Doctor
Who Report Special
Edition: Pilot Episode Leaked to Internet
BBC
not thrilled; fan reactions mixed.
March
07, 2005
- Somebody just couldn't wait three more weeks
for Doctor Who. More precisely,
someone out there couldn't wait three more
weeks before sharing
the new Doctor Who.
Over
the weekend, a video file of the first episode
of the new series found its way on to the
Internet.
While
a number of BitTorrent sites were quick to
take the file down, it did manage to find its
way on to various systems. The file
premiere episode, titled Rose, appeared
to be complete and ready for air, unlike many
other advance television screeners that are
usually missing some effects footage,
incidental music or audio sweetening.
Starts SATURDAY
26th March 2005 |
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BBC TV DOCTOR
WHO
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Christopher
Eccleston
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Billie
Piper |
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Doctor
Who | New
TV Series | ||
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One fan rumor has a
disgruntled member of a prominent Doctor
Who fan organization leaking the serener
copy to the Internet in an attempt to get the
long time fans of the series to start a
negative word of mouth campaign. Another
popular theory has the BBC "leaking"
the video to the Internet in an attempt to
generate more interest in the series,
especially by fans in countries that have yet
to purchase the new series for broadcast.
If this was
released in an attempt to create some sort of
fan backlash, then the person responsible has
really missed their target. While the
reactions of fans that have seen the episode
can hardly be called overwhelmingly positive,
many fans seem to be taken by the updated
direction and tone present in the premiere.
Daleks
- exterminate
"It's everything
I'd hoped for," one fan emailed The
Doctor Who Report. "Sure, it's
different from the original series but we knew
that going in. There are too many things
that the series seems to be getting right to
at least give it a chance."
Fans will be happy to
know that some core elements of the original
series are present, from the classic Police
Box to the theme music (which goes back to the
style of the Pertwee / Tom Baker days) to that
trusty gadget that must have been designed by
the same person that put together the Swiss
Army Knife, the Sonic Screwdriver.
One change the viewers will notice immediately
is that the show's stars, Christopher
Eccleston and Billie Piper, have their names
in the opening credits before the new Doctor
Who logo (which, I'm sorry, still
looks like Photoshop puked).
This is a
radical departure from the original series in
that no one except the writer used to be in
the opening titles and that credit ran dead
last. The major actors were usually
given a prominent full screen credit at the
end of every 25-minute episode. As
reported before, this new series runs around
45 minutes per episode with many of the
episodes being written as stand alone stories.
Gone are the days for the four-, six- and
eight-part episodes; new Producer Russell T.
Davies is keeping even his longest stories to
two episodes. We'll have a full review
of the episode, along with all of the other
episodes, in the near future.
The launch
date for Doctor Who on the BBC was March
26th. The CBC in Canada has put the
series on their schedule and is set to
premiere the series on April 5th. There
is still no word on a US broadcaster as yet
and with Sci Fi Channel passing on the series
(as reported here last week), speculation is
running rampant. It is assumed that the
series will run in the US, the where
and the when are major questions that need
answered.
NEW
SERIES NEWS:
NEW
TV SERIES IN DETAIL :
He´s
from an ancient alien civilisation. She´s
from SE15.
Pictures
and video from the set.
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Daleks Shoot It Out in New
Doctor Who - Aso: Daleks may learn to
fly.
November
04, 2004 - The Western Mail
(quoted on the always excellent Doctor Who
site, Outpost
Gallifrey) reported that police in Cardiff
City in Whales were alerted to something that
observers thought might be an armed robbery
but turned out to be a minor Dalek invasion.
The Daleks are back and it seems they make
quite a bang.
Meanwhile, photos that
purport to be shots of a new Dalek from the
series hit the Internet earlier this week.
According to the aforementioned Outpost
Gallifrey, these shots (seen below) may be
something of a red herring and be the Dalek
used for the Alien-like first
appearance with a drastically re-designed
Dalek appearing in the climactic two part
story that will finish up the series.
One thing seems to be certain and that is that
the Daleks will be able to fly in the new
series. The Daleks have had flying
vehicles in comics based on the armored
galactic despots since the '60s but had never
flown on the television series until one
levitated up a flight of stairs to chase a
stunned Sylvester McCoy in Remembrance of
the Daleks. The new Daleks are said
to be able to fly more convincingly due to the
much larger effects budget for the upcoming
series. Looks like new Doctor,
Christopher Eccleston, has his work cut out
for him.
Speaking of former
Doctors, Producer Russell T. Davies has
decided against any cameo appearances from
previous Doctor Who stars.
According to the Daily Mail, Davies had
considered having Tom Baker or Colin Baker in
small cameo parts but decided against it,
afraid that they might take viewer attention
away from the "freshness" of the new
series.
Plot details continue
to filter out about stories for the new series
and, as always, take all plot details as
rumors until they've been confirmed by an
offical source. Episode 2, aka The
End of the World is set on a space station
with all sorts of aliens running around.
This information was divulged by diminutive
actor Jimmy Vee, who has been hired to play a
number of aliens for the series.
Episodes 9 & 10, written by Steven Moffat,
will take place during the London Blitz of
WWII and is said to be "terrifying."
Another unconfirmed element of the new series
concerns the TARDIS – it will now spin
during dematerializations and
re-materializations.
The BBC has also had
to increase security on the series to try and
stop press leaks. A laptop computer was
recently stolen out of a production
assistant's car and the network worked
overtime to get it back so none of the story
elements from the computer would be leaked to
the press. Scripts have been
watermarked, individually printed (instead of
being mass copied like most television
scripts) and have to be signed out.
There have still been
no announcements about a US outlet for the
series but sources tell IGNFF that
negotiations are continuing. The series
is scheduled to air on the CBC in Canada
around the same time it premieres in the UK,
which will be early 2005.
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