Yeah, the five doctors was too muddled. It was the only multi doctor story to have more than two doctors really (3 doctors just had 3&2 with cameos from 1, the two doctors had 6, and Time Crash had 5&10)
What do you need then? Paintings? A scarf? A(nother) return to Totters Lane? Bringing in a Zygon as a present for Tennant? I've yet to hear or see anything to indicate that this isn't an 8th rather than 50th Anniversary story.
I think cameos from the Fourth and Seventh Doctors could've been achieved - Davison already did return once in NuWho, and Colin Baker sadly just can't pass as a Sixth Doctor anymore. But the former two could've been arranged to have appeared - and you can bet everyone would've been excited for a Tom Baker re-appearence, no matter how miniscule. And I maintain that Paul McGann could have very well had been part of the actual episode, regardless of the other Doctors. Of them all, he's aged the best.
Well, yes and no. If they like the episode, they won't care at all. If they don't like the episode, this will be one of the reasons it was terrible. This is fandom. Small pointless nitpicky complaints are mountains, not molehills if its something they don't like. However, since they won't care if they like the episode, the trick is to write a good episode and not bother to explain why they look older. Anyway, they look like they're having fun together. It would have been cool to have them on screen, although I suspect the episode would be a bit of a mess. I do think the "think big" idea of having different episodes for each Doctor might have worked although I suspect the risk would outweigh the reward.
I have to agree with this. While I'm saddened that none of the classic Doctors won't be appearing (especially Paul McGann), I think the most important who needed to return is William Russell. Yes, he'll have a cameo in An Adventure in Space and Time, but as I've said many times before, it would've been very interesting to see an old Ian meet a young-looking Doctor. This will be my greatest disappointment.
I agree, it would be nice for him to appear. And, there are indications that it might just happen. However, I don't think he's more important than having the classic Doctors appear. Mr Awe
I thought of her, but 1) There's no reason why she wouldn't have regenerated so you wouldn't need the same actress, and coversely, 2) Russell's a better actor than Ford - have you *seen* Shakedown? There's a reason she hasn't worked since the 60s...
He would be because he's one of the original four - and the one who still acts, at that. Gathering Doctors for anniversaries didn't take long to become a really unimaginative and frankly lazy trope - i.e. it worked once - quite apart from the practicalities involved...
That's a writing/implementation issue. Nothing inherently wrong with the premise. If a story is unimaginative and lazy it was because the writer didn't use enough imaganation and was lazy! That's the part to fix, the writer/writing. Also, the BBC could've thought bigger, more epic and not force the story in a single 75 minute slot! Try a different format where different Doctors appear in different parts of a story, or different episodes all together. That all said, seeing an old Ian returning to see a very young Doctor would be a classic moment that I'd love to see! Mr Awe
Which has nothing to do with the way they're written, of course. And it is still happening, albeit with only one real and one fake Doctor. (And would have been two real Doctors if Eccleston had said yes.) And I suspect we will end up with aural contributions from at least some of the older Doctors. Which is even more insulting since it says they're good for voicing animated paintings but not for actually appearing.
So not referencing them is bad, and referencing them is bad? I have a sneaking suspicion it could have been a three hour epic featuring every living Doctor and companion directed by Sam Mendes and people would have still moaned...
Nah, if he's not in it that's fine. But if the second caveman from the right isn't included, well, I don't want to even think about what I'll do! Of course, because they'll forget to include Frobisher as voiced by Robert Jezek. What a waste!
The problem is when you start trying to work to those kinds of choppinhg lists to please small percentage of the viewership just to to fill a very artificial tradition, then you hamper the potential for the writing - just as if you'd said "right, we want 15 minutes for product placement so now you have to do a 45 minutes story in 30." There comes a point where it's not worth the effort. This increases with every element you try to add- The Three Doctors worked, The Five Doctors scraped through, try putting eight or nine of the buggers in and no... Oh, sure, you could probably make a Nine Doctors work if you had, like, three 90 minute episodes a la Sherlock to run it over. But they don't. Then you've the practical issues of several of the actors looking way different than they did at the time. And of course it's a totally false tradition anyway- It was an experiment first time round, second time round it was done just because it had been done before, and the others have been in media that don't have too many problems with the state of the actors... Which doesn't make it any better an idea. But if the multi-Doctor fans are going to say "well that means it's happening anywa", then why complain that it isn't? That's practicality for you.
Absolutely - Dr Who's fanbase has always had a self-destructive tribalist clique keen to find excuses for hostility.
^ (two posts up) Creativity and ingenuity will fix those problems. Also, you have to think bigger. Those are issues because they'd have to cram everything into 75 minutes. Spread it out a bit! The actors looking different is a non-issue. A normal real-world explanation that everyone can relate to and a valid onscreen explanation has already been presented. And, The Five Doctors had a notably older Pertwee and Troughton, and it was no problem at all. What you describe as a "false tradition" is pretty much how traditions are started! You first experiment, people like it, and it continues! Mr Awe
3 Hours, Good lord, imagine the padding, it'd be like Classic Who running up and down corridors and captured and escaping every 10 minutes Who's Sam Mendes? Runs off to Google (Ah, all I've seen of his is American Beauty)