Series 6 Confirmed

[davejames]

Eccleston may not have looked like a traditional Doctor, but his attitude and behavior felt plenty Doctorish to me.

In retrospect though, I do prefer 10's brighter and more optimistic view of humanity to 9's more pessimistic view (strange how that attitude keeps shifting from one Doctor to the next...)

 

[Bones2]

The Nightmare Child? However you realise that it would be disapointing.

I've mentioned elsewhere I've got the best idea ever for it. I was just thinking earlier how to work it into an actual (non-Time War) Doctor Who story. It's such a good idea that I don't want to put it on the internet.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I think the only way we're going to get a regeneration story is for Big Finish to do an audio of it. We know the BBC is not opposed to another party doing the regeneration -- Doctor Who Magazine was all set to regenerate the Eighth Doctor and had even had the scene drawn, but they couldn't follow through because the BBC wouldn't allow the Ninth Doctor to travel with anyone other than Rose and DWM wanted to use its ongoing companion Destrii for a Year One story arc (the BBC evidently loosened up with Ten as both DWM and IDW have been allowed to create new ongoing companions for him).

A few corrections.

The eight-to-nine regeneration was written, but not drawn. They wrote two versions of the finale part of "The Flood," one with the regeneration, one without. Despite Davies being the driving force behind the regeneration (he suggested that DWM do it, which leads to the inescapable conclusion that in Davies' mind it was the ninth Doctor that fought the Time War, not the eighth), it was ultimately because of Davies that the regeneration wasn't done; he said that no, they couldn't show the ninth Doctor traveling with anyone other than Rose because, paraphrasing his words in "Flood Barriers," "Rose is the series." The team at DWM rightly argued that a regeneration is a story of two halves -- there's the finale of the outgoing Doctor, and the story of the incoming Doctor. Since Davies squelched the possibility of the post-regeneration story, DWM went with the open ending for the eighth Doctor's era in the comics. (Which matches, actually, with the way his era opens in the comics.) The image in The Flood graphic novel of Eccleston, post-regeneration, was drawn especially for the collection.

I am curious what "Ninth Doctor: Year One" would have been like, though apparently the development didn't go much beyond the title when they discovered that it wasn't going to be allowed.

 

[The Wormhole]

The only unknowns are when Torchwood is coming back to BBC and if there's going to be a Christmas special for DW.

I thought a Christmas special was confirmed? This one actually being the last episode filmed of the fifth season, as opposed to the others which were the first ones filmed of the following season? Or was this just a rumour?

 

[Samurai8472]

Given how the BBC seems to run things, Series 6 will air its first episode in March of 2014, then we'll have two more episodes, then nothing until Christmas, then in 2017 the other half of series 6 will air. During this time we'll have 5 new companions.

Matt Smith will have reconstructive surgery on his big toe which will delay production of series 7.

Then Smith will announce his departure as he takes over for Russell Brand as the new James Bond.

We're given an outline for his final episodes.

"Aliens and Wales" on Christmas day 2018

"The Doctor and the boy" in Easter

"Fire and Ice" in November

"Endgame" in December

"Endgame part 2" On new years day.

 

[Stevil2001]

I'd love to watch an episode called "Aliens and Wales".

 

[DeadmeatDiggory]

I'm holding out for a "Two Doctors" story between the Matt Smith and Rowan Atkinson Doctor's - that'd rock!

That said, I'd love me some Eighth Doctor.

 

[Sci]

Y'see, when Eccleston was cast, it seemed to be a self-conscious attempt to get away from what Doctor Who used to be, because the old show has itself a negative reputation in the wider public. So rather than go with an eccentric sort of character, they went for the most down to earth type possible, and rather than making him smartly but eccentrically dressed, they put him in a bloody leather jacket. Which made him look like the kind of thug you'd find in a rough northern pub,

What on Earth was thuggish about a leather jacket? He just looked like a working-class guy, that's all.

Thugs generally look quite a bit more aggressive than Eccleston ever did.

As for Tennant, they cast a very attractive man. But he was more Doctorish at least; that is to say smartly dressed.

None of the Doctors prior to Nine were smartly dressed.

The Time War has been built up to be such a huge thing that there's no way the budget and hell, even human imagination can do it justice. It'll be like the Clone Wars all over again.

So Moffat's said. But write it well enough and it would be worth it.

Why? It will always just disappoint someone.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

You know, if you asked me a couple of years ago whether I wanted to see the Time War on screen in some form, I would have enthusiastically said yes. But these days, I've leaned more towards leaving up to the imagination. Part of it comes from all the random weapsons, battles, creatures, and such that The Tenth Doctor (and others) have referred to, part of it comes from willing to leaving it all to the imagination.

Oddly, I wouldn't be to adverse to get some idea of it from some audio plays. Probably because a large part of the audio plays requires a strong imagination.

As for Tennant, they cast a very attractive man. But he was more Doctorish at least; that is to say smartly dressed.

None of the Doctors prior to Nine were smartly dressed.

To each their own. I think all of The Doctors, especially The First Doctor, were smartly dressed in their own way. Well, except The Sixth (although the blue outfit in Real Time is pretty good). Fashion, after all, is a matter of taste.

 

[Bones2]

Y'see, when Eccleston was cast, it seemed to be a self-conscious attempt to get away from what Doctor Who used to be, because the old show has itself a negative reputation in the wider public. So rather than go with an eccentric sort of character, they went for the most down to earth type possible, and rather than making him smartly but eccentrically dressed, they put him in a bloody leather jacket. Which made him look like the kind of thug you'd find in a rough northern pub,

What on Earth was thuggish about a leather jacket? He just looked like a working-class guy, that's all.

Thugs generally look quite a bit more aggressive than Eccleston ever did.

Yeah, I mean he wasn't genuinely punching people in the cheek with a key in his fist, but he certainly wasn't Doctorish in any way previously established. Put it this way: if I accidentally knocked his pint of bitter over, I wouldn't hang around to try and apologise.

As for Tennant, they cast a very attractive man. But he was more Doctorish at least; that is to say smartly dressed.

None of the Doctors prior to Nine were smartly dressed.

First, Third, Seventh, and Eighth were, to varying degrees. Second sort of was, Fourth is the biggest exception, and Fifth and Sixth may have looked very eccentric about it, but their clothes had the elements of smart dress. You certainly couldn't say any of them were at the level of a leather jacket. That was just a lazy attempt to make him look as un-Doctor Who as possible.

The Time War has been built up to be such a huge thing that there's no way the budget and hell, even human imagination can do it justice. It'll be like the Clone Wars all over again.

So Moffat's said. But write it well enough and it would be worth it.

Why? It will always just disappoint someone.

Same goes for pretty much anything. Indeed, even new Who itself. But done well and done properly it could make for good television and give the Eighth Doctor some of the action I feel he deserves. You certainly shouldn't not try just in case you might disappoint someone.

 

[Starkers]

With the close cropped hair and leather jacket, Eccleston at least looked tough (I wouldn't go as far as thuggish) though ironically he was something of a wimp a lot of the time. Tennant on the other hand looked all smily and happy yet was an awful lot scarier. I loved that about both of them.

And the leather jacket wasn't lazy, if anything quite the reverse. You really do need to give RTD and co the credit they deserve. If they'd put Eccleston in the Sixth's outfir for example do you really think people would have kept watching? 9's look was very simple yet very distinctive.

Sorry Bones, but you can't say the Second Doctor was sort of smartly dressed. The cosmic hobo nickname was well founded. As was the term clown used by the First Doctor.

Similarly, Sci, I know you don't have time for the classic series but none of the previous Doctors dressed smartly? WTF? They might not have dressed in a way you approve of, or 'trendily' enough, but they were mostly quite smart. None of them were running around in jeans and a T-Shirt at least and Pertwee's Doctor always looked impecable (and not many men can pull velvet and ruffles off you know)

And I wish people would stop going on about 8th Doctor Time War mini-series. For the majority of modern Who fans McGann is a scrawled sketch in a notebook and a blink and you'll miss it infostamp image.

 

[Sci]

Y'see, when Eccleston was cast, it seemed to be a self-conscious attempt to get away from what Doctor Who used to be, because the old show has itself a negative reputation in the wider public. So rather than go with an eccentric sort of character, they went for the most down to earth type possible, and rather than making him smartly but eccentrically dressed, they put him in a bloody leather jacket. Which made him look like the kind of thug you'd find in a rough northern pub,

What on Earth was thuggish about a leather jacket? He just looked like a working-class guy, that's all.

Thugs generally look quite a bit more aggressive than Eccleston ever did.

Yeah, I mean he wasn't genuinely punching people in the cheek with a key in his fist, but he certainly wasn't Doctorish in any way previously established. Put it this way: if I accidentally knocked his pint of bitter over, I wouldn't hang around to try and apologise.

I don't get that at all. Eccleston never carried himself with aggression; sure, he looked tough, but he didn't look violent. I'd be happy to hang around and apologize if I were to accidently knock over his drink.

Is this just a regional thing -- Northern English coming across as being somehow inherently more threatening to someone from another British region but not to an American?

Why? It will always just disappoint someone.

Same goes for pretty much anything. Indeed, even new Who itself. But done well and done properly it could make for good television and give the Eighth Doctor some of the action I feel he deserves. You certainly shouldn't not try just in case you might disappoint someone.

But I'm not convinced the story needs to be told. Some ideas are more powerful in their ambiguity than in their expression. (A fact I wish RTD had remembered when he decided to finally bring the Time Lords back; they should have remained forever in the background.)

Similarly, Sci, I know you don't have time for the classic series but none of the previous Doctors dressed smartly? WTF?

Fine, I'll refine:

The Seventh Doctor is dressed smartly in the TV movie. This I will concede. He was dressed horribly in TOS, though.

The Fourth Doctor would have been dressed smartly if it weren't for his scarf. But, of course, it's the Fourth Doctor -- you can't get rid of his scarf, it's iconic. So he is rendered un-smartly dressed; it looks ridiculous, but it's a part of who he is.

The Fifth Doctor would be smartly dressed if he weren't wearing a cricket uniform's jacket.

They might not have dressed in a way you approve of, or 'trendily' enough, but they were mostly quite smart. None of them were running around in jeans and a T-Shirt at least and Pertwee's Doctor always looked impecable (and not many men can pull velvet and ruffles off you know)

The Third Doctor is a joke! The only Doctor who looks worse than him is the Sixth!

 

[Bones2]

With the close cropped hair and leather jacket, Eccleston at least looked tough (I wouldn't go as far as thuggish) though ironically he was something of a wimp a lot of the time. Tennant on the other hand looked all smily and happy yet was an awful lot scarier. I loved that about both of them.

And the leather jacket wasn't lazy, if anything quite the reverse. You really do need to give RTD and co the credit they deserve. If they'd put Eccleston in the Sixth's outfir for example do you really think people would have kept watching? 9's look was very simple yet very distinctive.

I can see no cause for credit in creating a Doctor who wasn't the Doctor, out of shame for what the show used to be. I'm not suggesting you give him quite so out there as the Sixth Doctor's frock coat, but something that retained his eccentric nature. He was only the Doctor by name.

Sorry Bones, but you can't say the Second Doctor was sort of smartly dressed. The cosmic hobo nickname was well founded. As was the term clown used by the First Doctor.

Yeah, you're quite right. But he was definitely eccentric in his clothing.

And I wish people would stop going on about 8th Doctor Time War mini-series. For the majority of modern Who fans McGann is a scrawled sketch in a notebook and a blink and you'll miss it infostamp image.

He's my second favourite Doctor, and there's just so much potential there. I'm well aware we probably won't see it, but I think it can be done and done well. And the way you've described his reputation among modern Doctor Who fans could just as well apply to the previous 7.

What on Earth was thuggish about a leather jacket? He just looked like a working-class guy, that's all.

Thugs generally look quite a bit more aggressive than Eccleston ever did.

Yeah, I mean he wasn't genuinely punching people in the cheek with a key in his fist, but he certainly wasn't Doctorish in any way previously established. Put it this way: if I accidentally knocked his pint of bitter over, I wouldn't hang around to try and apologise.

I don't get that at all. Eccleston never carried himself with aggression; sure, he looked tough, but he didn't look violent. I'd be happy to hang around and apologize if I were to accidently knock over his drink.

Is this just a regional thing -- Northern English coming across as being somehow inherently more threatening to someone from another British region but not to an American?

Maybe. But I wouldn't mess with him. Which means staying away from any road that has a Ladbrokes on it. I also don't think he'd cut you much slack when he hears an American accent.

They might not have dressed in a way you approve of, or 'trendily' enough, but they were mostly quite smart. None of them were running around in jeans and a T-Shirt at least and Pertwee's Doctor always looked impecable (and not many men can pull velvet and ruffles off you know)

The Third Doctor is a joke! The only Doctor who looks worse than him is the Sixth!

I doubt you'll find many who agree on the Third Doctor. And personally, I'd love a Sixth Doctor coat. Some days it's all I think about

 

[Sci]

I can see no cause for credit in creating a Doctor who wasn't the Doctor, out of shame for what the show used to be. I'm not suggesting you give him quite so out there as the Sixth Doctor's frock coat, but something that retained his eccentric nature. He was only the Doctor by name.

You have a pretty pathetic, poorly-realized character if it is a character necessarily defined by its costume. If changing the costume means that it ceases to be the same character, then you didn't so much have an actual character as a caricature.

ETA:

And, no, I don't think the Doctor -- even the TOS Doctor -- was a mere caricature, and I don't think it's a character necessarily defined by its costume.

I don't get that at all. Eccleston never carried himself with aggression; sure, he looked tough, but he didn't look violent. I'd be happy to hang around and apologize if I were to accidently knock over his drink.

Is this just a regional thing -- Northern English coming across as being somehow inherently more threatening to someone from another British region but not to an American?

Maybe. But I wouldn't mess with him. Which means staying away from any road that has a Ladbrokes on it.

Well, all I can say is that he doesn't register to me as being the least bit thuggish or violent or even threatening. He registers to me as being working-class, not low-class, and his accent just sounds like an English accent that's been influenced by Scottish accents.

And what the hell is "Ladbroke?"

I also don't think he'd cut you much slack when he hears an American accent.

The Ninth Doctor didn't really react at all to the fact that the characters he met in "Dalek" were American, nor do I recall him having anything in particular to say Captain Jack's American accent. Like all of the Doctors, Nine seems particularly fond of the United Kingdom -- witness his "one tiny, damp little island" monologue in "The Empty Child" -- but I'd hardly say he has any antipathy towards Americans.

(Yeah, he expresses some anti-Iraq War sentiment in "Aliens of London"/"World War Three," but that doesn't make him anti-American any more than it made him anti-British. It made him anti-Bush/Blair.)

 

[Starkers]

Ladbrokes is a bookmakers, or turf accountant if you will (love that phrase).

People with Northern accents do come with some connotations in the UK, they might be percived as harder, more no nonsense. There's still a certain grim oop north attitude. The inverse is sissy southerners. I'm from the midlands and nobody can thing of much to say about us.

Not strictly speaking still 100% accurate but the North was often perceived as less economically succesful, more working class and industrial. It's also usually colder!

It's no different to the way Americans might percieve New Yorkers and Californians as different from each other, or someone from the midwest different from Texas.

And I think Pertwee's outfit worked. This was the early 70s afterall and TV/film was replete with outlandishly dressed characters- take Jason King! Meanwhile however bad people dressed in the mid 1980s nobody looked anything like Colin!

 

[Sci]

Ladbrokes is a bookmakers, or turf accountant if you will (love that phrase).

People with Northern accents do come with some connotations in the UK, they might be percived as harder, more no nonsense. There's still a certain grim oop north attitude. The inverse is sissy southerners. I'm from the midlands and nobody can thing of much to say about us.

Not strictly speaking still 100% accurate but the North was often perceived as less economically succesful, more working class and industrial. It's also usually colder!

It's no different to the way Americans might percieve New Yorkers and Californians as different from each other,

That sounds like a good comparison to me. To most Americans, native New Yorkers come across as seeming somehow rougher than most other regions, though not necessarily "thuggish." There's a general stereotype that Californians -- by which most Americans actually mean "people from the rich parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco" -- are much softer than people in other parts of the country.

or someone from the midwest different from Texas.

I just think Texans are obnoxious, but I can't say I find them threatening.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I'm from the midlands and nobody can thing of much to say about us.

Yes we can. We say you're boring and stupid.



Kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bones2]

Midlands? Neither fish nor fowl.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Just foul!

(Okay, I'm sorry, I'll stop now.)