I don't know anything about Doctor Who, but that's a cute picture. =)

einral | November 04, 16:55 CET

Wow! That pic startled me for some reason. I think it was Tony's hair.

Hans Moleman | November 04, 16:58 CET

Is it time for season 2 yet???

Tee | November 04, 17:01 CET

First episode goes out on Christmas day, Tee.

Mehitabel | November 04, 17:02 CET

But before the Xmas special, there will be a totally new Doctor Who scene on 'Children In Need' on the 18th of this month my love.

Simon | November 04, 17:07 CET

Also, it hasn't been announced here yet (mainly because it's not really Joss realted), but the BBC have announced a spin off to Doctor Who, from creator Russell T. Davies (the show runner for Doctor Who this year and last). It's an adult sci-fi series, apparently, in the vain of The X-Files. It's promised to be dark.

I'm quite thankful for the change in direction the BBC has been taking recently. Last year they axed funding for reality shows and diverted it towards drama as they decided celebrity gardening shows wasn't a good use of public money (the UKers all pay for the BBC programming). So it actually makes me proud (and slightly smug) to live in a land where we are canceling reality TV, funding drama and had Serenity number 1.

They say smug is never a good look. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.

[ edited by zeitgeist to correct the spelling of Russell's last name on 2005-11-04 15:50 ]

gossi | November 04, 17:18 CET

Cool pic, strange hair. I'm still hoping that when they eventually decide to bring the Master into the show that they go to Anthony Head.

I hope the scene during Children in Need will be proper Doctor Who and not something ridiculous, the show's popular enough on it's own, we don't need to have the Doctor and Rose do a song and dance routine, or run into characters from Little Britain.

I'm still unsure about Torchwood, I'll watch it but I'm not convinced Captain Jack can carry a show, he was a good sidekick but I don't see him as a lead. There are rumors that the whole thing is an incredibly well staged hoax (not sure the BBC will be capable of keeping their mouths shut long enough considering how quickly they let it out the bag that the Doctor would die at the end of the last season) in an attempt to keep the audience from guessing what "torchwood" (which is rumored to be this seasons "Bad Wolf") really is.

Hope season 2 starts in Jan/Feb, ratings started to fall a little when we got some very hot days near the end of the season. And I'm impatient.

Glad the BBC are doing less reality TV, but the other channels are just pumping out more and more of it, even series that weren't particularly successful like Celebrity Love Island have been given a second season.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2005-11-04 15:32 ]

Ghost Spike | November 04, 17:30 CET

I've been meaning to order this series, everyone speaks so highly of it.

And the hair is nice, but his Dr. Frank N. Furter outfit will never be forgotten.

Madhatter | November 04, 17:34 CET

Hmmm. This still sucks. It means I actually have to watch a Who-ep. I only saw the pilot, thought it was dreadfull and never watched another episode. Ah well, guess the Tony ep'll be as good a chance as any to give it another chance. I'm usually not one to skip on cult shows, but I think I might not be genetically compatible with liking Who.

Because, yikes, that pilot was the most sucky piece of television I've seen in...well, almost ever (not counting reality shows ;-)). But I'm glad other people seem to enjoy it :-p

GVH | November 04, 17:37 CET

GVH, you should give it a shot beyond the first ep, seriously. And if ep1 was the worst tv you've seen ever then you should be off somewhere counting your many many blessings ;) After the Christmas ep we have to wait a few months before the actual start of S2. I will be very interested to see Torchwood - I think they might just pull it off.

zeitgeist | November 04, 17:53 CET

As far as I'm aware Torchwood is actually in preproduction. I don't believe it's a hoax or anything.

Whilst ITV is comissioning more reality shows, it's worth noting Channel 4 is pulling back from them. And, also, they launched More4 which is fairly reality free.

gossi | November 04, 18:17 CET

I hate to sound petulant, but when will this series reach American shores? OK, that's a lie, I don't really mind sounding petulant. But while I'm not really familiar with the franchise itself, I'm a major fan of Russell T. Davies, and the thought of him doing a sci fi series that I have no way of seeing, either on DVD or TV, makes me feel sad and unloved by the universe.

dottikin | November 04, 18:42 CET

The box set will get a Region 1 release early next year, but only in Canada, I don't know how easy or difficult it is to import stuff from Canada in the US. You could order it from Amazon UK, but at 45 pounds + postage I'd guess it would be cheaper to wait for the Canadian release. The season is also available on 4 seperate DVDs with no special features, they'll probably drop in price when the box set comes out. If you really want to see it theres also the internet...

I did (can't remember where) read something about HBO buying sesaons 1 & 2 to air at the end of next year, but since I've not read anything else to confirm or deny that, it probably wasn't true. I know SciFi originally turned it down, but I'm amazed that they or someone else didn't pick it up after it did so well.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2005-11-04 17:03 ]

Ghost Spike | November 04, 19:01 CET

It should be easy to get from Canada into the US, I've done it with other discs. On a side note, it was available for download on the web through unofficial channels. On another note, Auntie Beeb is considering making it available as part of a revamp featuring online streaming of shows and such.

zeitgeist | November 04, 19:43 CET

zeigeist - only to people in the UK (for BBC download).

gossi | November 04, 20:12 CET

Boo and hiss, gossi. Didn't know it was restricted to folks who paid the fees. Thought they were still considering selling to those of us who are wild colonials ;)

zeitgeist | November 04, 20:18 CET

Hee, maybe they are, I'm often know to be misinformed..

(Speaking of which, I just noticed Transformers: The Movie appears to be outselling Serenity on DVD on Amazon, which is a piece of news I'm not posting as I'm hoping I'm misinformed).

gossi | November 04, 20:32 CET

Before we tar and feather, may I make a suggestion? An all region DVD player knows no boundaries. OK, I'll hush and play in the traffic.

Madhatter | November 04, 21:48 CET

gossi, the Beeb may be cutting down on reality TV, which is good, but they did also shut down the Cult section of their site. :(

Personally I find Doctor Who kind of addictive. I wasn't hugely impressed with the acting (as so many people were, for some reason) and I don't want to get too critical because I know a lot of people here like it. I do think it is enjoyable escapism but hardly measures up to Joss's work.

I will probably keep watching it just because it's more enjoyable than most of the dross on TV, and will be looking forward to seeing Tony in it.

Razor | November 04, 22:04 CET

re: the hair...

Anthony Stewart Head is Jack Hawksmoor!

Craig Oxbrow | November 04, 22:32 CET

Exactly why I 'altered' two of mine ;)

zeitgeist | November 04, 22:42 CET

Cosmetic products? Er...I'm without words. Can I take the 5th?

Madhatter | November 04, 22:49 CET

A lot of the Doctor Who pilot was setting things up to a new audience and wasn't really a whole Doctor Who adventure in itself. So yeah, I would give it one more episode before giving up on it. Plus the feel of the show always changes a bit whenever a new actor becomes the Doctor, so there's a chance you will like the new one better.

Regarding Torchwood, with Russell T. Davies maving made all sorts of references to Buffy with the new Doctor Who series, a lot of people seem to be refering to Torchwood as Russell T. Davies's Angel to his Buffy Doctor Who. :)

Well, the news that Serenity is coming out December 20th and that it can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com is still just leaking out across the web. I imagine it might take some time before the sales get up there. Speaking of which, I can't seem to find a sales ranking for Serenity. Is it still too early for Amazon.com to post it's ranking?

Matt_Fabb | November 04, 23:16 CET

Sorry to get sidetracked, always my weakness.

Back to Tony. This man impresses me to no end. You just can't find this range of talent anymore. The man can sing, dance, break your heart, make you cheer, and pretty much be a 16 function Swiss army knife among actors. I take it the 'Ripper' series is a dry hole, but I really want to see more of Tony. I'm not sure if I'll like 'Dr. Who', but I'll give it a DVD season shot to decide that matter. I'll order tonight and we'll see.

Madhatter | November 04, 23:44 CET

Ooooh, season 2. :) Can't wait.

Christopher | November 04, 23:51 CET

GVH, the pilot was indeed weak, but it got immensely better pretty much immediately after that.

IMForeman | November 05, 01:12 CET

Heh, okay, with so many people telling me (and also, the dutch sci-fi/fantasy newsgroup I frequent has been bugging me since I announced I hated the pilot ;-)), I guess I might give the beginning of the second season a try. I fear it's just not for me, though. But maybe a new Doctor'll help, and maybe Billy Piper actually learned to act since the pilot *ducks for cover*.

No, seriously, I realise that this is a franchise that many, many people watch and love, but I was just baffled by that pilot and the positive comments I read afterwards made me decide 'maybe this just isn't for me'.

Oh, and:

Welcome to the European (and rest-of-the-world) side of things with most American shows, where we either don't get to see the show at all, or if we do, the networks just screw up pretty much everything they can screw up in airing order, cuts in episodes, years of hiatus somewhere in the middle of a season, deciding not to order more season after a couple are already aired, so no one else can buy the show and air it, even though they're not gonna do it themselves....etc, really ;-)

All I can say is: thank god for the internet, and thank god for DVD boxed sets :-)

GVH | November 05, 05:01 CET

Amen, GVH. Veronica Mars is a prime example. The US is already enjoying the second season, whilst we haven't even started the first yet, and don't know when we will. And it sucks even more for me, because I don't have Sky, so it will probably be on Sky One or something before it arrives on terrestrial. And because it won't be the kind of massively popular show like Desperate Housewives or Lost (more of a Buffy or Angel type show in terms of viewers, probably) it probably will get messed around in the schedules.

However, thank God for Amazon.com, because I will get VM season one for Christmas. I'm also going to get Lost season one and Alias season four. They are so much cheaper to get from Amazon.com than the .co.uk site.

I mean it is really ridiculous, with Angel and Alias DVD ended up being the only way for me to see them at all. C5 still hasn't shown Angel season five or Alias season three.

Razor | November 05, 14:20 CET

Razor, Living TV just showed all of the first season of Veronica Mars. I haven't heard of any terresterial channel that has picked it up.

Simon | November 05, 15:24 CET

Razor Living TV, which I suspect few know exists, has already shown season 1 in the UK. Apparently it got viewing figures of about 50,000 (and we think we've got it tough with Whedonesque shows !).

GVH Do give some of the later episodes a chance. I think the double episode "An empty child" and "The Doctor Dances" is the best SF TV of the year, even beating "Battlestar Galactica". The other general favourite for UK fans is obviously "Dalek" but I don't know if this will be true for a US audience who did not grow up with the Daleks.

We got two writers from the BBC to come along to this years World SF Convention in Glasgow (next year it is in LA) and they said that Dr Who has been so successful for the BBC that they want to commission another three shows of similar types. Apparently, from more recent news releases, one of these is going to be a Robin Hood series.

technovamp | November 05, 16:44 CET

The success of Doctor Who has had a big impact at the BBC, methinks. It proved sci-fi drama with story arcs could prove hugely successful in the UK again. The changing focus in the BBC now means we finally have some quality genre series to look forward to here, which is fantastic - especially since the BBC don't have to worry about advertisers and such.

gossi | November 05, 18:45 CET

Oh, come now, some of us geeks grew up watching the Doctor battle the Daleks on PBS every week, hiding behind our couches just like our UK counterparts :) I know I did. Starting with Tom Baker. EX-TER-MI-NATE!!! Also agree theat Steve Moffat (of the brilliant Coupling) did indeed write two of the best DW eps ever ("Just let me have one day like this...").

zeitgeist | November 05, 19:36 CET

I love Dr Who. I have to say that the first episode wasn't good. But it got better and it's simply a unique show with a lot of British humor. And that Tony is in it makes me want to see it right now.

Koos | November 06, 04:50 CET