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New Doctor Who

August 5, 2013 by · Comments Off on New Doctor Who 

New Doctor Who, And the sonic screwdriver goes to Peter Capaldi. The Scottish actor was named the new star of the British sci-fi franchise Doctor Who on Sunday during a live broadcast on BBC America. He will replace the departing Matt Smith, whose time in the time-traveling police box the TARDIS ends later this year.

“It’s so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer,” said Capaldi, a lifelong fan of the show. “I haven’t played Doctor Who since I was 9 on the playground.”

Capaldi, 55, becomes the 12th man to play the Doctor since the cult show debuted in 1963 with star William Hartnell and the fourth Time Lord since executive producer Russell T Davies rebooted Doctor Who in 2005, following Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Smith.

Executive producer Steven Moffat had considered Capaldi when they were casting the 11th Doctor. “There comes a right time for the right person to play it,” he said.

“We all had the same idea and it was a quite different idea,” Moffat added. When he and his team made a video with Capaldi, “everybody saw it and was like, ‘That’s the Doctor.’ ”

American audiences most recently saw Capaldi as a World Health Organization doctor in the movie World War Z, and he also has big-screen roles in the upcoming The Fifth Estate this fall and next year’s Maleficent.

The half-hour live special on BBC America, hosted by British TV personality Zoe Ball, also featured past Who stars, including Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor (1981-84).

“In a way it’s the longest job in television. It’s a whirlwind time when you do it, and it keeps on going after,” said Davison, whose daughter is married to the 10th Doctor, Tennant.

New Doctor Who

August 4, 2013 by · Comments Off on New Doctor Who 

New Doctor Who, Could it be Peter Capaldi? Or even Hugh Grant? As the BBC prepares to unveil the new star of Doctor Who on live television for the first time, the nation is still in the dark over the latest incarnation of its favourite Time Lord. Which is just how the broadcaster wanted it.

No one could accuse the corporation of failing to milk the regeneration moment. As the 50th anniversary of the first episode approaches, an extravagant celebration will be broadcast on 4 August , climaxing with the naming of the 12th actor to play the Doctor. The special 30-minute programme, in a coveted 7pm slot, was parachuted into the sedate BBC1 Sunday night schedule late last week of Countryfile and Antiques Roadshow, the outcome of some cloak-and-dagger planning. The project even had its own codename: Houdini.

It was put together at speed over the past month by a small group of entertainment producers. Charlotte Moore, the new controller of BBC1, who has school-age children, hit on the idea of a live event after being appointed in June.

The guest list of former Doctor Who stars and celebrity fans who will be in the 400-strong audience at the BBC studio complex in Elstree was still being compiled as the deadline approached. A battalion of Daleks – who will also have a starring role in the 23 November Doctor Who special – are expected to be present, alongside the much-loved fourth Doctor Tom Baker and Billie Piper, who played Rose Tyler in the 2005 revival of the series. Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat describes playing the Doctor as one of “the biggest roles in British television”.

While bookmakers are busily marking up the odds and raking in the bets – with Peter Capaldi, who played the foul-mouthed Malcom Tucker in The Thick of It the clear favourite – Moffat’s mother-in-law, veteran producer Beryl Vertue, said she had no privileged access to the crucial information: “I have no idea who it is,” she told the Observer. “I really don’t. I always say to Steven, ‘don’t tell me’, and he doesn’t. But I think it is lovely that this is happening, that there is such excitement over this programme after 50 years. It just shows you the power it has.”

Russell T Davies, the Doctor Who fan and producer who revived the show against the odds in 2005, will not be in attendance. Davies expanded the brand with spin-offs including Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures before handing creative control to Moffat three years ago. He told the Observer: “I’m trying to keep my head down. I feel like a ghost at the feast. I will be watching from home.”

Since its revival, Doctor Who has become one of the top five BBC “superbrands” – another is Top Gear – selling to about 50 countries. But after winning a UK audience of 10.8 million in 2005,

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