Doctor Who [8]

As I have been avoiding spoilers I dont know about Clara- but as far as official info is concerned she is the companion for this series and the next.

I think they might be hoping for a Sarah Jane style effect- where she was actually the last companion of a previous Doctor (3rd) but is remembered best for being the companion of the following one, 4.

I think 11 will always be remembered companion wise for the Ponds and Clara will come to be thought of as 12's companion.

'I wonder if many of them are reboots of classic Who characters and races?'- Forest

Well as Malick will now know having watched the Pertwee era- dinos in front of Westminster is certainly reminiscent of a (in)famous Pertwee era story.

This is probably old news to everyone, but seems they are at least starting to explore 'The War Doctor' in other material, a novel is scheduled to be released on July 31st:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1849908486/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1849908486&linkCode=as2&tag=dowhtv-21

It's going to be interesting to see how this is received, I'm certainly intrigued to see how Dark they may go with the character, beyond sporting a beard and a tired worn down indifference to everything, Hurt's role in the Special doesn't give a writer that much to base his early years on.

I may give this one a spin.

There is certianly the time for it in the story- in the Night of the Doctor when 8 regens the face of the War Doctor we see is that of a young John Hurt.
By the time we meet him in Day he has been fighting the Time War for long enough to have got old, which takes 11 about a thousand years to physically age.
And War was fighting in a Time War so who knows how long it felt like it was lasting for!

I often think people forget this when they complain the War Doctor hasn't done enough to justify 9,10 and 11 refusing to acknowledge him- but all that changes in Day is the ending of the War. War Doctor still did all the things he had to do in a desperate war, for centuries at least right up to the end point. I'd bet there is plenty to regret beforehand.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:There is certianly the time for it in the story- in the Night of the Doctor when 8 regens the face of the War Doctor we see is that of a young John Hurt.
By the time we meet him in Day he has been fighting the Time War for long enough to have got old, which takes 11 about a thousand years to physically age.
And War was fighting in a Time War so who knows how long it felt like it was lasting for!

I often think people forget this when they complain the War Doctor hasn't done enough to justify 9,10 and 11 refusing to acknowledge him- but all that changes in Day is the ending of the War. War Doctor still did all the things he had to do in a desperate war, for centuries at least right up to the end point. I'd bet there is plenty to regret beforehand.

That's kinda the point I was making, we know next to nothing about the events leading up to his role in 'Day', with total creative freedom the writers could do alot with 'War', but equally he's a blank slate do the Beeb might not want to put any emphasis on this incarantion.

Might turn out to be another 8 (heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the rights to 'War' were sold to Big Finish as well, in my understanding the BBC didn't have any idea what to do with 8 so farmed him out to other companies)

Well its always been the case in Who that a lot of stuff goes on off screen in other medium between episodes and series.
In classic Who it took the form of comics and novels. Its the same now with net episodes and games added in.
There is already a book covering periods of the Siege of Trenzalore we never saw on screen.
And even in episodes we occasionally see it, such as when the Doctor's time line is unwinding and he finds himself on the TARDIS a week earlier when he and Amy were off to Space Florida- something we never saw.

I for one wouldn't mind BF getting the rights to tell War's stories, seems fitting as they told 99.9% of 8's and Moffat canonised those with the name checks to 8's BF companions in Night.

I had a torrent-fest last night and downloaded good quality versions of Doctor Who seasons 12, 13, and 14. Needless to say I'm set for quite a while!

Oooh so your right at the start of the Baker years. It will be interesting to see what you make of the shifts of style during his run.
One of my favourites of the early stories of his you have to look forward to is Ark in Space, not the least impressive thing about it is how Baker assumes the role so naturally in only his second episode.

It was ironic that I got that particular episode. I was reading off the titles to my sister while we were watching the abysmally horrible "The 100" with my niece, the plot of which revolves around the presence of an "Ark" of survivors in orbit around earth.

I haven't actually seen any of 2 or 3 yet, I'm sorry to say. I've really enjoyed the fourth doctor so far, and I just want to continue with what I like for now. I'm sure that I will get some earlier stuff as well, but for now a Robot awaits!

I wonder why Tom Baker is still the Doctor

He was the longest serving Doctor on television at the height of Classic series popularity.

Also Who in the US was mainly shown on PBS I believe- and they just kept looping the 4th Doctor years. So fo r a certain generation of US Who fans Baker was the Doctor.

I dont think you'd like it though Figg- Sarah Jane is always being captured, kidnapped, made prisoner and physically threatened.

that was what like 30 years ago? I can cope.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:
Also Who in the US was mainly shown on PBS I believe- and they just kept looping the 4th Doctor years. So fo r a certain generation of US Who fans Baker was the Doctor.

Basically true. Baker was mostly the Doctor I saw, though there was a lot of Davison too. Then occasionally they'd throw in some Pertwee, which was always a bit jarring I thought at the time.

And of course he was just really good in the role which helped. And instantly recognisable with the huge curly hair, the massive toothy grin and the long scarf.

Some hopeful hints that more of the missing episodes might resurface-

'Missing episode hunter Philip Morris, who was responsible for last year's discovery of 9 previously missing episodes...taking part in an online question-and-answer session. Asked to say whether or not he had found any further episodes, Morris told the group: a tricky one to answer. And fans will just want a yes or no haven't you or have you. But its complex all I can say is the wind is blowing the right way be patient.'- Gallifrey Base

And in other Who news the BBC Annual Report has been published revealing that-

'Doctor Who The Day of the Doctor was the most watched drama on BBC Television last year, with an average of 12.8 million viewing.
The figures are confirmed in the BBC Annual Report published today, which also reveals that 3.2 million requested the 50th Anniversary episode on iPlayer.
Doctor Who is listed as one of the global highlights of the year with the Doctor Who Special being shown on TV in 98 countries; , with 3D screenings in 23 countries; broadcast in 15 languages; and selling 649,138 cinema tickets in 25 countries.'

I remember reading a rumour last year the some, or all of 'Marco Polo' was found, as a big Hartnell fan, fingers crossed!

Yeah Marco Polo would be high on my list of missing episodes Id hope to be found.

now if ONLY they would film these with Tennant and Smith!

what the heck! from the Radio Times

Two weeks after five unseen Doctor Who series 8 scripts first emerged on the internet, and six days after video of Peter Capaldi's first episode appeared online, BBC Worldwide are fighting to stop further episodes from emerging.

In a statement, the BBC's commercial arm confirmed that five scripts and six unfinished episodes had been left on a "publicly accessible FTP site," and that "while there is still a risk that this leak will result in more of this content emerging, so far the impact has been contained to a limited amount of this material."

Although a rough cut of Series 8 episode one leaked in its entirety,    thus far pirates have been frustrated in their attempts to download the other five beyond a few frames, believed to be from episode two. BBC Worldwide put this down to "a combination of fans efforts and the plan that we put in place using new technology and internal manpower to limit any illegal activity."

They gave special thanks to "fansites and Doctor Who devotee" for "actively protecting the programme". Following the leak, fans campaigned to stop spoilers from the new series spreading on social media by using the hashtag #keepmespoilerfree.

Noting that "disciplinary action" had been taken in light of the incident, the statement finished with another apology: "Our sincere apologies again to Steven Moffat, the cast and production team who toil long hours to make the show in Cardiff, the BBC, and of course the fans who expect so much better."

Yeah that episode has been available for a while- but its a rough cut, in black and white and gaps where the cgi needs to go and bad sound- in other words not worth ruining the episode by watching a crappy early version of it mean as rough guide for where to put ad breaks and so they have the scripts to translate for the latino market.

From an interview with Moffat in this months SFX-

“I think it feels more serious,” he reveals in the new issue of SFX. “One of the watchwords we have this year is there are consequences for choosing to live like this. It’s not a fairytale. If you have people back home, if you run away it’s going to have an effect on them. And it’s not necessarily always going to be lovely. And does the Doctor make you better?
“He’s not as immediately approachable and he’s not necessarily looking for your approval. I would like to restore the sense that when he says ‘Wait here, I’ll be back’ you really hope he’ll be back, but you’re not absolutely convinced… What he’s not doing is reassuring you very much.”

'Big Finish Productions have announced they are to dramatise the Russell T Davies Doctor Who novel, Damaged Goods.
The Virgin book was originally published in 1996 as part of the New Adventures range.
Davies, who is a fan of Big Finish, expressed his pleasure that the story is being revisited, 'I’ve always been a huge fan of Big Finish, since long before I took the big chair on Doctor Who. So when they asked if they could adapt Damaged Goods… well, to be honest, I asked them what took so long!'
The story stars Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, accompanied in his travels by companions Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester.
Jonathan Morris spoke of his excitment at being asked to adapt the novel It was genuinely thrilling to be asked to adapt Damaged Goods. An honour, and a great responsibility to do justice to Russell’s extraordinary novel and to not disappoint fans of the New Adventures. I pulled out all the stops to capture the spirit of the novel, the character and Russell’s voice, and the end result is undoubtedly the best Big Finish script I’ve worked on.'- Gallifrey Base

Ive not read the book so this will be interesting to see how Davies wrote for the 7th Doctor, who is quite a different kettle of fish from the Doctor Davies himself created.

wow thats brilliant news   

A plaque honouring the first producer of Doctor Who, Verity Lambert, has been unveiled at London's Riverside studios, by the Doctor Who Appreciation Society
Verity Lambert was Doctor Who's first producer and the first female drama producer at BBC Television.
The plaque honouring Lambert was unveiled by Doctor Who's first director Waris Hussein, in a ceremony attended by the two surviving members of the original TARDIS team, William Russell and Carole Ann Ford. - Gallifrey Base

Hey Petty
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2014/07/24/91287-peter-jackson-likely-to-direct-doctor-who/