[Article] Aus/NZ Stack magazine

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They don't say anything new, but here's two anniversary year items from
the February 2013 issue of "Stack" magazine (a free monthly magazine from
the Australian / New Zealand electronics, DVD, and music retailer JB
Hi-Fi).


The issue has the usual anniversary image of the 11 Doctors on the cover.
Inside the issue Steven Moffat is the entertainment industry person in the
spotlight of the regular "Unsung Heroes" column ...

Unsung Heroes: Producer and Writer Steven Moffat
--------------
This Scottish television writer and producer is best known
today as the creative force behind the latest incarnation
of "Doctor Who". A "Who" fan since childhood, Moffat wrote
a number of stories for the programme during 2005-2008,
including the classic "Blink" which introduced the Weeping
Angels. In 2009 he took over from Russell T. Davies as the
show's head writer and executive producer.

Moffat's other notable TV credits include co-creating
"Sherlock", a modern version of Arthur Conan Doyle's
iconic sleuth, with writer Mark Gatiss. The show has won
BAFTA awards for Best Drama Series and Writing. He also
created the sitcoms "Press Gang" (1989-1993) and
"Coupling" (2007-2008).

Moffat was a co-writer on the animated feature "The
Adventures of Tintin", with Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright.
Director Steven Spielberg originally wanted Moffat to
script a trilogy of Tintin films, however, his commitments
to "Doctor Who" wound up taking precedence.
[Smart move - Editor]

He is currently working on the 50th anniversary of
"Doctor Who" and promises "it will be huge".



There's also this two-page article on "Doctor Who" ...

The Doctor Is In
----------------
Stack's resident "Doctor Who" addict Scott Hocking looks
at why the long-running BBC series - which this year
celebrates its 50th birthday - has stood the test of
time.

I was five years old when my mother suggested I should
watch a show on the ABC [Australian TV netork] about a man
who travelled through space and time in a telephone box.

So I took her advice and tuned in to "Doctor Who" one
afternoon.

Patrick Troughton was the Doctor at that time and the
story, in glorious black and white, was set on an oil rig
that was being attacked by seaweed monsters which could be
killed by the screams of the Doctor's female companion.

I was instantly hooked - and still am some 40 years later.

Back then, most kids were frightened of the Daleks or the
Cybermen. Me, I was terrified of the Ice Warriors -
lumbering, pine-cone-like aliens from the planet Mars
whose sibilant speech and sonic guns sent me scrambling
behind the sofa.

Then there were the Autons: plastic shop window dummies
with literal hand-guns, who came to life and began
blasting passers-by.

It was the stuff of nightmares, and even though I was
convinced the plastic men were coming to get me, I kept
watching.

"Doctor Who" remains the longest running science fiction
TV series in the world - yes, even longer than "Star Trek"
- and it's this fear factor that was largely instrumental
in its success. If the Daleks hadn't made their first
appearance in 1963, it's doubtful it would have endured.

Conceived by creators Verity Lambert and Sydney Newman as
a children's series that would balance visits to alien
planets with trips back in time through Earth's history,
the early episodes saw William Hartnell's Doctor meeting
the likes of Marco Polo and Richard the Lionheart.

But with Dalekmania continuing to resonate, it became
apparent that kids wanted sci-fi escapism and scary
monsters, and so the history lessons were abandoned.

Another key to the series' success is its ability to
continue with different actors in the lead role. What
other television series could change the main character's
appearance and persona, and still be just as popular?

Each actor has made the role their own: William Hartnell
was the cranky old geezer, Patrick Troughton the
absent-minded ditherer, Jon Pertwee the flamboyant James
Bond type (and master of "Venusian Karate"), Tom Baker the
bohemian in a scarf, Peter Davison the boyish cricketer,
Colin Baker the volatile multicoloured clown, Syvester
McCoy the enigmatic eccentric, Paul McGann the sensitive
romantic, Christopher Eccelstone the action man in a
leather jacket, David Tennant the skinny guy in a suit,
and Matt Smith the old soul in the young man's body (who
thinks bow ties are cool).

The recurring characters, monsters, and companions are as
much a part of the series' appeal as the titular Time Lord.

The Pertwee era of the seventies established the "UNIT
family" of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, Jo Grant, and
Sergeant Benton, who had to contend with the Machiavellian
Master selling the Earth out to Axons, Autons, Sea Devils,
and Daemons.

Tom Baker's Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith became - and
perhaps remain - the most popular double-act in the show's
history, and the Baker era delivered some classic stories:
"The Seeds of Doom", "The Talons of Weng Chiang", and
"Genesis of the Daleks".

The sense of family and companionship would prove
instrumental to the success of "Doctor Who"'s return in
2005, under the guidance of writer-producer Russell T.
Davies.

By giving new assistants like Billy Piper's Rose Tyler and
Catherine Tate's Donna Noble a family back on Earth added
emotional gravitas to their travels through time and
space, and relationship with the Doctor.

Moreover, Davies was a "Doctor Who" fan of old and knew
exactly how the Whoniverse worked - redesigning the Daleks,
Cybermen, and Sontarans, bringing back the Master, and
unwrapping a surprise package in star David Tennant, who
went on to become the most popular Doctor since Tom Baker.

Davies' daring move of hinting at a love interest between
Doctor and companion - taboo in the annals of "Who" - also
worked to the show's advantage.

Current series writer-producer Steven Moffat continues to
uphold the tradition, with newlyweds Amy Pond and Rory
Williams the first of Matt Smith's new assistants, and the
fabulous River Song returning to tease the Doctor (and us)
about her relationship to the Time Lord.

This year, Smith will have a new assistant in the shape of
Jenna-Louise Coleman, who made a brief appearance in the
last season, but was formally introduced during the
Christmas special.

And 2013 also marks the 50th anniversary of the show, and
although the BBC is keeping pretty tight-lipped about what
will be happening, there has already been a lot of excited
internet chatter about a special that will feature all 11
Doctors.

Ultimately though, it's the quality of the writing that
has sustained "Doctor Who" throughout the decades. Even
when the cardboard sets were close to collapsing, or the
visible seams ion the monster suits threatening to tear,
the temporal paradoxes, megalomaniac monologues, end of
the world scenarios, gothic horror variations, and alien
invasions sustained the illusion and left an indelible
influence on science fiction.

After the unforgivable act or permanently erasing a large
chunk of the early black and white episodes during the
sixties and seventies, the BBC has ensured "Doctor Who"'s
survival on DVD with monthly releases of episodes across
every Doctor's era.

Unlike the current trend of season-specific TV DVD boxed
sets, each story is given its own individual release and
complemented with ample bonus material, including
retrospective featurettes, cast and crew commentaries,
and related archive material.

And that's just how the fans like it.