Visit the official Doctor Who website

Visit the official Doctor Who website
Look to the future

Asylum seekers...

Asylum seekers...
Refuge of the Daleks

Doctor Who picture resource

Doctor Who picture resource
Roam the space lanes!

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website
Step back in time

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
Armed and extremely dangerous

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures
Fearless in the face of adversity

Call on Dani’s House

Call on Dani’s House
Harmer’s a charmer

Intercept the UFO fabsite

Intercept the UFO fabsite
Defending the Earth against alien invaders!

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse
Programmable agent Echo exposed!

Hell’s belles

Hell’s belles
Naughty but nice

Love Exposure

Love Exposure
Flash photography!

Primeval portal

Primeval portal
Dressed to kill or damsels in distress?

Charmed, to be sure!

Charmed, to be sure!
The witches of San Francisco

Take on t.A.T.u.

Take on t.A.T.u.
All the way from Moscow

Proceed to the Luther website

Proceed to the Luther website
John and Jenny discuss their next move

DCI Banks is on the case

DCI Banks is on the case
You can bet on it!

On The Grid with Spooks

On The Grid with Spooks
Secret agents of Section D

Bridge to Hustle

Bridge to Hustle
Shady characters

Life on Ashes To Ashes

Life on Ashes To Ashes
Coppers with a chequered past

Claire’s no Exile

Claire’s no Exile
Goose steps

Vexed is back on the beat!

Vexed is back on the beat!
Mismatched DI Armstrong and bright fast-tracker Georgina Dixon

Medium, both super and natural

Medium, both super and natural
Open the door to your dreams

Who’s that girl? (350-picture Slideshow)

Friday 10 August 2007

Be Still, My Beating Hearts!


The BBC has released the first publicity still for season four of new “Doctor Who” and, I have to say, my response to it comes as something of a surprise. How like Sarah Jane does Donna Noble look was what immediately ran through my mind. Catherine Tate’s facial features definitely seemed to have softened, somehow, since “The Runaway Bride”! Of course, a photograph doesn’t talk and if she retains the same brusque manner, as in that earlier episode, then no amount of positive marketing will induce me to watch. But then Sarah Jane could be quite curt when the mood suited!! I showed my father the picture and, before I explained it, he asked if it was Sarah Jane!!! So, it isn’t just me with that initial reaction. I would be only too happy if Catherine Tate turned out to be another Elisabeth Sladen!

Elsewhere in the production of series four of the good Doctor’s adventures, imagination is running low! The Time Lord is to meet the creator of “Miss Marple” and “Poirot”, popular whodunit author Agatha Christie. I moaned last year about him meeting Shakespeare, having already met Dickens, and now the Doctor is to meet yet another writer. Talk about creativity!! Can’t Russell, tiresome dictator that he seems to be, come up with something other than that with which he is already familiar or doesn’t he want to spend time researching maybe a meeting with a scientist or a musician? A little (“Enigma”) variation wouldn’t go amiss! My guess is that when James Nesbitt takes over the keys of the TARDIS, for series five, the chances are the eleventh Doctor will meet a writer too, probably Robert Louis Stevenson!!!

It’s also been rumoured that Sir Ben Kingsley is to appear in next year’s series as Davros, fictional creator of the Daleks in the original series. Again, this is so predictable. During the era of the first Doctor, the Daleks were established as the main adversary and, naturally enough, they were the principal villain reintroduced in the first year of new “Doctor Who”. With the second Doctor came the Cybermen. Year two of new “Who” and, behold, a new breed of Cyber-buddies! Time Lord menace, the Master was pitted against the third Doctor eight times. Series three and up pops John Simm! Down boy!! Then, Dalek history was rewritten and fourth Doctor Tom Baker meets their maker a couple of times with each successive Doctor, over the next three incarnations, also squaring up to the crippled scientist. Why resurrect THE major villain from each era, of the classic series, one per year in the new series in chronological order? Talk about creativity! Oh, I’ve already said that!!

It shouldn’t be assumed, by the way, that just because Davros is returning the Daleks will follow. There has never been a televised Davros story without his demented offspring in tow and RTD’s notion of imaginative writing is to rework an old idea out of its usual context. Perhaps viewers will witness the decline and fall of Davros, pre-“Genesis of the Daleks”, discovering how he became shrivelled and wheelchair-bound. We saw Sec released from the confines of his casing and it might be interesting to see the process in reverse… If you’re interested in seeing what kind of villain Sir Ben might portray in “Doctor Who” then, as luck would have it, you can catch him in this Saturday’s ITV1 teatime movie premiere as the Hood in a very poor live action retelling of Gerry Anderson’s most-popular puppet series “Thunderbirds”. It also features Madame De Pompadour as Lady Penelope, Mr Magpie as Parker and a closing theme song by the god-awful McFly! You have been duly warned!!

5 comments:

Steve said...

I agree, the costume department do seem to have given Donna Noble a softer, more feminine look - let's hope the scripts follow that ideal. I don't mind at all if she's bolshi - it would be an improvement on Martha's constant moo-cow eyes (that really began to grate by the end of the last series) - just let's not have her so fishwifey!

I guess we've no choice but to reserve judgment until series 4 hits the TV screens.

Old Cheeser said...

It's true, as I've also said over on my own blog, Donna does have a "softer" look. I hope her personality has calmed down as much as her dress sense!

It would be wonderful if, as you say Tim, Donna did turn into a Sarah-Jane character! But she'd need a rather large personality transplant to achieve that! I do have one theory as to how they could "change" Donna - see my blog for further explanation!

Again I think the "famous historical figure" stories are kind of a token gesture on the part of the production team and an attempt to make Dr Who educational - which surely isn't an entirely bad thing? Remember when the show started it was one of the original intentions for the programme to educate its audience, hence the large number of historical stories in the William Hartnell era!

Although Ben Kinsley is a fine actor and would undoubtedly rise to the challenge of playing the creator of the Daleks, I don't think they should bring back Davros. I like your theory of a story about Davros' decline and fall, good idea! If they don't write the script, you should Tim!

Talking of Dr Who scripts I demand you visit my blog this instant to witness the wonderful new mini screen-play I've just produced! Cheers! (God, I sound like Donna Noble don't I?)

Old Cheeser said...

Oh, I meant to say I also nabbed your Dr and Donna photo for my blog, Tim - hope you don't mind! Thanks.

TimeWarden said...

It's strange, isn't it? I guess you can't get more feminine than a wedding dress and yet Donna came across like some unstoppable tank in it. There were a few flashback moments in "The Runaway Bride" in which Catherine Tate wasn't wearing her wedding attire and I would like to have seen more of her in her civvies!

I think the original concept of "Doctor Who", to educate through alternating historical with science-based stories, was a noble one, if you'll pardon the pun, and shows the ideas behind the series had been very well thought through.

Having the first Doctor accompanied by both science and history teachers, to put into context the events of each story, was an added stroke of genius.

No problem regarding the beautifully cropped and resized pic!!!

Andrew Glazebrook said...

Er yeah, I thought it was Sarah Jane too !!