50th Anniversary Story Official Thread

[Newspaper Taxi]

Oops, John Hurt has just confirmed that he is indeed playing The Doctor.

Time to get out your Tippex and start replacing all those references to the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors you might have in books or on toys.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/john_hurt_launches_sheringham_little_theatre_cinema_campaign_1_2184494

Actually, this is the quote:

Mr Hurt, who lives near Cromer, earlier told the EDP he had just finished shooting a Dr Who 3D special in which he plays “part of the Doctor” in a “kind of trinity” which includes David Tennant.

I bolded the words "part of the Doctor" to highlight the ambiguity. He could be something like "The Watcher" from 4-5's transition or the Valeyard.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Mr Hurt, who lives near Cromer, earlier told the EDP he had just finished shooting a Dr Who 3D special in which he plays “part of the Doctor” in a “kind of trinity” which includes David Tennant.

I bolded the words "part of the Doctor" to highlight the ambiguity. He could be something like "The Watcher" from 4-5's transition or the Valeyard.

A trinity that included David Tennant? Past, present and future Doctor then?

 

[Mr Awe]

There's also rumours of 'The Name Of The Doctor' opening with Clara being inserted into clips from Original Series episodes, which I find hard to believe since ancient 4:3 footage zoomed in to fill a 16:9 frame would look absolutely terrible.

Spearhead from Space

Granted, they don't need to worry about the high-def/standard def problem there, but it's still 4:3, although I suppose Star Trek TOS did get converted to 16:9 with its remastered episodes.

True, but they can crop to 16:9 and have resolution to spare. Film has a higher resolution than HD.

Mr Awe

 

[Tom]

Mr Hurt, who lives near Cromer, earlier told the EDP he had just finished shooting a Dr Who 3D special in which he plays “part of the Doctor” in a “kind of trinity” which includes David Tennant.

I bolded the words "part of the Doctor" to highlight the ambiguity. He could be something like "The Watcher" from 4-5's transition or the Valeyard.

A trinity that included David Tennant? Past, present and future Doctor then?

Reminds me of the Doctor-Donna-MetaDoctor stuff.

 

[StCoop]

Actually, this is the quote:

Mr Hurt, who lives near Cromer, earlier told the EDP he had just finished shooting a Dr Who 3D special in which he plays “part of the Doctor” in a “kind of trinity” which includes David Tennant.

I bolded the words "part of the Doctor" to highlight the ambiguity. He could be something like "The Watcher" from 4-5's transition or the Valeyard.

Or he's just using "part" as a synonym for "incarnation".

Even with all the fake rumors going round, I'll go for the theory from the person who correctly linked Hurt and the Doctor when no one else had even considered the possibility.

 

[Green Lantern]

So will McGann be regenerating into John Hurt then, 'cos he won't be regenerating into Eccleston, that's for sure!

I'm puzzled why, at this late date, depicting McGann's regeneration into anyone (Atkinson, Grant, Eccleston, Hurt, whomever) matters.

What the guys at DWM said years ago when they declined to do the regeneration at the end of "The Flood" is still valid -- a regeneration is a story of two halves, the build-up to the regeneration, and the aftermath of that regeneration. A minisode scene gives us the flashy effects, but it doesn't give us the story. The only people with an emotional connection to Paul McGann's version of the Doctor to give the regeneration any meaning are the fans. And the minisode isn't going to give us a full "Castrovalva" or "The Christmas Invasion."

I'm not saying Moffat can't do this if he wishes. But I don't see the point in doing it as a minisode. If it's just to check the box, it's pointless.

Because

A) There are fans including me who want to see more of McGann. And we want to see how McGann dies.
B) Nothin' wrong with nice affects.
C) Why not? Might as well. It gets fans of the new series curious of the classic series.
D) McGann is my second favourite doctor closely behind Tennant and closely in front of Eccleston. I do have some emotional connection to his doctor, and I for one want to see how it all happens.
E) It solves the long asked question.

Oops, John Hurt has just confirmed that he is indeed playing The Doctor.

Time to get out your Tippex and start replacing all those references to the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors you might have in books or on toys.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/john_hurt_launches_sheringham_little_theatre_cinema_campaign_1_2184494

Interesting.

 

[CommanderRyan]

Can't wait for all the 50th Anniversary stuff with the anniversary episode in November with Ten and Rose, Eleven and Clara along with Kate Stewart and I would presume UNIT against the Zygons. Then I think before that we get the docudrama "An Adventure in Space and Time" I think some time this summer.

 

[The Wormhole]

^^No, I think the docudrama also airs on November on or around the anniversary.

 

[Scruggernaut]

Have we heard anything about a US theatrical showing of the 50th Anniversary in 3D? I really, really hope they do a Fathom Events or whatever as I'd like to see it in 3D.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Have we heard anything about a US theatrical showing of the 50th Anniversary in 3D? I really, really hope they do a Fathom Events or whatever as I'd like to see it in 3D.

No, we haven't, but then again, details are scarce on the UK 3-D screenings. The anniversary is still six months off. If BBC America is working on it, we'll hear about it when it's ready.

 

[Rarewolf]

ancient 4:3 footage zoomed in to fill a 16:9 frame would look absolutely terrible.

If it was a static shot you might not have to zoom in, leave it full screen and just build new sides in CG to fill the frame.

Though IIRC all except Hartnell and McCoy have something on film that still exists.

 

[Timofnine]

So, something is going to happen to the past Doctors in the final which will allow them to return in the 50th as older versions of themselves... timey wimey stuff and all that...

 

[Mr Awe]

^ Would be cool!

 

[The Wormhole]

Have we heard anything about a US theatrical showing of the 50th Anniversary in 3D? I really, really hope they do a Fathom Events or whatever as I'd like to see it in 3D.

My own personal opinion is that if there is screenings outside the UK it will just be a one-night affair, similar to the HD TNG episodes that get theatrical screenings.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Anybody remember the fan made Who episode Devious, they had a story were a unfinished regeration between Troughton to Pertwee had adverntures before the timeloards stepped in and forced the regen to continue and finish on Pertwee, with the help of Petwee himself.

I wonder if the 50th is going down a similar route, or will Hurt just be playing a older McGann Dr.

Cant wait.

 

[diankra]

Sorry if I've missed it, but no-one seems to have mentioned this: do you reckon that we'll get the title of the special announced (and a trailer) at the end of the May 18th episode?

 

[The Wormhole]

Sorry if I've missed it, but no-one seems to have mentioned this: do you reckon that we'll get the title of the special announced (and a trailer) at the end of the May 18th episode?

Moffat says there will be a clip for the special shows immediately after the finale provided no one uploads the episodes online before Saturday (related to BBC America shipping the DVD sets early).

 

[diankra]

Yep, but I mean a Dr Who will return in... at the end of the episode, not an online bonus. That would to be in the tx file sent to the tx services by yesterday at latest.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

According to Moffat, the Anniversary Special will "be as long as it needs to be. The script is quite long though. I’m looking at it now. Ooh, that’s quite long."

There's then this bizarre Moffat quote:

In theory a 45-minute episode of Doctor Who ought to be about 55 pages. But it’s a fast-paced show, you need something to cut, so let’s say 60 pages. And that, let me tell you, is wrong. The script for The Time of Angels was 70 pages long, and it came in short at 40 minutes, even with added material. The script for The Snowmen has almost the same page count as A Scandal in Belgravia (sorry to mention The Other One) but one is an hour and the other is 90 minutes. Thank God, the BBC is kind to us. Our notion of 45 minutes has veered between 39 minutes and 57 (I think, roughly this is from memory).

I say "bizarre," because scripts are written one page per minute of screentime. If Moffat is getting radically different running times from scripts the same length ("The Snowmen" and "Scandal in Belgravia"), or if he's getting a 40 minute episode out of a 70 pagre script ("The Time of Angels"), then he's doing something really wrong.

I still think, based on shooting dates, that 60 minutes is the likely runtime.

 

[Mr Awe]

^^ I'm not surprised at all. I've always suspected that Moffat's scripts broke the one page per minute guideline. He crams in so much dialog that I long suspected that his scripts had to be longer than the norm just for a regular length episode. I think this contributes to the impression that he is a slow writer! He just fits in more per episode.

So, I don't think that's odd at all, fits right in with my perception of his scripts.

Mr Awe