Officially no series 8 in 2013

[Mark_Nguyen]

Not that I would prefer it one way or the other, but what difference would it make if Smith bowed mid-season? Unless they went back to a 13-week block and the Doctor regenerated in the middle of it, it'd functionally be no different than the 4 or 6 month wait we had between Doctors in the last couple go rounds.

What I would much rather have it a regeneration happening that, story-wise, isn't hanging over the Doctor for years. Sure, the Doctor KNOWS that at some point he's probably going to regenerate into another body, but lately I've been sick of this need RTD / Moffatt have had to explicitly tell us it's coming. We thus have it hanging over the viewers' heads for years at a time (almost two years betwen "Planet of the Ood" and "The End of Time", and two years and counting between "The Wedding of River Song" and whenever Smith makes his exit) and I know I'm not alone in being distracted in my enjoyment of the show because of it. Let alone having the Doctor voice his concerns about it - talking about dying doesn't make for pleasant family entertainment IMO.

I hope that we'll have another "Parting of the Ways" or most Classic Who regeneration stories, where the Doctor changes his face as a result of the adventure he's currently in and not some twisted, confusing, and drawn out set of circumstances as we had with Ten and now apparently Eleven. I'd rather our Doctor go out with an "hey, saved the day. Aw nuts, gotta change" instead of a "this has been bothering me for YEARS NOW and I'm FINALLY going to get it OVER WITH!".

MArk

[FreddyE]

I would like a very sudden regeneration and not in the last episode of a season. It´s a bit anticlimatic to know "okay, this is the episode where it happens".

[The Wormhole]

FreddyE wrote:

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I would like a very sudden regeneration and not in the last episode of a season. It´s a bit anticlimatic to know "okay, this is the episode where it happens".

The regeneration is always a significant event. Regardless of where it's paced in the season we're going to know before it airs "this is the episode where it happens."

[Mark_Nguyen]

One new spin on it would be if a regeneration happens in the middle of a STORY. Imagine a two parter, even a season cliffhanger if you will, whose first part has the bad guys essentially winning and "killing" the Doctor. Then part two picks up with the new Doctor delivering righteous vengeance upon his supposed vanquishers.

The closest we've had is the Doctor defeating the Master back to back in Logopolis and Castrovalva, but those were two different threats and not the same universe-dominating plot.

Mak

[Mr Awe]

^^ I doubt they'd want the old Doctor to go out with a loss! There'd have to be some aspect of a win to the departure.

[Mark_Nguyen]

In storytelling there are personal victories and then there's winning the conflict. This could be something that has both.

For some reason "Armageddon" comes to mind, with Harry reconciling with his daughter before sacrificing himself. I'm ABSOLUTELY SURE that there better examples out there though.

Mark

[Professor Zoom]

Mark_Nguyen wrote:

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In storytelling there are personal victories and then there's winning the conflict. This could be something that has both.

For some reason "Armageddon" comes to mind, with Harry reconciling with his daughter before sacrificing himself. I'm ABSOLUTELY SURE that there better examples out there though.

Mark

Yeah, but Harry killing himself was the end of the movie, the end of the story. And he won by sacrificing himself. The Doctor regenerating because he "lost" I think would be a down ending for the Doctor, and I can't see an actor wanting to leave in that way.

The Doctor sacrificing himself for a win... like in Logolopolis, Planet of the Spiders, Caves of Androzani, yeah... that works.

[Starkers]

Well I guess you could argue that if he has to regenerate the Doctor has 'lost' in some respect. And some of the Doctor's regenerations were quite personal, Ten didn't need to regenerate because he sacrificed himself to save the earth. he had to regenerate because he sacrificed himself to save Wilf, same with Five, his only victory was in saving Peri.

[Green Lantern]

I guessed as much that there'd be no series 8 this year. Really, what I want to see some time soon is a huge dalek arc. The closest Smith's ever got to doing a real Dalek storyline is in Asylam of the Daleks which to me was a huge disapointment. We've not got a decent Dalek story since the end of Tennants era, and as for cybermen, not a full on story since way back in series two, although they did have a pretey good episode at the end of Tennents era. Still not really a good arc though. As for Sontarans, they've not been done properly since the end of Tennants era either. Now we know that we're getting Cybermen at the end of series seven, so next series I'd love to see daleks and sontarans done properly.

[Green Lantern]

Mark_Nguyen wrote:

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Not that I would prefer it one way or the other, but what difference would it make if Smith bowed mid-season? Unless they went back to a 13-week block and the Doctor regenerated in the middle of it, it'd functionally be no different than the 4 or 6 month wait we had between Doctors in the last couple go rounds.

What I would much rather have it a regeneration happening that, story-wise, isn't hanging over the Doctor for years. Sure, the Doctor KNOWS that at some point he's probably going to regenerate into another body, but lately I've been sick of this need RTD / Moffatt have had to explicitly tell us it's coming. We thus have it hanging over the viewers' heads for years at a time (almost two years betwen "Planet of the Ood" and "The End of Time", and two years and counting between "The Wedding of River Song" and whenever Smith makes his exit) and I know I'm not alone in being distracted in my enjoyment of the show because of it. Let alone having the Doctor voice his concerns about it - talking about dying doesn't make for pleasant family entertainment IMO.

I hope that we'll have another "Parting of the Ways" or most Classic Who regeneration stories, where the Doctor changes his face as a result of the adventure he's currently in and not some twisted, confusing, and drawn out set of circumstances as we had with Ten and now apparently Eleven. I'd rather our Doctor go out with an "hey, saved the day. Aw nuts, gotta change" instead of a "this has been bothering me for YEARS NOW and I'm FINALLY going to get it OVER WITH!".

MArk

Although I love the end of time, I do have to agree with you there. I'd like it to be done dramaticly, maybe with the Master planning this for years and years, but I'd like the dr and the viewers not to have a clue about the regeneration happening until abotu a few months before (the dr not included). Although what I would like to see done is a cliffhanger like they did in the stolen earth where we all thought the doctor was going to regenerate. Maybe have no one in the public know that the doctor is regenerating, and after the episode, have them announce that this is for real, and we all have to guess who the new doctor will be. Maybe do that and then split the series in half so we're guessing for months, and even right up until the episode itself, no one will know. That'd be a really fun way of doing it, might be a bit annoying, but fun none the less.

As for villain for regeneration, as much as I love the master and daleks, they've been overused for the regeneration storyline. Although I wouldn't want a new villain to be in the storyline (unless it was a really cool one like the Silence). Hell, maybe use the Silence or eeping Angels in the regeneration storyline.

[The Wormhole]

Green Lantern wrote:

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Although I love the end of time, I do have to agree with you there. I'd like it to be done dramaticly, maybe with the Master planning this for years and years, but I'd like the dr and the viewers not to have a clue about the regeneration happening until abotu a few months before (the dr not included). Although what I would like to see done is a cliffhanger like they did in the stolen earth where we all thought the doctor was going to regenerate. Maybe have no one in the public know that the doctor is regenerating, and after the episode, have them announce that this is for real, and we all have to guess who the new doctor will be. Maybe do that and then split the series in half so we're guessing for months, and even right up until the episode itself, no one will know. That'd be a really fun way of doing it, might be a bit annoying, but fun none the less.

Such a thing would not be possible. The departure of a Doctor and casting a new one are pretty big deals. There's no way for the BBC to practically stay silent about it. All it would take is for some tabloid to get wind of it, and prepare a report. BBC obligates itself not to lie to the public so they couldn't deny such a story. Indeed, the only legal way they can prevent the tabloid from running the story is to issue a public statement themselves effectively pre-empting the tabloid. This is the sort of thing that led to Eccleston's departure being announced before S1 finished airing, or Catherine Tate's return in S4 being announced before S3 finished airing.

Rest assured, when the Doctor regenerates, it won't be a surprise. It will be known, it will be hyped. Which is how most people knew Tennant wouldn't really regenerate after The Stolen Earth.

[Alidar Jarok]

FreddyE wrote:

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I would like a very sudden regeneration and not in the last episode of a season. It´s a bit anticlimatic to know "okay, this is the episode where it happens".

That might make some sense except that the news would be fucking everywhere, so it'll still be anticlimactic.

[ATimson]

The Wormhole wrote:

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Such a thing would not be possible. The departure of a Doctor and casting a new one are pretty big deals. There's no way for the BBC to practically stay silent about it.

They might be able to get away with it in a season finale, if they don't cast the new one yet. This year, the stars aligned where they could have pulled off the scheduling; the shooting for the Anniversary/Christmas specials could have waited until after the series 7 finale airs and they'd still have plenty of time.

The BBC would truthfully be able to say that Matt Smith's successor has not been cast. Evading Matt Smith's departure is harder, but plausible.

[Captaindemotion]

They'd have to pull a complete switcheroo, like saying that Actor X had been cast as the new assistant and would appear mid-season. Then without warning kill of the 11th Doctor and have him suddenly regenerate in Actor X. But you'd have to keep the casting process known to a tiny group of people and shoot the scene to a skeleton crew. I think it would be simply impossible to guard against the news getting out somehow.

[Professor Zoom]

Captaindemotion wrote:

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They'd have to pull a complete switcheroo, like saying that Actor X had been cast as the new assistant and would appear mid-season. Then without warning kill of the 11th Doctor and have him suddenly regenerate in Actor X. But you'd have to keep the casting process known to a tiny group of people and shoot the scene to a skeleton crew. I think it would be simply impossible to guard against the news getting out somehow.

And, honestly, why would you want to do this? A New Doctor generates interest. It generates higher viewing numbers. Why would you want to keep it a secret? Why would you NOT want as many eyes in front of your program for your big event? Because it would satisfy a story point? Because it would surprise a few people? (Obviously not a few, but, still...)

To not advertise the big event that happens every few years in Doctor Who would be silly.