Spoilers 2017 Christmas Special Title and Trailer

No, that's not from the official BBC Doctor Who Twitter account. DWPageOFFICIAL, which is where that tweet is from, is a fan page. That doesn't mean the tweet is wrong -- I think they're correct and that is Polly -- but it's not officially confirmed. Yet.

 

It's the same shirt she wore in The Tenth Planet so I would very surprised if that's not her.

 

It is Polly but it's a different actress to the one who played her in An Adventure in Space and Time.

 

I suppose it stands to reason Ben will be in this too, right?

 

I doubt they'll have much of a role. Maybe extras entering the TARDIS at the end for a reenactment of the regeneration. I wonder if they'll get a Troughton-alike or use the surviving footage?

 

I think the Polly sequence is maybe set during episode 3, when the Doctor faints or something. I doubt, and hope, we won't see more recasts in this than we absolutely need to. Meaning no Troughton or Pertwee replacements.

As far as the regeneration goes... we already know it occurs. Do we need to see it again, by other actors? Obviously, if its done, it'll be redone with Bradley and the extras, with maybe a redone/colorised Troughton on the other end. But I'm rooting for just simply colorising (and only if necessary to, also) the Hartnell-Troughton one.

 

Guessing that the bulk of the special takes place before the First Doctor reaches his TARDIS in the 10th planet. Probably a minimal role for Ben and Polly.

 

The hat and scarf suggest it's episode four.

 

To be fair, its a pretty clever spot to position a final adventure for the Doctor. It always seemed awkward anyway to go from the Ben and Polly scene to them screaming at the Doctor to open the door.

BTW, I kinda wish they can use the sound of that last scene from The Tenth Planet just for kicks.

 

If they show the first Doctor returning to the Tardis before his regeneration, I wonder will Matt Smith pop up in the control room?

 

...magically standing in front of the console instead of behind.

 

We must never speak of that. In my mind when I watch that scene I edit him in behind.

 

Damn, I never noticed that before and I've seen it twice now. I had to pull up the movie to see what you guys are talking about. You ruined it for me!

 

Prediction: Mark Gatiss' "The Captain" will turn out to be an ancestor of the Brigadier, who will then go on to tell the tale of his adventures to his grandson Alastair. It actually fits nicely into my theory that Col. Lethbridge-Stewart had heard of the TARDIS long before he met the Doctor. When someone first describes the TARDIS to him in "The Web of Fear," he seems to accept it pretty casually. And this is Lethbridge-Stewart we're talking about, for pete's sake! He never believed anything! And yet he takes the story of a spaceship inside a police box at face value?! There's gotta be more to that.

Well, I did like Jo's reaction when she met Matt Smith in "The Death of the Doctor."
Jo Jones: What Doctor? *The* Doctor? *My* Doctor?
Sarah Jane Smith: Well, he can change his face.
Jo Jones: I know that, but into a baby's?
The Doctor: Oi! Imagine it from my point of view! Last time I saw you, Jo Grant, you were, what, 21, 22? It's like someone baked you!

Honestly, I was more bothered by the lack of reaction from any of the future Doctors that met her there.

I'm wondering if we'll get more than just a hallucination in the new special. I'm wondering if the 2 Doctors will make each other fulfill their promise, "One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back...."

Fine with me. David Bradley made a great William Hartnell and the actress playing Verity Lambert was a decent likeness but none of the companions seemed quite right.

 

^I thought the woman playing Susan was quite good.

 

The whole cast were great, and I thought it was a wonderful story. It did simplify a lot of the events and omitted certain characters - Waris Hussein for example only directed An Unearthly Child and Marco Polo, but he is meged with David Whitaker and Bunny Webber who aren't in the story. That's inevitable for a film though.

Mark Gatiss wanted to shoot the death of Sara Kingdom using Jean Marsh to play the older Sara - that would have been awesome! But the budget couldn't accommodate it sadly.

 

Which is why the character that is portrayed to be Hussein in the film should've been called something else. If he's amalgam character, treat him like such.

I lament this. They really skipped the post-Lambert era of the show.

 

They had very limited time and money to tell a complicated story with a lot of characters. It was a drama foremost and had to be taken as such.

If you want the full story there are some excellent documentaries in the DVD range.

 

I wish I had your innocence. I remember having a wtf moment while watching the night it aired. I knew from that moment on things would never be the same again.

 

I think I missed it both times because I was too busy bawling my face off. The tears must've corrected the error.