After the Kings panel, then attending a bit of the Battlestar Galactica 20th reunion panel (more on that later), I headed over to get in the enormous line to Ballroom 20 (within which you can fit four Kings rooms) for the Doctor Who panel. Writers Julie Gardner and Steven Moffat were up there talking about the show and taking questions from the attendees. Since I don't watch the show, you'll have to deal with what seemed to be the highlights based on crowd reaction and what I thought sounded cool. Rich Keller will hopefully listen to my recording later and update if need-be.
Read on for the highlights.
- Series 5's premiere was being written on the plane over by Steven Moffat.
- Steven Moffat is hilarious. When asked about writing for the show: "I decided to give up a life of friends to write for it" and "a life of virginity has kept me pure."
- Gardner asked Moffat about the first time writing "INTERIOR: Tardis" in a script. Moffat said it was like giving him "an enormous toy to play with."
- Some highlights were shown from episodes Steven Moffat wrote. One was an episode about a spaceship from the 51st century stalking a woman from 18th century, 'Blink', an episode about "The Library," though not an episode about "The Empty Child," which Moffat wrote and he was disappointed wasn't shown.
- An attendee mentioned attending a reading by Niel Gaiman where she asked him if he'd write an episode of Doctor Who with Moffat, to which he said "would be nice." Moffat replied with the same "that would be nice." So who knows? Hell I'd start watching this show if that happened!
- Lots of questions were asked that could be big spoilers, and Moffat simply wouldn't say a word about them or would jokingly whisper the answer to Gardner. There was one mention of one character having met more than one of the Doctors before, but I'll have to go back to listen to that again.
- When asked about whether he had a hard time getting into the country for Comic-Con, Moffat joked, "Yes! I don't know if you know this about your country, but you hate us!"
- We were treated to an extended trailer for the 2008 Christmas episode, featuring the return of the Cybermen.
There's just too much more funny to get in right now and we'll have to update later.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-24-2008 @ 4:46PM
mj said...
I have to say, I don't like Moffat's writing as much as Davies. So, the Doctor will be more sci fi and not as people oriented now. Oh well. I'll still watch. I've been a fan of the Doctor since the sixties, and I won't stop now.
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7-24-2008 @ 5:02PM
Pinwiz said...
Sigh... thanks for the post but why is a non-fan writing a post about this show?
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7-24-2008 @ 5:25PM
ChrisG said...
That's exactly what I was thinking.
It doesn't even have to be a 'fan' of the show, just somebody who has watched it before and is knowledgable enough to write an interesting and informative article.
7-24-2008 @ 5:33PM
Misty said...
Seriously, when he described the Nebula-nominated, Hugo-Award-winning episode "The Girl In The Fireplace" as "an episode about a spaceship from the 51st century stalking a woman from 18th century," I laughed out loud.
7-24-2008 @ 5:33PM
Keith McDuffee said...
I can't watch everything and I was here at the con alone. So, report on it or skip? Sorry you didn't find my post informative.
7-24-2008 @ 6:04PM
Oreo said...
That's an excellent question.
7-24-2008 @ 6:27PM
Sour Bob said...
Exactly. My favorite was "There was one mention of one character having met more than one of the Doctors before, but I'll have to go back to listen to that again."
I.e., "I think somebody said something that would likely fascinate you, but I cannot be bothered to care."
7-24-2008 @ 6:48PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Rich Keller is the Dr. Who guy, and his plane landed late. I had to cover. Chill everyone. Chill.
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7-24-2008 @ 7:42PM
Kurifurisan said...
Thank you Keith for covering this. I know this isn't a show you normally cover but I appreciate that you took time to report on one of my favorite shows.
7-24-2008 @ 7:18PM
Claire said...
i agree. i think your post was fine, especially since this isn't your area of expertise.
with that said was there any mention to the format of season five. i know it's supposed to be a series of TV movies (a la the christmas specials) but was there any more information? i would have loved to see that panel.
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7-24-2008 @ 7:25PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Thanks. The only talk of season 5 I caught was that the pilot was being written.
7-24-2008 @ 7:48PM
dave said...
From now, we have :
Christmas 2008 - 1 x special, featuring the Cybermen
2009 - Easter time and possibly late summer/autumn - 2 x specials.
Christmas 2009 - 1 x special.
2010 - Full series 5, probably 13 episodes.
7-24-2008 @ 8:36PM
Oreo said...
I find it weird that he is already writing the first episode even through it won't be aired/filmed until 2009.
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7-24-2008 @ 10:34PM
RobynM said...
Really? I'm not. In fact, I think I'd be surprised if he weren't already working on it. Not only will it set the tone for his tenure as producer, but it's probably not the only one he'll be writing for the season, so better he start sooner rather than later.
7-24-2008 @ 8:39PM
John Schneider said...
Claire, the tv movies will work as a bridge between seasons, season five will have the usual quantity of episodes.
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7-24-2008 @ 9:56PM
DaveTehWave said...
"Some highlights were shown from episodes Steven Moffat wrote. One was an episode about a spaceship from the 51st century stalking a woman from 18th century, 'Blink', an episode about "The Library," though not an episode about "The Empty Child," which Moffat wrote and he was disappointed wasn't shown."
I saw these episodes already... they showed highlights from past episodes? WTF?
lame
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7-24-2008 @ 9:56PM
DaveTehWave said...
"Some highlights were shown from episodes Steven Moffat wrote. One was an episode about a spaceship from the 51st century stalking a woman from 18th century, 'Blink', an episode about "The Library," though not an episode about "The Empty Child," which Moffat wrote and he was disappointed wasn't shown."
I saw these episodes already... they showed highlights from past episodes? WTF?
Reply
7-24-2008 @ 10:19PM
RobynM said...
I think the point was to show some of the work Steven Moffat's been responsible for in the past, so a) we have some idea of what the feel of the show will likely be in the future and b) to prove to the doubters that he's capable of running the show.
Thanks again for stepping in, Keith - it's not easy covering something you're completely unfamiliar with.
7-24-2008 @ 10:00PM
Ed said...
Thanks for posting Keith. It sometimes bugs me when writers who don't watch shows write posts (the funniest one was "24 season 7 skips ahead a few years"!), but logistics are logistics. Damn plane!
Thanks for the post
Reply
7-25-2008 @ 12:00AM
Michael said...
I would say that if you don't have a reporter that is informed on the subject matter then it should be skipped.
I think that should be a general rule of thumb for just about everything.
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