All New Who

{{Only one proper thing to do under those circumstances Forest- disown them!   }}

Well, I can't say I blame them thaaat much. They did have a good time doing other stuff instead. They met David Petersen, the author of the Mouse Guard series, and got me a signed print. I, for example, would rather spend some time talking about the wonderful tabletop RPG based on his comic series than watch a bunch of nonsense spouted at me by the new Doctor Who people about why their version of the show is going to be so good and blah-blah.

{{Looks like we are getting a Who 'minisode' for 13 in this years Children's in Need.
Not the first time, we had the 10th meeting 5 as a Children in Need Special as well as the little linking scene following 9's regen into 10 and the start of the Christmas Invasion, and we've had Time and Space for Red Nose Day too as well as trailers for new series or xmas specials debuting on these charity shows.
But this is the first full 'sketch' written for Children in Need since the 10 meets 5 one.
Childrenin Need usually airs about October/November so not sure if we will get this or the new series first- I suspect the series will begin before then however, though no official word on when yet.}}}

More Tom Baker audios confirmed (though I've read that Big Finish has even more Tom baker stories already banked-apparently he records his stories about 4 years ahead of their release date, and some of the writers have indicated they have already written scripts for as yet unannounced seasons), with Matthew Waterhouse returning as Adric! Pleasantly surprised that this is happening, as Waterhouse, Baker and Ward reportedly didn't have a very good working relationship, nor have the years mellowed their opinions on each other, evidently they've put their issues behind them and agreed to work together for the fans (well, looking at the photo, presumebly Waterhouse and Tom baker have-Matthew Waterhouse has said he's met Baker occasionally at conventions in recent years and had indicated he's like to work with him again,IIRC Lalla Ward and Tom baker don't record their lines in the same studio to avoid any awkwardness (being ex- husband and wife afterall), another Actress standing in for Lalla Ward (Jane Slavin I believe, she's voicing a new companion for the 4th Doctor in next years season) Matthew Waterhouse has put in some really solid performances as Adric in his recent BF work and I always felt Adric worked better with the 4th Doctor than the 5th...

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/the-fourth-doctor-continues

The new Tardis interior Set for Series 11 was leaked on reddit:

13th Doctor Tardis interior:

Not sure what to make of it tbh, though a leaked photo obviously won't have the same effect as seing the set in use in an actual episode with proper lighting/effects etc.

Aye'up by gum, Maybe when its in action IL take to it, who knows. All the different stages the Tardis has been thru over so many years. It all started so simply. Light & airy, walls made of a ring design, a simple whoosh whoosh thing in the middle that William Hartnell looked into & Susan pulled a lever or pushed a button, Now ? looks like the inner guts of an Xbox sci fi game. Its getting more cluttered as Drs go by.

{{Well it looks bloody awful! Got to hope when properly lit ect it looks a hell of alot better.

'It all started so simply. Light & airy, walls made of a ring design, a simple whoosh whoosh thing in the middle that William Hartnell looked into & Susan pulled a lever or pushed a button, Now ? looks like the inner guts of an Xbox sci fi game. Its getting more cluttered as Drs go by. '- Azriel

Well that depends- 1-4 had a pretty simple, clean, brightly lit TARDIS with a relatively small console room by modern standards.










For a period of time the secondary console room became the main one for the 4th Doctor, it was wood panelled and much smaller-



They went back to the traditional look of the first 3 Doctors for the next 3




but for 8 they went gothic and much bigger-



When it came back they went for a coral design for 9 and 10. Not as big as it was in 8's time but bigger than in classic.




11 was the first really cluttered modern TARDIS and with multiple levels to the console room as well as space beneath the console itself. It was also much more warmly lit in oranges and yellows rather than either ark or super light as before. I wasn't a huge fan of 11's to start with but as time went on and the Ponds moved in and started adding to the clutter with clothes, books, mugs, dvd's ect it seemed to fit the family vibe.



The last TARDIS interior we had was of course 12's- and as was fitting for a Doctor more reminiscent of classic series than modern they stripped the TADIS back down again and make it quite stark, brought the round things back on the walls from classic and added a balcony library floor and a tinkering about workshop area beneath the console itself.
The most notable feature and difference with all previous however was the pillar in the centre of the console no longer did its uppy downy thing  when the ship was in flight- instead 12's had the spinning rotors above the console.



13's is more reminiscent of 9/10 coral design I'd say more than any other thanks to the similar four stand alone pillars surrounding the console. Which is interesting in itself as the pillars standing in the console room round the console first appeared in the 8th Doctors TARDIS, so looks like both the designer of the 9/10 Tardis and 13th looked back to the 8th for some inspiration. Speaking of consoles 13's appears to have been assembled out of someones old sink- given it seems

Spoiler:

it seems she is going to be a tinkering building sort of mechanic type, even more so than 12 and maybe more like the gadget obsessed 3rd Doctor.
The new console also doesn't appear to have a central column of any kind whatsoever, nor does it have 12's flight rotors- so I am wondering how they are going to indicate when the ship is in-flight and when landed. I wonder if all those orangey columns glow or something. Not sure how I feel about the console having no direct column link to the engines either. Mmmm- and as a final thought- the walls seem very shiny and reflective, you would think that would be a bit of lighting and filming nightmare stopping crew, cameras, lights, booms ect being spotted somewhere in all those reflective surfaces, especially given they are all at different angles. Glad working out the logistics of setting up shots in that is not my job!!! Could drive a hobbit to buckie a job like that!}}

that new one is full-on steam punk. its most similar to McGann's with all that bronze, but wood?

Wood? No, no, it's all very spider-shaped-stalagmite.

{{More comments from the new Who team which make me worry this all arse to elbow-

"We have the first writers of colour to write on Doctor Who this year – and we have two female writers and three male writers in the guest writers' slots," Chibnall confirmed to Digital Spy and other media in a press conference at San Diego Comic-Con....."Chris and I, and the production team, wanted to make sure that we are as diverse behind the camera"....To that end, the 10-part series will feature an equal female / male director split, according to Chibnall, while all of series 11's editors, bar one, are also female...
"It was a big priority for us," Strevens said, with Chibnall adding that Doctor Who is also working with a trainee scheme in Cardiff offering opportunities to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
"We're doing lots, but our plan across time is to do lots more," said the showrunner.
"It should be the most inclusive show on television. The whole concept of Doctor Who is that anybody can go anywhere and do anything, and we want to reflect that on-screen and off."


I dont know where to start with this pile of shite!!
If you want to treat people fairly and squarely hire the best people for the job regardless of colour or gender.

This sounds like they stared out saying we have to have equal amounts of female/male directors- with the end result we've been landed with a bunch of soap opera directors rather than the standard of previous series directors.
We still don't know who the writers are for some reaosn, but hey we do know what colour some of them are so hurrah! What the fuck does what colour they are even matter? Why cant they see that deliberately setting out to hire x amount of black people over white people is just as racist as deciding to higher whites over blacks? Higher good people- we dont care what colour, what sex they are so long as they write and produce good Who.

If the standard of writers has taken as big a dip as the standard in directors just to fill a quota that is bloody stupid but it seems likely when they appear to have set out to fill a quota of minority and female roles, regardless of quality.
And if they are so certain they have the best writers- why wont they tell us who any of them are? Every episode is shot and in post-production, its not like they dont know who wrote them- so why wont they tell the fans who the new writing team is? Or could it be because like the directors list it looks like a B list in comparison to previous thanks to this mad desire to have x amount of types of folk working on the show come hell or high water. }}}

happy-clappy rainbow campfires. blurg!

{{Was thinking the exact same thing Figg- I even said to a friend it was starting to sound more like a twee 1970's coke ad than Who! }}}

Before I go onto look at series 8 and how Moffat continues to pursue his themes of mental health and how it relates to the self I think first we need to talk about two things.
First regeneration as a process, and then a brief recap of the Doctors state of mind as he becomes 12.


This is often misunderstood, as whilst NuWho has added to what we know about regeneration, its never really recapped what we already knew from Classic.
The first thing that is often mistaken is that regeneration is not a naturally evolved ability- its as much, if not more, technology advanced to such a level that from our perspective it may as well be magic.

Like many Time Lord innovations regeneration was the product of the mind of Rassilon, but its roots lie in exposure to the Time Vortex.
There are several effects of being exposed to the Time Vortex, one is the absorption of Arton radiation, which TARDISes need to operate and which the Vortex is full of. That glowy gold stuff that marks regeneration is the release of Arton radiation and it is crucial to the ability to regenerate. But anyone who travels in a TARDIS absorbs large quantities of this radiation and it seems to be harmless in terms of health in the short term (it is this Arton radiation however which is how the Dalek, in Dalek, can regenerate itself after contact with Rose when she lays her hand on its shell and it it is the effect it has on living cells which led Rassilon to pursue regeneration and that allows Madam Kovarian to exploit the same thing in River, accounting for her ability to also regenerate despite being genetically human).

Another thing about regeneration is that it is limited to 12 regenerations. The official reason for this is that after 12 the process becomes increasingly dangerous and erratic.
However the Time Lord Council have always had it in their power to grant more regenerations or even entire new cycles, this has led to a belief that the limit is imposed for political control reasons (which would fit Rassilon's personality) and indeed on at least one occasion we have seen the Council use the offer of a new regeneration cycle as political leverage (The Five Doctors where they offer a new cycle to the Master if he will help save the Doctor).

Regeneration also does not seem to be an ability which is extended to the general Gallifreyean populace. Like other privileges on Gallifrey it is reserved for those who qualify from the Academy as a Time Lord.

Regeneration can also go wrong- it is by no means a certainty it will go well, and it seems to effect Time Lords differently and in personal ways.
Common side effects of regeneration are confused and mixed up memories, loss of memories, unconsciousness or coma like states, erratic and sometimes violent or paranoid behaviour, and even attempts by previous personalities to reassert themselves again.
So common are these side effects that the Time Lords created Zero Rooms which aid in alleviating these symptoms, and so important were these Zero Rooms that every TARDIS has one built in ('Castrovala' when 5 needs to use the Zero Room following his regeneration from 4).

In desperate cases of regeneration going wrong there was one special cure- it only exists in two places in the universe, on Gallifrey and on Karn. It was an elexir of sorts which needed as a key ingredient the residue built up from a very particular geological location where a fire in the rock produced this resin, the planet was Karn.
Karn is home to the sisterhood of Karn, seen for the first time in the 4th Doctor story the Brain of Morbius, and again when 8 regenerated into the War and on and off throughout 12's run.

The Sisterhood are the remnants of the old all female rulers of Gallifrey who were exiled when Rassilon and his followers seized power. It was the Sisterhood who combined knowledge of regeneration with the mysterious powers of their elixirs- in doing so they perfected the art even above Time Lord abilities, down to being able to prepare elixirs to produce different results from regeneration such as choosing gender or demeanour.
As regeneration can be such an unstable process, the need for this elixir was enough that the Sisterhood and the Time Lords came to a deal,and it its probably the only reason the Sisterhood survived at all.

So to sum up, Rassilon invented regeneration after noting the effect exposure to the Vortex was having on Time Lord biology, he advanced what was naturally happening and turned it into a medical application- regeneration. But the process can be very unstable, so much so that further medical innovations were required to stabilise patients when it went wrong. It is limited to 12 regeneration per cycle, though the limit is almost certainly more political than it is medical, especially as Rassilon in his later years became obsessed with achieving immortality.

Few other minor things about regeneration. Upon a Time Lord becoming injured to the point of death regeneration is not always immediate. A Time Lord can, by an act of will enter what is called the State of Grace, in this state the arton energy is used to hold back the regeneration and instead restore the current body temporarily to health, or as close as possible, every cell tries to repair first.

It is in this period that we see 10 say his farewells to all his old companions, and why 11 looks young again prior to his regeneration, and why 1 and 12 refuse to regenerate- as this latter reason in fact is the primary use of the State of Grace on Galifrey- a chance for a Time Lord to decide if they want to regenerate at all, as it is possible for a Time Lord to choose not do so and to die naturally as they are.

One down side to this State of Grace is that if a Time Lord is further seriously injured before the regenration process has begun but after the old body is technically already dead, it will kill them then and there.

The final thing to say about regeneration is that it is mentally traumatic, though this varies not just Time Lord to Time Lord but within the different regenerations of a single Time Lord. 10 for example viewed it just like dying, with a new man walking away, for 11 it was about accepting change and not fearing it.
Going into a regeneration and the aftermath of it can both be traumatic experiences.

The big question looming over all this is, if you change every cell in your body including how your brain is wired and therefore what personality you have, and all you retain consistently across the different versions of you are your memories, are you still really you?
That is the very question Moffat will seek to answer in 12's run.



I am covering NuWho only here and taking it from the Time War as that was a creation of RTD and so part of NuWHo.
There is a misunderstanding, or a wilful assumption that Moffat somehow undid RTD's work in many ways, rather as they are in fact good friends he built on far more than he left out. Prime amongst this was not to discard the emotional stuff that RTD had put his Doctors through and the effect this was having on the Doctor by the end of 10's run.

So we begin at the end of 8. 8 has refused to participate in the Time War to this point and upon meeting someone who would rather die than let him help her 8 chooses to not save himself either and goes down with the crashing ship. He is temporarily revived by the Sisterhoods elixir and given a choice- to die now or to regenerate and fight the Time War. He chooses the latter, hoping the process will hurt renouncing the name of Doctor and instead choosing the elixir which will make him a warrior. Giving birth to the War Doctor- we dot know how long he fought in the war but it was, going on his ageing at least one thousand years, not including all the ramifications of it being a Time War.

We do know he did a lot of things that went against the ideals of being the Doctor. The War however was now ripping through time and the entire universe was in danger of tearing itself apart and collapsing. After War discovered that the Time Lords had got so desperate they had resurrected Rassilon and put in place a plan that would save the Time Lords at the expense of destroying everything else in existence, War decided to end the the whole mess, by blowing up both sides.

Using a Time Lord weapon of Mass Destruction known as the Moment, and which was so advanced its operating system had developed sentience, he set about doing this. In actual fact with the help of two of his future selves and the Moment itself War saves Galifrey in a pocket Universe and the Dalek fleets blow themselves up. But everyone, including War when he returns to his own time stream, thinks they annihilated each other.

As a result 8 regenerates into 9 with all the guilt of believing he is the man who ended the Time War by destroying not just his enemy but his home planet and his entire race with it.
It is in this state of mind, travelling alone, he encounters Rose.

Rose brings him back from the brink of despair and makes him begin to come to terms with the war, even though he denies himself the memories of that time its Rose who helps him become the Doctor again.
This bond only grows closer when 9 regenrates into 10 and the relationship becomes a romantic one, when 10 loses Rose in heartbreaking circumstances the results on him long term are quite devastating.

He fails entirely to move on from her with Martha, and when she leaves he realises that what he needs is just a friend and gets the perfect one in Donna. But when her time with him likewise ends in tragedy he decides he will no longer travel with anyone and instead will go it alone.

The result of this is the 'Time Lord Victorous'- as the Doctor comes to believe that he did not just survive the Time War, but as the sole survivor he won it, and therefore in-place of the Time Lords there is just him in charge of the Laws of Time now and he can bend them to his will- when his subsequent attempt to change a fixed point in Time also ends in disaster and failure he finally realises he has broken down and gone to far in his actions. Still not having come to terms with his own part in the war, or wiping out his own people, compounded by Rose and Donna and now being humbled by Time itself when he thought he could be its god.  And finally through prophecy he knows his own time in this regeneration is coming to an end, something he considers unfair and to be like dying- this says a lot about his state of mind by his point, that he would view it as death. And in fact from a Time Lord perspective there is good reason too -his next body will also be his last in his regeneration cycle, the body he will die in.
And when he does regenerate it is very much still as this broken Doctor who doesn't want to go.

11 is a direct reaction to all this- he is the youngest any regeneration has ever been, it is his final body and he wants it to last as long as possible. He is exuberant on the surface full of silliness and frivolousness, all thoughts of the Time War suppressed and buried, locked up in the complex layers of a Time Lord mind. He is not going out dwelling on his past, lamenting and gnashing teeth as he ended his last regeneration, he is going to be the Doctor, full on.
The Moment sums up 10 and 11 and their relative reactions to the Time War perfectly as, "The man who regrets and the man who forgets."

Of course it doesn't actually work out as planned for 11- but to start with he has essentially the perfect group of enablers around him to help forget the War- he creates a surrogate family around himself. For the first time ever he has married couple travel with him, living out their lives on board, and eventually on and off River too, their daughter, and in part the TARDISes too, his life takes on a cosy family aspect.

It doesn't work out of course, his interference in Amy's life screws her up causing him huge amounts of guilt and a sense of duty towards her. And Rivers life is an epic romantic tragedy across time that is all his fault too. Bringing more guilt- and when he finally loses them entirely and is left alone he is distraught and with a sense he completely failed in every way in his duty of care towards them all. He simply cannot take any more losses, nor can he take any more responsibility. As a result he takes the TARDIS to Victorian London, parks up and retreats away in isolation.

He is drawn out of seclusion by the mystery of Clara, it is important to note he is not going looking for a companion in Clara, or a friend, he is looking to solve a puzzle- how he can have met Cara more than once in different places and times, especially as she died both times helping him.
Following the mystery of Clara eventually leads to the events of the 50th Anniversary, after which the Doctor has accepted War as being the Doctor after-all given in the end they did the right thing and saved Gallifrey rather than destroyed it.

Two things to note here however, one they saved Gallifrey on the last day of the war, everything he did up to the point, all the decades fighting in the war still happened. All the other terrible things he did that went against what he believes it means to be the Doctor still stand. But now 11 is beginning to accept them, to allow those memories back knowing how the war ended with Gallifrey saved.

The other thing to note is a comparison- War, 10, and 11 all accept saving Gallifrey and the Daleks wiping themselves out as the 'right' thing to have done- its the good ending. Yet compare that to a much younger 4th Doctor, faced with the choice to destroy the Daleks before they even begin- and questioning if he has the moral right to commit genocide, even if it is against the Daleks.
War, 10 and 11 not only don't even consider this an issue any longer, it never comes up once, but instead consider the Dalek annihilation as being part of what is right. This more subtle but growing for hundreds of years inside him hatred of the Daleks will come more to the fore going forwards.

Having begun the process of allowing himself to deal with the memories of the war 11 is then hit with a further psychological blow- he discovers how he is going to die, and it doesnt end well he dies on the planet Trenzalore in a huge battle that turns the planet to burning cinders.
It only gets worse when he gets to Trenzalore and discovers that the Time Lords have found a way back and are just waiting on him to signal them to give them the all clear -unfortunately every military force in the universe is also waiting on them to return- not wanting another Time War they plan to obliterate Gallifrey as soon at it tries to reappear in our universe, or easier yet, simply obliterate the planet before they can return. If the Doctor leaves the planet they will simply blow it up with everyone who lives on it. If he stays they will relentlessly try to kill him so they he can never signal to let the Time Lords through and then blow up the planet anyway.
As a result the Doctor finally ends up stuck in one place, for about a thousand years, defending the planet against all comers and growing old. Plenty of tme to think and to reincorporate all those memories of the Time War, whilst fighitng the current one.

When he comes time to regenerate its with acceptance of change, and as someone who has fully recovered their memories of the Time War. But they've been put in a new light by also doing so whilst fighting another war to defend a people. By his end he is sick of war, and he has had time to consider the question if his lifetimes have in-fact made any differnce at all in he universe, has the balance of his actions been for good or bad? He goes to the Tower as an old man, one who has given up, who as no more tricks to pull and is not expecting any salvation. He goes to finally die at the hands of his oldest enemies the Daleks.
Instead he gets an unexpected and unlooked for whole new regeneration cycle and regenerates but from a man who had accepted his own end and given hope of fghting it into oe prepared to face the consequences of it all.

And that brings us onto finally what sort of a man 12 will be born of all these traumatic events. And that is what series 8 will delve into.  }}}

{{ The writers have finally been announced!!!!
And I have to say its the best bit of news to come out of this so far and greatly improved my hopes for the forth coming series. }}

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman has written over 60 books for children and young adults including the Noughts and Crosses series of novels, and her book Pig-Heart Boy, which was adapted into a BAFTA-winning, six-part TV serial.
Malorie says: “I’ve always loved Doctor Who. Getting the chance to write for this series has definitely been a dream come true.”
Ed Hime was nominated for a Craft BAFTA for his first episode of Skins, and won the Prix Italia for his radio play The Incomplete Recorded Works of a Dead Body.
Ed says: “Writing for this series comes down to the adventure really, and telling emotionally engaging stories to bring everyone along with you.”
Playwright and screenwriter Vinay Patel’s television debut, Murdered By My Father, won the 2016 Royal Television Society Award for Best Single Drama and was nominated for three BAFTAs.
Vinay says: “I grew up watching shows like Star Trek and Quantum Leap on the edge of my dad’s bed, and I loved how they managed to capture the imagination of a kid like me as well as acting as a moral compass. I never imagined that I’d get to write for Doctor Who – I was pretty thrilled.”
Pete McTighe is the originating writer of Wentworth, the female prison drama that has sold to over 150 countries. He’s written over a hundred hours of TV drama and been nominated for five Writers Guild Awards.
Pete says: My entire television career has quite literally been an elaborate plan to get to write Doctor Who – and no one is more shocked than me that it paid off. I've been having the time of my life working with Chris, and writing for Jodie and the new team, and can't wait for everyone to see what we've been up to."
Joy Wilkinson has been selected as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and has had two screenplays featured on the Brit List. Her TV scripts include the critically-acclaimed BBC five-parter The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby, while her theatre work has won prizes including the Verity Bargate Award.
Joy says: “I loved the show and felt like it might be a good fit for me, but I knew it was really hard to get onto. So quite frankly I’m still pinching myself to be here!”
- BBC

halfwise wrote:Sorry, but I honestly really do love that song.

Mrs Figg wrote:happy-clappy rainbow campfires. blurg!  

My two favourite things, people and Coca Cola....

Pettytyrant101 wrote:{{ The writers have finally been announced!!!!
And I have to say its the best bit of news to come out of this so far and greatly improved my hopes for the forth coming series. }}

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman has written over 60 books for children and young adults including the Noughts and Crosses series of novels, and her book Pig-Heart Boy, which was adapted into a BAFTA-winning, six-part TV serial.
Malorie says: “I’ve always loved Doctor Who. Getting the chance to write for this series has definitely been a dream come true.”
Ed Hime was nominated for a Craft BAFTA for his first episode of Skins, and won the Prix Italia for his radio play The Incomplete Recorded Works of a Dead Body.
Ed says: “Writing for this series comes down to the adventure really, and telling emotionally engaging stories to bring everyone along with you.”
Playwright and screenwriter Vinay Patel’s television debut, Murdered By My Father, won the 2016 Royal Television Society Award for Best Single Drama and was nominated for three BAFTAs.
Vinay says: “I grew up watching shows like Star Trek and Quantum Leap on the edge of my dad’s bed, and I loved how they managed to capture the imagination of a kid like me as well as acting as a moral compass. I never imagined that I’d get to write for Doctor Who – I was pretty thrilled.”
Pete McTighe is the originating writer of Wentworth, the female prison drama that has sold to over 150 countries. He’s written over a hundred hours of TV drama and been nominated for five Writers Guild Awards.
Pete says: My entire television career has quite literally been an elaborate plan to get to write Doctor Who – and no one is more shocked than me that it paid off. I've been having the time of my life working with Chris, and writing for Jodie and the new team, and can't wait for everyone to see what we've been up to."
Joy Wilkinson has been selected as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and has had two screenplays featured on the Brit List. Her TV scripts include the critically-acclaimed BBC five-parter The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby, while her theatre work has won prizes including the Verity Bargate Award.
Joy says: “I loved the show and felt like it might be a good fit for me, but I knew it was really hard to get onto. So quite frankly I’m still pinching myself to be here!”
- BBC

I was hoping they would go all the way down the Political Correctness road, but you can’t have everything...

{{You might get your wish yet Orwell!

In the recent edition of the Radio Times (I refuse to call it by its rebranded name of RT, as if you do people think you're bizarrely getting your Who information from Russian news! ) they asked various BBC bigwigs to say what they thought were the best people to look out for involved in BBC Productions in the next year and why.

Piers Wegner, Controller of BBC Drama, picked Jodie Whittaker- and had this to say about why-

“It’s a testament to the energy and focus that Jodie has brought to Doctor Who that it’s hard to distinguish where one ends and the other begins. She said from the start that she could only do it her way and so it has become. Gone is the daffiness and idiosyncrasy of her predecessors in favour of a Doctor with energy, spark and relatability.”



Yeah way to go, that's how to win over the long term fans, insult ever actor and every writer of Who to date.
But lets, in proper crabbit style, really tear this down.

1. Daffiness. Been there since the very start.


The Doctor's ability to be utterly childlike in his joy and glee is central to his enduring and endearing life span on TV. Its crucial to the Doctor's personality and has been a part of it in every single regeneration (one of my favourite scene sin Into the Dalek, with grumpy 12th Doctor is when they all have to jump into the chutes and slide down to the digestive system. Its a series of shots of the soldiers and Clara and the Doctor hurtling down inside the tubes. Every shot of the others they are screaming and terrified, every shot of 12 he is laughing and grinning like a great big kid on a water slide and basically going "Whee!" -in fact I think he is at one point. You've go to have it, its part of the Doctor! ). 

2 Idiosyncratic- lets just double-check the dictionary on this one. Adjective- relating to idiosyncrasy; peculiar or individual.  synonyms:distinctive, individual, characteristic, distinct, distinguishing, peculiar, individualistic, different.
The Doctor is a Time Lord, a High Born citizen of the Planet Gallifrey and a member of a race so advanced they border on godlike. They have two hearts, the ability to cheat death through regeneration, two brain stems, and they perceive the flow of time and can influence it, they think so fast they can conduct entire conversations with themselves in their head in less time than most people take to blink. I think such a being, from a human perspective, would probably seem to be just a little, idiosyncratic!   
Also all the different peculiarities and individual quirks of each regeneration help define that version from other versions whilst still retaining the core characteristics. If they didn't all have their peculiarities the character would long ago have become samey and stale, with little to distinguish them for one another.



3. Energy, spark and relatability- all the Doctors have been energetic- that's why the idea of if you become part of the Doctors world you better be good at running, because you'll be running a lot. If they just mean in terms of personality also true of all previous versions, some very notable energetic ones however were 3, 4,7,10,11- so the first two words are not actually important- they are meaningless in the context of previous Doctors, and spark is just the same (and different viewers 'spark' with different Doctors, that's how I can rate 10 low in my list of best Doctors and Figg have him high up) there are no purpose in these words, save one, if they weren't there all he'd have to say was the third word- and that's where the real trouble lies.


No the crux here is of course 'relatability'- this is a deadly word in this context. The companions are there to give the audience someone to relate too specifically because the Doctor is unrelatable.
He is an unknowable alien- clues in the fucking title, Doctor WHO. The Doctor is not the audience surrogate character- even fans of 10 bulk a bit at the punishment he meted out to the Family of Blood, or when he went all Time Lord Victorious- you cant relate to that- nor should you it's Time Lord shit. The strength in the Doctors character and durability is he's space Jesus, he suffers but nevertheless goes on trying to do the right thing no matter what personal costs. But just like Jesus he has an unknowable side, with Jesus its God incarnate, with the Doctor its being a Lord of Time, and like Jesus, with the Doctor we never really feel we can know them fully as a person. There's always a side that's wholly alien to us. That's what makes the character endure as stories.
The Doctor being relatable is a nail in the coffin of the character. Potentially a fatal one.
Its a complete reversal of over 50 years of Who.  



Now I'm back to thinking its going be shit and pandering to the worst elements of isms in our society at the expense of all else }}}

{{Sunday Times reporting the air date will be 23rd September - which is a Sunday!! }}

You know when 'modern' parents try to be the kids mates instead of mum and dad, well this sounds like the new Dr Who.

By the mere fact a woman was going to be Dr who makes it a brand new game. Nothing, & I mean nothing will be the same again. If it all goes tits up & she is demobbed there will be outcry at the decision & some will say "its because shes a woman isn't it" brigade. If she succeeds all men might as well hang their boots up & all little boys dreams will be shattered about growing up to be the next Dr. We will now have a run of women Drs for....?.... how longs a piece of string ? Will a man ever be Dr Who again ?? What excuse will be validated & not opposed for getting rid of Mrs Dr Who ?? I still think its a bad idea of a woman Dr & I like my men Drs to be Dr Who. And that's it.

{{If you find the time I really enjoyed these two complimentary documentaries.
One covers the rise of the New Adventure range of books which came about as a result of the show being cancelled in the 80's, the other the rise of Big Finnish and full cast Who audio adventures.}}

Dunno if you have been keeping up with Big Finish news or not Petty, but they've got some pretty exciting releases coming up over the next couple of years:

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-the-legacy-of-time

In 2019 Big Finish will celebrate 20 years of creating Doctor Who stories on audio, and it’s doing so in style with The Legacy of Time – the biggest audio crossover event ever! Six hour-long stories see characters from the entire history of Doctor Who crossing paths – some for the very first time – Classic and New Series Doctor Who will collide!

Professor River Song (Alex Kingston) meets her predecessor, another time-travelling archaeologist, Professor Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman). Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) travels back in time to classic UNIT and meets the Third Doctor (voiced by Tim Treloar) and Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

As 2018 is also the 30th anniversary year of their first appearance in Remembrance of the Daleks, the Counter-Measures team will be reunited with the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred). And the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and his companion Charlotte Pollard (India Fisher) once again meet Detective Inspector Patricia Menzies (Anna Hope) in a police procedural like no other!

Plus we go to Gallifrey, and elsewhere we enter the Time War. Doctors will meet, and there will be Easter Eggs aplenty.

Time is collapsing. Incidents of temporal chaos and devastation are appearing throughout the many lives of the Doctor and his friends – fallout from one terrible disaster.

The Doctor must save history itself – and he will need all the help he can get.

1. Lies in Ruins by James Goss
2. The Split Infinitive by John Dorney
3. The Sacrifice of Jo Grant by Guy Adams
4. Episode four by Matt Fitton (to be confirmed)
5. The Avenues of Possibility by Jonny Morris
6. Collision Course by Guy Adams

The truth is revealed, and it will take more than one Doctor to save the day!

Executive Producer and one of the founding members of Big Finish, Nicholas Briggs told us about this exciting new release: “The Legacy of Time will probably go down in Big Finish history as our biggest, most exciting production, ever! Celebrating 20 years of Doctor Who at Big Finish, it expertly pulls together all the strands from our many and varied Doctor Who ranges.

“This is down to the brilliance of script editor Matt Fitton and producer David Richardson. They epitomise the creative strength, organisational expertise and leadership of the company. Quite simply, this is going to blow people’s minds! It’s got everything!”

“How do you celebrate 20 years of Doctor Who at Big Finish?” questions the producer assigned this epic task, David Richardson. “How do you celebrate something that has meant so much to all of us who work here – the friendships, the freedom to be creative, the glory that is Doctor Who itself? That was the challenge facing myself and Matt Fitton, but once I’d had an idea for what this six-hour epic would be about (spoilers!) it was then relatively easy to start assembling the huge team of characters and actors who would take us on the journey.

“The Legacy of Time is quite possibly the biggest Doctor Who story we have ever told at Big Finish. It’s been so hugely satisfying to make – I hope everyone finds it just as satisfying to listen to!”

Chairman and Executive producer of Big Finish, Jason Haigh-Ellery, “In July 1999 we released The Sirens of Time. In July 2019 we're releasing The Legacy of Time. Those two decades have been so fulfilling for us at Big Finish - a chance to work with so many great and talented actors, writers, production crews and all of our friends at the BBC. This is a celebration of it all, with lots of surprise returns and references. Think of it as one massive Doctor Who party - and everyone is invited…”

Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time will be available from www.bigfinish.com on download and, as we're one of the last audio producers and distributors still making CDs, released in an eight-disc CD set with a limited edition of just 4,000.

Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time will be released in July 2019, marking the 20th anniversary of Big Finish’s first Doctor Who release, The Sirens of Time.

(already pre-ordered my copy )

(There's a bit of discussion doing the rounds on other forums that the 5th Doctor episode may potentially be a good chance to do the Doctor's Daughter/5th Dr/10th Dr fans have long clamoured for...)

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/war-master-returns

...Big Finish were delighted to bring Derek Jacobi back as the Master for a set of four adventures last year in the critically acclaimed The War Master: Only the Good, and are now overjoyed to confirm that he’ll return for another three series. The second series, The War Master: The Master of Callous sees the Master in a brand new four-part adventure, furthering his exploits in the Time War...

...Nicholas Briggs, executive producer and script editor of the series, told us more on this new arc of stories: “As we travel further with the Master through the Time War, there are epic implications as well as very personal stories. There’s a distinctly dark and mystical feel to some of the episodes, but ultimately we discover that the Master laid some truly dastardly plans before it all started, and that his warped ambition knows no bounds.

“It’s been such a pleasure script editing this series. Working closely with producer Scott Handcock, my aim has been to create a balance of the epic and the deeply personal.”

Scott Handcock, producer and director of The War Master series: “Even before we finished recording The War Master: Only The Good, Derek had told us how much he wanted to come back, and another series of brand-new adventures for the War Master got an instant green light!

“We’ve some really exciting stories in store over the next three box sets, kicking off with The Master of Callous by James Goss and Guy Adams, which also features the return of the subservient Ood. It’s a grand four part masterplan, and I can’t wait for people to hear it come December!”

“Derek Jacobi was amazing in the first series of The War Master,” says executive producer, Jason Haigh-Ellery. “His Master appears at first to be a supportive and friendly Time Lord who wants to help those around him – but there is an underlying malevolent desire for carnage. Derek’s Master’s ruthless desire to win his own game at all costs makes this the Hannibal Lecter regeneration (a part Derek auditioned for) and is truly terrifying.”

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/class-is-back

Class is back in session – with the original television cast. Greg Austin plays Charlie Smith, Fady Elsayed plays Ram Singh, Sophie Hopkins plays April MacLean, Vivian Oparah plays Tanya Adeola, Jordan Renzo plays Matteusz Andrzejewski and Katherine Kelly plays Miss Andrea Quill.

Set during the TV series, six new adventures from Coal Hill Academy have just been released on audio across two volumes. With more horrors of the universe emerging through the rip in time and space, plus Ace and the Daleks appearing at Coal Hill, are you ready for an extra lesson in Class?

1.1 Gifted by Roy Gill
When a talent scout arrives in Shoreditch, Ram sees an opportunity to further his goals, whilst April strikes up a friendship with new boy, Thomas Laneford. Their choices draw all three to Carterhaugh House – but who is the mysterious Mab that waits for them there…

1.2 Life Experience by Jenny T Colgan
After signing up for work experience at Sevelin Laboratories, Tanya and Ram find themselves thrust into the world of medical research. But dark secrets lie at the heart of Sevelin Industries – and not everyone can make it out alive…

1.3 Tell Me You Love Me by Scott Handcock
The school day has ended. Charlie and Matteusz find themselves alone – though not quite as alone as they first believed. Three little words could mean the difference between life and death… and Quill is the only person they can turn to.



2.1 Everyone Loves Reagan by Tim Foley
When Reagan Harper joins Coal Hill Academy, everybody instantly loves her – everybody except for April. Is there really more to Reagan than meets the eye? Or are there other forces at work in Coal Hill?

2.2 Now You Know… by Tim Leng
Following a series of freak attacks on staff and pupils, Tanya and Matteusz find themselves investigating a mystery that dates back to the 1960s. Together, they hope to solve it – even if that means turning on one another to do so…

2.3 In Remembrance by Guy Adams
When an alarm is triggered at Coal Hill Academy, Quill and Charlie encounter a mysterious intruder prowling around school premises. Worse, they also encounter a Dalek. Their only hope of survival lies with the stranger: a woman who calls herself ‘Ace’…



Producer and director, Scott Handcock, tells us about bringing Class to Big Finish: “It’s a real thrill having brought Torchwood back on audio, to do the same all over again with another slice of the Doctor Who universe, and to play in a world created by Patrick Ness. The characters and their relationships are key to the success of a series like Class, and the intimacy of the audio medium allows us to bring that to the fore.

“We’ve had a great deal of fun reuniting the original cast for the audio series, telling brand-new stories set within the TV run, whilst tackling a host of alien menaces. Of course I couldn’t resist linking up to the Doctor Who universe, and bringing Ace and the Daleks into the world of Class has been an absolute treat. And for full authenticity, we’re lucky to have series composer Blair Mowat return to the world of Class as well.”

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/lucie-miller-returns

National treasure Sheridan Smith returns to the role of Lucie Miller in four new adventures with the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) in a brand new box set, due for release in July 2019.

Brash, northern lass Lucie started her journey with the Eighth Doctor back in 2007 in a series simultaneously released by Big Finish and digitally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra (then known as Radio 7). She went on to feature in three more series alongside Paul McGann, culminating in her shattering departure in the 2011 story, To The Death.

“We’ve always had it in mind to bring back Lucie,” reveals Big Finish executive producer Nicholas Briggs. “And we only let her go in the first place because we could see Sheridan’s stratospheric career path approaching.

“But thanks to Big Finish producer Ian Atkins getting her back to record two Short Trips single-voice releases as Lucie, we discovered that Sheridan was really keen to return. And so, script editor Alan Barnes (who created Lucie in the first place), producer Scott Handcock and I started devising The Further Adventures of Lucie Miller.”

...
“Of course, they’re both so busy, it took a year and a half to find a time they could record together! But it’s been absolutely worth the wait. They slipped effortlessly back into the old dynamic, and it’s a treat to hear these brand-new adventures with the Doctor and Lucie!”

“I have always been clear that I wouldn’t reverse the finality of Lucie’s departure,” continues Nick. “That would somehow seem like cheating and would lessen the emotional impact of what we did. So my plan was always to revisit Lucie earlier on in her adventures with the Eighth Doctor. It’s pretty much what we do with every classic companion-and-Doctor pairing, so why not do it with Lucie?”

The Further Adventures of Lucie Miller is set between the first and second series of her adventures. “That’s between Human Resources and Dead London,” clarifies Nick. “Although it becomes very clear, very quickly that she and the Doctor have had many adventures after Human Resources before we meet her in the first of our new stories.”

Lucie Miller’s further adventures are…

The Dalek Trap by Nicholas Briggs
The Revolution Game by Alice Cavender
The House on the Edge of Chaos by Eddie Robson
Island of the Fendahl by Alan Barnes

...“The dynamic between Sheridan and Paul was always brilliant,” says Nick. “So it was genuinely moving to see the two of them working together again. Sheridan walked straight into her old recording booth without any hesitation and without anyone guiding her to it. It was like she and Paul had been recording together only the day before. There was a brief moment, when I observed them through the control room window, having their reunion. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I just saw them hold each other’s faces in each other’s hands. Big smiles, heartfelt emotions, and then they were straight into their first scene. A truly magical moment.”

This box set forms part of a celebration of 20 years of Doctor Who on audio from Big Finish Productions, alongside box sets of adventures for each incarnation of the beloved Time Lord – more news on each Doctor’s tale will be revealed next year.

Each incarnation? I wonder if they have persuaded Matt Smith, Eccleston or Capaldi to record a few stories...?

(McGann is in Legacy of Time, The Time War set 3, Ravenous 2+3, and all but confirmed to be in the 3rd and final set of the Charlotte Pollard spinoff, meaning at least 17-21 8th Doctor audios are planned for next year!!!)  

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/the-fourth-doctor-continues

In series nine of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, Tom Baker’s Doctor is reunited with Time-Lady Romanadvoratrelundar II (Romana to us humans), played by Lalla Ward.

And joining them will be Adric, played by Matthew Waterhouse, in his first adventures back with Tom since his regeneration in 1981. John Leeson also reprises K9, the Doctor’s faithful robo-canine companion.

These stories are set in the beginning of Tom Baker’s last television series as the Doctor, season 18, in between the stories State of Decay and Warrior’s Gate. Trapped in E-Space, a pocket universe next to our own (N-Space), the Doctor acquires a new companion Adric, a 15 year old mathematical genius, who begins to travel with the Doctor and Romana.

(Some keen eyed BF fans on another forum I visit occasionally, have pointed out that several scripts for further 4th Doctor audio seasons past season 10 have already been confirmed to be written and/or recorded, with at least one new original to audio companion for the 4th Doctor coming up, though given how far in advance Tom Baker records it could be four or five years before we hear these stories!)

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/more-fourth-and-seventh-doctor

Coming out this November, Sylvester McCoy’s calculating and comic Seventh Doctor returns with two companions from the Virgin Books’ New Adventures of Doctor Who: Yasmin Bannerman plays Roz Forrester and Travis Oliver plays Chris Cwej in Doctor Who – Seventh Doctor: The New Adventures.

The Virgin Books’ New Adventures of Doctor Who took the reigns of Doctor Who after the television series finished after its 26th season back in 1989. The novels took a darker, deeper approach to Doctor Who, using longer storylines and ideas that wouldn’t have made it to the television screen.

This new box set includes four stories:

1. The Trial of a Time Machine by Andy Lane
2. Vanguard by Steve Jordan
3. The Jabari Countdown by Alan Flanagan
4. The Dread of Night by Tim Foley

Producer and director Scott Handcock explains: “As a fan who grew up in the era of the New Adventures novels, I was thrilled when David Richardson offered me the opportunity to tackle a new box set featuring the Seventh Doctor, Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej. The feedback for the Novel Adaptations was fantastic, and getting the chance to tell completely new stories with this TARDIS team has been a joy!

“We’ve tried to make the most of the box set format, so we have four original hour-long stories reuniting the Doctor, Roz and Chris – and, of course, Sylvester, Yasmin and Travis, who struck up such a brilliant rapport on the adaptations. The four new tales tackle very different genres, in very different settings and times, with Chris and Roz creator Andy Lane kicking off the box set with his story, The Trial of a Time Machine. There really is something for everyone!”

The New Adventures will be released in November 2018, available as a CD box set for £23 or on download at £20 from www.bigfinish.com

Two new adventures are also being released for the bohemian Fourth Doctor adapted from the comic strip by Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons that featured in Doctor Who Magazine (when it was Doctor Who Weekly).

Doctor Who: The Comic Strip Adaptations will be released in March 2019 comprising of:

1. Doctor Who and the Iron Legion adapted by Alan Barnes
2. Doctor Who and the Star Beast adapted by Alan Barnes

In these two adventures, we find the Fourth Doctor travelling with his famed elongated technicolour scarf for company. He’ll encounter the Iron Legion, an army of robotic Roman legionnaires, and in Doctor Who and the Star Beast, the Fourth Doctor encounters one of the deadliest and most adorable villains ever – Beep the Meep!

I never read any of the Virgin New Adventures novels, but I bought and enjoyed all the adaptions BF did a couple of years ago, enjoyed the little I've heard of this tardis team, nice to see BF expanding into new areas of the whoniverse. As for comic strip adaptions...hmm, intriguing, but how would you adapt something so reliant on visuals to audio without alot of needless descriptive dialogue    

And apparently Catherine Tate let slip at a recent convention panel that she will be recording more audios with Tennant later this month

It's going to be a good, but expensive year as a a Big Finish fan...