Friday 29 May 2009

NOT YOUR FATHER'S... II: NOT YOUR FATHER'S WHO?

The name of the new assistant of the Doctor in Doctor Who has been revealed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8073734.stm): Scottish actress Karen Gillan, aged 21, will be alongside the 11th Doctor Matt Smith (26), in the fifth series of the modern Doctor Who, helmed by the great Steven Moffat.

Well, without any kind of disrespect to Ms Gillan, it's obvious now that the targeted demographics of the new series is clearly younger than those of previous years. In this era of "reboot mania" and triumphant "bold, beautiful, young and restless" vampire/human love stories, we cannot get rid of the impression that, after all, old fans of 20th century franchises can always view their DVDs (don't even mention VHS) in the common room of their nursing home.

We trust "the Moff" enough to believe that Doctor Who will not get the CW treatment. Matt Smith is able to deliver a dashing Doctor and we've not seen enough of Karen Gillan to have an opinion. But the pressure on the production team and on the newcomers will now be higher than ever. Remember what happened when the Beeb tried to mix Skins with Spooks. Try to remember...

Update: Read the interesting reactions on Digital Spy (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a157535/the-doctors-new-companion-thoughts.html). One reader, Jerry, asks if the BBC is trying to create their version of Edward and Bella from Twilight. Twilight, again...

3 comments:

Aurélie Demonchaux said...

Really hoping Doctor Who is not going to become an intergalactic Twilight remake, that would be so uncool and...I don't want to dwell on that!

I trust Steven Moffat to have made the right casting choice though, both for the 11th Doctor and for his companion, because his episodes are some of my favorite (they all are, in a way) and I am sure he knows very well what he is doing. His take on the series will be a change from the Russell T Davies era, and, I hope, a change for the better. Don't get me wrong, I love the RTD episodes and I'm a huge fan of the new series, but I think maybe now a few changes would do some good.

I can't see what you're talking about at the end, about the Beeb trying to "mix Skins with Spooks"...oh wait, you mean Torchwood, right? What's wrong with it? I quite like it.

Oh and lastly: nice blog. Really, posting everything twice like this and in 2 languages must be very hard and take a lot of your time, so congratulations :)

Thierry Attard said...

"oh wait, you mean Torchwood, right?"

Well, SPOOKS CODE 9 actually... I adore Torchwood (please read my reviews of the wonderful Koba Region 2 Box sets on the French blog).

"Oh and lastly: nice blog."

Thank you and thanks for your comment.

Aurélie Demonchaux said...

"Well, SPOOKS CODE 9 actually..."

ah ok, I didn't know much about Spooks and its spin-off series when I posted yesterday. Now, from what I've just read elsewhere (*hoping wikipedia is reliable enough there*) Spooks seems worth watching, but not Spooks Code 9.

I've read your Torchwood season 2 DVD review on your French blog, it's good, I left a comment there :)