Slashdot Mirror
David Tennant Cast as New Doctor Who
Stephen Williams writes "Doctor Who fan site Output Gallifrey is reporting that David Tennant has been cast as the tenth incarnation of the Time Lord. Tennant, who has recently appeared in BBC dramas Blackpool and Casanova, has been linked with the role of the Doctor since the announcement of Christopher Eccleston's departure."
I am now older than the guy playing Dr Who :-(
In one of the papers, they are saying he landed a £500,000 salary deal.
If he was the real doctor, he could setup a bank account with bit of money in, and come back in a couple of million years to collect his interest.
liqbase
A female doctor?
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
I always wondered if people like this get bored playing TV characters. Then again, over the span of a series, I guess you can develop a character and his emotions.
Or, he just wants to buy a house in the Caribbean.
Oh well, if a fan site say it they're the authority... never mind checking the BBC!
Actually, there was one guy lined up to be the doctor (Eddie Izzard) who is best known for his cross dressing comic routines.
But on topic, the doctor has already done the crossdressing thing:
As far as we can tell, The Highlanders is the first example of the Doctor cross-dressing, as he disguises himself as a washer woman. He was a cleaning lady in The Green Death some years later.
from here
liqbase
Eccleston, whose first appearance as the ninth Doctor attracted 10 million viewers, said he feared being typecast.
:)
Can one really be typecast as the sole surviving Time Lord? Did he think his next gig would be in a sitcom of a similar premise?
I wouldn't mind that. Woman scientists and engineers appeal to me. It's better than a stupid bimbo. You can have sex and have meaningful discussion. You can't say this for the majority of Doctor's companions.
Sometimes i wonder if the tabloid drama generated by changing actors makes for more publicity than the quality of the show itself.
Of all the modern incarnations of the Doctor, the best actor in the role was Paul McGann. He looked the part and is a very good actor.
Now we get somebody who just doesn't fit the role. Kind of like what happened to the Batman movies. Most of the actors sucked at being Batman.
what snext? The cross dressing doctor?
Tim Curry, dressed as he was in the Rocky Horror Picture Show (and I'd already posted that idea in response to a previous story).
Actually, he'd probably be a bit old for that now.
In all seriousness, I don't think Eddie Izzard would've been a good choice; too much baggage (not just handbaggage, arf), and I reckon he'd be playing "Eddie Izzard" all the time.
I thought Christopher Ecclestone was a good choice, because he *wasn't* an obvious choice. The obvious choice, to go with a 'famous', 'eccentric', 'British', blah blah Doctor, really struck me as a bad idea, based on people with half-baked recollections of Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee trying to come up with ideas. I've nothing against Richard E Grant, but he was too much along that line (yeah, I know he did an online story or something). Apparently they also asked Hugh Grant (no relation AFAIK) to do it at one stage, but he turned it down. THANK GOD! Hugh-'king-Grant, fer chrissakes!
I don't want well-known, and I don't want formulaicly eccentric. I want someone who can bring something new to the role without losing sight of who The Doctor is.
Ecclestone seemed to be that guy, and then he buggered off. Damn.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Izzard never, ever wanted to take on the role, and I believe was never approached about it either. I think the tabloids made it up, and everybody thought "Actually, yeah, he would make a good doctor". Tom Baker even went as far as saying that Izzard had actually landed the role for the 9th Doctor, which clearly was not the case.
Of all the modern incarnations of the Doctor, the best actor in the role was Paul McGann. He looked the part and is a very good actor. Now we get somebody who just doesn't fit the role.
Paul McGann was passable, but was really just a slightly bland generic amalgalm of previous Doctors (read the second half of this post) and someone's idea of what the Doctor "should" be like.
IMHO, to be successful and avoid comparisons with previous Doctors, an actor *has* to bring something new. The Batman comparison is flawed, because Batman was meant to be the same character in each, whereas each Doctor has a distinctly different personality- or at least they should.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
He'd make a good time lord.
I've watched the first 3 episodes and i had only seen a couple of Dr Who's before that, but the old ones seemed more entertaining, tonights show will make or break it for me, I wonder if the ratings will still be high?
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
At least he looks a bit more interesting than the current one:
e bl ogger82.jpg
http://iloveharrypotter3.weblogger.com.br/img/w
A blog I run for the wealth
This guy's already got 2 roles he'll be remembered for. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0855039/ Being in a Harry Potter film AND the Doctor must make you some kind of geek über actor. Only Patrick 'Picard and Xavier' Stewart and Sir Ian 'Gandalf and Magneto' McKellen can compete.
At last a good choice! Tennant is the just the sort of 'light' actor that can be driven by the role and not look like a big fish in a little pond (as Eccleston did). ;) and made the show something really special (and funny too!) but in an interview on fanboy Johnathan Ross's show recently Eddie was very reluctant when pressed about the role. Evans is effectively banned from the BBC I guess, and would have taken the show in a far more alcoholic/Chelsean kind of direction until the day he decided to have every other millenium off...
Nonetheless, I would have preferred Chris Evans (talented-yet-flawed DJ/TV presenter/Billy-ex) because he has obvious character; or Eddie Izzard (surreal comedian) who could have written his own lines and used his own clothes
... and seen them all on TV from 1963ish onwards from behind the sofa, I don't care as LONG AS SWEET LITTLE BILLIE PIPER stays.
She is real cute, and the best Dr Who assistant ever.
From keeping a young boy 'shit scared behind the sofa' to keeping an older man watching, Whoo Whoooooo Whooo Whoooo (hum that last part) cares. Keep Billie!
It's a strange little film about a Scottish undertaker/wannabe screenwriter (Tennant) who falls in love with an American tourist and travels to L.A. to find her.
Vinessa Shaw, Julie Delpy, Vincent Gallo are all excellent, and there are a few very funny cameos by Johhny Depp. He appears in most of the film as his own poster for Dead Man, who Tennant talks to for inspiration (difficult to explain, something like this:- http://www.posterplanet.net/images/deadmangun.jpg)
Tennant is, in my opinion a good actor and while I'm not a huge fan of Doctor Who, I'm glad for his success. Maybe it will make this film easier to find?
... she is chavtastic...
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Just think about how much older you are than all the doctor's female assistants. You could almost put a "Barely Legal Teens!" caption to most of them.
Hopefully, we'll get more than one season with Tennant's Doctor, since we're now on number ten - leaving us with what, three more before he's out of Regenerations? IF the actor's keep leaving, we'll be done with Doctor Who by 2010.
Dr. Who: Lets go to my tardis, Rose.
Dalek: Fornicate!! Fornicate!!
BBC is holding out for cash before distribution in the US. I'll reserve judgement on this new series until I see it.
Someone you trust is one of us.
...David Tennant said, "I quit."
I think that the crucial characteristic of the doctor is authority. He can be serious, funny, dour, cheerful, young, old, fat, thin, whatever, but you need the feeling that he knows what's going on, that he can put things right. But for that he needs authority, leadership, strength of character, intensity.
I think in general it'd be harder for a woman to pull that off, but I'm sure there are some actresses who could. (Probably a slightly older one; authority tends to go with age in women just as in men.) Helen Mirren, for example, springs to mind as someone who might be good. Even someone like Jennifer Saunders might be interesting in the role.
Mind you, my first choice would have to be Alan Rickman...
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
Dalek: YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED! ... um, well, er, this is all very, er, ... gosh [and so on].
Dr: Well, I, um, gosh, I mean, that is to say, I
So what? He was good in Cassanova and I'm sure he'll make a good Doctor Who. I can't think of any Doctors who were especially famous before being timelords!
What about the 10 regeneration limitation?
I know, I know, its TV, they will think of something.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
In the couple of movies I've seen Eddie Izzard in (Shadow of the Vampire and Mystery Men), it didn't seem like he was just using his stand-up persona. And I saw an interview with him where he mentioned he prefers acting to standup.
Before my time, but Jon Pertwee was well known for "The Navy Lark". And (not before my time) Peter Davidson was famous for playing Tristran Farnon in "All Creatures Great and Small" - which was one of the biggest TV hits of it's day. But yes, most of the Doctors have been surprise unknowns.
Maybe Tennant will be a good Doctor - he's certainly got to be better than Eccleston, who I find frankly dire - but I really don't understand this obsession TV has with youth.
Why does the Doctor have to keep getting younger and younger? To me he should be an eccentric older man, with enough years to give gravitas to some of the absurd lines he'll surely have to say!
We're told that it is so "youth" can relate to him - but that's surely nonsense. As a kid I grew up with Tom Baker, and didn't relate to him any less because he was is his forties. Bah!
Pierce Brosnan
rewriting history since 2109
I think the Doctor has already exceeded his original number of regenerations.
b rainmorbius/ . In the Time Lord Mind Game the Doctor and Morbius battle and Morbius asks the Doctor how long he has lived. We see the faces of the incarnations of the Doctor we know and then other faces we don't know, totaling 12. This implies that Tom Baker's Doctor is the 12th regeneration.
l ogopolis/. I think the Watcher reset the clock on the Doctor's regenerations. Either from the point when the Doctor left Gallifrey or to one.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/
Then see http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/
I have never once played Magic the Gathering
Drop the transvestism, but keep the camp eccentricity, and Tim Curry would make a terrific Doctor. The Doctor needn't be a young man; the first three were all older gentlemen, and Tom Baker wasn't exactly young.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
David Tennant already had part on the Dr. Who mini series "Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka" as the Caretaker.
Bet this
Now that they have found a new DR. Who does this mean that the series will continue onwards and upwards. God I hope so
David Tennant turns 34 on Monday. When they each began playing the Doctor: Chris Eccleston was 40, Paul McGann was 37, Sylvester McCoy was 44, Colin Baker was 41, Peter Davison was 30, Tom Baker was 40, Jon Pertwee was 51, Patrick Troughton was 46, and William Hartnell was 55.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
If the Doctor has two hearts, how many extras might he have as a woman? The concept alternatively scares me and excites me. And he might find new uses for the sonic screwdriver.
All I can say is that I was delighted when I'd heard that Eddy Izzard was being considered for the role. Of course, that may have been untrue, but it would have been brilliant!
Bill Nighy!
Bill Nighy!
Bill Nighy!
Bloody hell!
How many? Well, 130 replies and counting isn't too bad for a slashdot story about a TV show that they can't get in the States. Except by torrent, of course...
Yeah, but come on. We got a savage chick in torn clothing who liked to go around stabbing people for fun. What more does one need in life?
... and then they built the supercollider.
... it would have been shite, and I speak as a very-long-standing Eddie fan. For my evidence, I offer up every single film role he has taken on, all, unanimously, crap. The man can't act. He's a hysterically funny standup but he. can't. act. Oh, forgive me, he was excellent in Lenny (the stage-play based on the life of Lenny Bruce) which I saw, and in which he played a ... stand-up comedian.
"The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
There was a female doctor, in the episode "The Curse of the Fatal Death". Joanna Lumley. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212887/
Wow. The Doctors are changing almost as fast as the post Breshnev Soviet leaders did.
That's not canon of course (Comic Relief charity special), but it was very very funny.
"Oh look, the sonic screwdriver has another setting..."
He also has almost no baggage in terms of expectation.
A female doctor?
I'll be branded a true geek for this one.
There are female timelords, in fact the Doctor worked with one, or rather two of the same one, named Romana during the Tom Baker era for the Keys of time series. After the Keys of Time story arc ended {Destiny of the Daleks - 9/1/79}, Romana decides to regenerate, and tries on a number of bodies before she decides on the image of someone they met in the prior episode.
This may explain why we met so few female timelords, as they are only given 12 regenerations all that time trying on different bodies would lead to a lower life expectancy. But if a male timelord could regenerate into a female one, well this would explain why their population hasn't died out.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Hartnell had a long career before playing the Doctor, lots of Stage and Film work and a TV hit with The Army Game. Similar Story with Troughton.
The point is most of the previous doctors had distinguished careers before taking on the Doctor. The fact that most of them are best remembered for their years in the tardis is more to do with the cult status of Dr Who than their careers.
I hereby inform you that I have NOT been required to provide any decryption keys.
The answer is the surgeon is
It would finally be time in 2005 to make the Doctor Who a woman and the companion a male. I mean this is the 21st century and there seems to be nothing in the setup that requires the Doctor to be a male.
Did we ever get a good explanation of why Eccleston didn't want to do more than one season as Who?
My guess is that we'll be 3 or 4 Doctor's behind by the time I can finally legitimately see the show in the U.S.
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
I don't really like Ecclestone's Dr. Who, but having see David Tennant in Cassanova, I think he'll be excellent. He is very bright and witty but his training shows through, and I think that he will bring some gravitas to the role.
Free iPods - now in the UK!
I believe that official line is that the ones we see in that episode (there are three of them actualy, making Baker the seventh doctor, and Tennant the last) are actualy Moerbius' previous regenerations. (yes obviously the writers of that episode intended them to be the Doctor, but as Retcon goes it's not bad)
James P. Barrett
lots and what's Space 1999? :)
Not Free SF Reader
Ade would have been perfect as the new Doctor, (-DM's and forehead studs) never mind maybe next time
For a female Doctor I think Patricia Routledge could do a good job. Mix a little of Hyacinth Bucket and Hetty Winthrop and you have a Doctor that would at least be entertainting. My next pick would be Zoë Wanamaker, While she has already made an appearance in this new Dr. Who series as the last human being, I think she has the acting chops to be a Doctor.
On an offtopic idea I think Patricia Routledge could do well as one of the witches (most likely Nanny Ogg) if there were to be any Discworld Films made.
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
We allready saw Hugh Grant as Doctor in the Comic Relief Special.
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
I didn't see that, and if it's even half as "funny" as the rest of Comic Relief, I don't think I'll bother.
On the other hand, it can't be worse than "Dimensions in Time". Eeurgh, that was *foul*.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Well, he was the Doctor for about 30 seconds(I'll explain later).
"The Curse of Fatal Death" is about as good as a "real" episode of Dr. Who from the 70's (except shorter).
I think every fan should see it and have a chance to laugh at some of the silly old Dr. Who cliches.
It's got Daleks, The Master, three hundred miles of sewers, and more regenerations then you can shake a Dalek Manipulator at.
If you happen to see the current release of it the DVD or tape will also contain a behind the scenes showing how Dalek costumes really work and a good fast/cheap way to build a convincing T.A.R.D.I.S.
It explains how they got the dozen or so top actors to take part in the project and how it was written by people who actually liked Dr. Who and cared about what they were producing.
IT also contains three other other parody bits that I am not familier with. One poking fun at the Colin Baker "Trial of a Timelord" and Dr. Who continuity. The other one is having a go at cancelation, cybermen and Thatcher. From what I can tell they were put on to make the running time longer and show you examples of BAD Dr. Who parody.
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
my first choice would have to be Alan Rickman
Wow, and all this time I thought Alan Rickman was a man!