Doctor Who Star quits! (1 Viewer)

[MishaLauenstein]

Now it turns out he's not their employee. His contract ended months ago. And the BBC has issued an apology to him for breaking the terms of the contract and making up quotes from him.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

From what I read, he found the nine months of 11 days on, 3 days off, 14 to 16 hour days too grueling and too much time away from his home and family. He signed up for one, did one. I don't have a problem with it, especially taking that nutty workload into consideration.

And I agree, the regenerations are fun and they can always give the Doctor as many extra ones as they think they'll need. We've always known that he's "special", anyways.

 

[Will_B]

Smells like publicity stunt to me. They also timed a publicity stunt of claiming that a particular style of leather coat was selling really well because of Dr. Who. They're creating news stories.

 

[BrianB]

That's basically it. The BBC are trying hard to push this show in the UK right now and seem to be coming up with any reason they can to get some press out of it.

 

[Martin Rendall]

Good for them! Hope they succeed.

Martin.

 

[Pat Frank]

Gee... when did the BBC hire back Andrew Gilligan?

 

[Mike Graham]

Finished watching the episode "Father's Day" on CBC - this is easily the best episode yet. I think its great the series is exploring all the dramatic possibilities available to it, and this episode was the best example of it. However, its a true shame Eccleston is leaving, because his subtle work here is wonderful.

Its also nice to have Eccleston introduce the episodes, it adds a touch of class to it.

 

[Martin Rendall]

I think they've done a really great job showing how "inhuman" the Doctor is. The writing, combined with the acting, really gives the impression of a different "mindset" than the typically "human". In human terms, this guy is almost sociopathic! It's not blatant, but rather the subtle mixing in of "alien" with "normal" which makes it work so well.

Martin.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Well, if Christopher Ecclestone leaving wasn't bad enough, there were rumours in the Brit media yesterday that Billie Piper is thinking of leaving early in the next series.




Just wait until the next episode with the kid in the gas mask - already it's being talked about as one of the best episodes ever out of any series. For the first time, my kids were actually freaked out by an episode. My wife and I had shown them re-runs of some classic episodes and they were blase about them, but this really hit home.

 

[PhilipG]

The next episode (called The Empty Child) is very good, but has its flaws too. I'd put it on a par with Dalek.

So far, my ratings out of 10, for what they're worth:
Rose - 7
The End of the World - 7
The Unquiet Dead - 6
Aliens of London - 4
World War Three - 1
Dalek - 8
The Long Game - 7
Father's Day - 6
The Empty Child - 8

A 10 would be something like Caves of Androzani ep 3.

So far, so good. Without Billie Piper, those ratings would have been a few points lower. I fear her loss more than I do that of Ecclestone, who has been disappointing so far IMHO.

 

[Martin Rendall]

Wow PhilipG,

I couldn't agree less! Amazing that we could have such different takes on the show.

Cheers,
Martin.

 

[PhilipG]

So you hate Billie Piper, Eccleston is much better than you expected, and you loved World War III, while Androzani 3 is complete drek?

Do you also love the boxed-set design?

 

[Francois Caron]

Personally, I found the original series to be horrible and very difficult to follow especially with the cheap sets and the annoying multi-part half-hour formats that were all over the map. Yet I knew very well that the basic elements of the show were excellent. The problem was that the technology required to make the show look good within a reasonable budget simply didn't exist at the time.

But this new series! Wow! I love what they've done with it! They maintained all the basic elements and improved the overall presentation. The writing is much improved, the effects are highly credible, and Ecclesion and Piper are "Fantastic!" in their respective roles.

It'll be interesting to see how the show turns out next year with all the departures. I knew Piper would eventually leave since most of the companions only stay for a season or two. But Ecclesion really disappointed me with hus sudden about-face. He's done a great job and given the series much credibility. Why did he have to spoil it for everyone with that ridiculous stunt?

About last weekend's UK broadcast. Man were those gas masks incredibly creepy, especially when the eyepieces started to come out of the head! I almost hid behind the couch myself!

 

[BrianB]

What "about-face"? When he signed up, it was for one season - the writing team always knew he was leaving. Ignore the media hype.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

BBC appologized to Eccelston for saying that he left after one season when actuality he was never signed for more than one season. I believe the story arc reflects that.
I have seen about 7 episodes (through Father's Day) of the new series thus far and I love it. I loved the old one too when I used to watch it in High School but this one far exceeding the old one in terms of storytelling and character growth.
I was watching the FOX TV movie last night for the first time since it aired and it was really poorly done.


Excellent episode. I think that's the first time I ever cried during a Doctor Who episode.

 

[Martin Rendall]

Actually, I guess we agree. Billie Piper is marvelous in DW, but I really like Eccleston's portrayal.

Androzani was great, too. But how could you give the Aliens of London and World War Three such low marks? How could you not appreciate something so obviously self mocking?

NOTE TO THOSE SEEING THE BBC BROADCASTS: PLEASE DON'T SPOIL THE LATEST EPISODE FOR US POOR CANADIANS!!! Sorry for shouting, but if you want to discuss the episode of the week, spoiler tags sure would be appreciated!

Martin.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

What brought it soooo far down for me was the fart jokes. They dont belong in Doctor Who.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Are there any plans for this to be picked up by a US channel? (Other than BBC America, which I don't get. :frowning: )

 

[Francois Caron]

Oops! Sorry! My comment didn't reveal anything critical, but I did add a spoiler tag to it. But whatever you do, don't miss it! It's definitely a very creepy two-parter!

 

[RickER]

At least you guys get to watch it. No Dr. Who in Oklahoma since Collin Baker. Course i guess i didn't miss much towards the end of the series. I would love to be able to see the new show if not on TV, at least on DVD. I hear we wont even get it on DVD until after they find a place to air it on TV!