Diagnosing the new 'Doctor Who'

Warrenellis.com >> The New DOCTOR WHO:

"Word is that Sci-Fi Channel declined to acquire this new DOCTOR WHO series. And I can see why. It's too damned English. As Rich Johnston said to me tonight, it's your actual English family sci-fi show. There's no way it'd fit on Sci-Fi. I imagine, to be honest, it's going to bypass much of the American audience..."

Comic book writer and author Warren Ellis has seen the pilot for the new "Doctor Who" series that debuts later this month on the BBC. He's posted a review of it on his site.

The review is mostly positive, but far from glowing.

As for the quoted comment above, it was reported last week that the SciFi Channel got a look at the show and passed on it.

I find it hard to believe the show won't turn up somewhere in the United States, since there is such a large "Doctor Who" following over here. But I've read that you can pretty much rule out the show returning to PBS because the BBC is charging way too much for it. I've also heard that the BBC is trying to sell it as a package deal -- if you want the new series, you also have to buy the original series as well. That might be a bit more "Doctor Who" than many U.S. networks are willing to swallow, and I can't say I blame them (I don't know if this BBC demand is true).

At this point, it's looking more likely that if it's going to appear in the States it will be on BBC America, which sucks because I don't get that channel.