Matt Smith Leaves "Doctor Who"

First time accepted submitter Dave Knott writes "The BBC has announced that Matt Smith will be leaving 'Doctor Who', after spending the last four seasons in the titular role of The Doctor. Smith will remain for the upcoming 50th anniversary special, where he will star alongside a majority of the other actors who have taken on the character, and will exit following the yearly Christmas episode. No actor has yet been cast as the twelfth incarnation of The Doctor, although there was a teaser involving John Hurt at the end of the most recent season of the show."

Comments

First...

[webmistressrachel]

I got first because I went back in my TARDIS... ;)

Re:First...

[Anonymous Coward]

You could have bought back Tom Baker with you

Re:First...

[webmistressrachel]

How much would he have cost me? ;)

Re:First...

[Anonymous Coward]

A two dollar wrench would have done the trick. No need to risk breaking the sonic screw driver

Re:First...

[VortexCortex]

I'm jealous. My 2nd-hand model doesn't work well. It's less like a noble police box and more like a trashy Bill's and Ted's phone booth. Nav-circuits are broke so it only takes me to places the TARDIS has already been -- Doors won't open till the other TARDIS is gone. Great for watching re-runs though. I call it the RE-TARDIS.

Re:First...

[webmistressrachel]

That's great, better than no TARDIS. Couldn't you link up and trade some destinations from another TARDIS' memory? You're welcome to my, er, dusty, devastated, flight path. I'd try to arrive before I did, though, after all, you know what they say - some of it may be true!

Re:First...

[Dupple]

How much would he have cost me? ;)

A bag of Jelly Babies

Re:First...

[Anonymous Coward]

And a Jammy Dodger.

Re:First...

[Anonymous Coward]

Or licorice allsorts, didn't seem to matter which to him.

Re:First...

[Anonymous Coward]

I looked at a second hand one but decided it wasn't worth the bother.

It was a fucktardis.

Watch the age trend

[Anonymous Coward]

William Hartnell was the first Doctor, at about 55 years old.

Matt Smith was 28.

Obviously the Doctor is getting younger and younger. I predict that the next one will be around 18. Perhaps Tom Holland?

Re:Watch the age trend

[Anonymous Coward]

...and the series will finish when he gets down to 0... :)

Re:Watch the age trend

[GNious]

They just introduced a 73-year old Doctor - theory broken.

Re:Watch the age trend

[Nyder]

William Hartnell was the first Doctor, at about 55 years old.

Matt Smith was 28.

Obviously the Doctor is getting younger and younger. I predict that the next one will be around 18. Perhaps Tom Holland?

Probably give him a 6 pack abs also, running around shirtless.

Re:Watch the age trend

[Nyder]

They just introduced a 73-year old Doctor - theory broken.

Ya, that's what I thought, but apparently if aren't going with him as the doctor because they didn't announce him as the new doctor.

Re:Watch the age trend

[Nyder]

No, they totally didn't announce him as the new doctor!

You got to get the "non-schizotypic ignorance of the decade" award! ;)

Ya, that is what I said in the post that you are replying to. I made a mistake, and admitted it. Now you are saying I'm ignorant, but in reality, that who is the ignorant one? Me, for making an assumption and then admitting I made a mistake? Or you, for replying to the post where I admitted I made the mistake and then tell me I'm wrong (which I admitted) and that I'm ignorant for being wrong?

Re:Watch the age trend

[JustOK]

I heard it's going to be Wil Wheaton

Re:Watch the age trend

[Anonymous Coward]

Wil wHeaton

    --- Stewie

Re:Watch the age trend

[wonkey_monkey]

Actually Hurt has only been introduced as "the Doctor", not the new Doctor. All the implications so far have been that he's a past incarnation, specifically (in the sense that it's only the spot possible) the 9th, but did something so terrible that the (gestalt) Doctor doesn't count him among his selves.

Re:Watch the age trend

[wonkey_monkey]

What's your excuse for being a massive dick about it?

Re:Watch the age trend

[wonkey_monkey]

Jim Parsons.

He will knock... three times.

Re:Watch the age trend

[rishistar]

It turns out the next incarnation will be Mork from Ork

Re:Watch the age trend

[mrbester]

Like the genocide committed to end the Time War?

Re:Watch the age trend

[wonkey_monkey]

Could be. But I'm wondering if they might not come up with something worse.

Maybe he was the one who commissioned Don't Scare the Hare.

Re:Watch the age trend

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually Hurt has only been introduced as "the Doctor", not the new Doctor. All the implications so far have been that he's a past incarnation, specifically (in the sense that it's only the spot possible) the 9th, but did something so terrible that the (gestalt) Doctor doesn't count him among his selves.

I read somewhere that he was hired to cover for William Hartnell, who has unfortunately passed on, in the 50th Anniversary special.

Re:Watch the age trend

[gbjbaanb]

there's no reason he couldn't be the "0th" doctor - the storylines we have just start with Hartnell, but he did things before the theft of the Tardis, and it makes sense he would be older even then - so I imagine Hurt will be a special, but not the next doctor.

I worry that they'll run out of actors eventually, as he gets younger each time, there is a finite number they can use before we get something like a "young doctor who" series.

Re:Watch the age trend

[wonkey_monkey]

You read wrong. They got another actor in to play the First Doctor in the 25th anniversary special. Clara specifically said she'd seen all of the Doctor's other incarnations but didn't recognise Hurt.

Re:Watch the age trend

[wonkey_monkey]

I'm pretty sure The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors had the Time Lords referring to those three/five being all of the then-having-existed (?) incarnations of the Doctor (or the Time Lord currently known as the Doctor). And it's only 6-4 when it comes to actors being younger or older than their predecessor when taking on the role. 6-5 if they squeeze Hurt in there somewhere.

Re:Watch the age trend

[tragedy]

I assumed that he was meant to be the Valeyard, who showed up in the series as the prosecutor when the Time Lords put the Doctor on trial. He was revealed to be a future incarnation of the Doctor who really has it out for himself. He's not necessarily exactly one of his normal regenerations, but may instead actually be an intermediate form like the Watcher. The Watcher was a mystery masked figure who semi-stalked the Fourth Doctor right before his death and regeneration and who actually became the new Doctor at the moment of regeneration. Another Time Lord featured in the series whose name I can't remember right now actually had his own future incarnation working for him as a sort of butler/apprentice until his own death. So, the Valeyard was meant to be possibly something similar from the Doctor's 12th regeneration (back when there was a supposedly firm limit on the number of regenerations), but evil and intent on destroying the Doctor and achieving a completely independent existence.

Through the entire series since its revival there has been a running theme that's popped up of repressed self-loathing the Doctor keeps under the surface. There was an episode where Rory and Amy were either living in an alien-infested small village or on the Tardis with the Doctor about to plunge into a "cold star" and had to figure out which was a dream and which was real. There was a creepy dream-lord villain plaguing them through the whole thing and the Doctor made a comment to him at one point that he had figured out who he was since there was only one person in the Universe who hated him that much. It turned out to be an aspect of the Doctor's unconscious mind. So, unless they're pulling some other big twist, then this new "Doctor" is probably that aspect of his mind incarnate, probably as an intermediate form produced as part of a regeneration.

Re:Watch the age trend

[irving47]

Hmm. She said "future" incarnations, too, right?

Re:Watch the age trend

[geminidomino]

That was my thought, but Dr. Girlfriend pointed out a small hole in that theory: Everybody knows about the genocide committed to end the Time War, but the finale hinted at some kind of big deep secret.

Which led to some interesting discussion on what would be so bad that a guy that cops to double genocide thinks needs to be buried: The Doctor's a brony.

Re:Watch the age trend

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctor Bieber?

Re:Watch the age trend

[doccus]

Nobody's talking aout the 11th regeneration "bug",, ater Matt Smith that's it.. and furthermore, we saw him die (OK he didn't REALLY die, it was a duplicate, but he was 400 years in his OWN future AS the 11th doctor) I call BBC BS..

Re:Watch the age trend

[CodeHxr]

As evidence: Dr. Whooves

Re:Watch the age trend

[Kiaser Zohsay]

The zeroth doctor? How very Asimovian! Unfortunately, that is very likely the reason they won't go that way. It will be something no one would have guessed, or they would have kept a tighter lid on it.

Re:Watch the age trend

[suutar]

It seemed to me that almost nobody knows about the Time War (except the viewers), which I figured was a result of the "resolution" of the Time War.

Re:Watch the age trend

[suutar]

probably. His "entire timeline", after all... I could see her missing (or not noticing) a very brief window, since she's not there every single second, and if Hurt's duration was mostly during the time war, it could have been hidden from her in the time bubble that the war went into.

Re: Watch the age trend

[Anonymous Coward]

A dog has four legs and a tail, a cat has four legs and a tail, is a dog a cat?

Just because he's been younger each time doesn't mean he has to be, just the same as he doesn't have to be male either ... It's just done that way probably because of marketability - easier to sell a young face to a group of screaming girls and boys wanting to dispose of some parental income.

Re: Watch the age trend

[Anonymous Coward]

But it's stated he broke the promise which entitled him to be called "the Doctor". This doesn't work very well as the zeroth 'Doctor'. Sure he could have made the promise, then broken it, but that's a bit odd and in fact most of the people with this theory seem to acknowledge this suggesting he wanted to reform after being bad as the zeroth 'Doctor' but forgetting it was implied he already made the promise.

Often the best man for the job is a woman

[auric_dude]

An Alternative History of 11 American Female Doctors http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2013/05/doctor_who_american_female.php & The Other 11 Doctors http://www.scifind.com/features/the-other-11-doctors/

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

That's some pretty useless journalism.

And I watch old NES reviews!

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Nyder]

An Alternative History of 11 American Female Doctors http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2013/05/doctor_who_american_female.php & The Other 11 Doctors http://www.scifind.com/features/the-other-11-doctors/

There was a female Doctor Who, I had seen part of an episode before. On a PBS channel of course, not sure who did it, or what, if it was just a 1 episode spoof, or what, but unless I was tripping on acid & mda at the time (and dreamed it), there was a female Doctor Who. Of course, not officially.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? It was in color, saw it probably in the early 90's. I'm sure it was probably just a spoofed show, but i've never been able to figure it out. Not hitting the right phrase to find any info about it with google.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[webmistressrachel]

Thank you, unfortunately my TARDIS is having trouble manipulating the article / thread in further amusing ways because it's risky crossing my own timeline, so now I'm stuck going forward with the rest of you for a while!

And, as an aside, even WITH a TARDIS I still can't think of a way to abuse my 15 mod points without causing a paradox and undoing my first post (and all of yours!)

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

That was The Curse of Fatal Death and Joanna Lumley was the Doctor. It was, indeed, a spoof and quite a welcome one during the Dark Time of the Hiatus.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Nyder]

That was The Curse of Fatal Death and Joanna Lumley was the Doctor. It was, indeed, a spoof and quite a welcome one during the Dark Time of the Hiatus.

I guess you missed the part where I saw it in the early 90's, this was made in the end of the 90's (1999), and the chick wasn't who I saw. the lady was older, and I think dressed like Tom Bakers doctor.

Appreciate the try though.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[pmontra]

Actually Donna Noble became a sort of Doctor in Journey's End.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, it DID come out in the late 90s and Joanna Lumley IS an older lady. Did you not look it up?!

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Nyder]

Okay, just to be sure, I decided to watch Curse of the Fatal Death again. I fast forward it to where Joanna Lunley is, and NO, she is not what I am talking about. I love her, did great work on Absolutely Fabulous, but she is NOT the female doctor I saw.

This female doctor did like full episodes. She dressed like Tom Baker. She was older. I wish now I had paid more attention to it, but it was made before the mid 90's, and it wasn't a comic relief.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[cyber-vandal]

Is it this this?

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Nyder]

Is it this this?

yes it is. I just found this link:

http://www.eskimo.com/~rkj/doctor.html and was coming to post it.

Now you got me a youtube video, thank you very much.

I was positive that I had seen this, but you have no idea the amount of drugs I have done since then. =)

I'm not crazy, and it was from 1984, which fits in me seeing it in the early 90's.

So, fuck you all that kept saying Curse of the Fatal Death when I made it clear it was early then that. Stupid Anonymous Coward bitches.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[cyber-vandal]

No worries. I was interested in finding out about it.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

And, as an aside, even WITH a TARDIS I still can't think of a way to abuse my 15

I'm just gonna stop reading right there.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[newcastlejon]

Fucking wankers on tonight, eh?

Evidently.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

Please, tell us how you really feel.

Re: Often the best man for the job is a woman

[UglyTool]

Chill the fuck out.

What you saw was some shitty, obscure fan-film made for fanboys at cons. It has absolutely nothing to do with Doctor Who, except for stealing the name. If people thought you meant Curse of Fatal Death instead of an awful movie that nobody else ever saw, then that's understandable. What you linked is NOT Doctor Who. It was a shitty movie that nobody watched.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

What you saw was "The Curse of the Fatal Death" it was one of the Children in Need specials. This one done when Dr Who was off the air, it was 10 - 15 minutes in length.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, it DID come out in the late 90s and Joanna Lumley IS an older lady. Did you not look it up?!

Wow, stupid people on tonight. I saw the fucking show in the early 90's. Early Fucking 90's. The comic relief was from the late fucking 90's. Do you understand? What I am talking about is from the early 90's. EARLY, EARLY stupid bitch.

Fucking wankers on tonight, eh?

Relax, bro, chill the fuck out.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[caseih]

There was a Red Nose comedy special where Rowan Atkinson played the doctor. He and his girl decide they're going to stop adventuring, settle down, and get married. A series of events with the master and the daleks causes his rapid regeneration (several other famous actors including Richard E Grant and Hugh Grant. Finally he regenerates into a woman, played by Joanna Lumley. His companion realizes the doctor is now a women, and says, "Sorry Doctor, you're not the man I fell in love with." The doctor finally runs off with the Master.

Classic lines, including, "Look Emma, I've got a pair of etheric beam detectors!"

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Sandman1971]

She didn't become the Doctor, she partially became a Time Lord. Not at all the same thing.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

Bullocks. They even called her "The Doctor Donna". She had The Doctor's mind inside of her until The Doctor erased it (and her memories of him) to save her life. She remained part time lord.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

Can someone explain to me how fucking fan-fiction is modded 5, Interesting?

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[BasilBrush]

That is not Doctor Who.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[MacGyver2210]

Well, they did call her "The Doctor Donna" several times, including in the 'Bad Wolf' prophecy.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[tragedy]

If it's not The Curse of Fatal Death (which had Rowan Atkinson, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley as the Doctor) that you saw, then maybe you're confusing the Doctor with the Rani. She was a renegade Time Lady fond of unethical experiments and had her own TARDIS.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Thantik]

Jenny, the doctors daughter (from an episode titled the same) is actually still out there. At the end of the episode, she regenerated and flew out into space for lots of running, etc. So there is a female time lord out among the stars.

Re:Often the best man for the job is a woman

[Anonymous Coward]

So in other words, you're entire original statement about watching a female Doctor is wrong. Because this isn't Doctor Who. At all, in any way shape or form.

Unlike Curse of the Fatal Death, which was an out of canon Doctor Who story produced by the BBC as part of Comic Relief.

No Shit

[Nyder]

Considering the last episode credits had: Introducing John Hurts as the Doctor, it was a pretty damn big clue that Matt was leaving the show.

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9985/doctorwho20057x13thenamz.jpg

Re:No Shit

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not what the deal is, but if that's what you want to think, cool.

Re:No Shit

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually,

I think John Hurt will be the "Doctor" that ended the Time War, condemning all the other Time Lords and the Daleks.
This is the Doctor that had to commit genocide to protect the rest of the universe, and therefore did not act in the name of "The Doctor".
But we will see.

Re:No Shit

[Nyder]

Actually,

I think John Hurt will be the "Doctor" that ended the Time War, condemning all the other Time Lords and the Daleks.
This is the Doctor that had to commit genocide to protect the rest of the universe, and therefore did not act in the name of "The Doctor".
But we will see.

And Davros would of been proud.

Doctor Who: Davros, if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life, would you allow its use?
Davros: It is an interesting conjecture.
Doctor Who: Would you do it?
Davros: The only living thing, a microscopic organism reigning supreme... A fascinating idea.
Doctor Who: But would you do it?
Davros: Yes... Yes...
[raises hand as if holding the metaphorical capsule between thumb and forefingers]
Davros: To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power, to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice... To know that the tiny pressure of my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything... Yes, I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods! AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!

Re:No Shit

[flimflammer]

This is the answer right here.

Re:No Shit

[Chuck Chunder]

It was a 'clue' for the 50th anniversary special.

Re:No Shit

[auric_dude]

Remember that John Hurt did not fare too well when he last encountered an alien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film) but Sigourney Weaver did, it only goes to show that the best man for the job is often a woman.

Re:No Shit

[Anonymous Coward]

Matt Smith's Doctor already knows about John Hurt. But the Doctor religiously avoids "spoilers". That suggests John Hurts' is a past Doctor, not a future one (maybe the one who ended the Time War? I dunno)

No way

[Anonymous Coward]

John Hurt is an old man, and they wouldn't take the risk for a long running show. (Sorry John). More likely he's in for a subplot lasting a few episodes.

The 'doctor name' plot is wrapping up (that episode was way too complex/messy, Moffat needs to reign it in a bit), the next big over arching plot is due, there'll be a bridge to that.

So we had River Song, Cracks in Time, Silents/3d Printed People, and Doctor's Name plot threads, I'm assuming Hurt will do an bit of intro to that thread.

Re:No way

[Nyder]

John Hurt is an old man, and they wouldn't take the risk for a long running show. (Sorry John). More likely he's in for a subplot lasting a few episodes.

The 'doctor name' plot is wrapping up (that episode was way too complex/messy, Moffat needs to reign it in a bit), the next big over arching plot is due, there'll be a bridge to that.

So we had River Song, Cracks in Time, Silents/3d Printed People, and Doctor's Name plot threads, I'm assuming Hurt will do an bit of intro to that thread.

Well, Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor. We know the 13th doctor is evil (from past episodes) and we know (unless they changed it since he's the last timelord), timelords only get 12 regens (making 13 total lives). So it would be logical (Star Trek reference, couldn't resist) that John Hurt is the next doctor.

And what's old got to do with it? You telling me older actors can't act? Or we should be worried because he might fall over and die any day? Seriously? John Hurt looks like a doctor. I know the BBC thinks it needs young actors for the doctor, but lets be real, the best doctors (IMO) were the older dudes.

   

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

Wasn't it first said that time lords have 9 lives?

Re: No way

[Nyder]

Wasn't it first said that time lords have 9 lives?

No.

Re:No way

[Anonymous Coward]

*SPOILER FROM LATEST FINALE*

If John Hurt is a previously unrecognized Doctor, then Matt Smith would be the 12th incarnation of the Doctor. Interestingly enough, the Valeyard was specifically referred to as the 13th incarnation in the Trial of the Time Lord. I think an Evil Doctor/Valeyard is the big baddie of the 50th Anniversary Special.

Re:No way

[teslar]

we know (unless they changed it since he's the last timelord), timelords only get 12 regens (making 13 total lives)

Not anymore, the Doctor has had infinitely many regenerations for a while now.

Re:No way

[Carewolf]

I am certain The Doctor can regenerate more that 12 times. It was stated when he used part of his life energy to heal a companion that it might limit his regenerations later and that he would need several. Also the generations numbers we use for the doctor are only counting those we have seen and should not be considered absolute numbers. It is very likely the 13th has already happened.

John Hurts character was specifically mentioned by The Doctor to be who he was before he became The Doctor. He apparently stopped using his name because of something he did that he doesn't want to be associated with or reminded off.

Re:No way

[Nyder]

we know (unless they changed it since he's the last timelord), timelords only get 12 regens (making 13 total lives)

Not anymore, the Doctor has had infinitely many regenerations for a while now.

Ya, i figured they might of done that with him being the last timelord. I just can't remember if that was in an episode or not. Cool, just read the article you linked and apparently it's in the Sarah Jane Adventures, which I have, just haven't watched the last 2 seasons. Guess I better get watching.

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

Wasn't it first said that time lords have 9 lives?

No, you seem to be getting time lords and cats mixed up.

Re:No way

[itsdapead]

If John Hurt is a previously unrecognized Doctor, then Matt Smith would be the 12th incarnation of the Doctor.

"Previously unrecognized"? You're not thinking wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey enough.

Interestingly enough, the Valeyard was specifically referred to as the 13th incarnation in the Trial of the Time Lord. I think an Evil Doctor/Valeyard is the big baddie of the 50th Anniversary Special.

...and the Valeyard was name-checked in The Name of the Doctor.

I'd originally assumed that Hurt was going to be Doctor #8.5 who ended the Time War by comitting genocide, got killed in the process and regenerated into #9 (Ecclestone) who was wracked with guilt over what he'd done. But, hang on, he's got a freakin' time machine! It could have been #13/Valeyard who did the genocide: #9 was wracked with guilt over what he'd just discovered his future self, er, will have been going to have done.

So Hurt could be #13.

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

I like that idea but it would paint the show into a corner. It would mean that the next doctor would need to regenerate into John Hurt. Logistically that would be risky.

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

They don't have to show the regeneration if it is too tricky to do, they didn't show the regeneration between the 8th and 9th Doctors. or they could solve the logistical problem with CGI.

Re: No way

[itsdapead]

I like that idea but it would paint the show into a corner. It would mean that the next doctor would need to regenerate into John Hurt. Logistically that would be risky.

Except they're already in a corner, and need a plot device to get past the established "12 regeneration limit" (which probably seemed like plenty back in the 1970s). If Moffat was going to try and sweep that under the carpet, he wouldn't have name-checked the Valeyard. A big show-down with Doc #13 would be a good opportunity to do a bit of temporal re-writing.

One option would be to have either #11, #12 or #13 die 'for real' and a new individual take on the title "The Doctor" which would fit some of the foreshadowing such the importance of the chosen name, the previous reference to 'The fall of the 11th' suggesting that its actually #11 who died on Trenzelore, the fact that Clara only met 11 Doctors when the whirly-lighty-thing was meant to contain all the Doctors past and future...

The 50th anniversary special in November is a good excuse for a bit of continuity wanking.

Re: No way

[JustOK]

Rule 1: The Doctor lies.

Re:No way

[digitig]

There have been lots of suggestions for retconning the 12 regens rule to allow for more regens. The one I find most credible is that the 12 regen rule was enforced by the time lords themselves, and now that The Doctor is the only one left it's pretty much up to him. Chances are they won't bother retconning it, just ignore it and let the fans do their own retconning.

Re: No way

[Nyder]

I like that idea but it would paint the show into a corner. It would mean that the next doctor would need to regenerate into John Hurt. Logistically that would be risky.

Except they're already in a corner, and need a plot device to get past the established "12 regeneration limit" (which probably seemed like plenty back in the 1970s). If Moffat was going to try and sweep that under the carpet, he wouldn't have name-checked the Valeyard. A big show-down with Doc #13 would be a good opportunity to do a bit of temporal re-writing.

One option would be to have either #11, #12 or #13 die 'for real' and a new individual take on the title "The Doctor" which would fit some of the foreshadowing such the importance of the chosen name, the previous reference to 'The fall of the 11th' suggesting that its actually #11 who died on Trenzelore, the fact that Clara only met 11 Doctors when the whirly-lighty-thing was meant to contain all the Doctors past and future...

The 50th anniversary special in November is a good excuse for a bit of continuity wanking.

In the Sarah Jane Adventures, Death of the Doctor, The Doctor claims he has unlimited regenerations. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/oct/12/doctor-who-immortal-reveals-bbc

I haven't seen the last 2 seasons of Sarah Jane Adventures, so that caught me by surprise.

Re:No way

[rocket rancher]

And what's old got to do with it? You telling me older actors can't act? Or we should be worried because he might fall over and die any day? Seriously? John Hurt looks like a doctor. I know the BBC thinks it needs young actors for the doctor, but lets be real, the best doctors (IMO) were the older dudes.

Nice (old) strawman. Old actors can indeed act. Usually better than younger ones. But acting ability is not the primary focus for casting a role. I preferred Tom Baker when I was a (much) younger fan, not because he was a better actor than Hartnell, Troughton or Pertwee, but because he was the first doctor I could relate to age-wise. With that said, eye candy seems to be *way* more important now to content producers and sponsors.than acting ability or credibility in a role. Look what happened when Pierce Brosnan got the nod for Bond. He was the perfect fit for the role, eagerly anticipated by the fans, and an excellent actor, but he tanked almost as quickly as his predecessor, Timothy Dalton. Market demographics being what they are, I expect the next (last?) doctor to be well south of 25 with flawless skin, six-pack abs, and more than a little light on his feet, to broaden his appeal. Advertisers/sponsors will want an actor in the role who can appeal to the 18-25 demographic, because that is the target demographic they must appeal to -- the one with the most disposable income.

Re:No way

[LordLucless]

It's been established in previous episodes that regenerations are transferable. The Doctor's also been a bit profligate with his regenerations lately (blowing one to heal River's small cut) - he may be aware that he's transcended that limit for whatever reason.

Re:No way

[Anonymous Coward]

The BBC doesn't have advertisers or sponsors. It is paid for by basically a tax on tv ownership.

Don't see why a human should be able to relate to someone who is not human.
(Why I think those nature programs that do that are so stupid).

Most people I know who watch Doctor Who are not in that demographic either.

The thing that annoys me is they never seem to deal with the threads I think are most interesting.

(The last great time war / The Doctors Daughter / Daleks).

I think the old format of longer story arcs was much better.

I think I liked Eccleston better than any of the new ones. (Might just have been because they had more interesting places).

But I know from a camera man who works on Dr Who that he was an utter pita to work with and horrible to everyone around him.

The BBC are not like HBO (Who made soft porn in the 80's I have been told).

Re:No way

[Anonymous Coward]

There are a lot of easy ways around the 13th regen issue:

- A regen from the Doctor in the parallel universe with Rose (back to 12)
- The clone, Jenny?,from "The Doctor's Daughter" could regenerate into a new Doctor. (Starting over at 2nd regen)
- Donna Nobel could remember that she is the doctor, die, then regenerate into a new Doctor. (could either reset to 12 or 2)
- And of course there is always the whole possible rebang through a newly introduced plot twist.

Re: No way

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Wasn't it first said that time lords have 9 lives?

No, you seem to be getting time lords and cats mixed up.

If the Time Lords have 13 lives, do their time cats get 12*9=117 lives? If we run out of doctors, I propose a new series, Doctor Who's Cat. The protagonist could have some non-obvious, non-ridiculous name, such as Phi Line.

Re: No way

[jaminJay]

So, Ace Rimmer is the next Doctor?!

Re: No way

[leptons]

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_(Doctor_Who) Time Lords used to have 13 lives." In Death of the Doctor (a 2010 The Sarah Jane Adventures serial), the Eleventh Doctor responds to a question from Clyde Langer by saying he can regenerate "507" times. Early news reports, before the episode was broadcast, suggested he would say there is no limit to the number of regenerations.[11] Writer Russell T Davies explained in an interview with SFX that the line was not intended to be taken seriously and is instead a commentary. He insisted that the "thirteen lives" rule was too deeply entrenched in the viewer consciousness for his throwaway line to affect it.[12]

Re:No way

[the eric conspiracy]

Some times explanations are a detriment. Like midichlorians.

Re:No way

[pjbgravely]

The Valyard is the evil Doctor created by the Time Lords between the Doctors 12th and 13th regeneration. He disappeared into the matrix ( Trial of a Time Lord) .

If you take into account that the 10th Doctor was killed by the Daleks in "Stolen Earth" and regenerated as himself then He is also the 11th Doctor making Matt Smith the 12th.

This next season could be the Doctors defeating the Valyard once again, or it could be something entirely different.

No this doesn't mean the next Doctor will be the last, the 13 regenerations was an artificial limit set by the Time Lords who are gone now.

Re:No way

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

I've an idea: if John Hurt falls over and dies while filming, they could just introduce another actor and say he's the same character, with a different face. They could explain it by saying he "rejuvenated".

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

What a guy...

Re: No way

[BonThomme]

nobody paints a show with a time machine into a corner

Re: No way

[Wingman 5]

I have 3 words for you: K-9 and Company

Re:No way

[Wingman 5]

It was never explained why timeloads only get 12 regens. It may have been a law, not a fact of their physiology. Like a very, very, very, long Logan's Run.

Re: No way

[K. S. Kyosuke]

That's four words, and cats are better.

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

3 words, a letter, and a hyphen to be exact.

But I agree, cats are better.

-Mr Sprinkles

Re:No way

[wonkey_monkey]

Nope. It was a throw-away line intended to be a glib answer from the Doctor (and he said he could renegerate 507 times, not infinitely many).

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

well, a way out would be that the "12 regenerations" thing is a Council restriction, not a biological one.

Re:No way

[cyberchondriac]

I'd agree with this.. the trend seems to be one of the Doctor growing slightly younger with each regeneration --at least, for several seasons now. Why break with consistency?
Frankly I think it'd be pretty damn wicked if the Doctor, a few seasons from now, was a know-it-all 12 year old. Casting would be tricky of course, but not impossible.
Seeing the role go from Christopher Eccleston to David Tennant to Matt Smith, it'd be wrenching to suddenly see John Hurt as the Dr, as much as I like John Hurt. (and he'd be the second crossover from Harry Potter to Dr. Who that I'm aware of, FWIW) .
To get around the issue of continuing the show once the 12 year regenerates, have him simply go "full circle" so to speak, where in a single episode, we see him revert back to an infant, a fetus, and then.. (somehow) back to an old man, where it starts all over again. It'd be an interesting challenge for the writers at any rate. Seems more logical to me than him simply regenerating at any random age.

Re: No way

[cyberchondriac]

Well I already posted so I can't mod you up, but you seem to be on the way up as it is. That was the obvious reply but damn funny anyway. Why post anonymous?

Re:No way

[Anonymous Coward]

I have no idea where you came up with that interpretation.

What was said is that the John Hurt Doctor incarnation betrayed the name Doctor. This would not be possible with your interpretation as betraying a name requires the name be present at the time of betrayal.

Hurt could be the 9th Doctor, he could be the 8th doctor (McGann's replacement for TV), he could be #12 or #13, but he could not be an incarnation previous to the name Doctor (which was chosen at the age of 8 after looking into the untempered schism)

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

Not really. You simply have the 12th and 13th doctors die. We exit the special with the new doctor being the 14th.

Re:No way

[bruce_the_loon]

I'd love the 13th Doctor to be desperately trying to avoid dying because he knows he's the last generation, then regenerating instead and saying something like "What? Nobody ever did 14? How did I do 14? And why am I still not ginger?"

Re:No way

[You're All Wrong]

The same Doctor Who that I watch? 18-25? Disposable income?

Bullshit.

7-14. Pocket money.

Children are the best lever for extracting money from adults, full stop. Did you not see any of the confidentials? It was clear what the target market was from those - as they interviewed them, for values of "interview" close to "got nothing more intelligent than yes/no and good/bad answers, and dribble and snot, from".

Re:No way

[bill_mcgonigle]

timelords only get 12 regens

What is the Timelords' preferred numerical base?

Re:No way

[BasilBrush]

the best doctors (IMO) were the older dudes.

The best doctors were Tom baker and David Tennant (I will accept no argument on this.)

40 & 34 when taking on DW as far as I can see. So middle aged at a pinch, rather than old.

I'd only call the 1st and 3rd old. Of those Jon Pertwee was pretty good. Didn't think much to William Hartnell, but that might have been different if I was old enough myself to remember when they were originally broadcast.

Re:No way

[BasilBrush]

`Lets see.

Connery (ignoring NSNA) 1962-71 = 9 years / 6 films
Lazenby - 1 film
Moore 1973-85 = 12 years / 7 films
Dalton = 1986-94 = 6 years / 2 films
Brosnan = 1995-2004 = 9 years / 4 films

So Brosnan is mid field as far as lasting. But his first film GoldenEye was one of the most successful.

I think the problem is more one of shelf life than what the fans expect at the beginning of an actors role. Connery/Moore and Brosnan were all looking too old for the role after about a decade. And as muscular as he is, Craig is starting to look a bit old too now, even though he looked young when he started.

Re: No way

[BasilBrush]

Whoosh!

Re: No way

[BasilBrush]

Patrick Swayze, is that you?

Re: No way

[mrbester]

The plot of the movie was that the Master had run out of regenerations and wanted to steal the Doctor's remaining (4 presumably) ones. So it isn't impossible.

Re:No way

[Anonymous Coward]

Another theory I have heard tossed around is that when River gave up all of her regeneration to save him he may have gained some, which seems like a plausible (in sci fi terms) way to go about things.

Re:No way

[Belial6]

I don't know the canon well enough to know if 13 lives is how many lives a Time Lord gets, but if so, that is easy to address. Matt Smith said that John Hurt was him, but had betrayed his promise of the name "Doctor". The Hippocratic Oath says 'do no harm'. They also said that the breaking of the 'Doctor' promise was a necessary evil. So, you kill two birds with one stone, Dr. Who style, by having John Hurt commit some kind of genocide against an innocent and trusting species, maybe multiple species, to give him more regenerations. You could make the act more nuanced and defensible by forcing him to chose between one innocent race at his hand, or a million innocent races through his inaction. This would of course, give the writers a whole new avenue to explore how the Doctor comes to terms with decimating an innocent trusting race.

Re: No way

[Macgrrl]

I wish I had mod points. Now we need to get this in front of Neil Gaiman and get him to write a script where the Doctor talks about Time Lord cats and/or the Caveman vs. Astronaut argument (or both).

Would Caveman vs. Astronaut be Leela vs. Adric? We know how that worked out.

Re: No way

[Macgrrl]

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.

Re:No way

[Macgrrl]

As someone who read the original Ian Flemming 'Bond' novels, I have always found Timothy Dalton to be the truest to the book version of Bond. He really was generally a nasty, brutish piece of work with little in the way of compassion or conscience, but charismatic. That's pretty much how Dalton played him.

Daniel Craig is great, but he's pretty much had the whole 'someone kicked his puppy' thing going for the entire time he's played the role.

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

Because only children are obsessed with karma and whether a person is logged in.

Re:No way

[tragedy]

David Tennant played Barty Crouch Jr and the Doctor, Michael Gambon played Dumbledore and Kazran Sardick, Helen McRory played Narcissa Malfoy and Rosanna Calvierri, John Cleese played Nearly Headless Nick and had a cameo in an older episode, Zoe Wanamaker played Madame Hooch and Lady Cassandra, Toby Jones played Dobby and the Dream Lord, Bill Nighy played Rufus Scrimgeour and a Van Goph expert, Roger Lloyd Pack played Barty Crouch Sr. and John Lumic, Shirly Henderson played Moaning Myrtle and Ursula Blake, Adrian Rawlins played James Potter and the Ood sympathizer from _Planet of the Ood_, David Bradley played Argus Filch and the Shansheeth in the old series, Derek Deadman played Tom the innkeeper and a Sontaran in the old series, Elizabeth Spriggs played the Fat Lady and was strangled to death in an episode of the old series, Jeff Rawles plays Amos Diggory and played Plantagenet in an episode of the old series, Jessica Hynes played the voice of Mafilda Hopkirk and played Joan Redfern and one of her descendants, Jimmy Gardner played the Knight Bus driver and Idmon in the old series, John Atterbury played Phineas Nigellus Black and some monsters in the old series, Julian Glover played Aragog and Richard the Lionheart and Scaroth in the old series, Terence Bayler played the Bloody Baron and Yendom in the old series.

Jim Broadbent played Horace Slughorn and also played the Doctor in _The Curse of Fatal Death_, but that's not really canon. Aside from that, Dudley Dursley and Dean Thomas are played by descendants of the 2nd doctor and one of the first companions respectively.

So, that's quite a few crossover actors. I knew some of those off the top of my head, but obviously I found a web site listing them for all of that. It's possible they may have missed some. In any case, it's not too surprising. The Harry Potter series has used a lot of British actors and so has Dr Who and there are only so many of them.

Re:No way

[Nefarious Wheel]

From the recent series, I'd think the actor playing The Doctor would need to be young enough to run. As in ... RUN!

Re:No way

[camperdave]

I've an idea: if John Hurt falls over and dies while filming, they could just introduce another actor and say he's the same character, with a different face. They could explain it by saying he "rejuvenated".

The word is "regenerated"

Re:No way

[camperdave]

There have been lots of suggestions for retconning the 12 regens rule to allow for more regens. The one I find most credible is that the 12 regen rule was enforced by the time lords themselves, and now that The Doctor is the only one left it's pretty much up to him. Chances are they won't bother retconning it, just ignore it and let the fans do their own retconning.

Well, he also had his biology rewritten by the Chameleon Arch (as did the Master), so that could act as a reset as well.

Re:No way

[Swampash]

We know the 13th doctor is evil (from past episodes) and we know (unless they changed it since he's the last timelord), timelords only get 12 regens (making 13 total lives). So it would be logical (Star Trek reference, couldn't resist) that John Hurt is the next doctor.

You're forgetting the most important bit: Steven Moffat now writes whatever he wants, retconning, contradicting, or just plain ignoring anything that has gone before, whenever he wants. Doctor Who has reached the stage where someone could just wave a sonic screwdriver (which rather than a simple electronic skeleton key has under Moffat become a tool more akin to a combined repulsor beam-tricorder-Hitchhiker's Guide-magic wand) and restart the Universe from scratch, giving the Doc' as many regenerations as he wants. Oh, and the Weeping Angels will pop up somewhere.

Doctor Who under Moffat has just gone mental. It's like a D&D campaign where the DM just doesn't give a shit any more and +20 everything items are in every box.

Re:No way

[Swampash]

We know the 13th doctor is evil (from past episodes)

Yeah, just like we know that the Daleks were all destroyed (from past episodes). And there was a Time War between Daleks and Time Lords (from past episodes). And the Cybermen invaded Earth (from past episodes). And you can't or can travel back along your own timeline (from past episodes). And so on and so on.

Re: No way

[ArhcAngel]

It all makes sense now! I had written off the prior thread about The Doctor Cat as pure drivel but now I am convinced the next Doctor will be Daniel "Danny" John-Jules!

Re: No way

[modecx]

Maybe we could have Danny John-Jules play The Cat Doctor, an extravagantly dressed and infinitely more vain Time Lord stranded from an alternative universe. I'd watch it.

Re: No way

[Anonymous Coward]

A long time ago (in a galaxy NOT far away), it was stated that Time Lords only get 4 lives. They "fixed" that in Tom Baker's era.

Re:No way

[Anonymous Coward]

The word was "rejuvenated" when William Hartnell was replaced with Patrick Troughton.

The term regeneration was only introduced when Jon Pertwee transformed into Tom Baker.

Re: No way

[lister king of smeg]

correct me if i am wrong but in a episode with The Master and David Tennants Doctor wasn't it said that the time lords would occasionally bestow extra regens on time lord in time of war? Thus explaining why the master was around despite having died numerous times?

Re: No way

[The Archon V2.0]

> If the Time Lords have 13 lives, do their time cats get 12*9=117 lives?

They'd better. That damn Splinx easily did stuff that mowed through my lives like I was a Time Fruit Fly.

Re:No way

[rufty_tufty]

When 1 changed into 2 it was called rejuvenated.
2 into 3 was a punishment by the timelords
3 into 4 was "a trick" (can't remember if the monk called it regeneration)
4 into 5 it onwards definitely called regeneration.

Re: No way

[jaminJay]

I would watch that!

Re:No way

[Zordak]

In "The Five Doctors," the Time Lords gave the Master a whole new set of regenerations in exchange for helping out. So it's been plausible to extend past 13 lives for 30 years now. Nobody mentioned the mechanism for "granting" a new set, but if anybody can figure out how to cheat death, the Doctor ought to be able to. Corner unpainted.

Re:No way

[Private Baldrick]

It is inferred that all Time Lords fighting in the Time War were given a full set of Regenerations. Hence we can expect to see more Doctors in the future. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_War_(Doctor_Who)#Progression

Re: No way

[suutar]

Well, based on River Song, regeneration seems to be closely linked to exposure to temporal energy. Given some of the weird temporal energy related stuff we've already seen (Rose, Jack, and the Weeping Angels come to mind) I don't think they'd have a hard time engineering a situation to replenish his pool. The hard part would be making it epic enough :)

Re: No way

[cshark]

Right, and let's not forget that the doctor got a totally new batch of re-generation energy from River Song.

Re:No way

[cshark]

Right, but all those years fucking around with the timeline. Who is to say that Valyard ever even happens now?

Re:No way

[Zeio]

I want christopher eccleston to come back as the doctor named precisely Doctor christopher eccleston.

Man that was a good doctor in my opinion.

This is horrible

[houghi]

How can the show continue if the lead role leaves? Perhaps we should start a petition

Re:This is horrible

[Stormwatch]

Whooosh.

Re:This is horrible

[flimflammer]

I don't think you can really shrug that one off as just a bad joke. That was a pretty big whoosh.

Re:This is horrible

[Nyder]

I don't think you can really shrug that one off as just a bad joke. That was a pretty big whoosh.

It was bad because I didn't get it. Damn it, i'm trying to save face here.

Re:This is horrible

[Noughmad]

That's Doctor Whooosh to you!

Re:This is horrible

[Anonymous Coward]

Even though it's a silly joke, some food for thought.

During an episode a machine read the Doctor's DNA and created a female child. During the end of the episode we even seen her release just enough regeneration energy to revive her current self.

Riversong is a human exposed to the time vortex during fetal development which as explained in an episode produced a human timelord. We only seen three versions of her, as a baby that presumably grew into a young girl we seen regenerate, as Pond's childhood friend, and as Riversong. Even though Riversong was trapped in that virtual world, she was well known as an escape artist and demonstrated that she was able to break through to reality through mental bonds with people she met while alive and establish mental bonds with others through them. I have a suspicion that will be exploited sometime soon to bring her back into reality, possibly through regeneration since that's hinted as being a matter-energy conversion process.

Re: This is horrible

[Anonymous Coward]

He probably hasn't seen the last couple seasons, in which case, he is an absolute fucktard, right Nyder?

Re:This is horrible

[drolli]

I think that the periodical changin of the doctors actor is one of the grat ideas of the series. It can keep up with time without weird "script the actor out of the series" plots.

Re:This is horrible

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

No need to save face. Just regenerate and change it and don't tell anyone.

Re:This is horrible

[eclectro]

That may not be a bad idea. Forget regenerating, Matt Smith leaves some huge shoes to fill.

Re: This is horrible

[Anomalyst]

right Nyder?

What a great concept, a /. er fighting evil with a talking car!

Re:This is horrible

[Anonymous Coward]

you get Blake's 7

Re: This is horrible

[BasilBrush]

No, people can miss the 2005 reboot and still have seen the best Doctor Who ever if they bothered to watch the previous 28 years.

Ack! The old stuff was good in it's day. But it hasn't stood the test of time. 2005 reboot is better in most respects, at least until the arrival of Matt Smith.

The one downside is the single-episode stories of the re-boot. But then again, some of the old serials did drag on a bit, with Doctor and/or assistant being captured and marched down samey looking corridors over and over again.

Re: This is horrible

[Anonymous Coward]

right Nyder?

What a great concept, a /. er fighting evil with a talking car!

This made my morning!

Re:This is horrible

[flimflammer]

You should probably learn how to read usernames.

Re:This is horrible

[Anonymous Coward]

im all for a petition lets start one who knows if its big enough they might keep Matt Smith if you start a petition email me and i will sign it byte.me1943@yahoo.com

No, by old I meant...

[Anonymous Coward]

"And what's old got to do with it? You telling me older actors can't act?"

You know exactly what I mean.

"Or we should be worried because he might fall over and die any day?"

Well yes, a thread like Riversong Birth to Death lasted years, The Library was 2008, Lets kill Hitler, 2012... it was already a complicated plot, what is Alex had died mid way. I know computers are clever these days (Bob Monkhouse springs to mind, see below), but I doubt they could take the risk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiGNvXbofwY

No offences to Hurt, but the best way for him to live long is to not stress himself too much.

Re:No, by old I meant...

[itsdapead]

Well yes, a thread like Riversong Birth to Death lasted years

During which the character River/Melody died 3 times and was portrayed by at least 4 completely different-looking actresses. Its that kinda show...

I know computers are clever these days

...and all they'd need to fake would be a 30 second regeneration scene.

Re:No, by old I meant...

[Anonymous Coward]

He meant John Hurt is rather old and if he's running around doing Doctor Who (a very high energy, high stress show to do, I should think) then it'd probably kill him. Do you really have shit for brains, or are you just being obtuse for the sake of trolling?

Re:No, by old I meant...

[Anonymous Coward]

The child, the friend, the wife, who's the other one? The baby?

Re:No, by old I meant...

[itsdapead]

The child, the friend, the wife, who's the other one? The baby?

Well, yes. And its quite likely that they used more than one baby.

Plus there was another young girl for the first school scene, although that could be dismissed as mundane flashback stuff.

What I would like from the next series

[Chuck Chunder]

Less SHOUTING. Too often they seem to try and create a sense of excitement through the sole mechanism of having the Doctor get excited and shouty. I don't think it Matt Smith's fault, he does do some of the darker, more ponderous moments very well. I think the situation should be exciting in itself and the Doctor then rising above it.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

More importantly: Less STUPID!

The show got dumber and dumber every year. They are at 2.4 JJs* now! They just stopped caring if it makes any sense at all. (And yes, I did check for Dunning-Kruger effects. I can always show you the exact show-stopping non-sequiturs and inner contradictions of the stories.**)

(* Named after JJ Abrams' "knack" for always "resolving" things with plain drooling retardedness and then calling it a day.)

(** E.g. for Star Trek, I know it's not me being stupid, when the main one was Spock crashing a ship that has a ball of red matter the size of Chuck Norris' balls [~1m] on board, of which a *single* drop annihilates an entire damn planet, *into a fuckin' space-time rift! And the crew of the Enterprise just hovering there like drooling retards, instead of instantly going into full "This could end the fuckin' UNIVERSE" panic mode! ... Of course you can say that the moment they dropped Kirk on a deadly planet with not even a jacket nor compass and the nearest building miles away through extreme snow storms, excusing it with "Oh, he will find it!"... that that was the moment where the whole thing died and imploded in a vortex of FAIL. ... Followed by the whole Old Spock think and Scotty inventing teleportation just casually along the way, to add insult and piss in the face to injury.)

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

That's all done to dumb it down for the American market, they even shorted the episodes so American TV can use it sans-cuts to allow for 20 minutes of adverts. Seeing as it's paid for by the BBC via UK's TV license fee, this is pretty disgusting.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

I absolutely agree and love your JJ Abrams and StarTrek rant.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[ChunderDownunder]

Nimoy leaking scientific equations to Pegg's Scotty was a homage to Doohan's Scotty in an earlier time travelling movie (ST IV) - i.e. Transparent Aluminum.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[BenJury]

Why? Exporting things like this and Top Gear keep the licence fee down and allow the BBC to do less 'commercial' things that would otherwise not be possible.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't talk rubbish, the programming is made on a budget for the local market only. Exports do not add to the money, that's siphoned off into spin-off companies serving private owners.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

Scotty inventing teleportation

Scotty didn't invent teleportation. Transporters already existed at that point in time. They just didn't know how to do it while at warp speed, or something.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

Get rid of Stephen Moffat as the script writer. If you look at the worst and more recent seasons for stupidity, they are mostly Moffat.

I remember seeing a behind the scenes recently where Moffat said that he takes random themes and puts the doctor there (like an amusement park for the second to last episode), then he makes it a big urgent conflict, and resolves it with the doctor's wizardry. That is exactly the problem. The old Who never had this kind of stupidity. It was bad, but it was about character conflict mostly, not random technology threatening the end of the world every single day.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[quantaman]

Was Dr Who ever particularly smart? I've guess they've moved a bit more towards character drama as opposed to philosophical storylines, but never do I remember them ever anything remotely realistically scientific or a legitimate detective puzzle. It's always been crazy smart doctor figures out mystery only he has the knowledge to understand, then does a sciency solution that only he's smart enough to do. I figure the joy of Doctor Who is that it's like a nerd's action series. Except instead of saving the day with unrealistic fighting ability he saves it with unrealistic smartness and snappy dialogue.

Star Trek on the other hand has gone regularly exploring philosophical concepts in the first series to being a dumb action movie with the latest films.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[BasilBrush]

Too often they seem to try and create a sense of excitement through the sole mechanism of having the Doctor get excited and shouty. I don't think it Matt Smith's fault

Actually I do think it's his fault. I think he was overawed at getting the Doctor Who gig so young, he ended up trying to copy David Tennant's Doctor. With Tennant it was natural, but I don't buy it when Smith does it.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, the Doctor was smart, but you need to go back a bit.

In the Hartnell years (yes, the first Doctor) he actually was smart, resourceful and didn't rely on gimmicks... Would be nice if they tried to bring back some of the educational elements to the show again.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[quantaman]

I'm not familiar with the original series so that may be true but I don't really want to mess with the current Dr Who too much. It doesn't educate and the science is completely laughable, but he's smart, and saves the day without using violence. In any other show where you're trying to save the world it's almost a given that the hero is simply the good guy who's the best at killing people. That we have a show that's immensely popular and has as its hero a pacifist nerd is pretty awesome, I'd like if they played with philosophical questions a bit more (I think most shows overdo character drama) but I'm happy enough with what we got that I don't want to mess with it.

Star Trek on the other hand has become a joke, what's one more action flick set in space?

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Omestes]

Step one, get rid of Amy Pond. Step two, get rid of Matt Smith. Step three, get rid of Moffat?

I might actually start watching again, if that comes true. The last two seasons were crap, but no one has gotten around to telling Moffat that he really can't write, and that, no, he isn't Neil Gaiman so stop trying.

Though if, and they won't, they get someone like John Hurt to be The Doctor, I'd still put up with Moffat's fountain of crap.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[mjwalshe]

No the US would probably want full sized seasons for some reason the BBC doesn't seem able to do a 22/24 episode season - ok you would need a larger writing staff but that woudl be no bad thing and some on to reign in the show runner when he gets a bit OTT - as Peter Deloise says send him to the "how come room"

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

(Same AC here)

I agree on that it would be nice with more philosophical dilemmas. However, do give the Hartnell years a go, he was wonderful; just imagine a grumpy, absentminded, xenophobic doctor that mainly wants to show his granddaughter the universe at all points in time :)

And yes, I agree on Star Trek, it has gone too much mission-of-the-week rather than mystery-of-the-week, and all of the missions are with cameras that are handled like they would explode if they were stationary for more than five seconds...
Sad that one basically had to get rid of what made SciFi good in order to make it popular

Re:What I would like from the next series

[quantaman]

(Same AC here)

I agree on that it would be nice with more philosophical dilemmas. However, do give the Hartnell years a go, he was wonderful; just imagine a grumpy, absentminded, xenophobic doctor that mainly wants to show his granddaughter the universe at all points in time :)

And yes, I agree on Star Trek, it has gone too much mission-of-the-week rather than mystery-of-the-week, and all of the missions are with cameras that are handled like they would explode if they were stationary for more than five seconds...
Sad that one basically had to get rid of what made SciFi good in order to make it popular

I think the mistake with Star Trek was going to movies. In a series you can go philosophical but it's going to be a bit hit and miss (one of the reasons the old Star Trek movies had such a reputation for inconsistency) but you can lock into a core audience. With a movie you only get one shot so if you have the money and a built in audience it's a safer bet to just make an action flick.

For Doctor Who I do really like the idea of an old doctor. It seems all the current versions of brilliant eccentrics have some form of ADD, all the Sherlock Holmes versions (incl. House), and all the doctors getting more energetic as the age decreases. I'd love to see John Hurt as an older more ponderous doctor forced to deal with some philosophical dilemmas.

Re:What I would like from the next series

[Anonymous Coward]

You're making an assumption that more red mater = bigger boom.

That's quite a big assumption for something that pretty much thumbs it's nose at conventional physics. Maybe a singularity is formed, then the rest of the red matter is annihilated or nullified or removed from normal space before it can react with normal mater?

A couple of corrections...

[Sam Andreas]

"after spending the last four seasons in the titular role of The Doctor" - no, it was only three. The British do TV different than the Americans but there were only three "seasons" (including the current one) with Smith.

"where he will star alongside a majority of the other actors who have taken on the character" - That was the fan theory ages ago, but the casting has long since been confirmed by the BBC and David Tennant is the only other former doctor to appear in the special.

Regardless, Smith had a great run. I was skeptical at first at the "youngest ever doctor" but I was thrilled with the result.

Re:A couple of corrections...

[davidknott]

Submitter here...
I immediately corrected the submission to indicate three seasons, but the Slashdot editors either didn't see it or ignored it.
The "majority of the other actors" error is on me, as I hadn't heard that the BBC had officially denied the participation of the pre-Eccleston Doctors.
By the way, despite what the summary says, I am far from a "first time submitter", and in fact also reported David Tennant's retirement from the series .

About time

[CanadianMacFan]

Was never a fan of Matt Smith. Though not completely his fault. He hasn't had the best of scripts. I also haven't liked how they portrayed this version of the Doctor. I found him to be too willing to kill off an adversary. Previous Doctors would only do that as a last resort. I know that the Doctor was supposed to be going through his darkest period but even so I think that one of his core morals should have been kept.

Re:About time

[sconeu]

Yeah. "Dinosaurs on a spaceship" is a classic example.

I hope it's John Hurt

[devent]

For some reasons Dr. Who gets younger and younger, culminating in the 30 year old boy-ish Matt Smith.
I was already thinking the next Dr. Who will be a 26 year old in love with some 20 years old girl. Personally I liked the previous Who character much better for the simple fact that Matt Smith looks like a boy.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[archshade]

I agree with this - I don't really like Matt Smith (he is OK but the worst of the modern Whos). I don't think it's just the age thing either, the Dr. has always been eccentric but Matt Smith comes off more as "quirky". He comes off as someone trying to eccentric for the sake of the image and not because that is how his mind works.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

What's with you people? This doctor is the most fun of any since Tom Baker, and maybe even moreso.

I also like the general attitude (both his character and the show) that the Doctors is someone all the foes have learned to fear since he always beats their ass.

It has, logically, indeed come down to this:

Come onnnnnnnnn, then!

I'm fine with that -- playful. I had never taken to a doctor that quickly before.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[Anonymous Coward]

John Hurt is the Doctor before he took on the persona of 'The Doctor' and left his original name behind as a secret because of what act it is he had to commit. 10 and 11 will be teaming up to fight him in the 50th I reckon.

As far as regenerations go, The Master was offered an extra cycle of regenerations by the council of time lords in The Deadly Assassin when he his body had gone to pot and he had to possess that thingie and look like Klytus from Flash Gordon, so there's nothing limiting the number of regenerations except a decent story setting it up.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[archshade]

What's with you people? This doctor is the most fun of any since Tom Baker, and maybe even moreso.

I also like the general attitude (both his character and the show) that the Doctors is someone all the foes have learned to fear since he always beats their ass.

It has, logically, indeed come down to this:

This may be case, but this may be my [reletive] dislike of him, the doctor should be fun at times but Matt Smiths episodes come off as having to much fun, it often ends up being silly (I suppose a lot of this comes from the first Matt Smith episode). For me Matt Smith never pulls off the serious aspect well, he never truly comes off as a tortured soul. For me this is one of the big charater trait that the Matt Smith incarnation fails to portray.

Most of the previous doctors would have been angry, or remourceful, but Smith comes off as conceited. I understand why he did what he did, but he seems to lack some depth that the doctor should have.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[Anonymous Coward]

It's like one dude I know who has a gold-studded handbag, he doesn't make a production about it, it's just his blinged-out man-purse. And that's largely because he's an older guy and doesn't give a fuck what people think.

Smith has to go around insisting that fezzes and bowties are cool, which eccentric people don't do, and that's because it doesn't make sense for a good-looking 30 year old to be wearing a fezz.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[wonkey_monkey]

John Hurt is the Doctor before he took on the persona of 'The Doctor'

No, he "broke the promise" that comes with being the Doctor. My money is on him being the actual 9th incarnation of the Doctor, after which the (gestalt) Doctor chose not to count him.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[Anonymous Coward]

Really? He gets younger and younger?

Colin Baker, Sylvestor McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Ecclestone and David Tennant were all older than Peter Davison when they started their time as the Doctor.

In fact, Ecclestone was older than McGann was.

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[rufty_tufty]

So the theory is that Paul McGann ages and becomes John Hurt?
Either way I'd buy it as long as he doesn't start going on about being Half human again...

Re:I hope it's John Hurt

[wonkey_monkey]

So the theory is that Paul McGann ages and becomes John Hurt?

Also unlikely, as Clara claimed she'd seen all of the Doctor's other incarnations, and the McGann Doctor has already been acknowledged post Time War with sketches, audio clips and one or two brief visual flashbacks (although the Eighth Doctor was only very very tenuously glimpsed during The Name of the Doctor). Also Hurt's costume (if you've seen the spoilerific photos) does have a passing resemblance to a battered version of McGann's new costume as worn by him for promoting the Big Finish audios.

My theory is that McGann was forced to regenerate during the Time War - perhaps by choice, since he knew he couldn't do what was required with his current personality - into Hurt, who then did the Bad Thing.

Re:Not News

[Anonymous Coward]

why is this crap on Slashdot ?

Dr Who is stuff that matters.

Who's next?

[CanadianMacFan]

So ideally who would like to see as the next Doctor?

For me it would be Stephen Fry.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bring David Tennant back.

Re:Who's next?

[SuricouRaven]

Alan Davies.

Re:Who's next?

[ChunderDownunder]

Nick Frost.

Re:Who's next?

[Nyder]

So ideally who would like to see as the next Doctor?

For me it would be Stephen Fry.

They been either joking or hinting that it could be female.

http://www.hollywood.com/news/tv/38162977/the-next-doctor-who-star-could-be-a-woman-and-it-should-be?page=all

One of the writers, Steven Moffat, let out a teaser that it could be a female.

Re: Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Vinnie Jones. Yea yea. Just think about it for a few minutes.

Re:Who's next?

[JustOK]

Wil Wheaton

Re:Who's next?

[M. Baranczak]

Jason Statham.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Stephen Fry or David Mitchell... I want the doctor to have a cruel wit to them..

Or - and give this a thought - Guy Siner

Re:Who's next?

[ifiwereasculptor]

In the same vein, I'd go with Stewart Lee.

Though I actually liked their performances, those last doctors have been too manic in their enthusiasm, too emotional over minor things, considering their enormous life span and the breathtaking breadth of their previous experiences. I seriously think the show would benefit tremendously from having a more brainy lead. Stewart could make a fantastic doctor, annoyed by mostly everyone and bored almost all the time.

Re:Who's next?

[ChunderDownunder]

he's not British.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Tim Minchin

Re:Who's next?

[JustOK]

Not yet. He'd just have to have a silent H

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who cares... I'd be more annoyed if the next Doctor is female. It would just reek of PC.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Patrick Stewart. We need a better accent and the older doctors were better.

Re:Who's next?

[gijoel]

Fuck no. The Doctor is the triumph of intellect and romance, over violence, and cynicism. Something Statham just isn't capable of portraying.

Re:Who's next?

[M. Baranczak]

Ever seen a Dalek get headbutted? Well, you're about to, mate.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe,
But I would have to see him in a role where he speaks more than 1 intelligent sentance consecutively beforehand.. Hugh Laurie, OTOH would be awesome.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bill Bailey

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

TILDA SWINTON

Re:Who's next?

[wonkey_monkey]

In the same vein, I'd go with Stewart Lee.

It's become something of a tradition to employ actors in the role.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

^ This.! This..! This...! PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE!

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Stephen Fry is over-exposed, not quite as talented as some people think, and has a dreadful legion of sycophantic fan boys(not his fault). No, thanks.

Re:Who's next?

[Pecisk]

Maybe. But he would be good side kick for half a season for sure. Also Statham characters are anything but no cynical.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maggie Smith

Re:Who's next?

[AdamStarks]

Ricky Gervais?

Re:Who's next?

[x24]

Rowan Atkinson. Make the Curse of the Fatal Death canon.

Re:Who's next?

[Jason Levine]

Geeky crossover. Cast Danielle Radcliffe as the next Doctor.

*ducks*

Ok, just kidding. Cast Rupert Grint (played Ron Weasley). He's ginger. The Doctor always wanted to be ginger.

*ducks again*

Re:Who's next?

[BasilBrush]

Cast Danielle Radcliffe as the next Doctor.

I've heard suggestions that next The Doctor could be female, but never one that Harry Potter might be.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nathan Fillion... he's already working on the british accent

Re:Who's next?

[tyrione]

Maybe, But I would have to see him in a role where he speaks more than 1 intelligent sentance consecutively beforehand.. Hugh Laurie, OTOH would be awesome.

We could have Statham with Seth Green impersonating him ala Italian Job.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Coogan

Re:Who's next?

[Macgrrl]

Sean Bean, plus we know that ultimately we would get to see him die again - and he's had so much practice.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

David Bowie.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Before ze Daleks get here...

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

this is AWESOME!

Doctor VIOLENT!

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Jason Statham.

Source of the Jason-Statham-as-Doctor joke: http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20100702

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

David Bowie.

Woa! How on earth could I miss this, that would be the most awesome doctor ever... *keeps imagining an elderly Goblin King as the Doctor*

Re:Who's next?

[rufty_tufty]

Well it would explain the capabilities of the sonic screwdriver. they could just call it a wand and be done with it

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah he will always be my favorite, human enough but with that twinkle in his eyes that makes him seem like so much more

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

David Hasselhoff.

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Robert Sheehan

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Daniel Radcliffe

Re:Who's next?

[WillgasM]

Richard Ayoade

Re:Who's next?

[Jason Levine]

Curse those typos. Then again if we're going for a female Doctor/Harry Potter crossover, how about Emma Watson (Hermione)? A female, ginger Doctor. We could have a semi-repeat of Matt Smith's first moments as the Doctor. "I'm a girl. Really, this time. And I'm ginger!"

Re:Who's next?

[Anonymous Coward]

Conan O'Brien

YES! To a female Doctor!

[Anonymous Coward]

Especially when you think of all that running they do!

a majority of actors?

[Anonymous Coward]

Get your facts right please! It's only going to have David Tennant and this mysterious John Hurt character in it, alongside Smith.
The first three actors are dead anyway and Ecclestone was so pissed off during his time he will never return
to it.

Re:a majority of actors?

[ChunderDownunder]

Tom Baker at age 79 could still bedazzle audiences if his Little Britain narration is anything to go by!

Re:a majority of actors?

[Nyder]

Get your facts right please! It's only going to have David Tennant and this mysterious John Hurt character in it, alongside Smith.
The first three actors are dead anyway and Ecclestone was so pissed off during his time he will never return
to it.

John Pertwee has a son, Sean Pertwee http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0675730/

With some makeup, I bet they could make him look the same. Though I'd be down for a Sean Pertwee as The Doctor.

Re:a majority of actors?

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

> With some makeup,

and some cheeseburgers,

> I bet they could make him look the same.

Spoilers!

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for the spoiler warning.

Re:Spoilers!

[crow]

Yeah, I feel the same way. Unfortunately, this sort of news is trumpeted so widely that it's almost impossible to miss. I blame the BBC here.

Re:Spoilers!

[Nyder]

Thanks for the spoiler warning.

Serious fans would of seen the show already.

Re:Spoilers!

[Anonymous Coward]

The BBC had to reveal it because someone leaked it, they were trying to keep it quiet which is why Matt had originally said he was doing series 8, something that is obviously not going to happen now alas.

Re:Spoilers!

[Anonymous Coward]

I record Doctor Who. I then wait a few days until I have my kid. We watch it together. I guess we aren't "serious fans" because we care enough about the show and each other to wait and watch it together.

And for everyone who isn't a "serious fan", fuck them, right?

Why on earth...

[AliasMrAlias]

... is Doctor Who in inverted commas in the title? Its annoying me!

Re:Why on earth...

[Megane]

It's because of timey-wimey stuff. I'll explain later.

Re:Why on earth...

[Anonymous Coward]

If it's a long work, italicize/underline the title. If it's a short work or a section of a longer work, put the title in quotation marks.

Re:Not News

[Killjoy_NL]

If anything was News for Nerds, this is it.

David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't care that much, David Tennant was my favourite anyway...
I wish he didn't have to leave.

Re:David Tennant

[JockTroll]

I wish he didn't have to leave.

Neither did he. He didn't want to go... Legs, he still got legs, good. Arms, hands, ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes, eyes too. Nose, he had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair... He's a girl! No, no! he's not a girl. he's still not ginger. There's something else, there's something important. he's, he's, he's... Ha! Crashing! Haha! woohoohoo! Ah! Geronimo!

Re:Not News

[Anonymous Coward]

To you maybe. Not to 99% of anyone else. Dr Who ran out of good ideas when Tom Baker was The Doctor.

Re:Not News

[P1]

Baker is still my favorite Doctor.

Re:Not News

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm proud to be in the 1% fans of modern Dr Who and fuck everybody else.
Good thing though the BBC caters to the whims of the 1%. :)

Re:Not News

[Nyder]

Baker is still my favorite Doctor.

Word.

Re:Yes you did

[andrew7027]

“dirt bag”, “stupid bitch” There’s no need to be so vile. It doesn’t help your argument. “This is how i treat all anonymous cowards.” I wish you wouldn’t.

How many lives the Doctor has

[muphin]

for all you reading too much into how many lives the doctor has....
remember this.
"The Doctor Lies" - River Song

Re:How many lives the Doctor has

[stephenmac7]

True, but the important question one must ask is: was the doctor the only one who said it?

Re:How many lives the Doctor has

[Anonymous Coward]

True, but the important question one must ask is: was the doctor the only one who said it?

An even better question: Is the Doctor the only one that lies? Note that the Master has died more than thirteen times. If he can do it, why can't the Doctor?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_(Doctor_Who)#Quest_for_new_life

Re:How many lives the Doctor has

[itsdapead]

Note that the Master has died more than thirteen times. If he can do it, why can't the Doctor?

The Master used up his regenerations and started to go all gross and zombified - I think that was where the 12 regenerations stuff actually came from. He got out of it by stealing someone else's body. The Doctor is the Good Guy and can't do that sort of thing.

Re:How many lives the Doctor has

[Sockatume]

Yeah, but it's not just The Doctor who laid that rule down, is it? The Gallifreyans were quite clear about it being true. There was an entire plot arc about The Master being obsessed with finding more lives in the classic series.

Re:How many lives the Doctor has

[rufty_tufty]

Unless that is what makes the John Hurt doctor not a doctor, because he hurt someone else to save himself.
It would explain all the comments made by the doctor in the last episode!

NEVER SEEN !!

[Anonymous Coward]

But I have read all the books !!

Hugh Laurie

[scorp1us]

Admit it, he would make the perfect doctor...

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Anonymous Coward]

Perfect!!!!

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Pecisk]

He would, maybe even too much. But BBC can't afford his tab :( Also he lives in US now.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[NormAtHome]

I didn't think of that but I agree, if you could get him to do it he would be perfect.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[readingaccount]

Also he lives in US now.

Hugh has stated in several interviews that he (and/or his family) didn't really like living in the US, not necessarily because of it being a bad places, but just that the UK is their home. The only reason he was in the US really was due to House. That show is over. I'd think being the Doctor would be enough incentive to move back. :)

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Maximum Prophet]

Doctor Who, Gregory House, and Sherlock Holmes are all the same character, with different occupations.

A difficult to work with genius, almost always with a companion. (On "House" they made the companion a team.)

Ooo!

[Anonymous Coward]

Fry AND Laurie! Again!

OK, when the Doctor regenerates, there's something or another that makes him regenerate as TWO people - pleyed by Fry and Laurie!

It would be AWESOME

Re:Ooo!

[porges]

One heart each.

Re:Not News

[itsdapead]

If anything was News for Nerds, this is it.

Not just Nerds. The installation of a new Doctor may not be up there with a new Prime Minister or Pope, but it still gets mainstream coverage in the UK.

I think.

[houbou]

They are setting themselves for a final on Doctor Who maybe in 2 or 3 yrs from now and then will be rebooting the entire franchise from scratch. If only because there is way too much weirdly entangled history on that show. Hurt isn't going to be the last Doctor, this much I'm sure. I wonder how Tennant's Doctor will be made available.. Will it the "human" Doctor who is trapped with Rose, or is this going to be one of those convergences of Doctors as they meet across time and space.

Re:I think.

[AmiMoJo]

Inconsistency is pretty much the hallmark of Doctor Who and no reason to reboot it. It invariably gets explained away as being due to time travel changing things, be it via the Time War or just the Doctor losing track of things.

Re:I think.

[Anonymous Coward]

and then will be rebooting the entire franchise from scratch

Nah, they'll just reboot the entire universe again, as they did in The Pandorica Opens. Or some parallel universe plot...

Re:I think.

[Anonymous Coward]

The adventures of the Doctor's daughter.

Re:I think.

[Anonymous Coward]

Normally I'd agree but weirdly entangled history is mostly the point of dr who.

Re:Not News

[JustOK]

stupid MS fan. Vi or Emacs or Writer are better.

Apology accepted

[Anonymous Coward]

"is poor anonymous coward not happy? Post under your name stupid bitch. This is how i treat all anonymous cowards. You want to be a coward? Then I call you bitch."

Apology accepted.

No more Oswin deaths.

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Well, I will miss him. I was pissed Amy left, but quite frankly Oswin was so spectacular she wasn't missed as much as I thought. In the best of cases, though, ripping apart these dynamics every few years is always rough on fans, but we keep plugging through.

The resolution to the "Impossible Girl" thread was underwhelming, but I've come to expect that from Who universe. The last two Torchwood series started with spectacular mysteries that ended up being not just mundane, but silly. But the ride up until that point was great.

Speaking of which, were they trying to suggest Oswin was really some of the other companions?

Re:No more Oswin deaths.

[wonkey_monkey]

Speaking of which, were they trying to suggest Oswin was really some of the other companions?

I did wonder about that, but I think they were just dressing her contemporaneously. Ace, certainly, wasn't witness to that bloody awful (and literal) cliffhanger in Dragonfire, as "Clara" was. Why they chose that bit to signify McCoy's era is beyond me, but perhaps nothing else was suitable.

spoilers...

[sunami]

Thanks for the spoiler, slashdot.

Re:spoilers...

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously if you managed to avoid knowing this until it actually happened, I'd be impressed, it's been all over the news in the UK

Re:spoilers...

[sunami]

I'm a few thousand miles west of the UK. I've already learned that I have to avoid any forum where people talk about Doctor Who because they do things like this all the time.

Re:spoilers...

[x24]

They've done worse.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/02/04/22/0222221/the-lone-gunmen-are-dead

Re:Yes you did

[Anonymous Coward]

This is how i treat all anonymous cowards.

Why? Did an Anonymous Coward once kick a puppy in front of you, and now you take out that anger on all Anonymous Cowards? You realize that is the equivalent of hating on someone from, for example, Texas, for no other reason than they live in Texas.

Which you are certainly free to do. But it only makes you look silly and foolish.

Doctor Who is Dead.

[Anonymous Coward]

They canned Smith and not Moffat?

What a joke.

Smith and Coleman have amazing chemistry, but they're tossing that before it even gets a chance to develop into a proper dynamic duo.

I'm so fed up with just how far they've dragged Doctor Who down since its glory days under Davies.

For Fsk's sake, the last episode showed the "Grave of the Doctor" WTF? Now we know he CAN'T DIE in any episode, ever. What kind of brain cancer does that?

Moffat is a tool, and he's steadily killing off everything I liked about DW.

And I HATE that frizzy haired, "Spoooooilers" woman. She makes my teeth grind down from cringing.

Re:Doctor Who is Dead.

[ChunderDownunder]

That 'frizzy haired' woman is Alex Kingston.

She also played Moll Flanders, who was married to Daniel Craig. James Bond - a fellow that goes around saving the world and regenerates every few years through a different actor.

Q.E.D. James Bond is a timelord!

Re:Doctor Who is Dead.

[Bambi Dee]

Given the borderline nonsensical (albeit often delightful) plots I don't see how being shown the Doctor's tomb means anything...

Re:Doctor Who is Dead.

[Anonymous Coward]

Played by Timothy Dalton.

Re:Doctor Who is Dead.

[Macgrrl]

Therefore, James Bond is the Master.

Re:Doctor Who is Dead.

[Anonymous Coward]

Timothy Dalton was Rassilion not The Master.

In fact, the Master was partially responsible for stopping Timothy Dalton's plans in David Tennant's finale.

Suggestion

[PopeRatzo]

Time for a female Doctor.

Last four seasons?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

after spending the last four seasons in the titular role of The Doctor. Smith will remain for the upcoming 50th anniversary special, where he will star alongside a majority of the other actors who have taken on the character, and will exit following the the yearly Christmas episode.

Matt Smith's four chief seasons were season five, six and seven...no, wait, his three chief seasons were seasons five, six, seven, and eight... Help,. I'm stuck in a comfy logic chair!

Re:Not News

[K. S. Kyosuke]

The installation of a new Doctor may not be up there with a new Prime Minister or Pope

Pope? Pope Who? (Well, that was an obvious reaction on my part...)

No No No, its not john hurt

[Anonymous Coward]

He is just for the 50th as a 'far future' doctor. *I* got the part to be the 12th doctor.

Re:No No No, its not john hurt

[wonkey_monkey]

Nope. Past Doctor, more likely.

Re:Not News

[BonThomme]

what, jonesing for a Bitcoin submission?

Fans already know

[Anonymous Coward]

All fans of the show probably already know this. They made it obvious in the last episode of the season. Not sure why one might think it's "news".

Re:Fans already know

[nabsltd]

All fans of the show probably already know this. They made it obvious in the last episode of the season.

Just like they made it "obvious" with promos for The Next Doctor , right?

John Hurt may actually be a regeneration of the being known on the show as "The Doctor", or he may not. There is also no proof that he will be the "next" incarnation, nor does it prove he will be playing the part for very long.

Re:Fans already know

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, I swear I read something about this *months* ago, but now I can't find anything dated that far back.

Re:Not News

[nitehawk214]

Wait, Vi and Emacs cannot be on the same side of a debate...

yay!

[Anonymous Coward]

Long time stalker, first time poster. I just had to say I have been waiting for this day for a while now. Four seasons I guess... I might actually go back to watching the show again. At least current episodes. I still watch Tom Baker and the earlier seasons of the reboot. Even Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton are more enjoyable than this one. And Peter Davidson was fun, too. I'd have to go with Tom, David, Christopher, Peter, in that order. And then it sorta devolves. Probably Pertwee next. Sylvester had a few really nice eps, though. Anyway, here's hoping they get someone that'll be in my top 5!

To bring you up to speed

[wonkey_monkey]

Here's a quick recap of the last 8 years.

David Hewlett as the Doctor!

[wolverine1999]

I think David hewlett should become the next Doctor! He's awesome and he was born in the uk anyway...

Re:David Hewlett as the Doctor!

[wonkey_monkey]

A self-confessed science fiction fan, Hewlett has been quoted saying that Doctor Who is what first sparked his love for the genre.

I just don't get it!

[slashmydots]

So just about every doctor before him has decided that they're just making too much money, the fans like them too much, they're too well respected, and they need to do worse in their acting career so they quit. Maybe the next person they cast should sign a 10 year contract or something. Nobody on Stargate SG-1 gave a damn about getting a "better" gig until like season 9 or 10.

Re:I just don't get it!

[wonkey_monkey]

So just about every doctor before him has decided that they're just making too much money

They'd be lucky. It's not like they can hold the producers to ransom like the cast of Friends did.

Maybe the next person they cast should sign a 10 year contract or something.

The show has managed to last 50 years in large part because no-one outstays their welcome.

Re:I just don't get it!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not up to them man - they make sound like they choose to step down, but they get written out.

That's how this show works - it changes.

Re:I just don't get it!

[mjwalshe]

I believe in the USA main cast sign for 5 years when a pilot is put into production which i probably what the BBC should do

Re:I just don't get it!

[Swampash]

I get the feeling Ecclestone left because he had some sort of falling out with the producers; Tennant seemed to quit because he loved the role and the show so much he thought he'd ruin it if he didn't quit while it was awesome with Davies at the helm; and who knows with Smith?

Re:I just don't get it!

[mog007]

Tennant quit because he was offered to do Shakespeare with Patrick Stewart.

It would have caused a massive scheduling conflict to remain on Doctor Who, so Tennant left.

Re:I just don't get it!

[Swampash]

Tennant played Hamlet with Stewart from Aug 2008 to Jan 2009; Tennant's last shows as the Doctor hadn't even begun filming when Hamlet ended.

Tennant actually announced his 2010 retirement from the show to the world during intermission in one of the Hamlet performances in 2008. "I have to go back on stage now, I have to kill Patrick Stewart!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ86n6ziHFA

Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

never heard of this TV show probably because it airs in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, right? BBC = British broadcasting company. guess it is like General Hospital or Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

I'm Surprised It Took This Long

[NormAtHome]

I'm sorry, but from day one I never liked Matt Smith. He is just wrong for the part, he looks like Herman Munster without makeup i.e. a neanderthal you can barely see his eye's underneath that jutting brow.

I took a lot of heat for saying this in a previous Doctor Who thread but the writing has been dreadful since Smith became the Doctor (or worse than it was), more silly comedy than sci-fi drama. Yes, every Doctor had some ridiculous episodes and Tom Baker was always my favorite Doctor. Episodes that always stood out to me: The Ark In Space, Planet Of Evil, Pyramids Of Mars, The Brain of Morbius, The Hand Of Fear, The Deadly Assassin, The Face Of Evil, The Robots of Death, Horror Of Fang Rock, The Stones Of Blood. These were outstanding episodes and that's not to say that others I didn't mention weren't good and I will admit that I didn't like the last two seasons as well, it seemed to me that the writing was not as good or original as if the show runner was getting bored and really didn't want to be doing it anymore.

Re:I'm Surprised It Took This Long

[wonkey_monkey]

I'm sorry,

I'm so, so sorry.

Re:I'm Surprised It Took This Long

[wonkey_monkey]

Might've just mixed up David Tennant and Nick Clegg memes there. Sorry. So sorry.

Re:Not News

[Anonymous Coward]

Vi was on the last season of BtVS. Felicia is great.

The next doctor is

[Cito]

Karl Pilkington...

I just want to see him regenerate then look into the mirror and say "Oh my god, I'm hideous, I have a head like a fucking Orange"

Then Ricky Gervais appears as The Master.

Re:The next doctor is

[Anonymous Coward]

I think they'll tap Graham Norton to be the next Doctor.

I want Georgia ...

[wylderide]

... For the next Doctor: http://t.co/Yo42g5iaGb

He blinked.

[anarcat]

That's why.

Shush

[mjwalshe]

Your upsetting Mr Murdoch - whose papers continually lobby to cut down things that the beeb does well as does the Guardian who own some crappy local radio stations and always stick the boot into BBC radio when they can.

Re:Shush

[BenJury]

Indeed, and the politicians (Conservative ones especially) who appear to be bankrolled by Murdoch and want to take it apart. Fortunately the News International phone hacking 'scandal' temporarily broke up this alliance, although the watered down version of the Leveson that we seem to have ended up with means we need to fear for the Beeb once again...

Re:Not News

[Anonymous Coward]

You are a piece of shit and should leave this site permanently.

Clara

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't care as long as clara stays in the show.

Hehe, captcha is "reviver"

Too bad about the 50th

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad that the 50th anniversary special will suck as it contains NONE of the original actors and it
is written and directed by Moffat, a proven failure who can only write about his homosexual fantasies.

The number of regenerations

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay so, I had this idea that since River used all of her regeneration energy to save the Doctor, he no longer is limited to 12 regenerations. Added to his first 12, he now has the 9 regenerations that were unused by River. Anyone else think about this?

Re:The number of regenerations

[cshark]

RIght, but River was born on the Tardis, no telling how many regenerations she had to start with.

Re:Not News

[Anonymous Coward]

Your show is shit and you should feel bad for liking it

Excelent

[Anonymous Coward]

I could not find myself entertained by the episodes with Matt Smith, and stopped watching the show after being a faithful viewer since 2005. He was not a good followup to Christopher Eccleston or David Tennant. Hopefully they bring on someone alot better.

Re:Excelent

[neminem]

I don't really think it's his fault, mostly, though. I do agree that he isn't quite as good a Doctor as Eccleston or Tennant was, but I find most of the fault in why I stopped caring about the show was the shoddy, "people will watch it anyway so we don't have to care about our jobs" quality of the scriptwriting the past few seasons.

Re:Yes you did

[Anonymous Coward]

You could greatly help with implementing your wish by logging off and never connecting again.

NT

[Anonymous Coward]

Commenting to undo bad mod.

I'm hoping it will be Clara Oswald

[Anonymous Coward]

There is an undercurrent of having a female doctor. I've heard on the UK fan boards that Clara Oswald "might" be the next doctor. A female doctor would be interesting. I wouldn't choose River Song, though. Clara would make a great doctor.

Next Doctor Looks Wrapped Up (Maybe)

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a486495/doctor-who-ben-daniels-emerges-as-favorite-to-replace-matt-smith.html

Don't forget ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctor Donna and River Song.

Re:Don't forget ...

[Anonymous Coward]

And/or Rose.

I wonder if

[DiEx-15]

...the new doctor will be ginger this time?

Dr Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

WTF is this?

You "gringos" are a strange bunch...

Yes, i think so. Just for Membership Pirate Specia

[Peter Nguyen]

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23 regenerations???

[Macchendra]

River Song decided the Doctor was "worth it" and saved his life, giving up all her regenerations to do so. Did any of these transfer?

maybe, if you are a memberin...

[Peter Nguyen]

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New Doctor

[evilgeniusjamie]

Doctor: Simon Pegg
Companion: Nick Frost

I'd watch it!

John Hurt won't be the next Doctor

[Anonymous Coward]

2 reasons

1) He's not funny.Great actor--and maybe PERSONALLY funny in Private...But he can't do SHTICK--which is often required to do decent Dr. Who.

2) The Beeb can't afford him for an entire season. That's probably the most important reason.