RTD back for Doctor Who

[mjwilson]

Because he wants Who to soar and that means getting it back to the formula that worked previously?

If Russell is going to just try the formula that worked in 2005 then I am going to be disappointed. I think he needs to do radical and original again.

[Mister Six]

I mean in terms of output rather than anything else. And after the dwindling trickle of episodes we've had for the past 10 or so years, 13 episodes plus a Christmas special, year in, year out would be radical. In every sense.

[mjwilson]

True enough.

I wouldn't feel short-changed with 10 eps + a special though, if it could be kept on a regular schedule.

[Norton Canes]

Even eight or nine episodes a year (plus a Christmas special of course) would be okay, especially if COVID is making it harder to film. I think for the next few years it's vital to make it a regular event again, Autumn (even if it's late Autumn) through to December.

JUST WANT PROPER WHO BACK

[Mister Six]

Isn't it obvious at this point that the split seasons and diminished episode counts are a product of BBC budget restrictions rather than and production difficulty in putting out that many episodes every year? And Bad Wolf is stumping up cash now.

Covid might complicate things, but it's not like big crowd scenes are essential to Who.

Hm, just occurred to me - did Covid not happen in the Whoniverse, given the dates in Flux?

[mjwilson]

Isn't it obvious at this point that the split seasons and diminished episode counts are a product of BBC budget restrictions rather than and production difficulty in putting out that many episodes every year? And Bad Wolf is stumping up cash now.

I don't know about obvious, I know it's a popular view of things but I've never been totally convinced.

[Mister Six]

I don't know about obvious, I know it's a popular view of things but I've never been totally convinced.

I thought Moffat had said something to that effect?

But in any case, the production team were able to put out 14 episodes a year apparently without issue until the switch to HD - which would have meant a hike in the cost of CGI, and IIRC came around some concern over licence fees again. Don't really see why a properly staffed production team couldn't keep up the output - and if the production team isn't properly staffed, that'll swing back around to cost, won't it?

[mothman]

I thought Moffat's schedule (e.g. Sherlock at the same time) had something to do with the split series? Or does the timeline not bear that out?

[Replies From View]

I thought Moffat's schedule (e.g. Sherlock at the same time) had something to do with the split series? Or does the timeline not bear that out?

I think that was just people's speculation at the time.  He was openly taking blame for things that were out of his control.

[mothman]

Ah, so never confirmed as such? Gotcha, ta.

[Thomas]

Hm, just occurred to me - did Covid not happen in the Whoniverse, given the dates in Flux?

I don't think we're entirely certain on whether Miracle Day even happened in Doctor Who, given the dates in Series 6.

I don't watch any soaps, but has Covid happened in the worlds of Corrie, EastEnders, and Emmerdale? Or have they gone the escapist route, depicting their routine local murder, domestic abuse, and financial strife sans pandemic? If so, that must be the biggest deviation from the real world in their histories.

[mothman]

I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction, but one book I did read (the latest by spy author Charles Cumming) made a few references to COVID as something that'd been overcome and was now in the past. I imagine there'll be a lot of that whatever the medium - post-COVID fiction. Has to be better than a lot of the pandemic fiction there's been, wasn't there a universally-panned lockdown heist movie?

And, yeah, if the soaps have been ignoring it altogether, then that means they're now alternate history tales - with audiences Harry Turtledove can only dream of!

[purlieu]

I haven't watched Eastenders in years, so apologies if this is way off, but isn't every episode set over the space of a day? I'm sure I recall each episode starting in the morning and ending at night. Which means that unless you get seven a week, then they're always going to be off, with Christmas coming around every 200 days or something.

[Mister Six]

You're thinking of Twin Peaks.

[Rev+]

No, that is true about Eastenders, but it always kept time.  When it first started events in Walford only ever happened on a Tuesday or Thursday.  You'd occasionally have characters arranging to meet up, but they could never say tomorrow, they'd have to suggest Thursday.  They were so locked into this that when they introduced a Friday episode it was like Fridays couldn't exist in that universe, so they were all set on Thursday nights to begin with.  What was Phil up to on Wednesday?  Nothing.  Phil did not exist on Wednesday.

[Nowhere Man]

Phil did not exist on Wednesday.

To be fair, a main character not existing at certain points in time does sound very Lynchian.

[olliebean]

Isn't it obvious at this point that the split seasons and diminished episode counts are a product of BBC budget restrictions rather than and production difficulty in putting out that many episodes every year? And Bad Wolf is stumping up cash now.

I think that was possibly the case, at least to some extent, during the Moffat years (although his dual commitment with Sherlock may have also played into it), but I think the further reduction in episode count when Chibnall took over was down to Chibnall. I know he said at the time that even 10 episodes per series was bordering on too much work, but I find that difficult to square with how lazily written and first-drafty most of his scripts come across. He certainly seems to have a very different idea from RTD of how much work is too much.

[Bad Ambassador]

Hm, just occurred to me - did Covid not happen in the Whoniverse, given the dates in Flux?

On the DW wiki, there's mentions of it in the Lockdown videos produced with Jodie Whittaker and others, but aside from that there's only distantly related spinoffs that mention it at all.

[Mister Six]

I suppose The Doctor might have turned up at some point and nipped it in the bud some time in 2020.

He certainly seems to have a very different idea from RTD of how much work is too much.

True, although RTD sounds dangerously workaholic

To be fair, a main character not existing at certain points in time does sound very Lynchian.

EastEnd Empire.

[Bad Ambassador]

I had an idea that it could be passed off as enough of a "fixed point" that the Doctor didn't interfere, as humans would be able to deal with it themselves, but did in various incarnations help out. The Sixth Doctor delivering groceries, the Seventh helping out in a care home, the Second running a creche for the kids of essential workers, that sort of thing.

[JamesTC]

"Look at the size of that pandemic"
"Yes, Jamie, it's a big one"

[Mister Six]

This was on the Old Who thread, but it seems appropriate here too - RTD's novelisation of his kids' TV series Dark Season is getting a Big Finish-produced audiobook, read by the star of the show herself, Kate Winslet Victoria Lambert.

I remember RTD being delighted years back that he could make the villains openly lesbian in the novelisation, rather than just lesbian-coded. Probably won't be bigging that one up today, mind.

He also talks about possibly doing more Dark Season stuff, although I don't know when he'll find the time. I can imagine he's been holding onto a few ideas for years, mind.

Announcement video here:

Now, where's my gritty reboot of Breakfast Serials?

[Replies From View]

I had an idea that it could be passed off as enough of a "fixed point" that the Doctor didn't interfere, as humans would be able to deal with it themselves, but did in various incarnations help out. The Sixth Doctor delivering groceries, the Seventh helping out in a care home, the Second running a creche for the kids of essential workers, that sort of thing.

Lovely idea but I can't picture the sixth Doctor carrying groceries.  He'd be striding ahead, pointing the way, while Peri laboured under all the weight by herself.

[Bad Ambassador]

I imagined him driving the van for a major chain, but yes, Peri would clearly be lugging the boxes to the door.

[mothman]

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/dec/22/russell-t-davies-i-genuinely-thought-who-wants-to-watch-a-show-about-aids

"I've already written some of the episodes. The first will go out in November 2023 – that's the 60th anniversary of the show." Give us a scoop then, I beg. He says he can't. Is Olly Alexander the new Doctor? "Behave! Stop it! We have genuinely not cast anyone yet. We're just starting auditions."

[Alberon]

I know better than to believe that!

[mothman]

Yeah it beggars belief that he wouldn't go back to it without at least a shortlist if not just the one he wants.

[Dayraven]

Is it too late to save Chibnall's console room from the skip? There's so much junk cluttering the view you could even have all cocks going in and out and nobody would be any the wiser.

It's not so noticeable with all the other bits of the set, but if you have a look at a picture of the current Tardis console alone, it does look kind of phallic.

[Mister Six]

Yeah it beggars belief that he wouldn't go back to it without at least a shortlist if not just the one he wants.

Maybe just auditioning the shortlist? Everyone from Smith on (inclusive) has had to do an audition of some sort. maybe Tennant did too, actually, I forget - did he audition at the same time as Eccles, but get earmarked for the first post-Eccles doc?

[Thomas]

It's not so noticeable with all the other bits of the set, but if you have a look at a picture of the current Tardis console alone, it does look kind of phallic.

Jodie's is the only console that I can't clearly picture. Even Eccleston's/Tennant's mildly chaotic array had a memorable sort of order to it, with plenty of purposeful actions. You can barely see Jodie's between the gammy plastic columns.

I had a review video on in the background earlier, and it reminded me that - with Bel, Vinder, and the many space refugees generated by the Flux - the human race of the Whoniverse is now firmly established throughout the stars as early as 2021. Presumably much earlier considering the advanced state of their colonies and civilisations. The sort of glaring world-building slipup that RTD will surely have noticed whilst watching.

'member that line of the Doctor's about refugees of the Flux looking to invade? kin ell. And remember when the prospect of wiping out an enemy species would consume the thematic buildup of an entire series, with tensions and conflicts and questions, leading to moments like 'coward, any day' and the fiftieth anniversary?

There's nowt going in under the surface is there? Just stuff moving around. Nothing under Chibs' nib.