BBC Showcase: British comedy, the new Doctor and more
Day one at BBC Showcase has come and gone, but the weather remains in true “Brighton in Winter” fashion. Saw some great programs yesterday including several British comedy series 
starring a number of familiar faces. One being a series called Big Top, a series about a traveling circus, stars Amanda Holden (Britain’s Got Talent), Tony Robinson (Blackadder) and John and Sophie Thompson. Up tomorrow, a new comedy starring Dawn French and Alfred Molina of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spiderman 2 and An Education fame.
The opening dinner was billed as being “Out of this World” with an emphasis on much of the sci-fi output from the BBC including Doctor Who, Torchwood, Misfits and Survivors. In attendance were Matt Smith and Karen Gillan from Doctor Who, the entire cast from Misfits, Gareth David-Lloyd from Torchwood, along with Patterson Joseph and Zoe Tapper (Demons) from Survivors.
Highlight of the evening was a very informal interview with Steven Moffat, lead writer and Executive Producer of the new Doctor Who where he described the series as “the single most exciting thing I have ever done in my professional career, bar none”.
When asked if he thought it was a daunting task given the history of the series, he responded by saying that “sure, it was daunting, but it was also very exciting in that it’s a totally different show. It’s very exciting”. Moffat went on to say how lucky he was and how the fans of the series are in for a real treat given all the unbelievable talent that will be writing the series. Along with Mark Gatiss, writer, creator and performer in League of Gentleman, the stellar writing crew consists of Richard Curtis, Gareth Roberts, Chris Chibnall, Toby Whitehouse, Simon Nye and Neil Gaiman.
Heading up Doctor Who does have it’s drawbacks in that Moffat was unable to continue work on The Adventures of Tintin films with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson because of his commitment to Doctor Who. With a smile, Moffat did say that Spielberg did call him to say he completely understood and to also say that “the world would be a lesser place without Doctor Who in it”.
Meet the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, and companion Amy in this new trailer…..
Up tomorrow (or today, here) more screenings, more comedy and a sneak peak at the new Sherlock penned by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.
