Everyday I think I’m gonna wake up back in The Village… As part of the lead-up to their 2009 reboot with Jim Caviezel (Six) and Sir Ian McKellen (Two), AMC posts all of the original episodes of Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner in their entirety. (Via Neilalien.)
Tag: BBC
Who’s on Fifth.
“My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven.” Arguably the reincarnated show’s best writer, Steven Moffat will take over as head of Doctor Who for Season 5 (or Season 31, depending on how you’re counting), replacing Russell Davies. That’s a perfect choice…so long as it doesn’t screw up Spielberg and PJ’s Tintin trilogy.
Avon’s Last Laugh?
Fire up ORAC and break out the funky, funky eyepatch, man: Blake’s 7, a classic British sci-fi show i was hyping here just last month, is now set for its own BSG/Doctor Who-style revamp, albeit by Sky Television, who recently tried and failed to bring back The Prisoner. (Rumors were circulating of a B7 return five years ago, but that particular Liberator never got off the ground.)
At any rate, it’ll be interesting to see if a new Blake’s 7 can find its niche in today’s crowded sci-fi market, particularly given that Farscape and Firefly both borrowed liberally from B7’s original “band on the run” premise, and that the new incarnation of Battlestar has appropriated much of the darkness and misanthropy that lingered around Roj Blake’s crew, three decades ago.
Terry Does Dick | Prison Break.
Speaking of Philip K. Dick, word on the street is the one and only Terry Gilliam will be heading The Owl in Daylight, a biopic of the author set to star Paul Giamatti in the lead. And, speaking of paranoid sci-fi-ish surveillance thrillers, Christopher Nolan looks set to board The Prisoner, as in a film version of the classic BBC series, after he finishes the Dark Knight.
Prisoner’s Dilemma.
Village people take note: Having passed over season 2/28 of Dr. Who to David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston will instead channel Patrick McGoohan’s Number Six for a six-episode revival of BBC cult classic The Prisoner. Hmm…more Who is always a good thing, but this sounds unnecessary.
Lay Down Your Burdens / Who’s Next.
Those of you who care already know this — but still, the second season of Battlestar Galactica ends tonight with a 90-minute episode that includes cylon Dean Stockwell, a one year flash-forward, and a new Vichy-like storyline for Season 3, which begins airing in October. And The Sopranos Season Six isn’t the only big-ticket TV premiere coming up. March 17 is shaping up to be a doozy for the fanboy nation (particularly we anglophiles), as Guy Fawkes will be muscling in on St. Patrick in V for Vendetta and the Doctor will finally be returning to American television with a two-hour premiere on Sci-Fi.
A Doctor in the House.
Program the Tardis and the TiVos: The Doctor Who revival will finally come to American shores this March, when the Sci-Fi Channel begins airing Season One. (Via Triptych Cryptic.) I guess this means I’ll have to give up the Sci-Fi boycott, but, then again, I guess I gave it up in principle when I bought the first season of the new Battlestar Galactica last weekend.
Longtime Companion.
Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen), one of the Doctor’s most memorable companions from the Pertwee-Baker years, will return in Season 2 of the Who revival (along with the Cybermen.) How ’bout Harry and the Brigadier while we’re at it?
Doctor Who?
At first I thought this might be an April Fools joke…but, no, it seems that Christopher Eccleston has already tired of Doctor Who after 13 episodes and will be replaced for the recently-announced second season. Phew, thank goodness for Gallifreyan regeneration.
Yanked out of proportion.
NBC begins its full-court press on the American version of The Office, premiering next Tuesday with The Daily Show‘s Steve Carell as Ricky Gervais and Six Feet Under‘s Rainn Wilson in the Gareth role. Hmmm…from the Screening Room clips, I’m not feeling it. Update: The NYT weighs in: “Luckily for NBC, which bought the rights to the British comedy, only a relatively small number of viewers in the United States have seen the BBC version. Those happy few should try to erase every trace from their brains – Eternal Sunshine of the Digital Cable Mind – because the NBC series, though it pales in comparison, is still funnier than any other new network sitcom.” Slate‘s Dana Stevens is less sanguine. “Remember that scene near the end of Annie Hall, when Woody Allen (as Alvy Singer) tries to recreate a fun date he once shared with his ex-girlfriend Annie (Diane Keaton), chasing live lobsters around the kitchen in an attempt to catch them and boil them for dinner?…That’s sort of how fans of the BBC series The Office will feel about the new American remake.“