Anyone heard the Doctor Who news?

thetopher said:
He can't be the next Bond AND the next Doctor Who.
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It's been done already
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thetopher
thetopher
Oh yeah, she was a terrible Bond as well, now that you mention it lol.
Idris Elba will never be the Doctor Who. Period. End of story.

@thetopher and too big of a name i think. he would overshadow the role
 
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thetopher
thetopher
He's actually too cool and action hero-y to be the Doctor.
Well, not NOW, after the abomination of the last two seasons and the fact that the BBC could never afford to pay him the way their finances are now...

thetopher He's actually too cool and action hero-y to be the Doctor.
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But he can actually act, so he could play the Doctor however he was written 😉 😀
 
Skanky Vamp
Skanky Vamp
I just realized you cant see the pitchure I posted... it's #4 as Idris
Buffy Summers said:
But he can actually act, so he could play the Doctor however he was written
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Hnm, but I would want Idris Elba at apex level Idris, not some dork in tweed. I could maybe get behind a 10th Doctor kinda vide; sporting a cool leather coat and a bit more of a tough attitude...
 
The BBC will have to pick carefully because if the new doctor fails to bring back viewers and loses even more than the franchise is lost.
 
Fuffy Baith said:
I thought she was fine when she showed up in Silence of the Library , she was even ok when she first showed up in the 5th season. But then she was popping up too much, then she married the Doctor, then she's Melody Pond. It just became too crazy. I do like the character, I think Alex Kingston does a great job, but I wish the writers didn't over do her character. They basically turned her into the female Doctor, and for me, it didn't work.

There is some great adult animation out, DC's "Harley Quinn", "Rick and Morty", "Invincible". The movie "Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse" was really good. I'm hoping Marvel's "What If?" Show is going to be good. I really love the anthology series on Netflix, "Love, Death and Robots". Even some shows aimed at kids can be really enjoyable by adults. Last right I watched "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "The Legend of Korra". Both shows deal with serious issues and have rich mythology. So, you could do an animated Doctor Who and keep it for adults, but I think that animation in general does turn off some older people, but I think that stigma is starting to change.
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Ooooh there's an animated Marvel What If series? Cool, that sounds like a great idea. Lots of great stories to adapt, and lots of potential in the concept too.

Harley Quinn was absolutely hysterical meanwhile.

"WHERE'S MY GODDAMN ELECTRIC CAR BRUCE!"

Kaley Cuoco was excellent as Harley. I'm surprised as whilst she is a good actress, I felt that Harley would perhaps be too much out of her comfort zone. (Ironically Melissa Rauch, who everyone thought would be a good Harley was terrible meanwhile.)

I think the stigma is beginning to fade now, as after all a lot of people who grew up with Batman TAS and Gargoyles will be in their 30s, 40s and still have affection for them.

A Doctor Who Animated Series for me really would be the best way forward for the franchise. It would help free it from the shackles of New Who continuity, allow it to focus more on sci fi, trips to other worlds, other times, and get over any budget problems.
 
Fuffy Baith
Fuffy Baith
Marvel's "What If" just aired on Disney Plus, I think it's one episode per week.
ILLYRIAN said:
I also liked Alex Kingston's time on the show, she gave us a lot to enjoy. Fuffy Baith refers to her as a doctor but she couldn't have been a doctor, she married the doctor She was the ' child of the Tardis ' having been conceived on the Tardis.

There was a member who said about the negative reactions to a female doctor, really! When the Doctors daughter showed herself what negative reaction was there, did the lack of negative reaction have anything to do with the persons likeable behaviour or the normal, acceptable clothing?
Remember that long scarf the doctor used to wear ( Tom Baker ) Or the clothing worn by Sara Jane those outfits were a bit out there.
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The reason people didn't mind the Doctors daughter was because she was a different character. This is the problem with people who argue for a female Doctor. They get it bogged down into a different question of "can a woman play the hero", or "can a woman play a similar character" and argue that argument instead.

No one has ever said a woman can't play a similar character, and no one has said they can't play a hero in general. People are opposed to a female Doctor specifically because the Doctors despite having different outer personalities are all meant to be the same person under the new face. Hence why their core personalities all stay within a template.

When you break that template people don't like it as it doesn't seem like the Doctor anymore. It's a very delicate balance to get right. New Who has always been controversial among fans of the original, for breaking the template in many ways, like having the Doctor fall in love, etc. Changing his gender meanwhile is just another example of breaking the template. A woman after all those men looks out of place and overall it's a change too far when trying to imagine that it's still William Hartnell there.

As for the clothes however, Jodie's costume is awful, but then again so was Colin's and he was a decent Doctor.
 
All I want for the next doctor is

1. Someone from England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales.
2. Someone who has watched and loves the show. I think Jodie admitted she wasn't familiar with Doctor Who at all and look how that turned out. She had no grasp on the character. This goes for the show runner as well.

The thing with this era is the companions were also terrible.

To me this is the ranking of modern companions.

1. Donna
2. Martha
3. Rose
4. Amy
5. Bill
6. Rory
7. Clara
8. Graham
9. Yaz
10. Ryan
 
Athene said:
All I want for the next doctor is

1. Someone from England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales.
2. Someone who has watched and loves the show. I think Jodie admitted she wasn't familiar with Doctor Who at all and look how that turned out. She had no grasp on the character. This goes for the show runner as well.

The thing with this era is the companions were also terrible.

To me this is the ranking of modern companions.

1. Donna
2. Martha
3. Rose
4. Amy
5. Bill
6. Rory
7. Clara
8. Graham
9. Yaz
10. Ryan
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You see this is what I don't understand. How can someone can say that they want the Doctor to be British, yet not care if he is a man or a woman? I assume this is what you are saying since a man wasn't on your list? Even if you are not saying that I've seen that a lot and it makes no sense to me. Really people think gender isn't an important part of someone's character but their accent is? (Even then an American actor could just do an accent.)

A British actor played Batman (Christian Bale.) An Australian played Heath Ledger, a Brit played Superman, a Brit played Spider-Man too. An Israeli is currently playing Wonder Woman. Hell Alexis Denisof, James Marsters, neither of these guys are actually English, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor weren't Greek.

However if you had changed the gender of any of these characters, then yeah they'd have all been totally different characters. Same applies for the Doctor.

For me the things that matter the most are.

1/ He has to be a bit unusual looking. Preferably middle aged or older.

2/ He has to have a reputation for playing oddballs, villains, quirky off beat character parts. Really his biggest roles pre the Doctor should be either villains or outrageous comedy roles or both.

3/ He has to be someone that you couldn't imagine playing a conventional leading part like Bond.

That along with being a man are the only important things for casting the Doctor. He doesn't even need to be a fan. Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee, the two best actors in the role weren't fans. As long as the writer and producer keep them in line and let them know who the Doctor is, they'll do a good job.

Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi both fulfilled all of the above requirements and that's why they were the best of the revival for me.

In all fairness I probably would prefer a Brit, but there are lots of American MEN who fulfill all of these requirements and would be excellent as the Doctor. Bruce Campbell, Jon Glover, (from Smallville.) Hell even Rob Benedict could be a good McCoy, Troughton type.
 
Just my personal opinion, which means very little - I feel like Doctor Who is for lack of a better term a UK "National Treasure", so I feel like the role should go to a Yukker. I feel like (Jodie notwithstanding) people from the UK understand Doctor Who more since they've grown up with it - they "get" it. It's not important to me that the person be a fan, but they need to respect the role and not treat it like a joke.
 
burrunjor said:
You see this is what I don't understand. How can someone can say that they want the Doctor to be British, yet not care if he is a man or a woman? I assume this is what you are saying since a man wasn't on your list? Even if you are not saying that I've seen that a lot and it makes no sense to me. Really people think gender isn't an important part of someone's character but their accent is? (Even then an American actor could just do an accent.)

A British actor played Batman (Christian Bale.) An Australian played Heath Ledger, a Brit played Superman, a Brit played Spider-Man too. An Israeli is currently playing Wonder Woman. Hell Alexis Denisof, James Marsters, neither of these guys are actually English, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor weren't Greek.

However if you had changed the gender of any of these characters, then yeah they'd have all been totally different characters. Same applies for the Doctor.

For me the things that matter the most are.

1/ He has to be a bit unusual looking. Preferably middle aged or older.

2/ He has to have a reputation for playing oddballs, villains, quirky off beat character parts. Really his biggest roles pre the Doctor should be either villains or outrageous comedy roles or both.

3/ He has to be someone that you couldn't imagine playing a conventional leading part like Bond.

That along with being a man are the only important things for casting the Doctor. He doesn't even need to be a fan. Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee, the two best actors in the role weren't fans. As long as the writer and producer keep them in line and let them know who the Doctor is, they'll do a good job.

Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi both fulfilled all of the above requirements and that's why they were the best of the revival for me.

In all fairness I probably would prefer a Brit, but there are lots of American MEN who fulfill all of these requirements and would be excellent as the Doctor. Bruce Campbell, Jon Glover, (from Smallville.) Hell even Rob Benedict could be a good McCoy, Troughton type.
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Well it's just tradition that The Doctor's actor is from the UK. Sure it was also tradition that he be a man but that has already been broken so what is the point of trying to hold onto that now. I don't want all the traditions broken and I like the authenticity of it.

Totally agree about the doctor being an oddball but for me all the modern doctors bar Jodie of course have worked extremely well as the doctors so I don't have a particular preference. The thing that they all pulled off is having a very fun personality but when the moments call for it they can also play the very angry and dark side of the doctor. I liked when The Doctor was the last of the timelords and he had superiority issues but he was also sympathetic to other aliens but adopted Earth as his home planet. It was there with all the other doctors just not Jodie.
 
The very idea of an American playing the Doctor is just so...wrong. I'd rather the show be taken off the air first. No Americans as the Doctor. Not ever. Never, never, never.
 
I concur that it has to be a BRITISH MAN playing the Doctor (and the same specificity applies to whoever plays Bond). I'd even go so far to say the next Doctor needs to be white in order for the show to distance itself from all the wokeness going on at the moment where everything is racist and it's just getting annoying (the Jodie/Chibnall era went all in with the wokeness). There are many good actors of all different colours yet because a certain faction is constantly pushing race and how terrible white people are because they're white etc, if a non-white actor is cast, was he cast because he was the best for the job or was he cast because he was considered to be the "right" colour?

As unseemly as that question may be, that is where things are headed because apparently race is the most important factor. No longer should someone be judged by the content of their character but exclusively by the colour of their skin. The racist organisation, who are the driving force behind the wokeness, are actually under-minding the achievement of black people in all walks of life by taking away achievements by merit and making it all about skin colour. If that article above is true, that the BBC are deliberately looking for someone non-white regardless of their gender because their race is the most important factor. The chosen actor will be taking on a poisoned chalice, people will think he got the job because of his skin colour and if the show tanks even more, he'll be partly blamed for that because the BBC cared more about being woke than they did about saving the show.

Most people quite liked the most recent version of the Master and weren't bothered by what colour he was because there was no big deal made about his race, it was all about the performance. You're not going to get that with the Doctor. That's not to say that there can't be a POC Doctor after the next one, just that with everything going on, the show needs to take a step back from wokeness and let the dust settle. A female Doctor has been a disaster, hopefully we won't be saying the same about a POC Doctor.

I predict that the new Doctor is guaranteed one whole series, however if the show continues to tank then the BBC will not renew for another series but will allow one feature length special at new year to wrap everything up which they can then market as the final episode of Doctor Who to bring in viewership.

Also let's have a companion from the past rather than modern day then you can see them grow as a character. Perhaps when they do leave and return to their own timeline, it turns out they were actually someone of historical significance.

Maybe one of the Doctor's trips with their companion (if it is a modern day companion) could be to Tudor England where they meet Anne Boleyn before she met Henry VIII. The companion will then have to struggle with the fact that this woman they befriended is going to be beheaded and they can't do anything to stop it because it's a massive fixed point in time, Anne has to marry Henry and give birth to Elizabeth I which inevitably leads to her execution.
 
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There was already a really similar episode to what you described, except it was on The Sarah Jane Adventures. It involved Rani Chandra being sent back in time to when 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey awaited execution in the Tower. And it was one of the best episodes of the show (heavy story content for a children's show, but that was RTD!). Some of those episodes, like that one, are actually heartbreaking and could easily have been in Doctor Who proper. It also was a case of a show with a whole cast of what would normally come across as "diversity kids" who were thankfully extremely talented and treated like well-rounded characters, because RTD was actually capable of writing that well.

It used to be often said that they should just make Rani Chandra the next Doctor's companion, as she already had such a genuine connection to the show's history as one of Sarah Jane's kids, the future owner of Sarah Jane's house with Mr. Smith in the attic (which, given that Sarah Jane has now officially been written as having died, means it might already be her house), had met two Doctors (David Tennant and Matt Smith) already plus the Brigadier and Jo Grant, and had experienced time travel a few times (also to when Sarah Jane's parents were killed in a car crash when she was a baby). Rani is everything Chibnall wanted Yaz to be, but will never be. Even her parents were proper characters! The Sarah Jane Adventures was better written than anything the main show has done in years, for that matter.

Seriously, I wouldn't complain in the slightest if Anjli Mohindra came back as Rani. The new writer would already have a lot of material to work with already provided to them by RTD.

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Though I've also been a huge proponent of historical companions becoming a thing again. Jamie McCrimmon from 1746, after all, is my second-favorite companion ever.

The show did have a false start with the idea of a historical companion in Trojan handmaiden Katarina, who quickly got sent out of an airlock when it became clear that she was just too ill-suited for TARDIS travel. Katarina was the very first companion to die.

Victorian-era Victoria Waterfield was such a traumatized, orphaned teenage girl whose father was murdered by the Daleks that, in spite of Jamie being in love with her and heartbroken about her leaving, she left to settle in the 1960s because all she wanted was a stable life without being further traumatized by every TARDIS adventure (indeed, she's where most of the bad reputation of screaming companions comes from, though that's not even really that fair to her, because she does have her awesome moments). She was then replaced by brainy, logical Zoe Heriot, who came from a future (though not anymore) space station.

And yet, through both of those, it was Jamie who was the 2nd Doctor's closest companion (almost unheard of since the Pertwee era for any Doctor to have a closer male companion with all the females being clear third wheels), to the point that if they were any closer, they'd be Siamese twins. Pat and Frazer were one handsy duo. They also had the same haircut. LOL.

Jamie, who came in the TARDIS not even knowing how to read (Polly Wright taught him), was in a position where absolutely everything was fantastical to him, whether it was a trip to Gatwick Airport in the 1960s ("It's a flying beastie!" is his famous quote at seeing an airplane for the first time, as well as a hilarious scene with airport staff over the fact that neither the Doctor or Jamie have passports) or an alien planet (including being part of the first TARDIS team to go to Gallifrey!). Jamie was also a major flirt with the ladies, though didn't often get too far. LOL. So much comedic mileage was gotten out of how bizarre that TARDIS team was wherever they landed, given you had a little alien hobo man, 18th century Highlander in a kilt and either the Swinging '60s Mod duo of Cockney Ben and posh "dolly rocker duchess" Polly, the Victorian girl (Victoria hilariously was uncomfortable wearing a short skirt, only for it to be pointed out that Jamie's was shorter--Victoria later even wears a plaid miniskirt to match Jamie's) or the smarty pants Zoe in her glittery catsuit.

Nobody showed their undies/short shorts more often than Jamie (the lead weights in that kilt were not keeping it down!--The Dominators has explosions sending it up around his waist), Zoe Heriot in The Invasion (same serial that brought us the up-kilt shot of Jamie on a ladder, as he looks down to make sure the Doctor isn't looking up--LOL) and Jo Grant (she changed her underwear color in the same episode once--yellow, white and red undies) in the age of the miniskirt. LOL. '60s-'70s Doctor Who is occasionally unintentionally hilarious in that regard. Also, all the flubbed lines from William Hartnell, and my personal favorite from Pat Troughton, "sexual air supply" instead of "sectional air supply". Tom Baker also has his legendary "Spack off!" ("Stand back!"/"Back off!").

They looked out of place everywhere. There is comedic mileage in companions who stick out like a sore thumb everywhere, including modern Earth, yet are utterly endearing and relatable.

There's a beautiful moment in The Mind Robber where Jamie climbs Princess Rapunzel's hair, only to be asked if he's a prince. He answers that, no, he's the son of a piper, which sounds as much a fairy tale as the World of Fiction that the TARDIS team has ended up in. There's a huge meta component to that story with the romanticized Highlander son of a piper and the glittery catsuit future girl. Not to mention the Doctor himself being an alien! This is a story where the Doctor's greatest threat is writing himself into becoming fictional. No other TARDIS team would ever have that much fourth wall-breaking meta in the World of Fiction.

Jamie, like the Eliza Doolittle-esque educating of Leela later on (The Talons of Weng-Chiang even has her being dressed up for a night at a Victorian theater), or even how the Brigadier and Ace were some of the more "violent" companions (the Brig famously blew up the Silurians against the Doctor's orders), was also a bit of a "savage" who tended to think it was his job to protect the Doctor, rather than the other way around.

Jamie was the companion who flung rocks at Quarks, couldn't understand why the Dulcians in The Dominators wouldn't fight back against an invading enemy and took up arms himself (a futuristic alien gun, at that), knocked a rider off a horse to steal it and often jumped into action against everything from Daleks to Ice Warriors. The Doctor also manipulated Jamie in The Evil of the Daleks, knowing that his instinct would be to go rescue Victoria from captivity by the Daleks (indeed, it was Jamie who rescued her). This was because male companions in the '60s were expected to be the action heroes instead of the Doctor, but that all changed with karate-chopping Jon Pertwee.

Even at the end when facing the Time Lords, it is Jamie who is trying to argue with a resigned-to-his-fate Doctor to do something to get away. Jamie certainly had a reason to never want to go back, given that he escaped being hanged and put on a slave ship in his first story (and as I mentioned, got sent back with his memory wiped), but you can see his growth with scenes like the Redcoat who his tossed into prison with him in The War Games and you have a Jacobite and a Redcoat teaming up against their alien captors.

The LONGEST-SERVING companion ever was Jamie. He still holds the all-time record of 116 episodes. And as Frazer often tells it, if it weren't for Pat's nagging wife and his agent complaining about how they were stuck in "children's" television for three years (note that Frazer's career went all the way back to doing a film with Charlie Chaplin!), that they'd never have left because of how much they loved working together (it showed on screen).

Interestingly, the 10th Doctor comic strips even had him traveling with Heather McCrimmon, who was a modern descendant of Jamie. Part of the story is that she was already full of artron radiation embedded in her genes from Jamie's long stay in the TARDIS and it got passed down. It's how an alien threat found her (like Donna Noble with the huon particles). There have been a few stories about companions and their descendants who got physically altered by the TARDIS. Martha's story arc on Torchwood was about how she's immune to every Earth disease, which seems to have been the Doctor's way of making sure an incident like Dodo Chaplet giving a future human colony (plus future companion Steven Taylor) a deadly case of the common cold would never be repeated again.

If a historical companion is ever done again, Jamie is the ultimate one to think back to.
 
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