Hunt for new Dr Who as Spielberg hijacks series
From Giles Whittell in Los Angeles
A search has begun for an actor to play Dr Whop the British time traveller who has been transported to America by Steven Spielberg, Hollywood's most successful director. Among the names being bandied about are British household idols such as Dudley Moore, Alan Rickman and Michael Crawford. Tom Cruise, the all-American hero with the squeaky-clean image, is also in the running.
The departure of Dr Who from British shores has irked science fiction fans, who have long feared such a cultural heist. After three years of negotiations, mostly focusing on the question of whether Dr Who's Britishness will be preserved, sources at BBC Enterprises confirmed that Amblin Television, the TV arm of Spielberg's company, will refilm the doctor's most memorable adventures in a 22-hour-long series. Whoever is chosen to pilot the Tardis will have a hard act to follow: under the wry, eccentric and subliminally sexy stewardship of Jon Pertwee, and his successor Tom Baker, Dr Who became the longest-running science fiction series with audiences of up to 100 million in 70 countries.
It is unclear how closely Spielberg will be involved since he is not known for television work. But Spielberg, who at the weekend won the Directors Guild of America Award for his Holocaust epic Schindler's List, is said to have assured BBC executives that he would use the best scripts from the original series.
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