50th Episode - Here there be Spoilers

bradyle

Apparently all 11 doctors are going to be in the 50th anniversary!! They'll use old recordings of the deceased ones to make them fit into the story...

http://www.cnet.com.au/eleven-doctors-coming-together-for-50th-anniversary-339343059.htm

In theory this is amazing. I'm just hoping the episode has a decent storyline and isnt all bam look at this person bam theres another person from the past kind of thing!

Doctor DooM

I haven't gotten to say this in ages

I'll believe it when the BBC confirm it!

Das Kitty

Technically all eleven were in The Eleventh Hour using old footage. :P

bradyle

Is it even going to be still in season 7 the 50th anniversary episode or is it gonna be some special? Like the show originally started in November so unless they’re planning on being ridiculously cruel with delaying the start of the second half of this season there’s no way it’ll still be going on in November.

So i'm assuming its a special...either that or its just going to be roughly the 50th anniversary

Das Kitty

bradyle wrote: »

Is it even going to be still in season 7 the 50th anniversary episode or is it gonna be some special? Like the show originally started in November so unless they’re planning on being ridiculously cruel with delaying the start of the second half of this season there’s no way it’ll still be going on in November.

So i'm assuming its a special...either that or its just going to be roughly the 50th anniversary

Yeah. It's at least one special.

The Master

It's only a Matt Smith lookalike but still a cool Image

McLoughlin

Well Big Finish have a 8 Doctors special in november Doctors 4 -8 with the actors and Doctors 1-3 using audio extracts like the Jon Pertwee/Zagreus segments.

Be nice to see McGann on screen though if it were to happen.

Doctor DooM

Regardless of the truth of this rumour or not, I would like to see McGann too.

He and Colin Baker are the most "shafted" of the Doctors, and I'd like for both of them to have another moment to shine (perhaps McCoy too).

ixoy

What about Rowan Atkinson?

allanb49

Richard E Grant :P

Doctor DooM

Ok then, the most shafted of the televised, live action, canonical doctors.

First person to mention Richard Hurndall gets a tardis to the head.

The Mad Hatter

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Ok then, the most shafted of the televised, live action, canonical doctors.

First person to mention Richard Hurndall gets a tardis to the head.

What about Peter Cushing? :P

Doctor DooM

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

What about Peter Cushing? :P

Non canonical, I had him covered

pixelburp

Of course the elephant in the room is Eccelestone; he has been consistently against the idea of returning to Who (a stubbornness I have never quite understood), and I imagine the only thing that might persuade him otherwise would be a truck-load of cash; cash which the BBC wouldn't really have at this point, especially Who; its budget has shrunk since Eccles' day.

Besides, only Docs #8, 9 & 10 are in any state to pass themselves off as their incarnations; the rest are simply too old, fat or both to play the role. Maybe you could use audio roles to include them, but I'd say archive footage will be as good as it gets.

Though the other option might be to recast the roles of the deceased Docs completely; with the right actors & script it's not the craziest idea in the world. Look at Star Trek: the reboot's cast have generally met with high praise - both the script & actors really captured the spirit of the original roles (Karl Urban as McCoy in particular was positively spooky).

McLoughlin

pixelburp wrote: »

Of course the elephant in the room is Eccelestone; he has been consistently against the idea of returning to Who (a stubbornness I have never quite understood), and I imagine the only thing that might persuade him otherwise would be a truck-load of cash; cash which the BBC wouldn't really have at this point, especially Who; its budget has shrunk since Eccles' day.

Besides, only Docs #8, 9 & 10 are in any state to pass themselves off as their incarnations; the rest are simply too old, fat or both to play the role. Maybe you could use audio roles to include them, but I'd say archive footage will be as good as it gets.

Though the other option might be to recast the roles of the deceased Docs completely; with the right actors & script it's not the craziest idea in the world. Look at Star Trek: the reboot's cast have generally met with high praise - both the script & actors really captured the spirit of the original roles (Karl Urban as McCoy in particular was positively spooky).

Tom Baker was the "elephant in the room" for many years with Big Finish before finally reprising his role as The 4th Doctor though sadly many of the actors that worked with him have passed on and we never got the 4th Doc/Sarah Jane or 4th Doc/Brig reunions. So if Baker can return anything is possible regarding Ecceleston

Time Crash shows that Davison is stil in fine form to play the 5th Doctor again, McCoy is in good shape and could play the 7th again. Colin Baker didn't look to well on Im a Celeb but Time Crash did introduced the rule that earlier incarnation or incarnations would appear of a greater physical age than they should have at that point in their timeline. This otherwise harmless effect would disappear once the incarnations parted ways and the time differential was no longer shorted out so that can be used again.

Sleepy

I think I'd rather they didn't tbh.

Doctor DooM

pixelburp wrote: »

Of course the elephant in the room is Eccelestone; he has been consistently against the idea of returning to Who (a stubbornness I have never quite understood), and I imagine the only thing that might persuade him otherwise would be a truck-load of cash; cash which the BBC wouldn't really have at this point, especially Who; its budget has shrunk since Eccles' day.

Didn't someone post an interview recently here where Eccelestone spoke out about his time in Who and said in fact that it wasn't snobbishness on his part but that he didn't get on with some people behind the cameras, and that he now says he wouldn't mind more Who, but distancing himself from them was right at the time?

pixelburp

McLoughlin wrote: »

Tom Baker was the "elephant in the room" for many years with Big Finish before finally reprising his role as The 4th Doctor though sadly many of the actors that worked with him have passed on and we never got the 4th Doc/Sarah Jane or 4th Doc/Brig reunions. So if Baker can return anything is possible regarding Ecceleston

I don't think it's utterly impossible, just highly unlikely. The money doesn't appear to be there, and beyond a change of heart I couldn't see him returning. As for Baker, to be fair his only solid objection was taking part in "The 5 Doctors" back in 1983, when he had only just left the role - since then he has seemed happy to come back; be it as part of a Children in Need story, a few TV special-nights etc. so Big Finish didn't seem like a massive coup.
Besides, with all due respect to Big Finish, audioplays are pretty easy work compared with the complexities of a shoot; Baker playing the 4th doctor must seem like money for old rope. Not to mention the fact it's easier to hide the fact Tom Baker is a 79-year old man now :eek:

McLoughlin wrote: »

Time Crash shows that Davison is stil in fine form to play the 5th Doctor again, McCoy is in good shape and could play the 7th again. Colin Baker didn't look to well on Im a Celeb but Time Crash did introduced the rule that earlier incarnation or incarnations would appear of a greater physical age than they should have at that point in their timeline. This otherwise harmless effect would disappear once the incarnations parted ways and the time differential was no longer shorted out so that can be used again.

Davison I'd be happy to see yes, being the youngest naturally his differences were easier to hide (crazy to think he was 29 when he played the role first); but tbh no amount of wibbly-wobbly could hide the two Bakers & McCoys obvious aged appearance. Fine with the aforementioned audio-roles, but just think it'd be a bad idea to bring them all back.

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Didn't someone post an interview recently here where Eccelestone spoke out about his time in Who and said in fact that it wasn't snobbishness on his part but that he didn't get on with some people behind the cameras, and that he now says he wouldn't mind more Who, but distancing himself from them was right at the time?

Perhaps, he did have bust-ups with Kevin Boak, one of the directors who made an utter hash of his stories, though I also saw an interview where he talked about never "bathing in the same river twice" or something along those lines. I guess given how ... unimpressive his CV has been since leaving Who, it can't be just artistic considerations that determined his feelings.

Edit: found Ecclestons more recent comments on returning to the show - he gives a pretty vague, non-answer really:
http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/christopher-eccleston/23641/doctor-who-christopher-eccleston-on-the-50th-anniversary

ixoy

Not sure how they'd explain away the ageing of the remaining doctors. The only one that there was room for in this was Patrick Troughton's Doctor for the Season 6b theorists.
Then again - "wibbly wobbly timey wimey" reasoning may be invoked.

allanb49

could they not use that aging software they used in X3 or Tron?

The Master

There's a docu-drama being produced for the 50th anniversary that will tell the story of how the show first came to be aired.
So someone will have to be cast as William Hartnell in it.

Fans(notably the gallifrey base psychos) don't see why all the doctors who are no longer alive could not be recast for the 50th anniversary episode.
not something I'd want to see myself

Or as Allan has said above, body doubles and CGI. The technology is there to make it work

allanb49

Or they could do a Ed Wood, Bella Lugosi job on it which in keeping with the Dr Who budget would seem more plausible

pixelburp

allanb49 wrote: »

could they not use that aging software they used in X3 or Tron?

With what money exactly? Tron cost a bazillion dollars to make, and still resulted in a fairly unconvincing Jeff Bridges; the Beeb is in cutback city atm, and thanks to various scandals is unlikely to get any financial favours anytime soon.

The Master wrote: »

There's a docu-drama being produced for the 50th anniversary that will tell the story of how the show first came to be aired.
So someone will have to be cast as William Hartnell in it.

Fans(notably the gallifrey base psychos) don't see why all the doctors who are no longer alive could not be recast for the 50th anniversary episode.
not something I'd want to see myself

I don't think all 11 doctors should return simply on the basis that it would make for a total clusterf*ck of a script (11 principal characters in a 60-minute show? Dear god); but what's wrong with the general principal of recasting one of the incarnations? It was done before, even if Richard Hurndalls take on Doc #1 was a little ropey - but that was mostly the scripts fault.

allanb49

pixelburp wrote: »

With what money exactly? Tron cost a bazillion dollars to make, and still resulted in a fairly unconvincing Jeff Bridges; the Beeb is in cutback city atm, and thanks to various scandals is unlikely to get any financial favours anytime soon.

See my next post to counter that

Killer_banana

Wasn't there meant to be a ten Doctor's Children in Need Special using archive footage for the deceased actors a few years back that never materialised? For a CIN special I could get behind this but an hour long episode sounds like a mess to me. Also as others have pointed out several actors are far too old at this stage.

As for Eccleston back in November when asked would he like to appear in the 50th Anniversary episode his response was 'I've not even thought about it.' Make of that what you will...

pixelburp

On the subject of getting other actors to play previous incarnations, its kinda happening, albeit not for the Special but for the docudrama:

http://m.io9.com/5980211/the-first-doctor-returns-to-doctor-who-courtesy-of-harry-potter

jenno99

Killer_banana wrote: »

Wasn't there meant to be a ten Doctor's Children in Need Special using archive footage for the deceased actors a few years back that never materialised? For a CIN special I could get behind this but an hour long episode sounds like a mess to me. Also as others have pointed out several actors are far too old at this stage.

As for Eccleston back in November when asked would he like to appear in the 50th Anniversary episode his response was 'I've not even thought about it.' Make of that what you will...

I'd rather they used computers and old footage than the ageing actors. Even Sylvester McCoy and Peter Davidson are looking far too old really.

Cyndaquil

McCann could pass I suspect, he doesn't look 'old' per se, and in case as we haven't seen his regeneration for all we know he could have looked as old as Hartnell did by the time he regenerated.

I'd be happy to give CGI a chance if the budget allowed, in any case whatever about the Bakers looking too old there aren't much other options for the first three (bar random clips fitted in).

Killer_banana

I was going to say it would be interesting to see old companions but then I suppose they did that with Sarah Jane. Personally I'd love to see Susan again but it's been implied more than once she's dead so doubt that'll happen. I think a scene of 72 year old Susan reacting to Matt Smith being her grandfather would be gold but maybe that's just me.

flazio

I don't know about television, but recently I've started listening to the co production of the two Doctor Who audio providers Big Finish and AudioGo, the series is called 'Destiny of The Doctor' they are released one a month and feature a consecutive Doctor, last month we had 'Hunters of Earth' which featured the First Doctor and Susan prior to the events of An UnEarthly Child, this month we got 'Shadow of Death' set in the time of the Second Doctor, Jaime and Zoe. So far both of these stories have had what you might call 'a future influence' among them.

The first story goes some way to explain why there is 'Magpie electrical' equipment in the TARDIS and there is a radio request from the Doctor that doesn't sound like the sort of thing Susan's grandfather would request and indeed he denies it, the second story features a communication device favoured by River Song and a bit of Bow tie appreciation

Also released are a few ebooks written by well known authors, very short but very action packed, the first is called 'A Big Hand For The Doctor' and was written by Irish Young Fantasy author Eoin Colfer, the second book in this series is called 'The Nameless City' and is by Michael Scott and will be released later this month.

Raphael

flazio wrote: »

Also released are a few ebooks written by well known authors, very short but very action packed, the first is called 'A Big Hand For The Doctor' and was written by Irish Young Fantasy author Eoin Colfer, the second book in this series is called 'The Nameless City' and is by Michael Scott and will be released later this month.

That's 2 for 2 on the "famous british childrens fictions authors" being Irish.

bradyle

It says Irish Young Fantasy author Eoin Colfer

Raphael

When the concept was first announced, at least where I read the news, it was ebooks written by well-known British children’s fiction authors. Could possibly have been misreporting at the time, though.

Mr.Saturn

I'm guessing that with the scheduling of the series these days, the 50th anniversary special/s may serve as the first 'half' of series 8, with the rest
making broadcast in Spring 2014.

Is anyone waging a bet on a regeneration come November? Or, am I taking the 'Fall of the Eleventh' stuff far too literally? I mean, it would be fitting to end the 50th anniversary of the show with the very concept that's ensured its longevity in the first place.

McLoughlin

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

I'm guessing that with the scheduling of the series these days, the 50th anniversary special/s may serve as the first 'half' of series 8, with the rest
making broadcast in Spring 2014.

The undisclosed amount of 50th anniversary episodes (though perhaps just one atum special) are not Series 8 which I don't think has been announced yet.

Cyndaquil

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

I'm guessing that with the scheduling of the series these days, the 50th anniversary special/s may serve as the first 'half' of series 8, with the rest
making broadcast in Spring 2014.

Is anyone waging a bet on a regeneration come November? Or, am I taking the 'Fall of the Eleventh' stuff far too literally? I mean, it would be fitting to end the 50th anniversary of the show with the very concept that's ensured its longevity in the first place.

Would be a good way to end it in terms of summing up the show's history. But I personally think Matt has a few more years in him (as the Doctor I mean) - seems like no length since he came in.

Have to say I'd genuinely be sad to see him go, Tennant was the first regeneration I viewed on its first showing (watched Ecclestons' as a re-run, having got in the show around season 4) so I looked forward to that (not that I didn't like Tennant, I did).

But with Matt, I really don't want him to go.

Having said that, I thought that regeneration would be too obvious a meaning behind 'The Fall of the Eleventh'.

Mr.Saturn

Cyndaquil wrote: »

Would be a good way to end it in terms of summing up the show's history. But I personally think Matt has a few more years in him (as the Doctor I mean) - seems like no length since he came in.

Have to say I'd genuinely be sad to see him go, Tennant was the first regeneration I viewed on its first showing (watched Ecclestons' as a re-run, having got in the show around season 4) so I looked forward to that (not that I didn't like Tennant, I did).

But with Matt, I really don't want him to go.

Having said that, I thought that regeneration would be too obvious a meaning behind 'The Fall of the Eleventh'.

I figured it may be too literal of an interpretation, but considering Moffat's, and RTD's before it, run of baiting and switching, I imagine it'd count as a swerve if a prophecy finally came at face value.

pixelburp

No indication if this will also get a 2D showing, but for those of us who hate the 3D fad, I hope so. Can't say this news excites me - the money could have been better spent on a 2-parter story.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/A-New-Dimension-for-Doctor-Whos-Fiftieth-Anniversary

Killer_banana

I like 3D but think this is stupid. I just want a well written story for the anniversary. I don't care about 3D or anything like that. As you said the money could have been better used.

McLoughlin

Reece Shearsmith is to play Patrick Troughton

http://www.digitalspy.ie/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a459512/reece-shearsmith-to-play-patrick-troughton-in-doctor-who-50th-biopic.html


You have to wonder will he and David Bradley just be playing the roles in An Adventure In Space And Time or perhaps in the 50th special.

amen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho...th-Anniversary

from the above link it appears that the Tardis console now looks like the original Tardis console. Coming full circle ?

Maybe the doctor really is the Other?

Jessibelle

I'm not entirely sure if this belongs here or elsewhere on the forum but second Dr cast in BBC movie?

pixelburp

Until anything concrete is announced about the anniversary celebrations (I imagine around the end of series 7), this is as good a thread as any to post info.

It would be very meta if Bradley & Sheasmith ended up playing both the actors & the actual characters, in separate productions hehe

McLoughlin

The documentary is apparently due to have an actor playing Jon Pertwee aswell recreating The Three Doctors.

Coldzone

Matt Smith was on Jonathan Ross tonight and he gave "Paintings" as a clue to the 50th anniversary special. He said it would make sense after you see the episode.

McLoughlin

Coldzone wrote: »

Matt Smith was on Jonathan Ross tonight and he gave "Paintings" as a clue to the 50th anniversary special. He said it would make sense after you see the episode.

Paintings of Older Doctors communicating with the new Doctor ?

deconduo

McLoughlin wrote: »

Paintings of Older Doctors communicating with the new Doctor ?

Harry Potter style? :pac:

flazio

Vincent Van Gogh must be back then.

http://tennantnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no-captain-jack-for-doctor-who-50th.html

Aw, I love capt jack

BaconZombie

So only the current Doctor is confirmed to be in to.
I take it they do not have to get sign-off from any of the previous actors to use already filmed footage even if it was not used in an episode already.

Professey Chin

Tennant, Piper & John Hurt confirmed

David Tennant and Billie Piper to return for blockbuster celebrations with John Hurt also confirmed.

The BBC has today revealed some of the all-star cast that will mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. David Tennant and Billie Piper will join current Doctor and companion, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman, while John Hurt (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alien, Harry Potter) will also co-star.

Last seen as the Doctor on January 1st 2010, this will be the first time Tennant has reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor. During his reign as the Time Lord, Tennant appeared in three series as well as several specials. He was first revealed as the Doctor in the 2005 series finale, ‘The Parting of the Ways’.

Meanwhile Billie Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler for two series following the reboot in 2005, will appear in the show for the first time since featuring in Tennant’s last episode, ‘The End of Time’ in 2010.

Also confirmed to join the cast is John Hurt who will also co-star in the 3D anniversary special that will form part of blockbuster celebrations, set to take over the BBC. Produced by BBC Cymru Wales for BBC One, the 50th anniversary will be written by Steven Moffat and Directed by Nick Hurran.

Filming for the 50th anniversary starts this week. Meanwhile a brand new series starts on BBC ONE today (30 March) at 6:15pm for a run of eight epic episodes, which officially introduces the Doctor’s newest companion, Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/DOCTOR-WHO-ANNOUNCES-ALL-STAR-CAST-FOR-50th-ANNIVERSARY