@Thousand:
Guess we'll see next week, (it's coming out on the 23rd right?). Still don't like his practice of flat out lying, misdirecting or white lies is one thing but flat out lying? Kinda dickish if you ask me. But whatever. Let's hope the anniversary is as epic as has been hyped up.
Well, what else are you supposed to do when fans/reporters are blatantly asking you questions? Sometimes exactly on the mark?
"So, is actor X going to return in any possible sequels?"
"Well actually, that character dies in the last ten minutes of the film, so it seems unlikely."
"….."
Sometimes with stuff like this, you HAVE to lie and misdirect, rather than a constant steam of "no comment." ESPECIALLY for ongoing series with rabid fanbases that break apart everything you say. Give a clever hint and sometimes they disect it to the truth immediately.
Hell, they've had the McGann bit done for nearly a year and have managed to be tight lipped about it.
The Last Airbender guys and Joss Whedon do the same thing.
But once you KNOW thats a habit of said producer, you can stop taking his remarks at face value and play them as the coy game they are. Mofatt has made enough statements like this by now that he clearly doesn't actually mean that you can judge them as such now. "Well, my public interview answer before the show airs is this." It also lets you put in hopes and expectations where you want to believe, without actually promising anything.
I mean, everyone assumed the 50 was going to have all the docs before it was even announced. (Heck, everyone assumed there'd be a 50th special.) And what's happened since? Expectations have been tempered down to just a 2 doctor story (which is much more reasonable than a 8 or 9 Doc + companion mess), but with the hope of some involvement from the elders even still, only a week away, even though there's been no promises of any such sort.
Again, pay attention to his exact words.
Does he say "No, those actors will not be in the anniversary special." Not at all.
He says "I think it would be disrespectful to address their aging, and put on the same costume they had 30 years ago." I still figure that to be the misdirect, rather than the lie. A lot of the "Lies" have a seed of truth in them so they can say it with a straight face. If nothing else I figure Colin wouldn't want his rainbow coat, he hates that thing.
"Will McGann be in the anniversary special?" "No, he will not." (He'll be in a minisode before it instead.)
It'll be a much better surprise if, 50 minutes into the movie, Tom Baker suddenly appears... than it would be if we were just waiting for him to show up the whole time.