Titan Comics announces 8th Doctor mini-series

[Ithekro]

Outline: Plan A: Nine-Ten-Eleven in one episode with Nine being the guy that pulled the trigger on Gallifrey.

Eccleston says "no".

Outline: Plan B: New creation Doctor (War)-Ten-Eleven where the War Doctor was the one to pull the trigger on Gallifrey.

Plan approved, write script.

Plan C: Considered not an option: Eight-Ten-Eleven where Eight is the one that pulled the trigger on Gallifrey. Both RTD and Moffat cannot see Eight as the man that would pull the trigger. Plan not implemented.

 

[Christopher]

Well, they did say it was the first year of the Time War. Assuming they mean the first year of the war's existence (which I've always assumed to be the intent) then it would indeed be the Eight Doctor.

Again, why is everyone forgetting that everyone involved in the war was a time traveler? It wouldn't have taken place in chronological order. Its combatants would've been traveling back and forth to different phases of the war on a constant basis. We were told explicitly that the two sides were using time travel to go back and alter past battles in the war, in order to undo their defeats. You cannot apply any linear standard of chronology to a war between time travelers. The "first year" would be more like a location that people could travel to and from at will than a fixed point in the past. I'm sure plenty of people from later stages in the war would've traveled back to the first year to try to prevent the war or pre-emptively defeat the other side.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Not sort of. That's what happened.

But only after Ecceleston turned it down. So creating a new Doctor couldn't have been Moffat's whole point of doing "Day of the Doctor" (as you said earlier) if it was actually a Plan B.

Doctor Who Magazine claims that he never wrote a script featuring the Ninth Doctor in Warrior's place. He talked with Eccleston, and only after he turned it down did he write it. So we're both right - all I'm saying is, Nine was never part of the script process.

And neither was the War Doctor until after Ecceleston said no. It wasn't until after the initial idea of having the Ninth Doctor back was nixed that Moffat went with the new Doctor idea.

Outline: Plan A: Nine-Ten-Eleven in one episode with Nine being the guy that pulled the trigger on Gallifrey.

Eccleston says "no".

Outline: Plan B: New creation Doctor (War)-Ten-Eleven where the War Doctor was the one to pull the trigger on Gallifrey.

Plan approved, write script.

Plan C: Considered not an option: Eight-Ten-Eleven where Eight is the one that pulled the trigger on Gallifrey. Both RTD and Moffat cannot see Eight as the man that would pull the trigger. Plan not implemented.

Yeah, that's how it went down.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Again, why is everyone forgetting that everyone involved in the war was a time traveler? It wouldn't have taken place in chronological order. Its combatants would've been traveling back and forth to different phases of the war on a constant basis. We were told explicitly that the two sides were using time travel to go back and alter past battles in the war, in order to undo their defeats. You cannot apply any linear standard of chronology to a war between time travelers. The "first year" would be more like a location that people could travel to and from at will than a fixed point in the past. I'm sure plenty of people from later stages in the war would've traveled back to the first year to try to prevent the war or pre-emptively defeat the other side.

And again, why would the first year mean, for him, something else other than what it does? The line is supposed to be exposition, by saying that from his perspective of the Time War, in that first year, he saw Davros dissapear. What the hell is wrong with assuming, rightly, that he was 8 and not the Warrior at that time? Only if you're so hang up on the Warrior would you really care about that.

 

[NightJim]

Well, they did say it was the first year of the Time War. Assuming they mean the first year of the war's existence (which I've always assumed to be the intent) then it would indeed be the Eight Doctor.

Again, why is everyone forgetting that everyone involved in the war was a time traveler? It wouldn't have taken place in chronological order. Its combatants would've been traveling back and forth to different phases of the war on a constant basis. We were told explicitly that the two sides were using time travel to go back and alter past battles in the war, in order to undo their defeats. You cannot apply any linear standard of chronology to a war between time travelers. The "first year" would be more like a location that people could travel to and from at will than a fixed point in the past. I'm sure plenty of people from later stages in the war would've traveled back to the first year to try to prevent the war or pre-emptively defeat the other side.

Except Gallifreyans stay in sync with one another. It's why we never have the Doctor meet the Master earlier in his timeline, or vice versa. Admittedly that doesn't hold true for Time Lords versus Daleks, so the two sides can jump around all over the shop on each other. But for the span of the Time War, it can only be Eight, then War, and regenerates into Nine on the day it ended. So 'Early Time War' is Eight, etc.

Maybe the Daleks have something similar, so those involved in "Destiny of the Daleks" are not the time traveller types and will never get involved. Unless a Time Lord arrived during that other war to tip the advantage towards the Movellans.

 

[JoeZhang]

Well, they did say it was the first year of the Time War. Assuming they mean the first year of the war's existence (which I've always assumed to be the intent) then it would indeed be the Eight Doctor.

Again, why is everyone forgetting that everyone involved in the war was a time traveler? It wouldn't have taken place in chronological order. Its combatants would've been traveling back and forth to different phases of the war on a constant basis. We were told explicitly that the two sides were using time travel to go back and alter past battles in the war, in order to undo their defeats. You cannot apply any linear standard of chronology to a war between time travelers. The "first year" would be more like a location that people could travel to and from at will than a fixed point in the past. I'm sure plenty of people from later stages in the war would've traveled back to the first year to try to prevent the war or pre-emptively defeat the other side.

Except Gallifreyans stay in sync with one another. It's why we never have the Doctor meet the Master earlier in his timeline, or vice versa. Admittedly that doesn't hold true for Time Lords versus Daleks, so the two sides can jump around all over the shop on each other. But for the span of the Time War, it can only be Eight, then War, and regenerates into Nine on the day it ended. So 'Early Time War' is Eight, etc.

Maybe the Daleks have something similar, so those involved in "Destiny of the Daleks" are not the time traveller types and will never get involved. Unless a Time Lord arrived during that other war to tip the advantage towards the Movellans.

Is that always the case? The meddling monk was from the future.

 

[Ithekro]

It is unlikely that Gallifreyans are always in sync with each other. Even the Doctor said (as the Sixth) that if you go traveling as much as his does you are bound to run into yourself eventually. In his case, the Second Doctor. Also during the Sixth time, he encountered the Valeyard, whom the Master had encountered before, and judging by how the Master talks about the Doctor, he's had run ins with later Doctors. Be that from the particular body of the Master, or from a pervious incarnation that is living out of sync with the Doctor. Much like River Song is living her life out of order compared to the Doctor.

The Doctor (or perhaps the TARDIS) keeps his return trips to Gallifrey moving forward along his timeline so that a few decades later for him is the same on Gallifrey. But running in other time travelers anywhere in the universe could be an anywhen situation. It be something if the Twelfth Doctor runs into an earlier incarnation of the Master, even though Missy is a later version.

Besides...the Doctor still has a promise to keep with his granddaughter.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

The Valeyard was an exception, though. An anomaly - just like the multi-Doctor adventures are meant to be such.

And as far as we know, The Doctor and the Master always met in sequential order. One could've argued about the Master in the TV Movie being between the Delgado and Skeletor versions of OldWho, but Big Finish straightened that out by insisting that it was the post-Ainley Master in the TV Movie, and from then on, introduced the first Master in the new life cycle in Alex McQueen (who in the canon is likely followed by Derek Jacobi). And we don't know if the Master met a future Doctor - for all we know, he only met the Valeyard before he was known as such.

Also, the Doctor kept that promise to his granddaughter. Again, in Big Finish.

 

[The Wormhole]

Well, they did say it was the first year of the Time War. Assuming they mean the first year of the war's existence (which I've always assumed to be the intent) then it would indeed be the Eight Doctor.

Again, why is everyone forgetting that everyone involved in the war was a time traveler? It wouldn't have taken place in chronological order. Its combatants would've been traveling back and forth to different phases of the war on a constant basis. We were told explicitly that the two sides were using time travel to go back and alter past battles in the war, in order to undo their defeats. You cannot apply any linear standard of chronology to a war between time travelers. The "first year" would be more like a location that people could travel to and from at will than a fixed point in the past. I'm sure plenty of people from later stages in the war would've traveled back to the first year to try to prevent the war or pre-emptively defeat the other side.

The Time War likely has a linear component to it, this is vaguely touched upon in the War Doctor novel Engines of War. Although the War covers all history, there was an internal progression that could only be followed by races like the Time Lords, Daleks, and other advanced races. Besides, from the Doctor's perspective, his first seven lives, and a portion of his eighth are pre-Time War, the rest of his eight life and his ninth (who we consider the War Doctor) are during, and the rest of his lives are after. Even if we accept that the Doctor is just talking about his perspective, "the first year" would still be while he was the Eight Doctor since he says it was the first year of the war, not his first year fighting it. His attempt to save Davros could be one of the times where he was helping out where he could, even though in that instance he failed.

It is unlikely that Gallifreyans are always in sync with each other. Even the Doctor said (as the Sixth) that if you go traveling as much as his does you are bound to run into yourself eventually. In his case, the Second Doctor. Also during the Sixth time, he encountered the Valeyard, whom the Master had encountered before, and judging by how the Master talks about the Doctor, he's had run ins with later Doctors. Be that from the particular body of the Master, or from a pervious incarnation that is living out of sync with the Doctor. Much like River Song is living her life out of order compared to the Doctor.

The Doctor (or perhaps the TARDIS) keeps his return trips to Gallifrey moving forward along his timeline so that a few decades later for him is the same on Gallifrey. But running in other time travelers anywhere in the universe could be an anywhen situation. It be something if the Twelfth Doctor runs into an earlier incarnation of the Master, even though Missy is a later version.

Besides...the Doctor still has a promise to keep with his granddaughter.

Time Lords and Gallifrey pretty much are always in sync, with the exceptions of multi Doctor stories which are usually the result of Time Lord interference. The only real exception I can think of is an IDW comic that involved the Eleventh Doctor meeting the Ainley Master, though in that case they met in a region that existed "outside time." Time Lords can obtain easy access to their personal futures, like in Terror of the Vervoids, but otherwise they remain synced up with each other.

 

[NightJim]

Again, why is everyone forgetting that everyone involved in the war was a time traveler? It wouldn't have taken place in chronological order. Its combatants would've been traveling back and forth to different phases of the war on a constant basis. We were told explicitly that the two sides were using time travel to go back and alter past battles in the war, in order to undo their defeats. You cannot apply any linear standard of chronology to a war between time travelers. The "first year" would be more like a location that people could travel to and from at will than a fixed point in the past. I'm sure plenty of people from later stages in the war would've traveled back to the first year to try to prevent the war or pre-emptively defeat the other side.

Except Gallifreyans stay in sync with one another. It's why we never have the Doctor meet the Master earlier in his timeline, or vice versa. Admittedly that doesn't hold true for Time Lords versus Daleks, so the two sides can jump around all over the shop on each other. But for the span of the Time War, it can only be Eight, then War, and regenerates into Nine on the day it ended. So 'Early Time War' is Eight, etc.

Maybe the Daleks have something similar, so those involved in "Destiny of the Daleks" are not the time traveller types and will never get involved. Unless a Time Lord arrived during that other war to tip the advantage towards the Movellans.

Is that always the case? The meddling monk was from the future.

In reality The Monk is a special case though, being he's the second ever Timelord we meet, and Timelords didn't even exist yet.

In universe, the Doctor only says the Monk's TARDIS is from 50 years in his future. Given what we know of Time Lord life lines and how old the Doctor's TARDIS is, he's just saying it's a newer model.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Again, why is everyone forgetting that everyone involved in the war was a time traveler? It wouldn't have taken place in chronological order. Its combatants would've been traveling back and forth to different phases of the war on a constant basis. We were told explicitly that the two sides were using time travel to go back and alter past battles in the war, in order to undo their defeats. You cannot apply any linear standard of chronology to a war between time travelers. The "first year" would be more like a location that people could travel to and from at will than a fixed point in the past. I'm sure plenty of people from later stages in the war would've traveled back to the first year to try to prevent the war or pre-emptively defeat the other side.

And again, why would the first year mean, for him, something else other than what it does? The line is supposed to be exposition, by saying that from his perspective of the Time War, in that first year, he saw Davros dissapear. What the hell is wrong with assuming, rightly, that he was 8 and not the Warrior at that time? Only if you're so hang up on the Warrior would you really care about that.

I have to agree with you. Bear in mind also that this line came from Russell T Davies, who was altogether less prone to 'wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey' stuff than Moffatt is.

There's be no point in even using the words 'the first year of' if he'd meant it in the way Christopher suggests. What would the first year even be in that case?

The line was written for the general audience, not for people who sit and analyse the nuances and implications of time travel and of fighting a time war. Clearly intended for the way in which we view linear time and the Doctor's and Timelords' own timeline.

 

[NightJim]

I think I ask this every time the Titan comics come up, but what's the consensus on the various series? Eight and Nine have properly raised my interest, and I understand that Ten, Eleven and Twelve all play into each other for the "Four Doctors" storyline.

And this time I'm about to order a graphic novel and am eyeing up Doctor Who to be it.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Of the ongoing series, the twelfth Doctor series is the least interesting. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's simply the one that's doing the most traditional things.

The eleventh Doctor series is certainly the most unique. The eleventh Doctor has a strange group of companions, and the stories are bit bonkers in a good way.

The tenth Doctor series is my favorite of the three. The tenth Doctor is characterized well, Gabby brings something interesting to the mix, and the stories have been traditional.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Of the ongoing series, the twelfth Doctor series is the least interesting. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's simply the one that's doing the most traditional things.

The eleventh Doctor series is certainly the most unique. The eleventh Doctor has a strange group of companions, and the stories are bit bonkers in a good way.

The tenth Doctor series is my favorite of the three. The tenth Doctor is characterized well, Gabby brings something interesting to the mix, and the stories have been traditional.

As a consensus was asked, I'll mention that I agree with you.

 

[The Wormhole]

I've only read the first trade paperback anthology for the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors, or in other words the first five issues for each. The Eleventh is probably the best. The Twelfth isn't bad, but isn't really that great either. The Tenth is my least favourite, it just feels so off. It's like the authors were only familiar with Tennant from Day of the Doctor, and used that for their basis.

 

[ClayinCA]

I have to admit that I find the comics' Tenth Doctor to be the least like his television counterpart, although the stories in the Tenth Doctor comic are better than the other two ongoings. There are things I like and dislike in all three series, but on the whole I probably rank the Tenth Doctor first and the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors' series about equal for second place. Haven't read the Ninth Doctor comic yet - I'm waiting for the series' glacial release pacing to pick up a bit.