Dr Who

Adam Hills on The Last Leg tonight gave a perfect & very funny response to all those who got so offended etc by Jodie

^ This is one of those things where the end will justify any questionable motivations for me. As I've been saying to date I'm very much of the pragmatic 'because they can' brigade. There was a certain inevitability about it, with this character, in the modern world. If it proves to work, and work well, then it'll a great move, but if it's poorly done then there really will have been no point to it. It'll be remembered as, stripped of the eulogising, the risable PC exercise it actually is.

Also two things all this 'right on' commentary and satire consistently misses IMO: Part of the issue is that (Sidney Newman not withstanding) it has taken quite a contrivance of modern writers to shoe horn this into the show.* 12 males in a row is quite a statistical probability towards the male gender wouldn't you say.?! (I'd actually like 12 female docs in a row now. At least that would make the former male proponderence more explainable! )

Crucially too I find it interesting that the prospect of a female doctor only really formulates itself at at time of some weakness in the programme's standing. Look at the date of Newman's comments posted earlier. Look at the attempts to revamp now and try to explain that this move actually comes from a position of strength. Quite the contrary to all this rhetoric, mostly from people who had shown no former interest in the show, the appointment of a female doctor is actually suspiciously commercially motivated. Can you imagine the beeb looking quite so fondly on the suggestion of a female doc to follow the Tennant years highpoint in the modern show or Tom Baker in the classic era? It would have been "Er, can we not build on what we have?" every time. The cynicism and paternalism of the timing of this switch is conveniently ignored by all those currently applauding.


* By the by, Newman had nothing to do with creating the concept of regeneration.

^ Interesting but arguably a lot of the previous regenerations in the classic series came at points where the show was viewed as being "weak" in terms of ratings : so that's not unprecedented ?
Surely the reason the series has lasted so long is that a change of lead actor and certain amount of format rebooting has usually - not always - helped boost the ratings when they've not been so great ?

The ratings were poor at the end of Hartnell's era, and they actually contemplated getting rid of him a few stories before they did (when he became invisible in The Celestial Toymaker).
Changing to Troughton gave the show a boost.
Similarly Troughton's last season's ratings weren't so great, and then the Earthbound Pertwee and the UNIT set up - quite a change in the series format - gave the ratings a boost.
Tom Baker's final couple of seasons probably weren't as popular with the general public as a whole as his earlier ones ? In the 1980s for me it seemed to become more self-consciously "genre" viewing aimed at fans, rather than a general family audience. This didn't work because the general public's expectations of sci fi as a genre had been totally reinvented by "Star Wars" in cinemas, and by US TV rip offs like Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, not to mention a reinvented Star Trek franchise towards the end of the 80s. As a programme still produced like a stage play almost wholly within a studio with the limited production values that entailed, it could not match these expectations. It was also scheduled ridiculously - midweek in the early evening "soap opera" slot - where it was never going to compete; but still took a surprisingly long amount of time - and Doctors - to actually die ?

Rest it for a few decades and it came back with more general appeal - partly nostalgia of parents watching with their kids. To me, since about middle of Matt Smith's run, if not earlier, it's become again a programme that speaks only to committed fans, becoming too self referential.*

It's currently fashionable in TV to have never-ending franchises that go on and on and on and on, but decades ago Dr Who was very much the exception.

* maybe, though, this is inevitable in our brave new world of subscription services and anti-social media ;where everyone chooses their own programming, their own "facts" , their own "news" ; and cuts off all other media sources that don't fit in with their own preconceptions / bias.

^ Granted the programme has had problematic periods before for various reasons - I wasn't claiming otherwise. No show would be likely to survive as long as this one has without peaks and troughs.

I was just trying to make the point that this nuclear option has suddenly been granted only when the show finds itself at its lowest ebb since returning to our screens. "Brave" for this has been and gone, if anything its overdue. As others have said, that's what makes it a pandering and cynical PC inspired move.

Christmas Special 2017 Trailer

https://youtu.be/NCz5iGpbmCg

Pearl Mackie has announced she won't be the companion to Jodie Whittaker in the next series/season of Dr Who but hasn't ruled out appearing in dr who again

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-07-2...as-special

I suspected that the ending to The Doctor Falls would mean her departure, at least from the main cast. I'm pleased that she doesn't rule out a return though. What happened to her character now means that sporadic, occasional appearances are probably more suited to maintain the continuity of the show.

Interesting looking trailer. It reminds me a little of the First Doctor story (The Tenth Planet) set it a snow cap base in Antarctica. Could it be actually the same location? Very intriguing and clearly adding some more drama with a WW1 theme.

I suspect they'll use the presence of two Doctors, First and Twelfth, in some way to create the monumental change we know is coming. I'm looking forward to seeing how they write the regeneration into the show and having two Doctors already there suggests something pretty seismic will be needed to make this very different regeneration.

i Have to say David Bradley is very impressive as the First Doctor. I don't think anybody could ever replace William Hartnell, but David does seem to come very close.

Really looking forward to this now.

Wow Bradley Walsh trending on twitter seems lot of heavy speculation he will be the new sidekick have to say at first seems weird idea but very talented actor having been in corrie and also law and order UK as well as the comedy aspects.

^ I'm seeing it reported as a done deal.
If that's the case, I think that's it for me. A female Who, yeah I'll give that a fair chance, but Bradley fuckin Walsh, no way, not happening, not for me.

Ah just seen he will still be doing the chase so as i dont watch Dr who I dont really care