COMING SOON TO A TV SCREEN NEAR YOU: DR WHO Many may consider this all a rather bit on the tragic side, but early next year I'm going to be sat in front of my tv with my phone switched off, the door locked, perhaps even bolted, maybe even with a sofa pushed infront of it, and I'll no doubt be covered in goosebumps as the infamous Dr Who theme tune rings out from my tv. The funny thing is that I'm not even Dr Who's biggest fan, not anymore anyhow. I still love the Tom Baker era Who, like most, and fondly remember Patrick Trougton, Jon Pertwee and Peter Davidson in the role, but Colin Baker really annoyed me and I blame Sylvester McCoy for ruining what was once one of the BBC's greatest shows. Though the writer's of course should take some blame for the immature dialogue, inane plotting and downright silliness of some of the
	Doctor's later years. But what made Dr Who so memorable to me though was the way that unlike nearly any other series of it's time, it easily switched between genres and styles, something which didn't exactly take place in The Professionals or Starsky and Hutch. In the Who-niverse, one storyline could be dark, twisted and disturbing, whilst the next might be far more whimsical, upbeat yet still incredibly captivating. By the Tom Baker era the writer's new exactly what the show was, and how to bring out the best in it, and the best stories were witty, intelligent drama at it's best. Oh, and they were just slightly helped by a central performance so hypnotising that you simply couldn't resist watching it. So how will the new year series pan out? Well, I'm pretty damn optimistic that things will turn out okay, and that another outing similar to the US tv movie made in 96 is definitely not on the cards. This is mainly due to the involvement of Russell T.Davies. He's the man behind the renaissance of the classic BBC sci-fi series, previously responsible for the magnificent Queer As Folk, the intriguing if slightly flawed Second Coming, and, ah, the rather insipid Bob and Rose (Can a gay man fall in love with a woman? Yes, yes he can, but he's very dull whilst doing so). We'll conveniantly forget the latter though, and even that had it's interesting moments. Erm, well two anyhow. The important thing is that Davies is a diehard Who fan, who believes that "Doctor Who is actually best when it is a horror show, not a science fiction series." An early time slot shouldn't necessarily suggest that they won't pull out all the stops too, as according to Mark Gatiss, who's also writing a couple of episodes, "Everyone is talking about scaring a whole new generation of kids." And there's no reason why it should be kids alone, as certain Buffy episodes showed, you can still get a bloody dark and sometimes shocking show broadcast at 6.45pm. Of course I'm not looking for slasher pic thrills here, but genuinely disturbing ideas and themes have always been explored in the series, and with Russell in charge this looks set to thankfully continue. More importantly, it'll still essentially be the Doctor we once knew and loved - To quote Davies: "It will be very traditional, the same old Time Lord, the same old Tardis, the same old adventures in space and time. I'm using the best things it has, and giving them a kick up the backside!" There are more reasons to be over optimistic the new series. In a Doctor Who Magazine interview, Davies talked about how "At its core, Doctor Who was about Death and the existential anxiety which surounds it. Death stalks every corner, and makes you love the survivors all the more," whilst Mark Gatiss called the Tom Baker-Liz Sladen era the "zenith" of Doctor Who, so we may well get a series that's creepy, scary, and suspenseful, yet with a warmer side to it as well. The characterisation of Ecclestone's Who is of course a central point to the show's success, and there seems no need to worry about this either: "He is so marvellously human, a scientist, an artist, passionate, funny, emotional" according to Davies, whilst Mark Gattiss said he will be "warm, exciting, radioactive, magnetic, and the kind of person you just want to be with." According to the script notes "most of all, this is a man who enjoys himself." Which sounds pretty damn good to us. As all Who fans will know by now, Christopher Ecclestone's the Dr's nineth regeneration, which couldn't make us happier to be honest, with Billie Piper as his companion Rose. Now Piper's presence may well set off alarm bells, but she was surprisingly good in one episode of the Beebs recent re-imagining of The Cantebury Tales, and reportedly more than holds her own against Orlando Bloom in failed Brit-flick The Calcium Kid. And hey, if she brings in the kind of audience that've never seen Dr Who before, it can't be a bad thing. I could go on and on about the new series, but due to not wishing to hear too much about it, I've avoided spoiler filled Who sites of late. The best of these has to be Outpost Gallifrey (http://www.gallifreyone.com/index.php) where much of the information for this article comes from, so if you wish to know more, go there. Dr Who is due on our screens in early 2005, though an exact air date's not yet been announced. Alex Finch. You can discuss this article and the new Who series on this thread on our forum. Previous 'Coming Soon' articles: The Wire Carnivale Deadwood
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