Doctor Who

[TheWho87]

You don't want the Doctor to be "that guy out of that thing". You don't want to be distracted by it being a recognisable TV star as the Doctor, you want him to be the Doctor.

True but look at Tennant and Davison, they both had a good run in a series before Who and it didnt effect them. Personally I'd rather have someone yet to establish themselves in a serious role give it a go, much the same how Doctor Who sort of helped Cathrine Tate branch out from a comedian.

[andPartwayBack]

Wait, has anyone explained John Hurt's role yet in the 50th? From what I read he is an previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor... couldn't that make him the 12th? I don't follow this stuff much so I dunno if that's been discussed/debunked.

[Animal]

It is a possibilty but not a very likely one. It's more likely he will fit in between 8 and 9.

[Vamp]

The Doctor being black wouldn't need to be addressed at all, really, while the Doctor being female would creative a whole bunch of narrative bollocks - you'd pretty much get a very Moffat story arc just out of that, I'm sure, and I'd much rather our next Doctor just gets to have a nice fun series with no real impending doom or unanswerable questions hanging over it.

Unfortunately I think you're right. Although it really doesn't need to be that way. A couple of gags after the regeneration and move on would be the best way of dealing with it.

Amusingly a feminist friend of mine remarked that she'd rather they didn't cast a woman because she didn't want to see what Moffat would do with that. Which is a different view of things, and not one I really agree with. I'd actually quite like to see what Moffat does with a female Doctor. So often the women he writes end up revolving around the leads of the show or needing to be saved by them (mostly because of the shows he's writing for, Irene Adler notwithstanding), it'd be interesting to see a woman character who doesn't so much.

Edit: Also I know Moffat's stuff about not knowing how long the 50th special is despite having filmed it is probably just teasing but it does come across a bit like they've filmed the special without even knowing how long they're trying to make the episode.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Vamp

[Colly]

I want Alan Davies, in full Jonathan Creek costume. He'd barely have to act.

[hugobomb]

I think David Mitchell would make a great Doctor. Highly unlikely it will happen of course.

[Skummy]

You don't want the Doctor to be "that guy out of that thing". You don't want to be distracted by it being a recognisable TV star as the Doctor, you want him to be the Doctor.

True but look at Tennant and Davison, they both had a good run in a series before Who and it didnt effect them. Personally I'd rather have someone yet to establish themselves in a serious role give it a go, much the same how Doctor Who sort of helped Cathrine Tate branch out from a comedian.

Apparently there was quite a lot of criticism at the time around Davison, as he had already played the lead on a major TV series, and people struggled to accept someone they already knew as a kindly country vet or whatever as being the Doctor. Tennant's not really a good comparison, as what had he done before Who that was anything like as high profile? Only really Cassanova and a lot of minor series and bit parts, as far as I'm aware.

There was a lot of talk, once upon a time, of Eddie Izzard playing the Doctor (pre-Ecclestone), and one of the reasons they decided against it was that it would be too much like watching Eddie Izzard "doing" the Doctor, rather than watching the Doctor.

Wait, has anyone explained John Hurt's role yet in the 50th? From what I read he is an previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor... couldn't that make him the 12th? I don't follow this stuff much so I dunno if that's been discussed/debunked.

He's previously unknown, yes, but he's not the 12th. Moffat's said that Smith is now the 12th, so Hurt fits in somewhere earlier.

[Benji]

I really hate the time between an announcement of a Doctor leaving and one arriving. You constantly get speculation over the same old names, and like Skummy says, it'll probably be a relative unknown because The Doctor should largely be just known as The Doctor for his time in the show, or it distracts.

[Ant]

People at work today were convinced the next Doctor will be the final one as the Doctor only has 13 regenerations.

[Benji]

I don't know why, but I've always liked the idea of Doctor 13 being like a cowardly lion type, or more like a manipulative good guy, willing to do the wrong things for the right reasons.

[Skummy]

People at work today were convinced the next Doctor will be the final one as the Doctor only has 13 regenerations.

He obviously won't be the last one, but I'm hoping they at least bring up the 13 regeneration "limit".

On an episode of Sarah Jane Adventures, Matt Smith's Doctor claimed that there was no limit to the number of times a Time Lord could regenerate. It was generally considered to be the long-awaited ret-con by the BBC, though I prefer to see it as the Doctor trying to reassure a child that he'd still be around for a long time and wasn't in that much danger.

There's already a series precedent for the Master being given additional regenerations to fight in the Time War; it's quite likely the Doctor got the same deal.

[Vamp]

On an episode of Sarah Jane Adventures, Matt Smith's Doctor claimed that there was no limit to the number of times a Time Lord could regenerate. It was generally considered to be the long-awaited ret-con by the BBC, though I prefer to see it as the Doctor trying to reassure a child that he'd still be around for a long time and wasn't in that much danger.

I prefer to see it as what it was. A joke.

[TheWho87]

Couple of options for more regenerations.

1) Time Lords were given a reset/reguvination during the time war hence the return of Rassilon which means the Doctor had a new set of regenarations from there (meaning 8th would be the first).

2) Regenarations were controled by the Time Lords and with them no longer around controling it then its become unlimited.

[Colly]

Can anyone recommend a decent online Who resource? I lose track of some of the overarching stuff and wouldn't mind getting a time war precis, regardless of how convoluted.

[Vamp]

I still think they should just have him regenerate an extra time, he goes all "why am I still alive?" and wonders off into the universe to try and understand why and wonders if he'll keep on regenerating. He never finds out the answer to either and goes on having fun wacky adventures.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Vamp

[TheWho87]

Can anyone recommend a decent online Who resource? I lose track of some of the overarching stuff and wouldn't mind getting a time war precis, regardless of how convoluted.

The Tardis Wikia is pretty good, plus for multi-branching stories can point you in the right direction on where to look further

[Skummy]

I still think they should just have him regenerate an extra time, he goes all "why am I still alive?" and wonders off into the universe to try and understand why and wonders if he'll keep on regenerating. He never finds out the answer to either and goes on having fun wacky adventures.

Tell me more about your theories on why Doctor Who should be silly fun and never feature overarching storylines or mysteries. I don't think you've hammered it home quite enough yet.

[Vamp]

Except I suggested an overarching mystery in the post you quoted. I just said I didn't think it was one they should answer and he should have some fun adventures instead. They can get back to it before the end of that guys run but it'd be silly to introduce a guy and go straight into a heavy arc like that, you want to give them time to develop as a Doctor. I don't have a problem with overarching storylines actually, unless they're heavy handed and executed like series six. You voiced your opinion of what you thought they should do, I voiced mine, just because I like the show for different reasons than you doesn't mean I can't also voice what I'd like them to do. People enjoy Who for different reasons. But instead why not point out that I have a consistent opinion of how I like Doctor Who in a really sarcastic comment which really adds to the conversation far more than me suggesting an idea of how I'd do it/what I'd like to happen.

Edit: Ah that's bitchy. Sorry. Stressful evening. I was just voicing an opinion, sorry it annoyed you.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Vamp

[Colly]

But 'he never finds the answer' is very rarely a satisfactory conclusion, its basically exactly what Lost was criticised for years for.

[Vamp]

I think it'd be one of those times where its justifiable. If he didn't find out the answer he wouldn't know how many regeneration he has left or if it was a one off, from a dramatic standpoint that just seems more interesting than him knowing. There's a difference between a mystery like that and a mystery like who blew up the TARDIS (only Who example that immediately came to mind). Partly because they've come up with so many ideas that fans have taken as extending his regeneration cycle.

Plus it'd be a bit lame if the answer to why he's still regenerating was "it's like I said flippantly in the spinoff series one time" or flashbacking to however many years ago for that scene of River possibly giving him her regenerations.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Vamp