50th Is "The Day Of The Doctor" (And Is 75 Minutes)

[Starkers]

Funny, I don't seem to recall you complaining everywhere in sight when Davros' master plan was to detonate THE REALITY BOMB.

D'ya think that might have been because that would have been the first time it was trotted out?

It took RTD 4 series to reach that point. (And only did it twice.) Moffat's done it every series and now the 50th too.

More to the point, the previous episode involved Clara saving reality from the Great Intelligence.

Was she really saving reality? The universe seemed like it would continue, it would just be a vastly different place without the Doctor, which isn't really that different to Turn Left...

But if we're keeping score...

Harridan mothers: RTD 3 (count them Three!!) SM 0 (although I'm sure some people would count Amy )

For all his flaws Moffat has still not made me want to throw things at the screen the way RTD did quite regularly!

 

[MickJo1701]

For all his flaws Moffat has still not made me want to throw things at the screen the way RTD did quite regularly!

The hate towards Moffat is unfounded, he changed a great deal of what the fans complained about (i.e too many episodes set in modern day London, irritating companion family baggage etc) and I thank him for it. I also like the multi series story arcs, not everything needs to be wrapped up after 13 episodes.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

More to the point, the previous episode involved Clara saving reality from the Great Intelligence.

Was she really saving reality? The universe seemed like it would continue, it would just be a vastly different place without the Doctor, which isn't really that different to Turn Left...

Fair point. It's not really clear how the GI's plan was going to work or what it was going to do. It's only in retrospect that removing the Doctor from his timeline poses cosmic implications.

 

[Saul]

So guess each Doctor will be in a different time dealing with a different situation. Hurt's probably is the ancient War.

 

[Starkers]

More to the point, the previous episode involved Clara saving reality from the Great Intelligence.

Was she really saving reality? The universe seemed like it would continue, it would just be a vastly different place without the Doctor, which isn't really that different to Turn Left...

Fair point. It's not really clear how the GI's plan was going to work or what it was going to do. It's only in retrospect that removing the Doctor from his timeline poses cosmic implications.

I'm not sure the GI (or Moffat) quite knew how his plan was going to work either in fairness

 

[StCoop]

The hate towards Moffat is unfounded, he changed a great deal of what the fans complained about (i.e too many episodes set in modern day London, irritating companion family baggage etc) and I thank him for it.

When you say "The Fans" you need to define who exactly are you're talking about.

It's certainly not the vast majority of the audience who gave RTDs London/Family based episodes higher ratings, audience share, chart positions and AI figures than Moffat's episodes get.

Don't confuse what people on the Internet like/don't like with what most people like/don't like.

 

[Starkers]

^Does that include those Moffat episodes that aired during RTD's run?

Of course the one factor that is intangible is that we are talking about very different situations. RTD brought the show back and it was new and flashy and drew in huge numbers of viewers. Moffat on the other hand took on a show that had been running for 5 years and that you could argue had slightly oversaturated the market with a profusion of spinoffs, and a percentage of viewers were probably tiring of it anyway. Plus a show which had just lost its popular leading man (and let’s be honest I bet more than a few people decided to jump ship when DT did). I firmly believe there'd have been a drop off in viewers anyway because that's what happens to even the most successful of series, in fact I think even if RTD had stayed there'd have been a drop off (and probably even a bigger drop off), because RTD-Who was becoming very repetitive, and I'd hope even a fan of the man would realise that (certainly I think he realised it).

Moffat hasn't had a perfect run for a variety of reasons and I wouldn’t deny that some of them were down to him, but given he took on a show some viewers might be getting tired of, a show that had lost one of the most popular Doctors of all time, and a show that had suddenly to be made in more austere times, the fact that it is still one of the BBC’s flagship programmes, and that he cast a Doctor who is very popular (and sod what any poll says, Tennant might be more popular but that doesn’t mean Smith isn’t, I’ve been to various events, and I’ve seen just how many little kids dress up as the 11th Doctor) and that he runs a show that can still pull in 6 million people just to announce who the next Doctor’s going to be…well, sometimes I don’t think Moffat gets enough credit if I’m honest.

Of course without access to our own Tardis, and the ability to change history, we’ll never know, which is why you’ll go on believing that in another universe RTD and Jesus, sorry I mean Tennant, are still making the same old show and gazillions of people still tune in every Saturday, and that on November 23rd all 10 doctors will get together for a three hour epic, whilst I see another world where Who was cancelled 2 years after Tennant left and where the anniversary is being celebrated by nothing other than a few documentaries and Russell Tovey doing some 11th Doctor audios for BF

 

[Christopher]

So guess each Doctor will be in a different time dealing with a different situation. Hurt's probably is the ancient War.

My guess is it'll start out that way but then their plotlines will converge and they'll end up interacting. We do know that Smith and Tennant interact a fair amount, given what's been said in interviews about how the two Doctors get along.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

David Tennant and Matt Smith will be on The Graham Norton Show on November 22.

 

[Mr Awe]

I agree with Starkers. The RTD era was getting a bit repetitive. While the brilliantness of Tennant probably could've covered for that for awhile, it would've eventually gotten old.

The switch to Moffat/Smith really prevented the continuation of that process. Generally I enjoy the current state of the show but it's not perfect. And like RTD's era, a certain repetitiveness is creeping in.

However, I think this team has been mostly brilliant. And, IIRC, the audience share has remained fairly stable, it's just that fewer people are watching overall.

Mr Awe

 

[Starkers]

David Tennant and Matt Smith will be on The Graham Norton Show on November 22.

Cool!

I agree with Starkers. The RTD era was getting a bit repetitive. While the brilliantness of Tennant probably could've covered for that for awhile, it would've eventually gotten old.

The switch to Moffat/Smith really prevented the continuation of that process. Generally I enjoy the current state of the show but it's not perfect. And like RTD's era, a certain repetitiveness is creeping in.

However, I think this team has been mostly brilliant. And, IIRC, the audience share has remained fairly stable, it's just that fewer people are watching overall.

Mr Awe

Thank you, and I'd just add that I do agree with what you said (specifically the bits in bold)

 

[MickJo1701]

Huzzah!!!

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/d...he-doctor-trailer-to-air-on-saturday.html?rss

 

[Marc]

Huzzah!!!

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/d...he-doctor-trailer-to-air-on-saturday.html?rss

And the Teaser has even made it to prime time tv.

CTV showed in during Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D lat night in Ontario. Was rather suprised a) it was a Doctor Who Promo and b) it was a Promo for a program on Space (though both Space and CTV are owned by Bell Media).

 

[Samurai8472]

 

[The Wormhole]

Huzzah!!!

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/d...he-doctor-trailer-to-air-on-saturday.html?rss

And the Teaser has even made it to prime time tv.

CTV showed in during Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D lat night in Ontario. Was rather suprised a) it was a Doctor Who Promo and b) it was a Promo for a program on Space (though both Space and CTV are owned by Bell Media).

The teaser has also been shown on Space during the past week. Having it on CTV is nothing new. I've seen commercials for Doctor Who, Torchwood and even BSG on CTV, CTV's news channel, Much Music and Much More Music.

 

[Chris3123]

Scarf! I wonder if there's a particular reason she's wearing it, or if it's just a mere visual gag.

Anyway, larger watermark-less versions of these images can be found here, along with interviews with Moffat and the cast.

 

[BruntFCA]

Strax Field Report: The Zygons

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Moffat talks about John Hurt's Doctor.

Based on some things here, I think it's unlikely there's going to be any McGann-to-Hurt regeneration shot unless they use vintage Hurt footage from another BBC program:

We are saying ‘This isn’t a Doctor who’s just appeared, he’s been around, he’s been in this form for a while.’ So one of the notes was make it look as though he’s been knocking around in this incarnation for a bit. [SNIP] He asked if he could keep his beard, and I looked at it and I thought actually, he looks quite good with it. And it’s another indicator that he’s not a fresh-born Doctor. We didn’t want to imply that he’d just been around for a little while. There’s a whole lot of stuff you missed! It’s a nice thing to be able to say in the show, and for no one to be able to contradict you, that there were years that you didn’t know about… we lied and lied, there’s a whole big old chapter you didn’t know.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I don't see how that directly contradicts it. The Master regenerated INTO a beard (granted, not traditionally) when he took Tremas' body; and likewise the Doctor's hair always changes length and consistency when he renews himself - and by Ten's own admission, he could even be bald naturally when it's all said and done. I think that the beard fits the "look" that Moffat was after in that Hurt's Doctor has been around the block. I interpret that as that THIS Doctor is one who sums up all the battle weariness, murderous intent, violence and warmongering of all the previous incarnations, IMO by design.

My theory is that this incarnation was a choice, not an accident or caused by Eight cutting his lip on an envelope or something. This Doctor was one with a purpose.

Mark

 

[Mr Awe]

^ That's what I'm thinking too. Possibily forcibly regenerated by the Time Lords, ala War Games, but instead of just choosing the appearance, picked some traits as well. Or some other method of injecting purpose into that regeneration.

Mr Awe