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All New Who To Return!
24/09/2003 . Source: Jessica Martin 
BBC Wales broke the wild news of a brand new Doctor Who television series today. Yes, it's true; the news that the ranks of fandom have been dying for has finally arrived. The man with the funny scarf and the footloose phone box is back after an aching void of over fourteen years (if you discount the pants 1996 movie adaptation which wasted Paul McGann's talents and our time).
Russell 'Queer as Folk' Davies - an avowed Doctor Who fan himself - has been confirmed as the writer. To date, his only SFF-ish work has been 'The Second Coming', where Jesus comes back to modern-day Earth as a Northern video shop clerk. The Second Coming was entertaining and had some innovative SFX for the budget, which augers well for the new Who.
BBC Wales is the company behind Who's own resurrection, which might explain why Swansea boyo Davies has been lined up by Julie Gardner (BBCW's Head of Drama) to play scribe for the important new series.
Other details are sketchy, but a BBC source dropped hints that the all new Who should be back by either the end of 2004 or mid-2005, and names in the frame for the new Doctor include Peter Firth (recently killed off as the head of the secret service in 'Spooks'), jobbing actor Will Knightley (father of the lovely Keira 'Pirates of the Carribean' Knightley) or - should budget allow - David 'Only Fools and Horses' Jason.
The sight of our David facing down the Cybermen with lines such as 'you plonker' will presumably be avoided by Russell Davies.
His assistants may be an American male and female pairing to help series re-sale to the USA, and a heavily updated version of K9 might roll out to complete the team.
An American co-production firm is also tipped to buddy up with the BBC to bring in the larger SFX budgets they'll need to compete with Stargate, Trek, Andromeda and the other favourites in the US market.
The official press release follows:
Doctor Who returns to BBC ONE
Doctor Who, one of the BBC's best-loved and most enduring characters, is set to return to BBC ONE, it was confirmed last night by Lorraine Heggessey, Controller of BBC ONE.
Heggessey said that all rights issues regarding Doctor Who have been resolved and that she has green-lit scripts from award-winning writer Russell T Davies.
It is far too early in the day to discuss possible storylines, characters, villains or who might play the Time Lord - it is unlikely anything will be on screen for at least two years.
Doctor Who will be produced by BBC Wales in conjunction with Mal Young, Controller of BBC Continuing Series.
The executive producers will be Mal Young, Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner, Head of Drama BBC Wales.
Russell T Davies's writing credits include Bob and Rose, Queer as Folk, The Second Coming, Touching Evil (with Paul Abbott) and The Grand.
Mal Young says: "Doctor Who is a much-loved, truly iconic piece of television history. It's time to crank up the Tardis and find out what lies in store for The Doctor.
"We're thrilled to have a writer of Russell's calibre to take us on this journey. However, we're at the very first stages of development and further details, including casting, will not be available for some time."
Writer Russell T Davies, who grew up in Swansea and lives in Manchester, says: "I grew up watching Doctor Who, hiding behind the sofa like so many others. Doctor Who is one of the BBC's most exciting and original characters. He's had a good rest and now it's time to bring him back!
"The new series will be fun, exciting, contemporary and scary. Although I'm only in the early stages of development, I'm aiming to write a full-blooded drama which embraces the Doctor Who heritage, at the same time as introducing the character to a modern audience."
No budget has been set for the new series; the number of episodes and their duration is under discussion. It will be a family show, but no details are available as to when it will be scheduled.
:wink:
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