Dr. Who

mike65

First episode peaked at 10.6 million viewers in UK so if they can hang on to 75% of that the BBC will be happy.

Mike.

Capt'n Midnight

It used to get about 16.1 Million back in the days when Jon was saving us from dinosaurs & cybermen.

The doctor has to be a bit bamy all right Tom Baker was great.
First episode was just a to introduce the characters , I suppose it's better to have missed it than missed the first episode of a real story.

[edit] During the ITV network strike of 1979, viewership peaked at 16 million.[/edit]

mike65

Not sure the Doctor was ever getting ratings quite that high, but even if so there were just 3 channels back then and no net, home video/DVD etc. The best average peak time none-soap figures are only about 9-10 mill these days.

Mike.

mycroft

Spacedog wrote:

Anyone see this? It was better than I thought it's be, funny stuff. There was a clip with Simon Pegg (of spaced fame) on Johnathon Woss yesterday, anyone know who he is going to play?

My girlfriend thought it was sh*t should she come round your gaff and scream abuse at it, and you for liking it?

See the link in my sig for an explaination......

Hobbes

Moe79 wrote:

It was pretty enjoyable, although it would have been nice to see them explain how the doctor keeps changing faces..

That was explained before a few times. Basically the doctors body when near death regenerates and changes in the process both in personality and apperance. In fact one of his arch-enemies is in fact himself from the future (The Master).

I am guessing that the doctor has a special device that creates a "Photoshop" effect if anyone tries to take his picture.

It was fun to watch, certainly will have me watching more.

ixoy

Hobbes wrote:

That was explained before a few times. Basically the doctors body when near death regenerates and changes in the process both in personality and apperance. In fact one of his arch-enemies is in fact himself from the future (The Master).

[GEEK] No he's not. The Master is not, nor ever was, the Doctor. The Master was originally scripted to be the Doctor's brother. Instead the Master aka Koschei (sp?) was one of the Doctor's best friend in the Prydonian chapter. They had a falling out (some of which is seen in the MA "The Dark Path") after Koschei/Master became evil.

What you're thinking of instead is the Valeyard. This was a future incarnation of the Doctor that put the Doctor on trial in the "Trial of a Timelord" arc that covered four stories. It was eventually "revealed" (in the novels) that the Valeyard was the twisted result of what would have happened if the Doctor's sixth incarnation had been let continue, which is why the 7th doctor/personality assumed control after the Rani hit him when McCoy started his era.... [/GEEK]

Ste-

I quite liked it and will watch them in the next coming weeks.
Next weeks looks quite good. I was dubious over Billie Piper but she seems to act better than she does sing.

MisterAnarchy

Didnt like this new episode at all.
Crumby jokes and very corny.
It seems to be targeted at kids .
Reminded me of the Scooby Doo films.
I hope it improves .

monkeyfudge

Ste- wrote:

I was dubious over Billie Piper but she seems to act better than she does sing.

Well that was never going to be difficult, she can probably lay eggs better than she can sing.

It should be fun to see Simon Pegg in it though. I remember he did a great sketch on Big Train where he was this upper class guy who got overly upset that Billie's latest single didn't make it to number one in the charts.

mycroft

ixoy wrote:

[GEEK] No he's not. The Master is not, nor ever was, the Doctor. The Master was originally scripted to be the Doctor's brother. Instead the Master aka Koschei (sp?) was one of the Doctor's best friend in the Prydonian chapter. They had a falling out (some of which is seen in the MA "The Dark Path") after Koschei/Master became evil.

What you're thinking of instead is the Valeyard. This was a future incarnation of the Doctor that put the Doctor on trial in the "Trial of a Timelord" arc that covered four stories. It was eventually "revealed" (in the novels) that the Valeyard was the twisted result of what would have happened if the Doctor's sixth incarnation had been let continue, which is why the 7th doctor/personality assumed control after the Rani hit him when McCoy started his era.... [/GEEK]

Thats some good geeking.

I saw Hobbes post and didn't think it was right. Besides if you were the doctor's future self would you continue to go back and fight the doctor

"Hang about, it's the old me again, I've been here before, and it doesn't work out well for me......"

Capt'n Midnight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who - 'nuff said

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4385801.stm

Unofficial overnight figures show the programme got an average of 9.9 million viewers - 43.2% of all viewers - with a peak of 10.5 million viewers, a 44.3% share of the audience.

cerbeus

Dr Who to get second series but will Christoper Eccleston and Billy Piper renew their roles? :eek:

The Times arcticle on Dr Who's renewal

Haruspex

cerbeus wrote:

Dr Who to get second series but will Christoper Eccleston and Billy Piper renew their roles? :eek:

The Times arcticle on Dr Who's renewal

I'm no Whovian of ixoy's stature but can anyone clarify if the Doctor can only regenerate a finite number of times? The article linked above contains this:

Ms Tranter, according to MediaGuardian, told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch today: "Now we’ve got to start talking to Billie and Chris about what they want to do. I want to make Doctor Who again, but there is a mischievous element to it, in that you can keep regenerating [the Doctor].

This seems to imply there are unlimited regenerations!

monkeyfudge

Ms Tranter, according to MediaGuardian, told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch today: "Now we’ve got to start talking to Billie and Chris about what they want to do. I want to make Doctor Who again, but there is a mischievous element to it, in that you can keep regenerating [the Doctor].

Just goes to show how much she knows. The doctor can only regenerate 12 times.

And exactly what else is Billie going to do instead? Release a new album?

CathyMoran

Saw a headline on BBC that Christopher Eccilston is quiting! Has anyone else heard that?

Haruspex

Just spotted that this has been posted on Digital Spy.

Christopher Eccleston has quit as Doctor Who after just one series.

The news comes just after the BBC announced it had already given the go-ahead to a second series and a Christmas special.

He didn't last long did he? :rolleyes:

CathyMoran

Oh, noooo... a cool Dr. Who and he quits...I just hope that they will not go back to the scarves with the next Dr...and hope that they keep the leather jacket...and hope that they pick another actor with the same gravitas as him.

monkeyfudge

oooh... but David Tennant is being considered for the part now.

He could be really good. I did enjoy that Casanova mini-series, which was also written by Russell T. Davis.

Haruspex

Eccleston, who admitted he found the show's filming schedule "gruelling," decided to leave over concerns of becoming typecast.

What did he expect when playing such an iconic role? :rolleyes:
As you said, Cathy, hope the next actor also brings a certain gravitas to the role.
At least now we can muse over who'll be the tenth Doctor! (If it is indeed to be David Tennant.)

@monkeyfudge - only two more regenerations to go now, eh? The Doctor better be careful...

monkeyfudge

Haruspex wrote:

@monkeyfudge - only two more regenerations to go now, eh? The Doctor better be careful...

Yes. Be careful and not be played by such a fickle actor.

ixoy

Hurrah a second series!

But grr @ Eccleston! I don't like the idea of a new Doc each series. Not withstanding the 12 regenerations rule, it also makes it harder to maintain a certain fanbase. I'd like an air of continuity and not this constant shuffling around. Bad man!

BuffyBot

Hmmm..interesting, but actually not much of a shock. I half expected Eccleston to do something along this line. Worried about becoming typecast..you would wonder what he expected!

cerbeus

I know it's early days and all that and David Tennant is reported to be considered but they haven't said it for definite. So there may be other candidates that the producers have in mind.

Personally I would have liked to have seen Paul McGann given a run in the first series as he only really had the "American Movie" Dr Who role which never got optioned as a series.

mycroft

BuffyBot wrote:

Hmmm..interesting, but actually not much of a shock. I half expected Eccleston to do something along this line. Worried about becoming typecast..you would wonder what he expected!

Not out of character though.

Remember he quit cracker when it was becoming robbie coltraines one man band. Did catch himself a demon of a death scene though. Hopefully he'll do the same here.

Have to admit it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I'm going to have trouble connecting with the character if I know the actor is buggering off in 12 episodes. Could he not have waited two months before annoucning this*

*suppose with the new schedule going into place he'd have to have said yah or neigh pretty sharpish. Also you have to wonder about the constitution of british actors though. Average american season is 13-22 episodes, and people like James Gandolfini or Sarah Michelle Gellar usually found the time to squeze in a movie a year on top of that. Come on Eccleston, eat your wheatbix!

mike65

So what did you thin of episode 2? I thought I was watching Hich Hikers Guide for a few minutes..Resturant At the End of the Universe. The jokes were..okay but not for Dr Who, Eccelston does'nt do gags (or second series either!) Russell Davis obviously does'nt "do" science and there were alot of jumps of logic. Also that flipping screwdriver - its like a Bond gadget. Which means the Dr does'nt have to be as clever as he thinks he is.

Mike.

Ste-

It wasn't too bad, am gutted bout Christopher not doing a second series. I thought he filled the role nicely.
Some bad puns in the episode that made me laugh but then it is BBC humour.

regeneration

that episode was much better than the first - better paced for a start. nice effects too; Im really enjoying it so far to be perfectly honest, and that joke about the iPod had me in stitches
also of course there's now a real suggestion of a running plotline when the doctor mentioned that bombshell at the end of the episode... :eek:

ixoy

I enjoyed it. The show looked a lot better than the pilot with some well designed aliens and sets. In fact there were almost too many aliens - we didn't get the chance to appreciate them.

I liked the fact that Rose questioned the Doctor more - about his origins, her ability to speak languages, and whether she should be with him. In the original series none of the companions ever asked why they could understand everyone (and if you're being picky, you'll recall that when Sarah Jane Smith asked in the "Masque of Mandragora" it was not actually Sarah asking...).

I also liked the Doctor's mysterious background. I pretty much guessed he was the last of his people. I'm guessing that it'll probably turn out that the Daleks destroyed them, to give him reason to hate them when they appear but I'd love if it turned out to be the Enemy, as featured in the BBC Novels. Or if Faction Paradox appeared. Oh that'd be so bloody good.....

All in all, still enjoying it and still think Eccleston is doing well and should have stayed on. Good stuff.

Skyuser

Well I never saw such rubbish on the tv since You're A Star finished. Dr. Who is total crap. I can't believe adults get excited about totally unrealistic rubbish like this. Like Window Dolls taken over the world,OMG.

mycroft

Skyuser wrote:

I can't believe adults get excited about totally unrealistic rubbish like this. Like Window Dolls taken over the world,OMG.

OMG, like O.M.G. I mean Oh. My. Gawd. I can't believe someone with a sig consisting of wysterian lane's collection of implausible attractive forty year old women who's tedious and totaly ludricous sex lives, and weak ass murder investigation, while they fight over whatever implausible hunk has moved in this week, forms an hour of tv; has the termerity to slag the doctor. For being unrealistic. Cause the burbs really look that good.

He's the doctor, and he's been doing this for forty years, and he's had less face jobs than the four hags in your av.