Who's On First?

In the '80s, I came close to being a professional Doctor Who fan. I wrote many articles for Starlog about the series, interviewing cast members, writers and producers. I contributed the text articles for Marvel's American reprints of its British DW comics. I was very disappointed by the last seasons of the old series (never thought Sylvester McCoy was up to snuff as the Time Lord), but still unhappy when the BBC took it out of production.

Now, as many others have already reported, Doctor Who is back on the air, produced out of BBC Wales, with actor Christopher Eccleston in the lead as the tenth Doctor. Now, it appears Eccleston, afraid of typecasting, is bowing out after only one season of 13 episodes--details here, as well as speculation as to his successor.

With the exception of the one-shot American co-produced TV movie with the ninth actor in the role, no other "official" Doctor has had such a short lifespan. (There have been a number of "unofficial" Doctors, in radio plays, and in the two feature films with Peter Cushing.)

The new series is set to run on CBC, for those in that country and on the northern borders of the US; no word yet on whether it will show up on any US outlet--though, if the BBC is smart, it will get it on to the BBC America cable net forthwith.