All New Who

Pure bred prices. Is it house broken?

azriel wrote:

Saw this sinister creature waiting to be sold in my home town today...

Reminds me of the multi-coloured Daleks from the Peter Cushing who films back in the 60's, wouldn't mind seeing them return to the show...

£1750 though...is that a bargain or overpriced? Makes me wonder how expensive the working Daleks on the TV series are to make...

If it's actually one of the working models from the show that's about right - not for the cost of making it but for the glamour.

So...does anyone actually miss the show right now?

(I don't at all)

Or have any educated guesses on when they might start filming again? (I really can't see the show filming again until after christmas, which would probably push S13 back to a spring/summer 2022 air date)

Was just reading that the producers of the RTD seasons had set up their own production company a few years ago, they recently worked on the BBC Dark Materials series (which I didn't watch, but heard was critically acclaimed?)...I wonder if the BBC has consider co-producing the show with another production company to cut costs? The show is supposedly getting harder and more expensive to make every year and the BBC is cutting costs all the time...

Bad Wolf Productions seems an obvious choice to step in

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Wolf_(production_company)

{{ I miss the show- not the current version with Chibbers and Jodie, thats like a bad nightmare that wont end and I'd rather it had taken a temporary hiatus again at end of 12's run over what weve had to endure since. But I particularly miss 12 whose era Ive been rewatching.

I can see the BBC losing the fee in next few years and if that happens all their shows will be up for grabs in terms of selling off and farming out production.}}

Yeah, I definitely don't see the current iteration of Who lasting longer than the original series...though 12 seasons and 16 years of (mostly) active production is already pretty damn impressive for a British genre show, I think the show has now been back on air for longer than it was away between Survival and Rose...I think the show's future is reasonably secure until the 60th anniversary (Series 13 probably won't air until 2022, Jodie's had lengthy gaps betweens seasons already so is at less risk of burning out due to the schedule than Tennant, Capaldi and Smith, and I don't think the BBC would bring in a brand new showrunner/team to headline the 60th anniversary year...I think Chibnall and Whittaker will stick around for a 4th season then leave the show in 2023)...but after that, who knows?

Chibnall was supposedly the only person the BBC seriously considered as showrunner, and even then it took Moffat a while to get him to agree to take over (he had originally intended The Husbands Of River Song to be his last as showrunner, but Chibnall couldn't take over until 2017, which lead to Moffat staying on for another season)...I think it will be even harder to find Chibnall's replacement, assuming the BBC can still afford to make the show by then...

{{ Moffat went above and beyond when it came to his duty to the show. And he must have felt particuarly shafted after fighting to retain the xmas day slot only for Chibnall to simply give it away the very next year.
But so glad Moffat did do an extra year, otherwise we'd only have got 2 series of Capaldi's Doctor and we'd not have had Bill and Nardole as a TARDIS team, and they had more chemistry, character and development in 12 episodes than Jodies Tardis 'fam' have had in two whole series. }}

{{ This popped up on the official Who channel, we are probably going to get a trailer for the xmas maybe probably new year again who knows special, as Jodie, forgettable wooden plank who plays Yaz and only half decent but badly underwritten for Bradley Walsh are doing a virtual comic con (Cole seems to have wisely skipped out on this one), theres a clip up from that too, Ill include it but be warned I found a sycophantic, self indulgent back patting session that just made my crabbit seeth.
But theres an interesting comparison to be made if you take at a look down at the comments section on each one! }}

Well this is interesting, Big Finish have recast the role of The War Doctor for a series of audioplays exploring his early years in the time war:

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/john-hurt-s-doctor-who-legacy-continues

The first story will pick up straight after the 8th Doctor regenerates in The War Doctor (as seen in the webisode The Night Of The Doctor you can hear a clip here:

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1316353652840378368

That's a pretty damn accurate John Hurt impression!

Hurt voiced the War Doctor's first line 'Doctor no more' onscreen, so we know he already has Hurt's older gravely voice when he starts out,  but The War Doctor ages dramatically  between his first and last Chronologcal apperances (Hurt was 73 when he filmed The Day Of the Doctor, but they used a still photograph from one of his earlier roles to first show him:
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/66551/where-did-the-younger-image-of-john-hurt-come-from )

so  there's definitely years worth of stories Big Finish could tell, will be interesting to see what images they use for the CD covers though...

Not sure how I feel about this, John Hurt only died about four years ago and himself only voiced the War Doctor in 12 audioplays for Big Finish (more stories were planned, scripts for the 5th boxset had actually been finished and were ready to record though Hurt was too ill to do so before he passed) so this recast will end up having as many stories as Hurt did, which dosen't sit entirely well with me, these stories will be set at the very start of the War Doctor's life so Carley will likely end up have more performance time and perhaps a bigger creative say in The War Doctor than John Hurt did, at that point it's argubaly less paying tribute/recasting the role than replacing and usurpsing it.

I dunno, Big Finish (and the TV series itself) have recast various Doctors with good success, and they rarely put a foot wrong creatively...but four years does really feel a bit too soon i.m.o, and would Big Finish be so quick to recast one of the more popular Doctors if they died?

Recasting say the 1st Doctor is understandable as Hartnell died decades ago, and there are many onscreen stories an actor can look at for research, but recasting the War Doctor is less understandable i.m.o, there isn't much onscreen character writers can work from, no great onscreen nostaglic era to pay tribute to, merely a huge offscreen gap to fill in.

I think The War Doctor worked so well onscreen, was because it was a  shock twist- a largely unseen incarnation performaned by a legendary actor, doing too many stories with The War Doctor could very well lessen some of the impact/mystery of the time war...I guess this new actor must be feeling pretty confident in his abilties if he feels he can replace John Hurt...

There's also an argument to be made that they didn't need to recast the role to tell new stories with the War Doctor-Big Finish could have just done straight audiobooks narrated by a reader, or written stories with the War Doctor as a offscreen character/driver of the plot. And there's also the other argument that, well does The War Doctor even need more stories? Big Finish already produce a huge amount of stories with the other Doctors, did they need to spend the time and effort on a recast, when they have enough going on already?

On the other hand, were Hurt himself still alive he might not be up to the task of contiually voicing his 35+years younger self and as a long established character actor would probably have taken over roles from other actors himself (no doubt Big Finish would have had to get permmisson form his family and Steven Moffat before recasting the role) I'm sure he'd be pleased The War Doctor is getting new stories at least.

To his credit, the new actor certainly does a extremely accurate impression of Hurt and seems a decent enough voice actor, but not sure if that will end up proving a disctraction...

It's worth noting that Nick Briggs said the BBC had previously placed creative restirctions on what Big Finish could do with the War Doctor-apparently some of their intial storyline ideas for the boxsets John Hurt did were rejected by the BBC for being too dark and the War Doctor wasn't allowed to be written as too brutal/dark etc (though those stories were set at the end of the War Doctor's life, perhaps he was supposed to be burnt out and tired of the fighting by then anyway).

In the novelisation of The Day Of the Doctor Steven Moffat confirms that A) The later Doctors largely rejected The War Doctor due to him detroying Gallifrey/wiping out their species rather than his general actions fighting in the time war and b) The potion the Sisterhood of Karn gave to the 8th Doctor to regenerate him into The War Doctor was actually just lemonade and a placebo rather than anything special- The War Doctor starts out believing he is a cold brutal warrior, but he (and his sucessors) eventually realises he is the same man as always, just more willing to take the necessary actions in the War...

Hmm, I'm certainlyvery intrigued to see how this develops...though I'm not entirely convinced it's a great idea, and not entirely sure if I find this an offensive money grabbing opportunity, or an exciting creative endeavour...

{{ Its certainly a good impression, and I suppose the big question is if you didnt know it wasnt Hurt, would you? I'm not sure I would.

As to if it should be done at all, when like you Im mixed on that, in part becuase its tredingon Hurts memory and on his final acting role, butmore just I am generally of the opinion that the Time War should be left as much to imagination as possible. Even in the 50th we spent most of our time on the Last Day of the War in a barn in the Wastelands. I think many of the 'things' that happened in the final days, when time and space were put through the ringer are beyond comprehesion, let alone representation - the Skaro Degradations, the Nightmare Child into whose jaws entire fleets of ships fell, the Army of Neverweres and the like reside best in the abstarction of imagination, not nailed down to something definite.

Ive still yet to read Moffats novelastion of Day of, but I am surprised you say he says that the Doctors didnt hold him responsible for his actions during the War, only ending it, as we have the 12th Doctor in his anti-war speech say-

"This is not a war. I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count!"

Telling a terrorist leader you did worse than they can imagine, thats quite a bit of worst! }}

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/30/tom-baker-being-loved-pleases-me-very-much-indeed

(On the subject of Tom Baker's Big Finish work, we know for sure he has already recorded up to Season 13 of the 4th Doctor audios (which is due for release in 2024!) and possibly as far ahead as series 18 (which would be due for release all the way in 2030!) with more due to be recorded. He's also apparently already recorded his parts for Big Finish's 60th anniversary story due for release in 2023...so much for a quiet retirement!)

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-10-30/richard-o-brien-doctor-who/

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-10-25/doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-peter-capaldi/

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-10-30/doctor-who-paternoster-gang-spin-off/

I was reading earlier apparently Christopher Lloyd (Back to The Future, Roger Rabbit etc) was very nearly cast as The Master/Bruce in the 1996 TV Movie but his asking fee was deemed too high at the time...ironically Eric Roberts eventually ended up costing more.

Peter Capaldi was also offered the chance to audition for the Doctor back then but turned it down as he felt he wasn't well known enough to land the part at the time.

{{ At least Jodie was right about something, she is doing it wrong! }}

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-11-05/doctor-who-eric-roberts-master/

{{ Cool. Of all the things in the TV Movie oddly his Master was never one I minded- yeah its over the top, camp, bit pantomine and played by an American, but it felt like the Master to me from late classic who was also a bit camp, over the top and pantomine villain. }}

{{ Enjoyed this sums up Clara and the Doctor well



Next Friday is Children in Need and we are told there will be some sort of Who component to it- most are expecting a trailer for the 'seasonal' special (and at least a confirmation if its moving back to xmas day or staying on New years day) but at this point could be anything. Doubt itll do much to change the narrative around Chibnal Who however. }}

Series 13 has started filming-but will only be 8 episodes long:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/doctor-whos-new-series-less-22994454

It also seems likely this will be the last season for the current companions, so I wonder if the 8 episodes will all be linked together, perhaps a miniseries arc-note that 8 episodes are expected but we don't actually know how many stories.

{{ first time in my life Im glad there will be less episodes! Unless there is a huge turn around in quality its a blessing. }}

So, what do we think will Series 13 be Jodie's last? Will she do the stanadrd 3 seasons and leave at the Xmas special?

I personally don't think she will, she has had fewer stories than the last three doctors and longer gaps between series production so won't have suffered the burnout they did. I can see her sticking around until 20203 and the 60th anniversary (though knowing Chibnall that may only end up being 10 more episodes or something anyway), Jodie has had the same three companions since her first series, it would be interesting to see her Doctor branch out and get a new tardis team, maybe they could bring back K9 again...

{{ I'd like to hope so, but like you I suspect she will be here for the 60th- which unfortunately will probably centre round the bloody Timeles Child nonsense.
If she is to stick around, and we are stuck with Chibbers as showrunner then I think the3 BBC need to take a more active role and not give him such a free hand on choosing writers and directors and such.
We need some solid Who writers who know the show and character and have some tv writing credentials behind them, rather than playwrights, novelists and first time tv writers of ' gender and social' issues- as their lack of experience in the medium unfortunately shines through and their bent towards addressing predominatly gender and social issues is ruining telling good scifi stories and alienating large chunks of viewers. And the direction and editing has been at best average and at worst outright sloppy and bad- we need to get directors of the calibre of those who directed during RTD and Moffat era. And they need to hire a new editor, as the current one doesnt seem up to the job- they should have been sacked on the spot when they handed in their finsihed edit of Orphan 55 which is one of the worst pieces of tv directing and editing Ive seen in years ifnot decades. }}

Seen this Petty?:

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-end-of-the-beginning-2057



It's a shame the monthly range is ending (the 5th/6th/7th Doctors will be moving to boxset format releases from next year) but this looks to be an exciting story to go out on A multi Doctor story to Mirror the very first release in the range The Sirens of Time.

Interesting that Sylvester Mcoy is in shadow on the cover, maybe he is the atagonist of the story? with the other Doctors going up againist him... (Mcoy was stranded in France during the last lockdown so wasn't able to record any Big Finish stories until July or August I think) Also nice to see a return of the younger 8th Doctor with the long hair and TV Movie look, I wonder if India Fisher could be in this as Charlotte Pollard (Nick Briggs recently confirmed the duo will be recording 'something' together soon as 8 and Charley...)

Interesting that the producer of 'Doctor Who: Lockdown!' was involved with this:


https://twitter.com/Emily_Rosina/status/1330912806108082178

Also cool to see Kevin Mcnally and David Schofield in this, BF certainly get some great character actors in their stories...

{{ OOh that does look interesting. Guessing 8 looking like tv movie version is not an accident so would make sense of Charley was the companion. I suspect 7 isnt the atognosst, I suspect he'll be the instigator of it all. Thank god for BF otherwise we'd only have the abysmal tv show to look forward to, talkingof which they are having a wtachlalonjg tonight to the Timeless Child, why anyone would want to watch that car crash of a finale again (hardly anyone did on broadcast!) Ive no idea, but its rumoured to be being followed up by a trailer for the xmas/new year episode. }}

{{ Trailer is out for the New Years Day special. Revolution of the Daleks. }}