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3 new companions confirmed
- Thread starter Pindar
- Start date
I hope you're wrong about that. I love the idea of three companions a la The First and Fifth Doctor days and I'll be rather annoyed if they pulled a Suzie. Hell, I'm still pissed they did that with Suzie because she was one of the better characters at the time and I've gone to love everything Varma has done since.
Exactly...
Proud of it.
Not entirely sure about a TARDIS quad-crew on a regular basis. Giving everyone sufficient time to shine diminishes time overall. And the LAST time they had this many people on board, they ended up writing one companion out of a story because they didn't have enough for her to do (Nyssa, in "Kinda"), while the times we've had a trio generally had one person as a distinct third wheel (Rory), character foil (Mickey), or not there long enough to make a difference (Jack).
While I'm okay with adding more ensemble elements to the show, the current era of the show has seems to have a happy medium with two, occasionally three people. That said, it's certainly exciting to see what kind of balance they'll strike between "Doctor plus companion(s)" and "Group of time & space adventurers".
Mark
While I'm okay with adding more ensemble elements to the show, the current era of the show has seems to have a happy medium with two, occasionally three people. That said, it's certainly exciting to see what kind of balance they'll strike between "Doctor plus companion(s)" and "Group of time & space adventurers".
Mark
While I understand your concerns, I like that Chibnall is pushing the boundaries and trying to do something (relatively) new. I want to trust that he and his writing staff are able to create the kind of balance those characters need to shine. I mean, it's only four main characters instead of an ensemble you see on other sci-fi shows like Star Trek, Farscape, Babylon 5, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, etc.
Agreed. However, the show is called "Doctor Who", and basically implies that it IS the Doctor's show first and foremost (and really, it has been all this time). Other characters have had terrific stories over the years, but it's generally in service to the time traveller dragging them through time and space. Granted, some Doctors have purposefully been less of a central figure than others, but overall I watch the show for the lead time lord over his or her friends. But yes, I'm hoping for the best in this new dynamic.
What I'm guessing will happen is a gradual development of the new crew, starting with the Doctor acquiring her team over the course of the season, and perhaps losing one or more along the way. It's not like the Doctor keeps the TARDIS entrance a revolving door on purpose, and he's thus far been able to spend much of his time without a companion for long stretches at a go, but IMO this signals a period for this Doctor where she'll be keeping a constant complement of >0 for her reign.
Mark
What I'm guessing will happen is a gradual development of the new crew, starting with the Doctor acquiring her team over the course of the season, and perhaps losing one or more along the way. It's not like the Doctor keeps the TARDIS entrance a revolving door on purpose, and he's thus far been able to spend much of his time without a companion for long stretches at a go, but IMO this signals a period for this Doctor where she'll be keeping a constant complement of >0 for her reign.
Mark
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Good point, but I sure hope The Doctor isn't Earthbound again, at any point of time or stuck on a human colony. I wouldn't mind stuck on an alien world but that seems unlikely, both for story and budget reasons.
Loss of control would be a wonderful return to the old but I'm doubtful.
Loss of control would be a wonderful return to the old but I'm doubtful.
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Yeah the Doctor has way more control over the Tardis than he used to. I'd also love a return to companions she can't get home! (Tegan, Ian, Barbara etc.) or companions who no longer have a home (Nyssa) and have to travel with the Doctor. I'm a little tired of the wide eyed "I'll travel with you forever, Doctor" model now!
The real problem with "Kinda" was that Sarah Sutton wasn't contracted for the episodes. It wasn't that they didn't have anything for her to do, it was that they didn't have the budget to contract her for the additional episodes, so they were left awkwardly excusing her absence.
May she can find the 4th Doctor's randomiser and decides to give it a spin.
I hope not. I love the UNIT years but I wouldn't want to go back to an Earthbound series. A big criticism of the early RTD years was that too many were on Earth. Please no!
On the other hand, I wouldn't mind at all if she loses the precise control of the TARDIS that he currently has. That makes it too easy for the part-time companion thing, which I don't like. If these companions kind of accumulate because she can't return them, that could be interesting!
I can't see them going with Pertwee esque Earthbound for this season, especially since we started season 10 with a similar setting already, the Doctor and Nardole were stranded on Earth for fifty years guarding the Vault. And by Oxygen we saw the Doctor was already growing restless and wanting to get out there again, which gradually resulted in Missy being freed from the Vault and restricted to the TARDIS just so the Doctor, Bill and Nardole could go exploring again. Now that the Doctor's obligations to the Vault are done, and Missy's gone, it's time for the Doctor to explore again, completely untethered.
What I could see happening is instead of planet/time era adventures of the week with "arc words" spread throughout the season, the show could move into a more serialized form of storytelling, say a season-long arc that all the shows are doing. I could see this being an easier way to accommodate a cast this size, for one thing.
What I could see happening is instead of planet/time era adventures of the week with "arc words" spread throughout the season, the show could move into a more serialized form of storytelling, say a season-long arc that all the shows are doing. I could see this being an easier way to accommodate a cast this size, for one thing.
If they do the “can’t control the TARDIS” scenario again, there will be lots of “hilarious” jokes about women drivers so that is probably best avoided.
As long as the female companion in the photo I saw isn't playing a teenager (I don't know her age but she looks like she could even if she's older then school age), it will be fine. If she's Adric 2.0 or acting like that idiot kid Clara took care of that helped ruin several episodes, this will be just about the worst thing that could happen to start Whittaker's era. Besides that I really like the idea of a big team of companions again, I've gotten beyond tired of Doctor and 1 companion (who must be a woman and from modern London). Even if all three of them are from modern UK it will still bring variety having so many of them on the TARDIS.
They do look like they were chosen by a committee, or a "diversity checklist" to keep bloggers happy. But it will probably work out just fine. It always seems to. Although how the show will juggle all of them I have no idea. At least one of them will have to take a backseat role.
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