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

My one request is to not have a young working class modern day British girl as the companion. I mean, Rose, Martha, Amy, Clara, Bill, it's a bit too much of a pattern (Donna was a little different in how she was presented). Try something new. Bill being the first one not in love with the Doctor was refreshing but still, cut from the same cloth.
Someone like Nardole as the main companion would be fresh and fun.

I get the "audience surrogate for the Doctor to explain things to" but you gotta change things up some time.

Martha was a med student, at least.

Yeah, but point taken. I'd like a companion who isn't modern times in any way. The first rumors had Bill as being from the 1980s.
 

Fury451

Banned
Dat female ninth doctor.

I wouldn't mind that, though I see I made an oversight.

uhh, the Ninth Doctor's run was less cheese? It was probably the worst offender in all of modern Who on that front.

Two oversights. You're not wrong, but lets not overlook that some of the Tennant episodes were pretty lame equally. The 9th ones such as those with the farting aliens were dumb as hell at times, but there were elements of threat there still at least. The massacre at the end of the series was pretty intense.
 

Broken Joystick

At least you can talk. Who are you?
My one request is to not have a young working class modern day British girl as the companion. I mean, Rose, Martha, Amy, Clara, Bill, it's a bit too much of a pattern (Donna was a little different in how she was presented). Try something new. Bill being the first one not in love with the Doctor was refreshing but still, cut from the same cloth.
Someone like Nardole as the main companion would be fresh and fun.

I get the "audience surrogate for the Doctor to explain things to" but you gotta change things up some time.

I wish we had got Victorian Clara in the end.
 
I wouldn't mind that, though I see I made an oversight.



Two oversights. You're not wrong, but lets not overlook that some of the Tennant episodes were pretty lame equally. The 9th ones such as those with the farting aliens were dumb as hell at times, but there were elements of threat there still at least. The massacre at the end of the series was pretty intense.

Killing off Lynda-with-a-Y like that was just dirty. In her brief appearance I liked her far more than Rose, really would have liked her to have become a companion.
 
My one request is to not have a young working class modern day British girl as the companion. I mean, Rose, Martha, Amy, Clara, Bill, it's a bit too much of a pattern (Donna was a little different in how she was presented). Try something new. Bill being the first one not in love with the Doctor was refreshing but still, cut from the same cloth.
Someone like Nardole as the main companion would be fresh and fun.

I get the "audience surrogate for the Doctor to explain things to" but you gotta change things up some time.

Nardole was good enough that I would have been okay if it was just him the whole season.

Me circa Christmas 2015 would not have believed that sentence.
 

Melon Husk

Member
What a waste of time and what a disappointment this season was. The nonlinear storytelling got old quick. It's meant to hook the viewer but I take it as an excuse to hide poor storytelling.

Why do you hate Clara? Unlike Bill, she had her own thing going on and was an independent woman. Assisting The Doctor was more like a side job for her and she generally had a clue of what was going on, instead of being there just to get killed. Bill was weak, fortunately Nardole was there to support The Doctor.

If we can't keep Capaldi for another season, I'm okay with a female regeneration. Kelly Macdonald Doctor, do it. Even Angela Lansbury is okay, I don't care.
 

LordRaptor

Member
Why do you hate Clara? Unlike Bill, she had her own thing going on and was an independent woman. Assisting The Doctor was more like a side job for her and she generally had a clue of what was going on, instead of being there just to get killed. Bill was weak, fortunately Nardole was there to support The Doctor.

Clara Season Two and Three was okay, but I would have liked to see a bit more of her new companion The Doctor.
 
What a waste of time and what a disappointment this season was. The nonlinear storytelling got old quick. It's meant to hook the viewer but I take it as an excuse to hide poor storytelling.

Why do you hate Clara? Unlike Bill, she had her own thing going on and was an independent woman. Assisting The Doctor was more like a side job for her and she generally had a clue of what was going on, instead of being there just to get killed. Bill was weak, fortunately Nardole was there to support The Doctor.

If we can't keep Capaldi for another season, I'm okay with a female regeneration. Kelly Macdonald Doctor, do it. Even Angela Lansbury is okay, I don't care.

Man, this post is all over the place.

What about this season's storytelling was non-linear?
How was Bill not independent?
How is Bill weak?
How do you go from Kelly MacDonald to ANGELA LANSBURY?
 

Melon Husk

Member
Man, this post is all over the place.

What about this season's storytelling was non-linear?
How was Bill not independent?
How is Bill weak?
How do you go from Kelly MacDonald to ANGELA LANSBURY?

Now that would be progressive, wouldn't it? An elderly woman in the lead.

I mean the flash-forward gotchas they do, every single time. It's a poor technique.

I was comparing Bill to Clara and one was clearly more experienced with the gig than the other. Also Bill didn't have a life, really. She was flipping burgers and really wanted to get out of her miserable life and seemed a little desperate. But that's just my take. edit: Mind you I've only seen the seasons with Clara and Bill. So I'm a biased judge on this.
 

Effect

Member
See I read Bill as wanting to better herself not run away from her life. She just wanted more. She was working at the college but trying to attend classes when she could. The Doctor got her enrolled and it seems took care of the tuition as well. It was in passing but it seems her adventures with the Doctor likely took place on Saturdays while the rest of the week she was in class or working or spending time with friends/dating while he was either lecturing or off doing something else. She actually had a life, we saw it, and was living it and the Doctor was just one part of it and not her focus.

Clara was the person I got the impression wanted to spend all her time traveling in the Tardis and was always looking forward to it. Dropping whatever she was doing when the Doctor came calling. Two of them were pretty co-dependent upon each other and that was the focus of her final season. That's not a good thing. Bill appeared to love the experiences but I didn't get it was something she always wanted to do. She was a student traveling with her teacher and also concerned about the dangers of and where they were going. Something I really appreciated and something few companions seem to voice. I think Rory was the only other recent companion that seemed concerned about the situations they were getting into. Clara being fully independent, out of school, shouldn't be a knock against Bill who was clearly in a different situation and place in life. I don't get Bill being weak.

This is why I'm hoping the Christmas special hits hard at the Doctor's own actions leading to her "death" as far as he knows. How careless he's become in situations he ends up putting people he cares about in. If he wasn't so concerned about Missy I doubt these events would have happen and he'd had been more concerned with the worries Bill had. I do want to see some more fallout of that either with Capaldi or with the start of the next Doctor.
 

Broken Joystick

At least you can talk. Who are you?
How do you go from Kelly MacDonald to ANGELA LANSBURY?

doctortypesj3ji1.gif
 

Melon Husk

Member
No love for Angela Lansbury? Judi Dench, then?

See I read Bill as wanting to better herself not run away from her life. She just wanted more. She was working at the college but trying to attend classes when she could. The Doctor got her enrolled and it seems took care of the tuition as well. It was in passing but it seems her adventures with the Doctor likely took place on Saturdays while the rest of the week she was in class or working or spending time with friends/dating while he was either lecturing or off doing something else. She actually had a life, we saw it, and was living it and the Doctor was just one part of it and not her focus.

Clara was the person I got the impression wanted to spend all her time traveling in the Tardis and was always looking forward to it. Dropping whatever she was doing when the Doctor came calling. Bill appeared to love the experiences but I didn't get it was something she always wanted to do. She was a student traveling with her teacher and also concerned about the dangers of and where they were going. Something I really appreciated and something few companions seem to voice. I think Rory was the only other recent companion that seemed concerned about the situations they were getting into. Clara being fully independent, out of school, shouldn't be a knock against Bill who was clearly in a different situation and place in life. I don't get Bill being weak.

Interesting. See I wanted them to show more of this. The episode with David Suchet was a shining star. They could've made a recurring theme about her finding terrible apartments. Anything to tie her normal life into the plotline would've been appreciated.

edit: Knock Knock by Mike Bartlett, wish he'd written more episodes about Bill and student life.
 

tomtom94

Member
Interesting. See I wanted them to show more of this. The episode with David Suchet was a shining star. They could've made a recurring theme about her finding terrible apartments. Anything to tie her normal life into the plotline would've been appreciated.

Now that you mention it that did kind of disappear after Extremis, didn't it?

Seriously that three-parter has a lot to answer for.
 

Effect

Member
No love for Angela Lansbury? Judi Dench, then?



Interesting. See I wanted them to show more of this. The episode with David Suchet was a shining star. They could've made a recurring theme about her finding terrible apartments. Anything to tie her normal life into the plotline would've been appreciated.

edit: Knock Knock by Mike Bartlett, wish he'd written more episodes about Bill and student life.

Yeah I did want to see more of it as well. That's why it really sucks she only got one season. Had she been signed on for more then that we likely would have gotten more then we got.
 
Mixed feelings about the finale 2-parter.

- indulgent. The episode felt very indulgent from Missy calling the companions exposition and comic relief to The Doctor saying 9-11s regeneration lines.

This is a common side effect of regenerative process. Normally on the other side of regeneration you'll find Doctors quoting former versions of themselves, but this time he's quoting the end lines before changing.
 

Goodlife

Member
I enjoyed it, but dunno, kind of felt like it never really got into full swing.

Oh and rumour is that Bill only got 1 season because Pearl didn't make herself too popular with the crew....
 
I enjoyed it, but dunno, kind of felt like it never really got into full swing.

Oh and rumour is that Bill only got 1 season because Pearl didn't make herself too popular with the crew....

Well that's a new one... I don't put much stock in "he said she said" rumors like that.
 

Symphonia

Banned
Anyone not expecting Clara to turn up in Twelves/Moffat's last ever episode is kidding themselves. She played a key part in the Moffat/Twelve era. It was obvious she would appear - as a cameo or otherwise - to say goodbye to Capaldi and to the man who bought her to life.
 

The Hobo

Member
I enjoyed it, but dunno, kind of felt like it never really got into full swing.

Oh and rumour is that Bill only got 1 season because Pearl didn't make herself too popular with the crew....

I wouldn't put much stock in it. New show runner, new Doctor, new companion is what seems more likely.
 
The First Doctor seemed like the type to fight regeneration - it actually surprised me that Twelve is the same. When they shot that very first regeneration scene, did they even have a name of it yet (regeneration) because I love the idea of the doctor refusing the loose his first face, his identity but then every incarnation since has embraced the act of regeneration even if they didn't want to change. Twelve really seems adamant about dying rather than regenerating though.

Interestingly, I had a long conversation with some friends the other day about another popular UK property - James Bond. I've always compared the two for being long running series which replace their titular characters actor - albeit in different ways. The Doctor is always, technically, the same character but changed his face in lieu of death; sacrificing who he is at that moment but continuing to do what the doctor does. While Bond is more ambiguous, different spies of different eras, given the same code (007) and I've always always assumed that they took on the moniker of 'James Bond' as their alias. But i suppose this is less likely and we're just seeing the same character (James Bond) played by different actors to tell unique stories and its not nearly as complex as my mind thought.

I've always rather liked the idea that's been around a while now that James Bond is in fact another Time Lord, and we just don't see the regenerations happening :p
 
Yeah I did want to see more of it as well. That's why it really sucks she only got one season. Had she been signed on for more then that we likely would have gotten more then we got.

I think Chibnall will explore the human aspect of the companions more and the impact their adventures have on their outside life. He was the writer who created Rory's dad, and his episode with Martha, 42, explored her relationship with her mom, somewhat.
 

hank_tree

Member
This is according to the Mirror, for the curious. They have got some stuff right but some stuff wrong in the past. I can't remember if the Marshall rumour - which now seems to be at least partially incorrect given he was supposed to appear in series 10 - started with them or not.

EDIT: Considering Bradley filmed his scenes earlier this month to throw people off the scent, I wonder if the Marshall rumour was deliberate misdirection by the BBC. If it is then that's pretty funny.


In fairness, I'm pretty sure the Christmas special is part of season 10 in terms of production.
 

MrBadger

Member
Honestly, this was my takeaway to some extent. Simm and Gomez were just such a delight together that I really wish the episode had been more about them as the antagonists and less about the Cybermen. Simm in particular felt like the Master in a way that he hadn't in his previous appearances, and I really wanted a chance to see him and 12 go head-to-head.

I think their ending in the episode was pitch-perfect, I just wish it hadn't happened now, basically.

I agree, it was the perfect way for them to go out but I would have liked to see more of them before. And that kind of sums up a lot of my opinions on that finale.

I feel like it was a series of emotional payoffs that didn't feel earned. Bill's relationship with the Pilot wasn't explored at all outside of the first episode, the Masters should have been around for way longer, and 12's reluctance to regeneration felt like it came out of nowhere. 10's narcissism was well established, but 12 thinks death is the timelord equivalent to man flu.
 

Blader

Member
At first I was disappointed that we don't see much of a Doctor vs. Master/Missy conflict that the end of Time and World Enough sets up, but I ended up liking the version we got. For one, I just liked seeing Simm's Master be a complete and total asshole. But also, so much of this season was about the Doctor trying to redeem Missy that having her come literally face-to-face with her past evil self, and then be killed by that same evil self, was a great way to tie up that plot -- and frankly, probably more interesting than another Doctor-saves-everyone-from-the-Master finale. That the Doctor was actually successful in getting Missy to stand with him and he'll never know it is the perfect bittersweet ending.

Two oversights. You're not wrong, but lets not overlook that some of the Tennant episodes were pretty lame equally. The 9th ones such as those with the farting aliens were dumb as hell at times, but there were elements of threat there still at least. The massacre at the end of the series was pretty intense.

Sure, though I also think a certain cheesy/lame quality is just part of the show's DNA and its charm. I think the lameness and cheesiness of Eccleston's run stands out to me more too because: it was my first experience watching Who, so I wasn't really acclimated to the kind of show it is; and, because Eccleston had so few episodes, that the mediocre-to-bad ones (which is, imo, most of that season) stand out more than the clunkers in the Tennant/Smith/Capaldi years, where they're more spread out and there are a lot more good-to-great episodes to cover them up for me.
 

iFirez

Member
I've always rather liked the idea that's been around a while now that James Bond is in fact another Time Lord, and we just don't see the regenerations happening :p
I'm down with that. "The Bond is the name I chose, James Bond to be precise" Is the Aston Martin his Tardis? But it has a working Camelon Circuit so it changes in to newer models every time we see him?

Connery --> Lazenby --> Moore are all the same character in the same timeline.

Dalton & Brosnan had the same things happen to them, but presumably in an updated timeline (i.e. assume all the events of the 60s/70s/80s movies happened in the 80s for Brosnan) so that the continuity makes sense with the actors' ages.

Craig's Bond is a confirmed reboot.
That does make sense. Craig is a good Bond but much more aggressive and masculine even than previous generations. I'm totally ready for a new actor to embrace that role though, for me Craig's bond has been going down hill since that last ball hitting swing in Casino Royal. Most of his films have been great fun but they should move on already.
 

Blader

Member
Ok, so just to be sure. Is Missy really the next master after Simms? Or is she further down the line?

The Doctor Falls seemed to point pretty heavily to Missy being the next form of the Master. But since we never see the regeneration and Missy doesn't remember it, I suppose Chibnall or the next showrunner to use the Master could easily handwave that and introduce a new form in between the Master and Missy... that seems like a pretty convoluted way to go about it to me, though, and can't imagine Chibnall or whomever not just writing it like, "Here's the new Master, the next one in line after Missy."
 

CryptiK

Member
Kinda hope they keep the Doctor male but whatever. As for Missy yes Simm regenerates into her this was said multiple times.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Funny question for the people really paying attention: was there ever any payoff to the "Minister of War" line in Under the Lake/Before the Flood?

I was rewatching that two-parter the other day and it got me wondering if it might be a hint for a future series.
 

Cowlick

Banned
Sorry if this has been answered already, but...

The Doctor Falls. He gets cyberhugged by Bill which seems to do some damage, indicated by a glimpse of regeneration energy on his hand. He shakes it away, holds it in. Then he's blown up, hauled back to the TARDIS, a tear from Bill, and his regeneration surges forth again.

If he'd started to regenerate before, wouldn't being blown up mid-regeneration (or between regenerations) actually kill him?

Or did he somehow use just enough energy to heal himself of CyberBill's damage before undergoing a full regeneration due to the explosion?
 

Effect

Member
Sorry if this has been answered already, but...

The Doctor Falls. He gets cyberhugged by Bill which seems to do some damage, indicated by a glimpse of regeneration energy on his hand. He shakes it away, holds it in. Then he's blown up, hauled back to the TARDIS, a tear from Bill, and his regeneration surges forth again.

If he'd started to regenerate before, wouldn't being blown up mid-regeneration (or between regenerations) actually kill him?

Or did he somehow use just enough energy to heal himself of CyberBill's damage before undergoing a full regeneration due to the explosion?

That wasn't Bill that grabbed him. It was another Cyberman. Bill was the one that shot the one that hugged the Doctor while Missy was looking for a clear shot to shoot it.

I think he would have died had he been in full regeneration mode with energy coming out of both hands and head. At that moment he's the most vulnerable I believe. Before that though he can still fight through a lot of pain and damage as shown in Heaven Sent last season. I think in that episode it's said it can be a while before the full regeneration starts. I figure him holding it off and not giving into it gives him more time.
 

Sheroking

Member
That wasn't Bill that grabbed him. It was another Cyberman. Bill was the one that shot the one that hugged the Doctor while Missy was looking for a clear shot to shoot it.

I think he would have died had he been in full regeneration mode with energy coming out of both hands and head. At that moment he's the most vulnerable I believe. Before that though he can still fight through a lot of pain and damage as shown in Heaven Sent last season. I think in that episode it's said it can be a while before the full regeneration starts. I figure him holding it off and not giving into it gives him more time.

Plus we know that regeneration heals internal injuries prior to the change, thanks the aborted regeneration in Series 4.
 

Ambient80

Member
Plus we know that regeneration heals internal injuries prior to the change, thanks the aborted regeneration in Series 4.

Also with 11 basically reverting in age and injury in his finale. He didn’t delay it as long, but it still took some time and everything was “fixed” before he regenerated. Also 10 stumbled around for quite a long time lol.

Ah, I thought meant Old Who when you said Series 4. Silly me
 

Sheroking

Member
Also with 11 basically reverting in age and injury in his finale. He didn’t delay it as long, but it still took some time and everything was “fixed” before he regenerated. Also 10 stumbled around for quite a long time lol.

Ah, I thought meant Old Who when you said Series 4. Silly me

It is confusing that there are two Series 4's.
 
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