Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner

Love how they keep using that tortured syntax to avoid admitting that Tennant is doing a three episode mini-series before the actual anniversary episode.

 

Solitaire is one of my very favorites!

 

Currently trending on Twitter.

 

Same here. I also greatly love The Magic Mousetrap.

 

Fantastic story, one of the best of the Seventh. That whole arc with Hex was amazing also.

 

Hardly objective considering Trending is catered to your own Twitter history and location...and it rapidly changes.

For instance, I don't see any of that when I check my trending via the app. Instead, I see a lot of Aussie football stuff because my VPN is set to Melbourne (I wish I was there!). I had to dig into the Entertainment section to get even #NeilPatrickHarris to show up and that's an unranked list.

 

It's what's trending for the entire UK not for me.

https://trends24.in/united-kingdom/

 

Fair enough. I've never heard of Trends24 until now but it appears to be a legitimate means of tracking Twitter trends.

...for whatever that is worth.

 

And that statement always comes from third party sources, and if you give a nice broad definition of ‘60th Anniversary’ (similar to those used for ‘year’ by Chibnall) then it’s only a little bit of a fudge when the Christmas special is announced after the last Chibnall/Jodie special.

There’s been other leaks suggesting it.
So far every time someone has said ‘no, that won’t happen’ on bunches of things, more evidence has leaked that yes, yes it will, including the bleeding obvious ‘David Tennant is the next Doctor’ that no one has officially said yet, in the hopes that the regen will be a lovely surprise (and boost viewing figures back into the stratosphere) at the end of this era.

I mean, I am not struck on beep the meep or whatever, but the evidence is there.

 

Like the BBC's official website.

https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/neil-patrick-harris-joins-doctor-who

 

Dogbolter. I hope NPH is playing Dogbolter.

 

What is the evidence that any of this filming is even Christmas themed? As far as I’m aware people jumped to a conclusion based on some wreaths or something that are actually part of the year-round decorations at the filming location. NPH’s costume is red, granted, but the background elements at left and right look like blue sky and clouds, which doesn’t scream Christmas either.

There’s not a single thing I know of barring the thinly sourced “treat for fans” claim suggesting anything is happening this Christmas, let alone a full special. Saying 2023 in every announcement is not actually ambiguous.

 

He looks like an elf.
The clothes on location suggest winter.
Yes, Camden always looks like Christmas (it’s goth central, so it’s got a winter solstice ambience at the best of times, from a certain point of view)
Donna is reportedly carrying a bunch of wrapped packages (I suppose she might just be running an eBay store…)
The ‘treat for fans’ suggestion.
The fact filming is happening *now* so far ahead of presumed transmission (that it would be very rude to announce while there’s another team technically in play)

I had no idea it was the official website (or in fact that there even was one anymore) as I am used to those being on the bbc servers themselves, so this must be run by a seperate media company under contract.
(It makes an amusing mistake of ambiguity in favour of marketing elsewhere regarding target novelisations actually…)

Basically, as before, I am not fussed if it isn’t, but… I would not be surprised if it was. We will see.

 

Deaths Head to follow, Disney to stream Who in non-UK territories owing to long (pre Panini) history between it and Marvel. XD
Absalom Daak spin off series in 2025 starring Ryan Reynolds.

 

The BBC aren't allowed to lie in their public statements. If they say 2023, it's 2023. They don't say November 2023 though.

 

I saw a theory that he's playing Peter Cushing's doctor heh

 

No, no, no, no...that's obviously the Meta-Crisis Doctor! Haven't you been paying attention?!

 

Harris’s character looks like a toymaker or other colorful artisan, but I don’t see anything in his costume that says elf: no pointy ears, no hat. Winter and carrying packages might suggest holiday shopping, but that’s as consistent with November 2023 as with December 2022. And it’s been pointed out repeatedly that there are logistical reasons to film with in-demand actors like Tennant and Tate ASAP. Both Moffat and Chibnall began production while their predecessors had episodes left to air; it’s just how these things work.

I do think the tortured formulation the BBC is using in its press releases is interesting. RTD is allowed to lie, so it certainly might be that the Tennant specials will precede a proper anniversary story. Certainly I don’t think Beep the Meep is the big nostalgia drop planned for 23 November. It really depends what kind of arc the Tennant specials have. If it’s loose enough that they would work spread over months, that might point toward specials spaced across 2023; if it’s s tighter story, we might be looking at a mini season across (say) 9, 16, and 23 November, with Gatwa debuting at Christmas and a winter or spring Series 14.

 

Moffat had to do a whole extra special, if not allegedly an extra series, precisely because Chibnall *wasn’t* ready to start work. I reckon you are right for the most part… I am just suspicious that this is looking festive.

They say the anniversary is in 2023, which it is, and that Tennant’s return is part of that, which it almost certainly is. There is certainly room for ambiguity in there, and it’s safe to say that scheduling has always been open to the possibility of not being when announced… as anyone who sat through the snooker to find out they wouldn’t be putting on the latest episode of TNG back in the day can attest to.

 

Rumor has it that Chibnall will not be attending San Diego comic con. In his place is RTD with Jodie and Mandip

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1536468814308728833