Doctor Who TV Show • Page 44

I'm like 99% sure the Fugitive Doctor is not coming back to the main series and it was just a fun bit of fanservice / to set up a potential spin-off.

Re the child that Belinda saw - according to the credits of that episode and Wish World it's one of the kids from Space Babies

 

Finally catching up on the “first” season or whatever you want to call it.

Made it through Rogue. So far, I’m a fan.

 

the gods are all the same pantheon afaik, Russell has basically retconned every superpowerful villain in the show's history into the pantheon

the Fugitive appearance was just a fun meta wink about how brief her time onscreen was in Jodie's era and how that story didn't really resolve. don't think there was much else to that, apart from getting both Black actors who've played the Doctor onscreen together

pretty wild to throw that at us one episode before Susan and the Rani tho lol

 

today was certainly one of the episodes of all time. bracing myself for another bad finale

 

I finally caught up.

Loved every single episode so far (up until today) and just think the last two seasons since Ncuti and Davies have been phenomenal. However, today’s episode just felt like one big set up and I’m never a fan of that. Very WandaVision, but a bit flat as I’ve seen that before.

There are now a million mysteries I cannot see how it will land in a completely satisfactory way. Hopefully the bulk of the story in the last episode will be compelling, because as I said, it’s been a brilliant series so far.

PS. Is there somewhere I can see all the references from this season as I just saw in The Guardian recap that The Giggle has featured in a number of episodes (the baby today, apparently a waveform last week?) - I’ve picked up on a number of them, but I’ve apparently missed a bunch.

 

This is something I’ve thought a lot as I’ve watched this series. Articulated well here.

 

Still working my way through the new Who. I just finished Lux, which was a lot of fun.

I’ll say, binge watching these as I am, Ncuti really favors the “one tear streaming down the cheek” maneuver. I think I’ve counted one in nearly every episode.

 

just realised that the finale is getting a simultaneous release everywhere which is definitely not detracting from all the rumours swirling around. also means it premieres at 4am my time which is a lot less fun than all the rest coming out at 5pm!

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Unfortunately saw a spoiler posted on twitter before I had the chance to watch. Going to put it on now.

 

...huh.

yeah Russell has gotta go lmao I'm sorry

 

Quite the shocker, but yeah, I’d be okay with a new showrunner now.

 

haven't actively watched DW since mid-Capaldi era, but hopping in after seeing the news. maybe this show does need to go away for a while...

 

I’ll save more detailed thoughts to give people a chance to watch, but overall am cautiously optimistic given some of the possibilities in my head though definitely would like to see new voices and a return to the smaller storytelling.

 

it's crazy how he actually managed to strike a few chords with that second half (Millie especially was amazing) and then undercut everything with another goofy gimmick casting. dude truly cannot help himself, this could've been one of the best seasons of the show based on where we were at halfway, instead it's only ever gonna be remembered for this bullshit

 

I take back every minor complaint I ever had about Moffat as showrunner

 

this shit has me wondering if Chibnall was really that bad

 

It sounds (and shows on the screen) like there was a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on. Probably the most obvious case since The Power of Three.

What I've been able to ascertain as the most likely explanation is:

- Bad Wolf, BBC and Disney agree plan for two seasons of Doctor Who, with expectation that there will be a third
- RTD signs Ncuti with a three season plan
- Disney get cold feet somewhere along the line amid concerns about the long-term profitability of streaming, stalling negotiations for S3
- Ncuti asks to leave, potentially quite late into production, as he has a budding career and can't afford to wait for things to sort themselves out / is worried about getting locked into a TV deal in three years' time
- RTD rapidly rewrites and reshoots the original planned ending and includes a surprise regeneration as a way of getting people talking about the show

Unfortunately the episode is bad, in a lot of ways. Jodie's cameo was nice, but basically every character gets done dirty - probably because the finale became a regeneration episode at short notice. The Rani and Omega are unceremoniously killed off at the halfway mark after a dragging exposition dump, and we spend half the episode looking for a child that ends up not even being the Doctor's daughter.

Now there's something in that - the Doctor being such a pure creature that he would sacrifice himself for that one child, but it's not really there on screen, the stakes are not very well established. The Doctors suddenly end up talking about renewal and regeneration in the second half and the best we get as to why is an almost throwaway line about "a life for a life". I guess RTD didn't want to retread the ground from the End of Time or Doctor Falls but I think it almost comes too out of nowhere.

Ruby doesn't get to say goodbye, Mel disappears halfway through (I think?), the less said about Belinda the better. It's very clearly not what was planned because the Susan foreshadowing, which is one of the few things that's underpinned the whole era, remains largely unresolved. Was even teased in one of the promo images that doesn't end up appearing in the final episode. And Mrs Flood seems to have largely been to set up a Big Finish series with Anita Dobson (you know it's coming)

It's a mess. Timeless Children-level. But I suppose this one doesn't mess with The Lore so it's something.

 

So now that it’s been almost a day and all over social media, my spoiler thoughts are: this is actually Rose and Billie is not playing 16. With all the things reality stuff, my guess is that Rose has found her way over to the main reality and is just replacing the Doctor. The next special will be her in the TARDIS and maybe the time hotel(?) looking for them and getting them back and end with a new 16 and, hopefully, begin a new era with new showrunners, writers, etc. The credits did not introduce her as “The Doctor”, which tells me there’s more at play, and I think with the uncertainty moving forward with the Disney deal, they wanted a hook to keep people interested and Ncuti wanted to leave to go do bigger things.

 

already? i haven't even started Ncuti's run yet, i thought he'd have three seasons like everyone after 9 did.

a tiktok pointed out that the franchise's first female Doctor and first black Doctor both "regenerated" into nostalgia characters.

 

Hmm I honestly don’t know how to feel. Kind of bummed Ncuti is done, and it felt kind of unceremonious. Don’t know how I feel at all about Billie Piper being back. I guess we’ll see how it turns out. If they’re really gonna have her play the doctor then I almost hope it’s at least for a whole season and not just a one off episode? I think my biggest problem is they’ve dangled so many threads that feel unresolved, I wish this era would’ve been the reset that was advertised. But idk I’m curious at least to see where it goes.

 

this was 100% not the plan originally, popular assumption from what I've seen is that Ncuti was meant to stay for 3 seasons and Millie at least 2, but whatever happened behind the scenes resulted in Verada getting cast 2 weeks before filming started (!) and this baffling hodgepodge of stuff. D+ accidentally posted a picture of the original ending to the finale where they're all at a big party and Susan is watching them, which means the original ending was likely fully filmed and Ncuti walked away pretty late in the process, which gave us this very rushed regeneration and whatever the gimmick with Piper is gonna be instead of a proper ending

 

i've heard about the original ending, but didn't know there was a photo. do you have a link?

 

it popped up on my Facebook feed the other day lmao, seems to have been scrubbed since then unsurprisingly

 

anyway