Dr. Who on Sci-Fi Channel in March

Karl J. Smith writes "Dr. Who will be airing on the Sci-Fi Channel in March The DVD release has been moved from February 14th to July 4th (although it's still Feb 14th in Canada). Be sure to check out the hilarous announcement from the BBC."

Comments

yay! New Who!

[bobalu]

What the heck, I'm watching the old ones on 20 yr old VHS.

Sci-Fi has been the pits for a long time, I'm glad to see it.

Re:yay! New Who!

[Etherwalk]

Okay, so Atlantis may be going downhill... very... very... far... downhill. But Galactica's pretty dang good.

Re:yay! New Who!

[DrWho520]

WOO-HOO!

I used to watch Dr. Who on PBS when I was in grade school. The fourth doctor is my personal favorite. He had a care-free, cavalier attitude about life but was quick to action when necessary! The floppy hat, the long scarf, the jelly babies!

Interfere? Of course we should interfere! Always do what you're best at, that's what I say.
-- Doctor Who - Nightmare of Eden

Re:yay! New Who!

[KeithIrwin]

Someone clearly is a little behind. If nothing else, the author of the parent clearly hasn't seen the new Battlestar Galactica. Each new episode of Battlestar Galactica is so good that it compensates for six Sci-Fi channel original movies. Six. Time-wise that's a 12:1 ratio (more if you count the number of times they rerun the movies).

When considered along with Firefly and a few of the good series of old (Quantum Leap, the original Battlestar Galactica, The Twilight Zone, etc.), they're actually above zero as is. Add in the new Doctor Who and they may even make the low double digits on the cumulative qualometer.

Keith

Re:yay! New Who!

[dirty]

Going?

Re:yay! New Who!

[Sofalover]

Stick with the old series from years ago, Russel Davies the writer of the new series has made it into a council estate drama. Given the unlimited scope for plots anywhere in time and space, I can't help feel the new series is shit on many levels and a tragic waste. Sack of shit.

Re:yay! New Who!

[Tony Hoyle]

I dunno I like Atlantis - it's taking off after the first series was a bit flat (OTOH I find BSG unwatchable).

SG-1 however has gone so far downhill it's digging a large pit for itself. This last series was a big mistake.

Re:yay! New Who!

[telekon]

Well, what do you expect... Russell Davies is the creator of the original (British) Queer As Folk. Which, granted, is some excellent teevee, but not exactly the same as Doctor Who during Tom Baker's tenure as the Doctor, especoally during the Key to Time cycle (and the prior season) when Douglas Adams was script supervisor. I'm more disappointed that they're keeping Christopher Eccleston around. I thought he was quite annoying on his debut episode on Fox years ago.

Re:yay! New Who!

[whoniverse]

Well, what do you expect... Russell Davies is the creator of the original (British) Queer As Folk. Which, granted, is some excellent teevee, but not exactly the same as Doctor Who during Tom Baker's tenure as the Doctor, especoally during the Key to Time cycle (and the prior season) when Douglas Adams was script supervisor.

Tom Baker's era wasn't the be all and end all of the show. He was only in it for seven years out of the 26. As for Russell, he has written some very Who-ish things before (e.g. the children's show Dark Season in the early 90s, plus one of the Doctor Who novels - back in '96). And The Christmas Invasion is actually a lot like Douglas Adams' stuff.

I'm more disappointed that they're keeping Christopher Eccleston around. I thought he was quite annoying on his debut episode on Fox years ago.

You're confusing your actors. The Doctor in the 1996 TV Movie on Fox was Paul McGann (and although fans seem to hate the story, they tend to love his portrayal of the Doctor). Eccleston was new to the role and has already left to be replaced by David Tennant. In my opinion (and the majority opinion of those who have watched the new series) both of them are excellent as the Doctor.

I like the new Daleks

[nizo]

Here is an image of the new Daleks. They look like they are ready to provide for all of our food mixing and toilet plunging needs.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[IAAP]

Thanks for the product idea!

-Kitchen Aid

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Deinhard]

Actually, if you look closely, their left arms are the "brackets" (for lack of a better term) that hold paint rollers. I smell a coverup.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[susano_otter]

Wait, what?

This is the NEW Dalek?

That's what, thirty years, and these guys are still using toilet plungers and paint rollers for their futuristic space robots?

Even MST3K had better robot props, and they used everyday objects on purpose as a joke (probably a Dr. Who joke, now that I think about it).

If this is what socialized television has to offer, remind me to never vote for socialized medicine!

Re:I like the new Daleks

[91degrees]

The props department for the BBC used whatever was lying around. They made a spaceship for Blake's 7 out of a couple of hairdryers.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[SydShamino]

Remember that this is a continuation of the *same* series as the original Doctor Who, not a reinvention of the series in a new form.

And, given that the Doctor is a time traveler, he's already encountered Daleks in their future forms. BBS can't just go and say they've "redesigned themselves" without pulling a George Lucas on the old episodes.

And that would be silly...

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Simon Brooke]

Wait, what?

This is the NEW Dalek?

That's what, thirty years, and these guys are still using toilet plungers and paint rollers for their futuristic space robots?

Even MST3K had better robot props, and they used everyday objects on purpose as a joke (probably a Dr. Who joke, now that I think about it).

Wait till you see that baby in action. Then laugh. In drama, really, the prop doesn't matter, it's how it's used that counts. But when you see how that thing is used, you'll agree it's a very effective bit of design.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[EvilMonkeySlayer]

The estate of Terry Nation (the people who own the rights to the Daleks after Nation died in '97) demanded very little in the way of changes to the looks of the daleks. The BBC tried to get them to update the daleks for the 21st century but they wouldn't budge.
Hence why they still look like they do, HOWEVER.. there are a number of Dalek surprises in the new Dr. Who series, so don't be so quick to knock them. (over.. *cough* sorry)

The special effects as a whole on the Dr. Who series vary from okay to excellent.
Special mention should be made of the episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", which quite frankly are the best scifi episodes i've seen in years bar none, not only for the special effects but for the incredible writing and directing.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Marillion]

They kept the look of the Dalek. But, they gave it some major attitude. When I watched the episode, it was a Dalek that was capable of kicking some serious ass!

Re:I like the new Daleks

[moggie_xev]

Dalek was the episode that should how good the show was going to be.

The empty child was scary ( I can say that as a 36 year old :)

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Yonder Way]

Wait till you see that baby in action. Then laugh. In drama, really, the prop doesn't matter, it's how it's used that counts. But when you see how that thing is used, you'll agree it's a very effective bit of design.

Yeah, the toilet plunger was used in the 2005 season. It was pretty cool to finally see it getting put to use.

I don't care about all the crap (no pun intended) people give the toilet plunger on the pepper pots. The same people would complain even more if it were ever changed to something more practical and sci-fi looking. The Daleks are fine just the way they are. Shame we lost one of the best Doctors ever, though, at the end of the '05 season.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[soundofthemoon]

In the past I've found the Daleks to be a bit of a joke. But this time round they finally seem like the threat they've always been made out to be. They may look silly, but they are kick-ass, genocidal death machines. Russel T. Davies takes on all the Dalek stereotypes and turns them inside out. At long last, the Daleks are as scary as they were meant to be.

"What are you going to do? Sucker me to death?"

Re:I like the new Daleks

[professorfalcon]

They look like they are ready to provide for all of our food mixing and toilet plunging needs.

I always fancied them as salt and pepper shakers.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Jerry Smith]

Dalek was the episode that should how good the show was going to be. The empty child was scary ( I can say that as a 36 year old :)

They broadcasted that episode (the others as well btw) at 1900 UK time. Imagine all those brittish 8 year olds sitting on the couch watching thát... every generation has the right to get scared shitless, I guess. And the BBC didn't compromise!

Re:I like the new Daleks

[jizmonkey]

Special mention should be made of the episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", which quite frankly are the best scifi episodes i've seen in years bar none, not only for the special effects but for the incredible writing and directing.

The "Everybody lives!" hokum ending of The Empty Child?? Most of the episode was interesting, but then they painted themselves into a corner. It could only have been more deux ex machina if he'd used a sonic screwdriver to fix everything; like the Star Trek TNG episodes where they used the transporter beam to wrap everything up in two minutes. Deux ex machina is not a good thing.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[MountainMan101]

Deus ex machina

Re:I like the new Daleks

[igb]

Father's Day. It's good enough to transcend genre and stand as emotionally powerful drama in its own right. It's always hard to predict peoples' future careers, but Piper is only in her mid-twenties and she's acting up a storm. The non-Who things she's done on the BBC have been excellent, and I think she has a rosy (ho ho) future ahead of her.

ian

Re:I like the new Daleks

[famebait]

That's what, thirty years, and these guys are still using toilet plungers and paint rollers for their futuristic space robots?

Just wait till you see the flourescent green tawainese ones. Scary mothers.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Jaruzel]

My daughter is 8. She's watched all the new Dr Whos with me. The Empty Child DID scare her shitless. It was her defining 'Dr Who Moment', a moment that should exist in everyones childhood memories. :)

-Jar.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Vulch]

You've got the wrong side of the sofa there, Doctor Who is traditionally watched from *behind* it.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Xiaran]

Agreed. The Fathers Day ep actually made me cry. And I dont usually get very emotional about TV shows.

The Piper acting, for me, has been the biggest surprise. When they first announced that she was goign to be the Drs assistant I couldnt help but feel it was gonna suck. Quite the contrary. She is a very talented actor.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[hughk]

The trouble is that she is getting popular (i.e., she is eye candy, but she *can* act) and another drama series has bagged her. Whether this will stop her acting in Dr Who is another matter.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Syberghost]

Wait till you see that baby in action. Then laugh.

Ha ha, stupid Dalek.

EL-E-VATE.

Oh crap.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[MarkH]

The 'Empty Child' in particular. I remember hiding behind the Sofa 20 years ago during the earlier series as this one induces that reaction now.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[Jerry Smith]

You've got the wrong side of the sofa there, Doctor Who is traditionally watched from *behind* it.
That was "The house of wax" featuring Vincent Price, that caused my first 'scared-shitless-behind-the-couch'-moment :-) (6 yrs)

Dr. Who somewhere in my teens as early as I can remember, German telly, it was in Paradise Towers. Old World Sci-Fi, can't be beaten!

Re:I like the new Daleks

[meringuoid]

They broadcasted that episode (the others as well btw) at 1900 UK time. Imagine all those brittish 8 year olds sitting on the couch watching thát...

That episode first aired at 18:25. It was nudged back a bit to make room for the Eurovision Song Contest (for those who don't know what it is, be grateful; an annual celebration of truly appalling music and blatantly corrupt voting).

I think this was a good move. I would not have wanted to have seen that episode while it was dark outside.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[drsquare]

EVERY Doctor Who episode ends in a deus ex machina.

Re:I like the new Daleks

[TomV]

Credit where credit's due - the "Dalek" episode was scripted by Rob Shearman. While Russell wrote brief outlines for all the episodes, which the other writers worked from, "Dalek" was in turn basically an adaptation of Rob's "Jubilee" audio play for Big Finish Productions.

For the sake of completeness, Mark Gatiss wrote The Unquiet Dead, Paul Cornell wrote Fathers' Day and Stephen Moffat wrote The EmptyChild / The Doctor Dances (2-parter). Russell scripted the rest of Series 1 (or Season 27 if you're old-fashioned like me).

Re:I like the new Daleks

[mink]

Speaking of B7 it does not help that it looks like 3 hypodermic needles were used for the "arms" of the Liberator. I wonder what Orac could do in the new BSG universe and how Space Commander Travis would do in the new Dr. Who. Didn't Terry Nation do some of the original Who stuff as well?

BitTorrent

[SatanMat]

Wow!! I guess this means I can stop downloading it now. Thanks SciFi! I can't wait to wait.

Re:BitTorrent

[CableModemSniper]

AOL.

Cool!

[Matey-O]

Having Bittorrented the whole first series, I'm both delighted and annoyed I'll have to watch it all over again before catching new episodes. If you hvan't seen it yet, you're in for a TREAT!

(NOW is the Golden Age of Sci-Fi.)

Re:Cool!

[Mercano]

Is it really, or has someone screwed with the timeline again?

Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[glowworm]

I really couldn't see how the ad on the BBC webpage was that hilarious but the answer to the season end cliff-hanger is

Badwolf is ....

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[Red Flayer]

" I really couldn't see how the ad on the BBC webpage was that hilarious"

FTA: "Doctor Who returns to BBC ONE in the Spring, and comes to the SCI FI Channel in the US from March. " (emphasis mine)

From March. Get it now? Me neither, I think that's normal usage in Britain. Unless they meant March = Mars. In which case it's still not hi-larious.

Then I thought the phallus behind the girl was the joke. Or the phallus in front of the girl. Or just phalluses in general.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[taskforce]

Face it guys, to the rest of the world, patriotism is funny.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[Red Flayer]

Ahh, "Sold to America," got it, then.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[Threni]

> Face it guys, to the rest of the world, patriotism is funny.

Well, we (in the UK) have patriotism too, obviously, but there's something about American patriotism... I guess it's because it's stripped down to the basics without any pretension or subtlety, and appears so obviously false it becomes like something you're expected to sort of `believe in` like Father Christmas or God or something without thinking about it.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[seanellis]

This will either rain on your parade or make your day, but the phallus behind the girl is not a prop, but is actually a building in London. I can't remember its proper name, as it is universally referred to as "The Gherkin".

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[mfender9]

It's real name is 30 St Mary Axe, which is probably why the much shorter and more descriptive "Gherkin" caught on so quickly...

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[Red Flayer]

Awesome. Now it all becomes clear.

GIS (safesearch on) "the gherkin"

Dang, that's a great ad.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[kfg]

We teach them to take their patriotism at second-hand; to shout with the largest crowd without examining into the right or wrong of the matter--exactly as boys under monarchies are taught and have always been taught. We teach them to regard as traitors, and hold in aversion and contempt, such as do not shout with the crowd, and so here in our democracy we are cheering a thing which of all things is most foreign to it and out of place--the delivery of our political conscience into somebody else's keeping. This is patriotism on the Russian plan.
- Mark Twain, a Biography

The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice--and always has been.
- Mark Twain's Notebook

[Patriotism] ...is a word which always commemorates a robbery. There isn't a foot of land in the world which doesn't represent the ousting and re-ousting of a longline of successive "owners" who each in turn, as "patriots" with proud swelling hearts defended it against the next gang of "robbers" who came to steal it and did--and became swelling-hearted patriots in their turn.
- Mark Twain's Notebook

We have a bastard Patriotism, a sarcasm, a burlesque; but we have no such thing as a public conscience. Politically we are just a joke.
- marginalia written in Clemens' copy of The Future in America; A Search After Realities by H. G. Wells

KFG

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[kfg]

You Brits are so polite. Around here that would have been dubbed "The Dildo" while it was still just in blueprint.

We already have "The Nipple."

http://www.union.edu/Nott/

KFG

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[EvilMonkeySlayer]

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.
Oscar Wilde

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[kfg]

The problem with American patriotism is not so much that it is false, the Russian plan of patriotism is false as well, but that it is hypocritical.

The Russian plan follows its own rules. Be a patriot as the current rulers define it, or we will shoot you. It's a simple plan. It is applied in a straightforward manner. It doesn't matter that the patriotism is false because truth or falsity have nothing to do with the plan. Many even choose to oppose the plan and get shot.

Whereas America holds forth certain ideals to oppose the Russian plan, but follows it anyway through the power exerted by a proxy. This is what makes it politically a joke.

Be a patriot as the current rulers define it, or the newspapers will shoot you.

Almost any man can steel himself to face a firing squad, death is the end of all woes after all, but it takes an extra ordinary man to stand before a newspaper without turning moral coward and hypocrite.

KFG

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[pipingguy]

Almost any man can steel himself to face a firing squad, death is the end of all woes after all, but it takes an extra ordinary man to stand before a newspaper without turning moral coward and hypocrite.

I like that.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[masdog]

Almost any man can steel himself to face a firing squad, death is the end of all woes after all, but it takes an extra ordinary man to stand before a newspaper without turning moral coward and hypocrite. That would make one hell of a sig line.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[hachete]

british patriotrism, ironically, only really exists in England. Unless you're with a party of ex-squaddies (Army veterans doesn't seem right in a UK context), you rarely get a sense of the flag being praised. And even in England, in the Conservative Club say, it seems a very defensive attitude.

American patriotism seems to contain one big contradiction: the American Revolution seems to have stultified into something unchangeable, something forever stuck in 18th century aspic. Hence, the Daughters Of The Revolution aren't really a revolutionary organisation, far from it. Judge Alito wants to intreprete the Constitution thusly:

"In interpreting the Constitution," Judge Alito said Wednesday, "I think we should look to the text of the Constitution, and we should look to the meaning that someone would have taken from the text of the Constitution at the time of its adoption."
(NY Times)

Judge Alito is clearly barking mad. He - and probably most of the neo-cons - wants to treat the constitution as if they were periwigged Enlightenment gentlemen with slaves and obedient wives? What about the amendments which were put in after the 18th Century?

And so on. The Americans. They're different to us.

Re:Not sure if it was "a hillarious ad" but...

[kfg]

Although I have the annoying habit of actually signing all of my posts I do not do legible clothing, bumper stickers or sigs.

It always makes me feel a little weird when I see myself quoted in a sig, but I have never actually objected to it. If you like it enough to use it yourself feel free.

KFG

soundwarning?

[Anonymous Coward]

could you PLEASE give us a frickin' sound warning for such links? this is defiitely not safe for work!

Re:soundwarning?

[Aqua OS X]

Gasp, someone might actually discover that you were jerking around on Slashdot.

Re:soundwarning?

[Richard Steiner]

Mute is your friend. Who uses sound at work?

Re:soundwarning?

[Thuktun]

could you PLEASE give us a frickin' sound warning for such links? this is defiitely not safe for work!

The national anthem of the USA sung by Dolly Parton is unsafe for work?

Where do you work...?

Re:soundwarning?

[SimonInOz]

Australia, you insensitive clod!

Re:soundwarning?

[geekoid]

serves you right for goofing off at work.

Re:soundwarning?

[Jugalator]

Those who use teleconferencing and web radio for example...

Re:soundwarning?

[Hogwash McFly]

An Iranian nuclear power plant.

Re:soundwarning?

[Zordak]

The ACLU

Re:soundwarning?

[zippthorne]

uhh.. headphones?

Re:soundwarning?

[zakezuke]

> Australia, you insensitive clod!

Could be worse, could have been Olivia Newton John singing it. There are few things worse than Olivia Newton John.

Re:soundwarning?

[NardofDoom]

Some place where they're not allowed to be looking at /. apparently.

The "Erotic" building in question

[Anonymous Coward]

As a British Subject, please note the building in question is the "Gherkin" built by Norman Foster. Please see the following : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/893161.stm

Forget Doctor Who, I want Torchwood

[Em Ellel]

Doctor Who universe for adults with Captain Jack.... can't wait....

SWEET!!!!

[PinkyGigglebrain]

...nuff said.

Been seeing it in the US on CBC

[Vicissidude]

Some of us in the northern US have already watched the first season due to our proximity to Canada and CBC.

Re:Been seeing it in the US on CBC

[Tumbleweed]

Some of us in the northern US have already watched the first season due to our proximity to Canada and CBC.

And some of us in the US have already watched the first season due to our proximity to the Internet. :)

Re:Been seeing it in the US on CBC

[Sen.NullProcPntr]

Some of us in the northern US have already watched the first season due to our proximity to Canada and CBC.

While visiting my parents in Maine I was able to catch an episode on cable (bass fishing had been preempted). Had a nice 'feel' to it.

Will Sci-Fi be dubbing the series to US english?-) I'm guessing subtitles are out of the question;-P

Re:Been seeing it in the US on CBC

[TubeSteak]

FYI There's a few minutes between the last episode and the Christmas Special if you caught the short 5-minute help-the-kids-with-your-money thing that the BBC did.

It was 5~7 minutes long.

Re:Been seeing it in the US on CBC

['nother poster]

Come on, be a geek. Learn rightpondian. ;)

Re:Been seeing it in the US on CBC

[geordie_loz]

Because the BBC is the British Broadcasting Corporation. They're funded by our license fee and produce content for the uk. The US doesn't come into it. Hey, great if they can sell their productions on to the US for re-broadcast (which they have, so more funding comes their way).

Who cares if some US geeks have torrented it, they're not making it to get prophit (theoretically) they're doing it to produce quality television for the UK public. As soon as they start having to try and pander to prophit, the whole point of the BBC is missed. They'd just churn out a million "I'm a Celebraty..." programmes (although there has been one or two this year).

Re:Been seeing it in the US on CBC

[Ambient Sheep]

They wanted to sell it in the US right from the word go, but the Sci-Fi channel passed on it when they were originally offered it, and nobody else wanted to know.

It took it being a rip-roaring success in the UK, Canada, Australia and several other countries for the Sci-Fi channel to change their mind.

Re:Been seeing it in the US on CBC

[nacturation]

... they're not making it to get prophit (theoretically) they're doing it to produce quality television for the UK public. As soon as they start having to try and pander to prophit...

Sounds like some biblical sci-fi, aliens gave the prophets their powers or something. Hopefully they'll be able to make a profit from such a show!

Theme Song.

[IAAP]

Is the theme song the same from the '70s?

You know the: base line going ->da-ta-da-ta-da-ta-da-da-da-da-da-da - high pitched melody going whooowooooweeeee. Thinking aobut it makes my hair stand on end.

Re:Theme Song.

[Bazzalisk]

Series 28 used a rearrangement of the same basic msuic as all of the previous series - but the change was much larger than had been done before.

Re:Theme Song.

[heavy snowfall]

Yes, it's the same. Redone though.

Re:Theme Song.

[Badfysh]

Yeah it sounds the same but performed by a full orchestra, violins doing the "whooowooooweeeee" bit. Sounds pretty cool.

Re:Theme Song.

[crabpeople]

unfortunately no. they should have kept the william hartnel opening sequence. all black and white with the like plasma or whatever streaks. imagine dropping acid and watching that shit back in the day. must have been craazy

it curdles the blood almost now. imagine how it would have felt to people when they didnt even have electronic music...

kinda looked like this but google doesnt provide a better image.

Re:Theme Song.

[Ford Prefect]

There's a worryingly comprehensive compilation of all the different theme tune versions which a friend linked me to the other day - the current version is the 'Murray Gold' set. It's a bit of a pastiche of previous iterations, but it's approximately a million times better than the 'Dominic Glynn' version. Ow!

Re:Theme Song.

[21st Century Peon]

How has no-one mentioned Bill Bailey's magnificent interpretation of the tune as 60's Belgian jazz?

Dans la nuit, c'est lui - Docteur... Qui!

Good news

[metamatic]

Best SF series I've seen on TV in years.

Now, will the Sci Fi channel show it properly, or will they chop the sides off to squeeze it onto a 4:3 screen? Perhaps it's time to write to them now, begging...

Re:Good news

[AnalystX]

They don't crop Stargate episodes. I don't see why they would go out of their way to crop Dr. Who.

Re:Good news

[Dimensio]

They do crop the earlier season SG-1 episodes, and only present the episodes since season 5 (when it moved from Showtime to SciFi) in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

But then, I don't know if the earlier seasons were intended for a 16:9 ratio. It would be odd that the DVDs are formatted that way if not, though.

Re:Good news

[Keith Russell]

Sci-Fi has no fear of letterboxing. Battlestar Galactica and the Stargates are all widescreen. I don't remember if Farscape was widescreen from the start, or if they switched a few seasons in. Heck, Sci-Fi bragged about showing Babylon 5 in the original widescreen format.

Re:Good news

[AKAImBatman]

They're not cropping anything. Stargate was shown in 4:3 ratio right up until the SciFi channel acquired it. SciFi then pumped some money into their new crown jewel and began filming it in 16:9. It was quite a nice experience for those of us who were used to Stargate being done "on the cheap", as it were.

Hope that clears things up. :)

Re:Good news

[Happy Monkey]

Not quite. Why are all the DVDs in 16:9 then?

So they can put "widescreen" on the cover? You should check whether they are actually cropping the top and bottom to make widescren DVDs. They did that for Babylon 5 in at least one incarnation.

Re:Good news

[AKAImBatman]

Honestly? It's probably a remastering of the episodes. Most shows are filmed with the same cameras used in movies, giving the film a 16:9 ratio. During post production the 4:3 area is cut from the film giving the final result. Some shows (such as Babylon 5) have gone back to the original film and remastered the shows. As JMS explained in interview, however, the problem with this procedure is that the cameraman isn't expecting the full 16:9 area to be used. The result is that some scenes may capture the absence of the set, crew, or all kinds of wacky things in that area. For those scenes they often have to chose between one of three options:

1. Stretch whatever video is "good" to fit in 16:9.
2. Crop the 4:3 image into a 16:9 ratio. (B5 did this in many closeup scenes. Annoyed the hell out of me.)
3. Digitally fill in the missing area. (Expensive)

Re:Good news

[AtariDatacenter]

Battlestar Galactica is also high definition. I also watch it on the Universal HD channel from time to time it all of its goodness. Its what got me hooked on the series.

Re:Good news

[Thenomain]

Sci-Fi cropped Firefly. I never did hunt down an explanation, but it paled in comparison to the way it was filmed.

I didn't feel so bad, considering I have the DVDs, but it was still a poor treatment from Sci-Fi, and confusing since they do offer Stargates and BSG in a wide-screen.

Re:Good news

[ros0709]

The BBC films and transmits all its current tv output in 16:9 widescreen, and has done for a number of years.

On analogue terrestrial transmissions the programmes are cropped to 14:9 (not 4:3).

Doctor Who was filmed in 16:9 and intended to be shown that way, although it was also filmed / titled etc so that it could be cropped to 14:9.

(BTW - the BBC has also been filming in HD for a while. Although HD transmissions don't start until later this year it does mean that re-runs of current shows will be in HD. I don't specifically know for sure whether Doctor Who was filmed in HD but I presume it was.)

Re:Good news

[Ambient Sheep]

The first series (i.e. Series 27) of the new Doctor Who was definitely NOT filmed in HD - they were criticised at the time for being a bit short-sighted about that. It was shot on DigiBeta, I believe.

Rumour has it that the second series might have been shot on HD, but that's only a rumour.

Re:Good news

[Syberghost]

Honestly? It's probably a remastering of the episodes.

No probably about it; they're 16:9 on the DVDs. I know because we're in the midst of a marathon at home, watching the first 8 seasons at the rate of 3 or 4 eps a weekend.

It's about bloody time!!

[Flounder]

I guess the only question is..

Will the US get second season episodes around the same time they're broadcast in the UK (and the rest of the world)?

At least now there's something to watch while we're waiting for Battlestar Galactica at 10pm. OK, something more watchable than that dreck Stargate series they now run at 9pm. Now, put something decent on at 8pm, and you've got me solid from 7 (Firefly) through the end of BSG.

Re:It's about bloody time!!

[Iphtashu Fitz]

Will the US get second season episodes around the same time they're broadcast in the UK (and the rest of the world)?

Considering the second season has already started airing, probably not...

Re:It's about bloody time!!

[tm2b]

Really? I had thought that only the Christmas Special (which is not part of the 2nd series) had aired.

Re:It's about bloody time!!

[kryten_nl]

Considering the second season has already started airing

In which alternate universe? Be sure to check: http://epguides.com/DoctorWho_2005/ before responding....

Re:It's about bloody time!!

[Simon Brooke]

Will the US get second season episodes around the same time they're broadcast in the UK (and the rest of the world)?

Considering the second season has already started airing, probably not...

No it hasn't, starts April. First season was mixed, with the best episodes ('Dalek', 'The Empty Child', 'The Doctor Dances') being up there with the best television drama you'll ever see and the worst ('The End of The World') being entertaining and perfectly watchable. This is good stuff - clear your diary now.

Re:It's about bloody time!!

[91degrees]

Yup. Second series proper starts in March. Probably around Easter.

Re:It's about bloody time!!

[TubeSteak]

I agree, some of the episodes were really hokey, but others were positively brilliant.

The Dalek one was especially touching.

I saw someone's sig on /. and it said "Real Daleks don't use stairs, they level the building"

Re:It's about bloody time!!

[meringuoid]

Except for the "downloading the internet" bit, obviously.

It's in the secret research bunker belonging to the guy who OWNS the internet. There's presumably a cache on-site at least as large as that of Google or archive.org. As for the bandwidth, the human-made computer is something like ten years in advance of the present, and Davros only knows what kind of gear a Dalek has onboard...

Curse you Comcast

[6079 - Winston S]

Now that Comcast has moved SciFi to the digital tier, very few Chicago customers can watch it.

Re:Curse you Comcast

[SecretMethod70]

I was so happy...and then you reminded me of this. I don't watch Battlestar Galactica, so I haven't had any reason to watch the Sci-Fi channel. Now I do and Comcast has gotten in my way again.

The good news is, if you're in Chicago proper, I believe RCN does have Sci-Fi on basic cable. I may have to switch! Come to think of it, they have a faster internet too. I KNOW I'm going to switch.

Re:Curse you Comcast

[blueZhift]

Indeed! BSG was the reason I finally knuckled under and went digital with Comcast in Chicago, and now Dr. Who will give me another good reason to watch SciFi. I really believe that once they knew they had a hit in Battlestar Galactica, they'd (Comcast and SciFi) milk it to up the digital numbers.

Re:Curse you Comcast

[David Zawislak]

Will comcast stop compressing the digital channels to hell, so that it is watchable. On digitial, the shows become huge tiles on any sort of motion or becomes a Charlie Chaplin flick.

On over the air UPN, Stargate is decent, because it's not being touched by the 2 bit routines.

Humour and Sci-Fi

[MosesJones]

Why is it that so rarely, and with US shows almost never, Sci-Fi can contain humour as well as the fantastic? Dr Who, paticularly this new series, has been a superb combination of both the "serious" science fiction combined with the humour of having HUMANS involved in it. This isn't the gag line humour of STNG but the actual real humour of decent TV programmes. The writing in Dr Who is brilliant, the pathos parts are strong, its got the science fantastic and both Rose and Dr Who (as well as Captain Jack) have top moments of both drama and humour.

Series 1 was superb, and Series 2 is shaping up to be even better.

Rose: "But you sound like you come from the North"
Dr: "Lots of planets have a North"

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[Flounder]

Umm, Firefly?

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[ReverendLoki]

Why is it that so rarely, and with US shows almost never, Sci-Fi can contain humour as well as the fantastic?

I don't find it too rare. Consider Farscape and the Stargate series. Both seemed to strike a balance adding humor to an otherwise dramatic series. They key is adding it when it's appropriate...

But it would be nice to see a quality science fiction comedy about now, along the lines of Red Dwarf. Perhaps we could get the Sci Fi channel and the Henson company to co-produce a series based on the remaining HHGTG books...

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[JWW]

Or even the show mentioned in your sig.

Also, Battlestar Galactica has some comedy in it as well. Its just often quite dark. But the "Six Degrees.. " (not sure of the full title) episode from last season was quite funny.

But the new Dr. Who is quite good.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[AKAImBatman]

The creators of Stargate have stated in interviews that the secret to the show's success is that it's really a comedy disguised as a serious show. :-)

As the poster above me said, they tend to balance things pretty well.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[ettlz]

You see, I don't get all this vitriol over Enterprise. I thought it was remarkably well-done, given its remit; the characters are solid, there are no silly stereotypes (the British accents on Trek are good without being pwoppah), and they talk like adults. I guess it boils down to the fact that the Star Treks were produced by people will much experience in sci-fi. They understand that it takes more than a decent story to make it work. The present incumbents at Doctor Who don't seem to have grasped this. Don't get me wrong, it makes for entertaining viewing, but I feel a bit like a kid (in a bad way) after watching it.

And while we're on the subject... Stargate Atlantis: just what went wrong? It's so soft; it's like Ready Brek sci-fi. SG-1 had edge. It had RDA. You used to be cool; now I don't believe in nothing.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[Mancat]

I'm a huge sci-fi fan, and one of my favorite British Sci-Fi Comedies was Red Dwarf. I've just never found anything in Dr. Who to be of particular amusement. The feel I get from it, is that the humor is quite high-brow, or at least trying to be. You are probably right, in that the current writers are trying to emulate the style of Dr. Who's original writers, but just can't cut it.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[Mancat]

I agree with you on Atlantis, too. SG-1 started out gritty and low-budget, and it worked remarkably well. The mix of sci-fi and realistic modern military tech worked. It was a sci-fi show without the glamorous special effects and super high-tech devices seen in other shows. I feel like Atlantis threw this winning formula out of the window. SG-1 always had some forced humor involved, but some of the characters on Atlantis just take it over the edge. Every other thing McKay says is some lame one-liner.

Oh well.. I guess the ratings and money got to them.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[seanyboy]

The new Dr Who was also written as Family Entertainment. The primary audience is kids. And, that is why it seems a bit childish at times. As a kid's program, it's brilliant. Read some of the Blow by Blow accounts when children watch the show. (Warning - spoilers inside)

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[Anonymous Coward]

And, that is why it seems a bit childish at times.

There's no point being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[tomcres]

Honestly, I absolutely hate science fiction. Most science fiction is deathly boring. I have been forced to sit through some sci-fi movies and seriously thought suicide was the only way out..

But Dr. Who (as well as H2G2) is actually entertaining because the writers actually have a sense of humor, which is curiously absent from most American sci-fi. (OK, MST3K proves that there is actually much humor in American sci-fi, but I'm talking about intentional humor here..)

I don't know. Maybe the British audience cares more about a good show that happens to be in a science fiction setting, whereas Americans are more apt to be geeks who drool and get a hardon over special effects and makeup and invented languages and crap like that.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[squidfood]

There's humor in Dr. Who?

Not exactly. It's something British, and it's called wit.

Re:Humour and Sci-Fi

[meringuoid]

I don't know. Maybe the British audience cares more about a good show that happens to be in a science fiction setting, whereas Americans are more apt to be geeks who drool and get a hardon over special effects and makeup and invented languages and crap like that.

One thing to remember is that in the UK, Doctor Who is not a geek niche. It's family entertainment. The return has been well timed; there's a large nostalgia viewership from the twentysomething McCoy-era viewers, and also from the thirtysomething Tom Baker fans who now have their own kids... So, it's not made solely for the convention-going hardcore, but for the very large mainstream audience it has. An audience which vividly remembers being frightened out of their wits as kids, and have now returned with their own children to see that the same happens to them.

I remember always watching it when I was small - this would have been Colin Baker and McCoy time, though I also definitely remember Peter Davison, which must have been repeated. Daleks were the most frightening things in the world back then. I watched the new series with my 10-year-old sister, and was delighted to see the reaction to the old monsters. It was well-handled, too. All those jokes over the years about Daleks and stairs, and about the sink plunger, and about sneaking up behind them... suddenly aren't funny. Nasty.

She told me that the next day in school all the kids were shouting 'Exterminate!' at each other.

Better yet was The Empty Child. Hell, that frightened me. That was more like Ringu than like anything I remember from old Doctor Who. God only knows what that episode did to a generation of British kids, but I daresay there'll be plenty who panic at the sight of a gas mask for the rest of their lives.

That, I think, is why Doctor Who lasted so long in its first incarnation - well, in its first seven incarnations :) It's like a modern equivalent of the Brothers Grimm: stories supposedly for children, dark and frightening but impossible to look away from. We hid behind the sofa in fright, but never left the room or changed the channel...

Oh, and there's always been one other thing. The mutable cast. The Klingons will never destroy the Enterprise, and James Bond will always escape Blofeld's death-trap, but the Doctor can die, and has done so on screen eight times to date. Sure, he regenerates, but once he does so he's a different person entirely, and you might not like him so much afterwards. Assistants are even more expendable - they come and go all the time. So you don't even have the comfort of he's one of the good guys, of course he'll survive. Our heroes will win, but there may well be a price.

YES!!!

[SecretMethod70]

I am SO glad to hear this! The Sci-Fi channel is pretty terrible lately, and Doctor Who will surely get a decent audience - at least one better than the Sci-Fi original movies they air! This news has made me absolutely giddy!

Fantastic! ;)

Re:Hilarious announcement?

[slashnik]

Unless rose has add on parts theres no way she can piss on the dalek from that position
Get out and examine a girl

Rose

[IAAP]

Rose

Wouldn't it be nice to be couped up in the TARDIS with that?

Re:Rose

[Loquis]

So long as she doesnt start singing

Re:Rose

[ErroneousBee]

Well, I'd go with Rose, but I'd be thinking of Leela.

I'd be really excited about this...

[SIGFPE]

...being a big Dr Who fan 'n' all. I have downloads of the whole of the latest series and the Xmas Invasion. I've watched them all 2-3 times. And yet I'm not excited. The reason being, I've discovered Lost. "4 8 15 16 23 42" beats "Bad Wolf" any day. As an ex-pat I feel like such a traitor. But the Americans had to make a good TV series one day.

Re:I'd be really excited about this...

[Jarlsberg]

So... you can only like one show at a time, is that it?

Re:I'd be really excited about this...

[TubeSteak]

He's busy following the clues.

If Dr. Who had more hints about the Bad Wolf business, it might attract some of the OCD Lost people.

Re:I'd be really excited about this...

[SIGFPE]

No, it's just that the amount of excitement I have about something really needs to be in proportion to how good the thing is. Lost has resulted in a major recalibration of by excitement levels. I'll still enjoy Dr Who of course.

I really enjoyed the little 'hook' that the BBC used in Dr Who - "Bad Wolf". It was fun looking out for its appearance in each episode and the BBC created a bunch of "fake" web sites tying into the series that added an extra dimension and helped to suck the viewer into the fictional world and suspend disbelief. What I enjoy about Lost is that it uses many of the same tricks - but on a grander scale that makes the little Dr Who games seem trivial by comparison.

Eggleston or Tennat?

[baomike]

Is this the new one or last winters?
In the Christmass Invasion there is a new Dr. (he regenerates).

Tennat = new Dr.

What about the old stuff?

[solios]

There's 26 seasons of Oldskool Who in the BBC archives.* You're lucky if you can find anything other than Tom Baker (fourth doctor) on PBS or BBC America (and the BBCA Who is seriously {edited|eviscerated}- there's lots of Who available to the enthusiasts - would it hurt 'em that much to get it on the air?

Yeah, some of it's Bad, but a lot of it's pretty damned good.

* More like ~26. Several Hartnell and Troughton episodes are missing.

Re:What about the old stuff?

[Goobergunch]

BBC America doesn't air Doctor Who anymore. The only stations that air the classic series in the U.S. are two PBS stations, one in Maryland and one in Iowa. Ah well, hopefully this deal will mean more airing of classic Who. I remember being bitterly saddened when WYBE in Philadelphia lost their rights to it last spring after having watched the entire 1980s run and then a little bit of season 1 on that station.

Re:What about the old stuff?

[crow]

There are a bunch of missing episodes, but they have still photos and the audio tracks to all of them, so you can find reconstructions where they put up photos along with the sound tracks, using subtitles to explain actions that are missing when necessary. It's not the same as watching a real episode, but you can follow the story.

Re:What about the old stuff?

[jnaujok]

There's a lot of missing episodes from the Hartnell and Troughton era, although there are "reconstructions" with stills from most the lost episodes and the original soundtrack. There's actually about 3-4 full seasons that are mostly lost, so the actual total is about 22+ seasons of the old version.

Plus one movie (Doctor Who 1996 with McCoy and Paul McGann)

Plus one special (2-parts -- "Dimensions in Time")

Plus one hillarious spoof (Curse of the Fatal Death)

Plus one spin-off (K9 and Company)

And if you bit-torrent it all (in divx), it fits (just barely) on one 250GB drive.

Not that I'd know or anything.

And if you send me 50 DVD's, I *won't* make a copy for you.

Re:What about the old stuff?

[solios]

Were I to not send you DVDs, it wouldn't be more like six or seven. I've seen a great deal of Who - enough to come to the conclusion that the program went on Indefinite Hiatus at the end of Series 26 due to bad script{s| editing} moreso than any other reason.

The only "downside" to being moderately sk00led is that I can watch a BBCA ep and notice just how badly it's been chopped up. Gotta wonder how many people are first exposed to older Who with a handful of badly-recut, totally-incoherent episodes and get a foul taste in their mouths as a result.

Re:What about the old stuff?

[TomV]

From what I've picked up from people 'in the loop', part of the reason it's taken so long to get a deal is that originally US broadcasters were offered a bundle of new and old series, and none wanted the bundle. The deal went through when the bundling was dropped (and almost certainly the asking price too).

While the Bundle was on the table, the BBC stopped renewing any contracts to show the old stories. Hopefully now the old stories will again become available for broadcast in the US.

Re:What about the old stuff?

[Deven]

Wouldn't a backup of a full 250GB drive take more than 50 DVDs at 4.7GB each? (Also, if files are large, you'd have to either split them or use even more DVDs, right?)

(Please email any comments to me directly; I'm sure it wouldn't make an interesting debate!)

Re:What about the old stuff?

[jnaujok]

BUt a 250 GB drive only formats to about 232GB, so the actual amount on the drive is something like 230GB, so about 50 DVDs (235GB) would cover it pretty well.

Of course, that would include the latest season, the "Confidential" episodes, and the Christmas special.

And, I'm assuming you'd use WinZip or a backup program to create a backup set across 50 discs.

But again, not that I actually *have* anything like that. I wouldn't want Interpol knocking on the door or anything.

Re:Dr. Who's Intelligent Design

[techno-vampire]

No. A scientist once proved that it was "impossible" for a bumblebee to fly. What he really proved is that if the bee's wings were stiff, then they wouldn't generate enough lift to keep it in the air. Therefore, it's wings must flex. Years later, films proved him right.

Dr Who Porn

[Tx]

You can also see the Daleks in porn movie "Abducted By The Daleks", I kid you not. The sun has the details. It's really quite good .. so I hear ;).

Re:Dr Who Porn

[crow]

I thought the threat of a lawsuit shut them down before it was distributed.

Re:Dr Who Porn

[stx23]

There's a torrent of it out there somewhere. It's pretty awful though.

Re:Dr Who Porn

[Salgak1]

It also showed up on alt.binaries.drwho

Re:Dr Who Porn

[bar-agent]

It's pretty awful though.

Well, yeah. I mean, a) it's porn, b) with Daleks.

How could it possibly be good?

2nd Series

[tm2b]

[After doing some digging]

For reference, the 2nd series ("season" in the US idiom) will start to air in the UK in ("from") April... so it seems possible that they'll go right into it, though TFA specifies that SciFi only has an option on the 2nd series.

I do wonder how they'll handle the Christmas specials... historically they were distributed differently from the main Doctor Who series, but it's been a long time since that was an issue.

Re:2nd Series

[whoniverse]

I do wonder how they'll handle the Christmas specials... historically they were distributed differently from the main Doctor Who series, but it's been a long time since that was an issue.

Um, this is the first time the series has had a Christmas Special. Unless you count one of the middle episodes of sixties story The Daleks' Masterplan which happened to air over Christmas. And that, being utterly irrelevant to the story, wasn't distributed overseas anywhere.

Re:2nd Series

[drinkypoo]

So, OT, what do brits call a "series"?

Re:2nd Series

[metamatic]

So, OT, what do brits call a "series"?

Typically, 6 or 13 episodes. Happy to help.

Re:2nd Series

[whoniverse]

We use series to mean both the entire run of a program and the indivdual "seasons" of episodes. Though lots of us also now use the American term season.

Re:2nd Series

[Blackbrain]

YES!! A Feast of Steven reference!! You are a Geek GOD!!

Re:2nd Series

[tm2b]

A Christmas special yes, but haven't there been other specials outside of the normal series? I thought that The Five Doctors was an example of such a special.

Re:2nd Series

[Rydia]

The Five Doctors was actually part of the series, just a special episode to commemorate the anniversary. Christmas specials go through the pipe differently, I think.

Re:2nd Series

[mockchoi]

No, no, The 5 Doctors was filmed specially for Children in Need.

Re:2nd Series

[tm2b]

Actually not. The Five Doctors was a special - and it aired in the US before it aired in the UK.

Re:Dr. Who?

[Rialtus]

As in Ford Prefect?

how nice of them

[lone bear]

to have music on the site that CAN NOT BE TURNED OFF without shuting down the speakers on my computer.

i regularly listen to a stream that has low audio levels, so when i clikced on that link i was blasted by whatever cr?p they were playing.

guess i'll not be finding out about whatever this is from the bbc.

feh

'Sold' to the United States

[ettlz]

Well, in that case BBC, can I have a cut of the profits — what with my license fee paying for it in the first place.

Consider it a shareholder dividend.

Re:'Sold' to the United States

[arkhan_jg]

Well if it makes you feel any better, money made from commercial sales of BBC programs gets ploughed back into the BBC rather than going to the government, so your licence fee doesn't need to go up so much to pay for new programming and the digital channels. Better than a kick in the nuts, anyway.

Actually - It's from the Early 60's

[szyzyg]

And it's a landmark composition in Electronic music - composed by Ron Granier and spliced together out of tape 'samples' by Dorothy Derbyshire.

http://snm.imeem.com/blogentry/fei0wfrP

Re:Actually - It's from the Early 60's

[szyzyg]

Err sorry - That should be 'Delia' Derbyshire
don't know what got into me.

What I want to know...

[techno-vampire]

If the BBC ever announces, "Next [Some Show] followed by Dr. Who." does that mean that Who's on second?

Re:What I want to know...

[TubeSteak]

What's on second

Re:What I want to know...

[absurdist]

That sonic boom you just felt was the joke approaching Mach 1 over your head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_On_First Who's On First?

Re:What I want to know...

[Hogwash McFly]

- Who's on Sci-Fi.
- I dunno, who's on Sci-Fi?
- No, I'm saying Who's on Sci-Fi.
- And I'm saying I don't know!
- No, I mean Doctor Who's on Sci-Fi.
- Who are you talking to? There's no doctor here.
- No, I mean the doctor.
- Doctor? Doctor who?
- Exactly.
- No, I'm asking, who is the Doctor?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, what? I'm asking you.
- Doctor Who?
- Yeah, tell me.
- I told you before, that Doctor Who's on Sci-Fi
- That doctor is on Sci-Fi? Who is the doctor on Sci-Fi?
- Yeah. You've got it right, now.
- But I still don't know who is the doctor on Sci-Fi and frankly I don't care who the doctor is on Sci-Fi. Let's watch the news.
- Watt's on the news.
- NOW DON'T YOU START THAT SHIT

Re:What I want to know...

[instarx]

If the BBC ever announces, "Next [Some Show] followed by Dr. Who." does that mean that Who's on second?

No - Who's on first, What's on second, and I Don't Know's on third.

oh really?

[PONA-Boy]

jellybaby anyone? I've got plenty.

Re:oh really?

[VikingBerserker]

It's true then. They say the Evil One eats Babies.

Re:Hilarious announcement?

[slashnik]

Yeah, but she's got some front, turning around and giving me a sulty look when there's a f'ing dalek in front of her.

Run girl or your toast

Fzzzzzzzt

To Late

Re:Eccleston or Tennant?

[baomike]

This is series one with Eccleston(on SciFI). Series two is being made in Wales for release in 2006.
DVD of series one will be available 14Feb06. go to CBC Dr Who and follow links on right.

Re:Hilarious announcement?

[Red Flayer]

That building in the background is the funny part. That's not a prop, unbelievably.

SFW GIS "The Gherkin".

Actual building in London.

The Fifth Element

[crow]

"The Fifth Element" is an example of humor in American science fiction.

Re:The Fifth Element

[NonSequor]

French sci-fi actually. It was written and directed by Luc Besson, the designs for the future technology were made by Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières, and it was made by a French production company (although it was filmed in England).

I'm guessing that they filmed in English and used a largely American/British cast in order to reach a larger market.

Re:The Fifth Element

[ishmalius]

I think that I sense your sarcasm in this. ^^ Because, of course, the Fifth Element by Luc Besson can be considered to be a French movie.

But I loved this movie, too, with its style borrowed from Heavy Metal Magazine (especially the cab driver).

Re:The Fifth Element

[mink]

I have a few issues of the (AFAIK published in french before the translated Heavy Metal) Metal Hurlant (I'd do the proper letters, but I always have trouble with them here) from back in the 70's. I suspect they may have had some influence.
I notice from back in those days stories like Den of Earth had much more to them then the short for time versions that made it into the animated film.

Series 28?

[whoniverse]

The first series (or season for Americans) of the new series is either series one or season 27. There were 26 seasons in the classic series.

Re:Hilarious announcement?

[AKAImBatman]

No, the funny part is the browser title: "Sold to America." The building is only funny if you're feeling juvenile today.

Direct press-release link

[Goobergunch]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/scifi.shtml

Again. SCI-FI and BBC miss the mark

[suitepotato]

First, calling the recent resurrection of Doctor Who the first series and noting an option for series two is sacrilege and spits on the work done by thousands of individuals over more than thirty years. THAT was the first series. This is just the latest continuation.

Second, there should have been a deal for the entirety of the series from Hartnell onward.

Third, SCI-FI knows as much about science fiction as USA Network does and it constantly shows with their killing of Farscape, stuntcasting on SG-1, showing The Flinstones, and so forth.

I'll be very resistant to applauding this until SCI-FI shows they can stick with anything longer than it takes for them to be distracted by something shiny like a child with ADD.

Re:Again. SCI-FI and BBC miss the mark

[Anonymous Coward]

...calling the recent resurrection of Doctor Who the first series and noting an option for series two is sacrilege and spits on the work done by thousands of individuals over more than thirty years...

Or it could be proper use of the word "series" ("series" is what you colonials call a "season")

Re:Again. SCI-FI and BBC miss the mark

[twilight30]

You'd mean, 'Those were the first through seventh series,' if you were counting by Doctor, right?

Or maybe, 'Those were the first twenty-six series,' going by length of time on the air?

Add to this the fact as other posters have mentioned here that some BBC seasons are incomplete, and you'd force a typical TV exec to have his or her brain explode, completely. And I've met a few, it would happen.

Really.

I don't get SciFi from where I am, but don't tell me you're going to avoid the new show on that basis, are you? Life is too short for that. I was lucky enough to catch Doctor Who both in Britain and in Canada as I moved back here (Toronto) during that time, I think it was 3 weeks apart last year. I never watched the old series, but I would like to now. I like it for the exact opposite superficial reasons that I like Galactica.

Where one goes without aliens, the other embraces them. One dark, highly morose, the other much lighter and funnier.

And there are deeper reasons for liking both, too. Both have talented actors and good writing, and both are more concerned with using remakes as vehicles for something more, cracking good yarns.

Re:Again. SCI-FI and BBC miss the mark

[D'Arque Bishop]

Just an FYI... "series" is the word they use for "season" in the UK and other countries.

It'll make a lot more sense (and hopefully bring your blood pressure down a little) if you realize that when they say "series one", what they mean in our terms is "season one". :-)

Just my $.02...

New Who is Pretty Good

[ewhac]

As a longtime Dr. Who fan, I was seriously concerned that the new production would be an embarrassment. However, after a friend of mine loaned me all his Torrented DVDs (which I still need to return), I have to say I'm quite pleased with the new series.

Eccleston lends his own interpretation to the role, as have all the performers before him, but the resulting character is unmistakably The Doctor. Further, his companion, Rose, is not a ditz (don't let the peroxided hair fool you), but a very capable and driven person in her own right.

They also bring back some old enemies, and they do it very well. You'd think after nearly 40 years, the whole Dalek thing would be worn out. You'd be wrong. With just the tiniest bit of imagination from the series creators, Daleks are damn threatening again. And they don't do it with an excess of outright brutality or graphic violence, just a single-minded, unstoppable efficiency.

About the only thing I don't like about the new series is the newly designed TARDIS. It's too unfamiliar.

Hopefully the SciFi network won't wreck the show by inserting endless commercial breaks. But if you're a Doctor Who fan and you haven't seen these shows yet, you won't be disappointed.

Schwab

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[TubeSteak]

About the only thing I don't like about the new series is the newly designed TARDIS. It's too unfamiliar.

It's Blue... it's a police box... what else does it need?

Maybe you're talking about the interior?

In that case, I agree, but there's no way they could have had the same visual impact with a big circle-paneled room that had a console in the middle.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[pcraven]

> Further, his companion, Rose, is not a ditz (don't let the peroxided hair
> fool you), but a very capable and driven person in her own right.

To heck with that, she's hot! That's why I watch the show. BSG is a pretty good show too in that line of things.

I've had a terrible time downloading them. Either someone is poisoning the torrents or I've just had really bad luck.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[vistic]

I just finished watching all the Eccleston Doctor Who episodes and the first Tennant episode. I really like them. I think these new episodes are a lot more human-focused. They basically travel through time a lot, but not space. And there's a lot more human issues going on, like when Rose tries to stop her dad from dying, or all the issues her mom and Mickey have with her being away for an entire year. It's definitely not bland story writing, like Star Trek. And Eccleston as the Doctor can be pretty harsh when it comes to things (Daleks in particular), very not diplomatic at all, which is interesting to see. Compare Doctor Who to the "always do the right thing" story lines of Star Trek.

Plus Tennant looks like he will be an awesome Doctor in his own right. I can't wait for more.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[urbaer]

About the only thing I don't like about the new series is the newly designed TARDIS. It's too unfamiliar.

Unfamiliar? It's alien... of course it's going to be unfamiliar. Of course I know what you're saying. But the TARDIS has been redesigned before. I think to some degree the interior has taken the good bits from the movie version and merged them with the design that most of us know (Tom Baker years). Nice site here.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[zakezuke]

Eccleston lends his own interpretation to the role, as have all the performers before him, but the resulting character is unmistakably The Doctor. Further, his companion, Rose, is not a ditz (don't let the peroxided hair fool you), but a very capable and driven person in her own right.

One thing I found interesting is a lack of RP (reserved pronunciation). Don't get me wrong I like the northern accents esp around Liverpool and Manchester. East-end is also not too bad. But the first episode I found I had to turn the subtitles on. "Joker sweet genius score on 'der de'sevens gymnastics team. I've got the bronze" threw me for a loop. I replayed this many times and heard the same bloody thing. It is for this reason, basicly a lack of annunciation that I find I miss RP. Just like in the states where the mid-west and Toronto are good places to get TV/radio announcers a standard for public speaking is a good idea... but I can see where it might be annoying to have the rest of the world assume everyone in that neighborhood uses RP.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[ewhac]

"Joker sweet genius score on 'der de'sevens gymnastics team. I've got the bronze" threw me for a loop.

"Jericho Street Junior School, under sevens gymnastics team. I got the bronze."

Britain has some extraordinarily rich and varied vocal styles; I love listening to them all, so I have an easier time than others. Of all the British accents I've heard, possibly the Newcastle Mouse from the series Creature Comforts has been the most difficult to parse. Billie Piper, by comparison, is cake.

Schwab

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[Rhipf]

Just like in the states where the mid-west and Toronto...

Not to nit pick but Toronto isn't in the states. It's in Canada. 8-D

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[zakezuke]

Not to nit pick but Toronto isn't in the states. It's in Canada. 8-D

Yes, it is. I was told that the medium Canadian accent sounded much like the American sports casters. I thought it was very strange as for the most part there are very few American sports casters the vast majority of them are imported, from Toronto.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good

[rsmith-mac]

Hopefully the SciFi network won't wreck the show by inserting endless commercial breaks.

Hopefully the SciFi network won't wreck the show by cutting it. Stargate/BSG runs for around 2-3 minutes less than Doctor Who, as a random BSG episode was 41:30 from the start to the finish with the title sequence but not the credits, while a random Doctor Who was 43:30, and this is not including the teaser for the next week's episode which fits so well that it would be a shame to separate it from the episode's ending.

SciFi has shown it will make significant cuts to maximize revenue(such as the shortened Stargate title sequences, which they only finally put back last week), so I'd hate to see them butcher Who to make it fit their advertising blocks. They'll also be in a pickle if they pick up season(er, series) 2, with the 7 minute mini-episode and the hour-long Christmas episode.

JavaScript

[Anonymous Coward]

Try it with JavaScript turned on... still not "Hilarious" though. Perhaps the submitter has had a few to many down the pub.

Current Sci-Fi too videogamey

[ishmalius]

I have always appreciated Dr Who, because as far into the fiction and fantasy world as it delves, there is always a kernel of basic science in it.

The vast majority of science fiction programming currently being made has this format:

• Overall storyline: (A) Spend the first 10 minutes introducing the creatures. (B) Spend the rest of the movie shooting them.
• Costumes: paramilitary black.
• Setting: claustrophobic dark blue rooms.
• Dialogue: semi-military jabber (say "sir" a lot), mostly about who is tougher than whom. Use superlatives and hyperbolae: "He's the best," or "It's Armageddon!" The street-wise misfit must always verbally abuse the authority figure who does things by the book. Perform at least one computer hack, and remember to say, "We're in!"

And that's about it. Take those basic ingredients, mix them in different proportions, and you have the recipe for most sci-fi movies made today.

Alas, if only a Hollywood writer had an education. Imagine the potential!

I really miss the classic type of science fiction, where a basic science, extrapolated-science, or science fiction concept is used as a basic core, and a reasonable story line is wrapped around it. The story should always reign supreme in any work of fiction. And there is no reason to consider this just geek appeal. Blade Runner and Dark City are two excellent examples of this: a science fiction story, told in a classic film noir setting.

Re:Current Sci-Fi too videogamey

[LainTouko]

The vast majority of science fiction programming currently being made has this format

The vast majority of American science fiction. American, British and Japanese science fiction are three very different things (I like the latter two).

Re:Eccleston or Tennant?

[AKAImBatman]

Whatever happened to the whole "limited number of regenerations" thing, anyway? I mean, we're on our tenth (?) Doctor now, no end in sight? Isn't he a couple of regens beyond the limit?

And what's with the Tardis? Isn't it supposed to change to reflect the new owner? Why don't we have a new set now? And where the heck is the rest of it? People used to get lost in there, I'll have you know! Now it's a room with no door in sight! All these questions. Where are the answers?

K9 is back in new series...

[Fluoxetine Freak]

K9 returns to our screens, in the new series that is being filmed down the road from me in Cardiff, Wales at present, .

I have seen BBC trailers that show K9!

And he (she? it?)better be on there or else I'm demanding my license fee back http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

Re:K9 is back in new series...

[MenTaLguY]

K9 (as well as Sarah Jane) are going to be in one of the second series ("season") episodes which haven't aired yet; they don't appear in the first series.

Re:K9 is back in new series...

[MenTaLguY]

That is, in American parlance: they don't appear in the first _season_ of the new series. You'll have to wait for the second season with David Tennant.

Re:K9 is back in new series...

[malf-uk]

They appear in the 3rd episode of the second series (second season for Americans, series/season 28 for purists) is called "School Reunion" witten by Toby Whitehouse (creator of Channel 4's "No Angels"). It also stars Anthony Head as "The Headmaster".

Monsters! SPOILERS

[pipingguy]

You guys are going to love the one with the monsters circling the church. Or the skin lady. Or the elephant nose guys.

Galaxy Quest

[Richard Steiner]

It turned inside out ... and then it exploded. :-)

Brief review of Doctor Who 2005 season

[Magnifico]

If you're familiar with the classic Doctor Who shoe will see enough similarity in the new Doctor Who to invoke fits of nostalgia.

The overall biggest change for me was he pacing of the stories is much, much faster, however, and it took a bit of getting used to. For me, I found the stories closest to old Doctor Who series were "The Unquiet Dead" and "The Christmas Invasion". Aside from the "Christmas Invasion", which is the last story in the 2005 season, the shows are a lot shorter, only 45 minutes.

Technobable is kept relatively low and the acting is first rate. The F/X are what you'd expect from a sci-fi television show today and are mostly first rate. Gone are the days of wobbly sets, but the actor-in-rubber-suit monsters still come and go. Some of the old monsters are back too -- Autons and Daleks.

The series pretty much focuses in on present-day Earth in England. The Doctor and Rose, his new companion, make jaunts to the past and future, but never leave the Earth far behind. There is a bit more "touchy-feely" type stuff than classic Doctor Who, but it thankfully doesn't reach the "soap opera" level.

All in all it was an enjoyable romp through the Whoniverse. It's about time someone in the USA picked up the series.

Re:Brief review of Doctor Who 2005 season

[Tungbo]

It IS a limitation that they keep going back to Rose's time on earth. However, the exploration of how the doctor deals with the repercussion of his actions is very interesting. That had been used to good effects in the Big Finish audios also. Overall, a great delight to see the Doctors with modern effects and good writing!

Re:Brief review of Doctor Who 2005 season

[ben_kelley]

The series pretty much focuses in on present-day Earth in England.

... with maybe a little bit of Cardiff, but that's practially England anyway right?

Re:Brief review of Doctor Who 2005 season

[PietjeJantje]

I enjoyed the first new season very much, but everything I like will be covered. Things I liked most are:
- Its humour of course;
- References hidden or in plain view all over. Loaded with Star Wars jokes.
- Between the lines more depth in love, values and what's important in live than Beverly Hills 90210 In Space (a.k.a. Star Trek TNG) or the cataclysmic pseudo-babbel of what is the new Battlestar Galactica;
- Great stories. Because of it's format everything can be thrown at the Doctor, from zombie to Asimov stories. I don't agree with others the science or effects are great, but that was never the point.

There are some points of criticism as well:
- This Doctor only sticks around for 1 season;
- Rose has a great smile but it gets tiresome if that's the only face she has in this series;
- Lots of running; people run through alleys, run through streets, run through spaceships.
- Men-in-rubber-suit alert!
- The Doctor is still ofcourse a Deus ex Machina (a popular term these days..)

8th Doctor on DVD

[Feneric]

Hmmm... if the BBC and the SciFi Network are on good terms now, perhaps they can agree to release the lone 8th Doctor story (sometimes known as The Enemy Within and sometimes less fortunately as The TV Movie) on DVD in the U.S.

The BBC did a non-US release years ago, but since the SciFi Network inherited the distribution rights in the US, there's never been a US release.

Re:8th Doctor on DVD

[Feneric]

Fox sold the rights to the SciFi Channel's parent company. That's why the SciFi Channel periodically shows it.

Re:Eccleston or Tennant?

[Mercano]

Well, Tennat is featured in the last scene of the series for a good five seconds. But no, this is going to be Rose-The Parting of Ways. Good stuff. I've gotten the torrent, but I'll probably watch it again.

When (not if) they pick up the second season, I wonder how they will work in the Children in Need mini episode, which runs less then ten minutes, and the Christmas Invasion, which runs at least ten minutes over. Find twenty minutes of deleted sceens somewhere and break it up into two nicely sized 40 minute (1 hour with comercials) epsiodes? I'd hate to loose that stuff. Or atleast, people who havn't torrented to lose that stuff.

Re:Eccleston or Tennant?

[whoniverse]

Whatever happened to the whole "limited number of regenerations" thing, anyway? I mean, we're on our tenth (?) Doctor now, no end in sight? Isn't he a couple of regens beyond the limit?

The Doctor can regenerate 12 times, making 13 Doctors. Though there are hints that you can start a new regeneration cycle within the series.

And what's with the Tardis? Isn't it supposed to change to reflect the new owner? Why don't we have a new set now? And where the heck is the rest of it? People used to get lost in there, I'll have you know! Now it's a room with no door in sight! All these questions. Where are the answers?

The TARDIS has changed design before, but it hasn't got anything to do with the regeneration. Other parts of the TARDIS get a mention in the third episode and we see the wardrobe room in the Christmas Special in the new series. It's still there, and the door to the interior is probably on the wall the camera points from.

iTunes Download?

[r_benchley]

It's very cool that the BBC struck a deal to get Docto Who shown here in the States, but has anyone discussed the possibility of offering episodes as downloads from the iTunes Music Store? The SciFi Channel has made Battlestar Galactica available, and this could be a great way to help boost viewership. Granted, it's a different situation from Battlestar Galactica and all of the other shows offered for download, as Doctor Who is owned by the BBC, not the SciFi channel. Still, it would be cool if they could reach an agreement to make it available for legal download.

Curse of the Fatal Death

[Tumbleweed]

FYI - Curse of the Fatal Death is actually available in VHS form from Amazon. Still waiting for the DVD version! This thing is absolutely hilarious.

"Mr Bean" as Dr. Who. Awesome. Also the first female regeneration of the Doctor!

Could someone explain this show to me?

[JourneyExpertApe]

I watched one episode, the one where the girl goes back in time and meets her own dad and nearly destroys the whole world. I guess it was OK. It's not quite Star Trekesque Sci-Fi, and frankly, it seemed more than a little cheesy. I guess that's kind of the point, though. I just don't understand how a show like this can survive for 40 years, or however long it's been on. So, brits, why do you like this show so much?

Re:Could someone explain this show to me?

[Fluoxetine Freak]

Because we can all remember as kids hiding behind the sofa, scared shitless, when Dr. Who was on.

I used to regularly have nightmares about the various monsters when I was 6 or 7 (Tom Baker was the Dr.)

The new series is quite good, I thought Billie Piper was going to be bloody awful, but was then fairly pleasantly surprised. The Xmas edition where the transformation takes place is rather cheesey at times, and quite chilling at others.

Re:Could someone explain this show to me?

[Anonymous Coward]

That was probably the worst episode of the new series in my opinion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who

Might help explain things.

Re:Could someone explain this show to me?

[Jiles]

"The new series is absolute crud, go rent some of the classic episodes and find out for yourself why it ran for so long." Classic episode? Like the Colin Baker years?

Re:Could someone explain this show to me?

[whoniverse]

I watched one episode, the one where the girl goes back in time and meets her own dad and nearly destroys the whole world. I guess it was OK. It's not quite Star Trekesque Sci-Fi, and frankly, it seemed more than a little cheesy. I guess that's kind of the point, though. I just don't understand how a show like this can survive for 40 years, or however long it's been on. So, brits, why do you like this show so much?

That story is utterly unique within televised Doctor Who, so you shouldn't build your opinion of the 26 years of the classic series or of the rest of the new series on it.

Part of the reason we love it as a nation is that we watched it as kids, loved the Doctor, and hid behind the sofa. Part of it is because it is (mostly) good escapist drama with deeper levels for those who want a bit of depth in their TV. Partly because of a whole load of reasons. The Daleks, for example, captivated the 60s generation because they were the first alien monsters who didn't look like a man in a costume. Partly because it is just utterly British. Partly because of dozens of other reasons I can't be bothered to recall at the moment.

They need work on their subtitles

[infonography]

You would think they would at least do a decent dub into English, it is after all from England!

Actually I have seen them, but good for SciFi. I just hope that they don't wait till next Xmas for the Christmas Invasion.

Dr. Who?

[Firehed]

Hmm... with a name like that, it's hard to ask the question, isn't it? I suppose I'm a bit too young. Or a bit too ignorant. Probably both.

You're going to remind us again, right?

[xski]

March is just too far off for me to remember.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good *might contain spoiler*

[zhenga]

Christopher Eccleston plays the Doctor for only 1 season. Then, (iirc) in the end of the season he dies and a new Doctor is born using the power of the TARDIS, the only thing is.. he has a new face.

I thought it was kinda lame to replace a character like that, and that just after only 1 season. but I guess its better than having just replace the character suddenly, thinking that the viewers wont notice anything different..

I was really hooked on the first season, but after this little change I kinda lost interest. I heard season 2 has already started airing, anyone know if the newest Who is any good?

Re:Hit Show SOLD to Sci-Fi Channel

[Anonymous Coward]

You want a refund on your license fee 'cos they sold the show (which you paid for) to america? Are yyou smoking crack.?!

Maybe, just maybe....

By selling the show they, they earn money. Which is used to make TV shows. Which reduces your fucking license fee.

The BBC is not around to make shows which can recoup the cost of being made by being sold to americans. Dr Who is a very british show, which is why it is such a success. But, if after it is made, the BBC can make some more money to fund more shows by selling it to america, well good for them, and us. Go the BBC. You should be thanking them for operating sound buisness sense,

not exactly stairmasters...

[tomcres]

They kept the look of the Dalek. But, they gave it some major attitude. When I watched the episode, it was a Dalek that was capable of kicking some serious ass!

Yes, but can they overcome... stairs?!

Re:not exactly stairmasters...

[nmb3000]

Yes, but can they overcome... stairs?!

Don't you know?

Real Daleks don't climb stairs; they level the building.

Re:not exactly stairmasters...

[Jaruzel]

Ok total geek moment.

In Rememerence of the Daleks (i think) way back in the 1980s with Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor, there is a basement scene where a Dalek tackles stairs, and whereas it's no-where near as adept at the solution as we see in 2005s 'Dalek', the whole stairs joke was kinda put to bed then.

-Jar.

Re:not exactly stairmasters...

[Altus]

I'm so glad i'm not the only one who remembers this...

Re:not exactly stairmasters...

[Goth Biker Babe]

They've been able to handle stairs for almost twenty years. Remembrance of the Daleks (Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor) had Dalek's levitating up the stairs.

Re:not exactly stairmasters...

[Goth Biker Babe]

The Sylvester McCoy Doctor Who episode Remembrance of the Daleks had them levitating up the stairs almost twenty years ago.

The DVD Box Set is available Now

[Junior Samples]

"The DVD release has been moved from February 14th to July 4th (although it's still Feb 14th in Canada)."

The DVD Box Set is available now from the BBC Shop: http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/bbcdvd1770&bklist=icat ,4,,doctorwhonew,newdoctorwho. It's a 5 Disc Region 2 box set selling for £44.99.

Now, I live in Region 1. If I ordered the region 2 DVD from BBCShop, would I be breaking the law? Would they even sell it to me? I actually prefer the Region 2 625/50 PAL DVDs over the 525/60 NTSC Region 1 DVDs since they are higher resolution.

Too bad they are not making 720p or 1080i High Definition versions available. The Hi Def version will probably be available in another year or two, forcing me to buy a second copy if I purchase the Standard Definition version now. I think I'll just make do with the XVID downloads until the Hi Def DVD version becomes available. Hopefully, the DVD writable media will last till then.

Re:The DVD Box Set is available Now

[PXE Geek]

I don't know about the BBC shop, but amazon.co.uk will sell it to you. And you'll get it without having to pay VAT (value added tax) Including VAT 44.99 Shipping to the US - Items: £38.29 Postage & Packing: £3.08 Total before VAT: £41.37 VAT: £0.00 Order Total: £41.37 Wahoo!

Re:The DVD Box Set is available Now

[Timberwolf0122]

Well if they arrest you for owning a region 2 in a region 1 zone they'll have to arrest me for owning many region 1's in region 2. The Regional encoding was setup to allow the studios and distributers to charge what ever they want in different markets (usualy cheaper in the US) by making the discs only work in thoese regions, I do not think they have a legal leg to stand on as long as you buy a legitimate copy. Apple-logies for spelling.

Re:The DVD Box Set is available Now

[Ambient Sheep]

Any HD DVDs of Series 1 (a.k.a. Series 27) will only be upconverted anyway, as the series was shot on 625/50 DigiBeta, not in HD.

Rumour has it that later series will be shot in HD, but that's unconfirmed as far as I know.

Re:The DVD Box Set is available Now

[Tony Hoyle]

That will still be an improvement in the US as they only have 525 lines over there... add to that the lack of compression artefacts (upconvert->compress-decompress looks better than compress->decompress->upconvert) and it would be worth it.

Re:The DVD Box Set is available Now

[Junior Samples]

I thought that the 2005 episodes may have been shot in HD because of the 16:9 aspect ratio. Beta Cams are 3:4 aspect ratio unless you do post processing. You only end up with 300 or so active scan lines after letter boxing is applied on a 525 line system. I'd much rather have the full 720 or 1080 real active scan lines. Upconverting doesn't help. You still end up with only 300 lines of real content.

Re:The DVD Box Set is available Now

[Retron]

I thought that the 2005 episodes may have been shot in HD because of the 16:9 aspect ratio

Most TV in the UK is in 16:9 format (broadcast as 4:3 with a "flag" saying it's anamorphic content) and has been for a few years now, but very little is shot in HD. I'd imagine Dr Who is the same.

"first season" eh?

[option8]

SCI FI Channel announced Jan. 12 that it will air the first season of the BBC's hit SF series Doctor Who, starting in March. The 13 episodes, starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor...

er... wasn't the *first* season aired sometime in 1963, and had William Hartnell as the Doctor?

history, schmistory...

Re:"first season" eh?

[Jiles]

Technically it was, but the "New Who" is regarded as series 1, rather than series 28 (or 27 or whatever).

Re: You'd be surprised...

[Blondie-Wan]

Yes, actually. I've seen the episode as well (thanks, Internet!), and without saying too much (so as not to spoil it for those who haven't seen it), there are some moments with stairs that seem almost deliberately put in specifically to address all the comments and jokes made about Daleks and stairs over the years. Characters in the episode even make a comment about stairs, before seeing what the Dalek is capable of.

Dr Who on iTunes?

[maclassicuser]

Battlestar Galactica is currently on iTunes will Dr Who? can't get / won't get cable or dish. And $100 is way to much for a box set

Re:Dr Who on iTunes?

[DragonTHC]

you'd rather watch the season on a 2 inch screen with headphones, than watch it on television?

Re:Eccleston or Tennant?

[MenTaLguY]

Currently the console room set doesn't include a door to the rest of the ship; they just have people enter and leave the console room off-camera. Although, the way they shoot that, I've got a feeling it's supposed to be a hatch/ladder in the floor rather than a door.

Re: You'd be surprised...

[myth_of_sisyphus]

In the episode where they address the stairs issue, it got me thinking that a single Dalek could rid the planet of human beings.

I'm not an expert, but their exterior is made of adamantium or some such, so it couldn't be destroyed by bombs, missiles, nuclear weapons, etc....The only obstacles are time--it would take quite a while to zap everybdoy--and, of course, The Doctor!

N.B.
I know it's only a TV show. It just happens to be the best scifi on TV right now.

Re:Would it be informative or insightful?

[flosofl]

Would it be informative, or Insightful to say "ABOUT F-ING TIME!" ?

Obviously not...

already seen it

[scharkalvin]

A co-worker gave me a dvd full of avi files (divx) with the season the scifi channel will get.
But I'm looking forward for the next year's shows!

Re: You'd be surprised...

[OneDeeTenTee]

The Dalek would have to kill us faster than we breed.

Its time would be better spent building something to kill the planet all at once instead of mowing us down a few thousand at a time.

meh.

[zippthorne]

she's more "girl next door" pretty. In the states, we've been spoiled with the likes of Lexa Doig and Jessica Alba, who are "movie star" pretty. But that is a good picture.

Ratings & money ruining the show

[zippthorne]

I never understood this effect. I mean, "Hey people are watching our show! We have to change everything around then."

Then again, it's not confined to hollywood. Gerrymandering is the same thing: "Hey, we finally got a majority in the legislature! Lets fiddle with the districts.. even though the party we displaced did the same thing when they were in power and look where it got them."

Lost

[uberdave]

What channel is this "Lost" show on? I can't seem to find it.

Re:New Who is Pretty Good *might contain spoiler*

[Jiles]

Didn't Peter Davidson swordfight in The King's Demons?

I'm pretty sure there was a swordfight during Pertwee's area as well (too young to remember though).

Paradroid

[PromANJ]

Daleks are also featured (without permission?) in C64 Paradroid (unit 883) and Amiga/Atari Paradroid 90 (units 683 and 783, and the 999 Command Cyborg could be taken as a Davros paraphrase).

I think the new Daleks looks great, although I do prefer them in gun metal 'color'. The new cybermen looks a bit action figure-ish unfortunately.


By the way, Amazon has a RC Dalek which looks quite nifty ( ASIN: B0009P5YYS )

Re: You'd be surprised...

[NickFortune]

Its time would be better spent building something to kill the planet all at once instead of mowing us down a few thousand at a time.

Yep. Thet get around to addressing that too. Well, kind of. You'll see...

DVD available now (Region 2)

[Krellan]

Don't forget, the DVD series of the show is already out now, in the UK (Region 2, PAL). Comes in a monstrously big TARDIS-shaped box that opens diagonally, kind of awkward, but clever. If it takes up too much space on your shelf, you can store the discs in those black plastic DVD cases that AOL spam-mailed out a while ago :)

Use your favorite multiregion DVD player to view it, or rip it first. No need to wait until later in the year.

I BitTorrented the shows as they came out, but bought the DVD because I wanted to support the show (and get the episodes in better quality). Still find it ironic that they say it's "coming soon" to the USA, but is already sitting here on my table....

Re:New Who, spoiler for Xmas ep

[meringuoid]

And Eccleston as the Doctor can be pretty harsh when it comes to things (Daleks in particular), very not diplomatic at all, which is interesting to see. Compare Doctor Who to the "always do the right thing" story lines of Star Trek.

Interesting that you said that. If you've seen the Christmas episode, in which an alien menace uses mind control to hold a large slice of the world population to ransom, the Doctor's solution is very Kirk. He turns up on the mothership and by a combination of bluff, bravery and challenging the alien leader to single combat he saves the day. He then lets the aliens go, warning them not to come back to Earth.

On return to Earth, while the Doctor and Rose celebrate, the Prime Minister orders 'Torchwood' to fire at will. Something looking suspiciously like the Death Star megalaser promptly fires from under London and blasts the mothership to a fine powder. UNIT have clearly been busy with all that alien tech they've got hold of over the years.

This horrifies the Doctor. He's clearly surprised and deeply shocked.

Now, I can't see the Ninth as reacting that way. He might well have been angry at the PM for this Belgrano-esque act, as the Tenth was, but he wouldn't have been so amazed. He had a darker outlook, I think. The Tenth might well turn out to be a bit more idealistic.

The interesting thing here is that the PM gives a very good reason for why she did it. Both she and the Doctor are doing the right thing; they simply have different priorities. The Doctor is a Time Lord, concerned with all of the universe and all of history, despite his fondness for Earth. The PM is responsible only for one small crowded island. So, the Doctor is inclined to be merciful to the Sycorax - they, too, are part of his larger portfolio - while the PM is not prepared to take the risk that they will ever again threaten her own people.

Deus ex machina?

[meringuoid]

The "Everybody lives!" hokum ending of The Empty Child?? Most of the episode was interesting, but then they painted themselves into a corner. It could only have been more deux ex machina if he'd used a sonic screwdriver to fix everything

Actually, I'm not convinced of that. The problem was a plague of medical nanobots with the wrong idea of how to repair a human. The solution was to find the pod from which they all came (which it's reasonable to suppose is a control centre of some kind) and either correct its notion of what humans are supposed to be like, or shut the whole thing down. 'Everybody lives' was a bonus, which the Doctor was rightly very happy about; had it not worked out, the Doctor could likely have switched off all the nanobots once he had his hands on their pod, but doing so would likely have meant the deaths of the various gasmask zombies.

Not that Doctor Who is short of deus ex machina: Boom Town and The Parting of the Ways, for instance. Inconceivable power from inside the TARDIS. It's an established fact from way back that the core of the TARDIS is semi-sentient and enormously powerful, but relying on it to wrap up a storyline is still unsatisfactory.

Patriotism

[weierstrass]

..is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Samuel Johnson?

Re:New Who, more spoiler for Xmas ep

[vistic]

Well you forget that the new Doctor was pretty bad ass and threw his orange at that button and killed the leader after he got back up again. "No second chances" he's that kind of Doctor. That was very intentional. In Star Trek they would probably keep giving second chances and third chances, etc, until the enemy finally meets its demise because of its own fault. Keep in mind though all the Star Trek I've seen is the movies, all of TNG, some of TOS, maybe 2 episodes of DS9 or Enterprise, and the first 2 seasons or so of Voyager. So maybe there are some episodes which do demonstrate that kind of intentional killing, but overall that's not the theme of Star Trek I think.

I do think that the 9th Doctor is probably the darkest one... for instance the way he was trying to zap the hell out of the Dalek in the museum and had to be pulled away... he was crazy with revenge and hate... (although he WAS unable to blow up all of the earth and the daleks in his last episode)...

I don't know... every Doctor is always so good, I can't wait to see what direction the role goes with Tennant.

tom baker best dr by far

[Random_Goblin]

The fourth dr was good for a variety of reasons, great script writers like douglas adams for example, but it think the main one for me is the characterisation of the dr as played by tom baker.

tom has described is as basically playing himself, only with the advantage of knowing whats going on because he's read the script.

Re:Would it be informative or insightful?

[meringuoid]

Would it be informative, or Insightful to say "ABOUT F-ING TIME!" ?

After, what, fifteen years, you're saying a delay of six months between the UK and US releases is a long time to wait?

C. S. Lewis put it best:

[meringuoid]

There's no point being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes.

"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am 50, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things -- including the fear of childishness and the desire to be grown-up."

-- C. S. Lewis

Re:Would it be informative or insightful?

[restlesscheese]

After, what, fifteen years, you're saying a delay of six months between the UK and US releases is a long time to wait?

It is if you have dialup!

Who's counting series?

[meringuoid]

First, calling the recent resurrection of Doctor Who the first series and noting an option for series two is sacrilege and spits on the work done by thousands of individuals over more than thirty years. THAT was the first series. This is just the latest continuation.

Who's counting by series? When there are so many, it all kind of runs together, especially given the irregularity with which they were released and the colossal gap through the 1990s. The sensible thing is to count by Doctor, by which measure this is the Ninth, with the Tenth about to appear on British TV.

For that matter, does it even make sense to count the old Doctor Who in terms of series at all? I always thought of them by story. You have the Doctor dealing with Daleks for these few episodes, then you have him in ancient Rome for a while, and now you've got one where a computer in the middle of London has gone berserk, and then you have him in an unconvincing impersonation of Mars by a Welsh quarry. It doesn't matter whether it's series 11 or series 17; just, who's the Doctor, and what are the monsters?

If there'd been an attempt to pretend that Christopher Ecclestone was the first and only Doctor, to airbrush out the ancient history, then I would have objected, but calling it 'Series 1' is just good sense. Calling it 'Series 26' or whatever it is will just put off people who'll think they need to have seen thirty years' worth of backstory in order to enjoy it.

Re:Who's counting series?

[whoniverse]

For that matter, does it even make sense to count the old Doctor Who in terms of series at all? I always thought of them by story. You have the Doctor dealing with Daleks for these few episodes, then you have him in ancient Rome for a while, and now you've got one where a computer in the middle of London has gone berserk, and then you have him in an unconvincing impersonation of Mars by a Welsh quarry. It doesn't matter whether it's series 11 or series 17; just, who's the Doctor, and what are the monsters?

With the possible exception of the early-mid 60s, they were originally presented as series/seasons, and that is how they were carved up for production purposes. The series/seasons were then subdivided into stories. And, of course, each series/season has its own character. You couldn't mistake a season 13 story for a season 17 story even though they feature the same doctor.

Calling it 'Series 26' or whatever it is will just put off people who'll think they need to have seen thirty years' worth of backstory in order to enjoy it.

It would be season 27 (season seems to have become the norm when talking about the classic series despite being an Americanism). And you've hit the nail on the head about the reason. Though also, the fact that in production terms the new series is completely divorced from the original series was a factor. They didn't call the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation "season 4", did they?

Re:Dr. Who's Intelligent Design

[SamSim]

It's the Zeroth Law of Physics. "If it happens, it must be possible."

Fantastic!

[wolverine1999]

It's great news, seriously.

Now please show Doctor Who in other european countries too :)

Doctor Who Newbie

[microTodd]

OK, I must admit, I've never seen a Doctor Who episode (but I've obviously heard a lot about it, being a /. geek and all).

Anyways, my question is out there to Doctor Who experts. If I want to start watching it, which of the 800+ episodes do I start with? Should I start with the new series? Or some particular older serial?

Re:Doctor Who Newbie

[Paul Crowley]

Definitely start with the new series.

Re:Doctor Who Newbie

[whoniverse]

I'd say start with the new series, then take some example stories from various eras of the show (include at least one from each Doctor), and find out what bits you like and what you don't. Note that each episode from the classic series is part of a larger story of between two and fourteen episodes (with the exception of the feature-length The Five Doctors and the 1996 TV Movie)

Here's a list of some stories generally considered quite good to give you an idea of the scope of the show (NB, where a Doctor has more stories in my list, it's because there was a change in the style of story through their tenure):

Hartnell:
The Aztecs
The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Troughton:
Tomb of the Cybermen

Pertwee:
Spearhead from Space
The Daemons

Tom Baker:
Genesis of the Daleks
The Robots of Death
City of Death
The Leisure Hive

Peter Davison:
The Caves of Androzani

Colin Baker:
Vengeance on Varos

Sylvester McCoy:
Delta and the Bannermen (NB, this one's not held in high esteem, but it's part of a unique season that's looked down on and is one of the better ones of that season)
The Curse of Fenric

Paul McGann:
The TV Movie

Re:New Who is Pretty Good *might contain spoiler*

[unapersson]

Are you completely new to Doctor Who at all or is this a subtle joke? The Doctor has always regenerated in that way. There was an implied regeneration at the beginning of the series as well.

Re:Hit Show SOLD to Sci-Fi Channel

[mgrest]

Oh Christ.

I was joking.

You must be hoping they re-edit all the comedy scenes in the new Dr Who so you can understand them better over there...

Re:New Who is Pretty Good *might contain spoiler*

[zhenga]

I'm new to the series, but I knew there have been other's before him. I just didn't expect that he would change after only 1 season..

New Doctor

[cyberwench]

It's always so hard to lose a good Doctor. Watching the transformation is just painful... "Aigh! He's going to be terrible!" But, on the other hand, the new Doctor seems to be a decent actor and given how well Eccleston did, I should probably just relax. He'll be a very tough act to follow, but I think the strong supporting cast will help there.

I think there's a definite advantage to casting the role of the Doctor now in that people are vying for the role. Overall, the actors mentioned in connection with trying for the role are all ones that I think would have a great deal to bring to it. Personally, I think Tom Baker's suggestion of Eddie Izzard would be a really interesting choice, but I'm happy with what we've got so far. I'm only sorry I missed the Christmas episode due to being down in the States over the holidays.

They would be good in a power outage

[elrous0]

They've got a space heater and flashlight up top too.

I don't know much about "Dr. Who" but is it a comedy of some sort, like Mystery Science Theater 3000?

-Eric

Re:New Who is Pretty Good *might contain spoiler*

[cyberwench]

General word was that the production schedule was really demanding. I don't think Eccleston planned on staying for a long time when he signed on, and the filming issues just clinched it.

Saw it, didn't like it.

[bobalu]

Sorry, I was a fan of the old one. StarBuck is a man, and cylons do not kiss people.

Re:Saw it, didn't like it.

[KeithIrwin]

I'm a fan of the old one too. But that doesn't mean that there isn't room to reimagine things. As good as the old one was, the writing is so much better on this one and the themes are much more complex. I mean, I'm sorry, but a Baltar who lets the cylons into the defense grid due to a combination of lust and ego is so much more interesting than a Baltar who intentionally sells out the entire human race for personal gain. The original Baltar was a very flat, uninteresting character. The new one is one of the most interesting characters in the show. The original show was very black and white: Cylons bad, humans good. The new one is so much more complex.

Plus, they ditched all the crappy parts of the older series. As much as I liked the old series, you can't argue that the show doesn't benefit from the removal of Boxey, Muffet, Count Iblis (i.e. Satan), and the Beings of Light (Angels). Frankly, I can't say that I much miss the Eastern Alliance (Space Nazis) much either. I think that you're likely comparing your memories of the old show where you've forgotten all the bad bits of it to the new show.

Keith

Re:Dr. Who's Intelligent Design

[techno-vampire]

You want a cite? OK, here's the Wikipedia article on Bumblebees. Is that good enough?

Re:New Who is Pretty Good *might contain spoiler*

[egon]

No - there definitely wasn't a sword fight in the 4th Episode of Tom Baker's "Androids of Tara" (key to time series). Definitely not.