(Possible) Major Spoilers for the Next Series

[kirk55555]

I really hope this isn't true. Its the stupidest thing ever. Its not the 70s, Doctor who doesn't need to save money by filming almost all the show within walking distance of the nearest studio to save money. The 3rd Doctor's first few seasons will never work again. If you take away time travel and set basically all of the show on Earth, you might as well just drop the pretense and give this totally original show its own name. To pretend its Doctor Who at that point would be a giant middle finger to the series.

Yeah, this would be a deal breaker if I didn't have tendencies toward hate watching. Its weird to see that the modern BBC is continuing Michael Grade's crusade to kill Doctor Who. Its a bit of a roundabout way, it must be too popular to outright cancel so they're trying to kill people's interest so they can cancel it without any fuss. I was excited to see the show drop Moffat and get a female Doctor, but this is just complete and total crap.

Also, Doctor Who being serialized is just terrible. Even Key to Time and The Trial of a Timelord were barely serialized, you can basically watch most of their stories alone outside of short framing segments. Some shows work better episodic or with a few multi part episodes. Doctor Who series 9 was mostly multi part episodes and while it was ok it got a bit old. One (bad) story where a central theme of the show is removed (presumably to save money) is pretty shitty.

I'll watch it, but I watch a bunch of crappy things because I liked their franchises. I didn't think Series 8 could be beaten as the worst NuWho series, but if these rumors are true then Chibnail will have achieved the impossible. He'll be both worst then Moffat's worst and he'll have made me wish that Moffat was back, and before this announcement I genuinely hoped that Moffatt would never so much as visit a Doctor Who set or glance at a Dr. who script ever again.

 

[Starkers]

er...

Time travel will still be there. If the show is split across three timezones then at least from the viewer's perspective there'll be time travel. And the Tardis can still travel in space then there's nothing to stop the Doctor visiting Mars, or Skaro, or Mondas or any one of billions of potential worlds/space stations/space ships/moons/asteroids etc. etc. It's just that each of them will be the 1968/2018/2068 version of that place?

It means no stories set before 1968, no Victoriana or Medieval stories, no Romans etc. but that wouldn't be that unusual. Compare season 10 to season 4. In season 4 we had two stories set prior to the present day, the Pompeii one and the Agatha Christie one. In season 10, well we'll have multiple stories set prior to the present day but let's assume just one, we're still only one past episode down? Of course there'll be no far future stories, but would a spaceship full of advanced humanoids from another galaxy in 1968 really be that different from a spaceship full of advanced humans from Earth in the 51st Century? Really?

As for the serialised storytelling, well that's trendy (see Discovery, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and any manner of other things) and it doesn't mean we won't necessarily get standalone episodes, and all the modern seasons have had an overarching thread.

Anyway nice to see the irrational "Chibnall will make the worst Who evah!" bashing has started, I was beginning to worry people were going to give him a chance.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Exactly. Doctor Who will push its own envelope if this is true, and that can only be a good thing. A franchise that disrupts itself, even when only treading ground that other shows have done recently, is a chance to put its own twist on the modern television landscape.

If one wants to watch "safe" sci-fi, we've still got The Orville coming back next year too.

Mark

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

BTW, I would like to see 3 different Tardis interiors also! The old white rondal one for 68, the current one for 2018 and a new one for 2068.

That would actually be really cool. If the TARDIS was split 3x, she might not have control over the control room desktop theme.

 

[Takeru]

I really hope this isn't true. Its the stupidest thing ever. Its not the 70s, Doctor who doesn't need to save money by filming almost all the show within walking distance of the nearest studio to save money.

Could have fooled me considering the number of episodes taking place in present day UK. That show saves money all the time, even the space station in last seasons finale had money saving interiors like the "house in countryside" floor.

I don't really see the problem, according to the rumors the Tardis can still travel through space, just not time. So the doctor can still have adventures in futuristic or historical settings just not on earth. That might even force them to be more creative instead of simply going to the BBC's costume department's victorian section and adding an alien.

 

[kirk55555]

Anyway nice to see the irrational "Chibnall will make the worst Who evah!" bashing has started, I was beginning to worry people were going to give him a chance.

I was perfectly willing to give him a chance. If nothing else, he's not Moffat so I figured at worst he'd produce a bland, inoffensive season with an interesting element of a female Doctor. if this stuff is true though, he's a producer/showrunner that makes me want Moffat back. No showrunner/prducer has screwed up the show as bad as this outside of the people who thought that trapping the 3rd Doctor on Earth was a good idea, and this is stupider because of the serialization and the moronic "Three versions of one Doctor" thing.

So, yeah, I'm not bashing him randomly. If this stuff is true, he is doing more damage to the show then anyone, including fucking Michael Grade. Chibnail seemingly had nowhere to go but up, but I guess it shouldn't be surprising that someone that wrote one of the worst episodes for the single worst Doctor Who related thing ever produced, Torchwood, would be crap at working on Doctor Who from a position of power. It would be better for the show to just take another 16 year break then to have to get dragged through the mud like this.

Its a good thing Disney is producing good Star Wars movies, because with this shit happening to Doctor Who 2 of my top 3 favorite sci fi franchises are so deep in shit they'll probably take a decade to work themselves out of it if they ever recover at all.

Could have fooled me considering the number of episodes taking place in present day UK. That show saves money all the time, even the space station in last seasons finale had money saving interiors like the "house in countryside" floor.

I don't really see the problem, according to the rumors the Tardis can still travel through space, just not time. So the doctor can still have adventures in futuristic or historical settings just not on earth. That might even force them to be more creative instead of simply going to the BBC's costume department's victorian section and adding an alien.

The Doctor travels through time. Outside of one short era that barely worked (the 3rd Doctor's earthbound stuff had some good stories but it was pretty lame as a concept and even if the writing quality went down when his TARDIS started working at least it felt like Doctor Who again), that's always been true. There is absolutely no reason to take away one of the core elements of the show.

 

[Takeru]

The Doctor travels through time. Outside of one short era that barely worked (the 3rd Doctor's earthbound stuff had some good stories but it was pretty lame as a concept and even if the writing quality went down when his TARDIS started working at least it felt like Doctor Who again), that's always been true.

Yeah, but functionally from a storytelling perspective where's the difference between the doctor travelling to the year 3000 to visit a space station in earth's orbit or if she simply travels to a space station in another planet's orbit in the year 2018? The same kind of story can be told in both places.
And even if the Tardis is stuck in a time period that doesn't necessarily mean the doctor is, they can always whip out a vortex manipulator for example.

There is absolutely no reason to take away one of the core elements of the show.

Except there is if the doctor is actually split, it's a way to stop them from simply meeting and reintegrating themselves into one person.
It also allows for some interesting scenarios where one doctor has to do something in 1968 which will then allow the doctor in 2068 to complete a task by changing history slightly.

 

[kirk55555]

Yeah, but functionally from a storytelling perspective where's the difference between the doctor travelling to the year 3000 to visit a space station in earth's orbit or if she simply travels to a space station in another planet's orbit in the year 2018? The same kind of story can be told in both places.
And even if the Tardis is stuck in a time period that doesn't necessarily mean the doctor is, they can always whip out a vortex manipulator for example.

If they were going to do that, then don't take away the TARDIS in the first place. there is no reason it can't travel in time, and outside of the timelords basically no one can stop the TARDIS.

Except there is if the doctor is actually split, it's a way to stop them from simply meeting and reintegrating themselves into one person.
It also allows for some interesting scenarios where one doctor has to do something in 1968 which will then allow the doctor in 2068 to complete a task by changing history slightly.

Except there is no reason to split The Doctor. They could write a story that requires The Doctor to go back and time and dismember Adric in the cradle, and even make it so that The Doctor has no other choice. That doesn't justify anything though, because the writers are the ones who thought up the situation. Its not real. No one is making them split the Doctor into three parts (which is moronic and can't be justified even in the frequently stupid sci fi mumbo jumbo of the Doctor Who universe). Its all bad decisions from someone who obviously shouldn't be allowed to write for travel brochures, much less Doctor Who. Its basically the stupidest thing in the franchise, and that is saying something.

 

[EnderAKH]

Except there is no reason to split The Doctor.

Well, there's one reason: they think they have an interesting story to tell about it.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I was perfectly willing to give him a chance.

Was?
You literally haven't sen ANYTHING he has done and you are already done.
Not much of a chance you gave him, relying purely on rumor.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I like this idea a lot! It's different and I love a story told across generations. I'm hoping that her having different personalities doesn't come to fruition though. Or at least, not as literal as the rumor makes it seem. I'd be okay if her experiences in each timeframe added a bit of nuance to her character, but splitting up her personality into differing archetypes seems like pushing the character writing into a corner (or three corners, in this case).

 

[Samurai8472]

Extrapolating from these rumors maybe the 13th doctor just get's help from her future self for the season finale?

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

The BBC will also be heavily promoting this as a brand-new jumping on point, so don't expect any returning characters/enemies/monsters.

Oh yes, because new viewers were SO confused when the Autons showed up in Eccleston's first episode. What was RTD thinking?!?

I wonder about the wisdom of creating multiple personalities for a new Doctor? Although, I suppose if one personality becomes the most popular, they can go with that one ultimately. Maybe have a vote! Which personality survives! That way you're guaranteed to have a likable Doctor. I suppose we'll see traits of each in the final merged Doctor.

I'm also wondering if this 3 personalities thing would be some kind of testing ground to experiment with different styles of how a female Doctor might work. Once it's over, perhaps one Doctor will survive and the others won't. Or perhaps a fully reintegrated version of the Doctor would then be a totally different 4th iteration that synthesizes the best elements of the prior 3.

Does anyone else think that this is convoluted in an Andrew Cartmel Master Plan sort of way?

I really like this idea but I wish they went further back than 1968 and more in future than 2068 but i'm sure it will be fine.

Agreed. I'd particularly prefer it if the past version were in a Victorian era, since I like that era and it has a far more distinctly different look from the present than the 1960s does.

BTW, I would like to see 3 different Tardis interiors also! The old white rondal one for 68, the current one for 2018 and a new one for 2068.

I was thinking keep the current TARDIS for the present, use the classic white for the future, and have the past TARDIS be a wood-paneled library similar to Tom Baker's Season 14 TARDIS or the 1996 Paul McGann movie.

 

[Jayson1]

As for people who don't like this idea, just remind yourself that this will be just for one season. When shows take chances I wish people would realize that it's okay if something ends up not working because if it doesn't you get another try the next season. I think it will work but we have no idea and even if doesn't work it could just as easily because the new Doctor is a dud or the companions don't work or the writing fails to capture the potential of the idea or it could hit a home run on all those things or just a few of those things and still be good. We just don't know how it will shake out but can't we excited at the attempt at trying something kind of new?

Jason

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I find the notion intriguing but it depends on how much of the story is centered on the main arc and how much of it splits off into separate side quests. If it focuses too heavily on the arc, I will be very unhappy because:
(1) I get pretty sick of the overly serialized tendency of modern TV and Doctor Who has previously been my escape from that.
(2) I'm doubtful about the show's ability to sustain a single story for that long. I hate to bring up previous traumas but, Torchwood: Miracle Day anyone?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

As for people who don't like this idea, just remind yourself that this will be just for one season. When shows take chances I wish people would realize that it's okay if something ends up not working because if it doesn't you get another try the next season. I think it will work but we have no idea and even if doesn't work it could just as easily because the new Doctor is a dud or the companions don't work or the writing fails to capture the potential of the idea or it could hit a home run on all those things or just a few of those things and still be good. We just don't know how it will shake out but can't we excited at the attempt at trying something kind of new?

Jason

But that's the cool-headed, logical approach. We can't allow that around here in a Whovian forum on a Trekkie board. The only appropriate response is hyperbole and hysteria!

 

[Nightowl1701]

This had better not be Jodie's one-and-only season in the role. 'Nuff said.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

This had better not be Jodie's one-and-only season in the role. 'Nuff said.

Cause she'd be the only Doctor to "suffer" that same fate?

 

[Green Lantern]

Well I'd have to wait and see how it was executed, but from the basic premise I'll be honest, I'm not keen, sounds like it could get annoying. But it could prove to be interesting and really show Jodie Whittaker's acting chops? We'll just have to wait and see whether they pull it off well or not.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Now the costume has been revealed, I wonder if the "three Doctors" thing is a munging of some mention of her coat's shoulder/lapel echoing the Timey costumes from The Three Doctors.