Posted By Nathan Baron

Former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston is set to star in the up and coming Stephen Sommers-directed film G.I. Joe, based on the Hasbro toy line and Devil's Due comic. He will play Destro, COBRA's arms dealer and love interest of the Baroness. The film also stars Ray Park (Darth Maul) as Snake Eyes. The film is an origin story and Sommers says he plans to explain various strange aspects - from Destro's metal mask to Snake Eyes' lack of speech.

The film is due to open on August 7th 2009.

Sci-Fi Wire reports that Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston has joined the cast of The Dark Is Rising. The 20th Century Fox and Walden Media film is an adaptation of the books of the same name by Susan Cooper. Eccleston will play the villain, the Rider, and will join the cast of Gregory Smith, Amelia Warner (Aeon Flux), Emma Lockhart (Batman Begins), Gary Entin, Edmund Entin, Jonathan Jackson and John Benjamin Hickey. Ian McShane and Frances Conroy have also been cast. The movie is slated to begin filming on 26 February in Romania.

Visit Sci Fi Wire for more details.

More than 400 outfits tailored by Angels, the pre-eminent costumier for films shot in the UK, will be auctioned by Bonhams of London. The collection includes costumes that were worn by some of Hollywood's biggest names, from Errol Flynn to Al Pacino, as well as outfits from classic British television shows, including Doctor Who.

Six Doctors are represented in the Doctor Who collection, including Jon Pertwee's jacket, which comes complete with a sonic screwdriver, which the auctioneers found in one of its pockets. The tool, which the Doctor used to open locks, is simply a pen glued to a toothpaste tube cap and sprayed silver.

Costumes worn by Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker are expected to fetch £20,000 each and Christopher Eccleston's leather jacket is estimated at £4,000.

Amongst the other costumes is Sir Alec Guinness's brown hooded cloak from Star Wars, which went missing for 30 years and was only discovered in 2005 when Angels made an inventory of its 1.5 million outfits which hang on six miles of rails in a warehouse in north London.

The auction, which takes place on 6th March, is expected to raise more than £1 million. Below are full details from Bonhams of the Doctor Who items included.

Just a reminder readers in the US and Canada that Christopher Eccleston will be appearing on the television seriesHeroes tomorrow, Monday January 22.

In the US Heroes is broadcast on NBC at 9:00pm Eastern and Pacific, 8:00pm Central and Mountain. In Canada Heroesruns on the Global Television Network. Eccleston plays a man named Claude who can become invisible.

The character, who is named after Claude Rains, star of the 1933 film The Invisible Man, will appear in several episodes in the remainder of this season.

UPDATE: The Sun had a picture story about Eccleston's Heroes role in its edition dated January 24, saying the show will be on the Sci Fi Channel next month.

Starting on Friday January 19th, 2007 (Friday night/Saturday morning) the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will commence a repeat run of the 2005 Doctor Who series starring Christopher Eccleston. Starting with the premiere episode "Rose" episodes will be broadcast each Friday at 12:00 midnight (12:30am in Newfoundland and Labrador). This will be the fourth full CBC network run of Series One since April 2005.

Episodes of Series Two with David Tennant will continue on the CBC after their Christmas hiatus with "The Satan Pit" on Monday January 15th, 2007 at 8:00pm (8:30pm in Newfoundland and Labrador).

The Sun has revived the story doing the rounds a while ago that Christopher Eccleston is tipped for the lead role in a remake of 1960s cult TV show The Prisoner.

The article says filming on the joint Sky One/Granada TV/AMC production will begin in the spring, with the programme showing worldwide in January 2008.

There is no comment from Eccleston or his agent, Lorraine Hamilton, in the piece to either confirm or deny his involvement.

To the side of the online article are links to "related stories", including a slideshow from The Runaway Bride.

Also in The Sun is a lengthy interview with Billie Piper in which the actress talks about anorexia, therapy, life as a pop princess and the impact of Doctor Who on her marriage to Chris Evans.

In addition, it refers to her split this week from boyfriend and law student Amadu Sowe, repeating her statement: "I've always tried to shield Amadu from the showbusiness world and public glare that I've learnt to live with over the years.

"I'm afraid that means I'm just not comfortable talking about our relationship or the finer points of it."

The feature finishes by referring to her forthcoming roles in The Ruby In The Smoke and Mansfield Park, with a closing quote from Piper: "I feel a bit more in control of my life than I ever have done - that's a great feeling, I’m really happy about it."

According to Michael Ausiello, in his November 15th column at tvguide.com, Ninth Doctor actor Christopher Ecclestonhas joined the cast of NBC's breakout show Heroes. Eccleston is set to play Claude, a man who can become invisible. Says Ausiello, "Fanboys, prepare to piddle yourself. Christopher Eccleston -- the original Dr. Who from the current Sci Fi/BBC series -- is joining the cast in January in a really super (tee-hee) role." Although this hasn't been confirmed yet, it fits in with recent news in DWM that Eccleston has been over in the US seeking work.

As we noted early in the week, Doctor Who was one of the awards announced in the BAFTA coverage as shown on ITV, coming up about forty minutes into the show which was hosted by Bad Wolf guest voice Davina McColl. Kevin Whately and Amanda Holden announced the nominees in the Drama Series category, and the clip shown of Doctor Who was of thousands of Daleks flying through space from The Parting of the Ways. Here's a recap of what transpired:

Billie Piper, Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies came on stage to accept the award after the winner was announced, with David Tennant applauding from back at the show's table. Gardner did the acceptance speech on their behalf, thanking Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper and particularly Davies as well as everyone else who makes the show. When she mentioned Davies, his name got a large round of applause from the audience. Then suddenly from the wings - and much to the audience's delight - a Dalek appeared. Oddly, given that press and last night's news coverage had shown a regular gold Dalek gliding down the red carpet, this Dalek, although new series style in construction, was painted jet black. It angrily announced, with the familiar Nick Briggs voice, that "all BAFTAs will be surrended to the Daleks!", before Kevin Whately foiled it by placing his hand over its eye. The Dalek protested that it could not see, and then sternly warned them not to touch the Dalek. Gardner, clearly quite amused by the creature's presence, admitted that they wouldn't have been there without the Daleks.

One hour into the show the winner of the Pioneer Audience Award was announced, the nominees for which had been shown in two groups of four clips earlier in the evening between other awards. This award was announced by the Chairman of Pioneer, who simply stood there and didn't say anything, and much-loved British television actor Sir David Jason. Jason ran briefly through the nominees, and compared Doctor Who to Strictly Come Dancing - "one is about a spry but eccentric one million year old man and his sexy sidekick, the other is about a flying police box." After Jason, following some initial struggles with the envelope, announced Doctor Who as the winner, Billie Piper accepted the award on her own, the theme tune playing loudly through the hall as she walked to the stage. Grinning and describing the award as "a treat!" she enthused about how much the award meant to the cast and crew and how grateful they were, before wishing everyone else a "great evening".

Finally, around one hour twenty minutes into the ceremony, David Tennant came on stage. After speaking briefly about Dennis Potter, he said how any writer who receives an award presented in Potter's name must be very special. He then said how he was proud to count Davies as a boss and a friend, and then outlined the writer's career and achievements to date. There then followed a collection of clips of Davies's work since The Grand, interspersed with clips of actors and colleagues enthusing about his work. They included Julie Gardner, Nina Sosanya (Casanova), Anthony Cotton (Queer as Folk), Lesley Sharp (Bob & Rose and The Second Coming), Matt Lucas (Casanova), Nicola Shindler (founder of Red Production Company), David Liddiment (former Director of Programmes at ITV) and Billie Piper. Said Tennant, "Dennis Potter understood that television was an art form that was new and unique. His writing was consistently fresh, often controversial and always stimulating. Television drama would never be the same again after him. Any writer who gets a BAFTA presented in his name has to be something very special indeed. It is safe to say that tonight's winner is just that. He is one of the most unique voices in television today. I am delighted to describe him as my boss, but I'm proud as punch to call him a friend. It is Russell T Davies. ... A self-confessed Doctor Who enthusiast, Russell achieved the apparently unachievable – revitalising and updating a television icon that many thought was beyond redemption. But he injected the series with a heart, a wit and an imagination that made a forty year-old concept fresher than just about anything else around it. Russell's great friend, the writer Paul Abbott, said: 'the humanity and wit that Russell crams into the tiniest corners of human behaviour sets him far far above the professional typists masquerading as writers in this industry'. The exceptional quality of his output is only achieved by a working day that would leave most Calvinists shrinking in shame. He is the finest inspiration any friend and colleague could wish for, and he's given me two of the best roles that I could ever hope to get, so it is a great, great privilege for me to be chosen tonight to present the Dennis Potter Award to a man so fabulously deserving." Tennant then introduced a montage of clips followed by introducing Davies, who came to the stage to great applause and hugged Tennant. He thanked the Academy for "an honour beyond words". He said there were too many people to thank it was like "drowning in a sea of faces in your head". He thanked his agent and his boyfriend, and then thanked his friend Sally Watson, not a member of the television industry, but who once told him "why don't you write like you?" when he worried about comparing himself to other writers. He claimed it was the best piece of advice he had ever been given.

(Thanks to Paul Hayes)

Former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston will star as Number Six in a television remake of the cult favorite series, "The Prisoner". "The 1967 series, starring Patrick McGoohan as a former secret agent who was kidnapped and imprisoned in a mystery village, baffled millions of viewers around the world," says the Times. "The new version, made by Granada for Sky One, will incorporate the paranoia, conspiracy theories and hi-tech action sequences of modern-day spy dramas 24 and Spooks. ... Hollywood stars have also pitched for the role but discussions with Eccleston are at an advanced stage, according to production sources. However, the Welsh tourist 'village' of Portmeirion, where the original ATV show was filmed, will be replaced by a more exotic foreign location, probably outraging fans of the original. ... Damien Timmer, executive producer of The Prisoner, said: 'The series is like Pandora's box; it's the ultimate conspiracy thriller. Like 24, the new series will entrap you from the opening scene.' Granada hopes the series will tap into the show's cult following, while also appealing to younger viewers. It is expected to appear before a long-mooted Hollywood film remake, and Granada is expecting to sell the show internationally. McGoohan won a global fan base for the 17-episode series, which made regular use of his catchphrase: 'I am not a number; I'm a free man.' His nameless character -- Number Six -- was abducted after resigning from a top secret government position and relocated to a sinister village where nothing was as it seemed. However, Granada is promising a 'radical reinvention' and a plot that will make sense to viewers who watch the six-episode series." Meanwhile, according to the Mirror, "Director of programmes Richard Woolfe promised a 'thrilling reinvention' of the drama about an ex-secret agent trapped in an isolated village. 'If Doctor Who set the standard, The Prisoner raises the bar,' he said. ... 'This project has been subject to an unprecedented level of attention, attracting an array of A-list actors and writers,' said commissioning editor Elaine Pyke. The new series will be made by Granada from a script Bill Gallagher, writer of the award-winning series Clocking Off. 'The Prisoner is like Pandora's box - it's the ultimate conspiracy thriller,' said Damien Timmer, executive producer of the show. 'Like 24, the new series will entrap you from the opening scene. We hope it will tap into this iconic show's existing cult following, whilst creating a whole new generation of fans.'" Also reported at the Daily Record, The Stage, The Register, Zap2Itand various other Internet news sites.

Christopher Eccleston, last seen as the Doctor in June, has what appears to be a new long-term job: he is to star as Christopher 'Kit' Marlow in "The School of Night" by Peter Whelan, an historical whodunit set in 1592 in which Marlowe, fresh from the success of Doctor Faustus, encounters William Shakespeare. It will play at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End from 16 February and, assuming it is a success, Eccleston is committed to at least 22 weeks. (Thanks to Dominic May)