Spoilers Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner

[N-121973]

So, bad takes are your thing I suppose? There's nothing campy about B89, or in fact BR either. They're still comfortably dark takes, especially the latter, that only improved with age.

Nope it happens to be one of my ten favourite films. It has a, (Off camera - A bouquet) a bouquet. By the way, bringing it back to 'Doctor Who' in the Axis Chemical scene there's a GCPD officer (unspeaking extra) and the man playing him has been an extra in loads of 70s and 80s TV shows. I saw him on a golf course in an episode of 'The Professionals' and he played loads of non-speaking parts in Who. He was taken over by the virus in 'The Invisible Enemy' for instance. I can't find a still but its when Gordon is splitting his men up to go look for Jack Napier and telling them to be careful.

 

[jaime]

They”re rather depressing figures. And ‘sequel to series 4’ dropped a million viewers out by The Giggle.
Then it’s just down steps all the way.

 

[Rich Watson]

Gatwa hopping on the Convention gravy train. Hope he doesn't get tired, we know how fragile he is.

Flux - A Doctor Who Torchwood Convention - Starfury Conventions

Meet Doctor Who and Torchwood cast at Starfury: Flux! A three day convention featuring autographs, photos, and Q&As with the cast.

seanharry.com

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Gatwa hopping on the Convention gravy train. Hope he doesn't get tired, we know how fragile he is.

Flux - A Doctor Who Torchwood Convention - Starfury Conventions

Meet Doctor Who and Torchwood cast at Starfury: Flux! A three day convention featuring autographs, photos, and Q&As with the cast.

seanharry.com

Brutal, but then again, he did say it. Good one.

 

[Marc]

Doctor Who toy thread/merchandise thread hasn't been used in ages. I thought I'd post it here

No 12th or 13th Doctor?

 

[Rich Watson]

Speaking of knees, read into this what you will...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_rEZYhWMAALTyI?format=jpg&name=large

 

[jaime]

Gatwa hopping on the Convention gravy train. Hope he doesn't get tired, we know how fragile he is.

Flux - A Doctor Who Torchwood Convention - Starfury Conventions

Meet Doctor Who and Torchwood cast at Starfury: Flux! A three day convention featuring autographs, photos, and Q&As with the cast.

seanharry.com

Definitely shouldn’t hop.
Or sit on the same panel as any of the *seriously popular* Doctors.

 

[bdub76]

Definitely shouldn’t hop.
Or sit on the same panel as any of the *seriously popular* Doctors.

He could sit with Christopher. That would make for an interesting panel. Christopher doesn't hold back.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Yeah. Taken down by Gallifrey Base too

You can tell it's been a rough 16-ish months for me when I see "Joy to the World" as "Week 52 2024," and I think, "No, it can't have been that long ago, can it? 2024?" Time has gone weird, and I don't know when I am anymore.

 

[bdub76]

Yeah. Taken down by Gallifrey Base too

That's odd.

Either the numbers are true or they're not. Regardless, Disney still walked away, so we know the numbers are not good.

 

[Rich Watson]

Without any context to compare them with other things they show for an equivalent cost it doesn't really matter if they're real or fake.

 

[Starkers]

That's odd.

Either the numbers are true or they're not. Regardless, Disney still walked away, so we know the numbers are not good.

Not disputing that may be the case, but we don't know exactly why Disney walked away. TV and film production companies cancel shows for myriad, sometimes quite ephemeral, reasons, sometimes something as simple as a change in management.

I'm still annoyed that Lockwood & Co got cancelled by Netflix despite, apparently, being incredibly popular, it just wasn't popular enough.

As Rich says we have no context, it's possible those viewing figures were well below what Disney anticipated, but it's equally possible that the margins were thinner that it might appear. Maybe the show needed to do double or triple the numbers it got to have a hope of reprieve, or maybe just a few hundred thousand more might have encouraged Disney to keep faith with it.

 

[jaime]

Without any context to compare them with other things they show for an equivalent cost it doesn't really matter if they're real or fake.

A few YouTube channels have sat them next to the UK figures.

It sort of reminds me of the Top Gear change — foreign markets we’re paying for the popular product they had heard of, but the ingredients had changed and it maybe wasn’t as popular as it had been.

New New Top Gear and New New Who are like when Coke changed their recipe.

 

[Starkers]

Top Gear struggled after Clarkson, Hammond and May left, specifically when Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc were involved, but when the show was revamped with a new lineup of Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris took over they proved popular. The show's viewing figures recovered to near the levels they'd been when Clarkson et al were presenting.

The only reason the show is now off the air is down to Flintoff's horrific accident in 2022.

 

[jaime]

Top Gear struggled after Clarkson, Hammond and May left, specifically when Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc were involved, but when the show was revamped with a new lineup of Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris took over they proved popular. The show's viewing figures recovered to near the levels they'd been when Clarkson et al were presenting.

The only reason the show is now off the air is down to Flintoff's horrific accident in 2022.

Yup. And Who is still waiting for its Paddy, Chris and Freddie era. Which this era was supposed to be really.

Andy Wilman said the main reason it’s off the air now in his opinion is that unlike when Hammond had his crash, the show didn’t have the sort of attachment to it behind the scenes. Top Gear under CHM was as much a Labour of love basically — he referred to it specifically as they treated it like their baby.
But then, the Flintoff crash seems to have had a very different series of events leading to it, and a very different effect on the wider team.

My understanding is much of the behind the scenes team have now fully gone to the impending new Grand Tour.

In my comparison to Who, I am thinking about it almost purely from an international sales perspective, hence the New Coke comparison — its appeal is based on heritage, but it’s not what it used to be. As Whizzkid once said xD

 

[Allyn Gibson]

That's odd.

Either the numbers are true or they're not.

It's not odd at all, given Gallifrey Base's history. There's a creepy obsequiousness toward the BBC that leads moderation to be especially strict on material that might be confidential or embarrassing.

 

[Tallguy]

It has a, (Off camera - A bouquet) a bouquet.

 

[Mr Awe]

Not disputing that may be the case, but we don't know exactly why Disney walked away. TV and film production companies cancel shows for myriad, sometimes quite ephemeral, reasons, sometimes something as simple as a change in management.

I'm still annoyed that Lockwood & Co got cancelled by Netflix despite, apparently, being incredibly popular, it just wasn't popular enough.

As Rich says we have no context, it's possible those viewing figures were well below what Disney anticipated, but it's equally possible that the margins were thinner that it might appear. Maybe the show needed to do double or triple the numbers it got to have a hope of reprieve, or maybe just a few hundred thousand more might have encouraged Disney to keep faith with it.

You're correct about all that in terms of the data not clarifying why Disney walked. However, the downward trend is still worrying. It may or may not be why Disney cancelled it, but it's certainly not what you'd want to see!

 

[Starkers]

You're correct about all that in terms of the data not clarifying why Disney walked. However, the downward trend is still worrying. It may or may not be why Disney cancelled it, but it's certainly not what you'd want to see!

True, but it's interesting to note that if you look at every season of modern Who it follows a similar pattern in almost every season.

For example Rose got nearly 11 million, by Parting of the Ways this had dropped to just under seven. The variance, ahem, varies, but it's almost always there. Just done a very quick scan and I think the only series where the last episode got more than the first was Series 4; Partners in Crime a shade over nine million, Journey's End a shade over ten.

 

[Rich Watson]

True, but it's interesting to note that if you look at every season of modern Who it follows a similar pattern in almost every season.

It not just Who, with certain rare exceptions like 'The Traitors', that's the ratings trajectory of almost any series over the span of a season.

People have this weird idea that Who's ratings are somehow different from everything else, when they're not.