Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner
- Thread starter Allyn Gibson
- Start date
I really hope they don't do that again. I like Tennant, both as an actor and as the Doctor, but we're already perilously close to a scenario where it feels like the show can't be successful without Tennant in the role.
If they were to even consider this, however, then I think they need to go all in. No piddling three specials, if he's the Doctor then I'd want him to commit to doing two series as a minimum. I can't see him doing this however.
Other than maybe doing the old face thing again but with Smith (if he'd do it) then the only other quick win would be a returning companion, but I think that'd only work with Rose, Donna, Amy or Clara and frankly I can't see any of those wanting to come back, unless you went nuts and had the Doctor regenerate into Billie or Jenna (I think it'd be funny to see Piper looking in the mirror and going "Oh come on!")
Really though if the BBC want it to continue then they need to honestly consider the way forward, and maybe they need to bite the bullet and accept that they can find another streaming partner, spend £4 million an episode and draw in 3 million viewers, or they can go it alone, spent 1 million an episode and get, er, three million viewers.
The show is still popular to an extent, it still gets a decent audience share (I think Lucky Day was the third most watched show on the BBC on Saturday) but maybe the BBC need to cut their cloth accordingly and, as RTD himself intimated, go back to a lower budget, claustrophobic, haunted house style show (which doesn't mean every episode has to be like that!).
Or the BBC put it on an extended hiatus again. Let's be honest, the original series only lasted 26 years and we're now 20 years into Nu Who (apologies to @The Nth Doctor for calling it that) so maybe it is time
If they were to even consider this, however, then I think they need to go all in. No piddling three specials, if he's the Doctor then I'd want him to commit to doing two series as a minimum. I can't see him doing this however.
Other than maybe doing the old face thing again but with Smith (if he'd do it) then the only other quick win would be a returning companion, but I think that'd only work with Rose, Donna, Amy or Clara and frankly I can't see any of those wanting to come back, unless you went nuts and had the Doctor regenerate into Billie or Jenna (I think it'd be funny to see Piper looking in the mirror and going "Oh come on!")
Really though if the BBC want it to continue then they need to honestly consider the way forward, and maybe they need to bite the bullet and accept that they can find another streaming partner, spend £4 million an episode and draw in 3 million viewers, or they can go it alone, spent 1 million an episode and get, er, three million viewers.
The show is still popular to an extent, it still gets a decent audience share (I think Lucky Day was the third most watched show on the BBC on Saturday) but maybe the BBC need to cut their cloth accordingly and, as RTD himself intimated, go back to a lower budget, claustrophobic, haunted house style show (which doesn't mean every episode has to be like that!).
Or the BBC put it on an extended hiatus again. Let's be honest, the original series only lasted 26 years and we're now 20 years into Nu Who (apologies to @The Nth Doctor for calling it that) so maybe it is time
And be prepared to backtrack on it being the end of the show if it suddenly gets super popular again
There is that risk.And be prepared to backtrack on it being the end of the show if it suddenly gets super popular again
In this day and age, if they’re going into hiatus, they need a face to slap on the covers of the books and similar that will no doubt come along — which again, in this day and age, means Tennant.
I would rather it regain a bit of a footing to be honest, and work out what it can do comfortably on the budget it can afford. Do another ‘exiled on earth in x time’ arc if need be.
But they need to rediscover how to fit the stories decently into the episodes, and work out the right mix of influence/message/story again. Decent intrigue, that is resolved satisfactorily, not gotchas.
I would rather it regain a bit of a footing to be honest, and work out what it can do comfortably on the budget it can afford. Do another ‘exiled on earth in x time’ arc if need be.
But they need to rediscover how to fit the stories decently into the episodes, and work out the right mix of influence/message/story again. Decent intrigue, that is resolved satisfactorily, not gotchas.
Anyhoo, moving on. Next week looks a bit glorious, if likely to upset the Reform crowd regarding diversity in BBC casting
Is that ACTUALLY going to be a Metebelis 3 spider? And will the episode come with a trigger warning for arachnophobia? Did the Jodie ep with the giant spiders have one or was being titled Arachnids in the UK considered enough?
Anyhoo, moving on. Next week looks a bit glorious, if likely to upset the Reform crowd regarding diversity in BBC casting
Is that ACTUALLY going to be a Metebelis 3 spider? And will the episode come with a trigger warning for arachnophobia? Did the Jodie ep with the giant spiders have one or was being titled Arachnids in the UK considered enough?
I just hope they get it right. Whatever RTD may think, there’s enough of us kids (black,white, yellow, brown, striped with tartan, whatever they are fussing about…) who were taught African myth and legend when we were in school (and Chinese, and Indian, and everything else) and enjoyed it that hopefully it won’t be some exercise in flim flam. I’m still not sure anything in 73 yards was actually Welsh tbh. (It was more like someone spent a long time watching Asian Film Imports on Tartan video, with a splash of seventies era witchy business for the front end. Stones of Blood meets The Eye.)
If there's one thing we can say about S2's ratings it's been very consistent so far. (If there's another, it's that the idea that the TV figures aren't relevant to the overall total still isn't true.)
The Well:
Live +7 Total 3.23m
Chart Position (All) 23
Chart Position (BBC) 13
And for all episodes so far:
3.23 / 3.05 / 3.57
23 / 25 / 21
13 / 13 /10
And if you look at the ratings for everything it's scary how quickly the numbers drop. Anything outside the Top 50 is getting under 2 million viewers. I wouldn't like to be asked to have to defend the License Fee at this point.
The Well:
Live +7 Total 3.23m
Chart Position (All) 23
Chart Position (BBC) 13
And for all episodes so far:
3.23 / 3.05 / 3.57
23 / 25 / 21
13 / 13 /10
And if you look at the ratings for everything it's scary how quickly the numbers drop. Anything outside the Top 50 is getting under 2 million viewers. I wouldn't like to be asked to have to defend the License Fee at this point.
I suggested this before with Jodie, but it would work here as well. Have a two Doctor story with Jo Martin (Division era) and the current incumbent, and structure the story in such a way that the audience leaves with Martin, so it becomes a narrative passing of the torch. The "incumbent" is still out there, open-ended, and we could return to that Doctor whenever, but for now, the show will rattle around with Jo Martin in the past.I like the (wild) rumors that have Jo Martin as the next Doctor.
I like that - to a point, obviously (I'm not fond of that aspect, of course). But yeah, why not have an interim Doctor while the main Doctor actor can have a career and pop back in when he can?
I suggested the same could've been done with Capaldi, when his gap year could've been used to have Moffat-written McGann era specials.
Would certainly put fan bums on seats if weren’t sure if she was going to regenerate into a kid, a young Hartnell, or a Pertwee when the time came.
I love the idea of more Jo Martin, my only issue with this is that her Division era self is a very different kind of Doctor, and not just in a "this version of me is a bit grumpier/scattier/colder than the last one" kind of way.
My only issue with that option is, what happens if the interim Doctor proves way more popular than the incumbent Doctor!
The main issue there is the gap years, contrary to popular belief, are not done because the actor playing the Doctor wants to do other things, but because of the showrunner. For example, the 2009 gap year did not happen because of Tennant's Shakespeare thing, but rather Tennant pursued the Shakespeare gig because he knew Doctor Who would be taking a break in 2009. RTD made the decision to take 2009 off in 2006 and Tennant was informed around that time as well. Which is why bringing Paul McGann back for specials or some other interim Doctor wasn't a practical option then.
Likewise, Capaldi's gap year came as a by-product of Moffat preparing to leave in 2015, but by the time BBC convinced him to stay on for one more season, there wasn't enough time to get anything on the air in 2016. So likewise, "Moffat written McGann era specials" could not have happened under those circumstances either.
We’re already doing the equivalent now funnily enough. A Moffat or two a year, with him overseeing everything to give RTD a break.
If Gatwa has an open ended regeneration, I wouldn't necessarily be averse to having Jo Martin just be the main Doctor in Series 16 with absolutely no explanation.
Just let her rip. Bring back that TARDIS interior too, it was quite cozy.
I have no idea what the not-we will make of it if they remember much of the Chibnall era.
Just let her rip. Bring back that TARDIS interior too, it was quite cozy.
I have no idea what the not-we will make of it if they remember much of the Chibnall era.
Agreed 100%. As much as I adore Tennant, he should be used sparingly (i.e. anniversaries).
Oh, I like the idea of bringing a previous companion actor as The Doctor. Of course, I would prefer it to be one of the classic companions but that's unlikely for a variety of reasons, from bankability (sadly) to workload. I would love to see Catherine, Karen, or Jenna in that role. Hell, I'd be curious to even see Billie in the role, speaking as someone who has a lot of issues with Rose but I don't think Billie is one of them.
Or the BBC put it on an extended hiatus again. Let's be honest, the original series only lasted 26 years and we're now 20 years into Nu Who (apologies to @The Nth Doctor for calling it that) so maybe it is time
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Honestly, Jo Martin's TARDIS interior is my favorite post-2005 console room. Like, it's not even close. I've described it before as "the Herman Zimmerman console room"; it looks like a mid-90s Star Trek set.
I've long thought Arthur Darvill would be an incredible Doctor. Not a companion, but I think Samuel Anderson would also be intruiging.
