Doctor Who - Series 14, part 2: RTD's time has come (again)

[Midas]

The BBC claimed they weren't asked how the location would be portrayed on screen, though they also remarked that "Doctor Who's centenary special regeneration scene was a tightly kept secret", which makes it sound like they wouldn't have given further details if pressed.

Who knows

It's ancient history and barely anyone watched it anyway

Arsed

[Kelvin]

I hope Ncuti's Doctor isn't going to be a re-tread of Tenant's first incarnation. If you watch that trailer, it has certainly has echoes of that characterisation; laughing on the outside, suffering on the inside. And "I will keep her safe... I promise" has obvious similarities to Ten's long running issues with mothers.

While I definitely want Ncuti to have a darker and more alien side than we've currently seen, I hope it'll be more than just sadness behind the eyes again. 
   

[Thomas]

It remains to be seen whether he'll still be conflicted or not about his newfound adoptive origins. To be honest, since we don't know anything about Gallifreyan families, the viewer doesn't really have any sense of how bothered an ancient, regenerating Time Lord ought to be about the discovery that they were quasi-adopted.

I'd hoped that was all put neatly away after the Toymaker's line about 'making a jigsaw of your past' - but it came up again at Christmas and I did make this face: 🙄

Alternatively, I could just relax and trust in RTD to do something interesting with it!

[Huxleys Babkins]

I thought the whole point of the bigeneration was for the Doctor have time to heal from his trauma.

Don't want any moping. At all.

[jamiefairlie]

It remains to be seen whether he'll still be conflicted or not about his newfound adoptive origins. To be honest, since we don't know anything about Gallifreyan families, the viewer doesn't really have any sense of how bothered an ancient, regenerating Time Lord ought to be about the discovery that they were quasi-adopted.

I'd hoped that was all put neatly away after the Toymaker's line about 'making a jigsaw of your past' - but it came up again at Christmas and I did make this face: 🙄

Alternatively, I could just relax and trust in RTD to do something interesting with it!

None of that pish happened. He's a normal Gallifreyan with parents and he has a granddaughter and presumably more family too (other than an annoying 'wife' who he fucks because she was indoctrinated to love him - has anyone reflected on that as perhaps a little dodgy?).

He's a bit of a selfish cunt when you look at it like that. Like most lone wolf heroes, it's all about him.

[Mister Six]

I thought the whole point of the bigeneration was for the Doctor have time to heal from his trauma.

Don't want any moping. At all.

Yeah, absolutely, although I'm not sure that's playing entirely to RTD's strengths, and it remains to be seen how long he can resist going down the angsty drama route.

None of that pish happened. He's a normal Gallifreyan with parents and he has a granddaughter and presumably more family too

RTD disagrees - Gatwa talked about being a "foundling" in his first proper episode. And the Flux nonsense was acknowledged in Tennant's last, too.

[jamiefairlie]

Yeah, absolutely, although I'm not sure that's playing entirely to RTD's strengths, and it remains to be seen how long he can resist going down the angsty drama route.

RTD disagrees - Gatwa talked about being a "foundling" in his first proper episode. And the Flux nonsense was acknowledged in Tennant's last, too.

Well he's wrong too.

[Mister Six]

Fair enough.

[superthunderstingcar]

Yeah, absolutely, although I'm not sure that's playing entirely to RTD's strengths, and it remains to be seen how long he can resist going down the angsty drama route.

I would love it if we could leave the angsty, post-Time War Doctor in the past, but his previous form suggests that RTD can go for precisely zero* episodes between supposedly resolving a main character's trauma and reintroducing it.

* Moffat, meanwhile, managed a whole episode in between Day of the Doctor and the start of Capaldi's "Am I a good man?" season eight character arc.

[BritishHobo]

They're announcing the episode titles and writers on Twitter now, at the rate of one every half an hour. So we'll have all eight by half past 5 UK time - and presumably the trailer will then drop at 6pm.

[VelourSpirit]

I heard a year or so ago he's writing ep 3 of the new series

Spoiler alert

(the Doctor steps on a landmine, later confirmed by trailer)

[close]

and at least one more. I hadn't heard about Christmas but that'd be nice, I loved most of his specials

It's supposed to be called "Boom" or possibly "Boom!" but we'll see in 15 minutes

[BritishHobo]

It is! Which potentially confirms another theory I saw on Twitter regarding the Christmas special rumours:

Spoiler alert

Namely that the following quote from Moffat, when previously asked about a return, was a sneaky coded message containing titles of two episodes he is writing:

Look at my ageing face. How can I fit in? And I know, because I've seen the feedback, that people think I'm being evasive on the subject. The truth is, if I say anything negative about Doctor Who it goes everywhere, like boom, everywhere, right?

It doesn't exactly bring joy to the world that I just say something negative about Doctor Who. The fact is, it's fine without me.

[close]

[superthunderstingcar]

It's supposed to be called "Boom" or possibly "Boom!" but we'll see in 15 minutes

Sequel to Battlefield, hmm?

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I hope we get an episode with the blowjob paving slab

[frajer]

Sequel to Battlefield, hmm?

My mind went straight there too.



Loving the drip feed of the titles. Nothing groundbreaking (so far), but it feels like the people making the show give a shit and actually want to create excitement about it. It's nice.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Yeah, this is quite good fun.

Spoiler alert

Unless he's brought someone else in for the season finale, which seems unlikely, it looks like RTD has written six of the eight episodes.

[close]

[BritishHobo]

I hope we get an episode with the blowjob paving slab

I do wonder if we'll revisit anybody from his previous era, especially aliens. I genuinely think he should do the Slitheen again and I want a Moxx of Balhoon reference, at the very least.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Yep, it's official, RTD is writing six of the eight episodes. So those titles in full are:

Space Babies (RTD)
The Devil's Chord (RTD)
Boom (Moffat)
73 Yards (RTD)
Dot and Bubble (RTD)
Rogue (Kate Herron & Briony Redman)
The Legend of Ruby Sunday (RTD)
Empire of Death (RTD)

[BritishHobo]

Somebody on reddit pointed out that RTD said he'd courted Moffat and Chibnall, meaning presumably his original intention was for an all-showrunner series. Which would have been a neat idea to be fair.

[Kelvin]

RTD is a very mixed writer, especially on Who. But I'm optimistic that him writing that many episodes means we'll get a stronger arc and at least a couple of the more interesting, darker stories he does so well.

[McDead]

I'm absolutely popping for that finale title. The teaser imagery was intriguing and all.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Somebody on reddit pointed out that RTD said he'd courted Moffat and Chibnall, meaning presumably his original intention was for an all-showrunner series. Which would have been a neat idea to be fair.

That's true, it is, but thank fuck Chibnall demurred.

Anyway, yes, I agree with @Kelvin, this should ideally mean that RTD has mapped out something good and interesting for his almost entirely self-penned series.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

New trailer.

[BritishHobo]

I love it! And it feels like they're holding a lot back as well.

May be reading too deeply into this, but I like the idea that

Spoiler alert

the Doctor's characterisation is "I don't have a people" rather than "my people are dead". It implies that we won't have a retread of The Last of the Timelords; instead he's going to be coming to terms with feeling like he isn't a Gallifreyan at all, he's just a randomer from god knows where.

[close]

[Camp Tramp]

Not too enamoured of that trailer

Spoiler alert

The space babies looked really poor. Reminded me of the creepy singing toddler in that AA advert

[close]

[Kelvin]

As @BritishHobo says, I'm really starting to like how RTD is using Chibnall's Timeless Child rubbish to push the show forward. A mysterious stranger with no true home or people. That's much more suitable for the character than the thousands of unknown lives Chibnall focussed on.



Now the downside of that trailer...

Gatwa's delivery of the line about shattering a battlefield into dust...

is terrible.

Gulp. 😰

[Mister Six]

Sequel to Battlefield, hmm?

Worse - sequel to Kerblam!

Gatwa's delivery of the line about shattering a battlefield into dust...

is terrible.

Gulp. 😰

Yeah, you're not kidding. The rest of it is grand, but on this showing, the man doesn't have enough - dare I say it? - gravitas.

Then again, Tennant was struggling a bit in his first season when they were trying to get him to do the Eccleston shouty stuff, before they realised that he did boiling, seething fury much better. So maybe it'll work out in his next season.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

good trailer.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Looks pretty good, looks like they're mostly staying away from modern day UK-set stories which I'm glad about. Didn't have a problem with his delivery of the battlefield line, might be more in keeping with his character.

[thr0b]

Wasn't it also a callback to "come on Ace, we've got work to do"?

Anyway. That's how I heard it. And I liked it.