View source for Dr Who takes off in £5m TV revival

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| publication = The Daily Telegraph
| file = 1996-01-11 Daily Telegraph.jpg
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| date = 1996-01-11
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| language = English 
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| categories = TV movie
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DOCTOR WHO has been resurrected to the small screen with Paul McGann as the new time-travelling space adventurer.

The 36-year old star of The Monocled Mutineer and The Hanging Gale beat off opposition from Sting, Simon Callow and Alan Rickman to become the eighth Doctor Who since the programme began in 1963.

He will star in a two-hour TV film produced by BBC Worldwide and Universal Television in America.

Filming is due to start soon in Los Angeles, and if the film is popular there are plans for a further six two-hour adventures.

Doctor Who was last seen on television in 1989, but ratings slumped and it was axed amid claims that the format and budgets could not compete with productions like Star Wars.

The new production has a £5 million budget and will be broadcast later this year.

McGann said: "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."

Fans of the Tardis-travel-ling space warrior yesterday welcomed the news.

Alexandra Loosely-Saul, owner of the International Dr Who shop in East Ham, east London, said: "I am delighted. Paul McGann has the right silent, mysterious quality that Doctor Who needs."

Caption: Time traveller: Paul McGann is the latest Dr Who

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