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I know not the same, but Big Finish is doing a Four Doctors story with the Daleks this year with Docs 5-8.
Doctor Who - Spoilers!
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I know not the same, but Big Finish is doing a Four Doctors story with the Daleks this year with Docs 5-8.
Contrary to what the newer breed of bandwagon jumping fans seem to think the show existed for some considerable time before Tennant showed up and it will probably do just fine without him.
Bringing him back when he's already been so overexposed would be grossly unfair to Matt Smith or whoever follows him as anything they did would inevitably be overshadowed by the hype for 10's return.
The only previous Doctors I would want to see return are McGann or Eccleston as they never got a decent run on TV and as such there's more room to play around with their characterisation.
By comparison 10 did everything his character was capable of by the end of his first year so any return would just be retreading old ground.
Bringing him back when he's already been so overexposed would be grossly unfair to Matt Smith or whoever follows him as anything they did would inevitably be overshadowed by the hype for 10's return.
The only previous Doctors I would want to see return are McGann or Eccleston as they never got a decent run on TV and as such there's more room to play around with their characterisation.
By comparison 10 did everything his character was capable of by the end of his first year so any return would just be retreading old ground.
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ProgMatinee
circlesendwheretheybegin
what is the story on Eccleston? Was it predetermined that he'd only get 1 year or did something in regards to contract prevent him from a longer run?
It's complicated Prog.
Basically He liked doing the show. He is proud of his work on it. But it didn't meet with his initial expectations (he was imagining DW was a reboot ala BSG). He wouldn't give RTD a strait answer on whether he would return or not and the production team assumed the worst and hired Tennant before Eccleston had made up his mind about whether to stay or go.
Hilarity ensued.
Basically He liked doing the show. He is proud of his work on it. But it didn't meet with his initial expectations (he was imagining DW was a reboot ala BSG). He wouldn't give RTD a strait answer on whether he would return or not and the production team assumed the worst and hired Tennant before Eccleston had made up his mind about whether to stay or go.
Hilarity ensued.
ProgMatinee
circlesendwheretheybegin
well I'm glad it happened I guess. Eccelston's Doctor was too emo and angsty for me.
Audiences are supposed to like the current version of the show. How on earth is that jumping on a bandwagon?
I love a good fan myth as much as anyone, but this is untrue.
TheObsoleteMan
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Eccleston's Doctor was too angsty?
Tennant was the emo king of Doctors.One of my big hopes is that they cool it with the "Whoa is me, I'm the last of the Time Lords" stuff with Matt Smith. I'm tired of mopey Doctors.
d_jedi1
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ProgMatinee
circlesendwheretheybegin
Eccleston's Doctor was too angsty?
One of my big hopes is that they cool it with the "Whoa is me, I'm the last of the Time Lords" stuff with Matt Smith. I'm tired of mopey Doctors.
Hmm. Maybe angsty isn't the right word. How about "gloomy"? Tennant at least seems jovial about the place and circumstances he encounters.
Eccelston seemed so dark in general. I can understand in season 3 Tennant being upset over losing Rose, but what was the stick up CE's butt in the first season?
ProgMatinee
circlesendwheretheybegin
whats your understanding of it?
Eccleston was only ever contracted for a single season; in fact, the BBC didn't even expect to get to a second series, which is why that first year is basically a miniseries with very focused thematic beats and callbacks. The producers actually expected the debut episode to score less than half its eventual audience! It took everyone by surprise, and Eccleston would have had to have made his decision months before the first episode aired.
But the real problem with this version of the myth is how it paints Eccleston, Davies and Tennant as three of the most unprofessional people working in television today, and the BBC contracts department as a backstabbing hive of Machiavellian schemers.
TheObsoleteMan
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It's actually been a while since I've seen the Eccleston stuff, maybe he was moodier than I remember. I just recall him be a sarcastic a-hole, albeit a charming one, most of time.
Darth Caedus
Formerly Congerking
I loved Tennant, but did he really have to tell everybody that he was brillant every 9 seconds.......?
So dispel the myth. What actually happened. You have said the show was an unexpected hit. Surely the reaction to such a surprise success isn't typically to find a new actor for the starring role. What happened?
Darth Caedus
Formerly Congerking
Nothing happened. Eccleston was only ever contracted for one year. Everyone involved has repeatedly said this, but I know some fans prefer their conspiracy theories. The fact of the matter is that nobody thought the show would be a hit, least of all the people working on it.
It's worth noting the BBC itself admits to signing a hush deal in January 2005 for both parties to keep his departure under wraps. This was three months before "Rose" aired and seven months before shooting began on the second series. The only reason this whole thing has entered into fan mythology is because someone leaked his departure the day after the first episode was transmitted. It was supposed to be a shock ending for "The Parting of the Ways," and Russell T Davies still talks about the surprise being ruined five years later.
If you look at Eccleston's CV prior to Doctor Who this all makes sense.
On the other hand, believing Eccleston was booted in favor of Tennant not only requires us to disregard all the public statements to the contrary despite not a jot of evidence, but also requires us to assume Eccleston was unprofessionally waffling well beyond a deadline, that Davies unprofessionally sought a replacement behind his back and that Tennant is an unprofessional opportunist. And moreover that all of these people were abetted by a highly unprofessional and backstabbing BBC.
And just for the record, Davies never had final hiring power for the Doctor. He could never have signed Tennant without approval from the top brass within drama, and there's no way they would have risked alienating one of their most respected talents that way.
ProgMatinee
circlesendwheretheybegin
so they had agreed to split prior to airing whether the series was successful or not? thats pretty short sighted on both parts. I don't see the point in keeping the departure underwraps if all parties expected the series to only last 1 year anyway... so thats kinda contradictory to me.
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It's not shortsighted when you look at Eccleston's CV. Prior to Doctor Who he didn't do series; he did plays, films and serials. He was never going to sign on to lead a series for three years - it's just not who he was as an actor and it's not what the BBC expected when they commissioned the series and signed him up. You have to put yourself in the mindset of 2004. The BBC needed a respected name to relaunch a joke, and circa that year there were few names with greater critical cache in drama circles than Christopher Eccleston. The BBC (and Davies himself) didn't expect the series to last beyond a year, and if it continued they had a surprise regeneration to cap off the final episode anyway.
Now it's very interesting to see the roles Eccleston has taken since Doctor Who, especially GI Joe and his stint on Heroes. I think this probably speaks volumes about how far Doctor Who went toward opening up what he probably considers fantasy work for children. But also worth noting too is that five years later and he's still declined a regular role in a series (as opposed to play, film or serial). Doctor Who was a massive commitment for an actor of his ilk.
Two glaringly obvious reasons - you don't undercut your launch by immediately telling the audience not to get invested in the character, and you don't spend a year planning a surprise cliffhanger finale only to blow the surprise a day after the first episode.
All of this has been discussed by multiple parties over the years in print, television, online and in person. We're being asked to disregard all of that in favor of a conspiracy without the first shred of evidence, one that flies in the face of how professionals behave in a professional environment.
But then again, some people think 9/11 was an inside job.
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