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Official Doctor Who New Series Discussion (spoilers)


The Shadow
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Well it's been a minute....

 

Jodie's first season was a big meh for me. As I said before, even being SUPER woke, I thought it was preachy and pedantic.

 

Second season though has been great, possibly one of my fav seasons of the show.

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  • 2 months later...

Agreed - her first season was not great, had some good moments - the opening story (always love a post regeneration story!), followed by the next 2 (The Ghost Monument and Rosa) being my highlights, but it then went downhill rapidly.

 

This second season again had preachy moments (the 3rd episode "Orphan 55" is up there as being one of the worst I have seen from old and new Who), but then almost immediately back on course with the superb "Fugitive of the Judoon" and it's brilliant twists! Jaw was on the floor at various points!

 

The finale was great - being a fan of the show since late 70's, I wasn't sure I would like the retconning of things, but it was handled really well I thought, and more to come on this in the next season such as sorting out what the hell is going on with Gallifrey and the "creations" of The Master which I hope will some how end up being reset. And on that point, the actor taking on the role of The Master was brilliant as well - chewing up the scenery! Good stuff!

 

Not sure if you guys will have seen, but 2 of the companions (Graham & Ryan) will be departing in the already filmed special that comes either on Xmas or New Year. Good idea I think as 3 companions is too many in this format of the show.

 

Next season was due to start filming in the autumn of this year, but not sure if it will be delayed with what is going on in the world.

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The new Master is great even if it negates Missy's turning point. There's a theory I love that he's actually between Simm's master and Missy. It worked for his first appearance, but maybe not as well given what he knows in the finale.

 

We have another Doctor as well whose time position is vague. Some say future, some say she's one of the now apparently forgotten regenerations. Not sure if it's true, but there's also a theory she's between Troughten and Pertwee, which is fun.

 

The timeline actually being changeable beyond fixed events actually has precedent. Both Smith and Capaldi made offhand comments about Tennant era alien invasions, like the time the Daleks straight up moved Earth, and I think it was Clara and Bill respectively who had no idea what he was talking about.

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Agreed - an earlier version of the Master I think and Missy being the final version based on how that storyline went.

 

That's right - "series 6b" was invented after a few inconsistencies with a Colin Baker story called The Two Doctors. In that one, Troughton's Doctor is on a mission for the Timelords, but in his original stories he was always on the run from the Timelords in his stolen TARDIS. So this was invented to slot inbetween his final story The War Games, and Pertwee's opener. This could account for "Doctor Ruth" by her being a previously unknown regeneration in that time frame before she was recaptured and forcibly regenerated into Pertwee. Link below with more info:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/season6b.shtml

 

As it stands, it doesn't make sense for her to be pre-Hartnell Dcotor as she has her Police Box Tardis which wasn't stuck in that shape until after the Doctor stole it from Gallifrey and went on the run with Susan. But that's not to say the writers won't come up with a creative way for it to be something else.

 

Good character development and generates good chat! :yes:

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  • 7 months later...

Christmas Day special (or New Year’s Day -  not confirmed yet) will be featuring Captain Jack, so that will be great fun!

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-11-23/doctor-who-teaser-john-barrowman-captain-jack/amp/

Fortunately it was filmed at the end of the Series 12 production, so pre-covid.

They have started filming Series 13 with a view to air next autumn. Down to 8 episodes though which is a shame (due to the delayed start of filming), but at least we are getting new ones!

With the current turnaround times, you would think Series 14 would coincide with the 60th anniversary - a massive milestone!

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  • 2 months later...

Couple of nice videos on YouTube about the missing episodes from the early days of Doctor Who.   First part details the background and the second part focuses on the recoveries made after the archive was put in place.

 

97 episodes still missing and great efforts are being made to animate these due to the audio recordings of all stories having survived.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_missing_episodes

Wouldn't it be amazing if some of these could be found and returned!   

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  • 6 months later...

So the news that wasn’t a huge surprise I would say. Chris Chibnall & Jodie Whittaker are leaving the show in Autumn 2022.

We have series 13 coming later this year (air date to be confirmed, but potentially around Halloween based on some photos taken). 6 episodes this year, 1 soon after on New Year’s Day and then 1 in the spring 2022 (Easter maybe?), and the final one in Nov 2022.
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57940451

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I really liked Jodi and her portrayal, but seems like her run has been the most disparate and plagued by delays, covid or otherwise. And Tbh, even as a superwoke California Hollywood liberal, I felt like Chibnal was waaaay to preachy and on the nose. Felt like he was more interested in trying to make less subtle Black Mirror episodes as opposed to Who.

Hopefully everyone is on good terms because I need to see Whitaker, Tennant, Capaldi, and Smith together in a multi doc story.

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Yes, this era has been a tough one.  So many fans have been anti the show, grudgingly I think it's the right thing to have happened.    I personally like Jodie in the role (although I admit that I don't think there was a need for a female Doctor (can easily cast a new Time Lord with her own show), but that ship has sailed, so I have come to terms with it), and enjoyed the work she did prior to the show as well.   

It would have been nice to see her carry on with a new showrunner as I don't think Chris Chibnall has delivered - but I really hope Series 13 and the specials changes that opinion.

With the 60th anniversary just around the corner (Ok, it's 23rd November 2023, but based on how many episodes have been made in the last 3 years, that's not far off really), it will be interesting to see what they do.   Bed in the new Doctor with a feature length adventure, or have an epic multi Doctor story!   

I agree we need to see the 5 previous Doctors (Christopher Eccleston has warmed back to the show this year by doing some audio adventures, so it's possible....), but could see that coming a little later when the 14th Doctor has got his or her feet properly under the table.  Certainly Tennant and Whittaker get on well from their previous time together on Broadchurch - they have been doing a few things together online during lockdown.

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Despite not loving the War Doctor, the last multi-doc eps was amazing. Tennet and Smith had great chemistry.

That does remind me though, new showrunners coming on and feeling the need to fully break and remake classic who mythology really seems to alienate fans.

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I can totally see how this series was seen as too preachy, but I was okay with it. Doctor Who is a rather preachy series so maybe it was just executed in a less successful way this time.

That said, I adored Whittaker’s take and will miss her Doctor.

I also liked the twist on what the Doctor is, but perhaps that would have been easier for many fans to adjust to if it had happened prior to Whittaker’s Doctor. A moot point however, both depending on when and which creatives came up with the idea plus the reality is it happened with Whittaker’s Doctor. lol

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According to Twitter, Babylon 5’s JMS has thrown his hat in the ring!

Interesting! I personally loved B5 - just a shame it got a little rushed at the end due to the studio not committing to the 5th series until very late.

Zathras to feature? :)

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On 8/1/2021 at 9:57 PM, Tank said:

JMS is great, but the BBC will never go outside one of their own with a track record.

I know what you mean, but not sure who they would pick at the mo - he has been doing a lot of chat to fans on Twitter as well, answering that inevitable statement of being prepared for a backlash!

Looking forward to seeing these last few stories for the 13th! 

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  • 1 month later...

I'm not sure how I feel. On the one hand, he brought the show back from the dead and is responsible for some of the best moments in Who... but also, his run often skewed hokey and childish., which I feel like they tried to get away from with the last two Doctors. It might be an odd tonal shift to go back?

I really liked both Capaldi and Whittaker, but I feel like both of them never really had a chance to shine like Smith and Tennant and were not given enough good material to work with... which is contrary to my last statement given that Davies was in charge when Tennant did his run.

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  • 2 weeks later...

They say “never go back” and I hope he doesn’t regret his decision. I am excited though by the prospect of what he can bring. 
Completely with you on Capaldi & Whittaker. Big fan of the both as actors but they have had really poor writing during their time. Exception is Heaven Sent which was so, so good. And there have been a few others of note.

I read that JMS is rebooting Babylon 5, so that will be interesting! A big fan of the show. Zathras might be pleased!

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  • 4 weeks later...

What did you and your kid make of it Tank? I was pleased with it - fast paced, good set up of new companion, better interaction with The Doctor & Yaz than there was with there being too many companions in the previous 2 series. Lots and lots still to be explained, nice start!

It all depends on what is to come as to how this episode will be remembered in the future I guess, but fingers crossed!

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  • 1 month later...

This season is nuts, but that is usual for Doctor Who. Story nuts, costumes nuts, everything jumping between good and WTF is this? Sorta like all the Doctor Who trimmings dialed up to eleven… or thirteen as might be apropos. I can imagine this season is hitting and missing in all sorts of ways for different people.

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