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New Doctor Who Movie FAQ
Updates Jan. 10, 1996
Please provide any updates/corrections/important items to me so that
we can keep this thing current. Thanks.
Siobahn (Shabang) Morgan
morgans@uni.edu
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Sections
1. Is the Doctor returning?
2. Who will be playing the new Doctor?
3. What other roles has Paul McGann had?
4. Who else is in the movie?
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1. Is the Doctor returning?
Yes. The two-hour film for television, which has entered pre-
production in Vancouver, is a major co-production between BBC
Worldwide - the commercial arm of the BBC, and Universal
Television. DOCTOR WHO is produced in Canada by Universal
Productions Canada for distribution by BBC Worldwide and MCA
Television Ltd. It will be broadcast on the Fox Network in the
United States and BBC-1 in the UK, later this year.
There does seem to be every effort to keep the film in the spirit of
the BBC, with the use of a British actor for the role of the Doctor
and Sylvester McCoy regenerating. It seems that the first film will be
set in San Francisco in contemporary times.
The director is Geoff Sax, who is British. The companion will
be a medical doctor. The movie will be filmed in Vancouver with second
unit shooting in San Francisco. The second movie (if there is one) will be
set in space. Sylvester McCoy will shoot his regeneration scene next
month.
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2. Who will be playing the new Doctor?
Official BBC Worldwide Television News Release
(provided by S. A. Hunter-Saphir)
January 9, 1996
PAUL McGANN TO STAR IN NEW DOCTOR WHO FILM FOR TELEVISION
Paul McGann has been cast in the starring role of DOCTOR WHO
in the BBC's new film for television based on the long-running
and phenomenally popular BBC Television series.
Paul McGann, 36, who will become the eigth DOCTOR WHO since the
programme first appeared on 23 November 1963, has had starring
roles spanning theatre, television and feature films. His
television credits include The Monocled Mutineer, The Hanging
Gale, Nice Town, and Drowning in the Shallow End. His film
credits include Aliens III, The Three Musketeers, Paper Mask
and The Rainbow.
"Taking on such a role hasn't really sunk in yet," said Paul
McGann. "It's just beginning to dawn on me what all this means.
Sylvester McCoy is a friend so he's told me everything I need to
know! I loved DOCTOR WHO as a kid - William Hartnell used to
terrify me. My favourite villain was the Yeti, but the Daleks
never did it for me - they couldn't run upstairs," he added.
The two-hour film for television, which has entered pre-
production in Vancouver, is a major co-production between BBC
Worldwide - the commercial arm of the BBC, and Universal
Television. DOCTOR WHO is produced in Canada by Universal
Productions Canada for distribution by BBC Worldwide and MCA
Television Ltd. It will be broadcast on the Fox Network in the
United States and BBC-1 in the UK, later this year.
Paul McGann added; "The film will be loyal to the spirit of past
series, but will find a fresh appeal too."
Alan Yentob, Controller BBC-1, said; "We're delighted that Paul
McGann is playing DOCTOR WHO, and particularly pleased to be
working in collaboration with Universal and Fox on such an
exciting project."
Juliet Grimm, Director of Co-productions and Business Development,
BBC Worldwide Television added; "We are on-track to bring DOCTOR
WHO back to the small screen and, now with Paul McGann on board,
we can move forward with this major new co-production."
Trevor Walton, Senior VP Longform Programming for Fox said; "It's
about time that DOCTOR WHO became as famous and beloved in America
as he is in England. I am thrilled that Paul McGann has come on
board. He is a truly worthy successor."
The first DOCTOR WHO appeared in 1963 played by William Hartnell
and was followed by Patrick Troughton in 1966, Jon Pertwee in 1970,
Tom Baker in 1974, Peter Davison in 1982, Colin Baker in 1984, and,
finally Sylvester McCoy in 1987.
Further cast and production details will be issued shortly.
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What other roles has Paul McGann had?
Born in Liverpool England, 1959(?)
The Hanging Gale (1995)(TV series) .... Liam Phelan
Catherine The Great (1994) (TV mini) .... Potemkin
Three Musketeers, The (1993) .... Girard
Alien 3 (1992) .... Golic
Afraid of the Dark (1991) .... Tony Dalton
Fraile, El (1990)
The Last Temptation (?)
Innocent Victim (1990) .... Barry ... aka Tree of Hands (1990)
Monk, The (1990)
Paper Mask (1990) .... Matthew Harris
Cariani and the Courtesans (1989) (TV)
Dealers (1989) .... Daniel Pascoe
Rainbow, The (1989) .... Anton Skrebensky
Dealers (1989)
Monocled Mutineer, The (1987)(TV series)
Empire of the Sun (1987) .... Lieutenant Price
Withnail and I (1987) .... Marwood
Ernest or The Importance of Being Earnest (1986) (TV movie)
Give Us a Break (1983) (TV series)
Nice Town (?)
Drowning in the Shallow End (?)
Streets of Yesterday (?)
John and Yoko: A Love Story (1985) (TV) .... John Lennon
(there seems to be a bit of debate about whether it was Paul
or his brother Mark in this role, with the official press
releases saying it was him, and others saying it wasn't)
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4. To be filled in later.
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18 responses total.
is the new doctor British?
Yes, just as British as the previous ones. (Thank the Gods - I was terrified that they would use a Canadian actor instead, to save money...)
Well, considering the various nationalities they passed off as "American" in the original series...
Yeah, but that was mainly funny. The Dr. ought to sound authentic. <grin>
And there was much rejoicing!
Brits doing american accents are almost always kinda cute. I miss Dr. Who. Anyone wanna bring tapes and have a video party at my house some time? I'll supply popcorn...<g> What happened to the idea of a female Doctor?
I've got about 10 tapes, mostly from the earlier years of the series (since I'd seen the later years on TV). I'd be up for a who party.
Me too.
Sure, I'd contribute some tapes to a grex-who party. I assume you'd want to do it on a weekend because one long story could eat up an entire evening. Sundays I usually get out of work around 2 or 3 pm. How about on a Saturday after grex walk?
Kami, some fans made a series of Dr.Who starring Barbara Benedetti as the Doctor. They are the best Dr.Who fan videos I've seen. As for the party, great idea. I rarely get to watch the show anymore, even at Dr.Who club meetings.
A post walk who party would be OK. Did someone volunteer to host it? I would, but my TV has a tiny screen that is getting steadily smaller.
Dunno if we are eager for a Who festival, but the (fairly random) set of
videos I have are:
William Hartnell: The Daleks (The Dead Planet, The Expedition)
The Web Planet
Patrick Troughton: The Krotons
The Dominators
The Invasion
The Seeds of Death
Jon Pertwee: The Daemons
The Curse of Peladron
Frontier in Space
Death to the Daleks
Tom Baker: Talons of Weng-Chaing
These are all the commerical tapes, not episodes taped off TV. I saw most
of the later episodes on TV and mostly only bought tapes I hadn't seen on TV,
hence mostly the earlier Doctors.
I used to have a rather large PBS-taped collection, but I think I let most of them get re-used. I'll check my list - I think I kept some of the later Tom Baker episodes, and possibly some early whoever the next guy was. (blanking on his name right now)
That would be Peter Davidson.
Thanks. it has been a long time since I have thought of Dr. Who. I used to be quite into it. Made the new "neon" logo on my Commodore 64 way back when. :)
That would be the early to mid 80s neon logo. By the late 80s there was a cool computer animated opening sequence and that last logo never looked very good on a T-shirt IMHO. I don't think it would look too good on a Commodore 64 either, for that matter.
I think I pretty much have everything from Tom Baker to Sylvester McCoy, with a few Pertwee episodes thrown in....
I'm sorry, maybe I am old-fashioned, but I didn't care for Paul McGann in the role of the doctor, or the new FOX Dr. Who . . . somehow, it had just failed to capture the "feel" of the original . . .
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- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss