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16 July 2025 at 00:27 #78046
as if the ending had been grafted on when it became known that Ncuti was going to leave the show. I could be wrong about that, of course.
That was my take too. It was very jarring to watch.
Side note: apparently Gatwa has been saying the reason he left was because he was too old. He’s 32 btw. He said the physical side was difficult and that he had a damaged knee from filming.
Other side note: Apparently RTD said he wanted to position Who away from the more macho sci-fi. I find this a really strange thing to say, as Who was one of the least macho sci-fi shows out there.
Something doesn’t sit quite right here (with either statement). I guess we’ll find out in due course…
16 July 2025 at 00:21 #78045@ps1l0v3y0u @translatorcircuit
Yes, this is real. They put a call out for pitches for a Prod company to produce a Cbeebies version of Who about a month ago.
The pitch said that it should be aimed at pre-school and therefore stepping back from the scarier aspects and focus on the Doc solving problems and overcoming “villains” who were more misguided than evil.
I don’t think this is an either / or with the main show. It may be something they are doing and thinking long term strategically – get the little ones on board and create more demand for the main show down the line.
I do think another option for the BBC is animation (in the short term), maybe using the existing Big Finish scripts as a basis for the stories. I don’t know if this would work financially, but there are a number of lower cost animation houses all over the world, so it might be a go-er.
As and when the main show does return, it would be good to see some of the Big Finish writers (or stories) involved.
14 July 2025 at 03:08 #78034Classic Era Who on YouTube:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DL-kU16hziC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Not sure if it’s still live…
4 July 2025 at 03:45 #77970RTD retcons this, the fans were an illusion, reality is restored
I think there is a mid- or post-credits scene to this episode that upends this.
4 July 2025 at 03:43 #77969@winston @nerys @blenkinsopthebrave
@whohar, you are always welcome back!
Interestingly, I had two job offers to go and live in Canada in the early 2010’s – both in Montreal. I umm’ed and err’ed about it for some time before heading to Melbourne.
2 July 2025 at 04:03 #77954@winston @nerys @blenkinsopthebrave
Happy Canada Day!
I’ve only been to parts of Western Canada (mainly Vancouver and Whistler / Blackcomb) but have very fond memories of both the place and the people. Enjoy the day.
2 July 2025 at 01:08 #77952Yes River, you are 100% right and I am in error. So definitely 11 and perhaps 12. The 9 thing is interesting though – I don’t recall that line, was it broadcast? If so, it seems to suggest 9 has the hots for Jack, although I just think it’s banter rather than anything serious.
Re 13 – it was confirmed in the last ep that she had feelings for Yaz.
Re 14 – in the first Mavity episode when they meet Issac Newton, Donna remarks “he’s hot”, and 14 replies something like “yes he is. Oh is that what I am now”
RuthDoc – they put in that cameo in The Story and the Engine about her relationship with the Goddess.
15 – as you say: Rogue.
So, to update:
1-7: pretty much asexual, along with 9 (I’d say), and War Doctor(?)
8, 10, 11 and, at a push, 12: opposite sex attraction
13, 14, 15, Ruth: same sex attraction
I would say that the 10-Rose and 10-Martha arcs were fairly integral to the show at that time. Similarly with 11 and River, albeit Moffat had a completely different writing style in this regard to RTD.
13, 14, Ruth didn’t explore their sexuality in the same way, and I felt it rather superficial. This is a real shame as, especially with 13, there was so much material that could have been worked into interesting stories on the subject of gender, identity and sexuality. But instead we got TTC.
15-Rogue did drive the story in that episode but I found it jarring because he effectively left his companion in danger with his actions, which seemed very un-Doctory to me.
Just to be absolutely clear here, while I prefer the Doc to be not romantically involved with his Companions, if they are going to do it, I don’t really mind how they do it as long as it leads to interesting stories. See the Last of Us Season 1 Episode 3 which was outstanding television and dealt with this subject in the context of a sci-fi / horror setting.
Doctor Who has always been about inclusivity at its core, and I have seen many comments on here and elsewhere from people who are happy that they are now more openly represented on the show. Representation is important, and I think the show serves this best when the stories do it justice, rather than as an afterthought.
1 July 2025 at 12:16 #77949which caused me to explode in a frenzy of anorakery, just because I could
I love things like this. I learned something new from your post and it made me smile as comments often do when I realise the passion and knowledge of a poster.
And adding @ps1l0v3y0u
Re the Doc’s romantic entanglements. Pre-gap you can make the case that Doc1 was, at some point, romantic and infer his heterosexuality. The rest of pre-gap I don’t think there’s any real evidence, apart from Doc8.
Post gap we had 9, 11, 12 all pretty non-romantic on screen, with 10 the obvious outlier.
And then: 13, 14, 15 and RuthDoc who all wore their sexuality on their sleeve (eventually). And those last four are all either bi-sexual or gay. So, based on the evidence, there have been more bi/gay Doc’s than straight. An intetesting development I think.
30 June 2025 at 10:00 #77942Then I got to renaming the files and of course, the very last file was – Joy to the World. I hate it when that happens!
Annoying. You could rename it Episode 0, after all it worked with the Laws of Thermodynamics 🙂
And adding @janetteb
Continuity? Main approach seems to be not to bother / ignore past events if you have a (good) story you want to tell.
Moffat was good at explaining the continuity gaps, Chibnall adept at steamrollering the continuity.
The only way I can think of tying 60+ years of multiple writers ideas is to say that each Doctor’s adventures occur in their own Universe. A Multiverse of Doctor Who Madness, if you will. And that multi Doctor stories are universe crossovers where the Doctors’ memories are affected. Hence the anomalies.
But, this only (kinda) works if each Doc is consistent in their own run, which is probably not the case.
Also, why bother (to some extent) to retcon everything just for continuity?
30 June 2025 at 07:16 #77936I’m also watching Andor – about 2 eps in (similarly slow in watching things). Apparently, there are three lots of three eps, each representing a year, so three years in total. It does pick up from where Season 1 left off.
Would recommend watching this season and then Rogue One afterwards (if you’ve not already seen it).
30 June 2025 at 03:47 #77933Anyone seen Silo?
I saw the first season and enjoyed it. I’ve not seen the second in full (yet) but found the early eps a bit repetitive.
My understanding is that there will be four seasons in total based on three books by Hugh Howey – Wool, Shift and Dust – with the first two seasons basically covering Wool only. This probably explains some of the drag (for me) in the second season.
Hope that, urm, helps.
26 June 2025 at 10:49 #77921On a more positive note, there are rumours that the BBC are talking to both HBO and to Netflix about stepping into the vacancy apparently left by D+. HBO already have a working relationship with Bad Wolf, and if they do come on board I can see their ethos aligning well with the essence of Who. Likely to have longer runs too.
26 June 2025 at 10:46 #77920I really couldn’t care less is such a petulant way to start a post, but OK.
However it works must be destroyed, then the way it used to work or a way similar to that established.
Bear in mind that the way it used to work led to a gap of 16 years between TV series, then that’s not the solution you think it is. If it was even possible. Which it isn’t.
25 June 2025 at 07:09 #77913Specifically, at some point in 2021 say, The BBC contact Russ and say ‘we need help. That show you really like is heading for the bin. This is our wish list. What can you do?’
Not sure how that negotiation played out but, at a guess, Gatiss, Whithouse and Matthieson were all considered too adult.
Nonetheless, having had 5-10 years to cook up the first arc with or without a Cartmel 2.0, Russ thinks ‘yeah I can do this (again)’ but actually he hasn’t that many ideas banked.
I think there’s something in this, especially the BBC’s cry for help and the reduced amount of time RTD had to work with. There are a lot of similarities with RTDs first run e.g. The Master reveal (RTD) and The Rani reveal (RTD2), there are many others. From which I infer he stepped in to help because he loves the show but borrowed from his first run as he didn’t have the same amount of development time.
But…he also made some creative decisions which (like it or not) have alienated a large amount of the fanbase, lead to falling ratings, critical disapproval (some of it fair, and plenty of it vile), and so here we are.
As @blenkinsopthebrave said above, oh the irony if RTD is the person who both brought back Who and oversaw its demise.
25 June 2025 at 06:53 #77912Comments such as the above accepting another gap indicate that the people posting them have been brainwashed into accepting this
Or maybe people who understand a little bit about how the television industry works have realised that, given there is no agreement in place with Disney+ and no filming currently ongoing, there has to be a two-year gap at minimum. Has the BBC been slow to pivot and take the show back in house? Perhaps. I don’t know and I doubt anyone outside of a select few key players at the BBC, Bad Wolf and Disney really know what’s happening. Maybe RTD will update A Writer’s Tale in a few years, and we’ll all find out.
We know that RTD has Season 3 and part of Season 4 written and drafted out and that it would be a continuation of the first 2 seasons. Given the audience and critical reaction to Seasons 1 and 2, it is understandable that there should be a pause to re-evaluate and potentially change direction, maybe with a new creative team. This all takes time.
The BBC is publicly funded and has a remit to produce programs that are aimed at a wide range of people. It does not ringfence any money it earns on any given show and spend it just for that particular show, otherwise plenty of its current content would not be viable. This may be stuff that neither you or I would watch but the BBC is one of the few public service broadcasters left in the world, so it is within its rights and remit to spend its money how it chooses.
Additionally, the television and streaming landscape has hardened in recent years. Disney are re-evaluating Disney+ as it’s currently making a loss. Their strategy of milking to death every IP they can get their hands on has simply not worked. Audiences are walking away in their droves. Many people within Disney are being laid off as cost cutting measures; of course, not the Executives who set the strategy and direction but it’s the ordinary workers who are being hit and their livelihoods impacted. Given this, any disappointment we may have over the non-airing of a television show quite rightly pales in comparison.
20 June 2025 at 03:44 #77890Yes, I’ve seen a couple of YouTube videos on this very subject. RTD’s statement is pretty equivocal, but I am expecting Who to be offscreen for at least two years.
Interestingly RTD also posted somewhere about all the speculation around Billie Piper’s role, mentioning several of the theories found on this very board, so maybe he is reading our posts < Hi Russell 🙂 >
In related news, the BBC have put out a formal request for pitching an animated Who show on CBeebies, consisting of 2 x 26 episodes of 11 mins length over two years. The tone would be different to the regular show to reflect the audience, with less scares and the villains being more hapless than evil, which means you’d struggle to use most of the classic monsters. I immediately had a couple of ideas pop into my head, and I’m debating whether it’s worth putting a pitch together; deadline is 10th July, so I don’t have a whole bunch of time. It’s an interesting (and positive) departure for the BBC and for Who.
12 June 2025 at 02:43 #77884Because there’s a canon explanation right there, Rose has been exposed to the Tardis energy, which the Doctor has then taken on, and he’s just used his own regeneration energy to manipulate the time vortex.
I like this very much. Well done.
9 June 2025 at 05:14 #77877Smith’s early debut left me cold. So I lost touch with watching it on TV
I too, had some reservation with Smith’s early portrayal, finding it a bit too manic at times and with a bit too much posturing (I Am the DOCTOR), and it spoilt some eps for me (yes, even Vincent). I often take time to adjust to a new Doc though.
Once I had acclimatised myself to the new characterisation, I went back and rewatched and found I enjoyed them much more.
9 June 2025 at 05:05 #77876Agree with your analysis, I think that is exactly what’s happened.
@miapatrick <hello, welcome back> @blenkinsopthebrave
I suggested in an earlier post that Piper might be another version of Idris from The Doctor’s Wife, so similar to your Tardis idea. I hope this is what pans out on screen as it’s the most palatable option, for me at least.
7 June 2025 at 09:49 #77864Ah, yes Amy’s Choice, which I had watched but missed from my list.
Interesting that a number of my favourite episodes are not written by either Moff or RTD (or Chibs or Gatiss):
Dalek
Amy’s Choice
Vincent
Father’s Day
Human Nature/ Family of Blood
The Waters of Mars
The Doctor’s Wife
The Rebel Flesh / Almost People
Zygon Invasion / Inversion
Mummy on the Orient Express
I’m sure there are others.
7 June 2025 at 03:17 #77857@blenkinsopthebrave @ps1l0v3y0u @dentarthurdent
As a bit of a palette cleanser, I’ve just been watching a few eps from Smith’s first season (aka Series 5):
The Eleventh Hour (still the best regen story imo)
Pandorica / Big Bang
Plus a couple of other eps: the Angels two-parter, and Vincent.
It’s like watching a different (and much better) show. Imaginative ideas, creative plotting, likeable, believable, characters, fantastic performances, and great stories with subtext.
Chalk and cheese when compared to the current iteration which relies too much on spectacle over substance, bombast, poorly executed didacticism, and unsatisfying callbacks to the classic era.
I came away feeling a little bit saddened.
5 June 2025 at 00:37 #77836@all,
It strikes me that all this talk about Billie Piper, entertaining as it is and allowing for much bonkers theorising as it does, actually does a bit of a disservice to Gatwa’s tenure. All the Internet is talking about right now is BP’s appearance in the last ten seconds of an hour-long episode. Nothing about the outgoing Doc’s tenure, as would be usual. This mirrors, to some extent, the way Gatwa’s doc was somewhat undermined by the bi-generation, and the corollary that Doc 14 was still around and (presumably) could return at any time.
I think RTD really (I mean really) wanted Gatwa in the role but, due to his unavailability, RTD came up with workarounds to allow this to happen (return of Tennant for the 60th Specials, bi-gen, Doctor-lite episodes), perhaps without thinking through the consequences. When the ratings tanked and Disney got cold feet re the renewal then, given the uncertainty, Gatwa (rightly) decided to move on to protect his career. This resulted in a somewhat panicked RTD calling up Piper to fill the void in some way TBD, and here we are.
I could, of course, be way off here and RTD has a (ahem) Masterplan, which he is adapting on-the-fly but I don’t think this is the case.
Just my 2c.
3 June 2025 at 14:54 #77824My theory about Billie is that she may be a temporary interim Doctor till the future becomes clearer.
I make that 3 theories now:
1. @jimthefish ‘s Interface theory
2. Your interim Doc theory
3. My she’s The Moment theory.
To which I’d add something I briefly saw online:
4. She’s a version of Bad Wolf.
and another thought:
5. She’s another version of Idris from The Doctor’s Wife.
Hopefully it won’t just be clickbait casting.
3 June 2025 at 03:52 #77822I have been thinking (over-thinking?) about Poppy and the question of whether we are in a world of reality or not at the end
Unfortunately, we just don’t know. And, in actual fact, we have more questions now than we did before the finale. That shouldn’t be the case. I’m fine with leaving a few threads hanging and to be resolved in the next season, but there are so many unresolved questions still. It’s called a Finale for a reason. RTD has said that he has plans that run for 3 or 4 seasons and this is great if you can pull it off. And he CAN pull it off; he has done in the past. Think of the gap between Tennant’s (Doc 10) hand being chopped off in this very first episode, the fact it was recovered and appeared in a jar in the Tardis, leading up to the Doctor Donna Metacrisis in Journey’s End. That’s long-term storytelling done really well, in that there were payoffs along the way, and a seemingly small detail became central to the story.
That’s not what we’re getting with RTD2, it’s the opposite: lots of ideas thrown out there (e.g. Billie Piper cameo), either without any payoff (e.g. Susan, Mavity, The Boss…), or with an unsatisfactory resolution (e.g. Sutekh, Omega, Ruby, Belinda, The Rani…).
And, dependent on what happens with the show, we may never find out how this all comes together. Clearly the off-screen shenanigans (good word shenanigans) are having a big impact on what we are seeing on-screen, resulting in what, I’m assuming, were a series of hasty rewrites and the February reshoots to accommodate Gatwa’s leaving the show. The finale was basically two stories jammed together. I would be interested in seeing the original version of the finale (if such a print even exists), as I suspect (well, hope) it would have held together much more coherently.
2 June 2025 at 07:02 #77808and it It still doesn’t fully make sense I will watch again, and again
I’d recommend watching The Reality War, as they are basically one story split over two parts; it might provide context (or it might leave you more confused).
they didn’t address how the Doctor tortured Kid
I think this was a massive mis-step tbh. I found it very jarring to watch.
2 June 2025 at 05:29 #77805Welcome back.
The return of Billie P. Think it’s probably a given that she’s almost certainly not the next Doctor
I tend to agree, although all bets are off. If she’s not the next Doctor, then what else? As you say maybe an interface between 15 and 16 (RuthDoc? She was again seen in the montage).
The vibes I got off Piper’s, very short, appearance reminded me of her personification of The Moment in The Day of the Doctor. May have been the voice. I don’t have any real idea what this might mean right now.
Unless they can rush out a Christmas special, we’ll probably have a couple of years wait at minimum to find out.
Whoever pays the Piper calls the tune.
2 June 2025 at 03:22 #77800It looks like I am out of step with almost everyone on here, barring perhaps @thane16 . I really didn’t enjoy it at all; I wanted to, I really did, but it was an incoherent mess in the main. Spectacle over storytelling, which meant that the big story beats didn’t resonate with me.
I’d expected a regeneration but it didn’t hit home as previous ones have. I think because this has been a truncated couple of seasons with several Doctor-lite episodes, so I was only coming round to Gatwa as the Doc in the last couple of episodes, and this probably tempered my reaction. Normally I start to properly see the new actor as the Doc sometime towards the end of their first season, which would be roughly the same number of eps where Gatwa has been fully present. I like him in other things I have seen but, given he missed a significant amount of the two seasons due to unavailability, it was probably a mistake to cast him.
Billie Piper. Fine actor, and a decent person from what I’ve seen and read, so I hope it works out for her. It does make me wonder why RTD made this choice and why now. I can think of three potential reasons:
1. RTD is leaving and wanted to bookend his tenures by using the same actor.
2. It’s a last throw of the dice to keep Disney onboard by re-introducing a well-loved actor from his first run (or to give the BBC a headline act if they bring Who back independently).
3. RTD’s creative well has run dry.
There is another option: RTD is annoyed at how he’s been treated and so is salting the earth for his successor. I’d be amazed if this is the case given his history with the show. I do wonder if he saw the mess Chibnall left and felt obliged to step in to help, but his heart really wasn’t in it. I guess we’ll find out in about ten years time when he does an update to The Writer’s Tale.
I’m pleased that so many on here enjoyed it. Truly, I am. But for me it was just a series of things that happened that completely washed over me.
31 May 2025 at 06:17 #77747Given that the Wish World is designed ultimately to fail, the fact that the bony and insubstantial dinosaurs (VR?) are such an anomaly may be the point; a way of testing peoples acceptance of the illusion and at the same time prompting doubts and questions
My understanding was that it was the Doctor’s doubts specifically that were required, as his doubts are somehow so powerful they can destroy the Wish World and the connection to the Underverse. This might explain why there were giant skeletons over London – as a way to snap the Doctor out of his illusions, as it were.
And, so, until this happened they had to keep the world going. This may explain why the humans were being arrested – the Rani couldn’t afford for the Wish World to disappear by any other means than the Doctor’s doubt as, presumably, the doubt of the entire human population wouldn’t also shatter the boundary to the Underverse.
That’s the best explanation I can come up with.
I think it would have been more powerful if RTD had structured the episode like Groundhog Day, and showing the Doctor gain an increasing awareness of where he was (and how he got there would also be nice). I think this would have given the episode more dramatic impact than what was, essentially, around 45 minutes of exposition.
I really hope we don’t get Peter Davison
Hard agree from me.
And at the conclusion all 15 Doctors form a conga line, waving to the audience as they ascend to the own individual Tardis
Hahaha. I quite like to see it however.
30 May 2025 at 10:37 #77743Just started watching Andor season 2.
First episode was very good, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. Rogue One is in my top three Star Wars movies, and the first Andor season was excellent, so have high hopes for this one.
Would recommend, even if you are not into SW as it strips back a lot of the lore-related aspects e.g. the Force. More about the everyday people who inhabit the SW universe.
30 May 2025 at 10:33 #77742I just posted onto the BBC Approved Spoliers thread. The post itself is fine but it didn’t appear in the Recent Posts on the homepage.
30 May 2025 at 09:46 #77741An excellent breakdown of the trailer. Alas, I can’t think what these clues may lead us to.
I wondered if the Bone Palace was the Rani’s Tardis. Also, I couldn’t figure out why those giant skeletons were present (for in-story reasons I mean*)
It seems strange to have something so anachronistic present in a world where doubt is an arrestable offence.
*I think RTD thought they looked cool and had the Disney money to realise his vision.
It gave me the impression that Belinda was both outside the box and inside the box.
Schrodinger’s Belinda.
you’re bigenerating
Hahaha. 🤣
Iota is associated with the internet of things & AI.
This is interesting, but I’m not sure what to make of it.
29 May 2025 at 07:53 #77716Conrad is not redeemed
Fifty-fifty in my opinion but I think, given RTDs very clear theme on the subject, it’s probably even less likely, so maybe 40-60. UNLESS he somehow feels something for Ruby and tries to make it up with her, sacrificing himself in the process, so maybe 60-40. Ah, hell, I don’t know.
Similarly, I wonder if Mrs. Flood will turn on the Rani.
My one wish: That they don’t do a similar CGI-generated monstrosity, like they did with Sutekh. An actor, in a big gold mask works perfectly well. And I hope that Omega escapes into our world somehow. And that RTD sticks the finale. OK, so that’s three wishes, but they owe us after last season’s debacle.
I am also getting End of Time vibes: Bringing back Gallifrey, Omega / Rassilon, The Rani / The Master. As noted before, RTD is pulling lots of ideas from his first run into this and repackaging them into new stories.
29 May 2025 at 07:43 #77715the behaviour of Byron and his associates was slanted
There was a part where Byron hid in fear behind one of the other, female(?), characters and it really jarred with me. IRL Byron (Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know, per the famous quote) saw some military service in the Greek war of independence from the Ottoman Empire, so hardly the coward he was portrayed in Diodati.
Re: Tesla, I agree that altering historical facts to fit a story is antithetical to what Who should be. But Tesla is arguably a more interesting character than Edison or Westinghouse so, while it was a good choice to focus on him, they should have written a story riffing on his inventive side; then again, that’s been done already in The Prestige.
28 May 2025 at 23:53 #77709Chibnall had it in him to write a good episode. Exhibit A: “Eve of the Daleks”
Yes. Eve, along with Diodati and Fugitive are, for me at least, the best three of the Chibnall run. Interestingly, two of those were co-written which tells its own tale.
28 May 2025 at 09:29 #77688I’ve just looked at this again.
“I’ve have a daughter. Poppy is real. Don’t you know what that means?”
We’ve been (logically) assuming that the Doctor is talking about one person i.e. that Poppy is his daughter. But what if she’s not? What if the Doctor is making two unrelated statements?
I have a daughter.
And
Poppy is real.
If so, then we have another mystery – who is the Doctor talking about? Surely, RTD isn’t going to throw Jenny into the mix?
28 May 2025 at 09:07 #77687Sometimes bigger is not better. It gets too apocalyptic and actually diffuses the threat
100% agree. Think back to last season’s denouement. All that death and destruction, the whole world gone. And the one heartstring pulled was when we saw that one woman in the desert.
28 May 2025 at 06:21 #77685Hmmm, Narrative football indeed. As I said on another thread, RTD has a lot to pack into the finale.
28 May 2025 at 06:16 #77684I think something needs to change and a Writers Room, or a showrunner who has not previously been involved in the show in any way would seem the best way forward.
Maybe a proper soft reboot, to enable much of the ditching of the restrictive back story / continuity.
I always thought it would be a nice idea to have the Doctor on the run from Gallifrey, wanted for some crime or other, and being pursued by the TL police. Constantly on the run, and helping people wherever he/she/they lands. Maybe with an season long arc to tie it together. Or a proper multi ep single story serial.
A grandson for Ian and Barbara? That would be a nice callback actually.
Tilda Doc lands on Earth and the grandson becomes her only companion. Works for me.
28 May 2025 at 05:44 #77682If, as the Doctor claims, that Poppy is his daughter, then why did he not recognise her in Space Babies?
It seems to me that he should have recognised her then, and not recognised her now but it appears to be the other way round.
Either he’s mistaken (unlikely), lying (but why, and to whom – no one is listening to him as he plummets to the ground*), or he’s right (but see above)
This is another plot thread that will have to be tied up in the final episode. There are many. Hopefully RTD can pull it off, and the final ep is 1 hour and 6 mins of runtime, so he might have a chance.
* a ground that is rapidly disappearing, so what is he going to hit? The Underverse seems the best bet at this point.
28 May 2025 at 05:08 #77680I didn’t comment on here about Chibnall’s / Whittaker’s Who run, mainly because I found it, in the main, to be witless, charmless and (often) senseless.
While I appreciate the show was attempting to move in a different direction (and this is potentially a good thing), and using lots of different writers, with more diverse representation both behind and in front of the camera. But, for me, this was generally performative rather than substantial.
I wrote on the Chibnall retrospective blog that it appeared that, once a female Doctor had been cast, Chibnall mentally went “OK, that’s done.” He never developed that side of the character, or put her Doctor into stories that would have built upon the gender change.
I also think Whittaker was not really Doctor material, I’m the same way I struggle with Peter Davison and early McCoy. (Baker, B. I didn’t watch so won’t comment). None of them, imo, had enough Doctoryness about them.
On top of that, a lot of bad decisions were made which compounded things: the Tardis set, the number of companions, dull stories, the non-use of old enemies in the first season and then the over-reliance on them later on. The Timeless Children.
TL;DR: the good ideas weren’t original and the original ideas weren’t good.
Not only was his entire tenure a missed opportunity, it also gave a small but vocal sub-section of “fans” a stick to beat the show with, allowing their dog whistle reviews and comments that still continue to this day.
But AG Who has been going on for so long now, that some drop off in quality was inevitable.
What I’d like to see next (and this is a pipe dream I know), is a short break and then a feature length story with Tilda Swinton as the Doctor.
28 May 2025 at 03:46 #77679My Grandfather was the seventh son. He was also born on Valentines Day so he was given the spectacular name of Septimus Valentine.
That’s magnificent.
Funnily enough my Aunt was the 7th child of a 7th child (my grandmother), so down the female line. Apparently the two of them had telepathic abilities but only between the two of them.
25 May 2025 at 08:14 #77617Also Ruth was shown post 13. And no 14 at all.
I’d not spotted that. Given @janetteb ‘s suggestion above, does that mean 14 could have bigened into RuthDoc (off screen) after he bigened with 15? Or is RuthDoc between Docs 2 and 3?
Interesting that you should mention Silence in the Library, I was getting more like Forest of The Dead vibes. And The Husband of River Song, both of which had an altered / created reality.
25 May 2025 at 07:48 #77616Thanks @craig that looks like it’s going to work.
French subtitles appear for Les Trois Docteurs.
25 May 2025 at 07:34 #77607Well lots going in this episode along with some rather (unsubtle) messaging about othering and the dangers of a totalitarian state.
A bit of a strange ep with the Doctor not being the Doctor for most of it, which does rather take away from a show called Doctor Who.
Lots of invention and, yes, @winston, Conrad’s wish is for Britain to return to an “idealised” traditional, simpler time (that never existed), so he is a cipher for many influences we see in the modern era.
I wondered if Jo Martin doc is going to turn out to be the result of a bi generation that way she becomes canon while the overly complicated and “baggy” backstory is quietly forgotten?
I really like this idea. I wonder which Doc it would be? Hartnell would seem to make the most sense.
So many loose ends right now. It’s difficult to make any kind of comment at the moment, as this was all set up with little in the way of payoff, so will have a better idea after next week.
It’s interesting I think that RTD has gone back to old Who so much in this recent run (although he’s left out the big hitter monsters), especially given this was meant to be a soft reboot in an attempt to gain a new generation of fans.
It’s the first time I’ve even been partially correct, so thanks to everyone for the kind words. And, yes, @blenkinsopthebrave, I am pretty puckered after mulling potential scenarios over. The bath joke started even further back I think, on the G’s website.
24 May 2025 at 16:13 #7758023 May 2025 at 06:37 #77572salt at the edge of The Universe… this is post mavity. The Star Beast and his boss exists before that departure
Ah, yes. I was thinking of updating my Finale missive anyway, as I’d spotted a couple of things I’d change for clarity, and also a couple of minor errors. But I don’t have the time / energy, and it’s just for fun, so I’ll just handwave-and-vibe it away by saying Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey 🙂
Apparently, RTD has said that he considers the Two Ranis as a single entity, and we know Conrad returns, so there must be another significant addition to this story. No idea who that could be. But your golden tooth may make a re-appearance potentially.
I do wonder if Doc 14 will make an appearance though. I know Tennant’s stated that he is unlikely to return for some time but y’know, misdirection and all that. I do think there will be a regeneration though.
22 May 2025 at 03:45 #77569@blenkinsopthebrave @dwnerdfrommars
Are you available to take up the position as the next Showrunner?
I’d love to write an ep at least. I’ve had a go but it’s much harder than it first appears…
Is there a plural for Rani?
Best joke I’ve seen regarding this (from t’other place): “Well it’s good to have The Two Ranis back on the BBC on a Saturday night”
(this joke might not work if you’re not from the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Ronnies )
22 May 2025 at 02:45 #77565The Season 2 / 15 / 41 Finale Theory
I thought I’d try and guess how the two finale episodes are going to turn out by tying together some of the story elements from the last two seasons. I did this for the last finale and quite enjoyed it although, unsurprisingly, none of it was correct. And yes, it does involve Omega again, so turn away now if that’s not your thing. Anyway, here goes:
Omega has been trapped for millennia in an antimatter universe but waiting for a chance to escape (he is The One Who Waits / The Boss).
When the 14th Doctor sprinkled salt at the edge of the universe it weakened the boundaries between our universe and the antimatter one, and also led to various anachronisms such as mavity, goblins and bi-generation.
The altered universe now allows Omega’s anti-matter presence here without being annihilated but, while he can view and influence events in our universe, he is still unable to cross-over. Omega thinks there may be a solution to this on Gallifrey but, finding it destroyed, he scours our universe for any remaining TLs, finding only the Doctor and The Rani.
He then instructs the Rani to conduct experiments to try and recreate the TLs in order to start a new Gallifrey, and this results in the Space Babies. The Rani captures the Doctor and splices some of his DNA into Poppy to see if she can force a regeneration.
The Rani, who had been tracking the Doctor throughout all his adventures to ensure she can cross the schwup and get her Tardis back to May 24th>, then opens up the pan-Universal boundary by setting off a series of Delta waves at locations all over the Earth. This allows Omega to enter our Universe, but the Delta waves begin to destabilise the planet resulting, ultimately, in the schwup and the destrruction of Earth.
While UNIT attempts to stop the Delta waves, The Doctor escapes the Rani and confronts Omega, managing to weaken him by making three wishes (as the Doctor finally realizes this is allowable in this reality). Omega attempts to defend himself and alters our Universe by manipulating the timelines using the Hand of Omega (which the Rani had previously intercepted on the way to Skaro).
This sends both the Doctor and Omega through a series of fictional / alternate universes and, as a side effect, causes Poppy to be transported across the Universe to the TC Portal, where she is found by Tecteun, thereby closing a time loop.
The Doctor manages to defeat Omega, and sends him back to his own universe. The timelines start to correct. The Rani jumps into her Tardis and disappears. Mrs Flood is left outside the Rani’s Tardis and she fades away.
There is then another wheezing-groaning sound and Susan steps out of another Tardis. She turns to Belinda, says “hello mum”, and opens a Chameleon Arc. Belinda transforms into a TL / (not Jenny that’s going too far). Her first words are something like “The gravity seems a bit off”. confirming that the universe has been reset to pre-salt settings. In Chiswick, Doc 14 disappears.
The Doctor, his body damaged by the battle with Omega, collapses with Susan and NotJenny next to him. A solitary tear rolls down his cheek. He says “A tear Sarah Jane, No don’t cry, while there’s life… No, wait, that’s not right.” He starts to glow “See you babes.”
He begins to regenerate…
Fade to titles.
I knocked this up in about 15 minutes, so it’s probably full of plot holes, but when did that ever stop Who, eh? I’m not naive enough to think this will happen but I have hopes that I might have a couple of things correct(ish) this time.
Anyhoo, brace yourselves my fellow Forum members, and we’ll see what happens on the 24<sup>th</sup>.
20 May 2025 at 10:58 #77557@mudlark @janetteb @juniperfish @ps1l0v3y0u @blenkinsopthebrave @cathannabel @scaryb @devilishrobby @dentarthurdent @krathoon @miapatrick @cookgroom @bunface @orionhunt @fozzyb @bobbyfatv2 @spacedmunkee @thane16 @craig @whisht @winston @dwnerdfrommars @translatorcircuit
See above
Apologies to anyone I’ve missed off the list.
As to what’s going on, I think my Omega theory from last season may be due a dusting down, perhaps in alignment with the Daleks.
20 May 2025 at 10:52 #77555What’s been observed / themes
- The Doctor cries. A lot. Are the tears “fuel” for something.
- Belinda seems to know more than she should e.g. what a Tardis is called, possibly references to her home planet of Gallifrey…
- Lots of wordplay e.g. Al = AI, SueTech = Sutekh.
- Stories about stories. And stories leaking out into the wrong order.
- The stories in this season bear a lot of similarities to stories in RTDs first Who run.
- Conrad will return – will he be in the same point in his life, or close to (at) his age at death?
- The Doctor has been ineffective in saving people.
- Mavity. Lots of mentions in ISC
- Salt at the end of the universe which means fantasy / myth / something else is/are bleeding into the universe.
- 2nd Doctor mentioned in passing a couple of times: the Yeti in Lucky Day, and the 2nd Doc was first to appear in the montage of TSaTE.
Bonkers Theories
- Mrs. Flood is using the Doctor to help her get back to Earth, using the V’Indicator.
- Belinda is another of the Timeless Children / TL.
- Belinda is related to Space Baby Poppy.
- Belinda is related to Susan
- They are in the Land of Fiction / Mindrobber connection.
- The Doctor and Belinda are in an alternative universe
- The Doctor and Belinda are trapped in a machine
- The Doctor and Belinda are trapped in a game
- The Doctor and Belinda are in a simulation
- The Doctor is part of a wider Pantheon cf. Cartmel.
- An AI-generated reality, based on the Doctor’s life / Doctor Who the TV Show (Meta)
- Return of AN Other Timelord e.g. Omega
- A Godlike creature pulling all the strings.
- The Doc will regenerate, possibly into Ruth Doc.
- DMC88 and Delta wave may point to a Dalek return?
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