Who's the daddy?
- Publication: Radio Times
- Date: 2005-03-26
- Author: Christopher Middleton
- Page: 2
- Language: English
Writer/executive producer Russell T Davies introduces his fun-but-frightening new baby
When I was asked to create the new Doctor Who, I knew this was going to be something much bigger than just making a TV series. As a young boy growing up in Swansea (I was born in 1963, the first year the show was broadcast), watching Doctor Who was what first inspired me to become a writer — it left me permanently imagining I was about to be picked up by the Tardis and taken off on a journey to faraway planets.
So how have we made the new show different? Well, our version is much faster: we pack anything from 80 to 120 scenes' worth of action into each 45-minute episode. Also, it's a lot more emotionally literate. Back in the 1960s, sheer spectacle was enough: you'd have shows like Danger Man in which there was plenty of action, but you never had any idea what the characters were feeling. That's not the case with our show.
One area in which we've definitely remained true to the original is in how scary the show is. In the 1970s, I used to have terrible nightmares about Cybermen being downstairs murdering my family. So will we be sparing children those hide-behind-the-sofa bits? Absolutely not. Bring on those nightmares! Nightmares show the drama's working.
I make no apology, then, for the size of the body count over the 13 episodes! If I've got five pages of script without a fatality, I start to get worried. Besides, kids have an instinctive understanding of fiction. It's not five-year-olds who get confused about whether something is drama or reality — it's their nans. There's not a child on the planet who watches Finding Nemo and thinks that's a real fish.
Plus there's the reassuring presence of the Doctor, this extraordinary man who strides through all sorts of horrendous disasters with a smile on his face. If you were in danger, he's exactly the sort of person you'd want alongside you. (I say "person", though he's not human — he's got two hearts and is 900 years old.) At his physical and psychological core lies a strength that marks him out as a leader.
I don't mean leadership just in the fighting-off-monsters sense. What I love about the Doctor is that he doesn't travel space and time because it's his job; he does it out of an inexhaustible sense of adventure.
That's what the Doctor can teach every person watching, of whatever age: if they're being undervalued or getting pushed around, they can say no; they can put their foot down; they can dare to stand out and be different. Take the Doctor's new companion, Rose. She's got a dead-end job and a boring boyfriend, she lives with her mum on a run-down estate — but when she meets the Doctor she gets the chance to show she's better than the life she's been leading. That's what lies at the heart of this show: just as the Doctor came for me all those years ago, so he can come for you.
Lord's test
Pragmatic, witty, brave ..." Christopher Eccleston gives us the lowdown on his Doctor, and why he wants eight-year-olds to watch
Did you watch Doctor Who as a child?
I only ever tuned in for the regeneration episodes, because I was fascinated by the idea of someone being the same person on the inside, but suddenly looking different on the outside. With Doctor Who, though, I have to say that the low production values prevented me from believing it was real — unlike, say, Star Trek. I also felt the Doctors came across as these authority figures, lecturing me in their upper-middle-class accents. It seemed like everyone in outer space came from Surrey, rather than Salford, where I grew up.
Why did you take the role?
I've always seen myself as a niche actor, who's been in dramas that have been critically acclaimed but have never got really big audiences. A journalist once told me the roles I played were "comfort food for liberals", and I guess there was some truth in that — I let him out of the room alive, anyway! People are always telling me I'm too gloomy and can't do comedy — so taking a part in Doctor Who is a gamble, and I find that exciting. It could sink my career, or take it to another level.
Describe your Doctor.
Pragmatic, witty, brave, intelligent, anarchic, heroic and caring — he cares about life in all its forms, and has a permanent sense of wonder at the world and everything in it. He's also childlike, contradictory, brutal to his enemies, and constantly restless and inquisitive. In any scene, it's always the Doctor who's the primary source of energy.
What's his relationship with his new companion Rose?
He loves her, simple as that. And she loves him. They both deny it, but her mother can see it. They're very similar, Rose and the Doctor: both carry a sense of loneliness. He allows her freedom —he's always encouraging her to experience things— but he expects a great deal of her, too. He's constantly telling her, "If you want to travel with me, then don't become a burden."
How did you feel about doing so many blue-screen scenes, where you had to react to monsters and effects that you couldn't see? 1 loved it. The great thing about acting is that you're allowed to behave like a child in terms of playing imaginary games. You can see blue-screen scenes as murder to play, or else you can view them as a challenge. And don't forget: you're talking to someone who in Jude [the film of Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure] had to do 11 different takes of realising his son had hanged himself. The trick is to find fresh ways of exploring the moment, and offer up a variety of takes. I mean, that's the job, isn't it?
Do you feel cheated that your Doctor hasn't got a trademark scarf or hat?
Totally not. Right from the start, I wanted to take on the challenge of playing an alien character without the benefit of any frills or extravagant costume; I felt I didn't need Billy Connolly's banana shoes and a feather boa to make the point. I liked the idea of him having a beaten-up leather jacket. I spotted a line in one of the early scripts that described the jacket as the kind of thing Terence Stamp would wear after a day's work on a market stall. Well, they didn't get Terence Stamp, they got me — Plug from the Bash Street Kids.
Have you found the role tiring?
I've worked harder on this series than I've ever worked. We've been doing 11-day fortnights for the past eight months; I've been working 14 hours a day and using my lunch hour to make a start on the evening line-learning. It's been mentally and physically punishing, but I've loved the responsibility of having to lead a series, of having to be there on time, of having to learn my lines properly, of having to set an example. It's been great.
What's your attitude to all the media attention?
Bring it on! Having seen, day in, day out, the total dedication the entire film crew has put in, I'm happy to do anything that will boost the audience for this show. The idea of it sinking from view and being watched by two men and a dog is just too heartbreaking to contemplate. And if the media ask annoying questions — I'll just give annoying answers!
Do you feel this show has lower status than your previous work because it's aimed at children?
Not at all.
The eight-year-olds are the ones I want to reach! An adult probably won't have their life changed by watching a TV programme, whereas a child will. What I really hope, though, is that Doctor Who will be watched by children and adults together. I remember when I was little, there was something uniquely revealing about watching TV with my mum, dad and two brothers. I was astonished at the way two working-class lads like my brothers just loved the surrealism in Monty Python. And with Boys from the Blackstuff, I saw out of the corner of my eye that my dad could hardly watch it because it was so painful for him. If we can get that sort of thing going on, that would be the ideal result for me.
Russell T Davies on ... Christopher Eccleston
Chris has a reputation as a bit of a miserable northerner, which is more to do with the parts he's played than the person himself. In real life, he's funny and quick, and this role lets him re-invent himself on screen. He brings humour and strength to it — plus the sexiness that's given off by intelligent acting. His being in the show gave out the signal that this was going to be proper drama.
"As for his costume, I swear I'd written down "jeans and leather jacket" before we cast him and he said that he wanted to play it -- in jeans and a leather jacket!"
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- APA 6th ed.: Middleton, Christopher (2005-03-26). Who's the daddy?. Radio Times p. 2.
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- Chicago 15th ed.: Middleton, Christopher. "Who's the daddy?." Radio Times, edition, sec., 2005-03-26
- Turabian: Middleton, Christopher. "Who's the daddy?." Radio Times, 2005-03-26, section, 2 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Who's the daddy? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_the_daddy%3F | work=Radio Times | pages=2 | date=2005-03-26 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=22 November 2024 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Who's the daddy? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_the_daddy%3F | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=22 November 2024}}</ref>
