Spoilers Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner

[Samurai8472]

Second Doctor Who reference in strange new worlds

Preview of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds finale teases Doctor Who connection

A Star Trek character hints that she spent time with Doctor Who's time traveller.

cultbox.co.uk

Could a paramount deal be on the horizon?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Second Doctor Who reference in strange new worlds

Preview of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds finale teases Doctor Who connection

A Star Trek character hints that she spent time with Doctor Who's time traveller.

cultbox.co.uk

Could a paramount deal be on the horizon?

I don't have any objections.

I think a Starfleet officer -- La'an would be great for this -- would kick all kinds of ass traveling with the Doctor in the TARDIS, and I would be really interested in a Star Trek-style spin-off series (multi-species ship boldly going) in the Doctor Who universe.

 

[Sketcher]

I think a Starfleet officer -- La'an would be great for this -- would kick all kinds of ass traveling with the Doctor in the TARDIS

I bet she'd want to. But then get killed fighting a bunch of headless monks or something.

 

[jaime]

I like Trek. I like Who.
I like trifle. I like Beef Bourginon.

But not on the same plate.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I sure wish I hadn't been spoiled about that moment in this thread but it was still a fun reveal nonetheless (and thankfully happened right at the beginning so I didn't have it sitting in the back of my head waiting for it to occur).

Spoiler: The scene in question

Of course Pelia traveled with The Doctor. Question is...who?

I'm going with The Eleventh Doctor. They would be make a wonderful eccentric pair.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Spoiler: The scene in question

Of course Pelia traveled with The Doctor. Question is...who?

Spoiler: Spoiler

Correct.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Spoiler: Spoiler

Correct.

Spoiler

Which means...

Pelia is River Song!

 

[JD]

That works for me.

 

[The Wormhole]

I sure wish I hadn't been spoiled about that moment in this thread but it was still a fun reveal nonetheless (and thankfully happened right at the beginning so I didn't have it sitting in the back of my head waiting for it to occur).

Spoiler: The scene in question

Of course Pelia traveled with The Doctor. Question is...who?

I'm going with The Eleventh Doctor. They would be make a wonderful eccentric pair.

Pelia: Of course, the one person I meet who is older than me looks about fifty years younger. How is that fair?
I can see that working.

 

[Samurai8472]

Ncuti interview in The Telepgraph newspaper (paywalled, but can quote it)

Ncuti Gatwa: ‘Playing the Doctor was exhausting – I was ready to move on’

 

[Starkers]

God isn't he lucky he didn't have to do 13 episodes plus a Christmas special

 

[jaime]

God isn't he lucky he didn't have to do 13 episodes plus a Christmas special

That’s just about what he managed altogether.
Not a year, like his predecessor’s of late.

It’s possible McGann did more hours actual work on the TVM given the glacial pace of US productions at the time, comparatively speaking. Especially considering how many Diet Doctor with NutraSweet (TM) episodes there were.

Would be nice if they could just let him be honest ‘there was nothing new contracted, and I couldn’t wait, so better to let someone else have a crack while I get on’.

 

[David cgc]

Ncuti interview in The Telepgraph newspaper (paywalled, but can quote it)

Ncuti Gatwa: ‘Playing the Doctor was exhausting – I was ready to move on’

The section about Doctor Who is pretty short, compared to his biography, day to day life, and the rest of his career:

And transform he did – into Doctor Who. Gatwa got a lot of praise for his role as the 15th incarnation of the Doctor. But in the end he was only in it for two series (the shortest run of any Doctor, apart from Christopher Eccleston). He loved being the Doctor, he says, and immersed himself in it entirely. “But I was tired and burnt out at the end of series two. It was exhausting. But it was a magical time, magical.​

​

“There was never an opportunity to recoup the energy – it’s just go, go, go. I was doing seven-day weeks for eight months, and I found it hard being away from home and family. I’d already been shooting in Cardiff for five years (on and off) prior to that with Sex Education, and we started shooting Doctor Who while I was still doing Season four of Sex Ed.”​

​

It was a difficult decision to make, to not continue. He got good reviews, but the ratings were falling – although his version of the Doctor attracted a new demographic. But it was Gatwa’s own decision to leave, he says. “I had to wrestle with myself – I fell in love with that show. I’ll miss it, but I was ready to move on.”​

 

[jaime]

The section about Doctor Who is pretty short, compared to his biography, day to day life, and the rest of his career:

And transform he did – into Doctor Who. Gatwa got a lot of praise for his role as the 15th incarnation of the Doctor. But in the end he was only in it for two series (the shortest run of any Doctor, apart from Christopher Eccleston). He loved being the Doctor, he says, and immersed himself in it entirely. “But I was tired and burnt out at the end of series two. It was exhausting. But it was a magical time, magical.​

​

“There was never an opportunity to recoup the energy – it’s just go, go, go. I was doing seven-day weeks for eight months, and I found it hard being away from home and family. I’d already been shooting in Cardiff for five years (on and off) prior to that with Sex Education, and we started shooting Doctor Who while I was still doing Season four of Sex Ed.”​

​

It was a difficult decision to make, to not continue. He got good reviews, but the ratings were falling – although his version of the Doctor attracted a new demographic. But it was Gatwa’s own decision to leave, he says. “I had to wrestle with myself – I fell in love with that show. I’ll miss it, but I was ready to move on.”​

There’s some tenuous relationships with the truth there… the reviews weren’t exactly good more often than not, and the attracted new demographic were much like a Tardis missing a circuit or two — they utterly failed to materialise.

It does repeatedly show that the show needs much better organisation and planning than it sometimes gets. Should not need seven day weeks for eight months a year. Pretty sure even the old chaps used to at least get Sundays off.
The being away from him and family comes with the job though, the job being acting, though like a lot of people I sometimes wonder if Who should come back home to London. But then I’d feel bad for all the people working the jobs it brings in Wales.
(Though if it does come to London, I will work for just over minimum wage for the first year, if they want to save a few Bob on a barely qualified Script Editor. I mean, it worked when they gave Douglas a job.)

 

[JD]

I have to wonder why things were so bad for him that he only lasted 16 episodes, compared to David Tennant and Matt Smith who both lasted 39 episodes, Peter Capaldi who lasted 36, or Jodie Whitaker who lasted 26. Is it just that hadn't done anything that intense before, or could the conditions have gotten worse?

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I seriously doubt it was those conditions at all. Truthfully, I think he prioritized his career and simply left. I wish RTD could've kept for a last third series, in an indeterminate time, but that's obviously a way too optimistic take given the circumstances.

Fuckin' Disney.

 

[Starkers]

I highly doubt the conditions have got worse.

There's a trite 'flipping millennials' answer I guess but he does theatre so I doubt he's allergic to hard work and he's had pretty bad stuff happen in his life so its hard to peg him as some snowflake.

I do feel there's a lack of television and film experience maybe, certainly as the lead and I suspect that's the major issue here. Yes he did Sex Education for four seasons but that's very much an ensemble cast so presumably the workload and intensity would have been different.

I think every other modern Doctor had way more experience, outside of Matt of course who's most comparable to Ncuti and of course Matt seemed to do ok, or at least didn't openly complain about the workload until long after he left the role.

I think we can lay this at two doors really, RTD and Ncuti (or maybe his agent).

RTD was clearly so blown away by Ncuti that he shelved his original plans and was willing to compromise his own production by bending over backwards to accommodate Ncuti and Sex Education, even if it meant throwing Millie under the bus (another very inexperienced actor) in the process.

I think do Ncuti has to take some responsibility. This isn't Eccleston in 2005 walking into effectively a whole new show. Chris, David, Matt, Peter and Jodie could have all told Ncuti what the role entailed, he can't have been walking into the role blind (and presumably someone like Gillian Anderson could have told him how much work comes with being the lead in a show, oh how on earth did she ever do 20+ episodes a year!) so either he was incredibly naive or thought he could hack it and it would be worth it for his career.

I have to say, I like Ncuti a lot, I think he was a great Doctor and I think he's going to be a very successful actor, but I think he needs to stop trotting out the old woe is me schtick when it comes to Who.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

On the other hand, perhaps he doesn't want to harm the show's reputation by stating that the BBC and Disney are taking their sweet time with their deal making, stalling everyone's careers including his own.