12:00 AM, 17-MARCH-06

Who Stars' Chemistry Ignites

Russell T. Davies, executive producer and lead writer of the new Doctor Who, attributed much of the show's initial success to the winning chemistry between Christopher Eccleston, who plays the eccentric Time Lord, and Billie Piper, who plays his companion, Rose Tyler. As Davies recalled, Eccleston was an early candidate for the role, but it was assumed that he wouldn't be interested. "Mal Young, one of the other executive producers who had been campaigning at the BBC for a long time to bring Doctor Who back, had mentioned him, and having worked with Chris and having known him for years, I just gave a little wry smile to myself and thought, 'We should be so lucky!'" Davies said.

Davies added: "Out of the blue, Chris e-mailed me, and even as a huge top-line actor in Britain, he was still modest enough to say, 'Would you consider me for the part?' Anybody else would have said, 'I want that part! Give it to me!' From that point on, we did see other people as well, but it was a very simple decision, because the program's memory had become a bit of a joke, in the way that I watch American programs, and they refer to Gilligan's Island. It was a bit like that over here, because Gilligan's Island was a bit daft and funny and fondly remembered, but not a serious program at all. And casting Chris seemed to have single-handedly changed that overnight, particularly within the industry. Suddenly, a lot of people sat upright and said, 'Oh, my God, they're taking this seriously!' It was the biggest change we could effect upon the memory of the program."

Equally important was the casting of Piper, who was much more of an equal than many of the show's original companions, who were usually relegated to the role of damsel in distress. "Much as I love the old show, there wasn't much work involved in that decision, because you could not write a female lead in this day and age that was subservient and in the Doctor's shadow, who didn't have a background and a history and a personality," Davies said. "I think with any drama, you'd just get laughed off the screen if you tried to get away [with] that, so it wasn't as much a great idea of mine as just the only way to write something in 2006."

Davies said that he brought his reputation as a drama writer to Doctor Who. "So that's the sort of thing they wanted from me," he said. "I've always written strong women, so there was just no choice in it, although if you studied the history of the program, it's quite a bit of a reinvention. I can't help thinking if Doctor Who had run continuously; it would be like this now anyway. If it had gone from 1989 to 2006 in a straight line, the companion would now be like this, because that's what television is like today."

As it turned out, Eccleston would only stay on long enough to launch the first season, with actor David Tennant taking over the role for season two, which is currently in production in the United Kingdom. "We would never have replaced Chris with a lesser actor," Davies insisted. "And we're very lucky to have got David." ?Joe Nazzaro

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