Doctor Who

A Chicago newspaper editor once instructed his Civil War correspondants "when there is no news, send rumours."  He obviously foresaw the era of internet journalism.

The latest rumour that isn't news is a tidbit from the Sun in the U.K. that the latest Doctor Who, Matt Smith, will stick around for just one more season before taking off for Hollywood to try his hand at being a movie star. It's worked so well for all of the other actors who've played Doctor Who. (That last line is me being sarcastic.)

Although there is a Hollywood rumour about a former Doctor Who actor who may have a major role in an upcoming film. There's talk that Sylvester McCoy may play Bilbo Baggins in the planned Hobbit movie. At this point, I'd be happy to just have it made. There so much disarray within MGM that it might never happen.

I do like one viewer's comment on Smith's departure from Doctor Who. Bring Christopher Eccleston back. He's the guy who lasted only one season before he took off for brighter lights. Now that would be a new twist for the show.

In the U.K., Doctor Who can do no harm so when a popular author like Terry Pratchett publicly criticizes the show, it creates a bit of a stir. The Guardian reported on it as did the Telegraph. Needless to say, the story generated a predictable backlash.

Pratchett wrote in a guest column for SFX magazine that he thought the show's science to be rather ludicrous and criticized some of its flimsier plots, although he did concede that he enjoyed the series just as much as everyone else. He only wished that it wasn't classified as science fiction.

If flimsy plots and bad science were the criteria for removing the science fiction label from a television show or books, there would be a whole lot less science fiction in the world, not to mention entertaining science fiction.

Michael Moorcock will be writing a Doctor Who novel? I sure didn't see that coming.

At first glance, he seems like the most unlikely writer to pen a media tie-in novel, but if you think about his Eternal Champion heroes and how they exist as many individuals across many universes, it sort of makes sense. Doctor Who is an Eternal Champion, although a lot more upbeat than most of Moorcock's characters.

I've never read a Doctor Who novel, but I'd go out of my way to read this one.

In other Doctor Who news, if you're in Blackpool, England, the Doctor Who exhibit there has shut down for good, but they are selling off bits of the museum. Sadly, for collectors, none of the actual exhibits are for sale, just bits of signage and the like.

I guess it closed because there were too many Doctor Who exhibits in England. How many are there? Enough that there is an entire website devoted to them.

On the subject of media tie-ins, if you liked Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of the new Star Trek movie, you'll be glad to know that he's written a sequel called Star Trek: Refugees which is set to be published next June. I imagine it will bear no resemblance to the next Trek movie. Sort of like Splinter in the Mind's Eye acted as a sequel for Star Wars, but was in no way related to the next movie.

So what is the most successful science fiction TV series of all time according to the Guinness Book of World Records? No, it's not Star Trek. It's none other than Doctor Who.

Or course it's hard to measure something as being "the most successful," but they judged their selection on broadcast ratings, DVD sales, book sale, iTunes traffic and even illegal downloads so at least they are using some measurable criteria.

I'd say that any show that inspires fans to be buried in a Tardis-shaped coffin is a success, but that practice isn't exclusive to Who fans.

In other Doctor Who news, Tom Baker is returning to play the role. No, it's not on the telly, but for some BBC radio episodes of the series. It will have been more than 30 years since he played the Time Lord so it will be a real blast from the past for fans.

If you want more Who, here's an online comic for you to enjoy.

You may not know that Doctor Who was also in the new science fiction movie Moon. To be more specific, a David Tennant action figure was used in the film by the special effects crew for scenes of the astronaut in his lunar rover.

In more Who news,Geek Dad polled its readers to see who their favourite Who companion was. The last time I checked, Rose Tyler was winning by a landslide.

If you ever end up taking a ride with the good doctor, please remember these rules for time travellers.

Finally, I don't know if Torchwood will have quite the same success as Doctor  Who over the long run, but actor John Barrowman said in an interview recently that he'd be happy to play that role for the rest of his career.

The folks at Topless Robot have a thing for useless action figure toys. Here is their list of the toys no one wanted, such as the Battlefield Earth and Waterworld movie tie-ins that were no doubt never sold and dumped as landfill.

They've also got a list of the most unnecessary Doctor Who toys. What kid wants a Faceless Grandma Connelly toy? I do know someone who would love these Planet of the Apes figures.

Better yet, make your own toys. Here's a link to some spiffy StarCraft 2 papercraft.

After a long wait, Doctor Who came back to our television screens with one of four specials that will make up this year's mini-season until Matt Smith takes up the lead role of the doctor next year. While the Easter special was much anticipated by fans, it seems that ordinary Britons had forgotten about the Time Lord as they were much more interested in watching a talent show which drew much bigger ratings.

Guest starring on the show was Michelle Ryan, an actress better known for her work on the East Enders serial. She spoke with the Telegraph about her work on thespecial and how she doesn't have any interest in being the doctor's next companion, despite rumours that she had once auditioned for the part.

Meanwhile, the show's creators are working with Matt Smith to figure out which direction they will head with the character with him playing the lead.

Now if you've ever wondered what it would be like to have The Doctor meet Captain James T. Kirk, wonder now more as this fan film does a pretty good job of depicting such an encounter:

The success of Doctor Who in the U.K. has made the genre very sexy for actors and the BBC is cashing in with a season of radio dramas. The shows are just getting underway and promotion for them has begun in earnest.

The list of original dramas is quite impressive and you will be able to listen to them for 7 days online after they are broadcast, although they might live longer on Radio Archive.

Speaking of Doctor Who, he's not only a television character, but has also appeared on the radio. In 1985, there was a long gap between seasons and a special radio drama was produced to fill the gap. Because of budget problems, the following TV series aired fewer episodes. The ones that were never produced are now going to be brought back to life as audio adventures and will be voiced by original cast members.

Now that we know who the next Doctor Who will be, speculation has begun on who will be his next companion. Of course, there are all sorts of name, but no one really knows.

Here are the odds on the front-runners according to the bookmakers in the U.K.:

• Lily Allen                          6/4
• Kelly Brook                      4/1
• Rachel Stevens              9/2
• Michelle Ryan                  5/1
• Catherine Zeta-Jones 10/1
• Kimberley Nixon           14/1

Considering the actual replacement for David Tennant as the Doctor was not even on the bookies' list as a possible successor, I'd take the companion speculation with a large chunk of salt.

Kelly Brook, who is second on the list, has stated that no one has approached her about the job.

Another venerable British show that is slated for a revival is the cult-favourite The Prisoner. Sci-Fi Wire released some details about the new show recently. Sad news for fans of the original show is that the series star, Patrick McGoohan has died.

Coincidentally, another screen star who SF fans are familiar with has also died - Ricardo Montalban. He might be famous for his starring role in Fantasy Island, but Star Trek fans know him as Khan Noonien Singh.

The new Doctor Who is none other than Matt Smith? Doctor "who," indeed.

Don't be embarrassed if you've never heard of him because the 26-year-old actor doesn't have the longest resumé. He only has a few TV acting credits to his name and when he appears on screen in 2010 as the new doctor, he will be the youngest ever to take on the role. Will that mean his companions will be older than him?

Many names had been rumoured prior to the announcement, but few, if any, of the reports pegged Smith as David Tennant's replacement. I guess the bookies in England are happy since few people will collect on their bets. We'll see if the fans are happy with the choice.

I predict that the average North American geek male will rage against it, while the younger, and more female, audience in the U.K. will welcome the change towards Doctor Who 90210. I will reserve judgement until I've seen some episodes. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the last of the Tennant specials that will air during the course of this year, but before then I suppose I should watch last season's episodes that I have been stockpiling on my hard drive.

Doctor Who just turned 45 and the BBC has released a fascinating collection of archival material that explores the genesis of the science fiction favourite that shows now signs of slowing down.

The BBC also spoke with actor Paterson Joseph who is considered by many to be the frontrunner to replace the current Doctor Who, David Tennant. If Joseph's the man, he doesn't tip his hand in the interview, but he does say that he'd be honoured to take the role.

To the chagrin of die-hard Who fans, several of the show's earliest episodes are lost because the tapes were erased and never archived. Some of the audio tracks of those shows have been preserved and if you've never heard them, you can find some online.

Given the success of the successful rebooting of Doctor Who, other British TV shows are hoping to cash in on nostalgia for their own revivals. One of those shows is the 1970s post-apocalyptic series Survivors and the other is the more recently deceased Red Dwarf. I think that Survivors has a better chance, considering the black mood the world's in these days and Red Dwarf's humour will be just too dated to stay very long. What do you think?

I'll sign off with this 45-year video retrospective of Doctor Who: