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Doctor Who Series 10 |OT| He's Back, and It's About Time

P

peanutbutterlatte

Member
Trying to find the quote now, but I swear when quizzed about multi-Doctor stories either before or following the 50th (usually in regards to McGann/Eccleston), Moffat said the only thing he'd really be interested in was
a first Doctor appearance?


Also seems like Moffat would love to wrap up one of the series' big loose threads with
"One day, I'll come back. Yes, I'll come back."
in his final episode.
 
T

tomtom94

Member
mightynine said:
Those are just BBC America numbers, no? I do think the series has cooled a bit in the USA.
Click to expand...

They're "just" American numbers, but BBC America have been big on the show - the budget increase and American filming for S6 came from their involvement. Plus, "the American numbers are good" was, to be honest, one of the production team's trump cards considering the UK ratings for series 9 were less "mega hit" and more "better than Atlantis did right before it got cancelled".
 
H

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
mightynine said:
Those are just BBC America numbers, no? I do think the series has cooled a bit in the USA.
Click to expand...

Yes, those are BBC America numbers.

My bad, I meant they are numbers for the USA, not North America. I have no idea how Canada and Mexico consume Doctor Who.

tomtom94 said:
They're "just" American numbers, but BBC America have been big on the show - the budget increase and American filming for S6 came from their involvement. Plus, "the American numbers are good" was, to be honest, one of the production team's trump cards considering the UK ratings for series 9 were less "mega hit" and more "better than Atlantis did right before it got cancelled".
Click to expand...

Yeah, and let's be honest, Capaldi for Series 8 and 9 was the highest ratings Doctor Who in the USA. The problem is that the argument falls apart now with Series 10, and its historically low numbers.

Now people would use it to buttress the point, "older doctor doesn't sell anymore," ignoring the great ratings he did have for the first two years. Honestly, had S10 been in fall, and there was no hiatus, S10 probably would have had monster ratings coming off of what some consider one of the best Doctor Who seasons ever.
 
P

Platy

Member
peanutbutterlatte said:
Trying to find the quote now, but I swear when quizzed about multi-Doctor stories either before or following the 50th (usually in regards to McGann/Eccleston), Moffat said the only thing he'd really be interested in was
a first Doctor appearance?


Also seems like Moffat would love to wrap up one of the series' big loose threads with
"One day, I'll come back. Yes, I'll come back."
in his final episode.
Click to expand...

Didn't he already
came back in the 3 and 5 doctor stories
?
 
E

Effect

Member
Easter weekend might not have been the best time for the show to come back in the US. That combined with the long wait. That wait likely really hurt in a big way. I imagine it will take some time for numbers to rebuild. As much as I enjoyed the episode and really like Bill I don't think the trailers looking back on them were very good. I noticed a good bit of what they used to try and push Bill was removed form the episode and the episode was better for it as well.
 
G

GSR

Member
Anecdotally, Who has definitely cooled here in America compared to a few years back. It's got much less cultural cachet among the "geek" crowd (which was always the main audience for it here) and I think it's pretty much vanished from the mainstream.

Like even my mom, a fan since the classic era, fell off the wagon mid-series 8 and never really came back. She likes the show, it's just not a must-watch anymore.

Edit: what did autocorrect do to this post, lol. "Geek" crowd, not "feel" crowd.
 
H

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
Effect said:
Easter weekend might not have been the best time for the show to come back in the US. That combined with the long wait. I imagine it will take some time for numbers to rebuild. As much as I enjoyed the episode and really like Bill I don't think the trailers looking back on them were very good. I noticed a good bit of what they used to try and push Bill was removed form the episode and the episode was better for it as well.
Click to expand...

Bill is a great addition, and I think in some quasi-parallel world where it was a fall season and it aired in 2016, it probably would set new ratings records for the series. S9 was and is considered the best series/season of Doctor Who is a very long time, and most fans agree.

It was the darn hiatus and the move from Fall to Spring that really hurt things.
 
A

Ade

Member
Platy said:
Didn't he already
came back in the 3 and 5 doctor stories
?
Click to expand...

That quote was directed at
Susan though
, so while the 1st Doctor has been back twice, he hasn't
(yet) returned to Susan.

That quote wasn't from the
end of Hartnells run
, it was as
part of his goodbye to Susan.
 
H

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
GSR said:
Anecdotally, Who has definitely cooled here in America compared to a few years back. It's got much less cultural cachet among the "feel" crowd (which was always the main audience for it here) and I think it's pretty much vanished from the mainstream.

Like even my mom, a fan since the classic era, fell off the wagon mid-series 8 and never really came back. She likes the show, it's just not a must-watch anymore.
Click to expand...

Definitely, and lets be honest, that crowd was there for the pretty boys (Tennant and Smith). When Doctor Who moves from Capaldi to another pretty boy or a woman, it will get that crowd back again.

For that crowd, they associate Doctor Who with a hot guy doing things with an interesting story.
 
G

GSR

Member
Hcoregamer00 said:
Definitely, and lets be honest, that crowd was there for the pretty boys (Tennant and Smith). When Doctor Who moves from Capaldi to another pretty boy or a woman, it will get that crowd back again.

For that crowd, they associate Doctor Who with a hot guy doing things with an interesting story.
Click to expand...

"Feel" was actually a typo, but you have a point there as well.
 
M

mightynine

Member
thespot84 said:
is the bbc america stream shortened to allow commercial time?
Click to expand...

It MIGHT for re-runs (watching some of the Doctor Who marathon BBCA was airing last week, some episodes felt chopped up) but a new episode just runs long - like 10 minutes over the top of the hour.
 
T

TheCowboyPoet

Member
Speaking anecdotally, as a Canadian, the interest in Doctor Who has definitely dipped, starting after the 50th / Smith's regeneration, but it seems the hiatus has killed it.
 
D

Dalek

Member
Drewton said:
Netflix was probably a huge factor in making Doctor Who popular in North America during the Smith era, taking it off was a big mistake.

The marketing campaign on social media has also been lame. I haven't watched the premiere myself yet.
Click to expand...

This is an excellent point. Amazon Prime just isn't Netflix. With Netflix Doctor Who was always promoted.
 
K

Kinsei

Banned
Exterminieren said:
That's not great, but this series is basically a dead rubber ratings-wise anyway. We'll see how Chibnall's big relaunch stacks up.

Also... any Americans feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Easter-time a much worse time to launch a TV series than the autumn for you guys? Both series 8 and 9 launched in August to September.
Click to expand...

It is here in Canada. You're far too busy spending time with family and hating yourself for eating too much candy to think about TV.
 
K

Kevin

Member
I just feel like the ratings have dropped because the writing quality went downhill after the amazing series 5/6. Peter Capaldi is amazing and there are a few gems like Heaven Sent but for the most part they have gotten rid of most of the major storylines in favor of a more monster of the week approach.

While I still personally enjoy the show, I remember how well written and engaging series 5 and 6 were (and many seasons before then) with crazy plot events and such going on. Now I feel like I am watching a show written with children in mind.

A lot of people may disagree but that is how I feel.
 
H

hank_tree

Member
Exterminieren said:
The Mirror report on Kris Marshall says that Capaldi regenerates into Marshall during this series, not at Christmas. The report about Bradley says that it's Capaldi who stars in the Christmas special, not Marshall. The two aren't compatible.
Click to expand...

Edit: To be clear
Capaldi said that the last thing he has left to do is film the Christmas Special. But he also confirmed that he has already filmed his regeneration scene. Norton called him on that not making sense and Capaldi basically said to wait and see.
 
C

ClivePwned

Member
hank_tree said:
Edit: To be clear
Capaldi said that the last thing he has left to do is film the Christmas Special. But he also confirmed that he has already filmed his regeneration scene. Norton called him on that not making sense and Capaldi basically said to wait and see.
Click to expand...

it could be as simple as
"we filmed this out of order and so we filmed that earlier than the rest of the episode." (for instance: They may have wanted to dismantle the TARDIS interior set before the end of the filming)" or Moffat doing his thing and just writing stuff because he finds it cool even if it makes no sense in the grand scheme of things

either way, it's only around 11-10 weeks of the season to go, then we can start 6 months of speculating about the christmas special.

as for ratings drops, we had season 7 dragged out over two years, plus last year's big gap, plus Moffat's more fantasy-based approach is probably wearing thing with viewers who are expecting more SF.

I dunno.
 
H

hank_tree

Member
ClivePwned said:
it could be as simple as
"we filmed this out of order and so we filmed that earlier than the rest of the episode." (for instance: They may have wanted to dismantle the TARDIS interior set before the end of the filming)" or Moffat doing his thing and just writing stuff because he finds it cool even if it makes no sense in the grand scheme of things

either way, it's only around 11-10 weeks of the season to go, then we can start 6 months of speculating about the christmas special.
Click to expand...

That's true. But it also fits the rumours that the regeneration happens during this season and that Capaldi is also in the Christmas episode.
 
Maddocks

Maddocks

Member
I do wonder, are they going to update the tardis? it still looks pretty good. But I do like the idea of a new doctor a new attitude and with that a new interior. I figure the sonic will stick around because it was just introduced, but the insides should shift a bit I hope.
 
T

tomtom94

Member
Maddocks said:
I do wonder, are they going to update the tardis? it still looks pretty good. But I do like the idea of a new doctor a new attitude and with that a new interior. I figure the sonic will stick around because it was just introduced, but the insides should shift a bit I hope.
Click to expand...

They will definitely do a new desktop skin for the new production team, and probably a new sonic screwdriver as well if the props department have the budget. Chibnall will want the chance to put his own spin on it and the merchandising department will want new things to sell.
 
E

Exterminieren

Banned
They might do a new TARDIS, but I don't think it's a sure thing. Both of Moffat's TARDIS refreshes were for production reasons- the first was to make a HD-ready set for the first time, and the second was because they moved studios. Moffat's first TARDIS was actually built into the foundations of the Hub set from Torchwood, and it would have been impossible to move it to Roath Lock without completely destroying it.

Unless plans have changed, Chibnall's won't have to deal with any of that.
 
T

thefro

Member
Effect said:
Easter weekend might not have been the best time for the show to come back in the US. That combined with the long wait. That wait likely really hurt in a big way. I imagine it will take some time for numbers to rebuild. As much as I enjoyed the episode and really like Bill I don't think the trailers looking back on them were very good. I noticed a good bit of what they used to try and push Bill was removed form the episode and the episode was better for it as well.
Click to expand...

I agree on all three of your points. Easter is a bad time to premiere a show (lots of people travel and are doing stuff in the US), the wait hurt, and Bill didn't seem like an interesting character for the US audience from what was shown in the trailer (since we don't really care about the upper/working class divide in the UK).

I think another mistake for the US fanbase has been the absence of a handsome, younger male recurring character. We had Danny Pink who wasn't around as much as expected, wasn't really a companion, and got destroyed by awful writing and that's been it since Smith left.

They also need to get back on Netflix (and ideally they'd turn down $$$ to be exclusive to either Prime or Netflix). Netflix pushed the show pretty hard and people would stumble upon it just by the recommendation algorithms which was growing the fanbase.
 
P

Platy

Member
Ade said:
That quote was directed at
Susan though
, so while the 1st Doctor has been back twice, he hasn't
(yet) returned to Susan.

That quote wasn't from the
end of Hartnells run
, it was as
part of his goodbye to Susan.
Click to expand...

Didn't know that !

I saw very little of the first 3 doctors... classic who is not easily found in south america =/
 
J

JonathanEx

Member
Exterminieren said:
They might do a new TARDIS, but I don't think it's a sure thing. Both of Moffat's TARDIS refreshes were for production reasons- the first was to make a HD-ready set for the first time, and the second was because they moved studios. Moffat's first TARDIS was actually built into the foundations of the Hub set from Torchwood, and it would have been impossible to move it to Roath Lock without completely destroying it.

Unless plans have changed, Chibnall's won't have to deal with any of that.
Click to expand...

Was there a rumour that they may move production from Wales? Or was that completely unfounded. I'd be amazed if they did, but for some reason that was in my head. Maybe a bullshit paper thing.
 
C

ClivePwned

Member
JonathanEx said:
Was there a rumour that they may move production from Wales? Or was that completely unfounded. I'd be amazed if they did, but for some reason that was in my head. Maybe a bullshit paper thing.
Click to expand...

Manchester was mooted according to rumour. The BBC does have a large complex there plus they have an interest in Granada studios but neither does a lot of complex drama stuff (Coronation Street is at Granada) compared to the Cardiff studio setup.
 
B

Bluth54

Member
For US popularity I think it was a mistake to sell the exclusive streaming rights to Amazon Prime and not have the show on Netfix even if Amazon offered the BBC more money than Netflix.
 
E

Exterminieren

Banned
JonathanEx said:
Was there a rumour that they may move production from Wales? Or was that completely unfounded. I'd be amazed if they did, but for some reason that was in my head. Maybe a bullshit paper thing.
Click to expand...
It was going round Gallifrey Base a few months back that it was moving to Manchester, but BBC Wales came out and strongly refuted it.
 
J

JonathanEx

Member
That was it, ta.

I like the TARDIS set now, but I think there's something very simple about the 9/10 set that makes it much more memorable. The large sprawling ones make for interesting sets to run around for, and scale, but less recognisable elements.
 
S

Santiako

Member
That'd be neat, but I just can't see the Doctor as a woman. It'd be so weird after so many years. I'm sure I'd get used to it eventually, but at first it'd be hard for me.
 
A

APZonerunner

Member
JonathanEx said:
That was it, ta.

I like the TARDIS set now, but I think there's something very simple about the 9/10 set that makes it much more memorable. The large sprawling ones make for interesting sets to run around for, and scale, but less recognisable elements.
Click to expand...

I've felt for a while the smart middle ground would be to have a standing TARDIS set that's more simple/smaller ala the 9/10 set, but to actually build a few more secondary rooms/standing sets with very different styles/purposes with the space saved from the massive size we've had since 2010. I actually think the show would benefit a bit from maybe actually having a TARDIS living room set, a library set, whatever. It'd be nice if int. TARDIS wasn't always the same location. Of course, the classic show had precedence for this with secondary control rooms and even bedroom sets aboard the TARDIS. On the current set they have all this space but they rarely really use it - how many times did Smith/Capaldi go downstairs on the current set? Leave alone up on the balcony sort of area.
 
T

tomtom94

Member
Spectromixer said:
So I guess Nerdist has a new rumored 13th Doctor -


Michaela Coel, probably my favorite of the potentials so far
Source
Click to expand...

Haven't seen
Chewing Gum
but I seem to remember the Radio Times raving about it. I'd be down, but I can't see it happening, it would be unbelievably risky and everything we've heard suggests that's not what they'll be going for...
 
E

Exterminieren

Banned
Santiako said:
That'd be neat, but I just can't see the Doctor as a woman. It'd be so weird after so many years. I'm sure I'd get used to it eventually, but at first it'd be hard for me.
Click to expand...
People adapted to the Master, they'd adapt to the Doctor.

That same logic could be used to argue against the Doctor not being white, of course.
 
S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
I wonder if Capaldi has been having as good of a time as he had imagined playing this role would be like. It's one thing to be a long time fan of the show but an entirely different beast when the business side of the industry rears its ugly head.
 
H

hamchan

Member
SomewhatGroovy said:
I wonder if Capaldi has been having as good of a time as he had imagined playing this role would be like. It's one thing to be a long time fan of the show but an entirely different beast when the business side of the industry rears its ugly head.
Click to expand...

During Q&A time when I went to the Doctor Who expo, someone asked Peter Capaldi if there were any fun stories he could tell about being on set.

His answer was that they don't really have fun on set, it's a pretty serious operation where they're all just doing their job. I thought it was kinda a depressing answer, especially when you look at the RTD era and how they all seemed to mess around a lot and be super close with each other.
 
B

Boem

Member
On the plus side, Capaldi still hasn't lost his geeky love for the show. He still lights up when talking about particular stories he loved from his childhood, and he still does a lot of his fanart - caricatures of past Doctors, goofy Dalek cartoons, etc. He drew this after the final day of shooting for the current series for example (apart from the christmas special):

C81EiDdXcAAglAG.jpg:large



Also, when searching for that picture I found this. Apparently Stephanie Hayem, who played Heather in the first episode, is a pretty good artist herself, and she drew this to celebrate her involvement in the show. It's pretty cool:

C9zsILtXoAQxFEc.jpg:large
Click to expand...
 
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