Ouch, weren’t he and Tom Baker just promoting some new Sherlock Holmes audios?

I’m very nearly over these non-news about things RTD might have done “if only”…

I always thought it had to be Strange New Worlds

I’ve struggled with SNW, and still do. One realisation made the latest season almost tolerable for me: They’re not doing Star Trek, they’re trying to do Doctor Who.

Say what you will about either show, but there are a lot more silly non sequitur stories in Who than Trek. The whole concept just allows for it, and that’s how it should be. But the same approach doesn’t work for me in Star Trek.

So yeah, Russell. It would have to be SNW because that’s the Trek show that airs “Reality war” level storylines.

The episode never ended, Eccleston was secretly incumbent Doctor all these years. Good job, Jagrafess!

I’m actually low key excited for this, and I’m not the biggest fan of the Big Finish audios. But any Susan material after last season’s letdown is welcome!

Also, I find it amusing that Eccleston stars in a semiofficial holiday offering after the sacking of Russell T Davies, Jane Tranter, Phil Collinson, and Julie Gardner ✊😅

I guess you don’t, though I did repeatedly explain how it relates 🤷

Have a nice day.

They all sound interesting, I think. A Dalek four-parter, too, at least in theory. The maddening part is, this shows that Davies and Bad Wolf had season 3 planned out, far enough to commission scripts — without any season order from the BBC or its partner.

I do hope these can be retooled for a future series, I’m always up for an abstract space horror (yes, even “Sleep no more”). And I’ve seen many fans wishing for Jack Thorne as show runner, so it would be interesting to see his take on the Doctor.

What I get from the memoir excerpts so far is that Davies does a very rosy revision of the story, and dangling these could’ve-beens to distract from that. Elsewhere he’s pretending “The reality war” didn’t need a rewrite and extensive reshoots to accommodate Gatwa’s exit — “oh, we knew Ncuti was leaving”.

Really? Because as of October 2024 Gatwa thought he was going to shoot s3 the following year. He said as much on the Graham Norton show. I’m not buying much of RTD’s version to be honest.

Not that it matters of course, there will be a new production soon enough. But the season that never materialised will probably haunt the fandom — perhaps the general viewership — for a while.

As before, “Human nature”/“Family of blood”, yes.

What? Oh, yes. Sure, “never” 🤔😅

It’s really fairly straightforward within the show’s established mechanics, as I explained. The Doctor is chameleon arched into Timelord physiology, so can only regenerate as far as the latest “extra” cycle allows. “John Smith” would have died of old age, too, if he hadn’t opened the fob watch and become the Doctor again.

But you’re right that it will ultimately be determined by the whim and/or requirements of any future writer who’ll dust that plotline off down the line.

Geez, who’d’ve imagined thinking before you speak could have saved you all of that backpedaling.

Yeah, and as long as the timeless child’s “essence” is under wraps in a fob watch, deep in the TARDIS, the Doctor remains Timelord and the regeneration limit stands … ostensibly, but nobody cared to define it this time around, so it might as well not, until it’s needed for one story or other.

Does it, though? In “Heaven sent” Rassilon isn’t even sure how many regenerations they’d given the Doctor.

The timeless child might have indefinite regenerations, but if they were chameleon arched into a Timelord, that would be down to a genetic level, so regeneration cycles still count. In “Human nature”/“Family of Blood” John Smith is human through and through.

Yeah, and that infrastructure is required in the invitation to tender, right? On the plus side, that could mean he might focus on the writing and have an existing entity do all the business stuff. I dunno.

That was explained during Moffat’s run, though. Specifically Matt Smiths last episode.

I can’t help but wonder if J. Michael Straczynski has thrown his hat in the ring

AFAIK he did, to the extent that he as an individual can: he posted on social media that he was interested. [Edit: here’s a source]

If he is (or has since become) associated with a UK production company eligible for the tender, I haven’t heard about it. But then, we wouldn’t know unless somebody at that company or at the BBC let it slip.

Pinning this for when the BBC picks their choice to lead the next Who production, so we can kvetch over which of the also-rans would have been better, akshually 😂

If nobody choose to do anything with that plot again, or they do and it still doesn’t stick — I hope this will become the standard response.

At a first glance, it looks fun enough! But I’m 40+ years out of the target group, so if the actual show turns out not to be for me… mission accomplished, I guess 🙂

The character Toast-IE did remind me of this old gem:

That is pretty accurate, yes 😂 A big part of it I think is fans watching new episodes as they air, and going mad with waiting a week for the next one. The hyperfocus on picking over details of the week’s story and speculating on what will happen next creates a weird and often (mostly) overly harsh criticism. Especially when discussed online…

And that’s when previously hated runs are suddenly viewed through rosier glasses. Seems it’s only now that the fandom can embrace Whittaker’s Doctor (i.e., not spit bile on others for expressing moderate appreciation). Because apparently Chibnall did still ruin the show, but RTD really, really ruined it?

Also, don’t forget the subset of fans who only really liked Tennant’s run and the Rose romance arc, and will continue to comment like those three seasons are all that really count out of a >60yrs show 🙂

Can’t really disagree with him about the substantial leaks, nor about the online outrage professionals. It’s an exhausting environment to navigate as viewers, especially because it largely feeds off our passion for shows like Who and Trek.

However, I’ll be interested in following the reactions of other parties involved in the production of the show for the past couple of years, once they’ve digested Davies’ version. If the messy season arcs and anticlimactic finales are any sign, there must have been more happening on the production than just unfounded optimism about Disney extending their streaming deal.