Beyond A Galaxy Far, Far Away : What Next For Star Wars?

It's an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan right now, and no stretch of the truth to say that the entire Star Wars brand is "hot property" as we approach December which will see the final instalment of the nine film saga (and eleventh Star Wars film overall) with the release of Episode IX : The Rise Of Skywalker which will see veteran Star Wars actor Ian McDiarmid reprise his role of Sheev Palpatine/The Emperor for the first time in a live action capacity since 2005's Episode III : Revenge Of The Sith and beyond, the future of the franchise looks certain to be filled with exciting tales from various worlds within a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars has of course already expanded its horizons in recent years with the introduction of standalone stories with 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story' in 2016, showcasing the events immediately proceeding the original 1977 film with the story of the rebel alliance and how they came to possess the plans for the first Death Star and 2018's 'Solo : A Star Wars Story' which gave a glimpse into the life of a young Han Solo and how he came to be the smuggler that we all knew and loved.

Unfortunately both of these films did have troubled productions and despite Rogue One having significant appreciation from fans of all ages (and rightly so with the return of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader - that hallway scene right?!), Solo ultimately failed at the box office due to a combination of an incredibly troubled production with a change of directors midway through production, the main star having to take acting lessons on set and very poor marketing & promotion leading up to the eventual release. As a result of this, Disney seems to have shelved any future standalone stories in favour of....other avenues.

The fourth quarter of 2019 will see the introduction of brand new multi-platform streaming service Disney+, incorporating original content from Disney's catalogue of properties including National Geographic, Pixar, Marvel Studios and of course, Lucasfilm and there's already brand new Star Wars content being developed for the upcoming streaming service. An original series titled 'The Mandalorian' created by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, starring Pedro Pascal will be available on launch day and will revolve around a lone mandalorian gunfighter and will be set shortly after the events of Return Of The Jedi.

Further in the pipeline is the untitled Cassian Andor series which will bring back Diego Luna as the character of the same name from Rogue One and presumably act as a prequel to said movie. Little else is known about what the series will entail but there's every chance that some of the characters from the movie could make a return in the series in some capacity.

Even further down the line and the probably the most exciting project in the early stages of development is the newly confirmed Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series for which Ewan McGregor is expected to return to the role for the first time since Episode III : Revenge Of The Sith (though he did make a brief voice cameo in Episode VII : The Force Awakens). McGregor is already committed to playing Black Mask in DC's new Birds Of Prey movie so the series is unlikely to go into production until Spring 2020 at the earliest meaning we wouldn't see the series itself until 2021 at the earliest. It is worth noting however that we could see Obi-Wan Kenobi sooner as Ewan is rumoured to appear alongside former Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen. Both roles are rumoured to be in the capacity of force ghosts.

The New Trilogies

Some reassurance can be taken for fans of Star Wars on the big screen though as Episode IX won't be the final movie to grace cinemas as two entire new trilogies of movies in the Star Wars universe are supposedly in early development. One helmed by controversial Episode VIII : The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and one helmed by even more controversial former Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss. Little is known about the former but the latter is speculated to be a live action Knights Of The Old Republic trilogy of movies but this isn't something that is set in stone so should naturally be taken with a grain of salt.

Update - October 29th 2019 : Benioff & Weiss have “stepped away” from their Star Wars Trilogy, citing the workload and clashing with their projects for Netflix. However this comes only two days after they made some rather damning admissions of unprofessionalism at a recent film festival in which they made the incredible statement of saying that they were completely and utterly out of their depth on Game Of Thrones and weren’t cut out for it which only sparked further outrage. Its highly likely that in fact Disney didn’t want to take that risk in damaging the Star Wars brand and softly fired Benioff & Weiss and I think we’re all thankful for it if we’re being honest with ourselves. 

Beyond a promising future in movies & television streaming, Star Wars will also remain a popular geek culture brand in other mediums going forward. Before the final instalment of the Skywalker Saga this christmas comes the latest in Star Wars video games with the November release of Jedi : Fallen Order which brings an original story set preceding Order 66 but prior to the events of Rogue One and stars Cameron Monaghan as the central protagonist, Cal. EA's Battlefront II continues to receive updates with new multiplayer game modes, fixes and cosmetic upgrades though its campaign mode seems to have been all but abandoned as there hasn't been any expansions since December 2017. 

And of course, it wouldn't be fair not to mention the exquisite 'Star Wars Galaxy's Edge' area at Disneyworld in Anaheim, California and is coming later this month to Hollywood Studios at Disneyworld Orlando, Florida. The existing area at the Anaheim park is spread across 14 acres and the upcoming Orlando park is expected to be much the same. Galaxy's Edge features several iconic attractions, shops, restaurants and entertainment offerings. It's a must visit for any Star Wars fan and somewhere i hope to see for myself soon!

So in conclusion, i think it's very safe to say that what's next for Star Wars is simply an expanded universe across multiple different mediums. A Galaxy Far, Far Away perhaps isn't all that far (far) away at all and is only going to get bigger, better and bolder!

Retrospective Analysis : Doctor Who...On FOX?

1996. A year which might've changed the face of the science fiction television series Doctor Who, in more ways than one. Seven years after being 'unofficially' cancelled by BBC One, Doctor Who returned for a feature length television movie co-produced by BBC Worldwide, Universal Studios and FOX written by Matthew Jacobs and directed by Geoffrey Sax and produced by Phillip Segal. The Movie made its debut on CITV in Canada on May 12th, May 14th on FOX in the United States and two weeks later on the 27th on BBC One in the UK. 

The Movie, sometimes referred to as 'The Enemy Within' was originally pitched as a feature length pilot for a full series produced in Vancouver, British Columbia that would've acted as a soft reboot of the original British series that had run for 26 years on BBC One. Returning to the role of the Seventh Doctor (credited as 'The Old Doctor') was Sylvester McCoy for the first time in a live action capacity since 1993 Children In Need special 'Dimensions In Time' which celebrated three decades of Doctor Who and featured several former Doctors, companions and villain actors crossing over with British soap opera 'Eastenders'.

McCoy had played the Seventh and final Doctor of the original BBC One run from 1987-1989 making him technically the longest serving Doctor to date, having an entire nine years from his debut to his regeneration which occurred early on in the events of The Movie with the TARDIS having materialised in the middle of a gang shootout in the backstreets of San Francisco, leading to the Seventh Doctor being 'killed' by multiple gunshot wounds. 

When it came to casting the new, Eighth Doctor, a number of actors were considered and approached for the role including the man who would go on to be the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston and the Twelfth Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi. Among others actors approached were Game Of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham (who would appear in Doctor Who in 2013) and Buffy alum Anthony Head (who also appeared in Doctor Who in 2006). In the end, the role was given to Paul McGann. McGann had appeared in a number of relatively known films, having starred alongside Richard E Grant in a popular classic movie -  'Withnail & I'. Coincidentally Grant would become the next 'Doctor' TWICE in Comic Relief special 'The Curse Of Fatal Death' and non canon animation 'Scream Of The Shalka'.

Every other role in the TV Movie was entirely new casting of american and canadian actors. As companions Grace Holloway and Chang Lee were Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso, respectively. Taking over the role of The Master from Anthony Ainley was Eric Roberts (though Gordon Tipple appeared as the renegade time lord for the opening moments of the movie but since his face is not seen, his canonicity as the character is up for debate). 

What Happened?

Ultimately, despite being a ratings success in the UK with over 9 million viewers on BBC One, it under performed in the US receiving an audience of only 5.6 million viewers, equalling approximately a 9% audience share but it should be noted that this was 1996, Doctor Who was still very new in the US and the same night had competition from ABC with an episode of 'Roseanne' that featured a significant plot point (David and Darlene's wedding for any fans out there). Doctor Who's TV Movie simply failed to engage the necessary audience for FOX to order the pilot to series and so Doctor Who was laid to rest once more, having failed to regenerate for a US revival. The Eighth Doctor's era was over before it was even started.

Where might it have gone?

Its difficult to determine where a full series with Paul McGann's Doctor might have ventured to, given the time that has passed since the TV Movie. Paul McGann revealed in 2013 at a Q&A event at BFI London that at the time he had signed a contract for a significant time span and had been looking at potential long term accommodation in Vancouver so it wouldn't be a far stretch to say that if the TV Movie had seen success in the states, it may have led to multiple seasons of an 'americanised' Doctor Who in the vision of Phillip Segal (and Jo Wright for the BBC). Details remain somewhat scarce on long term potential plans made in advance of 1996 but one of the most consistent rumours was that episodes that had been junked in the 1970's and were now 'missing' were to be adapted/remade with the Eighth Doctor and companions. 

Paul McGann was the only cast member that had signed on for a potential continuation post TV Movie. To the best of my knowledge, its not known if Daphne nor Yee Jee would have returned as Grace and Chang Lee and both seemed to have their stories wrapped up by the end of the TV Movie but there's every possibility that The Doctor could've run into his friends again. Given that a new TARDIS set and exterior prop were designed by Richard Hudolin for the TV Movie, they would almost certainly have continued to be part of a continuation alongside Hudolin himself (who is also the production designer on The CW's 'Arrow' and also shoots in Vancouver). The series would almost definitely have continued its production in Vancouver though whether it would have continued to double only as San Francisco is anyone's guess. 

For all the lack of continuation that the Eighth Doctor was given in a television format (save for the 2013 minisode 'Night Of The Doctor' which finally gave Paul McGann his televised regeneration after 17 years), its not as if the Eigthth Doctor was abandoned altogether. His incarnation was given a new lease of life through BBC Books Novelisations, comic strips, an animated webcast adaptation 'Shada' - the famous lost story from the Tom Baker era and Big Finish audios where McGann's talents continue to shine to this day in boxsets like Dark Eyes, Ravenous and Time War. So whilst the Eighth Doctor wasn't a TV success, he's overall one of the more successful Doctors in expanded media.

You can find Big Finish wide range of Eighth Doctor adventures here.