Doctor Who

[Debug Ring]

Speaking of Eccleston, in a special message at the BFI's 50th celebration of the 9th Doctor he said:

“I love the BFI. I love the Doctor and hope you enjoy this presentation. Joe Ahearne directed five of the 13 episodes of the first series. He understood the tone the show needed completely – strong, bold, pacy visuals coupled with wit, warmth and a twinkle in the performances."

“If Joe agrees to direct the 100th anniversary special, I will bring my sonic and a stair-lift and – providing the Daleks don’t bring theirs – I, the ninth Doctor, wow to save the universe and all you apes in it.”

 

It's good that he's done this, considering the amount of ridicule he gets from fans about him 'hating' the show...

[Salamander]

I'm gonna go weep at the fact that that could have been Eccleston standing next to Tennant and Smith now.

 

I'm pretty sure that Hurt would have been in anyway.  The themes associated with him are clearly different to those of Eccleston, and in the final analysis I think we'll look back and see them as having been established well before it would've been known that Eccleston wouldn't be appearing in the special.  Nine's a darker, battle-damaged Doctor, sure, but he isn't someone that the later Doctors wish to deny, whereas Hurt was so bad that they're not only ashamed to call him the Doctor, he's practically cast out of the Doctor's entire timeline.

 

This is likely down to the fact that the Hurt Doctor is, metafictionally, doing something really clever, which is what we got from that costume designer when Prince Charles visited the set a while back:

 

"There was a gap between Paul McGann playing the Doctor and Christopher Eccleston, when we didn’t see a regeneration, and John Hurt will fit into that gap. He is a past Doctor, not a future Doctor."

 

It took me a while to see the essential brilliance of this: John Hurt as a part of Doctor Who's history is representing the period when the show wasn't on TV - but more than that, he's the reason the show wasn't on TV!  Between McGann and Eccleston the Doctor became this figure who can't be called the Doctor, and that's why an entire stretch of years is blotted from the history of both the show and the character.

 

So as far as that goes, he definitely can't be a stand-in for Eccleston, who's described the role he turned down as, I think, a "cameo" or a "bit part" - hardly sounds much like Hurt's role, which, judging by the cliffhanger from TNOTD and reports of the ComicCon trailer, represents a major element of the special.  Incidentally, it's rumoured, I think convincingly, that the real stand-in for Eccleston's role in the anniversary is...

 

Rose, representing the Ninth Doctor's era in his stead.  This ties in to the fact that she wasn't seen in the outdoor filming with Tennant, indicating that she's not in the special as his companion.

 

Since we're on the topic of the Hurt Doctor's role in the special, though... I think I may have hit upon his secret.  The reason behind his successors' denial of him as the Doctor - indeed, as a doctor.  The question was always what he could have done that was so bad that he isn't included in the Doctor's own timeline and couldn't have been done in the name of the Doctor.  One theory suggested is simply that:

 

He's the "Time War Doctor," who fought in that greatest of all wars.  It's true that being a doctor and a warrior are somewhat contradictory - but here's the thing: The Doctor's always been open about the fact that he fought in the war, ended it, destroyed all the Daleks and the Time Lords.  It's no secret - he blurts it out to villains he's never met before.  So that doesn't stand up - not entirely.  Based on reports of the ComicCon trailer and the Dalek promo images, it does seem likely that he's a Time War Doctor, though.  But what could be worse than double genocide?

 

A further theory, building on that and adding an actual secret, is:

 

That the Hurt Doctor

started the Time War.  That's a lot nearer the mark!  Certainly it's something worth being ashamed of - being in a sense responsible for so much destruction and violence.  But I don't think it's really enough - especially not as RTD's previously suggested that the Time Lords' mission for the Fourth Doctor to prevent the Daleks' creation in Genesis Of The Daleks constituted one of the opening shots in the war, and he hasn't been struck from the record.  So there has to be something more to it, I think.

 

But here's my theory, building on both of those.  Something that the Doctor did which was so essentially un-Doctor-ish, so shameful...

 

In the Time War, he fought on the Daleks' side.

 

This might even fit the metafiction angle - the Daleks are one of the most popular elements of the show and have to be resurrected over and over to draw in the punters, so in a sense the continuation of the show has always been down to an alliance between them and the Doctor...  So if we read the Time Lords' plans to end all of time, to essentially destroy the universe, as a metaphor for the cancellation of the show by DW's superiors at the BBC, then the combined forces of the Doctor and the Daleks are the only ones who could stop them.

 

I could be majorly overreading the metafiction angle of the special in this, though (although the very idea of a multi-Doctor special to commemorate the show's anniversary is inherently metafictional).  Part of the problem is that while we know a fair bit of what's in the special, we have no idea what it's really about...

[Debug Ring]

BBC respond to fans complaining about the lack of 50th Advertising and the BBC promise "Big things":

They said:

"We can assure you our 50th celebrations will in no way be muted -- we’ll have details soon but for now, trust us! You won’t miss our celebrations, promise."

 

And when asked specifically about the 50th Anniversary trailer on Twitter:

“Oh we’re going to give you so much more than a trailer… patience. It’s worth the wait -- we promise.”

 

So they'll be putting out more than just a trailer... A prequel perhaps? I'm rather excited nonetheless.

[Debug Ring]

Possible Christmas Special Villains Leaked?

A tweet from stuntwoman Darrelle Parker states that the Cybermen will be back once again.

“Great to be stunting again for Dr Who in the Christmas special playing a Cyberman.”


Another Cyberman Christmas episode, like The Next Doctor? Only this time the next Doctor will be appearing...

[Brad]

Honestly I'm getting kinda tired of the BBC just messing around with the 50th now. What's to lose from releasing the Comic Con trailer to us? We already know most of the details from websites, but I wanna see something. We're two months away and there's little to no advertisement for the 50th beyond the official Doctor Who pages, and that's just them counting down the Doctors until the big day.

[Salamander]

Further thoughts on the 50th re: its title (or rather, its could-have-been title):

 

Given that we know Ten, Eleven, and Hurt's Doctor are in, and that Nine was planned to be in - given also that previous multi-Doctor specials comprise The Two Doctors, The Three Doctors, and The Five Doctors - I would say it's almost a certainty that the planned title for the 50th was to have been The Four Doctors.  Of course, that's out the window now... unless they managed to film some stuff with Capaldi later, just as Hurt's scenes for TNotD were tacked on after the fact.

 

Possible Christmas Special Villains Leaked?

A tweet from stuntwoman Darrelle Parker states that the Cybermen will be back once again.

“Great to be stunting again for Dr Who in the Christmas special playing a Cyberman.”


Another Cyberman Christmas episode, like The Next Doctor? Only this time the next Doctor will be appearing...

 

Thoughts on the content of the Christmas special and why this is fitting:

 

Moffat's previously commented that the Christmas special will deal with Eleven's knowledge of the fact that he's soon to be rewritten, and that his whole personality will change with his impending regeneration.  The experience of a person in becoming a Cyberman presents a fairly obvious analogy.  If the Cybermen are the main villain, it will be for this reason - although they might just be one of many cameos.

Edited September 5, 2013 by FFWF

[Debug Ring]

Matt Smith at the Christmas Special reading:

 

His hair is notably shorter than it was in Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, so he's shaved it again... He'll be wearing a wig in the episode? Or will he go shaved?

 

The Thick of It creator Armando Lannucci expects funny, tragic and powerful 12th Doctor:

For those who don't know, The Thick of It starred Peter Capaldi as Malcom Tucker, so Lannucci knows Capaldi

In an interview with What'sonTV, Lannucci said:

“I was so pleased when I heard that Peter had got the role. He had a part in the show a few years back and he told me that when he went on set and saw the TARDIS, he nearly cried! He’s a massive fan.”

 

He adds: “He won’t be Malcolm – that’s the thing. I think some people will be surprised because he’s a fantastic actor. He’s really funny, so I imagine there’ll be lots of humour there, but he can also be powerful and tragic. It’ll be interesting to see if they do stories that allow him to play to those things!

 

Lannucci also expressed a desire to write an episode for the show: “I’d love to write [an episode of Doctor Who]! Steven Moffat hasn’t asked me, but it would be great because I love sci-fi and I grew up with Doctor Who as well.”

[TheGerkuman]

Ianucci, with an i.

 

I would love him to write an episode, he's great. His style of humour would be perfect for the series. I know I've posted this before, but it illustrates my point perfectly. (Slightly NSFW)

 

[Gatestormer]

Matt confirmed in a short interview from the GQ Men of the Year Awards last night for ITV's Daybreak this morning that he is indeed wearing a wig. 

 

I did it for a film, but it means I have to wear a wig in Doctor Who which is a nightmare. I'm excited, I start shooting the Christmas Special Sunday. It'll be sad - the end of a wonderful era! 

 

You can watch Daybreak on ITV player online (not sure for those outside the UK though).

[Brad]

So, the Series 7 soundtrack went out to some people today before the general release on Monday. Luckily people have managed to get the tracks uploaded for everyone to have a listen. Head over here if you wanna take a gander.

 

 

Gotta say - even though Series 7 was a mediocre let down, this soundtrack is possibly one of the best I've heard from the rebooted series. Highlights for me are definitely "Amy and Rory Together", "New York New York", "Together Or Not At All", "Goodbye Pond", "Clara?", "Bah Bah Biker", "The Leaf", "The Long Song", "To Save The Doctor", "A Secret He Will Take to His Grave" and "Remember Me".

[Debug Ring]

Details for the Blu-Ray set of Series 1-7 of the new series have been announced:

Fantastic! Allons-y! Geronimo! For the first time ever, the epic adventures of the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors are brought together in high definition in a special Blu-ray release.

 

The set includes the complete adventures of the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston, Thor: The Dark World) and Tenth Doctor (David Tennant, Broadchurch, Fright Night), available in newly remastered Blu-ray versions at full 1080p resolution for the first time ever, sitting alongside those of the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in this high definition collection

Upscaled to 1080p resolution:

• Doctor Who: The Complete First Series, starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper
• Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series, starring David Tennant and Billie Piper
• Doctor Who: The Complete Third Series, starring David Tennant and Freema Agyeman
• Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series, starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate

Also included in 1080p Resolution:

• Doctor Who: The Complete Specials, starring David Tennant
• Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series, starring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan
• Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series, starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill
• Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series, starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and Jenna-Louise Coleman

Bonus Blu-ray disc includes:

• “The Doctor Who Ultimate List of Lists” 
  From BBC AMERICA’s The Brit List – BBC AMERICA’s pop culture correspondent, Asha Leo, is joined by special guest John Barrowman (“Torchwood,” “Doctor Who”) to announce the rankings of the “Top Five Companions,” “Top Five Scariest Moments,” “Top Five Best Monsters,” “Top Five Guest Stars” and “Top Five Things You’ll Only See on Doctor Who.”
• Doctor Who at the Proms 2010 
  Doctor Who’s own Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill host a spectacular evening of music from the series played live by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall. Includes video projections, appearances by the monsters and a special guest appearance from 11th Doctor Matt Smith. For the first time, the collection will include the full 90-minute concert and has been remastered in 5.1 Surround Sound.
• Doctor Who: The Best of the Christmas Specials 
  This previously unreleased special from December 2011 takes an inside look at the very best moments from the incredible Doctor Who Christmas specials that have captivated audiences around the world. A collection of fans from the celebrity, comedy, sci-fi and digital worlds discuss their favorite moments from both David Tennant and Matt Smith era Christmas episodes.

Region 1 US also include the 11th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver Universal Remote (Which is really cool, I have it.)

 

Region 2 UK release is November 4th and Region 1 US is November 5th.

 

 

For us in the UK, the RRP is £255, but Amazon are selling it much cheaper at £167:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EZ6VZGS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00EZ6VZGS&linkCode=as2&tag=dowhtv-21

[Salamander]

The 50th anniversary special title and running time have been announced along with a host of other celebratory programmes at the following link:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24030127

 

And the title and time are...

 

THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR

 

Seventy-five minutes.

 

Good enough for me.  Now, how about that trailer?

 

Edit: Oh, wow.  Hilariously, the article has been taken down.  I presume they either released it too early, or... well, chalk it up as yet another sign of the chaos surrounding DW the past few years.  Please accept my word, and that of the surely countless repostings of the article's data across the web at this point, that it was very much real (seriously, just Google that title).  Just what the Hell, BBC.  Can anything go right for DW this year?

 

Fortunately, the entire article has been duplicated:

 

http://doctorno1.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/doctor-who-50th-anniversary-title-and-schedule-announced-by-bbc/

 

...And on Google's web cache:

 

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24030127

Edited September 10, 2013 by FFWF

[Boomer]

I'm not feeling the name and I don't feel that the running time is long enough all things considered. Especially for the 50th.

[Salamander]

I wouldn't have accepted less than seventy-five minutes myself, as less than that would make the 50th anniversary special shorter than Tennant's exit story - and yet that was a two-parter, so that's still longer.  I don't think they could have had a two-part 50th, though.  It evens the scale if we look at the 50th and the Christmas special as a two-part exit story for Smith.

 

As for the title... well, I've speculated before that it's not the title they had planned, but I think we'll have to wait to hear what it's really about before we can decide if it's actually relevant or if it's just a quite generic title with the word "Doctor" shoved in there.  But I definitely think they could've done worse.  Mostly I'm just glad to have all this confirmed and to start hearing something about the 50th at all.  We've had quite the dry spell.

Edited September 10, 2013 by FFWF

[Debug Ring]

I like the name. They could have done much worse, plus:

It is the day of the Doctor after all.

It's slightly generic and what you'd expect, but it's in no way bad, I don't think.

 

The time is decent, I had hoped it wouldn't be any less, but maybe I was hoping 2 hours, especially since Moffat said it was feature length.

 

Christmas Filming pics and Matt's wig:

 

The wig looks really good, much better than McCoy's 6th Doctor wig...

 

EDIT: More filming pictures:

Souffles....

Edited September 10, 2013 by The Eleventh Doctor

[Salamander]

Putting together certain rumours and certain speculation, there's a possibility that the 50th announcement was actually meant to be embargoed until midnight - and that come midnight, there'll be a fuller and more lasting announcement.

[Brad]

Putting together certain rumours and certain speculation, there's a possibility that the 50th announcement was actually meant to be embargoed until midnight - and that come midnight, there'll be a fuller and more lasting announcement.

fiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailer

[Debug Ring]

fiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailer

This.

 

I just hope the early announcement hasn't pushed it back. Though the BBC did say there'd be lots in store before the special.

[Gatestormer]

POSTER TIME.

 

 

 

ALLONS'Y!

GERONIMO!

Edited September 10, 2013 by Gatestormer

[Brad]

That poster is just lovely. You can see destroyed Daleks, shattered piece of Gallifrey I assume, Bad Wolf written on the wall, a broken TARDIS door... and of course our trio. 

 

I'm guessing Bad Wolf may be significant this time around once again. 

[Salamander]

fiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailerfiftiethtrailer

 

DENIED

 

So it was indeed a midnight embargo, but apparently the poster managed to leak before then too.  To the people who are incompetent or mischievous enough to leak all this stuff... please, please just leak us a trailer.

 

Still, we now have a much fuller list of the celebratory programming.

[Debug Ring]

Indeed, the poster is gorgeous. I saw it earlier, but was at school and couldn't look at it well enough. But there's just so much there, so much potential.

All the side-shows they're doing sound really cool too, I'll try to catch as many as I can.

 

Steven Moffat on Matt Smith leaving:

 “It’s hard to let go, watching him on set yesterday (Sunday) and he’s so heartbreakingly good.

“You get all excited about the new Doctor and then you go back and you see Matt on his first day back on set and you think ‘oh my God that’s what we’re losing’.”

“He’s so brilliant and he’s at the height of his powers in the part, he’s so funny, so clever, so inventive.”

 

This sums up feelings for any fan when the Doctor regenerates, really.

[Boomer]

I just really hope that Matt Smith's regeneration isn't so drawn-out and over the top as David Tennant's was. I felt like they were forcing you to feel something with the whole "I don't want to go" line.

[Debug Ring]

I just really hope that Matt Smith's regeneration isn't so drawn-out and over the top as David Tennant's was. I felt like they were forcing you to feel something with the whole "I don't want to go" line.

I know. They made it up too long, him seeing all his companions and stuff. Thankfully, 11th can only see River and Clara before he regens, as he can never see Amy and Rory because of paradoxes. So it'll probably be better in that respect.

 

The Day of The Doctor poster wallpaper version:

more sizes plus title varient here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/The-Day-of-the-Doctor-Wallpapers

Edited September 11, 2013 by The Eleventh Doctor

[Crash]

God dammit, it sounds like Rose is gonna have more to it than standing around. :/