Moffat Out, Chris Chibnall in

[The Wormhole]

It's too bad we won't get a full series, but hopefully Moffat uses the extra time to make his final series really good.

I keep seeing references to "extra time" but there is no extra time for this season. Despite airing later Moffat still has the same amount of prep time before season as he did with all the others. The difference is he's starting later because his departure plans were cancelled at the last moment.

 

[douwed]

But wouldn't a later start date at least give him a longer break, which might give him the energy needed to make the best show he can. Maybe ideas, for the new series, get a bit more time and get fleshed out more/better.

Surely Moffat won't stop thinking doctot who, just because he hasn't started prep for series 10 yet.

More time does not necessarily mean more time to prep or more time to film.

 

[The Wormhole]

But wouldn't a later start date at least give him a longer break, which might give him the energy needed to make the best show he can. Maybe ideas, for the new series, get a bit more time and get fleshed out more/better.

Surely Moffat won't stop thinking doctot who, just because he hasn't started prep for series 10 yet.

More time does not necessarily mean more time to prep or more time to film.

Keep in mind he's working on Sherlock and Doctor Who begins production almost immediately after that wraps, so Moffat doesn't really have much of a break to speak of.

 

[douwed]

True, he does have two shows to produce which will eat up a lot of his free time.

 

[dahj]

True, he does have two shows to produce which will eat up a lot of his free time.

Pfft, Berlanti produces, what, like 6 shows now?
Maybe they should get him to produce Doctor Who

 

[tomalak301]

Pfft, Berlanti produces, what, like 6 shows now?
Maybe they should get him to produce Doctor Who

And then the doctor won't tell the companion that he is the doctor until half way through the season.

 

[Overgeeked]

It's a truism that DW fans, hell most SF fans in general, are simply never happy.

Hungry Earth and Cold Blood were good and reintroduced the Silurians to the new Who show. They weren't perfect, but most people conflate their irrational hatred of the amazing new Silurian design with the quality of the episodes as a whole. The redesigned makeup was infinitely better than the original. The story was a great moral dilemma for the TARDIS team to sort out and deal with. The personalization of the family dealing with the missing husband, missing son, and dying father was great. Sure the ending wasn't the best, but whatever.

And Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was just fun. Which is probably why so many people hate it. It was a silly romp that was great fun and was more reminiscent of the old show. Which is also why a lot of people probably didn't like it. Sorry, but Doctor Who is a kid's show. It can't always be 4 billion years of punching a wall to save your co-dependent best friend.

 

[Candlelight]

It can't always be 4 billion years of punching a wall to save your co-dependent best friend.

Give me dinosaurs over wall punching any day.

 

[Christopher]

"Dinosaurs" and the other Chibnall episodes also gave us Brian, the best relative of a companion since Wilf.

 

[Starkers]

So I'm guessing it's increasingly likely Capaldi will stay to the end of the 10th series? I wonder whether it's a fait a compli that Chibnall and/or the BBC will expect a new Doctor or is it remotely possible that Capaldi could be the first modern Doctor to bridge showruners?

Similarly if the idea is a blank slate I'm guessing this means 12's new companion can only be a one season wonder.

 

[Jedi Ben]

I've only really lost interest in Who with this last series, 8 was irritating though.

In contrast I enjoyed the Moff's run up to end of Smith's turn as the Doc and I love the notion of a forgotten regeneration.

Would agree with the criticism that Moffat tends to try to be a bit too smart with his tales, to their detriment, but only really got that sense from the Sherlock special so I'd see it as a recent thing.

 

[The Wormhole]

So I'm guessing it's increasingly likely Capaldi will stay to the end of the 10th series? I wonder whether it's a fait a compli that Chibnall and/or the BBC will expect a new Doctor or is it remotely possible that Capaldi could be the first modern Doctor to bridge showruners?

Similarly if the idea is a blank slate I'm guessing this means 12's new companion can only be a one season wonder.

My personal opinion is that I will be very surprised if Capaldi sticks around after Chibnall takes over. I'll admit, there's no reason he can't stay, but at the moment to me, having him depart at the same time as the showrunner's changing of the guard just feels right.

As for the companion, would a one-hit wonder be so bad? A criticism frequently made about the Moffat era is that he kept the companions around long after they wore out their welcome, so this would be a nice change of pace.

 

[ATimson]

As for the companion, would a one-hit wonder be so bad? A criticism frequently made about the Moffat era is that he kept the companions around long after they wore out their welcome, so this would be a nice change of pace.

The criticisms of Moffat, I thought, weren't of him "keeping the companions around"; but rather "getting rid of the companions and then bringing them back again, repeatedly".

My hesitation around a "one-season wonder" is that Donna was that, and I wish she was around for a lot longer. I don't want a repeat of that disappointment.

(I don't know how well she would've worked with Matt Smith, though.)

 

[Starkers]

I think that is the danger, that the new companion's great but we only get them a year, like you say though there's no guarantee the companion will work with 13 (I can't quite see 11/Donna)

There are pluses and minuses to a blank slate and remember we've only had a few blank slate new Doctors who didn't take a companion with them, 3,8,9 and 11 (and you could discount 3 given we had the Brig and 8 given the previous Doctor was there)

 

[Ithekro]

Or there could be no companion for a year. At least not one that continues to travel with the Doctor for the entire series. Basically have a series like Tom Baker wanted, were you might have a companion-like character per story, but they don't travel with the Doctor into the next story.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I also can't really see 11/Donna, largely because Donna doesn't strike me as quite "right" in Moffat's "Silence in the LIbrary." Yet, at times I wish she had been in "The Day of the Doctor," though I don't know exactly what she would have done.

Donna through the 2009 specials might have worked, though that would have depended on how the DoctorDonna stuff was resolved. Of course, if RTD knew that Catherine Tate would be in the specials, "Journey's End" wouldn't have been written in the same way, so there may not have been a DoctorDonna since he wouldn't have had to write Donna out.

 

[The Wormhole]

Or there could be no companion for a year. At least not one that continues to travel with the Doctor for the entire series. Basically have a series like Tom Baker wanted, were you might have a companion-like character per story, but they don't travel with the Doctor into the next story.

I think we're more likely to get a primary companion from somewhere other than modern day Britain (which is something that won't happen) than go a whole season without a regular companion.

 

[Mr Awe]

Well, this is interesting Not having a new season this year sucks but I knew this was how it had to be. And the writing was on the wall for months now, so I don't see why everyone is reacting to that. I've even been pointing it out for a few months. This is no surprise, everyone stop acting surprised.

We're not surprised, we're pissed! Just because we knew something like this was coming doesn't mean that we have to like it. The BBC needs to get its act together.

As for Chibnall, I'll wait and see. Mixed feelings. I actually did enjoy his DW episodes. Not superb on the whole but definitely enjoyable.

Mr Awe

 

[The Wormhole]

We're not surprised, we're pissed! Just because we knew something like this was coming doesn't mean that we have to like it. The BBC needs to get its act together.

Meh, like I said somewhere else, though it sucks, I've made my peace with it and it doesn't really bother me that much, especially now that it's all laid out in the open and made official. The silence was the only thing bothering me before now, as it gave the impression everyone had just stuck their heads in the sand hoping they could avoid addressing the issue.

 

[Starkers]

^Plus silence suggested the possibility that the BBC might just cut their losses with Who and give it a few years' break!