Dr. Who?

The plans to bring Dr. Who to the small screen have taken a huge step forward with the news that Christopher Eccleston is the new Doctor. It’s an interesting casting choice in that I think a lot of people thought that the new guy would be a comedian, particularly Eddie Izzard. Looks like they’re going for a more dramatic actor.

Eccleston isn’t the most widely known actor but he works so much that if you’ve ever seen a British TV drama or film (or you watch a lot of Showcase), you’ve likely seen his face before. He was the insane army commander from 28 Days Later, the paranoid accountant from Shallow Grave and the copper who received the business end of Robert Carlyle’s knife in TV’s Cracker. It’s interesting to note that in all these roles, he comes to a gruesome demise. Oh yeah, and he last played a guy who thinks he’s Jesus Christ in The Second Coming. I didn’t see it but I can only wonder how that turned out for him.

In any case, while I think I would have preferred to see a comic in the role, I think this announcement is showing that the Beeb is by no means going about this thing half-assed. The Dr. Who format is also obviously well-suited to British television. There’s a shorter television season which means a series may in fact only last one year for a total of about 13 episodes. Dr. Who has a habit of regenerating himself. So, Eccleston does a series or two and if he’s a success, he stays on for a popular run. Or he decides to do something else and we get a new guy. Good actor + quality television + flexible format means everyone wins. It’s unclear however if the new Daleks will be able to overcome their adversion to stairs. I know one thing, as the series will not air right away in Canada, I’m gonna need more disk space for all that downloading.

(via Ain’t It Cool News and who’da thunk it? They were right.)