Recently in Doctor Who Category

Not that it ever was, of course. But the suggestion did come up when I recently sat down with Arthur Darvill, who played Rory in the first episode of this series of Doctor Who and whose character returns in a more regular role in this weekend’s episode.

Aside from his acting career, Arthur is an accomplished musician and composer, and has worked with playwright Che Walker on two projects of note: The Frontline, which was the first contemporary production to grace the stage at Shakespeare’s Globe, and the Young Vic’s recent musical Been So Long. So it was natural to ask whether he’d consider writing a musical episode for Doctor Who.

> Doctor Who the Musical? No. I’d love to write an episode where everyone’s dancing or something, I don’t know. But no, Doctor Who the Musical isn’t gong to happen!

That was the most frivolous point of the interview, but there’s plenty more — from his first working with Matt Smith (in the West End run of Swimming With Sharks) to the challenges as an actor presented by all the scripts being shrouded in extreme secrecy.

You can listen to a streamed version of the podcast on our podcast blog, and you can listen and download to every podcast episode, as well as subscribing to receive every future episode, from iTunes.

The fallout over the interruption of the climax of a Doctor Who episode with an animated trail promoting Over the Rainbow has, at least, seen some positive effects.

As quoted on the letters page of the new (May 8-14) issue of Radio Times, a spokesman for the BBC says that the type of overlay used may sometimes be seen at the end of entertainment shows, but not dramas. In this instance, it appears that the overlay was run 20 seconds too early — it should have, instead, been played over the credits as an alternative to that annoying “shrinking”.

The BBC says they are “taking steps to ensure this mistake will not happen again”. Meanwhile, in last night’s edition of The Graham Norton Show, with guest Karen Gillan (Doctor Who’s Amy Pond), Graham dealt with the intrusion in his opening monologue:

This Saturday, BBC1 launched a new series of themed idents. Unusually for the channel, the ident is a cartoon animation: even more unusually it includes references to the channel’s current slate of Saturday evening shows Total Wipeout, Doctor Who and Over the Rainbow.

Outside Christmastime, it’s rare for BBC1 shows to turn up in the idents themselves. One exception has been the cast and car of Ashes to Ashes, who turned up in a live action ident, but generally the short films are generic in quality.

I like the conceit of the new idents: they imply a cohesiveness to the Saturday night schedule that ITV, for all the popularity of Britain’s Got Talent, lacks. And the use of the iconic Television Centre to provide the circular motif that is common to all BBC1 idents is both an appropriate choice and one that appeals to the TV geek in me.

So the launch of the idents should have been a success on Saturday night. Instead, a particularly stupid and thoughtless application of the new Saturday night branding turned all the positives into one almighty negative.

With BBC flagship shows such as Casualty and Doctor Who relocating to a new base in Cardiff, broadcast writer Maggie Brown reflects on how the programmes are coping with budget cuts and who’ll feel the impact

As the 11th Doctor Who, played by the skittish, 27-year-old Matt Smith, launches a new era of time travel this Easter weekend, there is far more at stake than whether the public takes to his new garb of timeless fogey Harris tweed jackets, bow ties and braces - rather than the Jarvis Cocker-inspired sharp suits of David Tennant.

For those attending a glitzy premiere in Cardiff earlier this month - hosted by the cream of the Welsh broadcasting establishment - it also underscores the massive turnaround in the fortunes of TV drama production in the principality. And that in turn poses the question of whether it can be maintained long term, by genuine indigenous growth.

There have been people hoping and praying that, with Steven Moffat taking over from Russell T Davies, Doctor Who will be headed in brand new directions. Equally, there have been people who love the series as it is, and who don’t want it to change at all.

After seeing the first episode last night, I think both camps will be somewhat satisfied.

The Eleventh Hour — cunningly named, as it features Matt Smith’s first full outing as the Doctor, and has been extended beyond the standard 45-minute episode length — will air on BBC1 on April 3. As with the last couple of series, TV Today will be reviewing each episode in full.

I’ve tried not to give away too many spoilers, but Doctor Who more than most has fans who don’t want to know anything about the show before each episode airs. So for them, take this as a mild spoiler warning — and then join me after the jump…

Before Christmas, BAFTA hosted an event entitled The Regeneration of Doctor Who, in which the series’ outgoing executive producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner discussed the events and reaosing behind the series’ revival in 2004/5 with Time writer (and Doctor Who nut) Caitlin Moran.

The event is now available as a (non-embeddable) 25-minute video on YouTube, but BAFTA also supply a slightly smaller size version that we can include here, so you can watch it below. Fans of the show who consume every episode of Doctor Who Confidential, and who have read every word of Davies’ book with Benjamin Cook, The Writers’ Tale (look out for a full review of the new expanded edition shortly) will be familiar with a lot of the topics discussed. But both Davies and Gardner are always engaging, and they talk about television writing production with such warmth and passion that it’s an essential watch even for non-fans:

If you saw the New Year’s Day conclusion to David Tennant’s tenure as the Doctor in The End of Time Part 2 (quick review: little too long, miles better than part 1, loads of great moments, loved the hat tip to the late Howard Attfield aka Geoff Noble, John Simm brilliant, arise Sir Bernard Cribbins, still not ginger!) then you saw Matt Smith’s first few seconds in the role, running around the burning Tardis with glee as it hurtled on a crash course with Earth.

What you may have missed, unless you stayed tuned throughout the days’s second epsiode of EastEnders, was the full-length teaser for the new 2010 series complete with new companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan, who is ginger), new Tardis-shaped DW insignia and an abundance of quick peeks at some of the friends and foes the Eleventh Doctor will encounter in the spring.

Thankfully, it’s now on YouTube for all to see — and for us to embed below:

In case people don’t want to be spoiled I’ll refrain from speculating on the trailer’s contents here — but feel free to do so in the comments!

Next week, The Stage will be interviewing John Barrowman, known of course as Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood and Doctor Who but who is donning a very different kind of costume to play the role of Albin/Zaza in LA Cage aux Folles in the West End.

The interview will appear in print, as well as the latest in our successful range of podcasts — but we thought we’d share a snippet of Who-related chat for you as a teaser.

As Captain Jack, Barrowman has played opposite Christopher Eccleston and, most recently, David Tennant in the role of The Doctor. With Tennant’s grip on the Tardis key loosening and That Face/Moses Jones actor Matt Smith about to take up the role, Stage interview Alistair Smith asked him about the transition.

According to Barrowman:

I have met Matt. I was doing my publicity for Tonight’s the Night and Matt came in to meet the whole publicity department at the BBC. He walked over to me and went, “Captain Jack!” and we shook hands.

He actually said, “I’d love for our characters to cross paths,” and I said, “That’s really nice to hear. I’m really chuffed that you would say that.”

We sat down and talked for about 15 minutes and then he had to go off and do his thing. I turned to the publicist I work with at the BBC and I said, “I just feel like I’ve had an affair — I feel like I’ve just cheated on David behind his back!”

Then I told David and he was like, “You turncoat.” But Matt will be brilliant. Like anything, it’s different, it’s a new energy, he’s younger, he’ll bring a new twist to it.

Also in the interview, John talks about Torchwood series 4 and future appearances of Captain Jack in Doctor Who as well as revealing more about his role in Desperate Housewives. And, of course, he’ll be discussing his long overdue return to the West End.

The print version of the interview will appear in next week’s issue of The Stage, cover date October 1. A longer audio interview will be online at the same time on The Stage Podcast. To ensure you receive an audio copy automatically, you can subscribe in iTunes for free and all future podcast episodes will download automatically as soon as they are available.

Over on US TV blog Televisionary, Jace has been interviewing Torchwood and Doctor Who writer/producer Russell T. Davies and director Euros Lyn. After all the Comic-Con madness and the ‘Save Ianto’ hubbub, it’s nice to hear them talk about more general matters regarding both series — and for Euros to get some attention: both Russell and John Barrowman have such large personalities that he was on the verge of being ignored at some recent press events.

The sound level’s a little low, but it’s well worth watching — although it contains some spoilers for future Doctor Who episodes.

• Song’s End: Televisionary Talks to “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” Duo Russell T. Davies and Euros Lyn

My inner fanboy heart skipped a beat this morning when the first pics of Matt Smith as the new Doctor Who surfaced as the fifth series of the drama hit commenced filming in Wales.

It’s futile to go into great detail on the Doc’s new look, but my first thoughts are positive - I like the mix of academia with an urban edge. And Karen Gillan just looks gorgeous as new companion Amy Pond.

Check out the lovely pics from The Sun’s TV Biz to see for yourself - but beware, there are spoilers for a returning character…

This just in: Matt Smith, who will soon start filming his first scenes as the Doctor for the 2010 series of Doctor Who, will be performing live at London’s Royal Court Theatre this coming Friday at 4pm.

He will be taking part in a rehearsed reading of The Hotel Play by Wallace Shawn, as part of the Royal Court’s season devoted to the playwright. It’s a large piece with a cast of over sixty, so don’t expect him to get a huge amount of stage time. On the other hand, there are lots of other splendid actors joining him in the endeavour, including Benedict Cumberbatch, who TV Today included in our rundown of people who could possibly take on the role of the good Doctor. Longer term Who fans should note that also taking part is Geoffrey Beevers, who played the Master in the 1980 story The Keeper of Traken, a role he has also reprised

The full cast list (cribbed wholesale from the Royal Court website) is:

Cast includes Geoffrey Beevers, Diane Borger, Andrew Buckett, Bill Buckhurst, Ben Caplin, Anna Calder-Marshall, Kier Charles, Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Darnley, Sarah Davies, Jacqueline Defferary, Monica Dolan, Emily McDonnell, Elyse Dodgson, Amanda Drew, Deborah Eisenberg, Stephanie Fayerman, Ed Fortes, Alan Francis, Ian Gelder, Adam Gillen, Jonathan McGuiness, Alex Guiney, Jeremy Herrin, William Hope, Shane Hough, Maxwell Hutcheon, Patrick Kennedy, Isabella Laughland, Rob Laycock, Deirdre Lennon, Daisy Lewis, Alex Lowe, Charlotte Lucas, Emily Lucienne, George Mackay, Bruce Mackinnon, Benjamin Noble, Pamela Nomvete, Will Payne, Harry Peacock, Stephen Pidcock, Pearce Quigley, Ian Redford, Tariq Rifaat, Marcelo Dos Santos, Danny Sapani, Kerry Shale, Baruka O’Shaughnessy, Matt Smith, Roderick Smith, Colin Stinton, Bobby Stokes, Nicolas Tennant, John Trindle, June Watson, Harry Waller, Nigel Whitmey, Amanda Wilkin and Becky Wootton

The theatre’s website booking system seems to be playing up at the moment, so I can’t tell if there are any tickets left. However, the chances of seeing such a huge array of acting talent in one place is very rare, so in any event I’d advise booking as quickly as possible. Once word gets about Mr. Smith being involved, tickets are liable to go very quickly. Indeed, as the Royal Shakespeare Company noted on its twitter feed:

• Wallace Shawn rehearsed readings, Royal Court Theatre

Looking forward to tomorrow’s Doctor Who special, Planet of the Dead? Then you may enjoy these interviews with David Tennant and Michelle Ryan that we’re providing you for your delectation!

Don’t say we never do anything for you here at TV Today!

• Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead is on Saturday April 11 at 6.45pm on BBC1.
• For more Easter TV treats, check out our Square Eyes Easter Preview

You know, it’s quite an achievement when what amounted to a 30-minute press release pulled in ratings of 6 million as Doctor Who Confidential announced on Saturday that Matt Smith would be the new Doctor Who. It shows just how much of a phenomenon Who has become, and I loved every second of that show. The slow build, the clips of old Doctors, Lis Sladen getting ready for panto (unless she dresses like that at home…)

And TV Today’s official line on the casting of Smith is that we are surprised and delighted by the news. It was a totally unexpected choice. Smith’s name hadn’t even been linked to the role - well, not until Saturday lunchtime, when some bright spark in the BBC newsroom had probably worked it out. I can’t imagine the announcement would have had the same buzz had it turned out to be Richard E Grant or Paterson Joseph or other actors with so-called “Doctorish” qualities. I hate that word!

Smith looks old beyond his years, an expressive face, intense eyes and a cheeky little smile. As Tom Baker said of David Tennant on his casting as the Doctor, Smith looks like he’s got secrets. He was utterly charming in his interview on Doctor Who Confidential and if anybody is in any doubt that he can’t pull it off, tough. Matt Smith is the Doctor whether you like it or not.

Well, I wasn’t expecting an announcement about the new Doctor Who this early in 2009. I thought we had at least a few more Who Could Be Who? columns in us.

For what it’s worth, I’m going to throw the names Paterson Joseph, Alexander Armstrong and Ben Whishaw into the hat, just for a laugh.

As of this moment I’m excited and scared all at the same time. Bring it on!

As you all know, David Tennant will be leaving Doctor Who, probably at Christmas 2009, relinquishing the best role on television to a new actor (or actress?) for the fifth series of the revamped TV classic in 2010. This series of Doctor Who will mark showrunner-elect Steven Moffat’s first run in the big chair on the series. And his first, most important task, will be to select the actor who will take Doctor Who on the next phase of this trip of a lifetime…

I’ve mused recently on some names that might fit the bill for the role, and the papers are coming up with new names seemingly every day (Tom Ellis? I mean, really…)

We probably have months ahead before Tennant’s successor is announced - and let’s not count David out yet, he’s got a stack of specials to film throughout next year. But here at TV Today towers we thought it might be fun to run the occasional piece on possible contenders who we think could be Who… You never know, we might get it right…