Theoretical Musings: How would they handle it if the actor died?

[Starkers]

My understanding was always that he found the shooting schedule of a TV show far more taxing than the film work he usually does. I don't know how valid that reason is, he had done telly work before and much as I liked him as the Doctor, it's hard to see how far the survivor guilt Doctor could have been taken.

My gut feeling, which I have no real evidence to back up, is that RTD got a big name in to help relaunch the show, but the intent was always to regenerate him after a year with someone who was more classically Doctor like. Like I say, I have no evidence for this and I'm sure if Eccleston had found he loved the role and wanted series 2 RTD would have jiggled his plans around.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^The likes of Our Friends In the North and Cracker, Eccleston's previous tv shows, had shorter seasons (the former was a limited run) than DW and presumably had a less intense shooting production than it had.

 

[Starkers]

Also they were more ensemble pieces I guess.

 

[diankra]

My understanding was always that he found the shooting schedule of a TV show far more taxing than the film work he usually does. I don't know how valid that reason is, he had done telly work before and much as I liked him as the Doctor, it's hard to see how far the survivor guilt Doctor could have been taken.

My gut feeling, which I have no real evidence to back up, is that RTD got a big name in to help relaunch the show, but the intent was always to regenerate him after a year with someone who was more classically Doctor like. Like I say, I have no evidence for this and I'm sure if Eccleston had found he loved the role and wanted series 2 RTD would have jiggled his plans around.

It was never set in stone that Eccleston would only do one season, but everyone knew it was a possibility given his track record of liking to move on to new challenges. As I understand it, the thing which pretty much decided it was how the first filming block went (Eccleston is a very serious, focused actor, whereas the Rose/Aliens of London block was pretty chaotic, partly because they were finding their feet, but also because... well, note that the director of those episodes has never done any more since).
But it wasn't cut and dried until pretty late on (though they'd started lining up Tennant just in case), and I have heard that Joe Ahearne was asked to do the last two episodes (making that five out of the 13) because he and Eccleston had really clicked on Dalek/Father's Day and there were hopes it'd persuade Eccleston to stay after all.

 

[DimesDan]

No shit.

Ask a stupid question and all!

Come on, Dan. Have some imagination, you crabby bastard... [/QUOTE]

Right ok, I've given this some thought and this is what I reckon would happen. If it happened when the programme was being aired, no biggy really, yes if there is a final cliff hanger then things would be a bit skwiffy. They'd recast and work around the finale.

Now if it happened during production. This is a bit more complicated and depending how the actor died, an investigation may occur, but if it was unrelated to the production, they'd down tools. Recast and rework the scripts, both the episode they were filming, future episodes and due to filming in blocks, possibly past episodes. BBC ONE would probably reschedule the series, pushing it back, either a few weeks or even months. Once the recasting and rewriting was finished, they'd broadcast the episodes and discover how the worked the regeneration into it.

Happy with that now?

 

[Starkers]

Here's the question I don't think anyone's addressed yet.

Would the BBC recast and just carry on? I mean there'd be an element of respect for the dead at work. We could even be looking at another hiatus of many years before the next Doctor shows up.

 

[Turbo]

I think that the Beeb would just recast and move on, with an appropriate "In Loving Memory" tag. As was pointed out earlier, Doctor Who is pretty much the only show that can deal with the loss of the main character fairly easily and keep going.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Here's the question I don't think anyone's addressed yet.

Would the BBC recast and just carry on? I mean there'd be an element of respect for the dead at work. We could even be looking at another hiatus of many years before the next Doctor shows up.

It wouldn't be the first time a show survived the death of a leading character. Till Death Us Do Part, the follow-up to In Sickness and In Health, returned after the death of the actress who played Alf's wife, the 'silly old moo.' There was that 1980s action show, Cover-Up, whose lead actor was shot dead onset when he accidentally discharged a blank-loaded gun into his head; he was replaced by another actor. Auf Wiedersen Pet lost two actors (albeit that the show did go off the air for some time when the first one, whose name escapes me, died in the 1980s). Bruce Forsyth replaced Leonard Rossiter in some tv sitcom in the 1980s when the latter died (even though the show bore his character's name). Soap operas lose actors to old age regularly.

If the Doctor had been played by the same actor for years and years, then they might do this. But with a character like The Doctor, who is regularly re-cast? I doubt it.

 

[DimesDan]

Here's the question I don't think anyone's addressed yet.

Would the BBC recast and just carry on? I mean there'd be an element of respect for the dead at work. We could even be looking at another hiatus of many years before the next Doctor shows up.

I addressed this issue in the post above the one I just quoted!!

 

[The]

Happy with that now?

I couldn't love you more...

 

[Turbo]

I addressed this issue in the post above the one I just quoted!!

And I don't think you were the only one. Some people may have selective sight, though.

 

[USS KG5]

How do you think the BBC and The Moff would handle the show if Matt Smith were accidentally killed or died? How would RTD handled it if Tennant had passed away?

During or outside of filming?

Outside of filming the next series would be significantly delayed while they re-tool the show and re-cast for a new actor. Then the new actor would just show up like Eccleston at the beginning of the new show.

During filming would be much harder. It is likely they would salvage what episodes they could and screen a cut-down series, with appropriate tributes and so on. Then they would follow the path of it happening outside filming.

Matt Smith is only 27, so I hope very much it doesn't happen at all.

 

[diankra]

Here's the question I don't think anyone's addressed yet.

Would the BBC recast and just carry on? I mean there'd be an element of respect for the dead at work. We could even be looking at another hiatus of many years before the next Doctor shows up.

It wouldn't be the first time a show survived the death of a leading character. Till Death Us Do Part, the follow-up to In Sickness and In Health, returned after the death of the actress who played Alf's wife, the 'silly old moo.' There was that 1980s action show, Cover-Up, whose lead actor was shot dead onset when he accidentally discharged a blank-loaded gun into his head; he was replaced by another actor. Auf Wiedersen Pet lost two actors (albeit that the show did go off the air for some time when the first one, whose name escapes me, died in the 1980s). Bruce Forsyth replaced Leonard Rossiter in some tv sitcom in the 1980s when the latter died (even though the show bore his character's name). Soap operas lose actors to old age regularly.

Auf Wiedersehn Pet: Gary Holton died during production of season two (of a drug overdose, ISTR). The scripts were rewritten to use the location footage he'd already shot so he'd appear in every episode, with a 'back-of-the-head' double occasionally appearing in the studio work.
After that, the series ended, until it was revived for a third run 15 years later, with Noel Clarke coming in to play the Holton's character's son.
Pat Roach then fell ill during production of season four, and his part was cut down. When he died that contributed to the decision to do one more special and call it a day.

The ITV sitcom with Leonard Rossiter and then Bruce Forsyth was Tripper's Day, which then became Slinger's Day for its second season. Aside from the name change, that wasn't too difficult a shift to make: one irritating supermarket manager got replaced by another irritating supermarket manager!

 

[Sci]

To continue the Christopher Eccleston tangent, it's my understanding that Billie Piper speculates in her autobiography that Eccleston's departure may have been prompted by his father's illness and subsequent death.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

^Of course, then there's the comedy sketch (which for some reason I can't find on YouTube anymore) where we discover that Eccleston quit the show because it angered his family, who are all die hard Trekkies.

Meanwhile, for instructions on how to gracefully kill off a character played by an actor who suddenly died, I direct you to the Made in Canada episode "A Death in the Family."

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2EDJ2CZBHg&feature=related
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWj_PIsou28
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwZV28S-Sk4&feature=related