently as well) in a dead-end Sunday morning time-slot and after the ratings dipped slightly stopped the repeat season and released a press-release basically saying that their was no interest in Doctor Who so they wouldn't be showing it again any time soon (try ever).
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Kid Mama-san, what do they call that thing they shoot the cats out of?
Mama-san I'm not sure, but I think they call it a catapult.
Kid Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to say that line...
Samurai Pizza Cats
Well there certainly has been opposition and it has been an upward climb but I hardly think this is characteristic of a network that has no interest whatsoever in bringing a series back.
Love Dr. Who. I’m a Dr. Who freak. http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/smile.gif (I have Pertwee and on up, every episode, on video.)
Gonna keep an eye on this thread and leap in when I return back home.
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http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/sig_don.gif
Good news for Big Finish:
This is better than last time when it was only renewed for what, a year or so? Not too shabby.Quote:
Big Finish Productions Limited are very pleased to announce that they have just signed a new contract with BBC Worldwide Publishing. This will allow BFP to continue to provide you with brand new Doctor Who adventures on CD into the second half of this decade.
Concerning the Big Finish audio stuff I admit I've only listened to the first part of Storm Warnings (the first Paul McGann story) and a little half hour drama because they gave it away with Doctor Who Maazine a few months ago. However, I think that Big Finish did better Who than the BBC did on TV for most of the Post Tom Baker era (exempting the most part of the second and third McCoy seasons).
PS: There is a rumour circulating that Tom Baker (you know, all teeth and curls) may be doing some Big Finish audio dramas next year.
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Kid Mama-san, what do they call that thing they shoot the cats out of?
Mama-san I'm not sure, but I think they call it a catapult.
Kid Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to say that line...
Samurai Pizza Cats
A quick question if I may. I was a big DR. WHO fan myself. (Got a 17 foot long scarf someone made for me in the closet to prove it too. Never wore it, but got it)I was just in the the video store last week when I spotted "The Curse of the Fatal Death" on the shelf. I had never heard of this one before. It was a DR WHO done in 1999 for comic relief with Rowan Atkinson as the "Ninth" Doctor. I thought it was interesting. (I'm a big "Black Adder" fan) I know the special was for laughs, but I'm wondering what others here would think of Mr. Atkinson playing the Doctor for real? I know this is just theoretical but I think he may have been good...
I don't think that Rowan Atkinson could play a serious Doctor but I'd pay money to see a Doctor Who movie with Richard E Grant playing the good Doctor.
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Kid Mama-san, what do they call that thing they shoot the cats out of?
Mama-san I'm not sure, but I think they call it a catapult.
Kid Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to say that line...
Samurai Pizza Cats
I've been a Dr Who fan for over 15 years. Got most of his episodes on tape(when available). http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif
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Best speed to Gallifrey!
Commodore Horatio Richard Jaeger
CO USS Audacity,NCC-85901
Do you guys in the US get the spin-off videos?
I watched 'Auton' not long ago and thouroughly enjoyed it.
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Greg
"Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I'm freaked and intend to stay that way."
Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Prophecy Girl.
[This message has been edited by Greg Smith (edited 08-09-2001).]
I think www.thirdzone.com had some once.
I just don't understand the Beeb. Maybe there's something I'm missing. You'd think that they'd be proud to have created a memorable show loved all around the world. This whole "the poll wasn't valid" thing and their attempts to kill the show's popularity by bad time slots just... doesn't make sense.
If BBC won't retry Doctor Who, could a non-British company give it a shot. The Australians are doing some good sci-fi with Farscape. Maybe they could add some spice to the Doctor, or perhaps, the Doctor could get some hollywood backing. I would keep Britannic actors (I just couldn't imagine the Doctor speaking in New York accent.), but I think American fx would be cool.
Personally, I would like to see a return of the Doctor even if it was a start over.
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"The best mind-altering drug is truth."
--Lily Tomlin
The BBC doesn't like the fact that the public (both here in the UK and abroad) likes Doctor Who because certain people high up in the Beeb don't like it because it's (in their opinion) a kids show. That and the fact that apparantly a new series wouldn't be economically viable (despite them making £5 million a year in video and DVD sales) because they would have to make it with (lets be honest) a half decent budget. Hence they try to make it with foreign help and come out with a travesty like the TV movie. If you ask me they'll end up doing a movie while also praying that it flops so that they can bury the program and have an excuse to not make it anymore.
I mean if they did Doctor Who again it might take up money that they can spend on police dramas, docusoaps and a fourth (a bloody fourth) weekly episode of EastEnders.
A**e-holes.
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Kid Mama-san, what do they call that thing they shoot the cats out of?
Mama-san I'm not sure, but I think they call it a catapult.
Kid Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to say that line...
Samurai Pizza Cats
Reputedly there were UK production companies queing round the block to make Doctor Who before the Movie, but the BBC were desperate for a US co-production (I guess they wanted $$$).
There are rumours that the BBC does want to do something new for the show's 40th anniversary. But I'm not convinced.
Still, it took ten years for Star Trek to return after the end of the TV series. Perhaps it will only take Dr Who a few years longer.
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Greg
"Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I'm freaked and intend to stay that way."
Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Prophecy Girl.
This whole Death Comes to Time possibly spawning a series strikes me as being an offer to spawn a radio series. Of that I have little interest. The writing of this one was choppy and the quality low, but then that's radio for you. Both Big Finish's writing and audio quality is superb and I'd rather wait a month for each new episode than see new cock-ups on Radio 4 getting low ratings and saying "See, this is why a tv show would be a flop"