They won't, regeneration episodes are media events and ratings-builders. BBC knows this.
Doctor Who due a major shake-up as bosses aim for 'brand new show' in 2018
- Thread starter Haggis and tatties
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Well, "The Christmas Invasion" happened immediately after a regeneration.
From a story point of view yes, but the regeneration was months previous to that.
Yeah, but I think that the story of a regeneration includes the new Doctor's first steps at figuring out who he is; if anything, that's a more integral part of the regeneration process than the part leading up to the regeneration. I mean, look at most so-called "regeneration stories," i.e. stories that end with the Doctor regenerating, and they're mostly just pretty routine adventures except that the Doctor happens not to survive at the the end. Even if they have some foreshadowing of the regeneration about to come, they could've been rewritten without the regeneration and not much would be different except for the last few minutes. It's mainly just the past two regenerations that have been massively foreshadowed and built up to as episode-long events. But the first post-regeneration story of a new Doctor tends to be more centrally driven by the fact that he's new, that he and/or his companions are still trying to get a handle on who he is now. So I feel that "regeneration stories" should count the immediate aftermath of a regeneration, not just the, err, beforemath.
I wonder how feasible it'd be to have the regeneration in the first episode of Series 11? Obviously a mid-season would be interesting but highly unlikely, and a little unfair on the new guy only having six episodes to get some momentum going, but it would make a change.
Am I right in thinking the only classic Docs who arrived before the end of a season were Two and Six?
Am I right in thinking the only classic Docs who arrived before the end of a season were Two and Six?
Well, Seven also, since he didn't arrive until the start of his first season. Other than that, yes, the regenerations always came in the season finales. Although "Robot" was produced at the end of the eleventh production block and held back until the start of season 12, so Tom Baker did technically "arrive" before the end of that block. (In fact, parts of "Planet of the Spiders" and "Robot" were shot simultaneously, so Pertwee and Baker were both playing the Doctor at the same time.)
They won't. As I said, there's zero change of anything I'd suggested above ever happening.
For about a week, I thought RTD was going to end Tennant's run without a regeneration due to the framing sequence of "The End of Time, Part One," which had Rassilon narrating events from some point in the future. There was speculation at the time that one of the two kneeling Time Lords was Matt Smith, and it seemed plausible that we'd begin the Smith era with him already the Doctor. But the framing sequence never amounted to anything, Tennant didn't want to go, and we had ourselves a traditional regeneration.
Personally, what I'd like to see the end of are the "standup" regenerations of the modern era. Those never made sense to me. Time Lords regenerate when they're dying, when their bodies are failing and on the brink of death and the only way to survive is a complete reboot. So a Time Lord on the brink of regeneration should not be physically capable of standing upright. It just makes no sense.
I just want the show to....change. Really change.
RTD's era was full of groanable stupidity (mostly written by him) and Moffat has improved things somewhat. Not as much as I'd have liked, but somewhat.
However, much as I like Capaldi, the preview of what looks like another awful Christmas episode has brought home to me just how little I care for Who these days. I really couldn't give a stuff.
New show runner, new Doctor, new companion, new writers, new directors, new format please.
Yeah, new format. No more 45 minute single episodes or 75 minute 'specials'. Something...else !
RTD's era was full of groanable stupidity (mostly written by him) and Moffat has improved things somewhat. Not as much as I'd have liked, but somewhat.
However, much as I like Capaldi, the preview of what looks like another awful Christmas episode has brought home to me just how little I care for Who these days. I really couldn't give a stuff.
New show runner, new Doctor, new companion, new writers, new directors, new format please.
Yeah, new format. No more 45 minute single episodes or 75 minute 'specials'. Something...else !
I loved RTD's era, largely. I'd also have to say that he left at around the right time - End of Time kind of shows the apex of both his OTT sci-fi wackiness and his penchant for character drama, which Moffat always struggled with (those monologues that pass off as dialogue scenes, for one).
I think we'll have the 45 minute format for the foreseeable future. While I think a Dickensian format (20 half hour episodes) would be fascinating structurally and harken back to the series' roots, I'm skeptical the viewing audience would really support it.
Given that will be Chibnall's first episode as showrunner, it seems unfair to saddle him with writing out the previous Doctor right out of the gate.
The General was laying down when he regenerated in Hell Bent last year.
Absolutely. It made some sense with The Ninth Doctor, but after that it was ridiculous, especially The Master's regeneration.
As much as I would like a change in format (I really do miss the serial format), I also don't see it happening. Television viewers and even fans are much more accustomed to the 45-minute format now.
Which was refreshing, but only one case. Hopefully it's a sign of returning to the old way but somehow I doubt it.
I guess maybe they thought the actor lying down would not be as dignfied? I dunno.
Fair point
I hope they bring back the new actor wearing a curly wig regenerations, those were always my fave ones, you can never can't get enough of those.
Yes, I'm not liking the 25 minutes a week dribble we're getting for the Power of the Daleks on BBCA!
I watched all of classic Who that way (minus the one season) but I couldn't go back to that now!
Mr Awe
I think the stories with the 9th Doctor were my favorite, and Tenant was my favorite Doctor (of nuWho. Only watched a couple of classics).
Moffat did a lot of good work but I think he'd have been better off writing and breaking stories rather than being Showrunner or Head Writer. He had some great shows but also a lot of duds, and the overarching motif's were a bit much.
Overall I like Capaldi better than Smith, although I haven't seen the last series yet.
In terms of Christmas specials, some were great, like the Husbands of River Song and the one with the whale, and some were a bit bland, like The Christmas Invasion, and some were just forgettable, like the creepy one with the dreaming aliens.