# New Who **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353 "2004-03-20T04:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brown\_Jenkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Brown\_Jenkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Jenkin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/1 "2004-03-20T04:55:09Z")
Australia’s ABC News website is reporting [here](http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1070128.htm) that [Christopher Eccleston](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001172/) has been cast as the new Dr Who. Now, I lost interest in this show sometime around late Tom Baker early Peter Davison when I either grew up or the show got crap, but this sounds like a good choice to me. A decent actor, not a nutter like Colin Baker or Sylvester McCoy, a good age, and a Dr Who connection by virtue of 28 Days Later! What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/2 "2004-03-20T05:08:19Z")
Just surfed over to Outpost Gallifrey, and it looks to be legit! Wow. I wish I had a clue who the hell this guy was. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Jenkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Brown\_Jenkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Jenkin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/3 "2004-03-20T06:01:09Z")
I really only know him from 28 Days Later, where he played that 'orrible military commander, and from The Others where he played Nicole Kidman’s dead husband Probably the best-credentialed actor ever to take on the role. He was in Shallow Grave too, but it’s been too long since I’ve seen that, and I can’t remember him in it. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/4 "2004-03-20T11:47:27Z")
Gut reaction is that he’s a more interesting choice than the names that were being thrown about. Can’t see him doing the Doctor as a comic turn though, so I’m guessing they’re going for quite a serious tone. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/5 "2004-03-20T15:45:48Z")
BBC report: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv\_and\_radio/3552087.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3552087.stm) I really only know him from Shallow Grave, but he was good in that, so no concerns. He’ll make a good Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/6 "2004-03-20T17:24:37Z")
I think the hardest part about playing the Doctor is balancing the serious and the comic, which Tom Baker excelled at. I mean, come on, the setup is by nature comic. A super-intellegent Time Lord who can’t control his own vehicle. Here’s hoping 1) he can pull it off and 2) it appears on BBC America. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/7 "2004-03-20T20:44:46Z")
He’s kind of rough in the picture with the BBC article. Is that going to be the Dr.'s new look, or is the photo from another Eccleston role? Writers from “A League of Gentlemen” and “Coupling” were recently hired, so it looks like the new series will have some laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/8 "2004-03-20T23:21:32Z")
No idea who he is, but he’s got a good, solid first name. Signed, Another Christopher ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-who/235353/9 "2004-03-21T00:08:38Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Writers from “A League of Gentlemen” and “Coupling” were recently hired, so it looks like the new series will have some laughs. You’re referring to Mark Gatiss and Steve Moffit respectively - and that’s the way I was reading the runes until this morning. Of course, regardless of that, the fact that Gatiss has been dropping [nostalgic hints about _The Pyramids of Mars_](http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1171688,00.html) just this week is a good omen.