Russell Two Davies

[Nick R]

Apparently, today there was some news about a change to Doctor Who’s production staff, in some obscure behind-the-scenes role. I don’t know if anyone else heard about it?

Topic

[Rushy]

It’s interesting how Tennant basically just inherited everything from Eccleston and just got on with it. 

It was important to establish that

A) it was the same character (for the audience)

and

B) the show doesn’t need to be tied to its star (for the BBC)

Remember, the BBC seriously considered cancelling the show because Tennant left. If he’d been there from series 1, they actually might have. 

[Ben Saunders]

It’s quite strange when Billie comes back as (pre?) S1 Rose in The End of Time, because she looked so radically different by that point. A bit like when they do a flashback in one of the Saw movies and it’s just the old guy with a backwards cap on. But not quite that bad.

[Renegade Rob]

They show the end of Parting of the Ways with Rose and then after the titles they cut back and she’s in the same clothes but her face is made up like it was in S2 and her hair is noticeably much closer to S2 hair. They did their best to extend it to make it look closer to her S1 hair, but it’s noticeable. It’s supposed to be the exact scene seconds after we see her at the end of S1. It’s not as bad as Kochanski with a new hairstyle in the start of VIII when they fly into Red Dwarf, but it’s not great (I guess the Nanobots messed with her hair as well?). 

[Rushy]

A bit like when they do a flashback in one of the Saw movies and it’s just the old guy with a backwards cap on.

He’s not wearing the backwards cap to imply de-aging. He’s wearing it because he’s pretending to be an idiot fan of a pretentious author. 

[Ben Saunders]

He’s not wearing the backwards cap to imply de-aging. He’s wearing it because he’s pretending to be an idiot fan of a pretentious author. 

I’ll be honest, I’ve seen Saw 1 and 2 and maybe 3. I only know what internet memes have told me about the later ones.

[Renegade Rob]

[Flap Jack]

So it’s basically a Back to the Future situation. At least Billie didn’t get replaced with Elisabeth Shue.

Personally though I never really noticed the discontinuity going from The Parting of the Ways to Untitled 2005 Children in Need Special.

The one I did notice was Doomsday to The Runaway Bride, when Donna appears in the TARDIS. In Doomsday the whole set is bathed in green light, but in the Runaway Bride it’s just standard white light.

So if you’re reading this, uh…. (looks up the Directory of Photography on The Runaway Bride) RORY TAYLOR, you absolutely fucked that.

[Professor Flibble]

They had to reshoot the scene and everything, which AFAIK has only happened two other times in New Who (Twice Upon A Time and Space Babies). 

I once did an edit where I cut from Tennant walking across the set in Doomsday to a shot of the time rotor with the lighting getting brighter, then to the Runaway Bride version of the scene. 

[Rushy]

I never noticed it as a kid, but in retrospect, I much prefer the mood lighting of series 1-2. 

[Professor Flibble]

It flatters the set but I’m not really keen on the Doctor’s TARDIS console room having dark lighting because it looks uninviting. Dim lighting like in Capaldi’s era is fine but the Series 1 and 2 lighting is intensely dark and green. Much preferred the Series 3 and 4 lighting tbh.

[Renegade Rob]

The Doomsday-to-Runaway Bride lighting differential wasn’t a continuity error, just the Doppler effect, since the TARDIS was in mid-flight when Donna warped in and was in the process of fluctuating time vectors at that moment. So when it was going to the past it had a greenish light from a blue shift and the warmer whiter light was the red shift when it was phasing into the future.  

[Rushy]

It flatters the set but I’m not really keen on the Doctor’s TARDIS console room having dark lighting because it looks uninviting. Dim lighting like in Capaldi’s era is fine but the Series 1 and 2 lighting is intensely dark and green.

More alien, though

[Ben Saunders]

We could have gotten another irreconcilable origin story for an Earthly event like how we have three separate Atlantis stories. Properly classic stuff.

[Technopeasant]

So Five starts it for Fifteen to get caught up in it?

[Rudolph]

[Warbodog]

[Dave]

[Author]

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