In fact, just reading through the Quotefile I found this gem of a spoof news report from April Fools Day 2000. Bloody hell, it's like they could see the future!
LONDON, April 1, 2000 -- The duo behind the successful drama "Queer As Folk", Russell Davies and Matt Jones, will be producing a revival of "Doctor Who" with co-production money from the US cable network Showtime, the BBC announced today. As with its other SF/fantasy series, including "Stargate SG-1" and "Poltergeist: The Legacy", Showtime has committed to a multi-year run ahead of time -- a record-breaking four seasons of 22 episodes each.
Paul McGann has signed on to play the eighth Doctor. Writing staff positions and/or script assignments have already been offered to Paul Cornell, Kate Orman, Jonathan Blum, Lance Parkin, Paul Leonard, Chris Boucher, Gareth Roberts, Marc Platt, Steven Gallagher, Christopher H. Bidmead, Steven Moffat, Peter Allan Fields, and Cannes jury prize winner Rona Munro. In addition, the producers are setting up a special unit to work with aspiring scriptwriters, in hopes of cultivating new talent, and are also contacting a variety of established names from literary SF. Ben Aaronovitch has been given the position of Free-Floating Agent of Chaos, being paid a chunk of money just to hang around the production office contributing witty lines and ideas, without ever having a script deadline. Lawrence Miles is reported to be locked in the basement with a word processor and an IV drip filled with caffiene.
When asked if the new production would be canonical, Davies simply pointed and laughed.
In addition to the TV episodes, McGann will also be recording six audio plays a year, released through the BBC's licensing deal with Big Finish Productions. 'The idea is that we can produce fannish stories for the fan niche market on audio, with all the old character appearances anyone could want - and that way we keep them from cluttering up the TV stories,' said Davies. (The only such story announced so far is Jon Blum's seventh/eighth Doctor story, tenatively titled "The Child Is The Father Of The Man".)
Aside from a cameo by the Daleks in an episode entitled "The Ashes of Skaro", no characters from the old show are scheduled to appear until at least the first-season finale. The series will feature a mixture of stand-alone stories and a new ongoing story arc -- one which will have 'little or nothing' to do with the Time Lords or Gallifrey, according to Davies.
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