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JayMysterio

macrumors 68000
Apr 24, 2010
1,534
32,961
Rock Ridge, California
For myself, Chris Eccleston was my favorite. I loved 'angry' Doctor, followed by Tennant & his time with Martha.

I really liked the new Doctor, especially with the soft reboot. New viewers will get introduced to the Tardis separately from the characters, so they get a nice paced introduction to the world of the Doctor. The fact that they hammered home the Doctor's strong points before she fully realized who she was, was a great touch. It made it a little easier to see why people would follow someone who so proudly announces she is literally there to help people and that's her purpose.

The actual 'villain' was meh, but the work put in on the Doctor and her new companions was really what it was all about.

I also thought she was the most 'action' of all the Doctor's yet, which was a nice change.
 

decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,530
8,049
Geneva
For those that might be interested, Pluto TV just added a classic Doctor Who channel (channel 77) that plays all the classic Doctor Who episodes (1963 - 1989).
Bah, another regionally locked channel, I see the German version and no Classic Who. :mad:

Roll on the New World Order and global government, at least we'll all be watching the same crap.
 
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decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,530
8,049
Geneva
I do hope though, a lot of Dr. Who fans try this channel out in the US. Classic Who is underrated by fans of New Who and sci-fi in general because of the admittedly laughable effects and some of the head-scratching moments especially when the voyage to the future which is already our past. Should not be as many of the Doctors and companions were good actors who brought something special to their roles, some of the stories were great too.
 
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Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,232
8,903
New Hampshire, USA
I do hope though, a lot of Dr. Who fans try this channel out in the US.

Pluto TV is a streaming service (like Netflix) in the US. It's free (has ads) and can be watched on a computer, and on most streaming devices including smart TVs, iOS devices, Roku, Apple TV, etc.

If people haven't used it, I recommend checking it out.

Tom Baker in "The Robots of Death" is now showing.

It was one of my favorites :).
 
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cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
987
607
I have access to every episode ever, and yet there are some I have not watched in a LONG time... incidentally, often Pertwee stories - which is not anything against Pertwee; he has some absolute rippers! (Inferno is one of my all time faves)

Certainly, I live in the classic days more and more. 13 has totally failed to ignite for me, except perhaps in a handful of scenes. Gone are the days of me re-watching new eps (even just one more time). I'll admit, I was not thrilled at the gender swap idea (purely because in-universe it was never ever a thing until The Doctor's Wife), but was willing to give Whitaker a go. Unfortunately I just haven't felt like I was watching the character that I've been following for 40 years (aside from the occasional scene). For me, there's been no "ahah!" moment...

The episode Rose, for example, had me terrified on first viewing, that I would not "feel" like I was watching my beloved show... Eccelston didn't really give me a great vibe at first, but when 9 took Rose's hand, and told her how he could feel the earth moving... I got chills. Each Doctor has that moment when they stamp themselves on the role, and Whitaker, for me, hasn't.

I'm not 100% sure if it's Whitaker, or if it's the writing, or the direction. I was kind of appalled to hear that Chibnall told her NOT to watch ANY Doctor Who - having never followed the show before. I think this has played a part in the disassociation I am feeling (and I didn't hear this news until after seeing the first season). I don't need to see the now mundane scenes where a new Doctor imitates his/her former self/selves... (ie 5 in Castrovalva, etc etc) But the Doctor needs not just an other-worldliness (which we've kind of scene with 13's odd social exchanges), but also a continuity. Something in the character portrayal that says - I'm 1,000 years old and I've lived a dozen lives and yet I am the Doctor...

(And I know the Doctor's age has become very fluid, so take the "1,000" with a pinch of salt.)
 
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Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,232
8,903
New Hampshire, USA
After watching classic Doctor Who off and on for week (channel 77 Pluto TV), it looks like they are showing and repeating a different group of episodes each week.

They just showed Earthshock which is one of my favorite Peter Davidson (5th doctor) episodes.

I also found it to be one of the saddest episodes.
 
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cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
987
607
Earthshock was quite - shocking! When it aired in 1982 it featured the first death of a companion in the series since season 3, way back in 1966 (when Katarina and Sara both died during the Dalek Masterplan - though they had only traveled with the Doc for a hand full of episodes each). This time however the companion, Adric (my favourite at the time because I, too, was a young boy who liked math) who had been with the Doctor for close to 2 seasons.

NuWho has still not had the courage to explicitly kill a companion. They did unspeakable things to Donna... they labelled Rose dead, but she wasn't... Clara died... is still dead technically... yet still roaming around the universe... they put a massive hole in Bill, but again couldn't resist finding a way to avoid her actual death.

Rory's many deaths do not count, either. :)
 
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Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,232
8,903
New Hampshire, USA
I just saw a couple of Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor) episodes on the classic Doctor Who channel and I had forgotten how terrible the Sylvester McCoy episodes were :(.

I thought everything was terrible including the stories, the writing, the acting, the companions, the costumes, and even the special effects.

It's no wonder why the BBC canceled Doctor Who after the Sylvester McCoy episodes.
 

cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
987
607
McCoy's first year was rubbish... he had some gems after that though with Ace.

I don't know how true it was... but I did read that JN-T cast McCoy as a "well **** you!" to the BBC, because JN-T wanted to move on from the series, but they refused to let him. (They wouldn't let him move to a different show, and so he would have had to resign from the BBC, but then would have lost of a lot of benefits.)

The BBC were however also not helping the series as a whole, moving the time slot around, keeping the budget the same as it had been for ages... totally not able to keep up with the likes of ST:TNG. They wanted to outsource the show, so were happy to let it disintegrate.

Very sad, really.
 
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cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
987
607
A lovely interview! :) Sean also did some special on (BBC?) radio to mark the event. I'm in Oz, so no idea of the details.

For me, Pertwee was "the old Doctor" - seen via repeats in the "off-season" when I was a kid watching the very late Tom Baker / early Peter Davison era of the show. The Silurians and Inferno really left a mark on me from those re-runs. Then slowly his stories came out on VHS... and we got to enjoy him all the more.

Now - hard to believe we're getting BluRays - even if it's just going to be upscaled DVDs with less compression - it will be great to see.
 
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cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
987
607
Nearly 6 months later... and I'm finally going to be able to buy the Classic S10 (Pertwee) bluray set. It was majorly delayed here in Oz due to a change in distributor... (Just picked up S10 and S23 for AU$90; not bad at $45ea thanks to JB 30% off sale)

But more to the point - 6 months later, since my post above, and no chatter about the show... Even with with a number of trailers for the new season that starts in just a few days...

As I may or may not have mentioned previously here, I was one of those stuck-in-the-past fans who was not in favour of a female Doctor. (The concept was joked about by the media, with Tom Baker claiming credit for first suggesting the idea of a female actor replacing him back in 1980; but "in universe" it was never ever suggested that Time Lords could change gender - not until Steven Moffat's "The Doctor's Wife" in 2011.) By the time Whitaker made it to air, I was trying to keep an open mind... trying not to be a pessimist - this has long been my favourite tv show of all time after all. Sadly, Whitaker's performance left me mostly joyless, not really "feeling it" until the 2019 New Year's Special.

I feel that Whitaker is just lacking in "Doctorish qualities", but also, the stories have been lacking in quality, perhaps as such not giving Whitaker much to show her mettle. I am tending to think the fault is as much at Chibnall's door, as much as Whitaker's. The decision to tell Whitaker not to watch ANY previous episodes of the show seems completely absurd to me. The first 10 actors to step into the role had all watched the series to some extent - Smith being the first to be cast without actually having seen Doctor Who. He was however then directed by Moffat to go and watch Tomb of the Cybermen, which you can see helped influence his performance. Whitaker had none of this, and it shows.

Ok - rant over :)

5 days til Spyfall... let's hope it's a good'un.
 
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decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,530
8,049
Geneva
Interesting observations which I am in agreement with. Interesting tidbit, was chatting with my 16-year old niece who is a big Dr. Who fan as well (she likes 10 and 11 the most). She was not keen on S11 as it was not that great writing wise and she agreed it was uneven. She (and I) are looking forward to series 12. I mentioned it will be neat to see a veteran actor like Stephen Fry guest star. She didn't know who he is....:oops: *cue feeling old*
 

decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,530
8,049
Geneva
Ok - rant over :)

5 days til Spyfall... let's hope it's a good'un.
Well I liked it and am very hopeful for the franchise now, as I previously posted Disney should have consulted the Beeb and Chibnall. Whitaker and the rest of the cast came out stronger this time and ...

...the reveal of Sacha Dhawa as the Master was great and totally unexpected for me as well as another teaser for I guess this series' arc on what happened to Gallifrey and the origin of the Time Lords

Tempers my disappointment for Star Wars.
 

cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
987
607
Well, now that your niece as seen Stephen Fry in WHO - she wont need to see him in anything else - he's the same character in everything I've seen him in. :)

Yes, Spyfall 1 + 2 impressed me. I wasn't coming in with high hopes, but I finally am feeling a connection with the Doctor, which I've been sorely missing since she landed.

I kind of wish they'd left Gallifrey alone after it only just being recovered... but I'm willing to give the new story arc a chance.
 
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LordVic

Cancelled
Sep 7, 2011
5,938
12,460
Well, now that your niece as seen Stephen Fry in WHO - she wont need to see him in anything else - he's the same character in everything I've seen him in. :)

Yes, Spyfall 1 + 2 impressed me. I wasn't coming in with high hopes, but I finally am feeling a connection with the Doctor, which I've been sorely missing since she landed.

I kind of wish they'd left Gallifrey alone after it only just being recovered... but I'm willing to give the new story arc a chance.


SPOILERS BELOW





yeah, I liked the episodes. Felt the pacing was mostly good and the story was entertaining.

I am a little... off put though by the sudden return of the Master after how it ended during the finale of season 10. Felt like it was just a tad too soon and was probably an attempt to grab back viewers who weren't enamourmed by the lack of any returning or familiar villians from S11.

I just think there were other villians to return to that have been on the shelf far longer than needing to go immediately to the arch nemesis.

I also not a big fan of the sudden retcon, of the retcon of the retcon of the retcon that has become Gallifrey. Gallifrey is now just a macguffin. I feel like any mysticism built around it's return by Moffatt in his swan song has been undermined by a return BACK to the "oh we're the last cause I destroyed it" narrative.

right now, Chibnall's inclusion of Gallifrey and The Master the way he did it feels like a horrible grasp to include them without really being able to bridge the gap between what we knew before and today.

EG: How did this master come to be. We were shown that it went from "Simms Master" to "Missy" and she "allegedly" died without being able to regen. So where did this version come from? hopefully they will answer this and not just ignore the contradiction. and hopefully that it helps making sense of gallifrey's current state.
 
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mrsmith1

macrumors 6502a
Mar 20, 2017
720
1,982
Nottingham, England
IMG_0600 2.JPG


Me and Doctor number 12
 

cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
987
607
Hello all.

Thought it was time to bring this thread back up to date...

Whitaker had her final outing as the Doctor in October 2022 in the BBC's 100th Celebration story, Power of the Doctor. It saw the return of 2 classic companions - Ace and Tegan - in the first such return since Sarah Jane in 2006, not to mention the return of Doctors 5, 6, 7, 8 and pseudo 1 - the first time Classic Doctors have been in the new era outside of clips. By the end of the story it had cleared house, with all current companions and the Doctor bowing out.

Jodie's debut episode 4 years earlier had seen something like 10-11 million (UK) viewers (WHO's biggest ever, including the original era, as everyone wanted to see the first female Doctor). The finale was only around 4m. There was a lot of issues at play here such as the decline in terrestrial tv, yadda yadda, but whilst plenty of people may point at the decision to cast a female Doctor as a bad one, I strongly feel it was not Jodie's fault, but rather that of showrunner Chibnall. The stories ultimately were what was failing here, more than Jodie's acting... but anyways.

RTD is back as showrunner after the BBC tried several other options, all who of whom said no. More importantly, Bad Wolf is taking over as production company from BBC Wales. Bad Wolf was created by RTD alongside his WHO producers, and has been creating quality content in the interim. After the WHO announcement, Sony bought a large chunk of Bad Wolf, suggesting a big budget was now possible for the show, thanks to deeper pockets than the BBC. Then, just after Whitaker's finale, it was announced that Disney was becoming the worldwide distributor of the new WHO era (excluding the UK), so - budgets really are expected to increase noticeably.

RTD to return as Showrunner

The new Doctor was soon confirmed as Sex Education star, Ncuti Gatwa (pronounced Shu-tee). I've enjoyed this show, and in particular his performance, so am hopeful he'll do a fine job. At 30 years old, he's not the youngest Doctor (that was Matt Smith, and even Peter Davison was I believe 29 when he debuted as Doc5), although Ncuti is best known for playing a teenager.

Ff8r8cjXwAAgqHu


However - before we get to Gatwa, David Tennant and Catherine Tate will be returning as the Doctor & Donna for THREE specials during the show's 60th Anniversary month of November 2023. (How can Donna return?? Wait and see, says RTD.)

Doctor and Donna back

0_PAY-EXCLUSIVE-Doctor-Who-Filming-At-Camden-Market-As-David-Tennant-And-Catherine-Tate-Return-To-The-Ser.jpg

This pic was taken during filming - Also seen here is Bernard Cribbins returning as Donna's grandfather, Wilf, in Cribbin's final acting role before his death. :( There are rumours we may see Matt Smith return as well (his schedule was clear during filming, and Tennant said there were more big surprises in store... maybe Capaldi too?

And now today the new companion for Ncuti's Doctor - Millie Gibson from Corro Street will play "Ruby Sunday" has been announced. Their first story is going to be in "the festive season" of 2023 (Christmas?!), followed by the full season (of likely 8 episodes based on leaked financial info) in 2024.

millie-gibson-ncuti-gatwa-5d49965.jpeg


That's it in a nutshell...

RTD has in the past commented on his belief that WHO is big enough to spawn its own platform of adventures akin to Marvel or Star Wars, and with Disney now owning the distribution rights worldwide (ex UK) - that seems even more likely... although entirely uncomfirmed. I'd be surprised however if we don't hear about some spinoffs toward the end of the 2024 season - assuming it does well.

All of this has certainly reinvigorated my interest in the show, which has wanted during Chibnall's era.
 
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