h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

OK, maybe not that serious, but, point counterpoint:

On the one hand, isn't it showing MASSIVE disloyalty to hobble a programme which has only had one episode broadcast? Couldn't he have shut his mouth until we were at least a good way through the first series???

Plus, has typecasting harmed Sarah Michelle Gellar? Or Patrick Stewart? Don't think so.

On the other hand, given that each individual episode is going to be a whole story in itself (more or less), in today's jumpcut environment a single 45 minute ep is the equivalent of an old four parter. So after 13 of those he's more or less served the same number of actual stories as a short lived Doctor like, say, Davison. Perhaps.



For this thread, I'd prefer to avoid speculation on who's the best possible replacement. Basically the question here is: are you annoyed/angry/disappointed/negative about Christopher Ecclestone bailing out already, or do you think he's got a point and it's not a disaster?

H.

(Also invited are examples of other actors demonstrably not harmed by typecasting - next up: Sean "Sharpe" Bean)

H.

I can't believe it hadn't occurred to him until now that he might be typecast. Hasn't it happened (at least to some extent) to every other actor who's played the Doctor?

Actually, it occurs to me that 'typecasting' is an excuse - what he may not have been prepared for was the sudden elevation into the limelight. Despite being 'well known' and highly respected, he'd never starred in anything which was 'cult' like Who.

Maybe he didn't like surrendering his life to nutters? Piper is probably much more able to deal with the sudden level of exposure she's getting. She's been there and done that.

I don't feel betrayed, amazed, hurt upset ort anything else. I'm grateful to him for what so far has been 42 minutes of cracking entertainment. I hope it will be 13 x 42 minutes of cracking entertainment.

But he owes ME nothing, one way or the other.

Reports on RADW suggest that it isn't Ecclestone that made the annoucement- some tabloid journo got wind of it. If he *had* chosen now to make the annoucement, then I'd say he was a wxnkxr.

Also, the typecasting thing seems a bit odd to me- I thought one of the reasons he wanted the show was to get away from his 'gritty northern' image, in other words, this is a typecaster breaker rather than maker.

I guess I can sorta see where he is coming from. But 1 series? Maybe do 2 and quit, maybe keep mouth shut for a bit as well.
1 series doesn;t typecast you, and if he is so unsure of his merit and standing as an actor that he thinks this will typecast himt hen I think he is imagining things.
OK, typecast survivors. What about thingy that played the Watcher in Buffy? He's been in loads of stuff since: comedy, drama, stage, radio (I think). Doesn't seem to have hurt him in the least bit.

Not really. It didn't seem to do Patrick Troughton's career any harm, Jon Pertwee went straight into Wurzel Gummidge, Peter Davison did A Very Peculiar Practice, Colin Baker... didn't have that much of a career going on before, and Sylvester McCoy? I dunno.

Tom Baker certainly had some difficulties, but he did it for SEVEN YEARS, at the height of the programme's popularity in a three-channel environment. And he HAS revived his career since.

The rule, such as there is one detectable, seems to be that if you were a good actor before, three or four years as the Doctor does you no harm.

If anyone should be worried about typecasting, it's Ms. Piper. The list of companions who've gone on to successful careers is woefully short. Fraser Hines had Emmerdale and Peter Purves had Blue Peter, and Louise Jameson did OK in Bergerac and Eastenders. When you've said that, you've said the lot, though. It's Billie who should be thinking about her future, not Mr. Ecclestone, I think.

H.

Piper is safe
a) while someone at the BBC has the hots for her. And they do - she's already been announced to star in one of the updated Shakespeare things that are coming this Autumn.
b) the tabloids have the hots for her. And they do.

A number of companions had succesful stage careers though.

Maybe it's just me then, but mention any of those names to me and I instinctively think "Doctor Who" before any other roles they may have played. The only exception may be Jon Pertwee, but that's only because I grew up with Tom Baker-era Who and knew Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge...

Whereas to me Patrick Troughton conjours an image of a man impaled on a flagpole in a churchyard, Davison's middle name is "Tristram" and Sylvester McCoy is the weird bloke from "Vision On" who bangs a nail into his nose in "The Secret Policeman's Ball". The only actors who are first and foremost the Doctor to me are Tom Baker and William Hartnell, and the latter only because I never saw him in anything else.

H.

I know I suggested this before but I quite like the idea of Tar and Feathers.

I wouldn't say Doctor Who harmed Baker's career - he's done a fair amount of mid-profile stuff since, and again, stage work. He also got all the BBV stuff straight off the back of Doctor Who.

I had a feeling Ecclestone did not realise what he had got himself into. He has, in the main, done short dramas and theatre and not a TV prgramme with a 9 month shoot where it would seem he was giving 100%. He is probably not willing to go through that again.

I am a little annoyed (if thats the right word) that he pushed for the job and is now alledgely leaving - there was a hint of it on Ceefax earlier in the week. But when it comes down to it an acting job is an acting job. Actors play dozens of roles on stage and it is just that a role so why should they feel any different about a TV role? Because of the fan base, the loyalty of fans, the history of the show and the fact that it is seen by and associates with a lot more people than a stage role does.

As for actors having no career after they leave Dr Who, one has to remember that TV isn't all actors do. The majority of actors are from the stage anyway and then go back to the stage - I always feel the public do a diservice to actors when they say they are a one hit wonder or typecast. Mark Hamill actually decided to go back to the stage rather than stay in films.

Looking at actors who are on TV in loads of shows these days it is not always due to their acting ability but due to their celebrity status and whether they can pull the ratings etc.

There is also that aspect to it, of course. A four-part modern-day set TV drama is very different from a 13 episode special effect laden series with ever-changing locations and cast where in effect the entire show is on your shoulders.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I'm NOT one of those people who thinks the show was made for me personally and therefore the cast/crew owe me something.

But he made a play for the part, and it's definitely raised his profile considerably in the minds of the public, and not just in the UK. To abandon it, and after only ONE broadcast episode, does seem to me to be a piece of shockingly bad *timing* if nothing else.

Notwithstanding what I said in paragraph one, I think Ecclestone DOES owe the fans, the general viewing public, and the BBC one thing - a proper regeneration scene to kick off series 2. Would that be too much to ask?

H.

It's fairly annoting that they're using up the doctor's regenerations at such a rate.

I think either Ecclestone took the part expecting it not to be a success (dumb ass) or had only intended to do one series (bad man). Surely he must have known that when you take on a role in a series you should plan on playing that part for the forseeable future - it's not like taking a role in a film.

I think the only thing that might harm Tom Baker is taking up with the t*$$3rs from Little Britain....[Wrong consonant when referring to this as cult TV]

Tom Baker loves Lucas and Walliams, and rightly so. Apart from giving the BBC a reference point apart from his appalling mugging in BlackAdder II (a aprt he is rightly ashamed of), they've given him an entirely new career as a voice over artist which is probably much more suitable at his age.

"an entirely new career as a voice over artist "



Blues, did you ever see any commercial television AT ALL during the 1980s? I'd be very surprised if there was a single ad break in that decade without at least ONE voiceover by Tom Baker. The man was EVERYWHERE. A bit like Hugh Laurie nowadays, actually.

H.