Doctor Who Series 7 and beyond (may contain spoilers)

[Replies From View]

Fair enough, but I stick to my point that it wasn't predictable in a pejorative sense for most casual viewers. It was predictable in the sense that it was possible and logical within itself and thus guessable. But either way he can't win. He can't make it so complex and elaborate that nobody can predict it. River could just have pulled her mask off to reveal she was Scooby Doo, nobody would have predicated it but it wouldn't make any sense or be any good.

I wasn't wanting something overly complex and elaborate; that's my point.  With all the other convolutions that were going on, it would have been far more interesting if Moffat hadn't built something big up around the reveal of River Song as something "game changing".  As I have said several times now, obvious is what I wanted!  But obvious as in "latent and uncontrived" rather than what is bound to happen because you're trying too hard to jam together contrived pieces of a puzzle.  In fact, the whole thing would have been a lot better if it didn't have big arrows pointing at the scene around the crib saying "Ooh who could River Song be????  Answers here!!!!"  Everything else could have been kept the same if the "big reveals" had been turned into standard scenes without the crescendo, and all the "who are you?" whisperings had been general expressions of mystery or concern rather than leading into something specific.

The whole thing of "game changing" turns of events is boring.  All the hype created within the show and outside it around things like the Doctor falling so much further than ever before is boring.  It's the hype that leads to people going "bah, that was predictable," when it needn't be an issue!  But Moffat's fixation on the word "slutty" lately means we can probably expect more of this kind of thing, because it gets twitter going and the ratings up.  My hope is that the Doctor lying low means that the sluttiness is restricted to titles only, not characters and storylines themselves.

[mycroft]

Thrill the one you love[nb]Or that girl you stare creepily at on the daily commute[/nb] with her very own Who Valentine card...

http://brucelovesyou.bigcartel.com/product/doctor-who-valentine-s-day-card

[surreal]

Dunno if this has been posted already - clip from every single episode in order, and just about every other appearance in character, must have taken an age.  Odd Eurythmics mashup too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=iN5jPQdJXYE#!

[Dark Sky]

I spent plenty of time on Who message boards and I didn't think River was going to be Amy and Rory's daughter.  Mostly because I didn't really understand why anyone would be trying to work out who River's parents were.  Why would you?  The fact that she's related to Amy and Rory was really an extra reveal on top of the main mystery: what is River's relationship with the Doctor?  Is she his wife?  What's going on there?

The real surprise in A Good Man Goes To War isn't just that River is Amy and Rory's daughter, but that she's a brainwashed assassin being used as a weapon to kill the Doctor.  Because we've always seen them as being friendly, respectful, almost romantic.  So you're supposed to be left wondering: what's going on there?  What happened to turn that around?

That's the interesting twist at the end of that episode.  Yet I think that went ignored by lots of fans too busy saying, "she's their daughter, so what?", and missed the more interesting implications of that.

[Replies From View]

Potentially a real big ole spoiler here, peeps.  DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT SKIPPING SPOILERS.

Spoiler alert

I really hope this one turns out to be a misinterpretation; I've yet to see the interview confirming it, but there are mixed voices emerging.  If it's true the Radio Times are the first to let this one out.

@RadioTimes
Matt Smith: "I've got a year of Who left." Backstage at the National Television Awards, Doctor Who star says Hollywood beckons... #NTAs

This is in a later tweet:  https://www.facebook.com/The.Doctor.Who.Tardis/posts/336914923008084

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Spoiler alert

Hang on... it's dawned on me that this might actually just be the following interview again, quoted a long time later:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKwewRRP3II

With a little reflection, I think it's nothing to worry about.

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[biggytitbo]

He's said that before! It all depends what '

Spoiler alert

year

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' means really.

[Replies From View]

He's said that before! It all depends what '

Spoiler alert

year

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' means really.

Indeed; I've edited my post.  :)

[biggytitbo]

At the same do he's said he has

Spoiler alert

no plans of leaving and he has a year left

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...make your mind up!


This really doesnt warrant spoilers does it?

[Replies From View]

At the same do he's said he has

Spoiler alert

no plans of leaving and he has a year left

[close]

...make your mind up!


This really doesnt warrant spoilers does it?

It did warrant spoilers in my first post because the Radio Times were revealing it as new info, and it was unclear to what extent it was accurate.  It's only not worth spoilering if they were just late to the bandwagon of that old interview, and if the information is known to be old and misinterpreted.

I think any new information on this particular topic should always be in spoiler tags to be honest.

[Mildly Diverting]

As one of possibly two members of this forum who would take Alex Kingston over Karen Gillan any day, I have no critical distance from this discussion, so shall now bow out disgracefully.

I'm so glad my input to this topic got no further than 'preview'.

It took bloody ages finding the right pic on image search as well.

[Replies From View]

I'm so glad my input to this topic got no further than 'preview'.

It took bloody ages finding the right pic on image search as well.

She's too young for my liking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuHKELC4GvY

[biggytitbo]

Here's Matt from last night talking about his plans:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a362169/matt-smith-on-doctor-who-i-have-no-plans-to-leave-video.html

[biggytitbo]

She's too young for my liking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuHKELC4GvY

She's got a rubbery weird face that never seems to change, she hardly looks any different now.

Never thought I'd see her flipped over by Alan Humphries from Grange Hill either.

[Replies From View]

[biggytitbo]

Also if you look at that video, the Radio Times misquoted him in a fairly crucial way.

[biggytitbo]

Moffat is endorsing the Digital Spy article on his twitter account.

[Replies From View]

Also if you look at that video, the Radio Times misquoted him in a fairly crucial way.

That's correct.  He actually said "RIGHT???"

[Replies From View]

Moffat is endorsing the Digital Spy article on his twitter account.

But which side of the contradictory coin?  I AM SO CONFUSED.

[biggytitbo]

Matt said he has another year on Who, has no plans and is taking each year as it comes. That's pretty much what he's always said and what every Doctor says when asked.


That said, I think he'll go out during the 50th anniversary special, its just too perfect for it not to happen...

[gatchamandave]

Or he could stay on, beat Tom's record for longevity, and refine his characterisation to become an iconic Doctor. That would be perfect too.

[Dark Sky]

I really hate the idea of some new guy (or gal) appearing at the end of a fiftieth anniversary episode.  There's a lot to live up to there.

[Mister Six]

Does the (completely speculative) idea of introducing the Twelfth Doctor in the special, but having him come from the future, and then not having Smith regenerate into the new actor for another couple of years, sound like a terrible idea? I quite like it, and it sounds like something Moffat could have fun with[nb]Though possibly a bit similar to 'The Next Doctor'.[/nb] but I can imagine it casting a bit of a pall over the rest of Smith's tenure.

Also, it would probably be a logistical and legal nightmare, what with the contracts and all that, though I recall reading somewhere that Tennant was signed up to play the next Doctor whenever Eccleston dropped out, and could've been on the bench for a couple of years. That would probably require finding another good actor who's a complete Who nut, though.

[biggytitbo]

Apperently the director of the motion picture 'Drive' offered to direct any episode of who they'd let him last year...and they turned him down!

[The Roofdog]

Looks like he's doing a remake of Logan's Run instead!

Does the (completely speculative) idea of introducing the Twelfth Doctor in the special, but having him come from the future, and then not having Smith regenerate into the new actor for another couple of years, sound like a terrible idea? I quite like it, and it sounds like something Moffat could have fun with[nb]Though possibly a bit similar to 'The Next Doctor'.[/nb] but I can imagine it casting a bit of a pall over the rest of Smith's tenure

I think it could work within the regeneration story itself (which was pretty much been done before with the Watcher in Logopolis) but it would cast a real shadow over the rest of Matt Smith's run, and the beginning of 12's.

[VegaLA]

Does the (completely speculative) idea of introducing the Twelfth Doctor in the special, but having him come from the future, and then not having Smith regenerate into the new actor for another couple of years, sound like a terrible idea? I quite like it, and it sounds like something Moffat could have fun with[nb]Though possibly a bit similar to 'The Next Doctor'.[/nb] but I can imagine it casting a bit of a pall over the rest of Smith's tenure.

I've thought about that idea too....and yeah, I think it would work.
Another angle would be to start the next season series with Doc 8 at the last scene of the TV movie coming into contact with Doc 11 and spending the entire series* working together. New companion at the start of the series lasting till the final resolution.

Spoiler alert

* Theres's your series Arc** Steve. My pleasure.

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Spoiler alert

** Series Arc being the Doc 8 finally gets some quality screen time!

[close]

[biggytitbo]

Judging by Sophia Myles twitter I think she is either undergoing a mental and or emotional breakdown or is chronically underemployed.

[olliebean]

I'd quite like it if the next Doctor appeared ahead of time incognito as a recurring character, perhaps even a companion, and they kept his real identity under their hats until the actual regeneration. A proper genuine surprise regeneration (without the next-episode backpedal that RTD did in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End) would be brilliant.

[biggytitbo]

I'd quite like it if the next Doctor appeared ahead of time incognito as a recurring character, perhaps even a companion, and they kept his real identity under their hats until the actual regeneration.

Hardly a new thing!


Colin Baker, Freema Agyeman, Catherine Tate and Karen Gillan all appeared in the show as someone else before they became cast as the big one.

[Catalogue Trousers]

Where were the last two, then, biggy? In particular, I can't recall Tate appearing as anyone but the gobby ginger pratt.

[biggytitbo]

Well yes Tate appeared as ostensibly the same character, but she did reappear as a regaular after her brief guest slot.  The point is its quite a regular thing in Who for someone to come back as a regular after a brief guest appearance. Even when it's as someone else.