IMO, a lower episode amount than 8 episodes will not make the situation markedly better. Not when the 8 episode amount is in itself a factor, again imo, for its lack of superlative expectations met.
Spoilers Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner
- Thread starter Allyn Gibson
- Start date
Thing is there are plenty of UK shows that only have 6 episodes, let alone 8! We were very much spoiled with 13 episodes and a Christmas special.
The breakout hit from last year was Ludwig, six episodes. This year there's been Death Valley, again six episodes.
A guaranteed 6 episodes of who every year? Right now I'd take that to be honest.
The breakout hit from last year was Ludwig, six episodes. This year there's been Death Valley, again six episodes.
A guaranteed 6 episodes of who every year? Right now I'd take that to be honest.
If they go down to 6 episodes. They might as well embrace serialization again.
1 or 2 deeper stories.
only 6 stand alone stories don't feel right.
And then make those 1-2 stories as great as possible.
1 or 2 deeper stories.
only 6 stand alone stories don't feel right.
And then make those 1-2 stories as great as possible.
Six episode blocks would be fine if they came with greater regularity.
Admittedly I may be reading too into things seeing things which may not necessarily be there, but does anyone get the impression some manner of rift has developed between Gatwa and RTD? Maybe not to the same extent as RTD's falling out with Eccleston, but I do kind of get the impression RTD and Gatwa might not be best pals either these days.
Which leads me to further wonder, could RTD be difficult to work with? Granted, there are plenty of actors who have praised him, and Tennant clearly has no problems with him. Though RTD himself as admitted to some character flaws and some less than pleasant personality traits in The Writer's Tale, and even actors who are positive of him doesn't not necessarily negate the possibility of him being difficult. After all, Eccleston thought very highly of RTD before Doctor Who, indeed, it was a primary reason why he took on the role of the Doctor.
I dunno, just an idle thought of mine.
Well honestly why are there no stunt performers for situations where these things might happen. Seriously why isn't that an option for the BBC or whoever is in charge of production?
Not all actors are Tom Cruise /s
Maybe the next season could be like 8 episodes
I'd wondered the same thing. Obviously for every Eccleston there's a Tennant or a Piper or a Tate who seem to love working with him. As far as I'm aware CE is the only big name to come out and officially say they had issues with RTD though, and frankly it seems as likely that it's CE who's difficult, certainly there are several instances of this beyond Who.
I do lay any blame for the Ncuti situation at RTD's door though. I think Ncuti was a great Doctor, but it should have been obvious from the start that he wasn't going to stick around very long and was destined for much bigger things. I'm sure RTD knew this and calculated it was still worth the risk for that sweet sweet Sex Education viewership (who in the end may or may not have come) but factoring in all the bending over backwards they had to do to accommodate Ncuti's shooting schedule with SE (including dropping Millie in it with her first days of filming) and I think the calculation was flawed.
If you're going to need a stunt performer just for running along corridors then you might as well just hire a stunt person to the the Doctor!
And Doctor Who isn't the only physically intense show out there. Whichever way you slice it, a man of 32 pulling the "I'm getting old" excuse doesn't play well.
I don't get your point about the next season being 8 episodes, you mean like the last two seasons?
Better yet, make it someone used to performing by shoving a ferret down their pants! [I hope people get the reference]
Or they can go back to the ways of the classic series and have the companions do most of the action while The Doctor works from the sidelines. That's not to say The Doctor doesn't do any running, but does far less of it.
That's stupid. DW is a very "low key action" heavy show, like tons of running, bouncing and climbing. Doing that 5 days a week is gonna kill your knees like super fast, no matter how old you are.
Without any inside info, I'd guess it's more about RTD all-but-promising him 3 seasons only to get the rug yanked by Disney. Although RTD driving a wedge between himself and a lead actor isn't anything new.
As are lots of other shows. People keep talking about using stunt performers for basic stuff or having the companions do the heavy lifting, but what about their bodies?
And exactly how much running, climbing, or bouncing did Ncuti actually do in Boom, 73 Yards, Dot and Bubble, Lucky Day or The Story & the Engine? (over 25% of his episodes?)
Eccleston probably had no clear idea what he was walking into with Doctor Who, and at a push maybe Tennant wasn't 100% sure how intense it'd be, but surely these days actors walk into this job with their eyes open about the challenges?
Yes its a tough show to film, and not being an ensemble does put a lot of pressure on the lead(s), but it's now got the fewest number of episodes in a regular season its ever had, and likely the production is slicker than its ever been.
No one wants to go back to the near rolling production schedules the classic series had, or even the kind of insane working environment Duchovny and Anderson had on the X-Files where they filmed 20+ episodes (and a film) year in year out for almost a decade (it's amazing they can still walk) but while as a man in his 50s I consciously try not to be 'that guy' when it comes to younger people, just occasionally I do wonder about people's resilience.
Why back in my day you'd work 12 hours down t'pit, and still have time to film a Dalek 4 parter and appear on the Des O'Conner show.
Ah, I love The Four Gallifreymen sketch.
