Doctor Who

advertise on the 'Nest
ADVERTISER LOGIN

	EUROPE'S MOST VISITED SF/F WEB SITE

Doctor Who Back From The Dead

Those of you unlucky enough to have been inflicted with the experience of watching the big budget Doctor Who movie - you know, the one with DW snogging his assistant - may have thought that you'd seen the last of Sylvester McCoy driving the Tardis across the universe.

This would be a logical assumption, having seen Sylvester splatted all over the shop in the movie by - in a rather bizarre move - LA gang members in a drive-by shooting.

But no, the small clown-like one seems to be made of sterner stuff, because he's coming back as Doctor Who on Radio Four.

We managed to get hold of Mr McCoy to talk about the new Dr Who project.

"I'm going to be reunited with my last assistant, Sophie Aldred who played Ace," the Who-man explained.

"It's being produced by Dan Freedman, a BBC producer of good standing. Dan has some very, very exciting ideas for the new series - and the writers will really be able to let rip with a cast of millions of extras this time around."

"Radio is probably the last medium available to DR Who outside of Hollywood," McCoy said. "Special effects and viewer's expectations of what we should see in televised science fiction has been pushed beyond the reach of Auntie's humble purse strings. Fans today have been trained by all those Star Trek episodes to expect a lot more than a papier-mâché mask and a romp through a forest in the Lake District."

"There's some very interesting ideas floating about for the new series," McCoy chuckled. "Radio has a far more adult audience, so we are going to be able to cater for the fans with a capital 'F', without worrying about scaring thousands of children. It was one of the things that attracted me back to the part of the Doctor."

"Of course, when I say adult, I don't mean sprinting around with machine guns and the much maligned romantic scene from the movie. We are all incredibly keen to remain true to the original ideas that underpinned the TV series.

One idea for the first couple of episodes involves a trip to a future earth, to an England that has been turned into a hell by the extensive use of genetic engineering. I think there's a lot of exciting ways we can hold a mirror up to society, to explore the darker trends we see starting to swirl around us today."

Anyway, the Crowsnest Crew will certainly be keeping their ears open for more news of the All New Who to keep all you Dalek devotees in on the loop.

When we spoke to Sylvester the schedule was still uncertain, but given it's a radio production, Radio 4 should be able to move a lot faster than their chums in the TV world.

Browse the latest Doctor Who books

FREE SF MAGAZINE
Sign up for the Crowsnest SF e-magazine - full of funny reports and gossip. Be the first to find out about hot sci-fi opportunities & news!