The Future of Who

As I'm sure you are aware by now, Steven Moffat is leaving Doctor Who to be replaced by Chris Chibnall. I thought I would discuss what this means for the next few years of the show.

First off, there will be no series of Doctor Who in 2016. The only episode will be a Christmas special. This is of course sad news and means 2016 will see the least Doctor Who since before the show's revival in 2005. There are some good things about this though. For a start it's hard to deny that Series 9 did see a dip in the viewing figures, even if scheduling had large part to play in that. It will certainly do no harm to rest the show for a year on that side of things.

Steven Moffat

It will also mean that Doctor Who will go back to airing in the spring. This is where the show has worked best in the modern era but fell apart when Series 7 didn't start to air until the autumn. It should also be good for scheduling. Part of the problem of Autumn scheduling is that the show has to fit in alongside another BBC Saturday night show, Strictly Come Dancing. With the BBC losing the rights to The Voice, Doctor Who will likely be the main feature of Saturday nights on BBC1, which means the scheduling is likely to be more favourable.

The next thing for Doctor Who to do is introduce a new companion. It's still unclear at this point whether that will happen in the 2016 Christmas Special or the start of Series 10. If it isn't the 2016 Christmas special then we would have an episode of a solo Doctor or a one-time companion. Might I suggest it would be the perfect time for Moffat to bring back Captain Jack Harkness for an episode? There will still be some new Doctor Who content in 2016 in the form of new spin-off Class of course.

In the news of his resignation Steven Moffat suggests that the third series of Broadchurch, written by the incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall, will be the last. The crime drama starts filming in May so might just make it onto ITV by the end of 2016.

Broadchurch

In Spring 2017 a 12-episode series 10 will air, Moffat's last as showrunner. There's been no mention of a 2017 Christmas special as yet which is interesting. Chibnall is clearly stated as taking over from the start of series 11 in 2018 so it looks like Moffat will still be in charge for Christmas 2017. I suspect this is when we will see Peter Capaldi regenerate. He's likely to leave the show at the same time as Moffat, a la David Tennant, and would certainly have done the traditional three series tenure by then. It's plausible that we may even get more than one episode of Doctor Who over Christmas 2017, like we did with the The End of Time.

The Twelfth Doctor regenerates (from The Witches Familiar)

This would mean that when Chris Chibnall takes over in 2018, Series 11 will begin with a new Doctor. It's all speculation really but given the timings and what happened at the last handover this makes the most sense.

I'm intrigued by the sort of Doctor Who Chibnall will bring us. He's not written for the show since 2012's The Power of Three. It seems clear he is more character-driven that Steven Moffat so I would guess the next era will be closer to the RTD era than the Moffat one. So far I would say five of his six Doctor Who episodes are underwhelming (the other, The Power of Three, being certainly his best). It is a little worry that he hasn't yet written anything stunning for the show like Moffat had before his time as showrunner.

Chris Chibnall

It is worth remembering though that Chibnall was effectively the showrunner at Torchwood during it's first two series. I would say of his eight Torchwood episodes only one of them wasn't great and he wrote the excellent closing episodes of both the first two series and the opener to series two. Then there's Broadchurch which is fantastic, especially the first series. There's is certainly potential in Chibnall and I am cautiously optimistic about the show's future under him.

My Top 10 New Who Episodes

This week sees the 10th anniversary of Doctor Who returning to our screens. A lot of people seem to have done a list like this and I thought it would be fun to do one too. So, here are my top 10 favourite new series Doctor Who episodes.

10: Blink (2007- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring David Tennant and Freema Agyeman)

Many people regard this as the best Doctor Who episode ever. I wouldn’t quite go that far but I have to agree that it is excellent. I think the big reason this idea is so good is the villains, the Weeping Angels. Statues that move but only when you are not looking. It’s a terrifying idea. It’s also notable for the fact that the Doctor barely appears so it’s a case of him solving things from afar. Guest star Carey Mulligan, now quite the famous actress, is superb as Sally Sparrow here too. A real joy.

9: Turn Left (2009- Written by Russell T. Davies, Starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate)

Another Doctor-lite episode, this one is a sort of celebration of New Who up to this point. Thanks to Donna not saving the Doctor’s life in a parallel timeline, this sees what happens to Earth when the Doctor is not around to save it. Basically, things don’t go well. It’s a great idea and there are some really deep emotional moments, like when Wilf realises history is repeating itself.

8: The Parting of the Ways (2005-Written by Russell T. Davies, Starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper)

This was the Ninth Doctor’s last stand. I adore the Ninth Doctor and this is his greatest moment. The companion/Doctor relationship is shown to be perhaps the strongest it has ever been- the Doctor saves Rose by sending her home but then Rose stubbornly returns and saves the Doctor by looking into the time vortex. The Ninth Doctor’s recorded message is incredible, there are loads of daleks and there’s the wonderful first appearance of David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor.

7: Father’s Day (2005- Written by Paul Cornell, Starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper)

An episode all about a companion, this one. Rose asks the Doctor to take her back to the day her Dad died and proceeds to save his life, thus changing history. Monsters happen. It displays the daughter/father relationship beautifully and in a way conventional drama can’t do. The monsters are pretty good, in my opinion anyway, the Doctor sacrifices himself and the resolution is heart-breaking.

6: The Doctor’s Wife (2011- Written by Neil Gaiman, Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill)

Neil Gaiman gave the TARDIS a voice in this wonderful episode. That’s a great idea in itself but the whole idea of a sentient asteroid is brilliant and there’s some terrifying scenes in the TARDIS corridors featuring Amy and Rory. For me, those are perhaps the scariest scenes Doctor Who has ever had. Suranne Jones is brilliant as the TARDIS and there’s also an Ood there too to make things more fun.

5: The Girl in the Fireplace (2006- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring David Tennant, Billie Piper and Noel Clarke)

I would adore this episode simply for the scene where the Tenth Doctor stumbles into a spaceship, apparently drunk, and tells the monsters they are thick. That is my favourite scene in all of New Who. The whole premise of this episode is wonderful, Sophia Myles makes a wonderful Madame de Pompadour and the pay-off at the end of the episode revealing the connection between the spaceship and 18th century France is a staggering silent reveal.

4: Asylum of the Daleks (2012- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill)

I’m not quite sure why I like this episode so much. In terms of a dalek story, it’s not great but it is a brilliant story in terms of the show’s main characters. The Doctor having to solve a typical Doctor-ish problem whilst trying to save Amy and Rory’s marriage is a wonderful idea. It leads to Rory being at his sarcastic best and some really touching relationship drama. Not to mention the whole Oswin being a dalek thing and a gorgeous soundtrack!

3: School Reunion (2006- Written by Toby Whithouse, Starring David Tennant, Billie Piper and Elisabeth Sladen)

I’ve never liked this episode because it saw the return of Sarah-Jane and K9. That’s like an additional bonus. Sarah-Jane’s return shows us the best of Rose Tyler and her relationship with the Doctor. I love the scene where Rose and Sarah-Jane try and compete with each other and the Doctor having to defend the way he treated Sarah-Jane. I also think the Krillitane are the best aliens created for New Who and would really, really like to see them return.

2: The Day of the Doctor (2013- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt)

How could I not include this celebration of fifty years of Doctor Who? For a start there’s two brilliant Doctors, Smith and Tennant, together. Plus a whole new one, John Hurt, who turned out to make a truly wonderful Doctor. A heart-breaking decision for the Doctor and the pure triumph of him being able to fix his greatest regret. It’s a great celebration, topped by the presence of Tom Baker as the Curator.

1: The Eleventh Hour (2010- Written by Steven Moffat, Starring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan)

Only two episodes in New Who had to completely reinvent the show. The first was Rose, which whilst excellent has some truly awful bits in it (plastic Mickey, that wheely bin). This though sees a hilarious introduction to a new Doctor and a sad one for a new companion. The fairly tale feel of it is really something special- there’s no way this story would have felt the same in a London suburb. Apart from the whole thing of introducing all the new stuff, the standalone plot is superb. I still think the line “the human residence will be incinerated” meaning the whole world rather than a house is so very clever and so sinister. In my eyes, this was an hour of perfect Doctor Who.

This list is of course simply my own opinion. I’m quite pleased that I’ve got quite a range of Doctors and surprised that as many as half of my favourites were written by Steven Moffat. I haven’t deliberately left out the Twelfth Doctor but I feel for an episode to be a true favourite it needs time and repeated viewings. It’s always fun to discuss these things so if you agree or, God forbid, disagree with my list then please do let me know with a comment!

Oh, and to celebrate ten years of New Who over on my blog Classic Who Catch Up I am about to start looking at the Ninth Doctor era. Please do take a look!

The Return of Missy

It was today confirmed that Michelle Gomez will return as Missy, the Time Lord previously known as the Master, in Series 9 of Doctor Who. Not that this was a huge shock to most of us seeing as though Gomez revealed the news in an interview a few months ago.

 

What is bigger news is the details of her return. She is going to appear in the first two episodes of Series 9, which will be a two-parter. We already knew that the first part would be called The Magician's Apprentice and it was today revealed that part two will be called The Witch's Familiar. 

This brings lots of questions to mind. Obviously a major one is how did she survive her death in Death in Heaven? I'm not too sure on the answer to this but I suspect it'll be fairly simple, given that Steven Moffat had always planned that she would return. It seems likely her "escape" was planned at the same time as her apparent death. 

The title is intriguing. Now I have assumed that The Magician's Apprentice refers to Clara, being the apprentice to the Doctor's magician. Now The Witch's Familiar sort of makes me think that "Witch" refers to Missy. But then who is her familiar? Could it be that Missy is getting a companion of her own? Or maybe in typical cruel Moffat fashion, both titles could refer to the same person- maybe Clara, or maybe a new character. 

It's also interesting to note that it's a two-parter. The first block of filming was a Toby Whithouse two-parter, which I think is supposed to be episodes 3 and 4 of the series. This suggests then that Series 9 might only consist of two-part stories- six two-parters?

It was also confirmed today that Jemma Redgrave will return as head of UNIT Kate Stewart. It's fun to see the Master vs. UNIT theme coming back after how good it was back in 1971. I wonder maybe if Series 9 will replicate Season 8 of Classic Doctor Who in that the Master/Missy will appear in every story? This seems possible from what we know so far.

Well there's a few things to think about. Whether my suggestions turn out to be true or not, I can't wait to see Missy back in action!