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Doctor Who and the Daleks greatest sci-fi show

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I do have BBC America, but BBC America edits the content of the show, adds commercials, and is not shown in HD. HDNet airs the show as it was shown in Britain: uncut, no commercials, original BBC promos, and in HD.
 
Most episodes BBC America barely touches. I usually end up rewatching them on HDNet later. The commercials... well, the DVR knocks those out. Lord knows I never get to actually watch anything until the kids have been put to bed (three or four times)!
 
BBC America actually edited out a lot of the language and sexual situations from Series 1 when they broadcast it. I originally saw the series through the "torrent of bits" and then watched the BBC America airings and couldn't stand how much they had been cut. That said, I'm still glad that BBC America is showing them since more people get that channel over HDNet. I'm just going to wait for the HDNet airings.
 
I love the original series from the very first B&W to the 80's. Daleks were pretty cool and Davros was freaky but I always loved the Cybermen for some reason. Kind of remind me of the Star Trek Borg (I don't watch Star Trek though). Seems production houses will throw CGI in to bloat a show and rely less on a true story line and plot...ugh

Haven't had much of a chance to see the new series. Saw about 15 mins and it looked pretty good. Lots of CGI eye candy and a lot less cardboard props which kind of takes the true Dr Who experience away. The props were so dodgy...but they were awesome when I was 10!
 
You lucky people you. I live in New Zealand, and we won't have the next series of Dr Who until ... august next year at the latest i'd say.

We've not had Torchwood out here yet at all (well it might have been but I tend to notice those sort of things, and if it was, it certainly wasn't advertised) ... so it may be down to the good old internet for me ... or I'll have to shell out and get the dvds.

I've seen a couple of the first series TW episodes in small-grainy-you-tube-a-vision, and it was so nice to see Cardiff being the center for all things alien :P, otherwise I can't really comment on it greatly ... so this has been a bit of a pointless addition to the thread really :D
 
Battlestar Galactica rules. I cant wait for season 4...and I am totally sold on the remake over the original.

I did get excited when they showed the original Cylon Centurions in Razor and said "Yeah! Old school!"...I think I was the only one in the room that even noticed.

I'm a geek ;)
 
You know BSG was canceled, right? They order 22 episodes but have only shot 13 because of the writers strike and I read recently that they finally laid everyone off the set, so the remaining 9 episodes are questionable.

As far as BBC America vs HDNet, I saw the first three episodes on both as well as "Cyberwoman" and a few others. BBCA silences the f-bomb for some stupid reason, but there really wasn't much missing otherwise that I noticed when watching.... so I figure why wait 4 or 5 extra weeks? I really am surprised that the BBC didn't cut HDNet off, though, since they are launching an HD service too. The BBC doesn't seem to run their station very well (after all, why are they not showing classic Doctor Who episodes at some point instead of Cash in the Attic or Dancing with the Stars over and over or old episodes of The Avengers and The Saint... I mean, if you are going to have British Black and White or whatever they called that block, show your most famous show EVER).
 
Michael L. said:
You know BSG was canceled, right? They order 22 episodes but have only shot 13 because of the writers strike and I read recently that they finally laid everyone off the set, so the remaining 9 episodes are questionable.

As far as BBC America vs HDNet, I saw the first three episodes on both as well as "Cyberwoman" and a few others. BBCA silences the f-bomb for some stupid reason, but there really wasn't much missing otherwise that I noticed when watching.... so I figure why wait 4 or 5 extra weeks? I really am surprised that the BBC didn't cut HDNet off, though, since they are launching an HD service too. The BBC doesn't seem to run their station very well (after all, why are they not showing classic Doctor Who episodes at some point instead of Cash in the Attic or Dancing with the Stars over and over or old episodes of The Avengers and The Saint... I mean, if you are going to have British Black and White or whatever they called that block, show your most famous show EVER).
Click to expand...

Hi there.

Your information regarding BSG is incorrect. I work in the entertainment industry and I know the person in charge of post production on BSG. SciFi ordered 20 episodes for season 4, but they hadn't made a determination on how to air the episodes yet. Usually they air 10 and then wait 4-6 months to air the remaining 10. There was discussion on whether to run all 20 straight through without a break. Well, because of the strike they are going to run the first 10 and then wait until the strike is resolved and then air the last 10 after production is completed. The series has not been canceled and all 20 episodes will air. In fact, SciFi is looking at shooting the prequel movie "Caprica" because that script was completed last year as a pilot movie for a new television series, but they passed on doing the series. The laying of off staff and crew is standard procedure when there is a strike that lasts longer than 5 weeks. It is a contract clause called "force majeure". It might make things a little tricky in getting everyone back together, but the staff, cast, and crew of BSG and NBC/Universal want to finish the series.

As far as the management of BBC America goes, you may not realize this but BBC America has nothing to do with the BBC. It is a licensed name from the BBC, but the BBC has nothing to do with its scheduling. In fact, BBC America initially refused to air the relaunch of Doctor Who because they didn't think it suited their goal for the network. It wasn't until SciFi purchased the series and had huge ratings that BBC America decided to air the BBC produced program. And now, because of the contract the SciFi Channel will always get to show DW before anyone else in the US. SciFi passed on Torchwood and there was a change in management at BBC America that led to them airing TW and changing the overall lineup of the network to actually show more BBC produced programming.
 
Then perhaps Sci-Fi should not have sent a press release out announcing the end of the show in May of 2007 after a 22 episode final season:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2007/05/say_it_aint_fra.html

Or listed it in their own news service here:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=2&id=41709

The information that only 13 shows were completed and the crew was laid off in the last two weeks came from an interview I read (I think with Ronald Moore), but I can't remember where it was.... It might have even been in a trade magazine but I can't recall reading anything but audio stuff lately since I have been doing more old radio restoration lately.

This is not the article, but it does explain that since they shot 13 episodes, NBC Universal can basically suspend the rest of the contract if they choose (and not just because the strike ended production for 5 weeks... 13 weeks is technically a season), which is what was discussed in the article I read:

http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/11/19/battlestar-galactica-final-season-in-jeopardy/

The only reason I even remember reading it, because I am not a BSG fan, is because it was right about the same day articles will saying that the Caprica prequel may be aired merely because it was basically finished and, well, scripts are hard to come by but this interview had said that Caprica probably would not air.


And BBC America is operated by New Video Channel America, which is owned by BBC Worldwide (look it up yourself). There is or was a partnership with Discovery Channel to help handle marketing, but I am not sure the extent.... I could see where the BBC would not be comfortable with securing advertisers given the fact that they do not need them in the UK.
 
Hi Michael.

You are conflating several items, and we are moving further and further away from the topic of this thread, but I will try to explain the strike situation as best as I can.

First, let me explain who I am and what I do. My name is Derek Bartholomaus and I am a Post Production Supervisor/Producer on television shows. If you go to www.post-guy.com you can view my resume. You can also do an internet search and find other listings to the shows I have done. I point this out simply to let you know that I work professionally in the entertainment industry and specifically in post production. I am a member of the Producers Guild of America, but the PGA is not a union and, most importantly, the PGA is not involved in the current strike situation. When the press talks about the writers being on strike against the producers they do not mean the PGA. They are talking about the AMPTP, the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers. This organization represents the television networks and the various motion picture and television studios.

Now, Battlestar Galactica has not been cancelled and it has never been announced that it has been cancelled. This may be a question of semantics, but the show-runner and developer of the new BSG, Ronald D. Moore, decided that the fourth season of the show would be its last. This decision was made early in 2007 and was publicly announced in late-May/early-June 2007. This what two of your links are mentioning. SciFi Channel ordered 22 broadcast hours of the final season of production. 2 of those hours were for the television movie "Razor". The other 20 were for the regular fourth season episodes, and as I have mentioned earlier SciFi Channel tends to split the broadcast of their 20 episode seasons into two 10 episode parts.

Now, here is where the strike comes into play as it regards the already announced fourth and final season of the new BSG. 13 of the 20 episodes were written before the strike happened. Production stopped on the series once filming was completed on those 13 episodes. At least 10, but I don't think all 13, finished post-production a couple of weeks after the strike began. So, when the broadcast of season 4 of BSG begins in March 2008 they will be able to show the first story arc that was always planned.

Now, the third link you posted is in reference to a posting made by Ronald D. Moore on his personal website on November 17, 2007: http://www.rondmoore.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2007/11/17_Galactica_wraps.html

In that posting RDM discusses the issue of "force majeure" and the cast suspensions without pay. This is a tactic of the AMPTP to try to force the writers to end the strike. They are trying to sow seeds of dissension and it gets very complicated to understand everything that is going on when you work in the entertainment industry, so I completely understand the confusion people outside of the entertainment industry have.

Yes, once the strike is over the cast and crew of the new BSG are going to have to work out their contracts in order to complete writing, shooting, and posting the remaining 7 episodes of BSG. However, no one from the cast or crew has said anything other than that they want the strike to be resolved and get back to work.

Here are some good links that discuss the issues of the strike:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007/2008_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/
http://artfulwriter.com/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/strike_news/index.html
http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2403
http://www.tvweek.com/wga-strike/
http://www.youtube.com/user/wgaamerica
 
I understand the writers strike. I am not in the union, or any union, but I run a small production company here in the midwest. I choose to stick to mainly magic instructional stuff these days because I also write and build props for magicians, but I still follow what's happening over in LA. I have friends who are out on the coast... I need to know they are okay because most of those deadbeats owe me money!

I'll grant you that Sci Fi did not say Battlestar Galactica was canceled and instead allowed the producers to say they decided to end the show. But Sci Fi is famous for working on a very skewed schedule and determining a show's fate an entire season in advance (ie, season 7 Stargate ratings determined there would be a season 9) and season 3 BSG ratings were not what they wanted and, at the same time, they passed on the spin-off. I am surmising it was canceled because that is my personal estimation but maybe I should just keep that to myself. Either way, this is the final season.

Force majeure clauses are common in many types of contracts well beyond the entertainment industry. Many companies have similar clauses that let them effectively lay off employees if, for example, major suppliers go on strike or cannot deliver necessary items for several weeks. The key point here is that NBC is counting the "Razor" as 2 episodes so that 13 episodes were completed, activating a clause that also allows them to completely cancel the remainder of the contract because they have hit that magic number... on a show that was not performing the way they were hoping, that is being moved to a different night and that had a spin-off passed over.

But do you like Doctor Who?
 
Michael L. said:
But do you like Doctor Who?
Click to expand...

Yes, very much.

If you go to http://gallifreyanembassy.org/portal/forum/index.php you will find lots of discussion on the show and you will see me posting there as "DerekInLA".

;)
 
I've lurked around there once or twice! I need to avoid getting active on another forum, though. I have a couple magicians' forums I am on quite a bit, this one and they all really are so tempting when there is real work to be done!

To steer this back to the original intent, I pose you (and all y'all) a question:

Best doctor and why?

I ask because my wife, who is a great fan of the new series, has never seen the original. I need to get out and pick up a few DVDs and I am wondering where to start... I haven't seen the old series in a while myself but I have many of the BBC audio stories. Most are the first three incarnations and I think that has skewed my memory a bit!

Realizing that Tom Baker always seems the obvious choice, I am wondering who some of the other favorites are; I can't ask you to suggest which incarnation she will like best since you don't know her.

If I had to pick a favorite right now I would be hard pressed to decide between Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee... but I liked that Earth bound phase, so I think I would go with Pertwee.
 
My favorite Doctor is always the one that I happen to be watching when I am watching Doctor Who.

Generally, the even numbered ones tend to be a little more to my liking: Troughton, T Baker, C Baker, McGann (great Doctor, not a great story), Tennant. Pertwee is probably my least favorite because of the Earthbound phase and the over-reliance on The Master. I think McCoy's final season was one of the strongest seasons throughout the broadcast history.

City of Death is one of the best stories to introduce someone to the series. Of course An Unearthly Child needs to be seen to help set up the concept of the show.
 
Whovians! Oh YEAH!

In the new series, the premise is that Gallifrey was wiped out, ergo the Doctor is on his own, the last Timelord and all that. But because he IS a TL, he can obviously go back to before the destruction for spare TARDIS parts, etc. IAC, the timing of the wipeout has not been revealed. So when did it (or will it) happen?
_______________________

If there is to be continuity between the new series and the previous ones, a Timelord is allowed 13 incarnations (12 regenerations). We have seven Doctors in the original series. We can assume that Hartnell was the first one, since he said as much (with Richard Hurndall subbing) in The Five Doctors: "As it happens, I am the Doctor. The original, you might say!"

Thus it required six regens to reach McCoy. The 7th was McGann, the 8th was Eccleston, the 9th is Tennant. If we want to be sticklers, we can include Peter Cushing's 1965/66 movie Doctor and Rowan Atkinson's 1999 parody, meaning that 11 regenerations are exhausted.

When Tennant leaves, the next one will be regen 12. That's it. What will the Beeb do after that one quits? Will they slip another one in and hope that the Whophiles don't count, or that no one remembers Cushing and Atkinson and thus gives them two more regens as a buffer?

Inquiring Who devotees want to know.
 
Peter Cushing's and Rowan Atkinson's portrayals were not canonical, so they do not count. Tennant is the tenth incarnation, so there are three left. However, the rebirth/regeneration of The Master last season does give a possibility of there being a "reboot". All of The Master's lives were used up when we last saw him. In fact, The Master was already on his 13th incarnation when he was introduced during Pertwee's era when he was played by Roger Delgado. However, at some point between the McGann movie and the relaunch of the series The Master was completely dead and then reincarnated by the Timelords in order to fight in the Time War against the Daleks. He fled and went into hiding as a human being as portrayed by Derek Jacobi. When he was killed we saw him regenerate into John Simm. This means that the Timelords definitely had some way to restart the regeneration process after the 13th incarnation was dead. So, there is a chance that The Doctor may have a way to have more than 13 lives. There is also a theory that it is the use of the Chameleon Arch that may cause the reboot, but that is only speculative.
 
There's an unacceptable alternative from 2006:

While Freema Agyeman plays it cool as the Doctor's new sidekick Martha Jones, executive producer Russell T Davies plans to heat things up by unveiling a long lost Time Lord - and Who's the daddy!

[snip]

Meanwhile, writer and executive producer Russell T Davies is to unveil in next year’s season finale a long lost Time Lord.

The Doctor's son is an ideal successor as Time Lords supposedly only have 13 lives, with the current Doctor already on his 10th regeneration.

A source told the Daily Star: "Time Lords only have 13 lives and then that's it, they finally die. Since there are only two regenerations left, the BBC need a plan to make sure the show can carry on.

"So the only way to stop Doctor Who from being killed off completely is by bringing in a successor. Last year, it was hinted that the Doctor had a child following a doomed love affair with someone from a forgotten planet. It’s a stroke of genius."
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Doc shock as Time Lord reveals he's a daddy

There will be rebellion, I dare say.
 
Hasn't having lost his family been mentioned in the new series? Was Susan not actually his grandchild or relative of some sort (I really do not remember) and wasn't the villain in The Five Doctors an evil future incarnation of the Doctor himself? So does that leave only one regeneration or did that future self get wiped out (it has been a long time since I saw that episode)?

Is there any chance, and this may be a question for our UK friends, that the BBC, or a licensed third party, will clean up and restore the older episodes in a manner similar to the newly remastered and touched up original Star Trek? They have done a surprisingly good job at Paramount punching it up without going overboard.
 
In The Ultimate Foe, the Master appeared in the Matrix, revealing that it was possible to infiltrate it. Sabalom Glitz and the Doctor's future companion Melanie Bush were presented to the Court to rebut the Valeyard's accusations. It was then revealed that the Valeyard was, in fact, the Doctor himself — or rather, a distillation of the Doctor's evil side, a potential dark version who might exist between his twelfth and final incarnations. This concept is similar to the ethereal "Watcher" that manifested itself to bridge the gap between his fourth and fifth incarnations (Logopolis).
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Valeyard

The Valeyard was the prosecutor in "The Trial of A Timelord". He would seem to be a synthesis rather than an actual incarnation, ergo he wouldn't count.

Re Susan:

Very little was known about the Doctor when the series began, save that he had a granddaughter, Susan Foreman, that they were from another time and another world, and that he had a time machine, the TARDIS, which was disguised as a police box and was bigger on the inside than on the outside. He and Susan were in exile as well, for unspecified reasons. It would not be until the last adventure of the Doctor's second incarnation that the name of the Doctor's people (the Time Lords) would be revealed, and the third before the name of his home planet (Gallifrey) was first spoken.

The series began with schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright investigating the mystery of Susan, a student who appeared to possess scientific and historical knowledge far beyond her years. Discovering the TARDIS in a scrapyard, they were involuntarily taken by the Doctor on a journey back to the year 100,000 BC, and spent two years adventuring through time and space with the Doctor.
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First Doctor

There are a lot of unknowns about the Doctor's past before the series began. It's arguable that most of his 700 years were spent in the first incarnation, which could make another series by itself if the Beeb saw fit. It would be a good way to introduce his own son or daughter, of whom Susan was a child. And it could fill in a lot of blanks about what transpired that ultimately sent him off into time and space on his own.

From "The Five Doctors":

Tegan: You mean you're deliberately choosing to go on the run from your own people, in a rackety old TARDIS?
The Doctor (Doctor #5): Why not? After all, that's how it all started.

There's a lot of life left in the Doctor.
 
I don't think there's any need to give up on the good Doctor just yet. He's a character that we know so very little about, really, and I'm sure he could very probably come up a way to get past the little 12/13 lives/regenerations whatever it is thing :D. I'm mean all he has to do is reverse the polarity of the neutron flow, brew a fresh cup of really hot tea, and bob's your uncle.

But please if there is a god of some sort, please don't let there be a spin-off featuring the son of the Doctor a la Scrappy Doo ... pleaaase ... noooo ... argghhh. I think I might be able to handle a son just as long he's really boring and doesn't take the limelight away from the Doctor (this universe is only big enough for one hero ... plus Captain Jack ... and maybe the Brigadier :P) ... but the tabloids have been soooo wrong so far about most things to do with the new series (yep Dr Who is back, Who fans ... still pinching myself just to make sure its real :D) that its probably just yet another crappy tabloid rumour.

Oh no ... just thought of something possibly even worse ... a series featuring a gang of young timelords straight out of stage school ... sorry ... the academy. Or a young Cult of Skaro ... or Rug(b)rats featuring young daleks, cybermen, davros, the master complete with tiny beard ... arrghhhhh
 
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