http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/

Purchased by SciFi channel. But, err, one of the bit characters has his own spinoff which is impressive after one series. He's called Captain Jack.

Doesn't that name have 'cultural significance' in the US?

Jack ?off?

It will be even more interesting as Captain Jack is definitely metrosexual and the implication is that he would mind giving the Doctor and Rose one at the same time.

Yes, it's a song by Billy Joel. Damn, how could they fail to spot that?

"Damn, how could they fail to spot that?"

It's possibly intentional.

Not a big surprise. The head writer Russel T. Davis, who got Dr Who back as a condition of his working for the BBC, first hit the screens with "Queer As Folk".

Furthermore, the fact that Captain Jack swings both ways was touched on when he was introduced in "The Empty Child" but very gently given the family audience at 7pm on a Saturday evening.

...and it's not actually the first series. Dr Who was running from 1962-1989 with a one off in 1996. However during the interrugnum there were a lot of writers (including one Russel T. Davis) adding books, radio and sound recordings. When the latest series was written it kept the internal continuity of those years.

Of course! There's a very good reason why you would want to name a character in a British Sci Fi show after an obscure Billy Joel song about drugs.

(Note: I should say that the above is a patently ludicrous assertion intended by its very obvious improbability to convey the message that I believe the opposite to be true. It's called sarcasm. Apparently it doesn't work with Americans.)

Captain Jack was a bit of a pastiche, I'm sure his naming was intentional.

Since he was also a time traveller, he could have given himself the name as a tribute to a songwriter who didn't exist yet.

What about Captain Jack Sparrow? Any relation?

Jack Sparrow, hero of Pirates of the Caribbean?

Could be a reference to Capt. John "Lucky Jack" Aubrey, of the O'Brien novels.

Actually, I find "Captain Jack" a pretty neutral, well-used term. Billy Joel had to get it from somewhere, surely?

But I'm looking forward to being able to see new episodes of Dr. Who in the states again. It would be typical that the SciFi channel would pick it up, that den of third-rate 'made for SciFi channel' SF-Horror movies.

Since 90% of everything is dreck, I suppose SciFi running Dr. Who and Stargate SG-1 must make up for all the other junk they put on. But they sure put on a lot of junk.

Reading the link, I find:

"In addition, BBC Video has moved the US release date of the DVD from February 2006 to July 4, 2006 to capitalize on the exposure from the TV broadcast. As part of the deal, BBC Video and SCI FI Channel have agreed to work together on joint marketing promotions to support the brand launch."

To which I say, "Bugger!". The thrice-damned SciFi channel has managed to push back America's access to the DVD for 7 MONTHS? Typical. That's what it is, typical.

5 months.

Yeah, Captian Jack is pretty neutral. Jack is a pretty generic name. "Hit the road Jack" (probably a Kerouac reference), "Jack and Jill", even the basically nameless main character in the Metal Gear series was Jack (John) in the latest video game.

Jack Bauer, Jack O'Neill, Jack Ryan, and so forth -- it's a pretty generic "hero" name...

John ~ Jack is the most common male name over centuries, see also Ivan, Ion, Sian, Sean, Ian etc, etc.

Jack is the diminutive of John (believe it or not).

OK peeps--I just got "The Complete First Series" box set from Amazon UK, and just started watching it (for the first time), so no spoilers please.

Incidentally, pleasant surprise: because I had it shipped to the US, they didn't add VAT to the price, making it £39 delivered. Neat.

"...no spoilers please."

No need. Once you get to about the third episode it does a pretty good job of spoiling itself, and then proceeds to get worse...

Go and stand in the corner...

The two parter "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" is the best story...

I think the two parter finale to the series runs it close but I'd probably agree.

Between the "hilarious" farting aliens and the unforgivable Dalek episode the producers of this series of Dr Who have done more to ruin the franchise than George Lucs did to destroy Star Wars.

Oh come on Mat - this is Dr Who we're talking about.

After all remember K9, now at least if they're bringing back the brain dead dog its going to be grunged up.

Bringing back K9 only serves to reinforce my point -- the new series is as dumb as (if not dumber than) the low points of the older series... :)