We spent the weekend watching old Quatermass movies on DVD, all giddy with the news that the prof was heading back to our screens (as posted here). Now we hear that the new Doctor Who will bypass American audiences as it's "too damned English" which has got to be good news for those of us afraid it would return as a shadow of its former self. Not so according to writer Warren Ellis who sneaked an early peek at the first episode:
It is, in fact, DOCTOR WHO, as it was, complete with fake jeopardy for the kids and laughs for the adults. It will probably disappoint old fans – and anyone looking for a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA-style treatment – because it resolutely refuses to take itself too seriously. It’s not afraid of doing gags like having a kid eaten by a marauding plastic rubbish bin because that’s all part of the ride, all part of the style.
Ellis has a few reservations and you can read his thoughts in full here, but one way or another it's looking like a healthy time ahead for British Sci-Fi. War of the Worlds may have been relocated to the States but we have a new Tripods movie to look forward to which should satisfy our need for giant alien walking machines trampling Elephant & Castle.
Then there's the new trailer for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which seems to suggest that all Hollywood sense has been thrown out of the window as those responsible seem to have actually followed the book as opposed to simply just dropping the title in at the front of a ninety minute advertisement for trainers, cars and mobile phones (Hello I Robot).
Doctor Who is set to send us scurrying back behind the sofa on the 26th of March.
