Their goal was not to make one series a year. They achieved that. (They made two — but it took more than a year I think - which is good going even if I do not think it is wise, or that eight episodes is where they should be aiming)
Going forward it is not their goal to make series of the old length. Whether that then translates into eventually having gaps, or basically doing the 7A/7B thing (which is essentially what they did this time out) at some point remains to be seen.
It’s almost a semantic difference when it comes down to it — they made what would have been one series worth of episodes, but they will be put out over two years.
I was initially impressed by them gearing up and getting production going far enough in advance that they could have decent breaks for staff, post production, etc — but even the specials lost a bit of buzz from being so far in advance. Before we saw a moment of 14 actually on screen, we had already seen his replacement filming. Between that and the lack of anything really anniversary-like in the episodes, it was a real… mood killer. The most unspecial specials. Even Tennants last lot were at least transmitted on holidays.
Now we’ve had two Doctor-lite episodes, a full quarter of what is now considered a series, and there’s a possibility Ncuti isn’t currently even under contract (he’s appearing at a con without it being show promo, that wasn’t usually a thing for actors still on the show prior to now — so either the approach and contracts are changed, or he’s currently between contracts to the show) and whilst ‘season 3’ is being written, it means *most* of the production isn’t ongoing. So any headway is being lost, assuming the show is going forwards.
Even in the seventies and eighties, it was common for there to be a few scripts banked, or production staff working on things essentially just-in-case. Sometimes that was borderline hobby-approach-to-work (like Mike Tucker designing stuff that was never used — modern cybermats) but even in the modern era Moff and Chibnall had balls in the air just-in-case.
At the moment, it does look like the show won’t likely be in full production annually, however they show it, and that lead-actor availability is giving headaches again — which I am not sure should be a problem. It’s not some zero-hour delivery job, even accepting that an actor will want to do other projects between shoots to keep from typecasting or to keep their hand in. But it shouldn’t affect the production. And it is.
As to RTD closing the gaps… well, he’s not so much closing them as papering over them by spreading things a bit thinner in some ways. Again, I’m not sure that’s going to work, even with Moffat basically being holiday cover and doing Christmas — exactly as he did when Chibnall wasn’t ready to go at the start of his era. (Moff is writer and exec producer on the upcoming Xmas special. Like a mini return era-within-an-era from a certain perspective)
It’s very… chaotic. I am not sure that this time it is for the best, and all the stuff that’s come out about Ecclestone’s run and what went on with that makes me question whats going on. Chaos wasn’t good for people then, either.
You seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions about things we really can't know about without actually being in the office with Russel David and Co. as they're making these decisions.
And the episode count has nothing to do with the popularity of the series, or trying to spread things out or anything like that, it is simply because they are making it with Disney+ now, and most of their shows are around 6 or 8 episodes. Of all the shows I looked at for Marvel, Star Wars, and just general Disney only two had more, one which I can't remember now had 9 and Andor had 12, but all of the rest had either 6 or 8.
God forbid that anyone care about anything anymore, we must treat every show and franchise like disposable fluff unworthy of any attachment
.
Or you could just lighten up and just have fun with it.
The outright hostility people have to fans who like consistency and a even semblance of continuity is just ridiculous. Its not a character flaw to not want the showrunner of Doctor Who to randomly add incarnations of The Doctor because he thinks its funny, or to want the showrunner to write his mysteries to have actual solutions and not just write them to farm internet engagement.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with adding the occasional joke reference in a scene here and there. The Shada Doctor thing was a quick moment that had no real impact on anything, so I really don't see where it's worth getting so upset about. It's not like they brought Richard E. Grant back for a whole episode focused on his Doctor, and then said oh never mind, that episode didn't count.
And his Davies' mysteries have all had solutions, they might not have been what people expected, but it's a absolute solid fact that we did get them.
I'm sick and tired of being made to feel like an ass because I like a show to be as consistent with itself as is reasonably possible, like thats something only obsessive fans could possibly want.
We can have those things, and still allow the fun little easter eggs that are there just of the hell of it.
"Stuck up fans"? No, fans wanting someone to take their damn job halfway seriously aren't "stuck up".
Demanding that a person only do things the way you want, and then throwing a fit, and insulting them when they don't seems pretty stuck up to me.
And just because a person decides to have fun with things every once in a while does not mean they aren't taking their job seriously.
Certain people are not superior because they want to experience things strictly in the most surface level way possible. I don't care if Atlantis has sunk twice on the show, or that Bi-Generation happened or even that I have to keep inventing head canons for all the extra Doctors, Doctor Who in all eras has weird inconsistencies. But, its gotten to the point where the person running the show is actively trying to be a jerk about things, and its not wrong to complain about that. The man literally just makes shit up, writes mysteries without real plans or eye for even basic details and sometimes just does things strictly to annoy the viewers, and I honestly think that all of this is pathetic behavior from a 61 year old who pretends to be a professional at his job.
He's not being a jerk about things, he's just having a bit of fun every once in a while, and with all of the bullshit someone like him has to put up with, I think that's fair.
And I hate to break it to you, but a writer's job is to literally make shit up, none of this is real, so it wouldn't be possible to make the show without making shit up.
And I'm sure he has a plan, we just haven't necessarily seen all of it yet, he's repeatedly said since the finale that this is not the end of Ruby and her family's story.
