'You've got all time and space': B.C. director says making Doctor Who's 60th-year special was 'intimidating'
CBC
Vancouver filmmaker Rachel Talalay already won widespread acclaim — and an award — for the episodes of Doctor Who she directed.
But being invited back into that chair for one of the BBC's three special episodes marking the science fiction franchise's 60th anniversary still made her a bit nervous, she admitted.
"There's nothing more intimidating than a show that's been on for 60 years and crazed fans," she said in an interview with CBC's On The Coast. "There's a reason that it's the longest-running science fiction show ever."
Talalay, formerly an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia's department of theatre and film, directed the episode Star Beast, which aired Nov. 25 as the first of three specials rolling out ahead of the launch of the show's fourteenth season — or Series 14, as it is known by U.K. audiences.
The program reunited fan favourites David Tennant in the role of the Doctor, and comedian Catherine Tate as his companion, Donna Noble, after the pair last appeared in the show together in 2010. It also introduced Yasmin Finney to the series, playing Noble's 15-year-old daughter.
Talalay said working with Tennant, who last played the Doctor in 2013, was a delight, and that he was overjoyed to be back in the role.
"There's a scene where he ... runs through the entire set, and that's pure joy. There's no acting there," she said. "It was a very special event for everyone."
According to the industry publication RadioTimes, the special had an initial audience of 5.08 million people in the U.K., making it one of the biggest programs of the year. It also received positive reviews in both The Guardian and the Sunday Telegraph, with both publications praising the special as a return to form for the long-running series.
Outside of the U.K., the program is available on the streaming platform Disney Plus, where it debuted in the top five programs on the service in multiple countries, including Canada, according to online ratings aggregator FlixPatrol.
Talalay said she got to watch the episode debut in front of an audience of about 800 fans at a Doctor Who convention in Chicago, where it received a standing ovation.
"The reward was incredible to watch it like that."
The director said the magic of the series, since its launch in 1963, is not just its universe of time-travel and alien civilizations, but how much it has always had to say about being human.
"If you're a fan, you understand that it's not just any old time travel show," she explained. "It's very scary and yet it's very loving.
"It's the history of these beautiful monsters and these companions who are very, very human."
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.