Doctor Who news
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8 February 2013 at 18:47 #2485
@jimthefish I notice a lot of people now think he will be going:
The Mirror even ran a story on it. And remember he said last year
I don’t think you can sustain it. Tom Baker did it in different circumstances. I couldn’t do this for seven years. I’d be run into the ground. I don’t think you can sustain it.
And your life outside of it is … I don’t know. I hope I don’t sound too pessimistic. It’s just I don’t think my body or my life or the people around me could sustain it.
8 February 2013 at 19:48 #2487I suspect that it will be all change this year too. In terms of show runners, what about Toby Whitehouse now that Being Human has got the chop?
8 February 2013 at 20:01 #2489Sadly it must seem temptingly neat for both Matt and Moffatt to go out on a high after the 50th. Matt’s clearly more ambitious in terms of Hollywood than Tennant was. I suspect DT is happier in theatre and picking and choosing film projects rather than actively chasing.
Agree with @bluesqueakpip re Moffat – depends on whether he has ideas for post 50th or whether he’ll use them all up this year 🙂 (If the latter we could be in for one helluva year!) I still suspect a massive twist in the 50th that results in a complete reboot which still leaves the history intact, but means it could go almost any direction after.
Will be really interesting to see if they can sit on news as big as that, for any length of time. (See previous posts). So far, on paper it’s still possible for Matt to accommodate film plans and Who.
8 February 2013 at 20:30 #2491If Moffat goes, I am not sure Gattis would take over, or even stay. They came to this and Sherlock as a team. And the stories Gattis tells work in the Moffat crazziness. But not necessarily stand alone. The 50th could be a big deal indeed.
8 February 2013 at 20:40 #2493Anonymous @
I always got the impression that Gatiss has been ‘groomed’ over the past couple of years. I don’t think he’ll hang on Moffatt’s coat tails forever. And I can’t think who else it might be. Could be Toby Whithouse, I suppose but I don’t really rate him. I thought Being Human is OK but hardly brilliant and I’ve never been crazy about his Who episodes. I think the main thing a Who showrunner has to have these days is an unquenchable passion for the show and Gatiss trumps all other comers in those stakes…
8 February 2013 at 20:45 #2495@jimthefish. I take your point, but Gattis stories are darker, quieter, more adult in a way. All good, but it would change the tone of this family show considerably. But An Adventure in Space and Time would certainly set him up as the heir apparent.
8 February 2013 at 21:53 #2499@blenkinsopthebrave — good point, but they did say similar things about Moffatt before he took over from RTD and I guess that’s why there always seems to be a trio of exec producers on Who — one writerly one immersed in the lore of the show but two more executive-y ones to keep him on the straight and narrow…
Still, we could all be barking up the wrong tree here and both Moffatt and Smith could be staying put. And I wouldn’t be completely surprised if it turned out that they rested the show again after the 50th. Disappointed but not entirely surprised…
The next few months could certainly be very interesting indeed…
8 February 2013 at 22:12 #2501I’d agree that Mark Gatiss is being groomed as the successor. He’s a Who writer, he’s worked with Steven Moffat on Sherlock. He has a deep love of the Horror genre – and Classic Who has had its periods of Gothic horror. I’d point out that the Philip Hinchcliffe era was incredibly popular – and that the small children who first watched Christopher Eccleston return as the Doctor are now eight years older; pre- and early-teens.
And he’s a fan.
On the one hand, Steven Moffat is working on his dream job. On the other, that dream job is incredibly demanding – and he also found himself with another hit series on his hands at the same time. That recent Radio Times interview; one comment was that he looked unenthusiastic. To me, he looks very, very tired.
Given that he and Gatiss have now worked as a team on the same show, it might become tempting to suggest to the BBC that the award winning producer Mark Gatiss take over as primary showrunner for Doctor Who, with Steven Moffat stepping back into the role of ‘regular writer’. But my inclination is to think that – if the 50th does see Matt Smith regenerate – Moffat will stay on for at least another season. Because he’s got ideas for the post-50th story arc. I don’t think he’d dump another producer with the ‘new Doctor, new assistant, one episode to keep the audience’ scenario that he got given.
8 February 2013 at 22:21 #2503I have to admit I’d not given much credence to the wrapping of the current team since they seemed to be having such a ball, but in the last few days given Matt is clearly trying to break holywoodland … yeah, now I think its now more likely than not.
Moffatt to go too … well given how nervous he seemed in recent interviews about getting the 50th right, I can easily imagine him on the night of the 23rd shouting “START THE CAR!!!!”, slamming the tape into the VCR, hitting play then high-tailing it out of BBC TV centre and straight to the airport for the first flight to south america, never to be seen again. So maybe.
For reasons I’ve stated before. I don’t think Gatiss will replace him. It’s the BBC’s choice, not the current showrunners (you get interviewed for the job like any other, and judged on past performance. There’s no heir apparent, its a corporation, not an empire), and I don’t think they’ll have enough confidence in him as a showrunner, or feel that he can do a family friendly show based on his previous output.
TobyW is the best candidate imho. He’s shown he can single handedly run not one but two previous shows successfully and he’s shown he can target demographics that Dr Who struggles with with No Angels (Gatiss has only ever had success as part of a team). Even though I’ve never been struck by his who scripts (but I adored Being Human and NA) to the people paying the bill’s he’s a safe pair of hands in the light entertainment mould of both RTD and Moffatt. That was clearly a formula that worked, why mess? Gatiss looks too fringe, maverick and frankly just a little bit weird (in a good way, imho. I loved LoG even more than Tobys shows) in comparison.
Also, consider that Being Human may be wrapping because the BBC offered him DW, but only on the condition he didn’t try to run 2 shows at once. If that’s the case, clearly they won’t be able to be entirely honest about why the show is ending yet. The timing of announcing its been axed when the series has already been produced with a grand finale suggests that this has actually been planned for a while …
A complete reboot would be the perfect time for a all team change too – I think one theory definitely supports the other.
8 February 2013 at 22:36 #2505Sounds like the betting is between Mark Gatiss and Toby Whithouse. Frankly, I’d be happy with either of them.
8 February 2013 at 22:41 #2507@haveyoufedthefish — all pretty sound and compelling reasoning and you could well be right. But on a personal level I’d be pretty unenthusiastic about a Whithouse-helmed Who. I’ve never really come away from watching anything of his with much more than a feeling of ‘meh’ about it…
@bluesqueakpip — Moffatt does look tired but he is pretty much the Beeb’s star moneymaker at the moment so he’s got a lot on his plate, as they say in Walford. I always think he’s never shaken off his schoolteacher tendencies and when faced with an interviewer always seems to have that look of slightly amused condescension on his face, as if he expects them to try on some outlandish excuse for not having handed in their homework…
8 February 2013 at 22:54 #2509Incidentally, Mark Gatiss has slightly more experience as a producer than Steven Moffat did when he took over. Moffat’s experience consisted of being ‘assistant producer’ on Chalk, one episode of Coupling, and being Exec for Jekyll.
Of course ‘my wife runs a production company’ may have helped ;), but he was clearly being hired as ‘Head Writer’ rather than for his vast experience as ‘Producer’.
9 February 2013 at 00:27 #2511Oh….TFI Friday!
The second book in the sequence of anniversary specials this year is written by Michael Scott. The Second Doctor encounters “The Nameless City”.
The news story is here.
and the Guardian had a couple of pages preview here a few days ago, in which the 2nd and Jamie discuss a book that Jamie has found (familiar to Evil Dead fans everywhere).
Not really encountered Michael Scott before, so if anyone has, I’d be interested to hear opinions.
9 February 2013 at 00:30 #2513Here is my bonkers theory on who could (should) take over as lead writer: Neil Gaiman. He would take Moffat’s magical emphasis to a whole new level.
9 February 2013 at 00:33 #2515While I don’t particularly relish the prospect of a changeover, I think the signs seem to indicate it is coming. Chibnall (@jimthefish will be delighted to hear) has a show on the go and had to downdrade his involvement in this series from 3 episodes to 2. Toby Whitehouse, although Being Human has been cancelled, also has another show in development. Gatiss has made suggestions he doesn’t see the “show runner” road is one he’d relish because of theatre work. All could be obfuscation of course. This is the BBC!
Then we have the rogue elements. Neil Cross (Producer and Writer for “Luther”) is writing 2 episodes this series. Apparently he and Moff had a lengthy in-depth discussion on “story ideas” in the states last year, when they were both due at some awards ceremony. After his scripts had been delivered.
9 February 2013 at 09:33 #2525I’m with jimthefish on this I think.
Though I watch Being Human, I always found it incredibly patchy.
Some great acting (Herrick), some appalling.
And the script is so often people whining which is grating with poor actors.So even as a Head Writer role I’d be disappointed, let alone a producer, story-arc role (the war baby arc has scarred m I’m afraid!)
9 February 2013 at 11:03 #2529@phaseshift — the Neil Cross suggestion doesn’t sound too bad actually. Intriguing at any rate. I’d just question his geekdom credential though.
@blenkinsopthebrave — I’d agree that Gaiman would be ace but it’s just not going to happen I don’t think. The man is an industry in himself and has his own books etc to consider. Besides he’s based in the US and I can’t see him wanting to relocate back to the UK which I guess is something he’d need to do. Plus there’s the up and coming HBO version of American Gods, which I’d imagine he’s involved in to some degree or another. Nah, he’s way too high profile and busy for the job.
Well, the obvious thing to do is run a sweepstake (puts on Bilko glasses, produces small black notebook and licks end of stubby pencil).
9 February 2013 at 11:59 #2531@jimthefish I know, it’s wish fullfillment. But imagine how cool a Gaiman led Who would be!
9 February 2013 at 12:29 #2537@blenkinsopthebrave It’d be bonkers right enough 🙂
Let’s see what he does with his next script <note of celtic caution creeping in there> Poor Gaiman – only The Doctor’s Wife to live up to! (Much like Moffat after Blink). I’d be happy if he even becomes a regular if intermittent writer.
Also – NG’s too fond of his tweeting to take on the reins of Who. I’m sure the waves of anonymous interwebby hate are part of the stresses of being Who showrunner. Not all the fans are as nice as us, LOL. (I do get annoyed about the likes of Moff having to give up tweeting just cos of a minority of intellectually-challenged daleks).
9 February 2013 at 12:34 #2539Daleks as trolls… shouty, rude, intrusive, not subtle, no feelings, no individuality, herd mentality, destructive… yup, works for me 🙂
9 February 2013 at 12:39 #2541@scaryb — yes, Gaiman has set the bar rather high for himself. And I think the Cybermen are deceptively difficult to do. I don’t think there’s been a genuinely good Cyberman story since the Troughton days. (Earthshock is OK but after the initial coolness factor of actually seeing them back again, it does reduce them to generic robot aliens. And I don’t think nu-Who has managed to do them justice at all — the only time being the brief snatches of the half-destroyed one in The Pandorica Opens.)
I for one will be really pleased if Gaiman does something interesting with them, so I’m remaining hopeful at present.
9 February 2013 at 12:42 #2543Yep, some areas of fandom are their own worst enemies. Whatever happened to dear old Alexander?
9 February 2013 at 13:11 #2547hehe – Statler and Waldorf – love em
Last I saw of Alexander he was deep in a dalek sex fantasy fanfic. On the Asylum board I think. They may not have let him out of his padded cell yet.
10 February 2013 at 09:50 #2567@jimthefish The BBC has responded to your complaints 😀
http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/bbc-responds-to-reduced-who-complaints-45230.htm
Whilst I appreciate your concerns, we haven’t announced what we have planned to mark the 50th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’ yet, but we would like to assure you that fans won’t be disappointed.
I guess we just have to wait!
10 February 2013 at 10:35 #2571@craig —
Good to see that the name of JimTheFish still carries some weight at the Beeb. (Just joking, it wasn’t me.)
There are definitely announcements afoot I reckon but we probably won’t hear them until 7.5 is out of the way first. It’ll probably just be some crappy old talking-head retrospective documentary again. Or possibly the announcement of a movie.
But I’m willing to be pleasantly surprised…
11 February 2013 at 21:04 #2599Just announced – 50th to be in 3D. Does it seem a bit ungrateful that I’m underwhelmed…? (Speaking selfishly as someone who doesn’t have a mega screen TV never mind a 3D one)
11 February 2013 at 21:54 #2603@scaryb Yes, underwhelmed is probably right. I’ve an old TV and Who looks great on it. I watched the Christmas Special at my parents on their new hi-def TV and it looked a bit… rubbish, like old video. It was just too clear and had lost the “movie” look. Can’t imagine how poor it may look in super hi-def AND 3D.
11 February 2013 at 22:18 #2605And again with the ‘meh’ of it. Couldn’t really care less about it being in 3D if I’m honest. If this is the Beeb’s big announcement for the 50th then I’m distinctly underwhelmed. They’ll have to pull out something a bit better than that…
11 February 2013 at 22:40 #2607Would’ve been better to put the cash towards eg an extra 30mins to make it feature length 90. I’d’ve told them that if they’d bothered to ask me! Comparing recent experiences of the Hobbit with friends & kids who’d seen both 2D and 3D versions (I stuck to the luddite 2D), concensus was that while the 3D was extremely impressive it distracted from the storytelling). Harrumph! <goes off to polish collection of curmudgeonly grudges>
11 February 2013 at 22:50 #2609@craig That was the other thing with the Hobbit – it was filmed in ultra hi def at twice the speed of sound frame rate (or something technical like that). It looked incredibly lush and detailed… But it showed up TOO much – you became more aware of the illusion – joins in the prosthetics, make up etc. Wouldn’t have been an issue with the slower film rate. So it still came down to your willingness to suspend disbelief.
11 February 2013 at 23:00 #2611It also seems rather Beeb-like to go with 3D in the year that the consensus at the CES was that 3D is no longer considered to have that much of a future…
11 February 2013 at 23:04 #26133D! What a waste of money. I’ve still a little cathode ray tube telly.
I’ve only seen two films in 3D: Tron 2 (the 3D was cobblers, but so was the film mind) and the Hobbit (made me dizzy due to it being shot on digital film which was all out of focus during fast moving bits).
Now if it was the red/green spec type of 3D I might be up for that. Do many people have 3D tellys? Or do you think there are plans for a limited cinema run?
11 February 2013 at 23:09 #2615@chickenelly — I believe the special is going to have a limited cinema run.
I’m still not impressed though…
11 February 2013 at 23:09 #2617The HFR for the Hobbit actually looked very good on the second viewing – but I admit that the first time I saw it, the picture would sometimes look very weird. Takes some time for your brain to get used to it, apparently.
I’m coming to the conclusion that there’s some top-secret fiftieth anniversary project going on. ‘We haven’t announced what we’ve planned’ can’t really include ‘oh, by the way, the special’s available in 3D’. Everyone knew about the Special.
12 February 2013 at 06:44 #2619They should’ve blown the budget on a 4G version…
12 February 2013 at 07:56 #2621WAY too much negativity! This is Dr Who! And Moffat! It will be exciting, and it will be something none of us have predicted.
I have faith.
And if Canton returns, I will be thrilled!
12 February 2013 at 08:17 #2623I just saw the last post and thought I was still elsewhere.
I am no fan of 3D and must confess to feeling rather indifferent to this especially as I won’t be able to see the 3D version. I am sure that there will be more announcments soon.
Cheers
Janette
12 February 2013 at 11:42 #2625WAY too much negativity! This is Dr Who! And Moffat! It will be exciting, and it will be something none of us have predicted.
All very true, @blenkinsopthebrave, but there’s just not nearly enough of it. Certainly not for a 50th anniversary year…
12 February 2013 at 13:05 #2627In other news, I believe the Christmas Special has been announced but no word yet on Season 8, which there surely would have been by now. I’m beginning to suspect that means no new Who next year at all.
Which could mean no changes to the status quo. Just sod all happening for over a year.
12 February 2013 at 13:46 #2629Or they can’t announce it.
Because there are major changes afoot, and those major changes have to be announced at the same time they announce Season 8.
The description everyone seems to be using about the BBC at the moment is ‘tight lipped’. I know Rule One, but ‘all over television’ doesn’t match up with ‘two Specials and a drama-doc’.
Matt Smith is filming in the US in May. That would suggest the announcement (whatever it is) can’t be made until Season 7 has ended, because it would ruin the ending of Season 7. And that he’s filming the 50th Anniversary Special, but that the BBC’s very happy to have him filming overseas when the Season 7 ending is broadcast.
Conspiracy hats on, folks! 😀
12 February 2013 at 13:55 #2631Oh, and I would point out that advising actors to either take a holiday or get their agent to find them a job overseas is not unknown. Not when something spectacularly controversial is going to be broadcast. It’s now almost a given if you happen to be playing the murderer of a popular soap character.
::stares thoughtfully at the tinfoil and wonders what kind of a hat it would make::
12 February 2013 at 14:17 #2633Oh, and a really bonkers theory – Matt Smith is indeed in the Anniversary and Christmas Specials. But not as the Doctor.
He’s playing Omega.
12 February 2013 at 20:03 #2635ah @bluesqueakpip, I had Omega slowly lifting his helmet to reveal.. Davison!
You can put on a bit of weight in Negative Space (or wherever it was) can’t you?
12 February 2013 at 21:09 #2637@whisht and @bluesqueakpip —
We’re kind of veering off topic here but I’m thinking the same-ish thing. Two Docs — one ganger? — one gets used by Omega to reintegrate himself into the universe — a la Arc of Infinity…
12 February 2013 at 22:00 #2639As ever you’re right JimTheFish!
Quick – over to the Speculation Board!
12 February 2013 at 22:12 #2641That was me: I enthusiastically started speculating without switching boards. Oops.
Some actual news this time: the Radio Times has a four page article. It gives the upcoming as:
rumours of a convention, documentaries on BBC3, a Culture Show special on BBC2, an edition of Sue MacGregor’s The Reunion on Radio 4 … to dispel any rumours of doubt, our sources confirm that after filming the anniversary, they’ll be girding themselves for a Christmas special, then series eight and beyond…
Filming schedule or broadcast schedule? They don’t say. 🙂
12 February 2013 at 23:04 #2643OK – lets summarise how this thread is going in video form:
😀
12 February 2013 at 23:14 #2645Awww – @bluesqueakpip that kinda kills my next theory: that in the lack of series 8 announcements coincide with a special that kind of wraps up who for good (i.e. he dies) in a shock ending. Production team announce “that’s in, we wanted to end on a high, not ruin it by running it into the ground. 8 seasons is a really good run for a TV prog these days, you didn’t think it would go on forever, did you?” etc, etc.
Then secretly they orchestrate a grass roots campaign, backed by newspapers, to bring it back. Shades of “doctor finally defeated by his greatest enemy – the BBC” from the 90’s.
BBC eventually caves in and low and behold, they had an xmas special all along, it was just a ruse to big up the show after all.
Hows that for breaking the 4th wall @blenkinsopthebrave? That’s what I call an interactive audience experience!
All bobbins though. B.O.B.B.I.N.S.
13 February 2013 at 06:46 #2647@haveyoufedthefish – haha – very timely vid 🙂
LOL’d at your BBC will cancel the show. Fortunately I don’t think they need to worry about lack of interest this year. But they do need to orchestrate it so they don’t get masses of coverage in Spring and nothing in November, and all the plot twists laid bare before the summer. They’re doing the secrecy tactics very well at the moment. Repeated “no comment” and “I haven’t been asked” from likes of Tennant and T Baker, releasing info about Matt’s schedule, knowing that will kickstart speculation. Some photos from filming will work their way online, Not all of them will be unauthorised! They seem to have found a way of working well with the press – presumably give them good stories/threaten them with banishment in exchange for silence on spoilers after previews.
@bluesqueakpip thanks for the RT bit. When Moffat says “it’s going to be all over TV” he immediately raises our expectations universe high But we know he can exaggerate to the point of lying… so we do the sour grapes in advance so we’re not disappointed! It’s like waiting for Xmas day when someone’s promised that you will get “the best present ever”. (But you don’t know if their idea of that is the same as yours. It might even be better).
So… patience, everyone. Keep calm and carry on about your business.
<jumps and down and squeals with excitement!>
(But I’m still not impressed with 3D!)
Hmmm… 3D? Power of 3…????? <Goes off to ponder another theory!>
😀
13 February 2013 at 07:55 #2649You have just raised my hope @scaryb though I fear that Santa’s idea of the best present ever generally failed to excite me. Just hope that Moffat does better than Santa especially as this year it is also a birthday pressie. (Dr Who hit the U.K. screens just before my first Christmas. I don’t know when it was first screened in Aus being too young to read a TV program at that time)
Cheers
Janette
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