News RUMOR: Whittaker potentially leaving

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Relayer1, Jan 3, 2021.

  1. CuriousCaitian

    CuriousCaitian Commander Red Shirt

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    I wouldn't deny the negotiations for a new contract idea is unlikely given precedent, but that certainly doesn't mean we can dismiss the possibility outright.

    Likewise, we also can't dismiss the possibility that Whitaker isn't leaving, it's just the media making something out of little or nothing, but rather than denying the papers' claims like prior occasions, which clearly had no effect on them if they're dredging it all back up again, this time the BBC are opting for silence.

    We simply don't know enough to dismiss much of anything, right now.
     
  2. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Exactly this part.

    It seems so pointless to speculate but whatever.
     
  3. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I don't know, this thread has brought the most activity the DW forum has seen since the last season ended. Hell, it's even generated more attention than Revolution of the Daleks did. Which is actually kind of sad.
     
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  4. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Yeah, that is sad. :(

    However, it's not like there hasn't been anything at all. There's been plenty of Big Finish audios, print stories, the publication of the Lockdown stories, and still the occasional tweetalong as organized by Emily Cook (who has recently been hired to produce for Big Finish!).

    For me, that's all much more interesting than this speculation.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2021
  5. Emperor-Tiberius

    Emperor-Tiberius Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I had a dream last night of me watching the 60th anniversary, and it was the 12th Doctor with a recast War Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, Matt Smith and David Tennant talking about a dry wall for 50 minutes, while Graham and the Fam were waiting to get out of the cupboard to play. After it was finished, my granny walked to me and said "this was the worst episode ever, glad its over." And what actually woke me up was granny, as she'd never seen Doctor Who in her life.
     
  6. captainkirk

    captainkirk Commodore Commodore

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    It would probably still be more captivating than Revolution of the Daleks.
     
  7. Australis

    Australis Writer - Australis Admiral

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    Well, just waded through 8 pages of this stuff.

    New Doctor. I like Kris Marshall and Richard Ayoade, but they are both missing something that the others have demonstrated: gravitas. Even when Marshall was in a serious role (some cop show other than DiP), you half expected him to break into the funny. Most actors mentioned seem dull. Jason Flemyng could be interesting but possibly a little long in the tooth. Wouldn't mind if Wittaker stayed, but Chibnall has to go! he's just terrible.

    I do. She was. Mostly because of her smugness and hubris. Good actor, terrible character. And we didn't get enough Capaldi.

    If someone said, "Congratulations, Australis, you are the EP and head writer of Dr Who!", first thing I'd do is retcon out all that Timeless Child crap. The Doctor lies? The Master lies more! It was all a headfuck. It could be done. And I'd come up with at least 20 solid script ideas and rope in some regular writers to do the actual scripts. Because I don't think we are anywhere near the end of the stories that can be told. Hell I've got a spec script written with Tennant and Agyeman in mind that would fit perfectly for Whittaker and Gill, an epic confrontation with the Wirrn. Sadly, I know now it's hard to pitch a script without sufficient runs on the board.
     
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  8. Qonundrum

    Qonundrum Vice Admiral Admiral

    Most of us have seen more dry walls than a redo of "Dalek civil war because one faction isn't controlled by Davros and/or isn't pure Dalek DNA" (the count is four or five, of which half these instances didn't even take place on Earth regardless of time period - scary but true in a show that can go anywhere in time and space...) And yet hearing Tennant talk about that is apparently more rewarding despite the number of dry walls one has seen... that definitely is sad, especially if all he's going to do is sit there and do the "Wibbly wobbly timey wimey humany wumany, have some tubby custard you awesome thirty year old I'm treating like a toddler" sing-song act, complete with - why not - a chorus of belching wheelie bins to ensure the show remains classy for all... Chibnall brought in some promise and potential through his tenure... in ways his era is so good but in others it's worse than what's preceded it...

    ...but I'm getting off track. Even for the Holiday Special, despite using another-destruction-of-Gallifrey as a theme for series 12 and ends that on a cliffhanger, there was something of interest... then he sidesteps it for a lame one-off when it might have been easier to segue in dialogue that puts the special in an earlier part of the previous season.

    On the positive side, I really do like how he's keeping Dalek stories within their own direct and immediate continuity, which is rather clever, and "Revolution" > "Resolution" by a country mile... I almost wish he sidestepped the prison subplot, which seemed like a quick throwaway (most of the story has a lot of vignettes all worthy of expanded detail, of which none gets any.)

    Series 13 looks sort of promising, or at least hints at an explanation of how he doesn't have to rely on "The Master lied, again" trope so he can have his retcon about "the Doctor is from a magical other universe" that a later showrunner will undoubtedly be quick to change (with or without the muiltiverse cliche, even though some people say that would be disrespectful of Chibnall, even though what he did arguably disrespected a larger number of showrunners before him), but "the multiverse" has been used in Star Trek and other recent franchises to the extent of "What's Chibnall and his ensemble going to do that will really one-up it?" Hopefully the new companion will be a decent foil between the Doctor and Yaz. All that said, his take on "let's destroy Gallifrey again" is actually better than a generic "Dalek Time War For Teh Feels, complete with generic baddie time lords", but how many more times in a two-decade span will that trope be used by future showrunners as an anchor for supposedly compelling drama? It's getting silly, and are there no other ways to engender drama that doesn't come across as needlessly derivative? Well, if such drama can be made without trying to force or pretend to be "grandiose epic"...

    If Whittaker is leaving, and if she is she is, and if she isn't she isn't; if anything she's the first actor to take on the role with such a level of apparent dispassion. Maybe that's why Jo Martin was a greater success in her five minutes on screen; she put in above and beyond what's on paper and comes across as being properly engaging and interesting and as if she actually wants to be there. How did Chibnall get so lucky in finding her? (I'll admit, The Division was novel. A proper use for the Judoon and elevating them was interesting. I had no clue that the Fugitive would be a different incarnation... And given some decent backstory, in a way that I wish had been done for series 11 so his era would be properly strong from the get-go. Chibnall has brought in some neat stuff but then trips up when he doesn't need to. :( )
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2021
  9. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I really wish they would have at least left the Time Lords around long enough to give us a really good deep dive episode or episodes that got into their culture and history. I've been curious to see more of them, but all we've gotten in the current show has been a handful of fairly brief appearances.
     
  10. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Watch the classic series. Lots to delve into there. Also the Big Finish audio plays as well as the countless books and comics.
     
  11. Jinn

    Jinn Mistress of the Chaotic Energies Rear Admiral

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    Thereā€˜s always the Gallifrey audio series!
     
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  12. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That was never going to happen in the modern series since the modern showrunners have all hated the Time Lords. RTD admits as much in The Writer's Tale explaining that's why he made them extinct. He only reluctantly brought them back in TEOT after a stray comment from Julie Gardner made him realize it was a logical extension of the plot he was already working on, and even then he complained that writing Time Lords was proving difficult and a reminder for why he made them extinct to begin with.

    The Writer's Tale also carried the implication that Moffat wasn't fond of the Time Lords either, which would seemingly be proven after Day of the Doctor when he actually issued a public apology to fandom for resurrecting the Time Lords. I would guess Chibnall has a similarly low opinion of Time Lords as well.
     
  13. Haggis and tatties

    Haggis and tatties Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I liked the timelords at the end of Wargames, they were powerful and mysterious and seemed to be the perfect parental figures for the universe and and time and who also kept the doctor in check if need be.
     
  14. Emperor-Tiberius

    Emperor-Tiberius Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, two things on that. First, I never got the impression from even the first appearence of theirs, that they were benevolent or parental figures at the slightest. In fact, I did get the impression they were incredibly snide and spiteful towards the Doctor. In other words, proper Lords, lol.

    Second, I am definitely very, very glad neither Dicks nor Holmes followed that perception as the show went on. Time Lords became basic government officials, like Council workers, under Dicks and under Holmes, that's when they solidified into the supreme assholes they've seen been known as. And all the better for it.
     
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  15. Haggis and tatties

    Haggis and tatties Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^^^As the old saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". ;)
     
  16. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    This is really cute -- Jodie delivers a birthday greeting to a young fan who had a bad 2020, and you can tell it makes his decade. :)

    Sometimes I think Jodie's more Doctor-ish doing videos like these than she is on television. I think she's plenty Doctori-ish on television, but there's more... personality in her real world appearances.
     
  17. Emperor-Tiberius

    Emperor-Tiberius Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I entirely agree. More than anything proves the fault lies in Chibnall's writing than her personally.
     
  18. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Oh that's lovely! His face when he hears the Tardis :D

    I would agree by the way, when she's done things like this (like the little video she did in her cupboard during lockdown 1) she's so much more the Doctor! Would be interesting to see someone like RTD or Moffat writing for her.
     
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  19. DigificWriter

    DigificWriter Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It seems like I'm in the minority in that I think Chris Chibnall has been excellent as showrunner and see no reason for him to be fired regardless of Jodie's future.
     
  20. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    That's so wonderfully sweet. I absolutely love Jodie Whittaker.
     
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