The Spoilery Doctor Who Thread (The Next Doctor / Matt Smith casting)

[Seb Patrick]

That was… bloody lovely. Terrific stuff, and everything a Christmas special should be. The disappointment at yet another lack of a decent big villain reveal (like last year’s crappy one) when the nature of the “Cyber King” was announced was… well, it was pretty massively dispelled by what happened later.

[Seb Patrick]

Also, yes, I may have possibly done a little sex wee when we got pictures of all ten Doctors.

[genericnerdyusername]

Me too! I’m not changing though, I’m just going to sit in it til Easter.

[ChrisM]

Brilliant! Possibly my favourite Christmas episode. Up there, any way.

Is it sad I got a thrill with the big stomping steampunk cyberking at the end?

I wasn’t sure of the Doctor’s use of the capsule at the end, since it hadn’t been used that way before, but I can think of an easy enough explanation, so that’s no biggee.

And it’s great to have a Christmas episode not set in present day London/Cardiff.

[Joey TORDFC]

I fell asleep (true). Probably no reflection on the actual episode, more the big dinner and the fact I’m clearly turning into MY DAD. iPlayer it is, then.

[Pete Part Three]

A bit ropey, I thought. The Cyberman (who I’ve always thought were a bit lame) stuff was by-the-numbers. The other Doctor thing was nicely handled though; and David Morrissey was very good.

The Christmas Invasion still gets my vote.

[Jonathan Capps]

I thought this was cracking. DM’s Doctor story was great, with a proper kick in the gut when it’s revealed he lost his wife in the attack. Also, I *loved* DM bursting the Doctor’s bubble when he starts rambling too much. A brilliant double act.

The CyberKing was utterly preposterous, but I didn’t mind a bit as the episode really earnt that finale. Although, the inclusion of the orphans working on the ‘starter motor’ was a bit ropey. Surely a few Cybermen could’ve managed it?

[Andrew]

> I may have possibly done a little sex wee when we got pictures of all ten Doctors.

And here was me thinking we’d never climax together…

[ChrisM]

The CyberKing was utterly preposterous, but I didn?t mind a bit as the episode really earnt that finale.

I agree. It was daft, but in a thoroughly good way, and certainly earned.

Although, the inclusion of the orphans working on the ?starter motor? was a bit ropey. Surely a few Cybermen could?ve managed it?

I didn’t really get what the orphans were used for either. If they had been abducted in those huge numbers earlier on, then I’d accept it. The Cybermen aren’t the powerful force they used to be after all, so extra labor was required. Actually children had been abducted for a while, but they made a big thing about the latest influx, didnt they? They weren’t there that long before the Cyberking structure was completed, so I don’t think that plot point worked too well.

That doesn’t take my love of the episode though. And it beat the ‘huge alien ship that’s a direct replica populated by aliens who look exactly human’ scenario of last year. (Although I didn’t hate it, and thought Kylie was pretty good in it.)

I’ve come to realize, Who is full of plot holes, but it’s such good fun.

> I may have possibly done a little sex wee when we got pictures of all ten Doctors.

And here was me thinking we?d never climax together?

That’s an image I could do without. ;} Dirty boys!

[Seb Patrick]

>I?ve come to realize, Who is full of plot holes, but it?s such good fun.

Like a certain other programme we could all name, in fact.

[si]

I really enjoyed it, too. A really nice story, funny, and some great moments. (When they were skidding along on their arses! Hilarious!)

Great stuff.

[Rad]

The human story was great, the Cybermen stuff not so good. I’ll give it 4/5 because even though there plot holes and logic flaws, it was still always exciting.

Someone tell me this though – was it severing the link that caused the Cybermen to explode? If so, that’s piss poor.

[TheLeen]

>> I may have possibly done a little sex wee when we got pictures of all ten Doctors.

> And here was me thinking we?d never climax together?

And I would’ve joined in but I was 24 hours late.

I loved it! The steampunk, the victorian era stuff, the details, the visuals (like the colours and light in the streets and on the graveyard), and yes, even the cybermen (that I don’t usually like so much), most of all their queen and cyberzilla. What I didn’t fancy was the cyberdogs in rugs. They confused the hell out of me. What were they good for? The rest was lovely.

The cybermen storyline was good, but the “next Doctor” one was even better. I bloody loved everything about it.

Did anyone else think that this christmas special was almost a satire of new Who, with mock versions of the Doctor and all his “assets”, including a cockney girl companion?

Jackson Lake was good. Did whine a bit much. But still, such pleasure to watch.

The sad thing is… I think tonight I have finally clicked with the Tenth Doctor. He was lovely.

[pfm]

Better than Voyage of the Damned but still stuffed with clumsy bollocks aplenty. Thankfully both Davids worked really well together so that saved it all from complete disaster. As nonsensical as it was, I liked how Tennant’s Doctor genuinely believed he had met a future incarnation and how pleased he was about it. So it was shame that the truth about Jackson Lake was so depressing. Everything hinging on the capsule was pretty weak. It should have felt like a reveal instead of *meh*.

You can’t beat seeing all 10 Doctors though. Nice idea of having all the images in black and white (probably less effort required than colourising the Hartnell and Troughton footage). What puzzles me is why RTD has waited so long to do something like this. OK there were the drawings in Human Nature but this was actual footage.

[ChrisM]

>Someone tell me this though – was it severing the link that caused the Cybermen to explode? If so, that?s piss poor.

Do you mean at the end?

Not directly, I don’t think. The doctor severed the cybermen influence from the lady in red* (I’ve forgotten her name already… shame on me, she was great!) allowing her to see what she’d become. In her shock she lashed out at the Cybermen. I think she could do this as she was still linked to them or at least could still use the apparatus she was plugged into although she was no longer influenced by their ‘Cyberking’ agenda. (Albeit hers was always the controlling mind, they couldn’t control her completely, hence the changing code and the killing of the controller etc. But now the Doctor allowed her to step back further. I think that’s it.)

*That was the bit I was referring to when I said I wasn’t sure of the Doctor’s use of the capsule at the end. Those things are supposed to upload information (to a fatal extent if you take away the ‘safety’) but this seemed to take it away. I presume the Doctor uploaded a code which caused the severance… which he could do intelligent chap as he is.

[ChrisM]

>What I didn?t fancy was the cyberdogs in rugs. They confused the hell out of me. What were they good for?

Again, I think that was due to the Cybermen lack of power, tech and their low numbers in that age. It’s easier to partly convert animals (I think they were supposed to be converted dogs… they weren’t very believable as dogs.) than create full cybermen. They’re still a good deal tougher and faster than people, although not as powerful as full cybermen.

Of course activating the Cyberking would change all that having a built in conversion factory.

Sorry about the atrocious run-on sentences in the first post.

[Seb Patrick]

>And I would?ve joined in but I was 24 hours late.

It’s never too late.

[si]

the lady in red* (I?ve forgotten her name already? shame on me, she was great!)

Miss Hartigan. Alf’s missus.

[Ridley]

…I thought it was okay. More enjoyable than Kylie Minogue’s shenanigans but I’d have liked the whole “Next Doctor” thing to have been embraced more. I know he was supposed to be a Doctor with memory issues, but it seemed to me that after the initial meeting he just stopped having the presence of a possible replacement – that whole “I’m the Doctor! The one. The only…And the best! ;)” didn’t last very long – and had stopped being relevant by 30 minutes in.

Rosita seemed to have faith that the guy was reliable, so it would have be nice to have seen it.

[Dave]

The Christmas Invasion>The Next Doctor>The Runaway Bride>Voyage Of The Damned

>What I didn?t fancy was the cyberdogs in rugs. They confused the hell out of me. What were they good for?

I was hoping for a big reveal of what was under the Cyber-rugs. RTD compared them to Cybermats in terms of their function.

>Rosita seemed to have faith that the guy was reliable

What a fucking terrible actress, though.

[Pete Part Three]

The Christmas Invasion>The Next Doctor >Voyage Of The Damned>The Runaway Bride

Have yet to bother rewatching The Runaway Bride though. That may have more to do with shouty Tate than the story.

I’ll watch TND at some point, I’m sure.

It wasn’t as disappointing as The Royle Family (which was SHIT) or Wallace and Gromit (which was good but still a shadow of former glories).

[Tarka Dal]

> The Christmas Invasion>The Next Doctor>The Runaway Bride>Voyage Of The Damned

This.

Does anyone have any gossip about the specials? How many are we actually getting. Has it been confirmed yet?

[Seb Patrick]

It’s been confirmed long ago that there are four specials. The precise broadcast dates are anyone’s guess, though. The assumption is that they’re all going to be in 2009 (two at easter, one in the summer, one at Christmas), but I’ve seen something that suggests that two might be in 2009 and two in 2010. Not sure how up-to-date my information is, though.

[Jonathan Capps]

> The assumption is that they?re all going to be in 2009 (two at easter, one in the summer, one at Christmas), but I?ve seen something that suggests that two might be in 2009 and two in 2010. Not sure how up-to-date my information is, though.

It’s been long confirmed that one special will be RTD/Roberts’s episode in Easter (Planet of the Dead, as we now know) a second special written by RTD/Pope broadcast whenever and then the last two as a two parter written solely by RTD. Going from his comments quoted by karl, I’ll assume that part one will be Christmas Day and the second part shortly afterwards (New Year’s day, maybe?), which will leave the RTD/Pope episode to be broadcast in Summer or Autumn.

[Andrew]

> New Year?s day, maybe?

Is that considered a good slot? I was going to say no…but in fact it’s where the Beeb have put the new Jonathan Creek. So you may well be right.

[Jonathan Capps]

Also, the Sarah Jane pilot. Although there’s no telling whether they considered the show to be a big deal at the time or not.

I dunno, I’m really struggling to work out what a good post-Christmas day slot would be and New Year’s day seems as good as any as you’ll have a huge amount of people in front of the TV, unable to move.

[pfm]

RTD said they’re not saying when the specials are to stop ITV from planning schedules too far ahead, but that sounds like bollocks. ITV will likely put something safe like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire up against the Easter ’09 special.

They COULD just be prolonging telling us that series 5 is gonna air autumn ’10 (with Merlin, if it gets a 3rd series, being moved to spring/summer ’11). So that would make the four specials – Easter ’09, Christmas ’09 and Easter ’10 (2-parter, last one ending with the regeneration).

It probably will keep it’s usual slot though, so that could give us Easter ’09, Halloween ’09 (falls on a Saturday!) Christmas Day ’09, which ends on a huge cliffhanger being resolved on New Year’s Day ’10.

[si]

Mind you, the Sarah Jane pilot was shocking. It was a wonder it got a full season at all. At least they got rid of that black girl for the series.

[Seb Patrick]

That was so obviously set up for a Colin joke that I’m not going to make one.

[Somebody]

Teh Ellard:
Is that considered a good slot? I was going to say no?but in fact it?s where the Beeb have put the new Jonathan Creek. So you may well be right.

Vicar of Dibley was the fifth-highest rated show of 2007 with 13.08m, having gone out on New Year’s Day (Eastenders, the Rugby World Cup, Coronation St and Doctor Who were the only shows above it. It also beat the Xmas Day episode of the same show a week earlier, which got 12.39m)

[Dave]

>Does anyone have any gossip about the specials?

David Tennant’s last episode is called Flambatchscuddle

[Ben Paddon]

David Tennant is going to regenerate in the last ’09 special. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

[Tarka Dal]

Not long after typing the above question I found RTD’s feature on the Xmas special in the Radio Times.

(About Tennant)

“He’s got four more specials to film, starting in January. We’re already rebooting the computers and fuellng the engines, ready to hit the road.

The first adventure, to be shown in only a few months’ time promises to be the Doctor’s wildest, maddest yet. He won’t just be travelling without a companion, but without the Tardis, too.”

He then goes on:

“…you’ll still have David at the helm of the Tardis this time next year. But oh what a Christmas that’s going to be. Let’s just say that dark forces are gathering already. The Gate is waiting, and life will never be the same again.”

So IF we believe all that. A new special approx. Easter-time. The Doctor without the Tardis and the 2009 Xmas special will be another RTD effort.

Oh and “The Gate”? He’s put a capital on gate there so presumably it’s significant. Any ideas folk?

[Somebody]

The Pearly Gate(s) leap instantly to mind.

[Andrew]

I prefer to think of the Tannhauser Gate.

But since Davies was on the Next Doctor commentary wondering if the name Hartigan ever appeared anywhere before (hello Sin City) after already admitting to never seeing City of Lost Children (“But it must be a bit like this”) I’m gonna assume it’s an unlikely reference…

[Andrew]

?The name of the actor who will replace David Tennant as Doctor Who will be announced on Saturday.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7807742.stm

Anyone NOT expecting it to be Paterson Joseph?

[Jonathan Capps]

> Anyone NOT expecting it to be Paterson Joseph?

He’s still the most likely in my eyes, but the rumours about his casting seem like ages ago now. Plus some posters on OG spilled the beans on this special a couple of days ago, and rumours about Chitewel Ejiofor turned up very recently on those forums from the same rumour mills.

Either way, this is a fantastic way to reveal 11 to us. I’m bristling!

[TheLeen]

Tomorrow? Yay! I’m nervous though! Too soon! But then, I also want to know. But maybe it would be nicer to not know until the day I actually see it for myself? But that would be impossible with the internet and all.

Help! I’m afraid of change!

[Jonathan Capps]

It is a little too soon but it seems the sensible thing to do as there’s no way in a million years they can keep this secret for much longer. In the absence of the possibility to reveal the new Doctor on Regeneration Day, this seems like the best way to get a lovely big TV event out of it all without the stress of keeping it quiet.

[TheLeen]

> In the absence of the possibility to reveal the new Doctor on Regeneration Day,

That is such a shame. They should shoot five different versions. :P

[Jonathan Capps]

> That is such a shame. They should shoot five different versions. :P

I Eccleston to Tennant was the closest they’d ever get to managing it. If Eccleston leaving hadn’t been leaked then the BBC wouldn’t have been forced to announce Tennant and it would’ve been the greatest moment in TV history.

A sudden thought: The Sun or someone similar are going to have a leaked confirmation of who it is tomorrow, aren’t they?

[JamesTC]

The Sun? Would you trust them? Total rubbish, It said Morrisey was the next Doctor. It said Tennant was regenerating at the end of series 4. It said Tennant was regenerating at the middle of series 3. Oh and lets not forget “The Truth”.

[si]

Didn’t see all this before starting a se[arate thread. Whatever, I’m not moving it.

[Jonathan Capps]

> The Sun? Would you trust them?

They’ve had plenty right, as well. Namely Cybermen vs. The Daleks and details of the series 4 finale.

But that’s irrelevant, as if they report the new Doctor tomorrow you can guarantee it’ll be a leak and that they’ll be correct.

[pfm]

> The Sun or someone similar are going to have a leaked confirmation of who it is tomorrow, aren?t they?

They do enjoy scuppering almost every BBC Who announcement.

I think it will be Paterson Joseph, which is great, it’s brilliant in fact, but I don’t understand why they have to tell us so early. They won’t be shooting the regeneration for months so what’s the big deal? I would be really saddened if the truth was that they were scared of people’s reactions to a black Doctor and they want the extra time for people to ‘get over’ it. I firmly believe they have already been testing the waters by putting his name out there so prominently.

[Jonathan Capps]

It’s got to be next to impossible to keep the casting a secret for much longer, though. When Tennant was cast no one even knew Eccleston was leaving, but ever since October people have been desperate to know 11 is going to be. It makes sense to get the announcement out of the way.

[JamesTC]

Even if The Sun is right sometimes have they ever explained why they have been wrong or apologised.

[Tarka Dal]

It’s Dexter Fletcher folks.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Even if The Sun is right sometimes have they ever explained why they have been wrong or apologised.

If they ever did that there’d be no room for breasts and casual racism.

[Andrew]

> Even if The Sun is right sometimes have they ever explained why they have been wrong or apologised.

Over a Doctor Who story? “The Sun would like to issue an unreserved apology to anyone who read our ‘Harriet Jones becomes a Dalek’ story for any offence of inconvenience caused'”?! Come on.

They’ve got some pretty good ins with the production and have – perhaps sadly – been right much more often than they’ve been wrong.

[Author]

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