Doctor Who Tops SFX Poll

The farewell between the Doctor and Rose Tyler at Bad Wolf Bay has been named the greatest sci-fi/fantasy scene of all time. The scene, from the climax of Doomsday (first shown in July 2006), was voted top of SFX magazine's poll by over 96,000 readers to mark their 250th issue.

David Tennant told SFX that "Russell [T Davies] had weaved some glorious magic for two seasons and it all came together so perfectly in this scene that people still talk to me about it.. they always will. Murray Gold created some heart stopping music that accentuates the misery and Billie Piper is just breathtakingly good. Whatever else I do.. this will be a moment I will be forever proud to look back on."

Doctor Who saw off competition from Hollywood blockbusters (Alien, Back to the Future, Star Wars), Game of Thrones, and the Harry Potter books.

Doctor Who and the Nearly Leela's

SFX magazine has revealed intriguing details of the production subtitles featured on the new DVD release of The Face of Evil. Writer Dave Golder has listed all the actresses who auditioned for the part of Leela in 1976. Before Louise Jameson was eventually cast, twenty-five other candidates were interviewed by producer Philip Hinchcliffe. The most well-known names considered for the role were Carol Drinkwater (Helen Heriot in All Creatures Great and Small), Colette Gleeson (she later starred in Doctor Who as Caris in Meglos), Heather Tobias, Michelle Newell, and Susan Wooldridge. Besides Jameson, perhaps the most famous actress seen was Pamela Salem - she actually appeared in the next serial, The Robots of Death as Toos, and  later in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) as Rachel Jensen.

More Awards For Doctor Who

The annual SFX magazine awards were held at their third Weekender event in Prestatyn, North Wales on Saturday.
Season six of Doctor Who won four more prizes in the readers' poll:
Best TV Show, Matt Smith for Best Actor, and Alex Kingston for Best Actress (beating co-star Karen Gillan). Writer Neil Gaiman received the Screenwriting Excellence Award for The Doctor's Wife.
SFX also launched the Elizabeth Sladen Award this year, which recognises contributions to children's sci-fi/fantasy, and it is apt that The Sarah Jane Adventures is the first recipient.

In other news, the actress Emma Watson has become the favoured successor to Gillan, in an online poll. IGN.com announced it's results on Monday - Zooey Deschanel and Anna Friel polled in second and third place, whilst the top-ranked actor was John Boyega.
Another Harry Potter connection was reported this week, when Daniel Radcliffe ruled himself out of taking the lead role in David Yates' planned Doctor Who film. He said "that Matt Smith.. does a wonderful job" in the show.

Fifty Years of a Time Lord

Doctor Who websites and forums are rife with speculation about the programme's forthcoming Fiftieth Anniversary, still almost two years away. The Radio Times website today published an interview (from The Scotsman) with Steven Moffat. The showrunner discusses the rumoured Hollywood reboot of Doctor Who, his eventual departure, and naturally, the anniversary special - read his comments here.

The latest edition of the SFX Collection, The Fanzine, asks writers and fans how the BBC should celebrate the show's half-century, whilst the current issue of DWM debates the pros-and-cons of re-casting past Doctors. The majority of Whovians seem to favour a traditional, multi-Doctor story, but personally, I thinks that Paul McGann deserves another television outing. Obviously, all other ten incarnations would feature in my adventure, but purely in flashback sequences. The story would open like this:

"An older and weary Eighth Doctor flees the ruined Capitol - the sound of death fills the air.

 The Doctor has fought the last battle. The Time War is finally at an end. The Daleks have been wiped from existence, but at the ultimate cost - the Doctor has sacrificed his own race. There are no victors, only one survivor. Gallifrey and Skaro, and countless other worlds and civilisations are dead.

As the Doctor lies dying in the last TARDIS in the universe, he reflects on all his past lives. We see snatches of his memories.."