::: Area #112 (Doctor Who Echo)
Message: #14947 (Read 2 times, has 0 replies, 5688 bytes)
Date   : Fri Jun 26 04:41:00 1998
From   : ARTIMUS BROWN of fidonet#2:254/86
To     : ALL
Subject: 2 Who News 1/2

Design of the new K-9 prop and a rewrite of the script to appeal to a
younger, pre-teen audience. Baker and Tams anticipate that the new deal
will be finalised during the first half of 1998, with production to follow
thereafter.

			Animated Who Follies Continue

 (May 4th, 1998) Since August 1997, fandom has been dogged by the attempts
of Default Films executive producer Karen McCoy to drum up interest in her
planned animated version of Doctor Who. McCoy originally claimed to be
working with Atlanta company Area 9 and to have been involved with
Canadian animation house Nelvana's attempts in the 1980s to obtain the
rights to do a cartoon Doctor Who. Although it can be confirmed that
Default has approached BBC Worldwide with their proposal, there is no
indication that the project has proceeded past the initial discussion
stage. Moreover, when an investigation by fan Audra McHugh discovered that
many of McCoy's assertions -- including her involvement with both Area 9
and Nelvana -- were false, McCoy attempted to prosecute McHugh for alleged
death threats. (McCoy claimed Area 9's disavowment of their involvement in
her project was a result of their fear of McHugh, and that Nelvana's
similar reaction was due to McHugh's failure to contact employees present
at Nelvana during the 1980s when their Doctor Who project was still a
going concern.) Investigations by police in both Atlanta and Wheat Ridge,
Colorado (McHugh's residence) led to the conclusion that McCoy's charges
were false, and McCoy was ordered to refrain from contacting McHugh.

 McCoy's next attempt at animated Doctor Who came to light at the Visions
'97 convention in Chicago. Here, McCoy again claimed McHugh was trying to
damage her project by threatening convention organiser Bob McLaughlin
(claims McLaughlin denied adamantly). Later during the convention, McCoy's
partner Ross Ruediger gave a presentation on behalf of Default Films in
which he claimed McCoy had been in contact with former Doctor Who producer
Barry Letts, who was considering becoming involved with the project.
(Letts later told fan Richard Bignell in a letter dated December 12th
that, although he had met with McCoy in London, Ruediger "has allowed
himself to imply that I have a deeper involvement than is yet the case. I
am in discussion with Karen McCoy about the possibility of the series and
I have indicated that should the series get off the ground I could join
them in the project only if I were happy with its format and approach and
had a continuing input into it's realisation.") Ruediger also unveiled
fifteen slides of crayon drawings of past Doctors, billed as "speculative
design art". He later took responsibility for McCoy's complaints about
McHugh with regards to Visions, claiming they resulted from a
miscommunication between himself and McLaughlin.

 Around the same time, McCoy claimed that well-known science-fiction
author Harlan Ellison was ready to go to court on her behalf to testify
against McHugh. Ellison categorically denied any association with McCoy
through Babylon 5 producer J Michael Straczynski.

 Later in December, McCoy claimed she was travelling to the UK to meet
with the BBC, and implied that she had only to get clearance from one
high-ranking individual to proceed with the project. She also stated that
Barry Letts was indeed acting as executive producer for the proposed
animated series, and that a series bible would be available in January.
There has been no further word on that front since then (even Barry Letts
had not heard from McCoy "for some time" as of April 28th), however and,
given the amount of misinformation and hyperbole surrounding this project,
fans are discouraged from raising their hopes until substantive
information becomes available.

		     BBC Faces Lawsuit Over Feature Film

 (May 12th, 1998) In 1987, a consortium called Daltenreys, headed up by
George Dugdale, John Humphreys and Peter Litten but also including two
members of the band Dire Straits amongst others, obtained the rights to
make a cinematic version of Doctor Who. After several failed attempts,
Daltenreys entered into a deal with Lumiere Pictures in 1993. Things
appeared to begin to turn around then, with a new script written by Star
Trek scribe Denny Martin Flynn, Leonard Nimoy on tap to direct, and Alan
Rickman reportedly on the verge of signing to play the Doctor. Then, in
1994, the BBC seized back the rights, claiming Daltenreys had run out of
time; the principals, however, claim that the BBC obstructed their
attempts to move the production along, and made a new deal with Phil Segal
(which ultimately led to the production of the 1996 TV movie) before their
rights had actually expired. The Daltenreys principals -- who claim the
BBC's actions financially bankrupted them -- are seeking about 14 million
pounds in compensation and lost profits. Although this story first broke
more than a year ago, Philip Segal stated in an interview published in
Doctor Who Magazine in April that the litigation was still "pending",
presumably pointing to lengthy pre-trial proceedings. Segal also suggested
that the Daltenreys situation could impact his current discussions with
the BBC over the future of Doctor Who (see related article, above).

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