I rescued Doctor Who

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Publication: TV Times
Date: 2005-06-18
Author: Chris Pointer
Page: 12
Language: English

Russell T Davies knew the Time Lord find become a joke, so he set about reviving him with ingenious plots, funny lines... and Daleks. But as the latest series reaches its climax, and we look back at memorable moments, where does the Doctor go from here?

Now, if you've opted out of Saturday night monsters, spaceships, zombies and Daleks, then silly you. Even those who'd take a flight to Mars with little green men rather than watch a nanosecond of the usual nerdy sci-fi stuff have been transported.

Between seven and 11 million have switched on to Doctor Who every week, which means that even viewers who wouldn't wear an anorak, even if their lives depended on it, have been captivated. Instead of featuring endless, boys' own intergalactic space battles, the series has become a dazzling highlight of the TV year.

It's expected, then, that with the promise of a new dynasty of Daleks and the Doctor supposedly about to disappear in a puff of smoke, viewing figures for this week's final episode of the BBC1 series will rocket.

And unless you've been on another planet, you'll know Christopher Eccleston is quitting and will magically regenerate into a new form of the Doctor, played by David Tennant. So how will it all work? It would take more than the threat of a good zapping from a Dalek's lethal weapon sink-plunger arm to persuade creator Russell T Davies to reveal exactly what will happen at the climax of this last episode.

'I can't give it away but, honestly, you'll have the time of your life watching,' promises Russell. 'We've got a Christmas special coming up and it leads into that, as well.'

Reinventing Doctor Who was a daunting prospect for Russell and his team. 'There really was a lot riding on it and a lot of people would have had egg on their faces if it had failed, so I'm just delighted,' he says.

'I never thought it was a guaranteed success because there were so many things against it. To start reviving an old show seems mad and science fiction has not been successful on TV for a while. The third obstacle was that, in many eyes, Doctor Who had become a joke.

'I knew we had to rescue it. There was no way you could make it for a little cult audience. That would have been an insult to the licence payer. We had a helluva job. But we did it.

'I specifically set out to target women. I think you can almost guarantee that a lot of men will switch on just because it's science fiction and it's got Billie Piper in it. But we wanted more than that.

'We've had a lot of strong, female characters, a lot more emotion and a lot more fun. There's also none of that dull, military hardware side to it — that's a real turn-off.'

Christopher Eccleston's decision to clock off as the Time Lord was not exactly a bombshell for Russell. 'It was always going to be the case. It's a shame that the news that Chris was leaving had to come out when it did because when you see the last episode, everything makes sense. It was always heading towards that.'

Russell is delighted that the charismatic and handsome actor David Tennant is taking over. They worked together on the highly acclaimed BBC production of Casanova — Russell wrote the script and David starred as the legendary lover.

'David will be marvellous as the Doctor. He's a lovely man. I realise how lucky we've been,' says Russell. 'Right from the start, I was very worried because we had to cast one of the best actors in Britain as the Doctor and now we've had to do it again. But we did it. It's a miracle. David's just at the right stage of his career, he loves Doctor Who and he's worked with me, so it was meant to be.'

Russell is convinced that the change of actor will recharge and rejuvenate the show and he's also philosophical about losing Billie Piper, who will appear as Rose in the majority of episodes in the second series before she, too, disappears.

'I think the series has worked because we have made it accessible. Science fiction can be closed and very technical, very solemn. Terrible things happen in Doctor Who but it's been a fun concept right from the very beginning.'

How The Doctor Changed My Life

David Tennant reveals that watching Doctor Who as a child inspired him to become an actor. From that point onwards, I absolutely didn't want to do anything else,' says David. 'It's odd when I think about it. I don't quite know where it came from or how I could be so sure that becoming an actor could happen, but it never seemed an unlikely or unusual thought to have.

'It was probably to do with being brought up to believe that things were possible and you could be whatever you wanted to be.'

Caption: Dynamic duo: Christopher Eccleston the Doctor and Billie Piper as his assistant, Rose

BEST MOMENT: THE RETURN OF THE DALEKS

Still looking a bit like a dustbin-cum-air-conditioning unit, but now able to el-ev-ate up stairs, the reappearance of the monster of childhood nightmares was a big moment.

CREEPIEST STORY: THE GAS MASK ZOMBIES

In this spine-chilling two-parter, set during the Blitz, the Doctor discovers an unearthly child and a hospital full of half-dead people with gas mask faces crying for their mummies.

MOST LETHAL WEAPONS

The Doctor saved the universe from acid-hating aliens with pickled onions and gherkins.

BEST MONSTER: THE SLITHEEN

Downing St is invaded by fat politicians who unzip their heads to become beasts resembling a cross between John Prescott and ET.

GREAT LINES

When the Doctor outwits the alien force in the gas mask-face episode, the hospital patients are as good as new, to the extent that one woman announces: 'My leg's grown back!' To which Richard Wilson, as the hospital medic, replies: 'There is a war on. Is it possible you miscounted?'

I rescued Doctor Who

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