[janetteB @replies]

I feel as though I have just lost a friend. @htpbdet became, through his comments and beautifully written blogs so much an integral part of this community and I think he touched all who “knew” in this virtual community. During his illness I have looked for his name every time I check in, hoping that he will have returned, recovered at last and sharing his always interesting views. From reading his posts it was clear that he was a very remarkable man and sad though this is for his family they have been fortunate to have had a father and uncle who loved them so much. I am glad he was able to be there when his son married. I hope that the nephews are able to keep a transcript of the blogs he posted here because he lives on through that writing.

I would like to join in that toast to him on the 23rd, albiet from a distance and I maybe delayed for a few hours.

My condolences to all the @htpbdet family.

Regards

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

We finally got around to booking last night and almost every session was sold out, but for the really poor seats. We ended up booked into an evening session at the imax in the city which means rather a change of plans for the day. (Sunday 24th) The city is about an hour away and kids have school next day so will have to have an “interrupted party”. My plan now is to watch An Unearthly Child and have Dr Themed party food in the afternoon, pack the perishables away, head to the city, probably by car to save time, watch the film, rush home and no doubt re-watch the episode, over a very late Who themed dinner, (fish fingers and custard) before bustling kids off to bed.

I am pleased that the tickets have sold so quickly showing just how much demand there is for Dr Who. Me thinks that the BBC might be talking Dr Who full length feature film very soon.

cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@scaryb. re’ your comment about Dr Who appealing to all ages, last night I was talking to a ninety year old fan who clearly had very fond memories of rushing into the living room at 6.30 pm every week day with his family to watch it. That was after attending a totally unrelated meeting where yet again the discussion was hijacked by Dr Who. (I did have a short film to show which included a short clip of Jim Al-Khalili discussing the science of Dr Who but ran out of time to show it so it really wasn’t my fault. 😉 .)

On an not unrelated note, the local Dr Who Fan society are having an event in the city on the 24th to celebrate.

Cheers

Janette

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[janetteB @replies]

Agree @nick on the distinctive Tudor style. There have been a lot of references to visits to Tudor London not seen on screen so maybe we will finally find out just what he did to upset Liz I . And I suspect that the letter was written by the Doctor.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Just checked the nearest participating cinema to us and it has it down as screening at 4.00 pm and at 4.15 pm which is a little odd. It appears to be only screening on the 24th once or twice? Still I think you are right @thommck and the screenings will be a one off. Might well be a test of popularity though. If the screenings do well enough at the box office there might well be some serious thought put into producing a film. (Just as long as it is done by the BBC film dept.)

Lucikly our eldest will be past exams by then though he does have an 18th Birthday the night before. AT least he had a few hours to catch up on sleep.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

Whose writing is it? The Doctor’s I would guess. (Reminds me a little of the Valen story in B.5, which also involved a paradox. He writes a letter to himself from the past which sends him on a mission resulting in him going back etc etc.. )

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I agree with @timeloop I think R.S. is certainly dead. The entire character arc is working back from her death so if she wasn’t it would not make as much sense or be nearly so poignant. However as we found out in TNoTD being dead won’t necessarily slow her down. I expect we will see more of R.S. though in incorporeal form. (um deja vu or have I said that before?)

I like the suggestion that the face at the end is Capaldi. It looks more like Hartnell though.

As @htpbdet has pointed out the policeman in the opening appears to be guarding the yard. In the original he is simply passing by on his rounds.

@jimthefish, That may be true but far too “blue boringers” for now. I agree though with you re’ the trailer. I am quite content with this trailer and don’t really want one that is packed with spoilers. (Though not normally adverse to spoilers I am enjoying the mad bonkers theorising here so much I wouldn’t want to to be limted by too much actual information.)

Cheers

Janette

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

Having re-watched the trailer, (several times) and the beginning of An Unearthly Child I think the opening scene of the policeman guarding the entrance to Totter’s Lane is endeavouring to suggest no more than the beginning of the T.V. series as a reference to the beginning of the Doctor’s journey, so I don’t think that the policeman at the start is overly significant. “Blue boringness.”  Though as has been pointed out, in the original he passes the gates to the junk yard, here he appears to be guarding them but I still think that is because it works better within the mise en scene.  (haven’t used that term for a few years..)

I have been re-looking at the figure towards the end with his back to the viewer and I am now certain that is the John Hurt Doctor. On closer observation I noted that he is wearing a vest over rough trousers with a thick leather belt and an ammo blet slung over the top. Hurt Dr’s costume sans coat.

@d12345 Not sure about Hurt creating an endless war in order to conclude another war however it is interesting that you raised the subject of Trenzalore. I think we all assume that the battle fought there was from the Time War but I have a feeling that it might be something more important than that. I think it was the battle where everything began, as @htpbdet says, this story will be circular and no, that is certainly not too complex for a Moffat tale. Moffat delights in complex stories which require two or three viewings to fully unravel. The battle of Tranzalore might well happen in an alternate time loop but it will have heavy consequences on “reality”. I wonder if S.M. has taken R.T.Ds Time War concept and turned it narratively on its head, with the later’s permission of course.

IMHO Hurt Doctor is not going to be evil, just pragmatic, following the argument of “just war” where the Doctor will never, ever justify murder. (ironical given that the series had the highest body count of anything shown on TV in the U.K in the 70s)

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@htpbdet (minis)

“He is wondering if  Hurt (whether Dr Zero or Dr 13 or whoever he is) seals the Time War one way and and because Dr 11 has gone to Trenzalore, the one place he should not, he has a chance to undo what Hurt has done and seal it a different way.”

I think your uncle might well be right there. It is possible that the difference will be who is able to leave Gallifrey. Long ago we came up with the idea that the children and perhaps the non time lord Gallifreyan’s (assuming that there are some) will be allowed to escape as a result of Smith Doctor’s actions, and that Clara, being a nanny, will take care of the children in her various incarnations. Whew. It’s late here so I hope that makes sense.

Interesting how recently so many different theories seem to be fitting together. We will soon have our very own 50th scripted. Moffat has some stiff competition here..:)

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Hi mini @htpbdet s Please pass on our regards to your uncle. I thought it was Hurt at the end but not at the beginning however I did wonder why the policeman was there. He as the only element in the trailer that didn’t quite belong. I have to rewatch the original episode now as I don’t recall a policeman in it though I assumed that opening sequence was taken from An Unearthly Child. Looking at the screen cap he certainly has a look of John Hurt but I am certain it isn’t him. Unfortunately it is too late here but I am certain that someone else will check.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@scaryb and @craignixon The spidery thing could be a dual reference to the racnoss as per the tagged images, and also the spiders in the Pertwee story, Plant of the Spiders, which was what first came to my mind. Likewise the soldier, which I took to be a U.N.I.T reference but is identified as something else, (temporary break in transmission) could also be dual reference. The trailer is packed with icons and symbols. They can represent more than one thing. Maybe the face in the globe is both Susan, Clara and Sarah Jane. Or maybe that’s taking the idea too far. My partner doesn’t think it is either Susan or Sarah Jane so the jury here is well and truely divided.

I think that if that is Hurt Dr at the end facing Tennant then he is certainly not an aged Dr Eight as McGann is included in the clip. I am leaning heavily towards the @htpbdet theory of Dr Zero and Time war. This is what he has been running from all his life. Perhaps it was what Hurt Dr did to achieve peace that “was not in the name of the Doctor”. Maybe the whole non intervention rule was created by the Doctor who then ran from his own rules. I rather like that idea, the Doctor running from those who apply rules he put in place.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Watched again with my youngest and found a lot of detail that I previously missed. We have been debating the reflection in the globe. He thinks it is Sarah Jane. In slide 17 of the image breakdown on the “combom” link from our wonderful @wolfweed it looks rather like Susan with short hair swept aside across the forehead, so I’m still undecided. (Rather hoping it is Susan as Sarah is featured already.) I am certain that the man facing Tennant Dr is the Hurt Dr sans the coat. He is wearing an ammo belt and scruffy clothing, definitely not Jack’s style.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I have now watched the trailer several times. One thing I noted which has not been commented on is the Himalayan background early on; a possible reference to the Abominable Snowman story which of course features the G.I? I suspect that the man with his back to us in front of Tennant is the Hurt Doctor which means that all the Doctors are featured. I assume also that the floating soldier in the junk yard is a reference to U.N.I.T. I am certain that it is the Master in the globe with Pertwee. Sarah Jane might be featured as the best representative of  B.G. companions as she is the one to have featured in AG Who but it also increases the probability that it was she who gave Clara the phone number. R.S. is notable for her absence. If she has been omitted from the 50th special she had better show up in the Christmas special or there will be tantrams…

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@scaryb I think the boys will decide on the 3D as long as they get English jelly babies which I am told are far superior to the Aussie ones. I must admit that I rather like the idea of seeing Dr Who in a cinema and though I am not a fan of 3d I think it will have a very different feel which will be interesting and we can always watch it the “proper” way afterwards.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

And he locked Gallifrey up in a time lock just to avoid returning and facing up to whatever it is he is running from.. Maybe even started the time war as a diversion or an excuse… Now that does border on evil.

And I thought I had a problem with procrastination.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

As I remarked in the News thread the trailer does seem to point to the story being about both Doctor Zero and the present incarnation with flashes of all those inbetween, all caught up with the time war so I think that @htpbdet might be close to the mark with his theory. I think it highly unlikely however that there will be any connection between Doctor Zero and prisoner zero but I am usually wrong so maybe there is.

We are currently debating here as to whether to see the special in 3d, then return home for the long expected party and a repeat viewing or just watch at home over fish fingers and custard..

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@hudsey agree too and with @blenkinsopthebrave. It does seem to me that the trailor implies that TNotD will take us back to the beginning and deal with the time war as well as per @htpbdet‘s theory. (in the 50th anniversary thread) Apologies @blenkinsopthebrave for my tardy response being one of the few awake at this time but we didn’t watch the trailer until midafternoon when we could gather the entire family for the event and we had to head out shortly afterwards. I feel as though I need to watch the trailer at least twice more before making too many comments as there was clearly a lot packed into every frame.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@htpbdet‘s point that the Doctor can be both zero and the Time war Dr has a lot of merit. (Nice to have you back with us in spirit if not quite in person.) It would be rather nice to tie BG Who to the time war. It would really link the two parts, BG and AG which is what one would hope for from an anniversary special. It can easily be done in such a way that no knowledge of BG Who is required other than the number of regenerations and I think even the most casual viewer is aware of that.

I would love to see R.S interact with P.C. Doctor but I fear that we will only see her in ghost form from now on. It is clear that being dead is not going to slow her down overly.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@wolfweed The image of the carrot and Dr Smith brings an instant smile. Certainly one of the most memorable episodes of LiS. Interesting to rewatch now alongside Who episodes of the same period. One is classic the other just silly, albeit in a fun kind of way.

That has to be the worst Dalek I have ever seen. 🙂 It looks like a Dr Who Lost in Space crossover.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

Another possibility for the Hurt regen’ is a time loop, within a regeneration, ie a paradox as has been discussed. If this were the case Hurt Dr could fit in anywhere because at the end the entire ‘event’ will be wiped and the Hurt Doctor will never have existed there for there is no extra regeneration and Moffat can bat the problem of the regeneration limit off to the next show runner. (Though I suspect it is a story element that Moff’ will really enjoy toying with and then demolishing altogether.) It is possible for this theory to work that the Hurt Doctor is brought into being by Clara and the GI interferring in the Doctor’s time line as the implications of that can be past as well as present and future. Having said all that though I think the Anniversary special will have to be a complete story, ie a film, rather than just a continuation of the previous series. Ah well. I do enjoy demolishing my own theories.

These days I tend to mistrust everything Moffat says. I think he is having a lovely time playing with fans, teasing, misdirecting, setting up false expectations, all so that he can really, really surprise us on the 23rd.

@whohar I assume you are somewhere in the Melbourne region then? @blenkinsopthebrave, you are brave indeed. You have gone from one extreme to the other. -40c I hope you have lots of winter woolies.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Just to add to the dilemma  maybe a scene of the first Doctor in Totters yard or at the original console with Ian and Barbara?

As you are doing the art work I think the choice should ultimately be yours @jimthefish Whatever you have time for and would enjoy doing the most.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Apologies @whohar and @scaryb I don’t know the broadcast details yet and I believe that @blenkinsopthebrave has decamped for milder climes. If I hear anything I will let you know. I do recall hearing mention of cinema releases here but I imagine will only be in the cities.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Finished watching Enemy of the World last night. TV dinner menu this week. The family all enjoyed it. Our youngest (12) was getting very caught up in it, showing that “modern” kids don’t need flashy CGI to enjoy a well written story. It was an interesting story very much of its time and complex enough to demonstrate that Dr Who was never just a simple kids’ show.

I must confess there was amusement here at the beginning over the shocking Aussie accents. I think this is the only Dr Who story ever to be set, at least in part, in Australia. Time for another me-thinks and this time it can be filmed in down here too. (I know two young aspiring actors who would love to be extras. 🙂

I found the rapport between the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria especially enjoyable. One can sense that they were as good friends off screen as on. I also get the feeling that Troughton is really enjoying playing the duel roles. He pulls it off well, giving a shade of depth to a character that so easily could just have been another cardboard villian.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@hudsey. You certainly know how to get a welcome to this forum. Come up with a bonkers theory. Well done. I do like the idea that the J.H. Doctor might be pre Hartnell. You pointed to some good reasons for The Day of the Doctor not to feature the time war. I think it is now generally assumed that it will but we all know that Moffat likes to misdirect us. The idea just discussed, (for which I cannot claim any credit. @arkleseizure is the author of that one with help from @blenkinsopthebrave and @bluesqueakpip.) of the Day of the Daleks type paradox would enable the Hurt Doctor to be linked to any period in the Doctor’s history. The doctor could regenerate into Hurt in an alternate time line, so the Doctor who regenerates could be any Doctor, past present or even future, though he is referred to in the past tense.

If we were to combine all the bonkers theories about the anniversary special, and ironed out all the contradictions, we would have enough material for the next series at least. Maybe the next 50 years even, with a few filler episodes.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

My keyboard was throwing a hissey fit yesterday and wouldn’t let me post (nothing to do with the glass of white it consumed a few days before I am certain). I was naturally thrilled by the news. There are so few Troughton stories left than any find is wonderful news, to have found a complete story is beyond hope. It would have been nice for the BBC to have shown these stories, especially in this anniverary year. The ABC has been repeating all the old stories again. They showed all the extant episodes last decade. I was amazed to read that these episodes were never repeated on U.K. tv when we got to see them repeated every year. I am certain that the BBC will recoup the costs of acquiring these with or without showing them on free to air tv.

I hope that @htpbdet is enjoying re watching these long lost stories and I also hope that we hear from him soon.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

Somebody, (apologies to the person responsible for my lack of credit) recently remarked that Day of the Daleks is one of Steven Moffat’s favourite stories so it does indeed seem likely that the Day of the Doctor will involve a time loop/paradox this time involving the Doctor and the Time War. It is possible that the Hurt Doctor exists in a time loop so won’t count as an actual regeneration.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

As I recall her accent would imply that she was raised in the U.K. It might have been Madam Kovarian who took her to the U.K. As I discovered a couple of years back children’s passports don’t specify who their parents or guardians are. I found myself in the rather awkward situation of not being able to prove that my children were indeed my children. I now take the precuation of carrying copies of their birth certificates.

If Melody regenerated in 1969, even as an infant, then she would be at least a decade older than Amy and Rory so if that regeneration scene is 1969 there must be at least one regeneration between that child and Mels. Her arriving in Leadsworth in order to “grow up” alongside her parents was clearly no coincidence.

I still like the Time Lord children theory as mentioned by @bluesqueakpip. It works perfectly with Clara as the glactic nanny but I suspect that it is Clara who saves the children. The Time Lord children have not yet been saved. History is about to be rewritten. I keep hoping that Susan will come into it somehow..

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

Wow. Looks so different. Think I’m going to like the new look, (once I’m over the shock of it 🙂  )

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Sorry @pedant, but I can’t resist..It did seem that the BBC were holding something back when they announced the anniversary specails. Maybe this was the big secret. I would hope they will screen these episodes and not simply use them to sqeeze more money out of fans. I was surprised to read that they were never even repeated in the U.K. It seems that we in Australia were always better served in terms of repeats. I don’t know about those early stories but the Pertwee & Baker stories were repeated over and over and still are being reshown.

@Shazzbot I do so wish I could just pop over to the U.K. for the anniversary. Sometimes the “tyranny of distance” can be a real downer. I hope you are able to sell them.

@craig. Well said and thanks again for providing this wonderful site.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Thanks @Shazzbot for the link. I wish I could see the production. I really enjoyed the last version of RichardII to grace the small screen.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I too was in the first camp and I think those of the second camp should be  chucked out into the snow. I loved the episode. It wasn’t Dr Who normal but Dr Who wrapped up in Christmas paper, all colourful and glittery with a surprise inside. Matt is always at his best when acting with children, (with perhaps the sole exception of NiS”) as he is able to engage at their level, to reveal in his own childishness. Moffat likewise has a good understanding and willingness to expolit the strong bond of a parent for his/her child. I don’t understand why some viewers just don’t get that or view it as sentimental twaddle after all, while we don’t all have children we all have parents. (well mostly) We have experienced at least half of that relationship.

Madge was a wonderful character with real strength and who better to have on our screens at Christmas than Manny in a spacesuit. Moffat deftly handles the political angle here, and interestingly it is one of the few stories in AG Who where the humans are the cause of the trouble though he doesn’t really explore that. This is meant to be a feel good, after pudding and brandy story. It gives us a happy ending for the end of a happy day. When it comes to writing Christmas stories Moffat is a true discipile of Dickens.

cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

In the ABC shop yesterday buying up on Who merchandise naturally the guy serving me was discussing getting his costume organised for the anniversary. I didn’t ask where he was going in that costume. I know the local fan club are planning an event.

@phaseshift, keeping the blog or post open all weekend is good as it allows for those stuck in different time zones to participate. Hopefully some of those other members from this far away forgotten corner of the world will wake from hibernation in honour of the occasion. 🙂

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

I’m using word03 and Firefox. Yes I posted into the visual window. I don’t normally cut and past in but was tired and needed the aid of spell checker. I am also having a few keyboard issues after it consumed a glass of white the other night.

Thanks for coming to the rescue @Shazzbot.

 

[janetteB @replies]

Urgh. That’s what I get for Copy pasting from word.

[janetteB @replies]

I really can’t add much to what @phaseshift has written. I think David Tennant really cemented the success of AG Who. Eccelstone was excellent but Tennant “was” the Doctor. Chris acted the part, D.T. inhabited the role.  He brought a lot of energy and life to the part as well as depth though sometimes the later was overplayed though not through any fault of the actor. I agree that he was at his best when working with Catherine Tate. The Doctor needs a companion that can pull him down to size and Tennant’s Doctor was perhaps the most in need of that of the AG incarnations. He has a cheeky arrogance, both relishing his God like powers and feeling the need to apologise for them. He knows just how clever he is. Some of the highlights of his tenure (in no particular order) are the moment in the Christmas special when he first steps out of the Tardis to save the day, the “wibbly wobbly” speech in Blink, meeting Sarah Jane in School Reunion, meeting River Song. I am sure there are plenty more. My favourite episodes from his tenure would be, Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, Human Nature/Family of Blood, Silence in the Library and the excellent but “Dr Lite” Turn Left. I didn’t like any of the specials. Might have to give Waters of Mars another try at some stage.  I think Fires of Pompeii is also worthy of a mention.

[janetteB @replies]

Reading this discussion from a land far away with almost no good pubs, (we do have the odd one or two) I am really enjoying the discussion in an increasingly envious kind of way 🙂 So I am hoping there will be a report of the night for those of us too far away to attend in anything other than thought. Maybe we should have a special thread for Dr Who anniversary celebrations as I am certain that many of us will “mark the occasion” in some way or other. I am still planning a Who themed party. I recently found out that the local lolly shop sells English jelly babies, (which are distinctly different to Aussie ones) in paper bags. Sadly I can’t eat them as they have gelatine in them but that won’t stop the rest of the family and I am getting better at making souffle though as a friend pointed out, they should be burnt anyway.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Loved the mini clips. Much thanks @wolfweed. You have won back the crown.. It is always nice to get little snippets like these. They broaden the frame of the story and give the character a life outside the screen. And right now even “the little crumbs of Moffat’s table” are welcome.

I thought Carol Ann Ford sounded quite bitter in that mini interview. It seems as though she blames Dr Who for her career disapointments.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Seems like it is just a preview. There is more to come. Something to look forward to. Thanks for the link @Shazzbot.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave. You have outdone @wolfweed and get the crown of the day. I’m still wiping tears from my eyes. Thank-you.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I just wanted to thank those who recommended Crow Road. Been watching it these last few nights and really enjoying it.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

It might not be the BBC that is withholding the trailor but Steven Moffat. It would appear that the trailer contains spoilers or at least gives some infomation or clues about the 50th that he wishes to withhold from the general viewing public for as long as possible, to be finally shown maybe in conjunction with something else. If this is the case however I don’t really know why a second trailer can’t be made that reveals nothing. It wouldn’t be hard.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

I certainly am sending best thoughts and wishes.  @htpbdet‘s contributions here are much missed. I hope he is recovering well.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

OOps. I forgot about the scene with the Doctor and Susan stealing the Tardis. (either too much or not enough coffee clearly) I have been thinking about that cot though and the thought did occur, why Old High Gallifreyan, which I assume is a language akin to Latin. The constant repitition of that langauge may not simply be because it looks pretty as I had assumed. Perhaps that is a clue in plain sight. This might be an echo of the BG aborted story line linking the Doctor back to the earliest days of Gallifrey. Maybe he is not simply just “any old timelord” but a timelord of special significance or maybe the cot is simply a family heirloom. (Guess that is the boring explanation.) And why did he have that cot on the Tardis? He clearly didn’t need it for Susan unless there was a possibility of regenerating into an infant so he took it along, just in case. He clearly left Gallifrey empty handed so he must have returned for it at some time, maybe when he ran for President. While I am certain that the when and how of the cot being on the Tardis will not be, and need not be explained I would hope that S.M would have thought of an explanation. It is the Why that matters.

I have to say I don’t much like that possibility. I much prefer the Doctor to be a plain, simple, humble timelord who rebelled against his autocratic, and probably corrupt, society.

Cheers

Janette.

[janetteB @replies]

Now I will have to watch Enigma again and look out for you and your family @thommck.

When I was young I wanted to operate a dalek. Had I known that they filmed Dr Who at Elstree I would definitely have made enquires about doing extra work. (Lived just down the road for a time.)

Sorry Topic Dalek. Back to Hide now.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I would appear that Clara is an “ordinary girl” in extroadinary circumstances if we are to believe Emma. Agree with @jimthefish comment re’ Enigma. This episode has a distinct resemblance to the film even down to the setting and costumes which were not reflective of the year in which it was supposedly set.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I agree with much that has been said by all above. The “Good man” of the title I am certain is Rory and in many ways this is Rory’s episode as much as it is the Doctor’s. Moffat was certainly teasing the audience more than once with the suspicion that the child was the Doctor’s but that was just Moffat at play.

Aside from the story itself it opened up so many narrative possibilities, both character and situation. It potentially added whole swaths to the Dr Who mythos, the Paternoster Gang being just the beginning. RTD gave the Doctor earth bound families through Rose and Donna. S.M has given the Doctor a wider, multi species family which inclues Dorium whom I hope will crop up again, albiet just a head. The story also opens the canvas in a manner of speaking. Much of it hinges of things that have or will happen outside the story. We may never visit the Gamma forests on screen, (much though I hope we do) but they have become part of the fabric of Doctor Who and the religious war, which has been referenced more than once is surely going to resurface. After all headless monks are just too good not to reuse. Likewise I am certain that every viewer thirsted to know more about the “endless bitter war” which may (I think most likely) only refer to the Doctor’s lifelong crusade against evil and all forms of wrong doing.

As to the cot, it too suggests many possibilities. It was the Doctor’s but we assume also used for his Gallifreyan children. Given that he has it on the Tardis maybe Susan was an infant when he fled with her. It seems that they have been travelling for some time before settling in London. I know that many people wish the past to remain a mystery to be filled in by the individual imagination and I don’t disagree however I would appreciate a few clues or references this anniversary year.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Poor Peter. Nobody loves him. 🙂 thanks for the links @phaseshift The prostest certainly does seem like an example of “protesteth too much.” They must MUST have at least voice parts. (fingers crossed.)

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I too like the idea of a “mini ‘sode” featuring the earlier doctors. I also think it quite probable that they have “voice” lines in the special. I am certain that Peter Davidson wouldn’t be given a personal copy of the script if he didn’t have some form of involvement in it. (Even if he is well and truely Doctor family now.) I noted in an article elsewhere that Frazer Heines does Troughton impersonations so maybe he could do the second doctor and with David Bradley being established as the first regeneration he could provide the voice.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

I saw the article about the painting but I hadn’t noticed the Tardis in the top left corner. Amazingly it really does look like the Tardis. I bet that brought a smile to the face of Richard Curtis. And he thought it was all just him imagination.:)

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

This is a comment on a link that @wolfweed posted in the Dr Who News thread about Dr Winning TV choice awards. If my reading was correct then Peter Davidson had his personal copy of the script.  I would not have thought that necessary unless he was making an appearance. Curious.

Cheers

Janette

 

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