'Doctor Who' returns in March; Selick out but Howard in for 'Graveyard'

Back in April of 2012, Disney announced that Henry Selick would helm a stop-motion adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Newbery Award winning intermediate kids novel The Graveyard Book. Selick, who helmed an adaptation of Gaiman’s Coraline in 2009 that earned an Oscar nomination, was working on another, secret project at the time for Disney, so no timeline for production was ever given. Then in August, Disney pulled the plug on that project, freeing Selick up –it was assumed- to work on Graveyard. But now word has come that Disney is potentially giving the adaptation to Ron Howard, who’ll try it as a live-action. While Howard is known for his more adult films, he did helm the horrible version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, thus ruining not only the great American book that became a great animated TV special, but also showing why the former child actor needs to stay in the realm of directing films the Academy Awards like –though ironically both Grinch and his Da Vince Code did poorly from the Oscar point of view, but made truck-loads of money. The Graveyard Book is a riff on Kipling’s The Jungle Book, where a young boy survives an attempt on his life -his father, mother and older sister are murdered by the man Jack – and is brought up by the ghosts in the graveyard down from his home. Among the dead are teachers, workers, wealthy prigs, romantics, pragmatists and even a few children -so it takes a graveyard village to raise a child. Here Nobody Owens -Bod for short – has adventures as grows, making friends with in the cemetery -some who are not dead – and learning about his past and his future.

Meanwhile, as I’ve noted many times before, the BBC has a tendency never to announce transmission dates of anything they air until maybe 10 days to two weeks before. Well in a minor shift in policy, they have confirmed that the second half of Doctor Who’s seventh season will begin airing on Saturday, March 30 –I had guessed April 6. Shortly after that, BBC America confirmed they too will air those eight remaining stories the same day. And baring no interruptions, the season will conclude on May 18. Then the 50th Anniversary celebration will go into full swing.