The new Doctor Who series, already a hit with fans and critics, has triumphed at the National Television Awards at the Royal Albert Hall. The lead actors Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston won the most popular actress and actor categories respectively while the show itself beat rivals such as Desperate Housewives (Teri Hatcher’s cleavage was no match for Russell T Davies’ writing!) and the Bill to take most popular drama.
Beloved SF programme regenerates after long slumber, wins large audience share, critical acclaim, wows young viewers and the old hands (guilty) alike and now this magnificent hat-trick of wins. We all knew that even the non SF British public (should we call them muggles?) had a soft spot for the Doc, but to see such a damned fine SF show winning awards in a mainstream arena is a delight.
Doctor Who winning the national TV awards, Watchmen in the list of best novels and talk in the shiny magazines of ‘geek chic’ – is our beloved genre becoming more acceptable to the mainstream? Or are readers and viewers simply finding it easier to acknowledge good writing and good drama regardless of the genre label? If mainstream readers buy books like the excellent Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell and ‘literary’ authors such as Margaret Atwood dabble in SF, perhaps they are. Of course, they may not admit to it.
Wed, Oct 26, 2005
General