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']['error]>U]> a.k.a TerrorPUP |
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Who Revives Sarah Jane, K9 |
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LONDON—Toby Whithouse—writer of the upcoming second-season Doctor Who episode that brings back former companions Sarah Jane Smith and K9—admitted to SCI FI Wire that he wasn't as rabid a Who fan as his fellow writers. "I could probably name all the Doctors in the right order, and maybe four monsters, so I thought that made me quite a big fan—until I met the other writers and realized that I knew absolutely nothing!" Whithouse said in an interview. "They were genuine lifelong fans, so whereas I'd be standing much more on the sidelines holding the coats, they had all been immersed in that world for most of their lives."
Whithouse's episode, titled "School Reunion," airs on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on April 29 and marks the return of the Doctor's faithful robot dog K9 (John Leeson) and his previous companion Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen.
"After we had the first read-through of my episode and a couple of others, I took the train back to London with some of the other writers, and that's when I realized that I was really an amateur in this world," Whithouse said. "They had this encyclopedic knowledge, and compared to them, I knew basically nothing."
In "School Reunion," the Doctor (David Tennant), Rose (Billie Piper) and Mickey (Noel Clarke) investigate a London school beset by mysterious batlike creatures and an evil headmaster (Anthony Stewart Head). But unknown to the Doctor, those incidents are already being looked into by undercover journalist Sarah Jane Smith, not to mention the newly rebuilt K9. "The irony is," said Whithouse, one of a small group of writers hand-picked by executive producers Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner to work on season two, "my episode is the only one that really hearkens back to the past, with the inclusion of the two ex-assistants, Sarah Jane and K9. But I think the advantage of not being really immersed in that world is that when I had the first meeting to talk about my episode with Russell and Julie, and they said to me, 'We want you to bring back Sarah Jane and K9!' had I been more of a fan, the thought of bringing back those two characters would have filled me with absolute terror. I knew they were popular characters within the mythology, but I hadn't realized how iconic they were in the eyes of a lot of the fans. So I think had I been involved more in that world, it would have put the fear of God into me. As it was, I felt it was just another element I had to take on, so it didn't particularly faze me."
Although the writer admits doing some research into Sarah Jane Smith's appearances in the original series, he insisted that the current version is stylistically very different in terms of storytelling. "Consequently, I think it was more useful to watch Russell's first season rather than go too much into the past. In terms of facts and figures," he said. "I actually remembered a little more than I thought I did, and the producers sent me tapes and DVDs of Sarah Jane episodes, which is really what I needed a refresher on. But, as I say, because Russell had reinvented the series, I don't think anyone would have thanked me if I had written a story too much like the previous Doctor Who, because the way it's done now has changed so radically. I think it was more important that I got that right." Doctor Who is currently airing its second season in the United Kingdom. The first season of Doctor Who airs in the United States on Friday nights on SCI FI Channel. —Joe Nazzaro
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Posted on Thursday, April 27 @ 10:23:35 EDT by terrorpup
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