Sunday Times Article

An article in today's Sunday Times by Ben Dowell, entitled "Drop the dead Daleks, it's Dr Who the sex machine", has caused some raised eyebrows. Dowell argues that, under the stewardship of Russell T. Davies, the Doctor is "likely to lose his ascetic character." "I have a philosophy ù I can do what I want. If we can think of the perfect story for him to fall in love then he will," Davies told the Times. "The purists may be up in arms, but there are more things to worry about in life. There is no pure Dr Who. He is 41 years old ù it is the only way to do it, to change." The article mentions that the signature look of the Doctor (the "frilly, flamboyant image usually topped off with an eccentric old-fashioned coat") would probably change, and suggests two names for the role -- Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard -- that have been mentioned since the week the new series was first announced. It also goes into a bit of detail about companion Rose Tyler ("a feisty young woman who talks to the Doctor about Dirty Den and the plot of EastEnders... [who] engages in flirty sexual banter with him and talks about her sex life with her boyfriend"), and notes that it's possible that the neither the Daleks (which are caught up in legal issues with Terry Nation's estate) nor the signature theme tune (the BBC isn't sure yet) will be used, and even mentions a possibly storyline for the first episode ("likely to be shop dummies... [who] will launch an attempt to conquer the world by terrorising a London housing estate"... which does lend more credence to the recent rumors that the Autons will likely be making a return appearance (perhaps a bridge to the past?) But the TARDIS will be back as a blue police box, and Davies says he hopes to bring back K-9. "The series, to be screened later this year on BBC1," it goes on, "will consist of episodes longer than they used to be. They will be self-contained, rather than cliffhangers to be resolved the following week." But then the article mentions the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, the long-time UK-based fan group, which refers to them as the Doctor's "greatest foe". "I have met Russell and I am a huge fan of him and his writing. But I am very cautious about this," the article quotes David Bickerstaff of DWAS. "Time lords donÆt have sex at all. We donÆt even know how they reproduce ù it could be a matrix on Gallifrey (the doctorÆs home planet), it could be chemical, we just donÆt know." The article also quotes Colin Baker as saying "Never pay attention to what the fans say. You have to appeal to a new audience." But he agrees about the love thing. "Love is a human emotion and the doctor isnÆt human," says Baker. "We were always told there is one golden rule: no hanky-panky in the Tardis."
     It should be noted that, after the publication of the article, Ian Wheeler of DWAS contacted Outpost Gallifrey to ask us to note the following: "The article says that DWAS could be 'the doctor's greatest foe' because we are a 'group of fans who adhere to the character's original persona'," says Wheeler. "Both of these things are untrue - we support Doctor Who in all its forms and are very supportive of the new series. In addition, my DWAS colleague, David Bickerstaff, has been misquoted in the article. For example, it says that he claims to have met Russell Davies when he did in fact say no such thing." Wheeler has written to the Sunday Times to correct the misrepresentation of the DWAS. In the meanwhile, it should be noted that fans this morning are questioning the comments made, as some of them seem to be based on older information (Nighy, K-9, Izzard) and may not be representative of the producers' intentions. (Thanks to Ian Wheeler, David Blane, Andrew Harvey)