Thursday 4 March 2010

THE 11TH DOCTOR SPEAKS FRENCH

EXCLUSIVE: [9.10 - French Time] The five-day recording session of the French-speaking version of The End of Time 1 & 2, the Doctor Who special marking David Tennant's departure, ended this week in Brussels at the Belgian studios of Dubbing Brothers.

Belgian actor and dubbing artist David Manet told Ten's last lines under the direction of artistic director David Macaluso. Very appreciated by French-speaking Doctor Who fans, Manet was the voice of The Doctor since the Christopher Eccleston days.

Interestingly, David Tennant's first lines were actually told by Fred Haugness, who was very good but decision makers decided to keep David Manet for the first season with Tennant. And Manet succeeded brilliantly in making his dubbing acting evolving with the new star of the show.

In the beginning of new Doctor Who, French-speaking fans were more than unsatisfied with the dubbing, done in Belgium for financial motives. David Macaluso's efforts to convince those involved in the corporate decisions that Who is not an ordinary programme lead to a consulting work with your humble servant for series 3 (at Macaluso's initiative).

A new era has started with the specials and the arrival of two permanent authors for French dialogues, Chantal Bugalski and François Dubuc (who worked on The State Within). Only The Next Doctor, adapted by Dubuc, has been shown in France for the moment and fans were impressed by both the adaptation and the direction - with a special mention for the choice of David Morrissey's voice.

François Dubuc is the author of French dialogues for The End of Time 1 & 2 and therefore had the delicate task to write the first lines of Eleven, played by Matt Smith. And these lines were told on March 2 by experimented Belgian stage actor and dubbing artist Marc Weiss. Weiss, also theatre director, is one of the founders of Panach'Club, a theatre company (http://www.panachclub.be/ - In French).

David Macaluso told us that the recording of David Manet's last lines was a moving moment. Some fans will regret Manet but Marc Weiss is truly an excellent choice for Matt Smith's Doctor.

En Français: http://thierryattard.blogspot.com/2010/03/le-11eme-docteur-parle-francais.html

2 comments:

SimonDanes said...

Thanks for this. I thought the actor dubbing Tennant's Doctor was the same as the one who voiced Eccleston's Doctor but wasn't sure. Pity they've stopped giving the French speaking cast on the titles.

Now all they need to do is buy a decent ring modulator for the Daleks ('Dalker'?!).

Did David Mamet voice all the 10th Doctor episodes?

Two more questions: why is Rose posher in French, and why does she call the Doctor 'vous'? Some of the companions call him 'tu' and it seems odd.

Thierry Attard said...

Could you please contact me by email. I'll try to answer.

You'll find it in my profile.

Thank you.