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Eccleston turned down chance to be in 50th Anniversary story

I attended "Lords of Time" convention in Melbourne yesterday. Davison, Baker, McCoy and McGann were all in attendance. Each of them was obviously asked about it, and each said they had "no idea". They all said that it's the kind of thing they will find out about at the very last moment possible. Baker candidly said that he really didn't think a multi Doctor story would work very well, not to mention the fact that Baker certainly doesn't look much like his 6th Doctor Self.

McGann on the other hand looks friggin fantastic for a guy who's 54. He looks 40 to me. He could easily play a part in it, and I really hope he does. He also seems like an incredibly nice guy.

From what some of the other guest said (John Leeson was there, Janet Feilding, and Nicholas Briggs) the BBC don't seem to organised about some things. Both Leeson and Briggs spoke about being called in very last minute to do voices (Leeson doing K9 in "School Reunion" was apparently almost an after thought, and Briggs is doing the Ice Warrior voices and recorded those only last week!
 
Eccleston put in his time as Doctor Who. If he doesn't want to return, he doesn't have to. The only thing he "owes" his fans is a thank you for supporting him during his run.
 
If we allow that Eccleston isn't obligated to do anything can we still allow that it's disappointing when he doesn't? Sure, it's his prerogative whether he does or doesn't but can't people still be unhappy when he doesn't?
 
Yes, as fans you can absolutely be disappointed. What bugs me is this sense of entitlement that fans get about things, as if actors are indebted to them for the rest of their lives.
 
I am bitterly disappointed, and I hope Nine is at least mentioned, even in passing:

ELEVEN: I summoned two of you! Two of me. And there's just you.
TEN: Welll, the other one? Doesn't play well with others.
 
I don't even understand how these stories are supposed to work considering how cranky he gets about crossing his own time stream.
 
RoJoHen said:
Yes, as fans you can absolutely be disappointed. What bugs me is this sense of entitlement that fans get about things, as if actors are indebted to them for the rest of their lives.
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This. How many times does an actor HAVE to do something for the fans? Until SOME of them are satisfied? Most? All?

He did his job. He considered coming back. He decided that it wasn't for him. Disappointing, sure. But, seriously, not the end of the world.
 
The Mirrorball Man said:
I am bitterly disappointed, and I hope Nine is at least mentioned, even in passing:

ELEVEN: I summoned two of you! Two of me. And there's just you.
TEN: Welll, the other one? Doesn't play well with others.
Click to expand...

Maybe they could get McCoy and McGann and do the old playground joke about "Why is Six afraid of Seven?".
 
I had hoped beyond hope that time had tempered the man and he would return for a one off event that won't happen again for a long time. He is the actor that got me and many other into Doctor Who and I would love to see him again one more time. But you know, how well would 9 fit in with 10 and 11 jumping around him blabbing. Here's hoping 8th can take his place.

An anniversary special with 10 and 11 matches my lowest expectations of what we were gonna get. Oh well....
 
Saul said:
. But you know, how well would 9 fit in with 10 and 11 jumping around him blabbing. Here's hoping 8th can take his place.
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I think that's one of the reasons why it'd be such a joy to see those three together. It'd be like the Odd Couple with two Oscars.
 
Eccleston is never coming back. Live with it.
I really would like to see McGann again. I almost feel that Dr. Who, Inc. kinda owes him one more appearance. It would legitimize his Doc for all time. I know he's been in lots of flashback clips on the new show, but, a second appearance would seal the deal. They can bring Daphne Ashbrook along, too
 
Mitty said:
I attended "Lords of Time" convention in Melbourne yesterday. Davison, Baker, McCoy and McGann were all in attendance. Each of them was obviously asked about it, and each said they had "no idea". They all said that it's the kind of thing they will find out about at the very last moment possible. Baker candidly said that he really didn't think a multi Doctor story would work very well, not to mention the fact that Baker certainly doesn't look much like his 6th Doctor Self.

McGann on the other hand looks friggin fantastic for a guy who's 54. He looks 40 to me. He could easily play a part in it, and I really hope he does. He also seems like an incredibly nice guy.

From what some of the other guest said (John Leeson was there, Janet Feilding, and Nicholas Briggs) the BBC don't seem to organised about some things. Both Leeson and Briggs spoke about being called in very last minute to do voices (Leeson doing K9 in "School Reunion" was apparently almost an after thought, and Briggs is doing the Ice Warrior voices and recorded those only last week!
Click to expand...

Mitty, completely off topic but how was Janet Fielding?
 
Emh said:
Mitty said:
...and Briggs is doing the Ice Warrior voices and recorded those only last week!
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But nearly as insane as this! :eek:
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Contracting that late? Yes, that would be. But I don't think that it's insane to record that late. It's certainly cutting things close to the wire, but they would have been able to cut and do most of the mix with whatever temp voice track they have in place. (Presumably from the actors on set? I can't find a good picture of the costumes, but it looks like they have normal humanoid mouths. It certainly doesn't look like the Daleks or Cybusmen where you need things flashing in time to Briggs' voice...)
 
Emh said:
Damn, that's a shame. I always knew it was a long shot but alas.

I'm still hoping Paul McGann will show up...
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I think McGann is most deserving considering he only got one onscreen turn despite the irony of the implication that his Doctor's incarnation is the second-longest (behind that of Hartnell's). Oops ... that would be tied with McCoy's incarnation for second.*

For awhile there (but for no reason at all) I had hoped that the success of Doctor Who's return in 2005 would have led to a McGann mini-series or a concurrant series to tell the tale of the Great Time War. Sadly, never happened.

* = Correction: Sorry for my bad math ... McCoy would have been 1987 to 1996 = 9years and McGann would be 1996 - 2005 (implied) = 9 years.
 
I've watched the show since 2005 but I'm not up on how much the BBC puts out false leads, red herrings, etc. Have they done it in the past? So I'd have to guess this is true.

It certainly stands to reason for this to be true. If Eccelston was participating, they would have announced it at the same time as they did Tennant and Piper. And of course he always said he didn't want to come back. I'm disappointed because I wanted to see him again. I won't say he owes the fans anything but would it have really been that much of a pain for him to be involved in this? To show up, get paid, have some fun being The Doctor again and make people happy?

The fact that he took multiple meetings with Moffat at least means that he was open to it.
 
sttngfan1701d said:
I've watched the show since 2005 but I'm not up on how much the BBC puts out false leads, red herrings, etc. Have they done it in the past? So I'd have to guess this is true.
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BBC actually has a poilcy of do not lie to the audience. It has in the past forced them to reveal things about Doctor Who that would in fact result in spoilers (like Eccleston's departure, for example).
 
The Wormhole said:
sttngfan1701d said:
I've watched the show since 2005 but I'm not up on how much the BBC puts out false leads, red herrings, etc. Have they done it in the past? So I'd have to guess this is true.
Click to expand...

BBC actually has a poilcy of do not lie to the audience. It has in the past forced them to reveal things about Doctor Who that would in fact result in spoilers (like Eccleston's departure, for example).
Click to expand...

I guess that "policy" of not lying is why they lied in their initial release about him leaving...
 
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