Doctor Who - Series 10

[Replies From View]

Very little official news coming in, but it still seems a good time to get this thread started.  There's plenty of speculation, rumour and personal hopes type stuff we can engage in before we discover when the fuck series 10 is actually going to happen.  Please put any known or presumed spoilers into spoiler tags.


Personally, I'm hoping for the start of series 10 to introduce us to the show again.  It's time for a clean slate now that we're having a companion change.  It's interesting how 'Rose' and 'The Eleventh Hour' do things from a storytelling point of view - the showrunners want us to share the wonder of a new companion encountering the Doctor and the TARDIS for the first time.  After that though things always become a bit more glib and throwaway; the audience already knows that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the outside so the writing doesn't dwell on it as mysterious anymore:  the Doctor says "Oh really, I hadn't noticed," and things like that.  Or the companion starts saying contrived alternatives:  "It's smaller on the outside," in order to not present yet again the most obvious human reaction. 

But a fresh start is what's needed now, despite the fact we're not getting a new showrunner just yet.  Capaldi's first episode 'Deep Breath' was more about keeping continuity with the Matt Smith years than presenting a clean slate.  Clara and the Paternoster Gang were all present, easing us through.  It's clear Moffat sees a new companion as the opportunity for refreshing, not so much a new Doctor. 

With the shift to Clara we got a new TARDIS interior (perhaps to allow us that same sense of wonder as we saw it at the first time as her) and new opening titles too.  Capaldi has been saying he wants a minimal, Bauhaus-inspired TARDIS interior, and if he gets his wish it's most likely to be with the start of series 10 and a fresh companion.  Especially if we're expecting a long delay.


I'm also hoping that Capaldi doesn't regenerate any time soon.  The "three years optimum" is such bullshit.  If Pertwee had done three years his entire tenure would have been spent in exile.  Tom Baker would have left in the same season as Sarah Jane Smith if he'd only stayed three years.  Three years is nothing, and it's horrifying to think that Capaldi might leave just as series 10 gives him a fresh start with a new companion.

[Replies From View]

I'm going to repost this from the series 9 thread, despite still not knowing if it's real, partly because it seems a bit of a bizarre thing to do as a fake. 

It wouldn't be the first time the Doctor Who production team sent out an announcement advertising when an announcement would be happening.

[Jerzy Bondov]

I don't think that picture is real. Why hasn't it been on the official Twitter etc? But I like the idea of calling it Series X.

[Deanjam]

Just hoping for a bit more fun in the show. Not silliness but a sense of going on a great adventure. Along the lines of Mummy on the Orient Express. Let Capaldi show his charisma instead of being Mr Grumpy-pants. And a companion who isn't an irritating fuck.

Thanks Space Santa.

[purlieu]

Certainly the end of series 9 suggested the end of a chapter, so doing a fresh start for series 10 would make sense. Totally up for that.

And I agree with Deanjam on the adventure front. The story of Clara & 12 became all about routine, there was none of  the flying about in the TARDIS, discussing where to go next stuff, just Clara at work or the pair already on the scene at the start of an episode. Something to reignite the spark of excitement of the whole series' premise.

And in plot-specific terms, I really wouldn't mind Gallifrey again, but done well. Given how long the Doctor has been wanting his own planet and people back, let's see him make something of that. Surely he didn't go through everything in The Day of the Doctor just to leave quickly and never return once he actually finds the place.

[Norton Canes]

I don't see how it can be a genuinely fresh start with Steven Moffat still in charge. Just can't.

[Ambient Sheep]

Very little official news coming in, but it still seems a good time to get this thread started.

You just couldn't handle the concept of Doctor Who in French, could you?

Anyway, the depressing thing is, that I don't expect any new Doctor Who episodes to be aired before this hits 100 pages, just as happened with Series 8... :-(

Or the companion starts saying contrived alternatives:  "It's smaller on the outside,"

Actually, I must confess that I loved that.  So striking that nobody had ever said that before, and it underlined how unusual Clara was (before she became this totally irritating plastic thing) that she saw it differently to everyone else.

But a fresh start is what's needed now, despite the fact we're not getting a new showrunner just yet.

Trouble is, as has already been said, it won't really be a fresh start without a new showrunner.

I'm also hoping that Capaldi doesn't regenerate any time soon.  The "three years optimum" is such bullshit.

Agreed.


Meanwhile...

[Ambient Sheep]

Sheepy's guide to Doctor Who threads

Main threads about the new series, in chronological order of creation:
2004/03/04 - 2004/03/20:  Izzard as Dr Who ? (Rampant speculation)
2004/03/20 - 2005/02/21:  And the new Doctor Who is... (Eccleston's announcement to the start of Series 1 (27))
2005/02/27 - 2006/10/10:  New Doctor Who (Series 1 (27) & 2 (28))
2006/11/01 - 2007/05/21:  Newer Doctor Who  (Series 3 (29) part 1)
2007/05/24 - 2009/10/21:  The New Doctor Who thread (Series 3 (29) part 2, Series 4 (30), 2009 up to but not including The Waters Of Mars)
2009/10/21 - 2010/03/26:  The "New" Doctor Who Thread (2009 just before The Waters of Mars to just before Series 5 (31/Fnarg) aired)
2010/03/18 - 2010/07/27:  Doctor Who - Series 5 Discussion (No Spoilers) (Series 5 (31/Fnarg))
2010/06/13 - 2011/01/15:  So, Doctor Who. (started as Fry's questions thread, mutated halfway down page 12 into general post-Series-5-(31/Fnarg) discussion, including the 2010 Christmas special (A Christmas Carol))
2011/01/20 - 2012/01/05:  Doctor Who Series 6 (Series 6 (32))
2012/01/07 - 2012/12/29:  Doctor Who Series 7 and beyond (may contain spoilers) (S07(33)E01 (Asylum of the Daleks) - S07(33)E05 (The Angels Take Manhattan) plus Christmas Special (The Snowmen))
2012/12/29 - 2013/07/11:  Doctor Who, Series 7 (part two) (S07(33)E06 (The Bells of Saint John) - S07(33)E13 (The Name of the Doctor))
2013/01/07 - 2014/01/05:  Doctor Who - 50th anniversary year (overlaps with the previous thread)
2013/12/26 - 2014/08/11:  Doctor Who - Series 8 (101 pages before Series 8 (34) had even aired!)
2014/08/09 - 2014/10/21:  Doctor Who - Series 8 (Part 2) (S08(34)E01 (Deep Breath) - S08(34)E09 (Flatline))
2014/10/21 - 2015/01/14:  Doctor Who - Series 8 (Part 3) (S08(34)E09 (Flatline) - S08(34)E12 (Death in Heaven) plus Christmas Special (Last Christmas))
2015/01/05 - 2015/10/27:  Doctor Who - Series 9 (S09(35) speculation and E01 (The Magician's Apprentice) - E06 (The Woman Who Lived))
2015/10/26 - 2016/01/21:  Doctor Who - Series 9 (continued) (S09(35)E07 (The Zygon Invasion) - S09(35)E12 (Hell Bent) plus Christmas Special (The Husbands of River Song))
2016/01/22 - 201?/??/??:   Doctor Who - Series 10 (You're reading it now...)


Other Doctor Who related broadcast threads, also in chronological order _{^{apart from the second one}}:
Old Doctor Who (Original thread, 2005/05/11 - 2010/06/08)
Old Doctor Who (Current thread, 2011/01/14 onwards)
Torchwood Series 1
The Sarah Jane Adventures (just the pilot, not Series 1, there was no S1 thread)
The Best And Worst Of Doctor Who... Ever
Doctor Who - where does everyone stand now ?
Torchwood Series 2
Sarah Jane adventures- Series 2
Torchwood Series 3 (aka Children of Earth)
Sarah Jane Adventures Series 3
Doctor Who and the SPOILERS OF DEATH (aborted Series 5 (31/Fnarg) thread)
Junior Masterchef with Doctor Who
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Torchwood: The New World (one-page thread presaging Series 4 / Miracle Day)
Torchwood return date.... (three-post thread announcing Series 4 / Miracle Day)
Torchwood: Miracle Day (aka Series 4)
Torchwood: Miracle Day (US airings)
K9: Timequake (new movie coming 2017)

There wasn't a Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4 thread, let alone a Series 5 one. :-(


Still more Doctor Who related threads, again in chronological order:
Fanzines (Comedy, Doctor Who and in general)
Mong Doctor Who series 5 (H.S. Art thread)
Recommend me some Old Doctor Who (a really good thread, IMHO)
Doctor Who Mongs (H.S. Art thread)
Beeb to show unseen interview with Dr Who theme creator (Delia Derbyshire)
Doctor Who film (November 2011 thread about film rumour)
Watching Doctor Who no 1. The Time Meddler (1965)
Why i don't like modern Doctor Who
Doctor Who leaked scripts thread (but still no spoilers) (July 2014)
Doctor Who: The Movie (April 2015 thread about another film rumour)


^{_{(See here for sources.  Further additions & corrections welcome.)}}

[Mister Six]

Like others, I'm hoping to see a continuity-free fresh start, along the lines of "Smith and Jones" (if it didn't have The Doctor fucking banging on about Rose all the time). Certainly, the end of series nine - with its jettisoning of Clara, The Doctor's new screwdriver and all of the previous five years of plot threads finally laid to rest, felt like the show had finally shaken off the regeneration blues, and it was now Capaldi's show proper. Tying up the River Song story helped that too.

But Moffat's got form for seemingly striking out in one direction and then not being able to resist going back on himself - Amy and Clara's multiple "departures"; The Doctor talking about how he wants to make himself smaller in S6, and then going right back to being the Daleks' adversary a season later; The Doctor's new quest being to find Gallifrey, and then him sort of not really bothering until someone gives him the address.[nb]I can imagine that some of these were due to cast issues - if Smith had stuck around for another season, I'm sure we'd have got a "quest for Gallifrey" arc then instead.[/nb]

Regardless, I'd like Capaldi until series 12, at least. Seems so wrong for him to leave after his run's finally got going...

As for other things: it'd be nice to have two companions again, but I know Capaldi's uneasy about having a younger male involved in case they stop giving the stunts to The Doctor. Perhaps a male character who's a bit of a rum sort; someone who can't be trusted, but who - for timey-wimey reasons - is forced to buddy up with The Doctor, and slowly turns "good". Turlough, basically, I suppose. And a woman, doing woman things.

Then after Capaldi make the Doctor female - for all kinds of reasons, not least of which would be a great selling point to get new audiences onboard - and you've got established male and female companions onboard to keep the totty balance.

Perhaps, if Capaldi's doing two seasons, then introduce the bloke in the second one.

[daf]

The "three years optimum" is such bullshit. 

Yes!

I wonder if Troughton said that "Do three years and then get out" advice to Davison as he was still under the impression they were doing 40+ episodes a year : which, to be fair, would knacker anyone!

[Kelvin]

I think it's telling that series 5 and the Doctor/Amy relationship are so popular. When a new Doctor arrives, it's wise to also cast a new companion, so that the Doctor and companion can discover each other simultaneously and their relationship can be seen as unique and special. Part of the problem with Clara was that she never felt like Smith's "true" assistant post Amy (who, of course, got the real emotional beat during Smith's final moments), and yet never felt connected to Capaldi, spending a whole series doubting him and wondering if she wanted to stay with this new grumpy git.

If they have any sense, when Capaldi leaves, so will the next companion, leaving the way clear for an all new relationship between the all new leads. I know the show allows for an alternative to that, but I still think this way offers more for the characters and audience and that Capaldi's first two series suffered from ignoring this.       

[BritishHobo]

I'm excited for a new companion. I've ragged on Clara enough, so her herself aside, it has been a good long time since we got someone new. I'm looking forward to Capaldi and an unfamiliar companion, whoever they may be, to get to know each other.

I would love it if there was more than one, though. I thought Amy, Rory and River was Moffat showing he really wanted to branch out from the sole female companion format. I want something as different from Clara as possible, and not even because I didn't like her. Nice to have some variety, innit.

[Blinder Data]

It would be good if Moffat realised companions don't need to last more than one series. Donna and Martha were one season wonders and people recall them fondly because of that, I think. Keeps things fresh.

[Replies From View]

Actually, I must confess that I loved that.  So striking that nobody had ever said that before, and it underlined how unusual Clara was (before she became this totally irritating plastic thing) that she saw it differently to everyone else.

I loved it too; in fact as a whole I enjoyed 'The Snowmen' a lot.  The scene where the then-new TARDIS interior was revealed was magical, though not as magical as the equivalent reveal in 'The Eleventh Hour'.  I think it's a good idea to introduce a new companion with a new TARDIS interior.  We've had the current interior for as long as Smith had his first version, so I wouldn't be surprised to find a new version introduced at the start of series 10.

But in series 8 the line "smaller on the outside" was repeated in 'Into the Dalek', and brushed off by the Doctor saying "yeah it's more impressive when you go the other way".  That's what I was referring to.

[Replies From View]

The Doctor's new quest being to find Gallifrey, and then him sort of not really bothering until someone gives him the address.[nb]I can imagine that some of these were due to cast issues - if Smith had stuck around for another season, I'm sure we'd have got a "quest for Gallifrey" arc then instead.[/nb]

This is obviously because the hook of bringing back Gallifrey seems an exciting thing to do for the 50th anniversary, but of course when it comes to it no writer wants to deal with Gallifrey directly because it's bloody boring.  What's the Doctor supposed to do when he gets there?  Just put up with a load of twats and fuck off again.  One way or another the restoration of Gallifrey was always going to result in the Doctor deferring going there and ultimately running away from it.

Perhaps another writer can't wait to get their teeth into Gallifrey, but it's obvious that Moffat doesn't want to, despite being right to do what he did for the 50th.

[Blinder Data]

I loved it too; in fact as a whole I enjoyed 'The Snowmen' a lot.  The scene where the then-new TARDIS interior was revealed was magical, though not as magical as the equivalent reveal in 'The Eleventh Hour'.  I think it's a good idea to introduce a new companion with a new TARDIS interior.  We've had the current interior for as long as Smith had his first version, so I wouldn't be surprised to find a new version introduced at the start of series 10.

But in series 8 the line "smaller on the outside" was repeated in 'Into the Dalek', and brushed off by the Doctor saying "yeah it's more impressive when you go the other way".  That's what I was referring to.

Boo. This TARDIS interior is the best yet: scientific, mysterious, versatile. They shouldn't change it for a few series yet.

The 'redecorating' teaser suggests you might be right though.

[Replies From View]

When a new Doctor arrives, it's wise to also cast a new companion, so that the Doctor and companion can discover each other simultaneously and their relationship can be seen as unique and special.

Not much precedent for this though.  Just been Troughton into Pertwee, then Tennant into Smith.  When you're introducing a new Doctor, it's sensible to keep companions on board to bridge the gap, especially when you're making the risky shift from floppy-haired puppy to crotchety old man.  The main problem with Smith to Capaldi is that Clara was a shite companion.

Part of the problem with Clara was that she never felt like Smith's "true" assistant post Amy (who, of course, got the real emotional beat during Smith's final moments), and yet never felt connected to Capaldi, spending a whole series doubting him and wondering if she wanted to stay with this new grumpy git.

Before series 8, I was saying that Clara would end up feeling like Sarah Jane Smith, who properly came together once teamed with Tom Baker.  But Sarah Jane Smith was good with Pertwee as well.  Elisabeth Sladen was good even when the script called on her to just stand silently in the background.  The difference is that Jenna Coleman cannot act (beyond the two states 'ooh, a mildly chipped nail, or is it a fleet of Dalek flying saucers; either is fine' and 'this man doth annoy:  SLAP HE'), even when presented with good material, so ended up being more like Mel, who slipped between the gaps of the sixth and seventh Doctors.  The difference is that Mel didn't end up becoming integral to every stage of the Doctor's existence due to being the companion in the 50th anniversary year.

[Kelvin]

Not much precedent for this though.  Just been Troughton into Pertwee, then Tennant into Smith.  When you're introducing a new Doctor, it's sensible to keep companions on board to bridge the gap, especially when you're making the risky shift from floppy-haired puppy to crotchety old man.

I'd argue that, like Amy, Rose was so popular because viewers were intoduced to her at the same time as they were introduced to the Doctor. Their relationship wasn't just a continuation of what went before. It was a fresh start, with character that were as much defined by their relationship to each other as there adventures. Amy was the same.

In any case, I don't think it needs a precedent. I think it's common sense that, dramatically, introducing two characters to each other and the audience at the same time, forges a more significant relationship in both the audience's and character's minds than having one character carry over from a past relationship and then have to start over.   

[Replies From View]

I'd argue that, like Amy, Rose was so popular because viewers were intoduced to her at the same time as they were introduced to the Doctor. Their relationship wasn't just a continuation of what went before. It was a fresh start, with character that were as much defined by their relationship to each other as there adventures. Amy was the same.

You could be right, but I think the same sense of magic could be achieved with an established Doctor and a new companion.  It'd be a matter of how it's written and directed.  The showrunner / main writer needs to treat the Doctor as a mysterious new figure from the companion's eyes, and with a redesigned TARDIS interior the audience can share in the 'bigger on the inside' moment that typically defines that mystery, when it can otherwise feel routine (for example with Martha and Donna, there's a sense of been there, done this, which is because RTD was writing for audiences who knew the score, rather than thinking "I need to reintroduce all the key elements now").

[biggytitbo]

You know who'd shake it up as companion?


Nicholas Lyndhurst.

[Replies From View]

You know who'd shake it up as companion?


Nicholas Lyndhurst.

They should have him as both companion and Doctor at the same time.  For seven years.

But he's too busy.

[Jerzy Bondov]

I want a really attractive female companion who wears revealing clothes and keeps falling into water. Don't really care about who is cast in Doctor Who though.

[Ambient Sheep]

I loved it too; in fact as a whole I enjoyed 'The Snowmen' a lot.  The scene where the then-new TARDIS interior was revealed was magical...

Agreed. :-)

But in series 8 the line "smaller on the outside" was repeated in 'Into the Dalek', and brushed off by the Doctor saying "yeah it's more impressive when you go the other way".  That's what I was referring to.

I've still not seen Series 8 (or 7, come to that), so didn't see that; as you say, sounds like they beat it into the ground a bit.

[Replies From View]

Psst, tagger:  I said that already.

I like to think that if it was official the tagline would be "We're redecorating... you won't like it."

[MuteBanana]

Moffat out Chibnall in is the story on Twitter.

[Old Nehamkin]

Big news just in from Radio Times. Series 10 to premiere in Spring 2017 with Chris Chibnall taking over after that:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-01-22/doctor-who-showrunner-steven-moffat-quits-to-be-replaced-by-broadchurch-creator-chris-chibnall

[MuteBanana]

Jodie Whittaker now favourite for new companion.

[Replies From View]

Big news just in from Radio Times. Series 10 to premiere in Spring 2017 with Chris Chibnall taking over after that:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-01-22/doctor-who-showrunner-steven-moffat-quits-to-be-replaced-by-broadchurch-creator-chris-chibnall

NO THANK YOU.

BAD DREAM.

THREAD RUINED.

[Kelvin]

BANE V/O:   Let the games begin.

[Kelvin]

I like how they've taken the two worst possible pieces of news - that Chibnall is taking over and that the show will have no new episodes this year - and lobbed them both over the wall at the same time.