New Doctor Who: “A Pinch of Twilight, A Pinch of Harry Potter”

By | Posted on March 4th, 2010

  • More details about the new season of Doctor Who (coming April 17th on BBC AMERICA) are emerging, and the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine has all of the information. New executive producer Piers Wenger previews lead writer Steven Moffat‘s vision for the series: “He wanted to give the look of the series a slightly more storybook, fairy-tale feel – within reason…It wasn’t about suddenly becoming Tim Burton, but it was finding a pinch of that, a pinch of Twilight, a pinch of Harry Potter – but it’s still absolutely, slap-bang, mainstream Doctor Who.”

    Wenger and his Doctor Who co-exec producer, Beth Willis, both previously worked on Ashes To Ashes. But Wenger says Who is “a bigger, more brilliant challenge” than the aforementioned Life On Mars spinoff: “Just the stories [on Who], by nature, have to be slightly baffling, but have a really rigorous logic behind why they’re baffling – and they should be baffling in a good way.”

    Willis adds, “[Ashes] was eight episodes compared to thirteen, which I think, just in terms of stamina, is quite a different kettle of fish. And the post-production process on Doctor Who is just so much more complex.”

    In other news:

  • Director Noel Clarke, formerly Mickey Smith from Doctor Who, talks to The Daily Telegraph about collaborating with Doritos to provide opportunities for young filmmakers.
  • Why did Yoko Ono allow John Lennon‘s voice and image to be used in a Citroën car ad? Their son, Sean, has responded to fan backlash on Twitter: “Having just seen the ad, I realize why people are mad. But [the] intention was not financial, [it] was simply wanting to keep him out there in the world.”

    You can watch the ad below:

  • Sacha Baron Cohen has pulled out as an Oscar presenter due to “creative differences” over an Avatar sketch featuring Ben Stiller. Producers feared James Cameron would be offended.(The Times)
  • Jamie Oliver and wife Jools are expecting their fourth child.(Daily Mail)
  • Kelly Osbourne shows off her big bucket of…vitamins.(Daily Mail)
  • Lily Allen and Courtney Love‘s Twitter catfight continues. It has devolved from delicious to just…sad.(The Sun)
  • Kate Nash has enlisted her boyfriend, Cribs guitarist Ryan Jarman, to play on her new album.(Daily Record)
  • Original Sugababes member Mutya Buena thinks the current iteration of the girl group is illegitimate. And to make it official, she wants ownership of the “Sugababes” name.(The Sun)
  • Lindsay Lohan and Boy George confirm they really are separate human beings by appearing together in London.(Daily Mail)
  • The Guardian has done a fantastic recent series on fiction writing, with lots of tips and advice from the pros.
  • The lead singer of the UK band Reverend and the Makers has been arrested for marijuana possession. Jon McClure told NME: “I was with the wife, ordered some room service and was butt naked. They took my herb and were dead happy because it was the first famous person they had arrested. Anyhow f*** it. They are going to write me a letter telling me off, I might bun up a fat one with the letter.”
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