2015 marks the 10th anniversary of Doctor Who‘s return to our screens way back in 2005. To mark the milestone we’ll be publishing many articles looking back at the history and production of that first series throughout the year, including a week by week round-up of events… and what better way to kick off our celebrations than taking a look back at how Doctor Who kicked off 2005 and all the news from that first week.
Broadcast on January 1, 2005, the first series teaser trailer had already aired online in December 2004 (good old Realplayer!) but this was the moment that the new Doctor Who was introduced to a waiting nation…
January 1, 2005
The Daily Mirror on the same day gave a few short facts on the coming series, notably voicing the concern in some circles over the acting potential of former pop-star Billie Piper and setting fans talking by revealing the “coral” nature of the new TARDIS interior:
“Never has a TV series been so shrouded in secrecy, but soon we”ll be able to see how Christopher Eccleston fares as the travelling timelord, and whether Billie Piper measures up as his assistant. A few facts have emerged. The TARDIS, which transports the Doctor through time and the universe, is made of coral on the inside and is a living organism which can grow and change shape. But don”t worry, the outside still looks like an old blue police box. On his journeys he will come across Simon Callow as Charles Dickens and Zoe Wanamaker as a very old woman. There is also more than a hint of romance this time around.”
Also the same day The Guardian featured new show-runner Russell T. Davies running down his favourite TV shows, RTD commenting on his love for the Tom Baker classic The Ark in Space:
“Nothing creates terror and claustrophobia like the good old-fashioned walls of a BBC studio. You can almost hear the cameras hum. The regular cast make bubble-wrap truly terrifying, but in the unfamous, unsung guest cast, there are heroes. An actor called Wendy Williams creates a character who is frigid, humourless, ruthless, and eventually, through contact with the Doctor, completely human. I must have watched this a hundred times. It’s not enough.”
January 2, 2005
The Independent on the 2nd, like The Mirror, also commented on Piper, stating she was “out to prove her mettle as Doctor Who’s new sidekick” in 2005, while The Times on the same day quoted Russell T. Davies on Christopher Eccleston’s performance, RTD saying: “Everyone was expecting him to be dour, and he’s so funny. I think we can do extraordinary things with it. It’s classy, eccentric, there’s a lot of satire, and I think it’s going to work.”
January 4, 2005
SFX gurus The Mill were the subject of an online feature by Stephen Hunt over at sfcrowsnest.com on the 4th, Chief Executive Robin Shenfield commenting on their early work on the show for the forthcoming series:
“Visual effects can be the tail that wags the dog, but with Doctor Who the storytelling was so good we knew it was something we really wanted to do. It’s soul-destroying to do great effects work on a project lacking in other areas because when it gets panned, it feels like your work is being panned, too. Whether we take something on really depends on the quality of the scripts and the team that’s working on it… The range of effects we’re using [in Series 1] is quite extraordinary, everything we do that’s cutting edge is in this production.”
Visual effects producer Will Cohen spoke of the challenge facing the Mill team:
“The show is a national institution and people working out how best to do a shot would often say something like ‘But it’s Doctor Who, it has to be good’. [One monster] started off just as ectoplasm but then became faces that had to speak. In another story, one computer-generated character needed four minutes of lip-synching, which is a huge undertaking in a TV project. The series was very stimulating for our team because we were able to input our own creative ideas, much more so than in film. We were contributing, not just executing.”
January 6, 2005
Doctor Who Magazine 352 was launched featuring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper making their costumed debuts on the cover, the issue featuring the new logo, a new glossy look and a wealth of new series information was expanded to 68 pages and featured producer Phil Collinson revealing what we could expect from the new-look TARDIS…”
“The basic idea - a big room with the main controls in the middle - is so fantastic, I mean, why would you change that? It’s a brilliant piece of design. The basic idea is the same, but Ed Thomas’ design has a feeling all of its own. I mean, with the best will in the world, the TARDIS interior always used to look like a studio set. But this one is enormous and it looks beautiful on camera. Plus, we’re doing a couple of things to help ease the way, so that the viewers can imagine that, when you step through those doors, something magic happens and the interior really does tie in with the outside…”
Other Series 1 highlights included an interview with new series author Paul Cornell, more teasing from “loose-lipped” executive producer Russell T. Davies in his unmissable Production Notes, reports on the guest casting of Richard Wilson, Tamsin Greig, Zoe Wanamaker and Simon Pegg, plus the announcement that Murray Gold would be the composer for the new series.
Latest News
