New Companion Rumour
- Thread starter StCoop
- Start date
You don't think the new companion might show up at Christmas?
I think it would be great to see another non-white companion. As much as i disliked Martha's time on the TARDIS, I felt the change of colour (not being racist there) was really good.
If it is this woman from Eastenders, and assuming she plays a person of the Islamic faith, this would be only the second person of that faith the Doctor has encountered and spent time with on screen - the first being Amara Karan's character of Rita Afzal in "The God Complex". She played one of the most interesting one-off characters in that episode which is best shown here
Indeed, he seemed quite pleasantly surprised and delighted...
Regardless, I am certain that Doctor Who, the longest running sci-fi show ever will go on strong
If it is this woman from Eastenders, and assuming she plays a person of the Islamic faith, this would be only the second person of that faith the Doctor has encountered and spent time with on screen - the first being Amara Karan's character of Rita Afzal in "The God Complex". She played one of the most interesting one-off characters in that episode which is best shown here
Indeed, he seemed quite pleasantly surprised and delighted...
Regardless, I am certain that Doctor Who, the longest running sci-fi show ever will go on strong
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Why couldn't we meet her at Christmas? I'm sort of expecting the Christmas special to film closer to broadcast, so midway through the season's filming blocks.
You can only count to four on a penguin. No fingers or toes. Well, maybe toe-like things on the feet, not sure you could count on them though.
Imagine the CGI budget for an animated penguin.
It's possible, I guess. I personally would prefer the Christmas special to be completely stand-alone with a guest companion, like RTD did. It's all we're getting for the year and we have wait a few months after for the season itself. Plus, it'll make the season more accessible if it's not picking up where the previous Christmas special ended off. In fact, I had actually forgotten quite a bit from The Snowmen by the time The Bells of St John aired, so I'd like not to repeat that experience.
I have a feeling that if we are ever going to get that Peter Jackson directed episode it'll be this year's Xmas Special so they can say, "Yes there wasn't a series this year but look what you got instead."
In which case they'll want to be sending as few people to New Zealand as possible.
In which case they'll want to be sending as few people to New Zealand as possible.
RTD's first Christmas special had the ongoing companion. And only two of Moffat's have had the ongoing companion in the companion role. (I'm phrasing it like that to omit "A Christmas Carol" - yes, Rory/Amy were in it, but they were just cameos, not companions.) There's not a big difference in approach between the two in terms of cast.
(Now, in terms of style, sure. But that's an entirely separate topic.)
But they weren't connected, so why was that a problem?
But that was because that special was introducing a new Doctor. Which, I suppose is a bigger deal than introducing a new companion. Still, it was handled in a manner that nothing in season 2 really drew on much from The Christmas Invasion.
While those two episodes aren't themselves connected, The Snowmen is integral in setting up the arc of the second half of season 7, only by the time that started airing I had forgotten most of the important details from The Snowmen, which added some frustration to watching those episodes which wasn't really alleviated until I did get the chance to rewatch it. Of course, it also didn't help much that the DVD of The Snowmen wasn't released until after the season finale aired.But they weren't connected, so why was that a problem?
Still holding out hope for a triumvirate in the TARDIS. I know that sort of dynamic is tough to create, but the Doc-Jamie-Zoe times, or even the Doc-Nyssa-Tegan / Doc-Tegan-Turlough era could be fun. Certainly not Doc-Amy-Rory, as the latter was really just a tag along and perpetual sidekick to one of the first two.
Mark
Mark
An assortment of observations in reply to various points raised:
- I found it rather irritating that, whereas Amy & Rory were almost entirely written out of A Christmas Carol and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, Clara was allowed to totally dominate The Snowmen, The Time of the Doctor and Last Christmas.
- A non-human companion would certainly be a nice change, as we seem so far to only have had British women from the early 21st century (and all but Amelia were from some part of London) instead of the Time Lords, Alzarians and Trakenites of the Classic Series.
- Having Sir Peter Jackson direct is an interesting project, but there is the inevitable worry that he'll turn the Christmas special into a trilogy, with each episode being four hours long and costing more than the GDP of Belgium.
- I'm not too keen on making the "clean slate" idea into a fixed rule (so far it's only happened once, of course) since I don't want the show-runner to be seen as supremely powerful over every tiny aspect of the series, with each transition forcing arcs, themes and relationships to dissolve like a demise of the crown. In particular I think a lot of the Moffat era (especially Series 6.2 and 7) might have been better if someone else had been on hand to hold him back a little.
Agreed, it is unfortunate Amy and Rory had a reduced role in A Christmas Carol, but in the case of The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe they technically weren't the Doctor's companions at the time, and for all we know Moffat might have written it thinking the characters were done. It allegedly did take some arm-twisting to get Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill to agree to just the first half of season 7. Maybe their cameo at the end of the special was written after it was confirmed they would be back?
As for Clara's Christmas specials, since The Snowmen was intended to introduce her, so of course she'd dominate that. Since Time of the Doctor was Matt Smith's finale it would be quite odd to leave his companion out of that. And likewise, Last Christmas was intended to be Clara's farewell, so naturally she'd dominate that.
Besides, prior to Clara's Christmas specials, the only time a regular companion had an important role in any Christmas special was The Christmas Invasion. I'm not counting The Runaway Bride since Donna didn't become a regular companion until a year and a half after it. So if anything, it's about time we did this again.
Considering they abandoned their plan to make Clara from Victorian times (a decision which required re-writes to several episodes) it's clear someone doesn't want companions from different time periods, let alone other planets.
I don't follow. What is this clean slate idea and when was it done?
I do hope they stick with the TARDIS set they have now, just refurbished again to match the tastes of the new Doctor. After the coral and Willy Wonka desktops, I finally think they really got it right in terms of a complete 360-set that lets them shoot from cool angles and with enough details to enjoy on its own.
Mark
Mark
I agree that the current TARDIS set needs to be kept, and is the best of the modern era.
The coral version was too far from the familiar pattern, and despite its size it wasn't that versatile - it only had one side and there were no interior doors to suggest where the other rooms were. You can even hear Moffat complain about it: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01x6522.
The steampunk model was an improvement in terms of space (it had interior doors, stairs and a developed lower level) but the overall design was a bit too whacky for my tastes.
The Snowmen variant maintained the sense of space but restored some order and sanity to the aesthetic.
The coral version was too far from the familiar pattern, and despite its size it wasn't that versatile - it only had one side and there were no interior doors to suggest where the other rooms were. You can even hear Moffat complain about it: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01x6522.
The steampunk model was an improvement in terms of space (it had interior doors, stairs and a developed lower level) but the overall design was a bit too whacky for my tastes.
The Snowmen variant maintained the sense of space but restored some order and sanity to the aesthetic.
Honestly, Smith's first console room always looked too cramped to me. I know the set was in fact larger than the console room from the RTD era, but it looked cramped and cluttered to me.
I think the coral console room is still my favourite of the show since it came back. I know it's limited in terms of doors leading off etc, but I like that it looks so alien. For me the Tardis should look alien, however grand the TVM's Tardis interior looked I hated it because why would the Doctor want it to look like HG Wells designed it?
Capaldi's version of the second Smith console room is my next favourite, winning out over the Smith version just because it feels more lived in.
Smith's initial console room is my least favourite. I love pretty much everything about 11, except that console room. It feels cluttered and obvious and like it's trying way too hard. Much like the new paradigm Daleks I completely understand what they were trying to do but, like the new Paradigm Daleks, it didn't work.
Capaldi's version of the second Smith console room is my next favourite, winning out over the Smith version just because it feels more lived in.
Smith's initial console room is my least favourite. I love pretty much everything about 11, except that console room. It feels cluttered and obvious and like it's trying way too hard. Much like the new paradigm Daleks I completely understand what they were trying to do but, like the new Paradigm Daleks, it didn't work.
Another problem with Smith's original console room was they tried to replicate the mish-mash of collected technologies thing with RTD's room. This worked with the RTD room simply because we know the Doctor's been on his own for a while and with no homeworld to go to to fix anything he has to make do with whatever he can find, usually from Earth. With Smith's first room, meanwhile, this is how the TARDIS automatically rendered the room. It should look more like room we currently have.
