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Doctor Who To Be Axed, Again
twofish writes "According to UK tabloid The Sun, hit BBC sci-fi program Doctor Who will reportedly end next year after its fourth season. Producer Russell T. Davies has decided to bring the hit sci-fi show to a close — to 'go out at the top' — so he can concentrate on other projects, according to the article. Davies and other senior staff are feeling the strain of the heavy workload imposed by the show, nine months a year of 16-hour days, and plan to resign en-masse in 2008. Davies, a long-time fan of Doctor Who, relaunched the series in 2005, 16 years after the original series was axed." Update: 05/31 16:36 GMT by KD : Reader palewook points out that the UK Guardian sets this story straight: "But there isn't any way it would be axed even if [Davies] left. He loves the show and he does feel that maybe it would benefit from some new blood."
Nah, don't worry it'll be back. I've lost count of how many times that shows been pulled, revived and then cancelled again.
Mind you, there must be a limit that even a time lord can regenerate.
The monsters were scarier in the 1980s though - or was that because I was much younger?
... bullshit on this. A popular show, in it's prime, that's currently raking in cash hands over fist for the BBC from various products and merchandising efforts, is going to be axed right in the middle of a massive wave of popularity? Yes, you might kill a popular show just as its popularity or quality is fading, give it a dignified death, whatever. But this makes no sense. Producers and writers can be replaced, refreshed, whatever. Combined with the fact this is the Sun reporting this, and ... well ... as I said, bullshit.
I wouldn't believe a word that rag says. It's the worst of the Murdoch rags. Even the people who work for it consider it pretty disreputable.
Here's an example... Tango produces a commercial where old lady puts pin into balloon and old lady pops. The Sun called up the "help the aged" charity and said "They're blowing up old people. do you think this is right?". Woman who hadn't seen it agreed that on the face of it it sounded bad. The Sun then ran a story about how Help the Aged wanted the ad banned.
They do not fact check unless not doing so will get them sued. Their source could be a teaboy for all we know.
Why should we believe thenm when its something that is more popular than any Sky show, and they can't buy it
Rupert Murdoch
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News International Sky One-----COMPETITOR--------BBC
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The Sun Various----LOWER RATINGS----Doctor Who
Do you see what's happening here?
I dunno. The different Doctors were so... different, then I don't think the latest could be judged any better or any worse. I mean, I enjoy the new shows, think they're the best SciFi my TV has seen in over a decade, but I still think Tom Baker was the best Doctor.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
There are several options.
1) The very beginning: This has the advantage that you get to see the series evolve. To my knowledge, the lost episodes are largely 2nd and 3rd doctor. There's probably a list somewhere you can look it up.
The special effects are circa the era the show aired in. If you aren't fond of the age old effects, this might not be the start for you.
2) Third Doctor onward: The jump between the second and third doctors was large enough that one could viably start here without needing the previous backstory. By this point, the series had established most of its tenants.
3) Fourth Doctor onward: Not as good a spot as the others, but Tom Baker was the most popular doctor, had the longest run, and had a couple episodes written by Douglas Adams.
4) Ninth Doctor onward: Skip the old series entirely, go to the new series. You gain the benefit that you'll quickly be up to speed with other people starting here, but you'll probably feel inadaquate when some diehard who watched the series as it aired starts rambling about the other doctors.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
That wasn't the first time rules were made up on the fly in the show, and it wasn't the last. The regeneration thing was really fabricated at the last minute to explain a change of Doctor. There have also been enough hints dropped in the series, novels (though not all of them could be considered canon) and audio plays that Who is not "just" a time-lord but maybe something else entirely. He might reach regeneration 13 and pronounce "Well, that was unexpected." That would probably then allow a new storyline where Who tries to find out WHY he regenerated a 13th time.
But it doesn't really matter that much; most of the rules that were set in the series have changed over time or been outright ignored. The regeneration thing might be enough of a "biggie" that they'll have to find a reason for it, but I suspect it could be easily pulled off. After all, this is Doctor Who; part science fiction, part dinner theatre and part mystical fantasy. All bets are off.
Oh, and as for the story? Codswollop. I no longer live in England but when I was a teen living in England the only two reasons I read The Sun were (a) for the entertainment value and (b) for the breasts on page 3.