Tagged: Russell T. Davies

Doctor Who finale to be emotional?

Doctor Who has undergone an unexpected creative renaissance this season, despite the exit of show runner Russell T. Davies and longtime Doctor actor David Tennant. Under the direction of new showrunner Steven Moffat, new Doctor Matt Smith and new companion Karen Gillan, the show is feeling fresher than it has since perhaps David Tennant’s first season as Doctor.

Now comes word from Amy Pond actress Karen Gillan that the forthcoming two-part season finale will be “very emotional.” According to various Web reports, Gillan has said viewers will need “tissues” to endure the final scenes of her first season on the show.

“I’m going to say the word ‘horses’ and that’s it,” Gillan is quoted as saying. “The second part of the finale was the most difficult because it’s a big climax for Amy and her story that’s been building through the series. And it just required a lot of kind of concentration and emotion.”

No word on whether Gillan is on board for a second season, though hopes are high she will be. If not, the promise of an “emotional” finale is sure to bring to mind the final episode between David Tennant’s Doctor and Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler, the most memorable episode ever for incurable Doctor Who romantics.

One thing’s sure about Moffat’s first season as showrunner is that absolutely no weight loss products have been needed; it’s tight, emotional storytelling at its best.

Captain Jack to play it straight in US?

Former Doctor Who showrunner and Torchwood creator Russel T. Davies has been tapped by US producers to adapt his original series, Torchwood, to a US audience. While that’s the good news, the cautionary note is that US producers are asking Davies, who is gay, to transform Torchwood’s male lead character, Captain Jack Harkness, from an “omnisexual” character to one who is straight.

While Davies is allegedly willing to consider such a change for US audiences, the actor who originated the role on the BBC version, John Barrowman, isn’t excited by the prospect, regardless of whether he’s tapped to reprise the role, play it out via security cameras, or not involved at all0.

Barrowman has said, “The last thing I would want would be for Jack to become this heterosexual, straight hero. He’s an omnisexual guy. He likes men, women, aliens, whatever. I think we should continue going down that route.”

Fox is currently the US network showing the most interest in a US adaptation of Torchwood. Whether Captain Jack remains gay/omni/metro or not, however, the biggest challenge to adapting the show to US audiences is redefining the series concept; on BBC, the show was a direct spin-off of Doctor Who, and Torchwood is actually an anagram of the words Doctor Who; without a US version of Doctor Who to help explain the origin and purpose of Torchwood, the show could come off as a cheap imitator of Fringe or X-Files.

Next Doctor Who special is slated!

BBC One has announced that the second of four Doctor Who specials slated to air this year, featuring the swan song of series re-creator Russell T. Davies as well as David Tennant’s Doctor, will are on BBC One in under two weeks, on November 15. A subsequent airing on BBC America is sure to follow, though the air date in the US has yet to be announced.

Titles Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars, the episode will feature Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide, the Doctor’s companion for the episode. Two more specials remain featuring Davies and Tennant at the helm of the TARDIS; both are expected to air as part of BBC One’s tradition “Christmas special” of Doctor Who; at the end of the fourth special, Tennant’s Doctor is expected to regenerate and reveal Matt Smith’s Doctor for the first time on screen.

After Tennant and Davies depart, Smith’s Doctor will see his fate rest in the hands of Steven Moffatt, who has worked under Davies for several years. Smith’s Doctor is set to be the youngest yet cast in the role of the Doctor, as he is still in his 20s. While there has been much talk of bringing back Tennant-era companions like Freema Agyeman’s Martha Jones, Catherine’s Tate’s Donna Noble or even – however unlikely – Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler, instead, it has been announced that Moffatt and Smith will reset the table for the Doctor, granting him an all-new companion for the fifth series in the form of young Scottish actress Karen Gillan, who’s so young she may still require the best acne treatment, and will portray new companion Amy Pond.

Although Davies has made it clear he will make a clean break with Doctor Who after Moffatt takes control, what is less clear are the futures of the successful Doctor Who spin-offs, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Torchwood has survived largely without Davies’ input, but has credited him as creator and executive producer; The Sarah Jane Adventures has seen little direct involvement from Davies under similar circumstances. Time will tell.