Doctor Who to return after time out
- Publication: The Scotsman
- Date: 1996-01-11
- Author: Lynn Cochrane
- Page: 3
- Language: English
DR WHO is making a return to the small screen, with Paul McGann playing the time traveller.
The star of The Monocled Mutineer beat off opposition from Simon Callow, Sting and Alan Rickman to become the eighth Doctor Who since the cult programme began in 1963.
McGann, 36, will star in a two-hour programme jointly produced by BBC Worldwide and Universal Television.
Filming starts in the next couple of weeks in Los Angeles. If the film is popular another six two-hour adventures are planned.
Doctor Who was last seen on television in 1989, when he was played by Sylvester McCoy. But ratings slumped to four million viewers and it was axed.
The new production will cost £5 million and be broadcast on both sides of the Atlantic this year.
McGann said yesterday: "Taking on such a key role hasn't really sunk in yet. It's just beginning to dawn on me what all this means.
"I loved Doctor Who as a kid -William Hartnell used to terrify me. My favourite was the Yeti, but the Daleks never did it for me - they couldn't run upstairs."
Alexandra Loosely-Saul, the owner of the International Dr Who shop in East Ham, London, welcomed the news. "I am absolutely delighted. Paul McGann has just the right silent, mysterious quality that Doctor Who needs," she said.
"There is no way it will seem outdated. All it needs is good writers, good actors and new technology, and now we've got all that. I can't wait to see it."
The first episode went out on the day that President Kennedy was assassinated, 22 November, 1963, with Hartnell playing the Doctor.
The adventure began at a school where the doctor's granddaughter, Susan, was a star pupil. Intrigued by Susan's vast knowledge, two of her teachers go to her home where they find what appears to be a police box.
Hartnell was followed by Patrick Troughton, John Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. The show was an instant hit. Generations of children watched episodes peeking out from behind the sofa to get a tentative glimpse of the Daleks and other frightening robots.
When the BBC programmes chief, Michael Grade, announced he was axing the show in the mid 1980s, the weight of protest made him change his mind. But the time traveller has been away since 1989.
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- APA 6th ed.: Cochrane, Lynn (1996-01-11). Doctor Who to return after time out. The Scotsman p. 3.
- MLA 7th ed.: Cochrane, Lynn. "Doctor Who to return after time out." The Scotsman [add city] 1996-01-11, 3. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Cochrane, Lynn. "Doctor Who to return after time out." The Scotsman, edition, sec., 1996-01-11
- Turabian: Cochrane, Lynn. "Doctor Who to return after time out." The Scotsman, 1996-01-11, section, 3 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Doctor Who to return after time out | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_Who_to_return_after_time_out | work=The Scotsman | pages=3 | date=1996-01-11 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=20 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Doctor Who to return after time out | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_Who_to_return_after_time_out | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=20 March 2025}}</ref>
