Spoilers! Doctor Who – New Series. New Thread

[Tarka Dal]

Right then Season whatever, series whatever. RTD and Tennant out, Moffat and Smith in.

We start with this…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/newyear/

…and feast like the spoiler-feltching discussants that we are.

Thoughts:

Number 11 has an absolutely brilliant face.
He appears to have an ace fondness for hitting things.
The angels are back and based on their numbers and appearance it looks like it’s the same ones.

Topic

[Phil1034]

> God, yes.

Done.

[genericnerdyusername]

I don’t like the idea of it being his mother. I don’t understand why seeing his mother would make him come to the decision to send the Time Lords back. I know I wasn’t confused when I was watching it, but looking back I’m really confused by the ending to that whole scenario and it isn’t helped by the faulty memory card in my brain. I know it’s open to interpretation but I don’t have ANY interpretation. I’m going to have to steal one from one of you guys, hope you don’t mind :).

[pfm]

> I don?t understand why seeing his mother would make him come to the decision to send the Time Lords back.

Well, aside from her giving him the subtle nod to do it, if you were contemplating acting like a complete psycho by gunning down the Lord President to assume his mantle, seeing your mum there all of a sudden would probably make you think twice. She didn’t bring him up to behave like that!

[genericnerdyusername]

Oh, I didn’t notice the nod. I don’t have the means to watch it again until I buy the DVD, which will be a while as I’m currently saving up for a banjo.

[ChrisM]

>She didn?t bring him up to behave like that!

Actually from the exchanges with Wilf, I got the impression she meant that gun to be used, and that she thought The Doctor would have to kill.

Of course she didn’t realise how it would all turn out, so I think you’re right that she gave The Doctor her affirmation that he should go ahead and send them all back.

[JamesTC]

>RTD confirms in The Writer?s Tale 2 : Electric Boogaloo that it is THE Rassilon, and that the Time Lords basically just brought back EVERYONE to fight in the Time War (including the Doctor?s mother).

Yeh but that wasn’t said on the episode.

[Ben Paddon]

> Yeh but that wasn?t said on the episode.

Then it’s not canon. Because if it isn’t said on screen it doesn’t count, right?

You hear that, Shada? You don’t count!

[JamesTC]

I never said screen, I said on the episode, comics have episodes, audios have episodes, ‘Shada’ has 12 episodes including the TV version and audio.

Plus as I said before, Who has no canon in the prime sense of the word, nobody will ever agree on the canon, you’ll always have that one guy shouting “Paul McGann isn’t canon”. All you have is a personal continuity if you really care.

[Seb Patrick]

>Yeh but that wasn?t said on the episode.

Neither was any of the stuff you mention from the audio dramas.

[Jonathan Capps]

Talking about Doctor Who canon is the most meaningless exercise in the entire world.

[Seb Patrick]

No, it’s the second most meaningless. After discussing series numbering.

[Jonathan Capps]

Are you *trying* to spark off another conversation about something you told everyone to shut up about?

[Andrew]

Now hang on, this is only the fourth time this conversation has come up. Or is it a continuation, since it’s in the same thread as the second conversation happened? Just how ARE we going to number our discussions about series numbering?

[Pete Part Three]

>>Worth getting if you?ve already got the first one?
>God, yes.

One thing I was surprised and disappointed by, was the move away from “Coffee table format” to “regular book shape format”. This is undoubtedly to keep the costs down, but it’s at least 248 times less pretty and as well presented than the first volume.

[Alex]

Frankly ?Zagreus? having Rassilon killed doesn?t really effect the new series because the guy Tennant calls Rassilon is never actually confirmed as THE Rassilon and even if he is then the Time Lords could have just brought him back using the Matrix.

It’s been a long time since i listened to it but I thought that he was just traped in the diivergent universe rather than being killed. Rassilion hasn’t ever been killed in any Big Finish has he? I hope not as I really don’t want to have to go back through McGann’s third season just to correct my memory.

[genericnerdyusername]

Ah I must be wrong then. In that case, I’m happy :).

[Jonathan Capps]

Yay!

http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2010/02/bill-nighy-in-doctor-who.html

[Seb Patrick]

Nice to see, although I hope it doesn’t rule him out of ever playing the Doctor (hopefully the Rule of Colin Baker will stand. And I don’t mean the one about segregation).

[TheLeen]

http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2010/02/bill-nighy-in-doctor-who.html

:D

:D :D

:D :D :D

…

[pfm]

> Talking about Doctor Who canon is the most meaningless exercise in the entire world.

No, that prize goes to actually listening to or reading non-canonical material!

> No, it?s the second most meaningless. After discussing series numbering.

No, the second most meaningless exercise is telling people the series number DOESN’T matter when it blatantly DOES.

> although I hope it doesn?t rule him out of ever playing the Doctor

Never gonna happen. He’s too big a name/well-known face and, yes, at 60 he’s too old(!!!). Though I wish his guest role was a bit more substantial than what he’s been given (OK it still might be a great role but I would rather he had been the main guest star of an episode)

[Jonathan Capps]

> Though I wish his guest role was a bit more substantial than what he?s been given

Well, we don’t know how big the role will be in the episode. Also, one thing I’ve learned from dipping into some of the set reports is that a lot of characters seem to be turning up in all sorts of episodes.

[pfm]

If you look at it a certain way they’re almost suggesting he plays an older version of the 11th Doctor. That’s probably not the case but, on another note, I think that would be a brilliantly different way for an incarnation to go out, to see him physically age into an old man, emerge from the Tardis and it’s been something like 200 years of his time and nothing for us.

Never mind everyone freaking over what 10th Doctor did in those weeks/months between the end of Waters of Mars and going to the Ood Sphere. What if he’d had 200 years of off-screen adventures, maybe even all away from Earth?? An elderly 11th Doctor staggers from the Tardis into the arms of a young River Song. She’s in her teens, played by a different actress, this is the first time she meets him. He’s going to die, good and proper, no regen, not this time, it’s all over, he’s decided. He whispers his real name into River’s ear, always knowing that would be his last act before he died. These words carry his very life force into her, embodied with sweet timey-wimey goodness. She comes as the old man collapses in her arms. Fact.

[Jonathan Capps]

Confirmed episode titles from DWM:

Ep1. The Eleventh Hour by Stephen Moffat
Ep2. The Beast Below by Stephen Moffat
Ep3. Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss

Lovely stuff.

[Ian Symes]

Victory of the Daleks is superb.

[Tarka Dal]

Indeed, presumably a nod to the time its set in.

[Alex]

I have to say I really like ‘The Eleventh Hour’ too. Nice touch.

[pfm]

I think we have the right to get VERY excited about the first half of this series. If it isn’t the best ever episodes 1-6 run, or at least the best since series 1, I will be most disappointed. I still believe Aliens of London/WW3 is the best first-half 2-parter so far. If I was forced to watch one of them right now it would be that. Honestly, I don’t care if I never see Rise of the Cybes/Age of Steel, Daleks In Manhattan or the Sontaran Strategem 2-parters EVER again!

[Seb Patrick]

>I still believe Aliens of London/WW3 is the best first-half 2-parter so far.

This is this: entirely correct.

[TheLeen]

Meh.

[Pete Part Three]

It’s not exactly tough competition is it? Y’know, on account of them all being shite. But I’d still say that’s third in the line. Daleks in Manhattan being the absolute nadir, and the other two being marginally better due to a lack of farting aliens.

[John Hoare]

I have really good memories of the Cyberman two-parter… but I only saw it once, when it was on. I remember Cappsy saying he loved it at first, and then it completely fell apart for him on a rewatch.

I don’t think anything would stop The Lion Sleeps Tonight bit being one of my favourite bits of New Who, though. Gloriously unpleasant for Saturday night viewing.

I really need to get the other boxsets. Still only got the first series, stupidly.

[pfm]

Series 2 is pretty bad apart from 3 or 4 episodes, though we should be thankful it wasn’t any worse. RTD had to reel off Tooth & Claw so quickly, iirc, and then we know he did plenty of saving on the Cybes 2-parter and The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit. Only Moffat had things in order, with The Girl In The Fireplace, which just made everything else look like the sub-par material it was.

[Ben Paddon]

Series 2 was terrible save for Moffat’s stuff and The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit. My least favourite series, overall.

[Seb Patrick]

The finale was great at the time, but in retrospect it doesn’t hold up quite as well (watched all of s2 recently on a run-through of the whole thing). Still some great moments, though.

[Jonsmad]

I like the Eleventh Hour as a title. Especially if it’s set just after the end of The End Of Time. It makes a good double meaning. And victory of the daleks is great. Is the beast below the sea monsters one?

[Somebody]

New New Series 2/Old New Series 6/Old Old Series 32/Doc 11 S2/2011 series news: Neil Gaiman’s confirmed he’s writing an episode for it.

[Somebody]

Okay, since the post I made last night seems to be stuck in the mod queue, I’ll try posting without a link:

Neil Gaiman’s announced that he IS writing an episode of DW to air in 14 months time (i.e., the series after next).

[Seb Patrick]

Series 5 has got Chibnall. Series 6 has got Gaiman. Can we just have series 6 now, please?

[Ian Symes]

With Russell gone, there has to be at least one Gaiman writing Doctor Who.

(Gay man.)

[Seb Patrick]

GAI AGENDA!!!!111

[si]

Will Stephen Fry ever write that episode we were promised all those years ago?

[Alex]

Will Stephen Fry ever write that episode we were promised all those years ago?

He said recently he’d like to, time and offer permitting.

[pfm]

Gay.

[TheLeen]

I’m going to miss out again: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/s7/doctorwho/news/a203905/3d-doctor-who-trailer-to-screen-in-cinemas.html

[Ian Symes]

It’s your own fault for being German.

[Alex]

Well you’ll only miss it in 3D as by 7 tonight the trailer will no doubt be readily avalible on all manner of sites, and to be honest, seeing as they’ve added the effect afterwards and not designed it with 3D in mind from the start I doubt you’ll miss all that much.

[Alex]

Script extract up on Blogger Who from Vampires Of Venice. Slight charecter spoilers about Amy and Rory but nothing that hasn’t already been guessed elsewhere.

http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/2010/02/vampires-of-venice-script-excerpt.html

[Pete Part Three]

The “trailer” was more like a teaser, really. We saw more of the series back in January. A bit of an odd way of doing things, but I liked it.

[Alex]

That was? ok. I can?t stretch to much more than that. I think the main thing that seemed odd to me was the music. Having seen it now though it probibly would benifit from being viewed in 3D afterall.

[Jonathan Capps]

I thought it was very weak and more than a little bizarre.

[Author]

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