Doctor Who

[DRW50]

Thanks for posting it here for us, @Vee . I have never gone back to any of RTD's Who work after the bad handling of Donna's exit in the Tennant sendoff, or, indeed, after so many terrible choices made in that sendoff which I have likely already bitched about here before (to recap - Donna, Tigger jumps, let's all laugh at the Master's abused wife, what a failure, lol, horrible out of nowhere character slicing writing for Martha and a vague "put the black characters together and get it over with" feel to said material). The bad and treacly Celluloid Closet-esque writing of Torchwood Children of Earth and above all else RTD's extremely arrogant reactions to criticism of that writing pushed me to never watch his work again. 

I do see why they are bringing him back, and I do appreciate what he did for Sarah Jane and Lis Sladen, as well as the wonderful return for Jo Grant. I haven't actually watched Who since the first few episodes of Jodie's run (I didn't even ever finish Capaldi's), so I am not sure if I will go back at this point, but I do hope it works out. 

[Vee]

You should finish Capaldi's!

I will have to struggle to finish the Whittaker/Chibnall era, tbh. I've only gotten up to a couple episodes of the last series. The companions all have about the depth of Sesame Street adults to me (I think Ryan's only character 'trait' is 'has dyspraxia').

I don't think there's any denying RTD's work has always been a mix of good, bad, great and awful, but he can never be accused of being a Chibnall. I do also think the times have evolved and I suspect he has as well. I welcome anyone who can right the ship with the show, though I fear it will be regressive for DW going forward to go back to a prior showrunner.

I do wonder if this will lead to the mooted Ace spinoff for kids he'd wanted to happen, years ago when SJA was running.

Meanwhile:

On a side note, I am glad Olly Alexander has broken out in music and TV - I first remember seeing him as the camp British kid in Gaspar Noe's terrible Enter the Void, who ends that dreadful narrative on his knees giving head to Japanese businessmen. Oof.

[Faulkner]

I definitely think the RTD era has aged poorly, but when he’s good, he’s excellent, and I’m interested in seeing what he does after all these years.

I’m somewhat surprised that he’d want to return to that crucible, given the creative freedom offered by his other projects. They can’t have offered him much money, as they don’t have much money to spare.

[Vee]

RTD, like all modern DW showrunners before him (even Chibnall, somehow), was a devoted student of the classic Who era and knows its ups and downs backwards and forwards, having lived as part of the new critical generation that sprung up in the wilderness years of the '80s/'90s and took over the New Adventures Sylvester McCoy novel brand in those years. I'm sure he knows what a major shift this is given Who history of not retaining a prior showrunner, and I suspect he will be very determined to prove to everyone he is not going to be making the kind of show he made in the 2000s. I wouldn't be surprised to see as jarring a stylistic shift as JNT taking over in Series 18 with The Leisure Hive, or what Moffat himself did when he basically reinvented his show for Capaldi (and I felt did it very well).

I also think Davies is frankly a better writer than he used to be. I think he got very lazy and cheap near the end with Who and too in need of fan adoration for bringing back all the faves (Donna, etc.) one more time. But his recent work, what little I've seen of it, feels more mature. I think some things have stayed strong and others have aged horribly, and I suspect he knows a lot of that. So we'll see how it goes.

This being DW, there are already baseless nonsense rumors of the RTD 'favorite' for the Doctor, the latest being Lydia West who he worked with on his recent shows, so here goes:

I would prefer the brilliant T'Nia Miller, who did his show Years and Years and was also heartbreaking on The Haunting of Bly Manor for Netflix, but she's already played a Time Lord in the Capaldi era so I won't bet on her. I've never seen West.

He is apparently taking over the entire production and bringing in his crew, supplanting the BBC Studios producers.

[Faulkner]

Ahhh, that intrigues me more than anything else. They had to make *some* concessions to lure him back.

Lydia West reminds me of Tessa Thompson.

[Vee]

They clearly need him, not vice versa.

[Forever8]

I thought for a second that was Tessa Thompson. 

[Vee]

He was always right about this:

 

[Faulkner]

I remember when they tried to launch a Doctor Who theatrical feature-film franchise. What a debacle that was. I get that they are under incredible financial scrutiny, but the BBC always make things 100 times harder than they need to be.

[Vee]

Which is why the spinoff world RTD created was, IMO, more productive and viable. It was only after he left they went tits-up (and then there's Miracle Day, oof).

[victoria foxton]

This is awesome news. If anyone can save Dr. Who is Mr. Davies.

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[Vee]

I wonder if we'll finally get resolution on Sarah Jane - and gay Luke Smith onscreen, something RTD made a point to canonize last year in the little farewell special.

RTD was absolutely ahead of his time with franchising out Who. I couldn't fault Moffat from moving away from it and making the Doctor darker and more mysterious again, and I prefer his regime artistically overall, but in the post-Marvel, post-streaming era there is no doubt RTD's expansive vision for the franchise is the future.

The rumor mill is already predictably chugging suggesting Tennant, Piper, Tate, Smith and Jenna Coleman will all return for the 60th, but that's typical rumor stuff. Capaldi has recently said he likely wouldn't return as he feels multi-Doctor stories are poor quality, but he's also a huge fan of the show so who knows.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Vee

[Vee]

Matt Smith takes what looks like another goofy, thankless role to me in the new unnecessary GOT spinoff:

 

[Faulkner]

That hair is a yikes. He actually doesn’t look bad as a blonde in other roles, but not that platinum and not that *style* lol…

[DRW50]