On That Who News

[meddow]

So Doctor Who has got Steven Moffat. I know the rumour has been circulating for ages, but I didn't think he would have time, what with being Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's go too guy for Tintin.

I am cautiously optimistic.

There is a difference between churning out one script a series and churning out five, and a difference between writing a plot and an arc so I don't think we're going to get a season of Blinks. But I think it's about time some of the RTD conventions were done away with, such as the Companion always having to be from present day London, the lack of alien planets, the constant Doctor-as-a-god, no long-term male Companions and so forth. Of course, changing showrunner does not necessarily mean they will be done away with. For all we know, Steven Moffat may like all of those and decide to keep them.

On a slightly related note, I wonder how long it's going to take until Swingtown is cancelled. *cough*JackDavenportforEleven*cough* (Actually Jack Davenport has fallen behind Stephen Mangan as my preferred choice for Eleven. And, apparently Adrian Lester wants to do it – he would make a good Doctor).

Anyway, I hope RTD contributes the odd script or two after he moves on. Yes, he is terrible in interviews and stubbornly blind to the bad subtext and even rude to those who point it out (although, I'm a veteran of The West Wing fandom so I'm used to the disdain of showrunners) but I find that some of my favourite episodes that I think are underrated by fandom in general are RTD scripts, such as The End of the World, Boom Town and The Runaway Bride.

Comments

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

Yea, as much as I love Davenport, I think Mangan would bring something different again. We will see in time I suppose.

I think Moffat will, initially, shake things up a bit. He would be a fool to shake things up *too* much all at once, but I sense a slow and steady progression of changes, which could be good or bad depending on what they are.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I can think of a couple of times in the show's history where everything has changed all at once, but yeah, like you, I don't think there's going to be a major overhaul - just subtle things initially. We don't even know when DT's leaving yet, so we may yet have another series of Ten which means it can't change that much anyway.

I'd love to see what Mangan or Davenport would do as Doctor's. The role is very much about the actor and their own personal interpretation.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

It is my belief that the new Doctor will have to be different again from Nine or Ten. Any similarities and people are just going to compare which they probably don't want. Ten was manic, and Nine was angsty and sad, so they will need an entirely new angle for Eleven so I'm trying to think of actors who could potentially bring something we haven't thought of yet.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I've possibly been thinking about it too much and want to see a more calm, reserved Doctor for Eleven, one who is possibly reluctant to the point of being quietly resentful at the thought of actually being the Doctor (and all that baggage it entails) and so goes by 'John Smith' a lot more and shies away taking the lead unless he absolutely has to - I think it would work if you had the eager and optimistic Jenny, or someone similar, as Companion.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

Yes, that sounds like an interesting one. But is the Doctor's regeneration somewhat effected by his last incarnation? (speculated, of course). As in Nine turned into Ten who had let go of all the baggage, and became happy and manic (for a while), and now we've got a slightly more subdue Ten. Obviously how we finish with Ten will affect the personality of Eleven? (ie, will he turn emo again if they kill Donna, lose Rose, etc?)

Sorry, I'm not explaining that very well.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

It seems to be a big theory that the regeneration is who the last Doctor wanted to be, or the opposite of who he was. I'm not sure if the last things that happened in Ten's subdued state would be the starting point for the regeneration. Nine seemed to have found some peace before he died, and Ten still reflected the person Nine was before that development. Then again, right before he died Nine couldn't push the leaver, Ten when he first regenerated could, it's only now that he can't anymore. So, I don't know.

But I do think that Ten's lonely god thing will turn around and bite him in the arse before he dies, so the regeneration will be the opposite of the lonely god - the bloke who disappears in the crowd.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

I think each regeneration at the beginning is a manifestation of where the previous regeneration's character arc ended up.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

Awesome theory, because Ten isn't exactly the sort of guy to back down from things at the moment. Not that the Doctor ever has been, but Ten seems to put himself in the position where he thinks he is as you said "the lonely god" and that everything falls on him.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

Duuuuude, Boomtown was frickin' awesome. I LOVED IT. I may really hate the Slitheen themselves, but the episodes surrounding them in s1 I'm actually rather fond of.

Anyway, my issues with RTD are not as comprehensive as what other people have, and there's stuff he's done I've definitely liked, but generally speaking to those issues I do have is I do think he made the Whoniverse a lot more narrow than it should be, in a lot of ways. So for that reason, and for the natural expectation that this show is obviously going to go through multiple showrunners, I'm taking this change in stride. I'm hopeful about Moffat because he's done well so far, and I'm curious to see how the change will be perceptible.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I also like Aliens of London/WW3. The Slitheen are really not the greatest monsters, but those two episodes have Harriet Jones which makes them completely worthwhile.

I am looking forward to a (hopefully - fingers crossed) expanding Whoniverse and seeing the changes. It's also kind of weird. I know there are regime changes to Who, but I've only been a fan for a few years, I've never watched one take place.