Matt Smith would have stayed...

[Green Lantern]

Have you ever seen Crimson Horror, or anything else with that Strax one? If you can even count them as Sontaran episodes that is.

 

[Venardhi]

When I think about the Tennant/Smith idea, I'm torn. At first glance, it sounds really freakin' awesome! But I feel like doing it for an entire 13 episode season might be straining the novelty of it.

Farscape made it work for about that long. I think Who could too if they wanted to.

Cut him in half and see if both sides regenerate!

 

[Captaindemotion]

What was the Farscape one? Two Crichtons?

 

[Christopher]

What was the Farscape one? Two Crichtons?

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

 

[Bacl]

I actually think "The Two Doctors" is highly underrated. It is one of my favorite 6th Doctor stories. Is has a message to it (whether you agree with that message is another matter, but I always give a point or two for true sincerity and an attempt at substance) and a plot that actually makes sense without a lot of dull plodding that pagues oldWho.

Best of all, the story comes first and the fact that there are two Doctors comes second, a real smart move. Just like how "Caves" wasn't so much about the Doctor regenerating as it was about its story, with the regeneration secondary.

This is how it needs to be done but probably won't. Just like "The End Of Time" was pretty much just two-hours of ZOMG David Tennant is LEAVING....and oh yeah, dull plot with cactus aliens and a rich black guy that quickly gets forgotten, I have a feeling that the 50th and Matt's final episode will be "Multi-Doctors!" and "Regeneration!" first and story, if any, second.

 

[Thestral]

Have you ever seen Crimson Horror, or anything else with that Strax one? If you can even count them as Sontaran episodes that is.

Heretic! Crimson Horror is amazing and Strax is wonderful!

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

Though to be fair that turned out to be a pretty brilliant choice on their part and an integral part of the overall story.

 

[Venardhi]

What was the Farscape one? Two Crichtons?

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

The best part of it was that the episode that it happened in felt like any other episode of the week until you got to the end and both Crichtons were still alive. Then they had them both developing over the course of the season in different ways to the point that they really did feel like different characters and in the end it was the 'wrong' Crichton that died.

Goddamn that show was good.

 

[DWF]

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

Though to be fair that turned out to be a pretty brilliant choice on their part and an integral part of the overall story.

The quality of that ten ep. story arc is subjective at best, it also drove people away from the show.

 

[Green Lantern]

I actually think "The Two Doctors" is highly underrated. It is one of my favorite 6th Doctor stories. Is has a message to it (whether you agree with that message is another matter, but I always give a point or two for true sincerity and an attempt at substance) and a plot that actually makes sense without a lot of dull plodding that pagues oldWho.

Best of all, the story comes first and the fact that there are two Doctors comes second, a real smart move. Just like how "Caves" wasn't so much about the Doctor regenerating as it was about its story, with the regeneration secondary.

This is how it needs to be done but probably won't. Just like "The End Of Time" was pretty much just two-hours of ZOMG David Tennant is LEAVING....and oh yeah, dull plot with cactus aliens and a rich black guy that quickly gets forgotten, I have a feeling that the 50th and Matt's final episode will be "Multi-Doctors!" and "Regeneration!" first and story, if any, second.

Ditto. Two doctors is so underrated, plus the acting in it is wonderful .

Yeah, I have a sad feeling that will happen. While I'd actually like the 50th to be a lot about the doctors as well as story, I would like Smiths finale to not revolve around his death, I want a contrast to Tennant's regeneration. I myself like End of Time, but I want something different. And I feel the doctor regenerating to save a companion is becoming a cliché, it's happened with both of the new series regenerations now, I want the doctor to be killed in action, or to die defeating the villain/s.

 

[Venardhi]

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

Though to be fair that turned out to be a pretty brilliant choice on their part and an integral part of the overall story.

The quality of that ten ep. story arc is subjective at best, it also drove people away from the show.

Those people are stupid.

 

[Captaindemotion]

What was the Farscape one? Two Crichtons?

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

Thanks for the info, sounds interesting. Farscape is one sci-fi show I've often wished I'd gotten into. Maybe I'll see it some day but so much TV, so little time.

 

[Starkers]

I actually think "The Two Doctors" is highly underrated. It is one of my favorite 6th Doctor stories. Is has a message to it (whether you agree with that message is another matter, but I always give a point or two for true sincerity and an attempt at substance) and a plot that actually makes sense without a lot of dull plodding that pagues oldWho.

Best of all, the story comes first and the fact that there are two Doctors comes second, a real smart move. Just like how "Caves" wasn't so much about the Doctor regenerating as it was about its story, with the regeneration secondary.

This is how it needs to be done but probably won't. Just like "The End Of Time" was pretty much just two-hours of ZOMG David Tennant is LEAVING....and oh yeah, dull plot with cactus aliens and a rich black guy that quickly gets forgotten, I have a feeling that the 50th and Matt's final episode will be "Multi-Doctors!" and "Regeneration!" first and story, if any, second.

I'm not sure. You're more likely to be right about the regeneration story, but surely everything Moffat's saying about The Day of the Doctor suggests it's about the story first with the celebration of 50 years secondary.

Have you ever seen Crimson Horror, or anything else with that Strax one? If you can even count them as Sontaran episodes that is.

Heretic! Crimson Horror is amazing and Strax is wonderful!

Hear hear, Linx is still the best Sontaran but Strax comes a close second.

What was the Farscape one? Two Crichtons?

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

Thanks for the info, sounds interesting. Farscape is one sci-fi show I've often wished I'd gotten into. Maybe I'll see it some day but so much TV, so little time.

I know the feeling

 

[Thestral]

Though to be fair that turned out to be a pretty brilliant choice on their part and an integral part of the overall story.

The quality of that ten ep. story arc is subjective at best, it also drove people away from the show.

Those people are stupid.

Blunter than I'd have put it, but yep. Their loss.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I'm not sure, I remember watching the family of blood 2 parter again not so long ago and when John Smith has his tearful farewell to Joan...I dunno, you could see the emoting going on.

Yeah, you've got a point there. But I think Tennant makes that scene work, given the context. The high level of emoting in the scene was appropriate to the level of tragedy for the character. And I think Tennant was better as John Smith than he was as the Doctor.

IMO, it's more in the big, over-the-top Doctory moments that he takes it just a bit too far.

But it's horses for courses I guess, and I realise some people like to see the acting. It's a similar argument to the RTD Who is more emotional than Moffat Who argument. It isn't, it's just a little less obvious about it.

Yeah, I can kinda see that. Mostly, I think RTD Who is for people who really loved the more maudlin aspects of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (The kind of people that are still writing hopelessly sappy Buffy/Angel fanfic 15 years later.)

As for a multi Doctor special in Capaldi's first year, I'd say the Two Doctors was probably a good reason not to do it

Whether you like the story or not, I don't think you can say that the story was really undermined by the presence of another Doctor half a season into Colin Baker's run. It's not like Troughton is really stealing the show. (Hell, he's drugged & half-conscious for half of it.) It's not like Colin Baker was less popular for having shared the screen with Troughton or that Colin Baker's characterization was still so new & so raw that it was injured by being next to him.

(Honestly, with Colin Baker's less than stellar reputation, 99% of the damage was already done in "The Twin Dilemma." He's spent the last 29 years trying to live down one of the most ill-conceived first impressions in TV history.)

I disagree, the Two Doctors is great, I'd go so far to say it's the best multi-doctor story to date, and even in my top 10 stories ever!

Of the 3 classic multi-Doctor stories, "The Two Doctors" is the only one without the Brigadier. Therefore, your argument is invalid.

Have you ever seen Crimson Horror, or anything else with that Strax one? If you can even count them as Sontaran episodes that is.

I love Strax! He declared war on the Moon!

What was the Farscape one? Two Crichtons?

Yeah. There was an arc where they had the cast split into two separate groups for much of a season and alternated episodes between them, but Ben Browder was the star and presumably had to be in every episode, so they did an episode that had Crichton being duplicated and then had one Crichton go with each group.

Yeah, but I'm not sure the 2 Crichtons bit would have worked so well if they'd been played by 2 different people.

BTW, that arc was in Season 3, right? I wasn't really able to get into Farscape when I tried starting from the beginning but the concept of this story arc has always intrigued me. I've often considered just skipping ahead to this (once I finish the billion other things I have in my queue).

 

[Christopher]

I wasn't really able to get into Farscape when I tried starting from the beginning but the concept of this story arc has always intrigued me. I've often considered just skipping ahead to this (once I finish the billion other things I have in my queue).

I don't think it really became anything special until season 2. FS fans treat Rockne S. O'Bannon as a genius for creating the show, but the truth is, he's never done another show that was really all that good (his last creation was the dreadful Cult), and Farscape didn't really take off until after he stepped back to "consultant" status (which is basically an honorary title for a departed creator) and David Kemper took over as showrunner in season 2. I actually gave up watching it after the first few episodes, and only later got back into it and caught up on what I'd missed.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

To be honest, I was mostly just so grossed out by "DNA Mad Scientist" that I never went back.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

To be honest, I was mostly just so grossed out by "DNA Mad Scientist" that I never went back.

... which is when I thought "Oh, this is going to be one of my favorite TV shows of all time".

 

[Starkers]

Yeah, you've got a point there. But I think Tennant makes that scene work, given the context. The high level of emoting in the scene was appropriate to the level of tragedy for the character. And I think Tennant was better as John Smith than he was as the Doctor.

IMO, it's more in the big, over-the-top Doctory moments that he takes it just a bit too far.

Yeah I'd agree with that, he is good actor I just think he could do with reigning in a bit sometimes.

I love Strax! He declared war on the Moon!

Damn moon...