You have to admire Doctor Who's publicity department. The continual drip-feed of news and rumours about DW makes the months of waiting between seasons and specials much easier to bare. The News Of The World has reported that two of the 2009 specials will be filmed in America.
A "BBC insider" had this to say:
A "BBC insider" had this to say:
"Doctor Who already has a huge following in the States. It’s on The Sci-Fi Channel and is watched by millions of people there every week. But two specials in America, with a US setting and a US assistant, will take it to another level. David Tennant is already gaining a huge following and this will make him really hot property. [Russell T. Davies] is determined to go out with a bang and the specials will be explosive. We're spending much more money on them than normal."
Now, anything you hear about DW has to be taken lightly. Our tabloids are notorious for making up showbiz news (did you hear about Cher as Catwoman?), so they have a field day with a British product the masses care about. That said, it would make sense to do something on this scale. I already assumed the specials would be bigger budget, but the increase in production time will leave room for location filming abroad and suchlike, too. And that would really help expand the scope of the show.
BBC Wales have done extremely well to find interesting British locations, forgiving the dominance of London/Cardiff and tendency for adventures to take place indoors (on spaceships, satellites, etc). The UK doesn't really have the variety of scenery and climates to make DW appear truly global on TV. I really enjoyed "The Fires Of Pompeii", where the crew traveled to Italy to film -- it immediately gave the whole episode a sense of realism.
So, let's hope this comes true. I'm sure American fans will get a kick out of seeing The Doctor on US soil, and hopefully the writers will make the most of the opportunity. Can you imagine a DW episode set in modern-day New York (forget the greenscreen of "Daleks In Manhattan"), the Nevada Desert, or the Florida Everglades. Or, hey, what about San Francisco?! Oh, hang on…
