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[tomtom94]

Similarly, I sort of think the Moffat-era representation of Cybermen ran aground around Gaiman's episode where they became all-powerful, invincible against everything, able to 'upgrade' to beat anything. That episode really irritates me because the point of the Cybermen (and what separates them from the Daleks) is that they are the science fiction/space/kid-friendly sanitized (IE no blood) version of zombies - the reason them waging war is deadly is because for every one of you that is killed, they gain a new soldier by upgrading them. They swarm you - they don't need to be invincible... which is why they're still effective in Doomsday even though they can't even scratch the Daleks and we see Mickey and his crew blasting them to pieces like they're nothing. Mind, this year's representation of them was better, and it seems like the invincible angle is being slowly eased back out of existence. (Indeed, a weird thing about this year's episode is that when the newer Cybermen start to appear most of them (though not all) are the RTD-era design and not the new, snazzy upgraded design... again. Weirdly they sort of swapped places - the Cybermen became more like the Daleks and the Daleks became more like Cybermen, and neither is as effective for it.

I do dislike the Cybermen becoming more of a generic army, which is why World Enough and Time worked so effectively for me (and Doctor Falls lost some of that good will). I was surprised by Nightmare in Silver because Gaiman just did not seem to get the Cybermen at all (which makes me wonder if they were foisted on him in rewrites).

This has conventiently reminded me of something that's bugged me about Death in Heaven: the way cyber-pollen works is it converts living tissue but obviously Missy making it work on the dead is a big deal. That I don't have a problem with. Just one question:

Why can't she use it on the living humans as well?

 

[Exterminieren]

The Cybermen have never been better on TV than they were in World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. As big a gamble as putting the Tenth Planet Cybermen on screen in 2017 was, it paid off in SPADES, and making Bill into one was genius on a whole other level to making her a modern Cyberman.

 

[acheron_xl]

The only time Moffat wrote the Daleks in a way that I thought "hmm...that seems kind of dumb" was in the 50th, where the solution to ending the Time War without killing their own people was for the Doctors to bank on the Daleks watching an entire planet disappear in front of them and just continue to shoot at each other until they were all dead. For some reason!

Yeah, when it's Daleks and a planet it seems like a bit of a stretch compared with the smaller version Moffat did with Weeping Angels and a TARDIS.

 

[tonysidaway]

This is one of the drawbacks of organised fandom. Eventually you over-analyze everything.

 

[APZonerunner]

The Cybermen have never been better on TV than they were in World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. As big a gamble as putting the Tenth Planet Cybermen on screen in 2017 was, it paid off in SPADES, and making Bill into one was genius on a whole other level to making her a modern Cyberman.

It worked great as a reset of sorts, yeah - and sort of finally normalized the different lore versions of the Cybermen in a way Nightmare in Silver tried but really failed to do. It's probably Moffat's best personal classic monster work ever.

This is one of the drawbacks of organised fandom. Eventually you over-analyze everything.

Ey, I dunno. Doctor Who is actually an incredibly rich show, which is one of the things that makes it so special - there's a lot to analyse. Like, even an episode broadly considered relatively duff like Evolution of the Daleks has some wonderful thematic and storytelling choices that when put under a spotlight absolutely soar (as I did on the last page), but they almost need that spotlight, examination and inspection to do so. Some stuff withers under that same spotlight too, but that's art, right?

 

[tomtom94]

Couldn't find it in a search, but Polly is being played by Lily Travers for Twice Upon A Time. Former model who was Lady Sophie in Kingsman.

Also TVTropes has some stuff about the plot I didn't know before, presumably from Comic-Con, like the TARDIS is responsible for bringing the Doctors together and the First Doctor is going to reflect 1960s attitudes, particularly towards women.

 

[EverythingShiny]

Couldn't find it in a search, but Polly is being played by Lily Travers for Twice Upon A Time. Former model who was Lady Sophie in Kingsman.

Also TVTropes has some stuff about the plot I didn't know before, presumably from Comic-Con, like the TARDIS is responsible for bringing the Doctors together and the First Doctor is going to reflect 1960s attitudes, particularly towards women.

Huh. I wonder how much Bill's going to be in the episode, because obviously she's not going to stand for that. I'm curious to see how Moffat handles it.

 

[Blader]

The Daemons
My first Pertwee story, and it was frankly pretty disappointing. The main issue for me was Pertwee's Doctor himself. He just seemed like an asshole. Where Hartnell and Capaldi's Doctor could sometimes come off as gruff or prickly, Pertwee's frequently came off as condescending and snide, especially toward Jo, who he kept treating as a big moron. I don't know, something about this portrayal just felt off to me.

My other big issue was with the plot itself. The Master pretending to be a priest and village chief who's also actually a cult leader performing bizarre rituals to raise an ancient demon to rule the world with just seemed really silly to me, even by The Master's standards. It's not helped by the fact that Azal and the gargoyle creature look absolutely terrible; the latter is a bad skin-tight grey spandex costume and the former is simply a hairy man with a loud voice. The pacing also drags often -- a lot of the same ground is covered more than once -- but that seems to be an issue with these longer classic serials in general.

On the plus side, I did like Delgado's portrayal as the Master and Katy Manning as Jo. I'm not sure how I feel about the "Doctor is stranded on Earth and goes on missions with UNIT" premise; I feel like removing the TARDIS from the story removes a lot of what makes Doctor Who special (you know, the whole travel-through-time-and-space thing). And I've never liked UNIT anytime they've shown up in the new series. But I did enjoy their presence here, if only for the characters -- the Brigadier, Yates, and Benton are fun supporting players with a good rapport among each other (and the Brig with the Doctor, too). I'm guessing the Sgt. Osgood that kept failing at putting the Doctor's machine together is supposed to be modern Osgood's father? That's a neat connection.

All in all, not awful, but definitely my least favorite classic story and classic Doctor so far.

 

[tonysidaway]

I'm not sure how I feel about the "Doctor is stranded on Earth and goes on missions with UNIT" premise; I feel like removing the TARDIS from the story removes a lot of what makes Doctor Who special (you know, the whole travel-through-time-and-space thing).

As a young boy in the late sixties and early seventies I really hated this period. Ditching the TARDIS and setting everything on Earth killed a lot of the glamour, and more-or-less thwarted any chance of the kind of time-travel adventure that I've always enjoyed most. The BBC was economising by having sets and costumes last from story to story, and in a way it did improve the stories by having a larger regular cast. The overall effect, though, disappointed me.

 

[mclem]

Huh. I wonder how much Bill's going to be in the episode, because obviously she's not going to stand for that. I'm curious to see how Moffat handles it.

I could see Capaldi saying something like "He's me, when I was young and foolish". Would be a nice counterpoint to the apparent age difference in the other direction.

 

[tonysidaway]

I could see Capaldi saying something like "He's me, when I was young and foolish". Would be a nice counterpoint to the apparent age difference in the other direction.

Peter Capaldi will probably be a little older in that episode than William Hartnell was when he left the programme. But this time he's playing opposite an actor in that part who is twenty years older. Talk about timey wimey!

 

[tomtom94]

Peter Capaldi will probably be a little older in that episode than William Hartnell was when he left the programme. But this time he's playing opposite an actor in that part who is twenty years older. Talk about timey wimey!

TWELVE: He's... me.
BILL: But... he looks completely different.
TWELVE: Like I was saying, he's a younger version of me.
BILL: He looks older, too."
ONE: Young lady, did your mother never teach you not to stare?
BILL: Man, you must be really good with makeup. Where can I get some?
TWELVE: No, Bill. You see, there's this thing Time Lords can do...

(Also this reminds me that the OTHER thing TVTropes have done is nicked my idea for the Christmas special OT title...)

 

[Platy]

(Also this reminds me that the OTHER thing TVTropes have done is nicked my idea for the Christmas special OT title...)

Meeting your old looking younger self ?

edit long after to not get a double post :

Been watching some Jodie stuff and that made me think ... after so much time and second showrunner change .. is there a chance we get a 13 meeting 9 ?

I mean they both acted together on theatre before ... maybe that can help so that we can see the leather jacket again

 

[Blader]

Meeting your old looking younger self ?

edit long after to not get a double post :

Been watching some Jodie stuff and that made me think ... after so much time and second showrunner change .. is there a chance we get a 13 meeting 9 ?

I mean they both acted together on theatre before ... maybe that can help so that we can see the leather jacket again

Jodie knows em all. She's worked with Eccleston, Tennant, and Bradley, and said she's also friends with Matt, too. She's got the connections.

 

[acheron_xl]

The Daemons
My first Pertwee story, and it was frankly pretty disappointing. The main issue for me was Pertwee's Doctor himself. He just seemed like an asshole. Where Hartnell and Capaldi's Doctor could sometimes come off as gruff or prickly, Pertwee's frequently came off as condescending and snide, especially toward Jo, who he kept treating as a big moron. I don't know, something about this portrayal just felt off to me.

The 3rd Doctor is not everyone's cup of tea, but he does warm a bit, especially towards Jo, who he was rather cold towards at first. But he's clearly the most dick-swinging, authoritarian Doctor.

 

[ClivePwned]

The Daemons
My first Pertwee story, and it was frankly pretty disappointing. The main issue for me was Pertwee's Doctor himself. He just seemed like an asshole. Where Hartnell and Capaldi's Doctor could sometimes come off as gruff or prickly, Pertwee's frequently came off as condescending and snide, especially toward Jo, who he kept treating as a big moron. I don't know, something about this portrayal just felt off to me.

My other big issue was with the plot itself. The Master pretending to be a priest and village chief who's also actually a cult leader performing bizarre rituals to raise an ancient demon to rule the world with just seemed really silly to me, even by The Master's standards. It's not helped by the fact that Azal and the gargoyle creature look absolutely terrible; the latter is a bad skin-tight grey spandex costume and the former is simply a hairy man with a loud voice. The pacing also drags often -- a lot of the same ground is covered more than once -- but that seems to be an issue with these longer classic serials in general.

On the plus side, I did like Delgado's portrayal as the Master and Katy Manning as Jo. I'm not sure how I feel about the "Doctor is stranded on Earth and goes on missions with UNIT" premise; I feel like removing the TARDIS from the story removes a lot of what makes Doctor Who special (you know, the whole travel-through-time-and-space thing). And I've never liked UNIT anytime they've shown up in the new series. But I did enjoy their presence here, if only for the characters -- the Brigadier, Yates, and Benton are fun supporting players with a good rapport among each other (and the Brig with the Doctor, too). I'm guessing the Sgt. Osgood that kept failing at putting the Doctor's machine together is supposed to be modern Osgood's father? That's a neat connection.

All in all, not awful, but definitely my least favorite classic story and classic Doctor so far.

I love me some Pertwee for various reasons. He's going to be the most unique interpretation of the role with his effortless take-charge authority. You might finding him arrogant and condecending, but he also doesn't go around waving his frilly dick at every enemy a la Tennant/Smith/Capaldi "I am the Doctor, google me and then run." He has a real caring feeling for Jo (there is one joke where he kind of bites Jo's head off when she slags of the Brigadier in a manner that she would have picked up from The Doctor.)

The Daemons is also co-written by Barry Letts who was the producer (showrunner) at the time he wasn't technically allowed to write for the show but he roped in a friend and The Daemons was the first of four Pertwee season closers they "co-wrote" together. Those season closers also revealed most about The Doctor and particularly the Third Doctor's character showing that Letts was probably the writer who got Jon Pertwee's take better than most. Pertwee also plays The Doctor a lot more sympathetically in later seasons once he's away from Earth. Pertwee also has the advantage of having to play of Delgado's Master.

You can see other actors whose portrayal changed over time. Tom Baker's portrayal in his first story is very different from what it became in subsequent stories (Tom Baker's first story was filmed as part of Pertwee's final season), Troughton and McCoy toned down the clowning, Davison eventually learned to play the Doctor as an old man. McGann in the TV movie and the minisode from the 50th might as well be two different incarnations

 

[Broken Joystick]

Jodie Whittaker talks to @shaunwkeaveny about landing the role of the Doctor and the ‘exciting journey’ ahead

I hope they don't make her change her accent.

 

[mclem]

(Also this reminds me that the OTHER thing TVTropes have done is nicked my idea for the Christmas special OT title...)

"Number ain't nothing but an age"

 

[Stallion Dan]

Watching the older (new) Who series, I guessed I totally missed several actors playing minor parts before becoming companions and even a Doctor! Seen Martha, Amy and 12 among others.

 

[tonysidaway]

Watching the older (new) Who series, I guessed I totally missed several actors playing minor parts before becoming companions and even a Doctor! Seen Martha, Amy and 12 among others.

Yes. Also from the cast of Spaced, we've seen at least three actors in major one-off roles. Simon Pegg (Tim) was in Series 1 episode, The Long Game as The Editor. Jessica Stevenson (Daisy) was in the Series 3 two-parter Human Nature/Family of Blood where she played the school nurse, Joan Redfern, cast under her married name, Jessica Hynes. Nick Frost (Tim's gun-mad friend Mike) appeared as Santa Claus in Last Christmas, the 2015 Christmas Special.

I'd to see Mark Heap (Brian the artist) in a major role in Doctor Who, but as far as I'm aware this hasn't yet happened.

 

[BrokenFiction]

At this point, just get Edgar Wright to direct an episode of Who. It would be bonkers.

 

[mclem]

Yes. Also from the cast of Spaced, we've seen at least three actors in major one-off roles. Simon Pegg (Tim) was in Series 1 episode, The Long Game as The Editor. Jessica Stevenson (Daisy) was in the Series 3 two-parter Human Nature/Family of Blood where she played the school nurse, Joan Redfern, cast under her married name, Jessica Hynes. Nick Frost (Tim's gun-mad friend Mike) appeared as Santa Claus in Last Christmas, the 2015 Christmas Special.

I'd to see Mark Heap (Brian the artist) in a major role in Doctor Who, but as far as I'm aware this hasn't yet happened.

Not even Big Finish. Julia Deakin's done a Big Finish!

 

[tonysidaway]

At this point, just get Edgar Wright to direct an episode of Who. It would be bonkers.

I nearly suggested that. With Pegg and Wright writing it (they wrote all three films in the Cornetto Trilogy as a team) it would probably be quite something. Given the runaway box office success of Wright's Baby Driver, though, I doubt he'd be able to find the time, even if he wanted to go back to television.

 

[Horsefly]

I'd to see Mark Heap (Brian the artist) in a major role in Doctor Who, but as far as I'm aware this hasn't yet happened.

would love to see his take on the doctor

 

[paradox121]

Interview with Jodie Whittaker about the role.

She seems so lovely. I get the sense she'll be amazing with kids (particularly young girls) in the same way Smith was.

 

[tonysidaway]

would love to see his [Mark Heap's] take on the doctor

You're not the only one. He's a very gifted clown who can handle the transition to straight acting easily.

 

[Platy]

I can see Noel Fielding doing a Doctor Who alien ...

 

[tomtom94]

I can see Noel Fielding doing a Doctor Who alien ...

Aliens have invaded the Great British Bake-Off!

 

[Exterminieren]

Didn't Wright get invited to direct Rose, Aliens in London and World War III?

 

[tomtom94]

Didn't Wright get invited to direct Rose, Aliens in London and World War III?

There are a few references around the internet to him turning down an offer to direct Doctor Who, although I can't find a primary source.

This raises the question of if he might have stopped the production difficulties they had at the time, or if they would have swallowed him up too (probably the latter, didn't RTD burn through almost their entire budget in the first few episodes?)

 

[Blader]

Whatever happened to that thing about Peter Jackson directing an episode? Didn't they even put together a video announcing the hire?

 

[tomtom94]

Whatever happened to that thing about Peter Jackson directing an episode? Didn't they even put together a video announcing the hire?

That was only ever a "I'd love to do it" and Jackson put together a video strongly hinting at it but... it didn't work out. It's okay, they got the guitarist from the Vapors to direct Dr Mysterio instead.

Honestly, I don't think any director with auteur sensibilities would want to do Who. Not only is the budget hilariously terrible, but it's been a producer-driven show even before the revival. The only people who really care who's behind the camera are saddos like us, really...

The closest you'll get were Deep Breath and Into the Dalek being directed by Ben Wheatley and... I didn't really notice anything different about those two if I'm completely honest.

 

[Spectromixer]

I love this part of the interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXW1nyDlpCc

 

[APZonerunner]

That was only ever a "I'd love to do it" and Jackson put together a video strongly hinting at it but... it didn't work out. It's okay, they got the guitarist from the Vapors to direct Dr Mysterio instead.

Honestly, I don't think any director with auteur sensibilities would want to do Who. Not only is the budget hilariously terrible, but it's been a producer-driven show even before the revival. The only people who really care who's behind the camera are saddos like us, really...

The closest you'll get were Deep Breath and Into the Dalek being directed by Ben Wheatley and... I didn't really notice anything different about those two if I'm completely honest.

Well, Producer control is a US TV concept that RTD borrowed when he structured how New Who would be made, but in the US that hasn't stopped some directors from coming in and doing one-off auteur episodes where they take control - Tarantino did a couple of episodes of CSI for instance, but he had almost as much control as he does on his movies, more or less.

I think the main requirement is they have to be a fan in order to want to do it. Tarantino was a fan of CSI, for instance... and yeah, the thing that sets Jackson aside in that regard is that he is a man who owns a full-size Dalek and one of McCoy's original costumes from the show. He's a big fan. So we can never say never, I guess. He'd be ideal for a Christmas episode one day. I do think the optimum time for it to happen would've been in Smith's era though and the ship might be sailing, but Chibbs' could bring a new golden era, so we live in hope.

The same is true of big-name guest stars - Kylie remembered the show being on TV when she was a kid, and her career-long collaborator on costumes is such a Who nerd that he dressed backing dancers up as Cybermen for a couple of tours, and that ultimately is what made her clear her schedule for a month for less money than she'd really be making doing other things. I'm sure Karen Gillan now commands a way larger fee thanks to Marvel, Jumani etc but I bet if they ever ring her up she'll go back, too.

 

[JonathanEx]

I think the real thing that makes 'big name directors' not a bit of a difficult prospect is that how the production actually works. It's less that it's all driven by the producer's vision - it's that it's a production line really. The speed between drafts of the script, design of things, then casting, finding locations and filming is at time only days between them.

The best you could hope for is on say, a Christmas special or something, because it could just about sit independently of the general flow to allow any director of Jackson's ilk to really have the time to break down and create their own big thing from it.

 

[Broken Joystick]

I'd love for the show to do the 'one-time companion' thing again like they did with Tennant in The Next Doctor / Planet of the Dead / The Waters of Mars / The End of Time, and have directors like Jackson / Wright do those episodes.

 

[Mr. Sam]

I nearly suggested that. With Pegg and Wright writing it (they wrote all three films in the Cornetto Trilogy as a team) it would probably be quite something. Given the runaway box office success of Wright's Baby Driver, though, I doubt he'd be able to find the time, even if he wanted to go back to television.

Hello! Official Edgar Wright pedant here. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End were written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg but not Nick Frost. Thanks. I'll just blend back into the shrubbery.

 

[tonysidaway]

Hello! Official Edgar Wright pedant here. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End were written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg but not Nick Frost. Thanks. I'll just blend back into the shrubbery.

Thanks. I'm sorry I didn't state with sufficient clarity that Wright and Pegg alone wrote those scripts.

 

[tomtom94]

I'd love for the show to do the 'one-time companion' thing again like they did with Tennant in The Next Doctor / Planet of the Dead / The Waters of Mars / The End of Time, and have directors like Jackson / Wright do those episodes.

I foresee another "specials season" a couple of years down the line if the BBC remain keen to move Who back to the spring.

 

[The Elite]

What the hell happened to that Peter Jackson episode?

 

[Blader]

Do we know when S11 starts shooting? If they're aiming for a fall '18 release, it should be sometime soon I'd think.

 

[The Elite]

Do we know when S11 starts shooting? If they're aiming for a fall '18 release, it should be sometime soon I'd think.

They could start shooting in January to make fall.

 

[Exterminieren]

We've heard October/ November.

 

[EvilRedEye]

Listening to a Big Finish audio from 2008 and an alien that can sense time travel related things describes the Doctor as being of 'indeterminate gender'. Spooooky.

 

[tomtom94]

They could start shooting in January to make fall.

To elaborate: series 8 (a full 13 episodes' worth of material) shot from the 6th of January to the same date in August. "Deep Breath" then aired on the 23rd of August and the series concluded on the 8th November.

So yeah, very doable to start shooting in January.

 

[Pagusas]

Are their any good 10th doctor novels? I listened to the audible novel where both the 10th and Donna voiced their roles (for some of the stories) but would love more. Any books that stand up to some of the best show stories?

 

[Blader]

The Three Doctors
Marking the show's 10th anniversary, this was the first of just a few multi-Doctor anniversary stories. It's kind of bad, but at the same time still pretty fun.

A rogue Time Lord named Omega deploys a bad video effect to abduct the Doctor and bring him into his anti-matter universe, so that he may play audience to a lot of shouty villain monologuing. Omega is a major threat to the universe for reasons I can't exactly remember (something to do with draining the Time Lords' energy, whatever that refers to) so to help out the Third Doctor, the Time Lords send the Second and later the First. The two Doctors (the First spends the entire story as a cameo on a TV screen), Jo, the Brigadier and a couple randoms who are there for no reason are brought to the anti-matter universe for the showdown with Omega. And by showdown, I mean a lot of Omega screaming and a really weird telepathic wrestling match between Pertwee and Omega's willpower made manifest as a creepy alien gorilla costume.

This story is fucking strange. Omega is a terrible character, prone to constant bouts of overacted monologues that are impossible to take seriously, none of which is helped by his ridiculous looking costume. His henchmen things look even worse. You get the feeling the show is spending a lot of its budget on these episodes but the investment is somehow having a negative effect that makes it look even worse than a typical episode.

So why did I like this story? For one, it was nice to see Troughton again, even if he was being played as more of a befuddled joke character than exactly the same Doctor I remember from Tomb of the Cybermen. But the highlight is the way Trougton and Pertwee play off each other, at first almost venomously sparring and sniping at anything that the other one says or does, before ultimately working together with a begrudging mutual respect (of sorts). It's a great dynamic that works so well between these two.

I especially love Hartnell's minor role in the story -- although it's kind of sad to see him in such a reduced state, knowing it's because he was too ill to fully participate (and it is quite clear he's reading his lines off cue cards in front of him), I do love how not only do Troughton and Pertwee have a reverence for him, but Hartnell's Doctor could barely give a fuck about what's going on. He treats the Time Lords and the whole Omega situation as an annoyance, and dispenses figure-this-out-morons bits of advice to his successors.

The plot, the effects, and the villain are all worse than your typical episode. But it's called The Three Doctors. And when it comes to bringing these three actors together (to varying degrees) and showcasing their interplay as the star of the show, this 10th anniversary serial works damn well on that front.

 

[tomtom94]

Are their any good 10th doctor novels? I listened to the audible novel where both the 10th and Donna voiced their roles (for some of the stories) but would love more. Any books that stand up to some of the best show stories?

I never got any novels past Martha, nor any of the audiobooks, but I would recommend:

Feast of the Drowned - this is the one I would say feels the most like an episode of the show in book form.
Resurrection Casket - really funny and creative retelling of Treasure Island
(Note: the audiobooks for these two^ are read by David Tennant)
The Art of Destruction - a clever idea for a bad guy, mixed with some African politics, amid a sci-fi story about art
The Nightmare of Black Island - yes, the title sounds stupid. Read/listen to it anyway. It will surprise
Sting of the Zygons - a really good take on the villain years before they showed up proper, in Edwardian England to boot.
The Pirate Loop - if you lean towards Moffat this might be your thing. Timey-wimey and very funny too
Peacemaker - Aliens in the Wild West, features one of my favourite monster ideas.

To be honest I'd recommend most of the early New Series Adventures. Except Wooden Heart. That one is terrible.

And also avoid In the Blood, which is a new paperback they released last year. I wouldn't say it's bad, just... lazy, and Ten and Donna just feel off.

 

[EverythingShiny]

I just finished my tour of the First Doctor. I watched An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler, The Daleks' Master Plan, The War Machines, and The Tenth Planet. I quite like Hartnell's Doctor and I definitely plan on going back to watch all the episodes at some point.

The Daleks' Master Plan was such a bonkers serial. First the surprising death, then the random Christmas episode (they crash a film set?! lol) and the fact it was 12 episodes long. I'm glad I watched The Time Meddler so I knew who the crazy monk was.

My favorite was probably The Tenth Planet as I absolutely love the Mondasian cybermen. I had no idea they existed until World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls, so seeing their first episode was great. I *love* the sing-song voice. I know the design looks outdated but I vastly prefer it to the modern cybermen!

Did they give a reason for the First Doctor needs to regenerate? I know Hartnell's health was failing, but he wasn't in a lot of the serial so I wasn't really sure what was going on with the Doctor. I know he made the remark about his body wearing a bit thin.

I'm going to watch 8 serials in Troughton's run. Looking forward to it.

 

[M.Bluth]

My favorite was probably The Tenth Planet as I absolutely love the Mondasian cybermen. I had no idea they existed until World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls, so seeing their first episode was great. I *love* the sing-song voice. I know the design looks outdated but I vastly prefer it to the modern cybermen!

On the bright side now that they made the new Mondasian costumes, we're likely to see them again on the show.

Their return is obviously a gift to Capaldi, so I can't complain much, but it would've also been a great opportunity to completely redesign the Cybermen--taking some cues from the old series' look but go in a very different direction... I'm also not a fan of their nuWho look. But hey, it's bound to happen one day.

Did they give a reason for the First Doctor needs to regenerate? I know Hartnell's health was failing, but he wasn't in a lot of the serial so I wasn't really sure what was going on with the Doctor. I know he made the remark about his body wearing a bit thin.

Not that I remember. I bet Moffat will give a definite reason that isn't just "getting old" and people will crucify him for it.