Immediately after this morning's press screening, outgoing Time Lord David Tennant and outgoing exec producer Russell T Davies took questions from the gathered journos. A full transcript follows:
How does this special compare to the others?
David: "It tells a different sort of story, I think, and it's a long time into the episode before The Doctor takes control. That's what's unnerving about it - it's not the standard structure. We expect The Doctor to take control earlier - we expect The Doctor to know how he's going to do it and how he's going to win through and he doesn't. Even though he wins in the end it's a bitter sweet victory. People die. That's part of the story we have to tell to go where we're going."
Do you think 'Waters of Mars' can still be viewed by children? It's very dark in places.
Russell: "Oh yes, absolutely. Have you read a Harry Potter book?"
David: "Or seen a Harry Potter film?"
And we start to see the end of The Tenth Doctor's journey here, don't we?
David: "Well I think this gives you a bit of a hint - the fact that The Ood have come to summon the Doctor and the fact that the Doctor now knows incontrovertibly that he's running from his own demise and at the very end he says: 'No, I'm not going - I'm going to rage against the dying of the light' which hints at the final story I suppose.!
Russell: "He's alone and lost again. All these things are coming to an end."
Do you feel like you've wrapped it up satisfactorily for yourself then?
Russell: "Oh, magnificently!"
David: "Yeah - I think we tell a big end-of-an-era story and at the same time handing it on, which is important. This show has been going a long time before we showed up and no doubt will carry on into the far distant future. We tell a big old farewell story and then hand it over in rude health."
Russell: "It's nice knowing that you're coming to an end so far in advance because we had a chance to do everything - there's nothing we forgot. We see the Ood summon the Doctor in Children in Need and you get the first scene of the Doctor arriving on the planet of the Ood. It's actually hilarious - I think that scene is so funny!"
Did either of you keep any souvenirs from the set?
David: "You're really not allowed! People think you just walk away with a pocket full of stuff but the licence fee is very well protected - as it should be. I did get a little gift box at the end of stuff they didn't need anymore."
Russell: "I've got an orb from 'The End of the World' - mind you I paid a thousand quid for it at auction! I was very drunk and thought I'd bought something else but the the next day I ended up with a little orb - that was good, I was very popular."
There are pictures leaking from the filming of the new Doctor Who series. How do you feel when you see them?
David: "It's weird. I remember before it happened thinking we would probably start seeing snaps of them on street corners and wearing anoraks or having cups of tea between takes. I was nervous about how I would feel about that - I'm thrilled that it's carrying on and I know that everyone who's there is a great choice - but of course you feel a little bit proprietorial. I'm cheered because I've just been really excited to see that it's going on and I'm teased by what I'm seeing. I just can't wait to see it. I remember what it felt like as well, to be where Matt is now. It's really exciting to see someone else starting out on that journey."
Russell: "It's funny because when you're inside the programme you see those things and go: 'Oh, it's spoiled, it's ruined', but outside you go 'How exciting!'"
Russell, are you considering writing or putting together a pitch for an American version of Doctor Who?
Russell: "Absolutely not. Upon my dead mother's life! But no, absolutely not. I bet you a hundred quid that I'm not."
So what are you up to?
Russell: "Developing things but new things. I'm not going to tell you what they are because they'll probably never exist. There's a recession out there [in America] as well. We'll see."
David: "I'll do it - I can do the acting. That was a joke - don't print it!"
Do you feel that you've explored every avenue and possibility that you wanted to in the series?
Russell: "I think when I started I never imagined it could go so far - like to do episodes with Peter Kay or statues of angels that can move - you never would have thought it would go that far. So I'm more than happy - vindicated actually - that all these things worked."
David: "I got to do so many more things than I ever imagined I would, just playing the part itself, let alone working with all the incredible actors. All the things I got to do - hanging off things and being blown up and wearing make-up of myself as a nine million year old man - all these things that I never dreamed of. I didn't have a checklist, thinking 'when am I going to get to ride a unicycle? It's just not fair!' It was just an incredible, continually surprising, trip and I wouldn't have had it any other way."
We know some of the companions are returning for your final episodes - are you able to confirm which ones?
David: "You saw Catherine Tate as Donna and Bernard Cribbins as well. John Simm as the Master - not really a companion but part of the gang..."
Russell: "Jacqueline King who plays Donna's mother, Sylvia Noble. The Master's wife you saw in that as well - Alexandra Moen - playing Lucy Saxon. The Ood. A new Ood too."
Recently Elisabeth Sladen said she was worried about how you were going to cope with not being the Doctor and that you might end up in rehab!
David: "If I end up in rehab I will phone The Daily Star immediately and make sure you're outside to watch. You'll be first on my list of calls! It's not looking that likely at the moment but never say never."
Russell: "She's still in that drunk tank, Lis!"
What was the last day like?
David: "My last day was actually on The Sarah Jane Adventures which is on this afternoon. The last line I said as the Doctor is halfway through the episode tonight: 'You two - with me. Spit spot!' They were the last words I uttered in the suit! I guess it was robbed of any epic quality really but that was probably best because it was very emotional saying cheerio. Filming the very final scenes was very sad. There are lots of scenes in the final story that are very sad and were very sad to play. If one of them had coincided with the actual final day I'dve been a puddle. I was a bit of a puddle as it was but I kept a stiff upper lip."
And what was in the souvenir box - perhaps a sonic screwdriver?
David: "I do have my own sonic screwdriver, yes! I've put it in a secure location because I suddenly got worried my house might get burgled and I'd lose it so I've locked it up somewhere!"
Which episodes or specials have you been most proud of?
David: "We always get asked this and it's hard to pick favourites - it feels so unfair!"
Russell: "There are really no episodes we don't like - also if you leave an episode out it's like you're insulting all the friends and colleagues you've worked with on that episode. It's really weird."
David: "And I haven't seen the last two yet so I can't comment."
Russell: "They will be up there, definitely."
Is the blue suit something you can't ever wear again now?
David: "The only thing, there's a certain brand of footwear - other versions of similar things are very much available - that I used to wear a lot and I don't any more! They were my shoes to start with - four years ago it was my own battered pair that we began with and I feel like that's a special thing now. Maybe I'll get over it but yeah."
Source: Digital Spy
Friday, October 30, 2009
Fructose May Raise Blood Pressure
Drinking more than two sweetened sodas a day boosts risk of hypertension, study finds.Here's a new reason to put down that sugary soft drink: Research suggests that a diet high in fructose, a common sweetener, boosts the risk of high blood pressure.
High-fructose corn syrup is found in many processed foods and beverages. Americans consume 30 percent more fructose now than 20 years ago, and researchers have linked higher fructose consumption to the growing obesity epidemic. But scientists weren't sure if a connection existed between fructose consumption and high blood pressure.
In a new study, Dr. Diana Jalal, of the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center, and colleagues studied 4,528 adults without a history of high blood pressure. They examined their fructose intake and found that those who consumed more than 74 grams of fructose per day -- that's the equivalent of the amount in 2.5 sweetened soft drinks -- boosted their risk of high blood pressure by 28 percent to 87 percent, depending on the level of hypertension.
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More signs of war in Ivory Coast
A UN report accuses both the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south of stocking up on weapons, a month before elections.The report also said neighbouring Burkina Faso is systematically transferring weapons and ammunition to the rebels.
"Despite the arms embargo northern and southern Ivorian parties are rearming or re-equipping with related material," the report by a UN panel of experts said.
"We cannot exclude a situation in which armed violence may escalate rapidly, particularly in the north," the report added.
The UN Security Council is due to renew its arms ban against the country this week, but the report raised the possibility of renewed serious conflict if the political situation deteriorates.
According to the BBC, the authors of the report urged Burkina Faso to investigate the transfer of weapons to rebels in the north.
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Woman charged with murder over stabbing
A 53-year-old woman has been charged with murder after a man died from stab wounds yesterday.
Karen Black, 53, from Corio, a suburb of Geelong, has been charged with one count of murder and was remanded in custody to appear before the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday.
Ms Black handed herself in to police after 53-year-old Wayne Clarke, also of Corio, died from stab wounds in hospital in Geelong.
Mr Clarke was found by a passer-by in a car in Gheringhup St in Geelong about 4.50pm (AEDT) yesterday after being driven there and abandoned following the stabbing. He had been stabbed in nearby Beretta St in Corio, a police spokeswoman said.
It is the second murder in the area in a week, with Beretta St located only a few hundred metres away from Cloverdale Drive in Corio, where 26-year-old Brock Nightingale was shot dead on Saturday, October 24.
Two men, Matthew Grotheer, 29, from Batesford and Jayden Bishop, 21, from Herne Hill, have been charged with murder and remanded in custody.
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Karen Black, 53, from Corio, a suburb of Geelong, has been charged with one count of murder and was remanded in custody to appear before the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday.
Ms Black handed herself in to police after 53-year-old Wayne Clarke, also of Corio, died from stab wounds in hospital in Geelong.
Mr Clarke was found by a passer-by in a car in Gheringhup St in Geelong about 4.50pm (AEDT) yesterday after being driven there and abandoned following the stabbing. He had been stabbed in nearby Beretta St in Corio, a police spokeswoman said.
It is the second murder in the area in a week, with Beretta St located only a few hundred metres away from Cloverdale Drive in Corio, where 26-year-old Brock Nightingale was shot dead on Saturday, October 24.
Two men, Matthew Grotheer, 29, from Batesford and Jayden Bishop, 21, from Herne Hill, have been charged with murder and remanded in custody.
useful links: transport rankings
Two dead after car-van crash
Two people are dead after a head-on crash between a car and a van on State Highway 50 on the Napier Hastings motorway.
Shortly before 2am on Saturday, a van and a car collided on a bridge about 1km south of the intersection of State Highway 50 and Meeanee Road, Inspector Paul Jermy, of Central Communications, said today.
"It appears the car involved in the crash contained two occupants, whilst the van contained at least seven people.
"Three of the van occupants were thrown over the bridge and into a river about 15 metres below."
Two of those thrown over the bridge died at the scene, while a third made it to shore and was taken to hospital, Jermy said.
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Shortly before 2am on Saturday, a van and a car collided on a bridge about 1km south of the intersection of State Highway 50 and Meeanee Road, Inspector Paul Jermy, of Central Communications, said today.
"It appears the car involved in the crash contained two occupants, whilst the van contained at least seven people.
"Three of the van occupants were thrown over the bridge and into a river about 15 metres below."
Two of those thrown over the bridge died at the scene, while a third made it to shore and was taken to hospital, Jermy said.
useful links: transport rankings
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