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March 28, 2024, 05:37:00 PM

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RTD back for Doctor Who

Started by Jack Shaftoe, September 24, 2021, 04:17:47 PM

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Replies From View

Quote from: JamesTC on May 09, 2022, 12:45:36 PMI think if it happens, it will be BBC execs forcing him to do it and RTD thinking it could make a fun anniversary story to make the best of it.

I think it could feasibly work, and that RTD could have come up with it, rather than BBC execs.  I've no idea how much control the BBC can have on the show with Bad Wolf now sharing it.  I doubt they'd start RTD's new tenure off by ordering him to use one of their shittiest ideas.  As far as they're concerned it's his show and its success has always been due to him.

But if it happens it'll be because a 60th anniversary could be a tricky place for a new incarnation to start, and some familiar faces has been the precedent for previous decade celebrations. 

It's just hard to imagine how having Tennant as the 14th Doctor would work as a fresh reboot scenario.  It's one thing having a couple of unrelated adventures with the 10th and 11th Doctors for the 60th anniversary before we get back to "meanwhile, after regenerating" with the 14th; quite another to have Tennant be the 14th Doctor.  It just ties everything up in backstory gubbins before anyone has a chance to breathe.  But the same could probably be said of any multi-Doctor story.


Honestly, what would an ideal 60th anniversary story be, considering the show's critical need to look forwards now, rather than backwards?

McDead

Quote from: Replies From View on May 09, 2022, 01:03:58 PMHonestly, what would an ideal 60th anniversary story be, considering the show's critical need to look forwards now, rather than backwards?

The new Doctor goes back into his own history to collect a piece of each prior Doctor's outfit, and it's from these items that his own "current" costume is formed. Just an idea, but if you see this Russell, call me.

Replies From View

Whose underpants would he have to wear every day without ever washing them


BritishHobo

Filming starts in Cardiff next week apparently, so I'm keeping my fucking eyes out. If anyone knows any sites or Twitter accounts that are quick to report on filming let me know. I missed seeing John Bishop stand near the TARDIS in a park over the road once, and I will not make the same mistake again.

Thomas

Quote from: Ninth DoctorRicky, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap-bang in the middle of town, what do they do? Walk past it.

notjosh

I would rather they ignored the anniversary year altogether and just focussed on delivering great stories. And if they want to do a multi-Doctor story, why not slam it in the middle of a season as a proper surprise?

Thomas

As an anniversary, '60th' doesn't really mean anything to me other than 'oh, it's been ten years since the 50th'. Who cares about 60? It's not a special number, like 50 or 100. It's just the half-centenary-and-a-bit. Might as well have celebrated the 55th.

Awkward timing with a production handover + new Doctor, too, but I trust that RTD will make good use of it to return with a bang. I hope that Ncuti's first story isn't diluted by the presence of old faces. I liked Smith's cameo in Deep Breath, especially as it was quite novel, and I think it's the sort of thing a time traveller would do to reassure a friend, but I understand the criticism of it. And that was only 30 seconds.

I also think, quite separately, that multi-Doctor stories should be rested for another decade. I agree with Capaldi about diminishing returns and introspection - Twice Upon a Time, which I do love, should've been the last one for a long while. We barely have a sense of Jodie's Doctor even now, and halfway through her second series there was an inherently more thrilling new mystery Doctor on the scene.

purlieu

How about an expanded adaptation of Terrance Dicks's start of the Eighth Doctor books, now called The Fourteen Doctors. The new one could go back in time and be awkwardly pasted into far-too-long sections of every past Doctor's adventures, with absolutely no time spent on defining his character. There he is, in the TV Movie, clearing the road for Eight to motorbike through; see as he and Nine have a brief side-adventure involving an otherwise unseen Silurian somewhere amidst the plot of The End of the World; be in awe as he helps Eleven search for Clara; gasp in amazement as he and Twelve stop to have a chat midway through Heaven Sent; breathe a sigh of relief as he plays a prank on Thirteen, making her believe she is The Timeless Child.

Replies From View

How about an episode where some slitheen are getting changed into their human skins, and the sixth Doctor can't fit into his so he's making his whole class late after their trip to the swimming pool.


Mister Six

#1211
Edit: I just speculatively suggested the exact thing in the RT story. I wonder if it was in part a way to see who in the production team might leak? Let these people think it'll be Olly Alexander, let these people think it'll be Tennant Redux...

Quote from: JamesTC on May 09, 2022, 12:45:36 PMI think if it happens, it will be BBC execs forcing him to do it and RTD thinking it could make a fun anniversary story to make the best of it.

I don't think the BBC get a say in the show any more, do they? I mean, presumably they can veto what Bad Wolf comes up with, but I don't think they're supposed to be making creative demands anymore.

thr0b

Well, the BBC still own it. They'll still be able to say what they want from it - the kind of time slot and audience they should be aiming for, requirements for any specials, co-productions, branding... it's no different to when BBC Studios were producing it for BBC Wales. Separate company, appointed to do the job until the contract runs out, but under the ultimate orders of BBC Wales.

Mister Six

Part of the deal was that Bad Wolf would have creative control, though, wasn't it?

And there's a difference between setting limits on the overall tone and defining the target audience, and dictating the stories that Davies has to do. I don't think they did that even when BBC Wales was completely running the show, did they?

Quote from: Thomas on May 09, 2022, 02:05:45 PMI also think, quite separately, that multi-Doctor stories should be rested for another decade. I agree with Capaldi about diminishing returns and introspection - Twice Upon a Time, which I do love, should've been the last one for a long while. We barely have a sense of Jodie's Doctor even now, and halfway through her second series there was an inherently more thrilling new mystery Doctor on the scene.

Yeah, on reflection I agree with this. Wait till the 75th anniversary, so we can all wince as a now saggy and fat Tennant, Smith and Whittaker waddle about alongside a holo-resurrected Peter Capaldi.

Replies From View

I'd be ready for a new multi-Doctor story if Twice Upon A Time had been the most recent one.  The Timeless Child introspection is what has killed that appetite.

purlieu

The only proper excuse for a multi-Doctor story would be to get McGann more screen time.
Russell's never been huge on long continuity things though, has he? There was more footage of past Doctors in the first episode of series five than the first four series combined. I really think he'll just be in it for straight up new Who stories without any baggage.

thr0b

Aye. The only time RTD really did anything with the previous Doctors in his first run was the sketchbook in Human Nature, and having Moffat do Time Crash, which was more a sketch than a "true" episode (though written and played as a "true" thing. Thing.)

Mister Six

#1217
Quote from: Replies From View on May 09, 2022, 04:42:09 PMI'd be ready for a new multi-Doctor story if Twice Upon A Time had been the most recent one.  The Timeless Child introspection is what has killed that appetite.

There were a lot of Doctor crossovers in the first 12 seasons though, one way or another: Time Crash, Name of The Doctor, Day of The Doctor, Night of the Doctor (okay, technically one Doctor in a regeneration, but it was the big return of Paul McGann), Deep Breath, Twice Upon a Time and The Timeless Child. Plus the Doctor meeting old companions Sarah Jane Smith and Jo Grant (the latter only in The Sarah Jane Adventures), and
Trailer spoilers for Chibnall's finale
being soon to see Ace and Tegan again.
[close]

Just having nothing but new characters and adventures until the 75th anniversary sounds like quite a good idea, really.

Replies From View

I batch all the 50th anniversary stuff together.  They didn't fatigue me coming as part of one celebration.

If it had been Time Crash, the 50th anniversary stories, Twice Upon A Time and then nothing until the 60th it would have all been fine.

I don't count Deep Breath as a multi-Doctor story, either.  Otherwise all regenerations would be multi-Doctor stories because they feature a scene from more than one of the actors.

Mister Six

Deep Breath treads into it for me because it's not a regeneration story, it's Capaldi's debut, but look - here's Smith again!

For me, at least, there isn't quite as much thrill in seeing two different Doctors together any more, or having one "era" intrude on another, because we've seen so many variations on that so frequently. Each one (bar the Timeless Child) has been justified and welcome in its own way, but it feels like blurring the distinctions between eras is now the norm for the show, rather than a special event, and that will be exacerbated if we have two consecutive anniversary specials (Chibnall's and Davies's) with old Doctors or companions involved (or a spin-off miniseries about Tennant or whatever else has been suggested).

I'm hoping RTD will see the BBC centenary special as a way to get out of doing a crossover for the 60th, and will let Gatwa fully enjoy the limelight while finding some other, more subtle way to pay tribute to the shows history.

I know, "Davies" and "subtle" don't usually go together, but hope springs eternal...

Kelvin

Half these Doctors will be dead soon, have them back one per series for all I care. And recast the dead ones, I really don't think it matters. People treat this kind of stuff like its sacred, but its really not; lean into the show's history and the possibilities of time-travel.   

Norton Canes

#1221
Quote from: George White on May 09, 2022, 12:44:53 PMYes, it's a bit like when fans wanted Martin Jarvis as the 5th Doctor and got another blond sitcom lead

To quote the Doctor in Pyramids Of Mars: "Don't be obtuse, man!" Yes they're both people of colour but also actors who've recently made a name for themselves playing flambouyant gay characters, so they have a bit more in common.

Although Ncuti Gatwa is currently blond, so you may have a point.

rilk

Would he be the first Doctor to have a tache (if he keeps it which I hope he does)?

Deanjam

Quote from: rilk on May 09, 2022, 07:29:10 PMWould he be the first Doctor to have a tache (if he keeps it which I hope he does)?

If Philip Hinchcliffe in Victorian cosplay is canon now, then so is the Cushing.


olliebean

He's rocking a bit of a Johnson vibe with that 'tache (the character from Peep Show, not the PM), and for that reason alone I hope he keeps it.

purlieu

He'll be the Paterson Joseph we've all been waiting for.

McDead

Quote from: rilk on May 09, 2022, 07:29:10 PMWould he be the first Doctor to have a tache (if he keeps it which I hope he does)?

If they're filming now - or very soon - then dollars to doughnuts this IS the Doctor's look, moustache and all.


non capisco

Quote from: Huxleys Babkins on May 09, 2022, 08:48:14 PMSylv wishes Ncuti all the best before take off.

https://twitter.com/4sylvestermccoy/status/1523719205509492737

The positioning of that ceiling fan makes him look like Terry Fuckwitt.

Quote from: purlieu on May 09, 2022, 04:43:28 PMThe only proper excuse for a multi-Doctor story would be to get McGann more screen time.
Russell's never been huge on long continuity things though, has he? There was more footage of past Doctors in the first episode of series five than the first four series combined.

He did write that story for The Sarah Jane Adventures where Jo Grant - or Jo Jones as she might have been by then - returned, that had quite a lot of brief old clips. There was also a set of flashbacks to all the then-previous Doctors in The Next Doctor.