So, Doctor Who.

[biggytitbo]

I can't believe miles, having spent several years writing creepy, obsessive diatribes against moffat is no wondering why he won't reply to his emails.

[Famous Mortimer]

Are there any of the books a sensible non-Who-nut might enjoy?

[Phil_A]

Lawrence, just because you admit to being bitter and jealous, you don't have to go on and on endlessly about the massive Moffat-headed conspiracy against you. The reason that people don't commission you is that your work is incredibly self-absorbed and alienating. The reason for your "exile" from BBC Books might have something to do with your two-part, 650-page magnum opus Interference getting the lowest DWM poll score of any novel, and until the Magazine's Mighty 200 poll was published last year, was the lowest rank story ever from television, print or audio.

Is Interference really that hated in fandom, then? I'm genuinely surprised it's now considered "worst ever", considering some of the crap that's been put out under the BBC Books banner.

Miles was a good writer at one time, but I think his massive ego was his downfall. I'm sure the reason he'd never get commissioned for a Dr Who novel these days is that he's so in love with his own genius he'd probably never lower himself to work within the publishing guidelines. He's basically made himself impossible to work with, as he's shat the bed so many times that no-one will go near him.

[Phil_A]

Are there any of the books a sensible non-Who-nut might enjoy?

It's hard to recommend any novels as the best ones tend to be out of print. Although there are a few torrents available if you don't mind ebooks.

I really enjoyed the original Human Nature book(the one that the TV episode was based on), and helpfully it's still up on the BBC website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/human_nature/index.shtml
I don't how well it holds up after all this time, but, uh, there it is.

Also, I'm really looking forward to Michael Moorcock's forthcoming DW novel:
http://www.kasterborous.com/2010/06/13/the-coming-of-the-terraphiles/

[Alternative Carpark]

Wouldn't normally bother to post or mention this kind of thing, but I was interested to hear that one of the Young Ones is joining the live Doctor Who Tour...

Includes details of some of the content.

[mjwilson]

Lawrence, just because you admit to being bitter and jealous, you don't have to go on and on endlessly about the massive Moffat-headed conspiracy against you. The reason that people don't commission you is that your work is incredibly self-absorbed and alienating. The reason for your "exile" from BBC Books might have something to do with your two-part, 650-page magnum opus Interference getting the lowest DWM poll score of any novel, and until the Magazine's Mighty 200 poll was published last year, was the lowest rank story ever from television, print or audio.

You know, I don't buy this. Alien Bodies is regarded by many as amongst the best of the EDAs, and half the hatred for Interference is from fanboys who can't cope with what he does to continuity. If Lawrence isn't being invited to play, it seems more likely to be because he's quite happy to be incredibly rude to everyone.

[papalaz4444244]

Is Interference really that hated in fandom, then? I'm genuinely surprised it's now considered "worst ever", considering some of the crap that's been put out under the BBC Books banner.

I've never heard that. It's an excellent book(s).

[sirhenry]

Also, I'm really looking forward to Michael Moorcock's forthcoming DW novel:
http://www.kasterborous.com/2010/06/13/the-coming-of-the-terraphiles/

You're not the only one.

Captain Cornelius and his pirates...

That just slapped a massive grin across my face. It's been too many decades since I last read a new JC book.

[papalaz4444244]

Are there any of the books a sensible non-Who-nut might enjoy?

Classic Who or New Who?

[Pranet]

I'm playing the latest Adventure Game. I'm stuck on the launch the Tardis level. It is infuriating because you are battling the clunky control system.

[Ambient Sheep]

I'm playing the latest Adventure Game. I'm stuck on the launch the Tardis level. It is infuriating because you are battling the clunky control system.

I have to say, it is bloody awful (the control system).  Didn't know episode 3 was out though, I know two little boys who'll be very happy about that, sadly they're away for the weekend with the only machine in the house that can play it, so I can't help you with your problem.

By the way, there's a dedicated thread for the game here, perhaps any further discussion should go in there?

[Pranet]

Sorry, my fault, should have looked harder.

[Ambient Sheep]

No problem, it's pretty hard to find old threads these days with the Search function disabled, was just trying to keep all the game discussion in one place, that's all.  :-)  Sorry for back-seat moderating.

[Catalogue Trousers]

Famous Mortimer, see if you can get Stephen Marley's Managra.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Managra-Doctor-Who-Missing-Adventures/dp/0426204530/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282936707&sr=8-17

Going for £2.95 plus postage upwards, and just stunningly good. It's the only Who book that he's written to date, but he nails the characters of TomDoc and Sarah effortlessly: the rest of the cast are real and enjoyable characters; there's genuine humour, horror, thrills, and it's crammed with marvellous ideas and imagery. Seriously. Just GET IT. Trust me, you will love it.

[purlieu]

I wonder what happened to Fry.


I want to start exploring the Eighth Doctor audio range, is there a list of them in chronological order somewhere?  I hate the movie but like McGann's Doctor.

[Talulah, really!]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Eighth_Doctor_audio_plays

Many of the ones listed as New EDA have been broadcast on BBC Radio 7 so have heard and enjoyed quite a few of them including the fabulously titled "The Horror of Glam Rock" with added Bernard Cribbens (not playing Wilf though). "Blood of the Daleks" sticks out in my mind as well.

[papalaz4444244]

I wonder what happened to Fry.


I want to start exploring the Eighth Doctor audio range, is there a list of them in chronological order somewhere?  I hate the movie but like McGann's Doctor.

You can start the Eight Doctor/Charley Pollard stories with Storm Warning, which is a longer arc of full-length stories and often experiments with the Dr Who format or the Eight Doctor/Lucie Miller stories from Blood of the Daleks, which are shorter, radio friendly plays and tend towards humour/pastiche.

[Robot DeNiro]

So, the next series is going to be split in two parts, seven episodes starting at Easter, ending with a cliffhanger, then six more in the autumn. 

Not sure if I like the idea of 'more event episodes', last season I preferred the more low key, non-arc episodes like The Lodger and Amy's Choice. 

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a269381/new-doctor-who-series-split-in-two.html

[papalaz4444244]

Well, I hope this is a one-off to change Who to an Autumn show otherwise it's shite news.

_{MediaGuardian}

Doctor Who promises 'game-changing cliffhanger' as series split in two

Showrunner Steven Moffat says 13-part series will reach 'earth-shattering climax' at Easter then return for autumn run

_{John Plunkett guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 August 2010 13.05 BST}



The new series of Doctor Who will be split into two for the first time, with its showrunner, Steven Moffat, promising the show's biggest ever cliffhanger – "an earth-shattering climax".

Next year's 13-part series, the sixth since Doctor Who returned in 2005, will run for seven episodes and then return in the autumn for another six.

Moffat said the Easter "mid-season finale" would be a "game-changing cliffhanger".

He added that next year's Doctor Who would run as two separate series, allowing him to double the number of "event episodes" in the new run, and meant fans would never be more than a few months away from the next instalment of the hit BBC1 show.

"Looking at the next series I thought what this show needs is a big event in the middle," Moffat told the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.

"I kept referring to a mid-season finale. So we are going to make it two series – seven episodes at Easter building to an earth-shattering climax, a cliffhanger we could never normally do because it would be too long before it came back. An enormous game-changing cliffhanger that will change everything.

"The wrong expression would be to say we are splitting it in two. We are making it two separate series.

"What I love about this idea is that when kids see Doctor Who go off the air, they will be noticeably taller when it comes back. It's an age for children. With an Easter series, an autumn series and a Christmas special, you are never going to be more than few months from the new series of Doctor Who.

"Tart that I am, we will now have two first nights and two finales, twice as many event episodes as we had before."

Moffat, who was also responsible for BBC1's acclaimed updating of Sherlock Holmes, took over stewardship of Doctor Who from Russell T Davies last year. His first series in charge was acclaimed by viewers and critics alike.

Moffat gave festival delegates a first glimpse of this year's Christmas special, guest-starring Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins.

Moffat said he chose Matt Smith as his Doctor on the very first day of casting.

"He has that air about him, he's like a young man built by old men from memory," he added.

He first saw Karen Gillan, who plays the doctor's assistant Amy Pond, on video and was worried that she was "wee and dumpy". When he met her, he said, he was "expecting a beachball and met this giant flame-haired goddess who is slightly too tall for my comfort. Standing next to her when she has heels on, you feel like the sidecar of a motorbike".

Moffat dismissed some press criticism, early in this year's series, that Amy Pond was "too sexy".

"That's like being too funny, too nice, too enjoyable," said Moffat. "I was roaring with laughter at the article in the Daily Mail, which said when did Doctor Who assistants have to be sexy. Since the beginning! There was one in a leather bikini — we're in the nursery compared to that."

Moffat said the show's budget had remained broadly similar despite BBC cuts. But he admitted: "I don't understand numbers. It's a decent budget. I beg for money and more rubber green people and eventually they say OK, you can have a third rubber green person."

He added that he had not considered a female Doctor, which he said would not have been appropriate at this time in the show's history.

"No we didn't. I think about it sometimes and maybe it will happen someday. It wouldn't have been right this time," he said. "A woman can play the part. You have to remember the single most important thing about regeneration is you must convince the audience and the children that's it's not a new man, it's not a different man, it's the same one. It's a bigger ask if you turn him into a woman."

Discussing his future, Moffat said he would not be leaving the show "for a while yet".

Gillan, in the same TV festival sessions, said she was committed to the show for the new series.

She added that filming on the show, which lasts 11 days a fortnight for nine months, meant she was unable to work on any other projects. As for her future, she said she was committed to the new series but was taking it one season at a time.

"I have no idea. You just have to take it series by series, you can't really look beyond that so who knows? I'm having fun right now," she added.

[biggytitbo]

Well, I hope this is a one-off to change Who to an Autumn show otherwise it's shite news.

Mmmm it's an interesting idea, and an autumn run is something fans have been wanting for a while...but... I can't help feel there's more trouble behind the scenes and they're putting a heavy positive spin on it. I wonder if there's also an ele,net, with the success of Sherlock, of giving moffat more time to work on both?

[Mister Six]

Yeah, I suspect Sherlock was a part of that as well. Still, the series had very much got stuck in a structural rut (Xmas ep, intro ep, space/historical eps, two-parter, smaller episode, two-parter, bottle episodes and big finale) so hopefully this will shake things up a bit.

I also wonder whether there's an element of Moffat wanting to put his stamp on the show more clearly rather than be seen as the guy who just kept the series rolling on.

[papalaz4444244]

Thinking on it. Who normally starts at Easter, but Good Friday is April 22nd next year. That would have taken 13 episodes of Who in to July.

More "event TV" is my gripe. it's sounding a bit RTD-ish the show's biggest ever cliffhanger – "an earth-shattering climax".

Is it inevitably going to be the everyone-get-skilled clifhanger which is resolved in ten minutes after a three month wait?

Actually, the cliffhanger is bound to be the real identity of River Song.

Of course Smith/Moffat haters on Twitter have already stated that its 'obvious' that Smith regenerates after the 7 episodes because he's "rubbish and ugly"............

[papalaz4444244]

Personally I'd like to see Halloween Special and a series from January to April..... 

[Lookalike Mark Chapman]

Interesting developments, not least because Doctor Who series numbering is always an absolute bitch. And when Karen says she's on board for another series, is that the Easter series only...?

It is a possible indication of some backstage wrangling, but shaking up the format isn't necessarily a bad thing - Torchwood was vastly improved by it - and autumn may even see better viewing figures (not that they'll have the World Cup to compete with next summer). I imagine they'll still be shooting the episodes concurrently anyway, and it just gives them more time to polish the second half/seventh series/whatever. Ultimately, when it comes to babysitting Who, I trust Moffat, so I'm not worried.

Of course Smith/Moffat haters on Twitter have already stated that its 'obvious' that Smith regenerates after the 7 episodes because he's "rubbish and ugly"............

Well he is quite ugly. He's also extremely attractive. It's a neat trick, and one I've only half managed to achieve.

[Mister Six]

He's odd-looking, but that's not the same as ugly. And the mad charisma he radiates more than makes up for that. My girlfriend went from loathing Tennant and Doctor Who in general to thinking Smith was a bit odd-looking to basically falling head-over-heels in love with both him and the show. Moffat's excellent angels two-parter helped clinch the deal, but the hard work was all Smith's.

I imagine the Beeb's rubbing its hands at the opportunity to do 'Series six part one and two' box-sets followed by a bumper series six box. All that money!

[Peter St. John]

Series 6A and 6B, surely?

[papalaz4444244]

Interesting developments, not least because Doctor Who series numbering is always an absolute bitch. And when Karen says she's on board for another series, is that the Easter series only...?

She's said she's on a 9 month shoot so probably no. Probably.

[Pranet]

This news worries me.

[papalaz4444244]

For Gillan Fans Only

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/time-catches-up-with-the-doctor-s-assistant-as-fans-are-turned-away-1.1051215

[Serge]

It's probably some mundane behind-the-scenes reason like giving the actors a break, rather than filming 13 episodes at once, which they've given the gloss of 'A CLIFFHANGER THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING!' (Everything?) Or maybe it's Moffat who needs the break, seeing that 'Sherlock' has just had a second series commissioned.