More WHO and Eccleston Quits

What a week ... After the total heady excitement that was Rose so we moved into the rest of the week to learn on Wednesday that the BBC have commissioned what they describe as a Doctor Who Christmas Special, and also a second series is on for 2006 ... Wow. I mean ... WOW. But then on Thursday the news breaks that Chris Eccleston won't be continuing as the Doctor for a variety of media speculative reasons ... shame. And then Outpost Gallifrey explodes and Shaun has to shut down the forum for a time because people are apparently getting silly about the whole situation and can't get a sense of perspective on it. Personally I stopped reading the OG threads about the new series ages ago as they seemed to be full of people complaining and talking about such minutae as I could not believe - one person even complained about the 'spinning on Earth' line from Rose as, apparently, the Earth only spins at 1000 miles a second at the Equator and it's different in England ... crikey! Talk about needing to get a grip. But then the whole new series thing ... a Christmas Special ... in which Eccleston will star and which *might* give us a regeneration. But I don't know if I want one. I'd be happy with not seeing it happen. Just start the second season with a new Doctor the same way as this season did. What I'm hoping and praying that they won't do is to make a seasonal episode with all snow and Christmas themes, carols and Santa revealed to be the Master and so on ... yeuch. Not sure I want that at all. Just a great, rollicking episode with loads of thrills, spills and excitement please. Oh, and great monsters. We need more great monsters. But another 13 episodes in 2006 :) That's some announcement. And who plays the Doctor ...? Sheesh, I don't mind. Actors do a job and move on ... that's their lives ... so someone else will come in and then they'll want to move on ... and so on and so on and so on. Oh, and in case you're reading this thinking that you need to complain to the OG forum about the Doctor using up his lives too quickly, here's a bit of dialogue cut from Survival ... recently discovered in a shoe box in the basement of TV Centre in London (honest ... would I lie to you?): *** ACE: But Doctor, if you don't defeat the Master, won't you have to change again ... regenerate? DOCTOR: It's always a possibility Ace. ACE: You can only do that ... what ... twelve times? Can't you? And you're on your seventh body now ... won't this use them up too quickly? DOCTOR: Ah ... Ace ... (THE DOCTOR TAPS THE SIDE OF HIS NOSE) ... Sometimes I can be economical with the truth ... 12 times is just the primary regenerative sequence for a Time Lord ... we can go on forever ... *** So I don't mind if we have 13, 15, 27 or even 150 Doctors ... just as long as they don't all meet up together, along with all their companions, in a haunted and sentient Church with a mysterious bearded Vicar one Christmas ...