Forget about Moffat and Chibby. Who's ready to wait 12 - 20+ months for a new series of Doctor who?

[Christopher]

I know Moffat's against it, but that doesn't stop me from wishing.

And hey, if Moffat's on the way out anyway, maybe it isn't strictly his decision anymore, hmm...?

 

[Starkers]

I think multiple Star Trek series set in a huge universe featuring casts of different characters is very different from two iterations of the same character existing at the same time.

 

[Ithekro]

Star Trek. Fearturing Chris Pine as the Captain.
Inbetween filming
Star Trek. Featuring William Shatner as the Captain.
or
Star Trek. Featuring James Cowley as the Captain.

Not sure if that would work in prime time.

 

[Christopher]

I think multiple Star Trek series set in a huge universe featuring casts of different characters is very different from two iterations of the same character existing at the same time.

But it wouldn't be the same time. It'd be an 8th Doctor flashback season or miniseries in the gap year between 12th Doctor seasons -- like how ABC does Agent Carter in the midseason break of Agents of SHIELD. If Marvel viewers can understand jumping back into the past for a while before returning to the present, then there's no reason Doctor Who fans should be unable to grasp it. Heck, that's nothing compared to the timey-wimey convolutions of causality that Moffat has inured the viewers to by this point. They could call it something like Doctor Who: The Lost Tales, say.

 

[Ithekro]

The basic problem would be marketing. The main character will have the same name and be traveling in the same blue box as the main show. How do you market that. Doctor Who?

 

[Christopher]

The basic problem would be marketing. The main character will have the same name and be traveling in the same blue box as the main show. How do you market that. Doctor Who?

Same way you market anything else: By telling people what it's specifically about. By doing trailers and commercials (well, maybe not commercials since it's the BBC) that explain the approach. How did X-Men: First Class or Gotham establish that it was a prequel? How did Star Trek 2009 or Terminator Genisys establish that it was a prequel/reboot? It's not as if a series going backward into its own history is some totally unprecedented thing that nobody's ever seen before.

Besides, does it matter? Past and future are kind of irrelevant for the Doctor. This would simply be the Doctor being played by a different actor. It's not as if there's anything unprecedented about that.

Also, it's not quite the same blue box. The exterior of the McGann TARDIS is smaller than the current one, has a blue door sign and window frames instead of white, and lacks the St. John's Ambulance medallion. (The classic series police boxes were smaller than the real thing so that they could fit into the lift at the tiny Lime Grove studio. The movie followed suit. The current series uses a more authentic police box size.) And the interior is completely different.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I'm finding Christopher's arguments pretty convincing. But part of me is wondering if the BBC is giving DW a break for a year because they feel that audiences need a break from it or that it's not as 'must see' as it was a few years ago and that this will help create demand and whet appetite for the next series?

 

[Mr Awe]

But it wouldn't be the same time. It'd be an 8th Doctor flashback season or miniseries in the gap year between 12th Doctor seasons -- like how ABC does Agent Carter in the midseason break of Agents of SHIELD. If Marvel viewers can understand jumping back into the past for a while before returning to the present, then there's no reason Doctor Who fans should be unable to grasp it. Heck, that's nothing compared to the timey-wimey convolutions of causality that Moffat has inured the viewers to by this point. They could call it something like Doctor Who: The Lost Tales, say.

Agree completely. It would be a great way to get a look at an era of the character that we'd like not see any other way. And, I also agree that DW fans would totally get this. Time travel is built into the show anyway. We don't always see things in chronological order, such as River! You could also change the title as well. So, it wouldn't just be straight Doctor Who but something that indicates it's a special look into his past. I like your suggestion of Doctor Who: The Lost Tales

The basic problem would be marketing. The main character will have the same name and be traveling in the same blue box as the main show. How do you market that. Doctor Who?

If someone couldn't market this, they should get a new job. I do think a name change for the series would help, but DW fans are used to complicated plots so they'll get something relatively simple like this!

Mr Awe

 

[starsuperion]

I'm good waiting.. here is why..

the Fandom has been basically spoiled since 2005.. with only a Christmas special coming, tho I would like to see maybe 2 or 3 before next Christmas.. one special is fine.. it will make the fans who have been spoiled know what it is like if Doctor who was cancelled again.. and when season 10 starts up in 2017, the long wait will bump the ratings through the roof!

For those who Grew up watching Baker, then Davison, Baker, and then Sylvestri.. to see it cancelled...I died a little inside when that happened.. now the new fans can get a little whiff of what that smells like.. and trust me..it is NOT something we ever want to see happen again!!

plus in the meantime, I am hoping all the Doctor who supporters will take a trip over to DAVE and watch the New RED DWARF XI!! My two favorite SciFi shows need some love..

 

[Stevil2001]

But it wouldn't be the same time. It'd be an 8th Doctor flashback season or miniseries in the gap year between 12th Doctor seasons -- like how ABC does Agent Carter in the midseason break of Agents of SHIELD. If Marvel viewers can understand jumping back into the past for a while before returning to the present, then there's no reason Doctor Who fans should be unable to grasp it. Heck, that's nothing compared to the timey-wimey convolutions of causality that Moffat has inured the viewers to by this point. They could call it something like Doctor Who: The Lost Tales, say.

Actually, I wonder if the problem isn't so much brand confusion as financial. Spin-offs often don't get the ratings of the parent show-- Agent Carter didn't get the ratings of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., right? (I seem to recall it was dubious that it would get a season 2.) But in the case of Doctor Who, "The Lost Tales" would probably cost almost as much as the parent show. Why invest all those resources in something that will get less return? The number of people interested in a return of a guy who played the Doctor on screen in twenty years ago is presumably less than those watching the continuing adventures of the current Doctor. Put your resources into that.

 

[Christopher]

The number of people interested in a return of a guy who played the Doctor on screen in twenty years ago is presumably less than those watching the continuing adventures of the current Doctor. Put your resources into that.

Sure, but it's already established that they won't be putting their resources into a new season of Doctor Who this year. So those resources are available to go elsewhere. And that gap could cost them viewers. It'd help to have something in the gap year to keep the property in the public eye. As I suggested, they could do a McGann miniseries rather than a whole season. Maybe 5-7 episodes. Even just a few specials, like in the last gap year.

 

[Starkers]

But as has been said, the specials cost more than a full series, or certainly pro rata. Plus you have to hire someone to write/produce/direct etc it all, have to put facilities in place, resources. This is even before you get into the realms of whether McGann would A/want to do it and B/be available even if he did.

If they were going to do something like this it would have needed to be planned some time ago, and it's clear the BBC's planning wouldn't have been remotely good enough!

 

[Christopher]

^Of course I'm not saying I expect this to happen. Just that I wish it would happen, and that there's no reason it theoretically couldn't have if the will had been there.

 

[starsuperion]

Oh!! this has become a why shouldn't there be a McGann special thing.. I would like to chime in, if I may?.. I would be all For that! If they translated the Epic audio series with the Leather jacket McGann Doctor Vs the Master VS the original Daleks and the Temporal controller Dalek.. Now that would be epic!! a 2 hour special/ 1 hour 2-part serial with McGann Doctor who, and then only the capaldi special for X-mas! that would fill my McGann fix forever.. so yes.. yes they should do it.. and only that audio.. cause it's the most fun and exciting!

 

[Mr Awe]

plus in the meantime, I am hoping all the Doctor who supporters will take a trip over to DAVE and watch the New RED DWARF XI!! My two favorite SciFi shows need some love..

When is that starting? I'm a huge RD fan!

Mr Awe

 

[Leviathan]

I am hoping all the Doctor who supporters will take a trip over to DAVE and watch the New RED DWARF XI!! My two favorite SciFi shows need some love..

It's cold outside. There's no kind of atmosphere.

 

[John Clark]

plus in the meantime, I am hoping all the Doctor who supporters will take a trip over to DAVE and watch the New RED DWARF XI!! My two favorite SciFi shows need some love..

That's pretty much a given on my part. I'm keeping an eye out for when it starts.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

It really sucks, but luckily there is a lot of Classic Who I haven't seen yet to help fill the void.

Sadly, I can't say the same. The only surviving classic episode that I haven't seen is "The Underwater Menace, Part 2." Thankfully, that comes out on DVD here in March!

According to RTD, BBC wasn't very enthused about the 2009 specials since, believe it or not, they had to put more money on the line for them than they would have had a regular season been done. So it doesn't really surprise me they're not going that route again.

I guess so. But I can't imagine BBC Worldwide is happy right now.

I admit I'm looking at this from an American perspective, where television series bring on new producers without causing massive hitches in production. I know British television is a different beast, but it seems weird to me that the BBC couldn't line up a producer for a one or two year run to bridge the gap between Moffat and Chibnall.

Agreed. Couldn't they talk Toby Whithouse or RTD into running the show for a half-season?

 

[The Wormhole]

^^According to the rumour mill, BBC did approach Toby Whithouse about being an interim showrunner while Moffat took a break, which Whithouse refused. RTD wants no more involvement with Doctor Who and supposedly turns down an annual invitation from Moffat to come back and write an episode.

 

[Christopher]

What's Phil Ford doing lately?