Doctor Who [9]

Mrs Figg wrote:omg. I LOVE Horowitz! he would be perfect for Who. He did a series of about 5 books, one of them called Ravens Gate, its brilliant, I read it maybe once a year cos I love its atmosphere so much. its scary in a good way...hold on... Googling... yeah the series is called The Power of Five, every one a jem. really recommend his books.

Yeah, he's one of a large number on my 'to read' list, and I've heard good things. It's quite a nice surprise to see you being enthusiastic about Who (then again in my mind most changes are positive until proven wrong) but looking around the interweb it does seem like the rumour was unsubstantiated anyway, Moffat isn't on twitter but even it were true I'd of expected him to make a statement before hand.

Still wish Terrance Dicks would write an ep or two for the New Series.

oh poo its not true then? flipping twitter

from the article linked above,

so Matt Smith wanted classic Doctors  

''Reports abounded in April of a falling out between Matt Smith and Steven Moffat over The Day of the Doctor, with Moffat insistent on including no classic series Doctors in the episode. Smith on the other hand was said to be furious that the classic series Doctors were not kept informed of Moffat’s decisions at the very least. The Doctors in question stated at the time they had not heard anything about the show, including not even a straight out “no thank you” from the production office. Some of this can be seen dramatised for comic effect in The Five(ish) Doctors, Colin Baker being particularly vocal in his disappointment at not being invited to take part. Eventually both Paul McGann and Tom Baker were included in The Night of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor respectively.  

''While it’s unlikely that such an argument led directly to Smith’s departure, it could certainly have played a part in his decision. Yet as early as September 2012 Smith was talking about how the show left him tired and drained.''

so Eccleston wanted to be in Day of the Doctor  

''There were claims that Caroline and Steven were responsible for Christopher Eccleston not returning in Day, yet it seems the argument that led to her departure was promoted by her displeasure in Moffat’s refusal to compromise on assurances Eccleston wanted before he would agree to appear in the show. Skinner went on to play a key role in the negotiations with Philip Morris and TIEA as well as act as Executive Producer on An Adventure in Space and Time with Moffat (which may act against the rumour). For her part however, it seems Caroline Skinner had no ill-will toward her time on Doctor Who''.

heres hoping  

''Steven Moffat may leave the show after Series 8, having firmly left his mark on Doctor Who after the events of The Day of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor, having given the Doctor a full new set of regenerations and presumably resurrected the Time Lords after Series 8 which begins filming in January. Talking in March, Moffat stated to Entertainment Weekly that statistically he is nearer the end than the beginning of his tenure on the show''

I wouldnt put much credence into those reports Figg- they have been debunked elsewhere long ago.
Particularly the Eccy thing- Moffat went out of his way to try to persuade Eccy to return for the 50th- as it left him with a big story problem without him and a lot of extra work not having him. The exact reason Eccy refused in the end has never come out, but is presumably tied to the reasons he left after only a year in the first place (which have also never been revealed), and when that happened the show had entirely different production team and showrunner.

Also they give as evidence how unhappy the classic Doctors were not be involved- when in fact we know now they were lying and playing it up for the cameras in order to keep the 50th stuff they were doing a secret- and were still saying these things after they had shot the 5ish Doctors (which has Moffat in it playing this very characterised joke evil version of himself they are claiming is true here and is shot on the Doctor Who sets and studios) and after 8 had filmed his 50th special.

not convinced by that. I think the War Doctor was supposed to be Eccleston.

It was, right up until Eccy said no, but Moffat tried very hard to persuade him to come back before he finally said no.
I am quite sure give the choice Moffat would rather have gone with his original plan and had Eccy than having to do all the extra work of conceiving of an alternative story, character and having to cast it.

Eccleston is a serious actor, if he asked for conditions it was probably reasonable stuff, like not being made to look like an idiot like Tennant was. If Moffat couldnt give him reassurances, Eccy walked.

Then why did he walk in the first place and refuse to have anything further to do with the show when it had nothing to do with Moffat and was RTD?

Moffat at least managed to persuade him enough to at least consider and discuss the possibility, and I doubt even that was easy.

nothing to do with RTD, it was the BBC he had problems with.

actually we dont know still exactly what the cause was, but he has hinted at not being happy with the material (farting aliens getting a mention) and some issue with the manner n which possibly producers or directors were treating junior staff members. But that as much as has been gleaned from snippet he has said since- he doesnt tend to get drawn on the matter.
Whatever the issue it was not however with Moffat who was just another staff writer at the time under RTD.

Of course everything comes down to the eternal Moffat Vs. RTD.

Well I for one dont know why he left Forest- I dont know if it had anything to do with RTD or not- only that he wasnt happy and refused to have anything further to do with Who afterwards, including coming back for the 50th.

But whatever happened to cause him to leave it clearly was nothing to do with Moffat.

http://kotwg.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/christopher-eccleston-was-almost-in.html

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/features/trivia/doctor-who-things-we-learned-from-the-bfis-ninth-doctor-event

I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye to eye with them. I didn't agree with the way things were being run. I didn't like the culture that had grown up around the series....

I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility. The price I would have had to pay was to eat a lot of sh*t. I'm not being funny about that. I didn't want to do that and, it comes to the art of it, in a way.... We are vulnerable as actors and we are constantly humiliating ourselves auditioning. But if you allow that to go on on a grand scale., you will lose whatever it is about you, and it will be present in your work....

You've got to have standards, no matter how hard work that is.... It's easy to find a job when you've got no morals, you've got nothing to be compromised....

I'm sure they were glad to see the back of me. The important thing is that I succeeded. It was a great part. I loved playing [the Doctor]. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I've always acted for adults and then suddenly, you're acting for children. Who are far more tasteful, they will not be bullshitted ....

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/jul/21/doctor-who-christopher-eccleston

I kind of find it hard to believe "Senior people" does not include RTD. At least as he list his reasons for going as mainly artistic, no?

He is very careful about what he says and careful not to be specific on names.
I dont think it helps to speculate who the names might be as we will probably never know.

Bluebottle wrote:

I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye to eye with them. I didn't agree with the way things were being run. I didn't like the culture that had grown up around the series....

I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility. The price I would have had to pay was to eat a lot of sh*t. I'm not being funny about that. I didn't want to do that and, it comes to the art of it, in a way.... We are vulnerable as actors and we are constantly humiliating ourselves auditioning. But if you allow that to go on on a grand scale., you will lose whatever it is about you, and it will be present in your work....

You've got to have standards, no matter how hard work that is.... It's easy to find a job when you've got no morals, you've got nothing to be compromised....

I'm sure they were glad to see the back of me. The important thing is that I succeeded. It was a great part. I loved playing [the Doctor]. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I've always acted for adults and then suddenly, you're acting for children. Who are far more tasteful, they will not be bullshitted ....

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/jul/21/doctor-who-christopher-eccleston

I kind of find it hard to believe "Senior people" does not include RTD. At least as he list his reasons for going as mainly artistic, no?

Maybe (as Petty noted...farting aliens isn't exactly something Ecccleston normally deals with), but is worth noting Eccleston had worked with RTD before, and actually emailed him directly asking to be considered for the part, I'm also pretty sure he only signed a one year contract (though that might just have been due to uncertainty on how it was to be received).

One rumour I remember reading was the director of the first shooting block feel out with the cast and overan significantly on the budget, people were stressed, and as Eccleston was 'leader of the pack' so to speak maybe he felt he had to go to prove a point.

As I say all rumours, I doubt we'll ever learn the real story. But I'm certain Eccleston will remain one of my fave takes on the character.

Yeah, it will be interesting to see if he'll decide to be more open about it some day.

His "Who writes this shit?!" line is pretty epic though, when discovering, having been told New Who would be all dark and serious, his first day of filming involved chasing a miniature pig around.

In fairness to him the Daleks in Manhattan story is bloody awful.

Bluebottle wrote:Yeah, it will be interesting to see if he'll decide to be more open about it some day.

His "Who writes this shit?!" line is pretty epic though, when discovering, having been told New Who would be all dark and serious, his first day of filming involved chasing a miniature pig around.

I have the tiniest bit of hope Eccleston might be more susceptible to working with Big Finish (if, or more likely, when) they get the New Who license, maybe there's more he could do with the character in audio dramas that the constraints of family TV...

Pettytyrant101 wrote:In fairness to him the Daleks in Manhattan story is bloody awful.

Wasn' that a Tennant story? (And yeah it wasn't the best)

You know I cant actually remember- I just thought it had the pig thing in it.

Oh my goodness.



The small pig running around was OBVIOUSLY the faux-alien from the space-ship-crashes-through-Big-Ben episode (with the Slitheen).

The episode with actual pig-men, Daleks in Manhattan, is OBVIOUSLY a Tennant episode from the Martha season.
I mean really now.

You lot are sounding like a bunch of bloody fangirl newcomers trying to remember whether Mr. Cutey-butt Smith-Doctor is the first Doctor or if there were in fact some others in the past maybe.

Tennant was in Daleks in Manhatten

Forest Shepherd wrote:Oh my goodness.



The small pig running around was OBVIOUSLY the faux-alien from the space-ship-crashes-through-Big-Ben episode (with the Slitheen).

The episode with actual pig-men, Daleks in Manhattan, is OBVIOUSLY a Tennant episode from the Martha season.
I mean really now.

You lot are sounding like a bunch of bloody fangirl newcomers trying to remember whether Mr. Cutey-butt Smith-Doctor is the first Doctor or if there were in fact some others in the past maybe.

I thought Petty was going for confused and slighty drunk indifference, but as for myself It's been a good three or four years since I've seen Eccleston's eps (or series three for that matter) and the details do tend to fade over time. I know youtube is a click away but I'm on a rather crappy data package and watching internet vidoes eats through it very quickly. I had intended to watch New Who through (haven't seen series 6 or mist of 7a yet actually) after finishing the Classic series, but it's taking longer than I imagained...

Daleks in Manhatten was way better than Into the Dalek thats for sure. Pigs or no pigs. That was when Daleks were interesting.