Ncuti Gatwa is the 15th Doctor

[Rich Watson]

Action!

(And our first look at the Doctor's outfit?)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1599838043548299264

 

[David cgc]

Aw, I was hoping they'd go back to the RTD/Moffat style black-on-white sign.

 

[Rich Watson]

Aw, I was hoping they'd go back to the RTD/Moffat style black-on-white sign.

It the handle being on the left hand side that bothers me more. Maybe it will regenerate along with the interior at the end of his first episode?

 

[Redfern]

It the handle being on the left hand side that bothers me more.

Sites like TARDIS Builders have revealed there existed real police boxes with that kind of phone door arrangement along with all sorts of individual kiosk "tweaks", even within the realm of the McKenzie-Trench 1929 Mark II type box, the basis for the TARDIS design. Yeah, I admit I prefer the handle on the right and the hinge on the left simply because that's the setup when I starting watching in 1982 (via PBS), but learning that even real boxes all had their own distinctive "fingerprints", I try not to let it "get" to me. One thing Whittaker's box brought back that I missed since the 2005 revival was the chamfer molding running vertically along the corner posts. Lacking it in the Eccleston through Capaldi boxes made them seem, well, unfinished.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Very happy with the 3rd doctor diamond logo retro look.

 

[Rich Watson]

Incoming news from the new DWM.

Only eight episode per series. Very disappointing. I hoped they'd be going back to ten. However they are committed to a series a year every year. (Which shouldn't need to be something they have to state but this is Doctor Who we're talking about.)

Russell currently writing the 2024 Christmas Special. In fact it's starting to look like he's writing everything.

The shot of Ncuti against a green screened background in the trailer is fake. If they showed the real background it would be too much of a spoiler.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Only eight episodes is super disappointing, especially after the news about the increased budget. You'd think they'd go back to 12? Just saying.

However, at least it's going back to a series every year. That's something.

 

[Tomalak]

Full quote:

Showrunner Russell T. Davies has today confirmed that Series 14, the first series with Ncuti Gatwa as the title role, will be eight episodes long. "Okay, that's fewer episodes than the last full season. But give us time. We have plans, and that's a promise!" Davies told Doctor Who Magazine.

Accompanying the eight-episode series every year will be an annual "Christmas special". Russell reveals in Doctor Who Magazine: "For the first time ever, I'm writing a Christmas Special... at Christmas! And this isn't for next year, no, the 2023 script has been long since signed-off. The new one is for end-of-year 2024!"

My reading is it's only 8 episodes in Ncuti's first series, not necessarily all going forward. Also suggests to me they want to get the series out quickly so they've focused on a smaller episode count initially. Probably means series 14 will be fairly soon after Ncuti's debut next Christmas.

No word on run time either, so it could be 8 x 60 mins instead of 12 x 45 mins.

So it's 4 episodes in 2023, 9 in 2024 and that's just the beginning.

 

[Rich Watson]

I kind of wonder if part of the reason for eight is to keep Ncuti in the role longer. It gives him time to do a film or play or even a mini-series instead of losing most of the year to the show.

 

[Starkers]

Eight is disappointing, but obviously 6 would have been worse and there's precedent for that with so many of the MCU and SW shows so I'll take 8, especially as it'll actually be 9 with the Christmas special, and as has been said RTD seems to be implying they want to increase this. To be honest I'd take eight episodes guaranteed every year over 13 episodes every 18 months, maybe, but I think they have to prioritise quality a little bit more. When you have 13 episodes a rubbish episode can disappear in the whole, when you have eight it's a lot more noticeable,

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Yeah, reading the quote now makes more sense of the sentiment. Maybe he means there'll be more on the way? Also, the BBC may count the anniversary episodes as part of the production block maybe, who knows?

 

[Starkers]

Yeah and if you do that it's 11 episodes.

Actually I wonder if the Tennant specials were made before the deal with Disney was agreed? I wonder if there'll be a leap in production quality between the end of the special and Ncuti's first episode?

 

[Tomalak]

Yeah if you look at block 1 as 3 x Tennant plus 10 x Ncuti, it looks a lot better. Could be 12 or 13 episodes per year plus specials and spin-offs when things get going.

And those spin-offs could sometimes include the Doctor - Tennant and Smith both appeared in SJA for example, Capaldi was in Class.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Russell currently writing the 2024 Christmas Special. In fact it's starting to look like he's writing everything.

That's extremely disappointing if true. Yes, his writing has improved greatly in the years since he left Doctor Who but I fear he'll risk burnout quickly.

Besides, part of the charm of Doctor Who is the variety of writing and some of the best episodes during his original tenure were episodes he didn't write.

The shot of Ncuti against a green screened background in the trailer is fake. If they showed the real background it would be too much of a spoiler.

That doesn't surprise me at all. The background was blatantly empty.

 

[Brendan Moody]

Actually I wonder if the Tennant specials were made before the deal with Disney was agreed? I wonder if there'll be a leap in production quality between the end of the special and Ncuti's first episode?

I don’t think they’d be sending edits of the Tennant specials to Disney for notes if Disney hadn’t put money up for them.

Both the evident scale of the Tennant specials (which are elaborate but not stunningly so if the public filming is anything to go by) and the length of Gatwa’s first series should probably induce some skepticism about the speculated dollar value of Disney’s investment.

 

[Rich Watson]

Both the evident scale of the Tennant specials (which are elaborate but not stunningly so if the public filming is anything to go by) and the length of Gatwa’s first series should probably induce some skepticism about the speculated dollar value of Disney’s investment.

I never quite believed the size of the amount but as you say, you don't get to give feedback on rough cuts unless you're involved in production to some degree.

I still find it odd that Disney will start with the incomprehensible to new viewers Specials instead of what will presumably be a clean jumping on point with Ncuti.

 

[Starkers]

I don’t think they’d be sending edits of the Tennant specials to Disney for notes if Disney hadn’t put money up for them.

Both the evident scale of the Tennant specials (which are elaborate but not stunningly so if the public filming is anything to go by) and the length of Gatwa’s first series should probably induce some skepticism about the speculated dollar value of Disney’s investment.

Yeah but who knows what they've done in the studio and what kind of effects budge they've got.

 

[Tomalak]

That's it, there haven't been any leaks from the studio so we haven't really got a clue what they're going to involve.

 

[Rich Watson]

While I still think there won't be any movement on spin-offs until they see how Ncuti's first series goes, from the sounds of it we'll be back to getting regular novels with the current cast again and more audio stuff as well. So more New Who out there for people who want it.

I'm also hoping that they'll take the comics license from Titan, who aren't doing much with it, and give it to Marvel. (Or rather back to Marvel.) Let Dan Slott finally write his Spider-Man/Doctor Who team-up.

 

[Jedman67]

I don’t think they’d be sending edits of the Tennant specials to Disney for notes if Disney hadn’t put money up for them.

Both the evident scale of the Tennant specials (which are elaborate but not stunningly so if the public filming is anything to go by) and the length of Gatwa’s first series should probably induce some skepticism about the speculated dollar value of Disney’s investment.

Doctor Who has been doing near-cinema production quality since Matt Smith brought everything to HD. I'd hazard Disney's money is more about distribution rights than editorial notes.