Doctor Who reboot (1963 – 2005)
Doctor Who originally broadcast on 23rd november 1963 and was cancelled in 1989 because it
was thought to be a joke at the time by the BBC controller, Michael
Grade. There was a TV movie in 1996 continuing where the show left off however it was intended for American audiences, as the producers wanted the show to go overseas; Although it was a success in the UK, the film did not do well with the intended audience and no series was commissioned. There was a full reboot in 2005 which had more success than the movie due to it being targeted at the british more (The 1st episode was set in London.)
Although both versions of the
show (1963, 2005) were made in the UK, the audiences were very different, aside from being roughly the same age group.
The two generations reacted
differently to the show because of their upbringing. Children of the 60s were far, far less protected from the extremes of society than children of the 2000s, this was reflected within the two versions of the show; The Doctor Who of today has much more comedic elements to it as opposed to the Doctor Who of the 60's which attempted to scare and educate children rather than entertain. In 2003, when Doctor Who was re-commissioned by Russell .T. Davies, movies such as 'Matrix reloaded' and 'Terminator 3' and other sic-fi elements were popular. The news of the re-launch received good feedback as the show itself and sic-fi in general was extremely popular. The basis for the reboot were a mix between financial and artistic, although more of the latter; Russell was a fan of the original series and knew the children of the next generation would love it.
The 1963 version of the show also had a very
low budget with as little as £2000 per half hour so
the production was very sloppy; The sets wobbled, Doors wouldn't close properly and sometimes actors missed their
cues and were not allowed a re-take. The TARDIS’s iconic image is only
around due to budget restrictions, it was originally meant to change it's appearance every episode but the budget was already over-spent. The 2005 series however had a
much bigger budget of £10 million due to the BBC having
high hopes of getting a whole new generation of children
interested in it.
The social and political views at
the time of each version were also very different; in a 1963 episode 'The Sunmakers' was a parody of the tax system at the time.
In 2005, The first Slitheen two-parter (Aliens of London/World War 3) was a reflection of the WMD situation in Iraq.
In 2005, The first Slitheen two-parter (Aliens of London/World War 3) was a reflection of the WMD situation in Iraq.
