Season 14; Russell T Davies Returns

CastorTroy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119033679#Comment_119033679

Saw something about Davies commenting on a Gatwa Instagram post or something along those lines.

So was he even in any lists of a possible doctor?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119034177#Comment_119034177

I couldn't give a crap about ethnicity or orientation of the character.

Would still preferred the Dr have stayed male as there is a dearth of "action" shows with a cerebral male lead, but that's just me.

I'm just happy that Chibnall is gone and a very good actor is stepping up

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119033951#Comment_119033951

Fair enough; my apathy isn't down to the casting I should add - Matt Smith, as it happens, was the last time I was genuinely negative towards a casting & sure I was proven wrong with Smith turning out to be a top 5 favourite.

I think my patience for the show overall has been blown out; Chibnall's reign has been so mediocre it failed to hide the fact this was a show going through the motions. 13 seasons! That's already half the length of the original series. The return of the Master was a bit of a straw that broke the camel, looking back: how the show didn't even care about its own internal emotional arcs, completely negating what had been a fantastic send-off with Missy in The Doctor Falls. After all this time we saw the Doctor finally get through to his longest relationship; Missy realising the value of empathy, love and loyal... oh, nope. Here's a new Master, isn't he evil? There's a lot of chatter about the controversial change to the Doctor's history - but how we got there with the Master's plan that converted all of Gallifrey to Cybermen equally stupid.

Said it before, but mostly in hope: the series should just be rebooted at this stage. RTD is another factor for me eyeing up the escape pod, but if he has any sense he'll do what he did before, only more codified this time. Forget what came before, pull the plug and reset the universe. Multiverses are very in, maybe we can have some shenanigans where we swap doctors in universes?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119034920#Comment_119034920

It's a time travel show, there are constant branches forming.

Very very easy way of doing what you say is to have a massive time event (say a different TARDIS being destroyed) at a critical juncture cause a NEW fixed point in time and that point has made massive differences to everything. The Dr. can remember how things were but this is the new reality and realises that he has no right to change the new timeline (even if he could)

In one breath I say that I prefer if The Doctor had remained a man but here I will say that Michelle Gomez was fantastic as Missy, and feel that Jodie Whittaker was completely wasted.

So while my preference was as stated, I was happy to roll with it. So my, honest, ambivalence to current Who (I've not even watched the most recent season) falls squarely on the showrunner and writing team

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119035177#Comment_119035177

Of course time travel is the answer - especially given the Master doesn't have a definitive timeline of incarnations - but with Missy it felt like taking a character to a natural "end", insofar as one can. Two Masters, the older one finally embracing the Doc's philosophy even though it doomed her. Was such a great finale IMO. That the series so quickly had Master return, more evvvvvvvvil than ever, just left a sour taste in the mouth. They could have left the character be "dead" for a few seasons, instead they had to up the stakes even more into the clusterfúck of that finale.

It was RTD that kinda created this crazy escalation of narrative stakes; will be interesting to see if he tries to dial that back, now they he's back, older, more experienced and not commanding the same resources as last time.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119035623#Comment_119035623

Nope, I'm agreeing with you 100%

The way I saw to lock in a change to internally soft reset the show was to create a fixed point in time which does not get undone. Doctor remembers both old and new timeline but everything has changed/rebooted in the new iteration.

Allows RTD to wind back on the excesses of the past several seasons (if, as you worry, he even wants to)

ebbsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119034177#Comment_119034177

Good points made there.

Martin would have been interesting.

pixelburp

David Tenant and Catherine Tate to return to film scenes to air in 2023 as part of the 60th anniversary. Multi doctor story?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/doctor-who-david-tennant-and-catherine-tate-return

Agent Coulson

If Bernard Cribbins at 93 is still up for a bit of acting I'd love for him to appear with them.

Maybe regenerate the new Doctor from the 10th and uncannon Moffat & Chibnall

Except Smith and Capaldi did very well with what was given them

EoinMcLovin

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1526261204355887105?t=XIMOOe6h5iUbHpbXzHnOaw&s=19

___

Yasmin Finney has joined the cast of Doctor Who playing the character of Rose and is filming scenes that are due to air in 2023 to coincide with the show’s 60th anniversary. Currently captivating audiences with her performance as Elle Argent in Heartstoppers, Yasmin is receiving rave reviews across the globe.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119072286#Comment_119072286

Yeah, the scripts weren't always the best but Smith and Capaldi both inhabited the role to a degree that you watched just for them alone. They only ever left Whitaker with an impossible task.

Agent Coulson

Can't wait for the new Doctor to make the red head joke.

silverharp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119072363#Comment_119072363

Every Rose has a thorn

pixelburp

Set photos appeared, I guess that's why the Beeb announced the return of Tenant and Tate; to get ahed of the papers. Wonder is this going to be some "unseen adventure", or will the show finally riff on Back to the Future 2 a little and involve some actual time-travel, crossing into old stories.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/16/doctor-who-david-tennant-and-catherine-tate-seen-on-set-as-they-return-16655452/

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119033247#Comment_119033247

Found he started to get on my nerves in this latest season but that could be the show getting tired. Quite a few of them are in the same age ballpark and have really stopped looking like teenagers! Mixed feelings about the choice as he has been pretty OTT in Sex Education at times but I guess it depends what materials they give him to work with in this.

B.A._Baracus

I reckon Jodie's doctor regenerates into the tenth doctor (Tennant) again as the next episode appears to be the 60th anniversary.

Moffat did sew the seeds for future specials by that whole "revisting old faces" line in the 50th anniversary.

Tennant will do the 60th episode, or the rumored 3 episodes he is too appear in, then regenerate into Ncuti.

pixelburp

Further set photos of Tenant have really confused;

Spoiler Warning

previous were him with Catherine Tate had him in season 4 garb; the latest has him dressed in a totally new getup, alongside what looks like Yasmin Finney as the companion. Parallel Universe Doctor? The half human one from where Rose ended up? Something completely Sci-Fi and gobbledegook?

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey

EoinMcLovin

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1536392961600126976?t=-XyuLVO76izxg8vlQHN_cQ&s=19

Neill Patrick Harris joins the cast for the 60th anniversary

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119197705#Comment_119197705

Must say I'm not against that casting - has there ever been such a big name in Doctor Who

FunLover18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119197804#Comment_119197804

Arguably the biggest American name but some of the British guest stars would surely be bigger names although a lot of them guessed before they made it big as well like Andrew Garfield and Simon Pegg. Kylie is surely up there as one of the biggest names to appear on Who while they were a big name.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119198085#Comment_119198085

I'd completely forgotten about her

pixelburp

Jaysus it looks like something from A Series Of Unfortunate Events; wonder if the daft tone of RTD might be returning?

Agent Coulson

“Greatest Enemy Ever Faced”

Someone new or someone we have seen before.

pixelburp

He looks like the Celestial Toymaker, which would be a very deep cut

Agent Coulson

Disney+ looking to stream it.

Disney in Talks With BBC to Stream ‘Doctor Who’ Series

• Disney looking to bulk up on established entertainment
• BBC would also air the program along with Disney+ service

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/disney-is-in-talks-with-the-bbc-to-stream-doctor-who-series#xj4y7vzkg

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119071979#Comment_119071979

It seems Bernard did film some scenes before he died which will be a lovely last memory of him when it airs.

pixelburp

HollywoodReporter noting that Gatwa won't actually star in his new series 'til 2024, but mentions that he may well appear before then, during the 60th anniversary story that stars David Tenant

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/ncuti-gatwa-doctor-who-shooting-first-season-november-1235197878/

The article runs with the rumour that Tenant will actually regenerate into Gatwa, but I hope that it really does remain a rumour.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119469703#Comment_119469703

Yeah was thinking that it would be weird with SexEd still showing.

I really hope there is a total redesign of the inside of the Tardis and they show a few more rooms inside it.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119815940#Comment_119815940

There nearly always is when a new doc and/or show runner comes along.

CastorTroy

Wasn't the change in previous seasons usually explained by The Doctor regenerating inside the TARDIS and making a mess of it, resulting in it having to fix itself? Maybe Tennant will do that again so it's a new look for the new Doctor.

Agent Coulson

I wonder how many US based epsidoes will there be now that Disney are putting money into it.

pixelburp

Apparently reports are saying Disney's cash injection will amount to leaping the budget from between $1.1 - 3.4 million per episode to approx. $11.5 million.

That's insane. There has to be some strings attached - but it does make one wonder where the money will go. It was rarely stellar but I always appreciated the imagination and reach of the FX. Sometimes you get less with more. Though I guess it'll spring for a few more extra with prosthetics, a few more dalek props etc.

Agent Coulson

Use some of it to pay for some big name guest stars to draw an audience

How long before the Doctor lands in the MCU (joke kind of)

Agent Coulson

Just looking at a picture of Russell T Davies standing beside the new Doctor and I was thinking the new Doctor is just tiny till I googled and saw Russell is a giant of man standing just under 6ft5”.

pixelburp

To the surprise of probably nobody, the Daleks will be getting a redesign again, according to an interivew with the production designer.

corkie

https://twitter.com/GillibrandPeter/status/1593705763523919874

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2022/millie-gibson-doctor-who-companion-fifteenth-doctor

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8908771/

:-)

CastorTroy

Something doesn't look right since they look so young. But will she be the first of multiple companions?

pixelburp

I'd got so used to relatively normal looking companions, like Bill or Whitaker's "fan" I'm kinda taken aback they have gone back to someone more conventionally attractive. The actor's 18 though that's crazy, she's barely the age of the new series' return!

Agent Coulson

I could be wrong however it feels like this new era will be aimed at the young TicTok generation and there will be lots of viral marketing and a whole Disney Kids club feel to it more than a 6pm on a weekend BBC night feel to it.

I will say Davies has a good record at getting his shows right so I will be giving it a go.

B.A._Baracus

https://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/filming-begins-on-ncuti-gatwas-debut-series-of-doctor-who-97978.htm

Article says Ncuti's doctor who season has begun filming and they think it's for the Christmas 2023 episode.

I was under the impression Tennant was gonna get three episodes then exit as that's what's being rumoured. That Tennant would leave on Christmas episode. Bah who knows.

Mr.Saturn

Not entirely sure how Tennant's specials are meant to work. Was of the assumption it'd be like most run of specials, dotted throughout the year, but was told the 3 of them are just going to air over November 2023 so have no idea really.

pixelburp

Gatwa's costume has been revealed. Bold orange while the rest is pretty straightforward

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1604182155143282689

fritzelly

Rather boring look

FunLover18

Very disappointed tbh, I was kinda hoping for something along the lines of any of Daniel Craig's gettups in Glass Onion

Agent Coulson

Christmas Day Surprise

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1606711311395459072?s=46&t=RLvKJL9NwFdps--zPqtqqw

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120032286#Comment_120032286

What? Its on tomorrow? Not on the listings