January 21, 200916 yr It looks like you & I are going to be pretty unhappy: http://lifetheuniverseandcombom.blogspot.com/ ^ It looks like Michelle Ryan is filming in the next Dr Who special Planet Of The Dead. And we all remember that Catherine Tate turned up in the "Whoinverse" in a Christmas Special, before later becoming Season 4's assistant. Her character might die horribly though..... :rolleyes:
January 23, 200916 yr Ex EastEnder Bags Doctor Who Role Bionic Woman and EastEnders star Michelle Ryan will guest star in the Doctor Who Easter Special named Planet of the Dead. She will play the mysterious Lady Christina de Souza, the BBC said. Her character joins the Doctor on a bus trip which takes a "detour into danger". Funnyman Lee Evans has also been signed up to play a character named Malcolm whose life becomes connected to the Doctor's under extraordinary circumstances. Michelle Ryan said: "I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who and very excited to be joining David Tennant and the Doctor Who team. It is such a fantastic show and I can't wait to get started." There has already been speculation that she could be cast as the Doctor's new assistant, opposite new Time Lord Matt Smith. Planet of the Dead is the first of four Doctor Who Specials which will air in 2009. David Tennant will bow out as the Doctor at the end of the year. Noma Dumezweni returns as Captain Erisa Magambo - last seen helping to save the world in the episode Turn Left. Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies said: "Michelle is one of the most sought after young actors in the country and we are delighted to announce that she will be joining the team. As always the script is being kept strictly under wraps however we can reveal that Lady Christina is a woman with a mysterious past who's going to have a huge impact on the Doctor." uk.msn.com Lee Evans :o And Michelle = new assistant?
January 23, 200916 yr Catherine Tate was a guest star though, to begin with! It certainly puts Michelle waaaay ahead of the competition imo.
January 23, 200916 yr Author i think dr who has 'peaked' and the only way left to go is down... http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/01/23/article-1126616-0326320B000005DC-845_468x362.jpg If...... Michelle Ryan becomes the new assistant then that is a definite YES. Just look at her CV: Eastenders' Zoe Slater: comprehensively out acted by the superior Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) & Sam Mitchell (Kim Metcalfe) Jekyll's Katherine Reimer: comprehensively out acted by Gina Bellman as Claire Jackman & Meera Syal as Miranda Calender. Bionic Woman's Jaime Sommers: out acted by the superior talents of Ruth Treadwell (Molly Price) & Becca Sommers (Lucy Kate Hale). Merlin's wicked sorceress Nimueh: For starters badly miscast as this character was supposed to be an old witch, so an older actress more capable of acting evil should have been cast. To be fair this was probably her best/least worst acting performance to date but compared to the older actors (Richard Wilson, Anthony Head & the CGI dragon voiced by John Hurt) & the two main characters Colin Morgan as Merlin and Bradley James as Prince Arthur her limited talent was exposed.
January 24, 200916 yr Merlin's wicked sorceress Nimueh: For starters badly miscast as this character was supposed to be an old witch, so an older actress more capable of acting evil should have been cast. To be fair this was probably her best/least worst acting performance to date but compared to the older actors (Richard Wilson, Anthony Head & the CGI dragon voiced by John Hurt) & the two main characters Colin Morgan as Merlin and Bradley James as Prince Arthur her limited talent was exposed. Very badly miscast I would say..... To say it's her "least worst" performance really isn't saying much let's face it..... Nimueh should have been played by someone like Tilda Swinton, who was nothing short of amazing as The White Witch in Chronicles of Narnia... When you look at the portrayals of "pure evil", er, Tilda as opposed to Michelle...... :lol: :lol: :lol: I rest my case.....
January 24, 200916 yr http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/01/23/article-1126616-0326320B000005DC-845_468x362.jpg If Michelle Ryan becomes the new assistant then that is a definite YES. Bionic Woman's Jaime Sommers: out acted by the superior talents of Ruth Treadwell (Molly Price) & Becca Sommers (Lucy Kate Hale). With regards to your opening statement, it is not a definite yes in any way. You've never seen her act in Doctor Who and as such nothing is definite. Proof that you clearly aren't willing to give her a chance; how about being less stubbon? And she was not out-acted by either of those. Hale as Becca was perfectly cast I agree, but then so was Michelle. Price as Treadwell was hardly a key character, nor especially great; she did the role justice but nothing more. If anything the other stand-out star was pretty clearly Katee Sackoff (of Battlestar Galactica fame) as Sarah Corvus, the first bionic woman... http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/070718/sackoff_l.jpg But what's important is that Michelle has charisma. She's relatable. She's a down-to-earth, girl-next-door type in a greater fashion than Catherine Tate or Freema Agyeman were as Donna and Martha respectively.
January 25, 200916 yr With regards to your opening statement, it is not a definite yes in any way. You've never seen her act in Doctor Who and as such nothing is definite. Proof that you clearly aren't willing to give her a chance; how about being less stubbon? And she was not out-acted by either of those. Hale as Becca was perfectly cast I agree, but then so was Michelle. Price as Treadwell was hardly a key character, nor especially great; she did the role justice but nothing more. If anything the other stand-out star was pretty clearly Katee Sackoff (of Battlestar Galactica fame) as Sarah Corvus, the first bionic woman... But what's important is that Michelle has charisma. She's relatable. She's a down-to-earth, girl-next-door type in a greater fashion than Catherine Tate or Freema Agyeman were as Donna and Martha respectively. I agree totally with the boldened statement... Katee Sackhoff stood out so much, she absolutely BLEW Michelle off the screen when they were going at it together in 'mortal combat', Katee just has more guts and expressiveness than Michelle, I'd rather it was her being the Doc's new assistant tbh, her roles in Bionic Woman and her total stand-out performance as Starbuck in the brilliant Battlestar Galactica remake (which P!SSES on the original IMO) certainly proves she can excel at Sci Fi where Ryan just cannot IMO (she's had two Sci Fi roles, both in BW and Jekyll and has singularly come up lacking in both roles, Sci Fi is clearly not Michelle's bag, why should she be given a chance to foul up a third time, she's already gotten ONE show cancelled with her lacklustre, phone-it-in performance).... As for your comments about "down to earth", er, this is Dr Who mate.... Why the hell should it be "down to earth".....? I think it's about time it actually got away from Earth altogether.... :rolleyes: TARDIS means Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.....Part of the problem with this show has been the fact that it's been a tad too down to Earth if you ask me..... Many of the Doctor's companions in the original series were aliens..... I rather think it's high time for a non-human or alien companion just to shake things up a bit.....
January 25, 200916 yr As for your comments about "down to earth", er, this is Dr Who mate.... Why the hell should it be "down to earth".....? I think it's about time it actually got away from Earth altogether.... :rolleyes: TARDIS means Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.....Part of the problem with this show has been the fact that it's been a tad too down to Earth if you ask me..... Many of the Doctor's companions in the original series were aliens..... I rather think it's high time for a non-human or alien companion just to shake things up a bit..... It doesn't matter where the hell it's set or what life form the characters are, to keep viewers you HAVE to have someone relatable, somebody the viewer is going to think "actually, s/he is somebody I really like" or your show won't survive. I'm simply saying Michelle is very likeable. She has 'that' about her.
January 25, 200916 yr im not so sure theres that much mileage lefdt in dr who regardless of who the assistant is.... unless they GET OFF EARTH which has been my main criticism. since it returned dr who's storylines have (effectively) revolved around childhood nightmares/fears ... 'under the bed' , but this theme has surely run out? DITCH the cybermen, DITCH the daleks, they were NEVER part in every seriese anyway, GET off earth...
January 25, 200916 yr It doesn't matter where the hell it's set or what life form the characters are, to keep viewers you HAVE to have someone relatable, somebody the viewer is going to think "actually, s/he is somebody I really like" or your show won't survive. I'm simply saying Michelle is very likeable. She has 'that' about her. What you mean like Bionic Woman..... :lol: :lol: Just how "relatable" can you call Michelle Ryan when she's already had one failed miserably series (what, only HALF a season, that's bad..) to her name....? And, sorry, but if you actually read the IMDb message boards she was a major turn-off for a lot of people who watched it, so she did play a factor in the failure of the show..... Ryan simply has not got the ability to be a major lead actress, but that's not to say she's totally hopeless or a lost cause, some actors just cant carry a film or a series, so they are placed in more as utility or support actors in ensemble pieces.... You want relatable, well, Anna Friel is just that, and way more talented and way more likeable, and unlike Ryan, can more than handle herself in a lead role.... You want popular, well, how about Summer Glau (Cameron from Terminator tv show), with a HUGE, ever growing fanbase, she's hotter than a bloody forest fire in July right now.... Not to mention just stunningly gorgeous and pretty darn talented....
January 25, 200916 yr im not so sure theres that much mileage lefdt in dr who regardless of who the assistant is.... unless they GET OFF EARTH which has been my main criticism. since it returned dr who's storylines have (effectively) revolved around childhood nightmares/fears ... 'under the bed' , but this theme has surely run out? DITCH the cybermen, DITCH the daleks, they were NEVER part in every seriese anyway, GET off earth... Er, but a lot of the original shows were like that as well mate.... :unsure: The whole "hide behind the sofa" factor was surely a pretty major part of the show's appeal..... Agree in principle with the rest of what you say though, definitely should ditch the Cybermen/Daleks and get off Earth, and surely the Doc having an alien companion will achieve just this.... The whole "cyber king" episode with that fukkin' thing at the end that looked like something out of Power Rangers or Godzilla was just utterly laughable..... :lol: That's really just scraping beyond the bottom of the barrel and flogging a patch of ground where a dead horse used to be.... :rolleyes: But, hey, what else do you expect from Russel T Davis' incredibly lazy writing.... Still, you have to give him credit for coming up with an even naffer, more cheesy and cliched X-Mas special than that fukkin' Titanic sh!t last year..... :rolleyes: And the end of series four probably would have been better had it not been about the sodding Daleks.....AGAIN.....
January 25, 200916 yr The majority of the criticism of Bionic Woman wasn't aimed at Michelle whatsoever - it was aimed at the writers and the pace of the show, and the fact that it seemed not to know quite what it wanted to be. Michelle didn't get panned as you seem to be suggesting...
January 25, 200916 yr hmmm Freema played a different character before being Martha, Catherine guest starred at Xmas, and Michelle... well I see a pattern :lol: Although Kylie has broken it so far!
January 25, 200916 yr I can understand why some people want more episodes based somewhere other than Earth. But don't forget that for most of the Pertwee era the Doctor was confined to Earth and in "the present day".
January 26, 200916 yr I can understand why some people want more episodes based somewhere other than Earth. But don't forget that for most of the Pertwee era the Doctor was confined to Earth and in "the present day". Er, there were actual plot reasons for that though mate which dont exist in the current context..... :rolleyes:
January 26, 200916 yr The majority of the criticism of Bionic Woman wasn't aimed at Michelle whatsoever - Really...? Most of the stuff I read was almost certainly aimed at her.... Particularly the very unfavourable comparisons to original Bionic Woman star Lindsay Wagner, the Americans generally simply did not warm to her, which is why she's back here in supporting parts in Merlin and Dr Who, because she failed in the US :rolleyes: .... A lot of the stuff I read also was saying that Katee Sackhoff should have been playing the part of Jamie.... Which I agree with tbh, because she is quite clearly a better actress than Michelle.... Mind you, realistically, I suppose with her scheduling as far as BSG goes it would've been utterly impossible for her to do both.... Dodgy writing can often be covered up by good acting (er, look at Dr Who itself as an example of that, a fair bit of Russell T Davis' stuff has been utter cack in seasons 2 and 3, but David Tenant was almost certainly the glue which held it all together, without him, it probably would have all fallen apart in the rather abysmal series 3...), Ryan was incapable of holding the show together even for a complete season... Proof to me that she is pretty hopeless in a starring or significant role, a good actor is capable of holding things together, even when the writing is a bit on the cr@p side.... No, I'd rather have Catherine Tate return for series 5, even with some ludicrous deus ex machina "Bat-shark repellant spray" style plot device which restores Donna's memory and sorts her brain out if the only two choices available are Tate and Ryan.... :rolleyes:
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