Watching NuWho

[Willie Oleson]

The first episode of series 4 reunites the Doctor with Donna Noble from the Xmas 2006 special.
For the most part it's old-fashioned screwball comedy by keeping them apart (yet very close) for as long as possible, and then pick a perfectly absurd scenario for a tête-à-tête.
It's a story abou illegal alien-breeding, using human fat as a host. It kinda looks like David Cronenberg meets Pixar.

It also features a sonic screwdriver battle between the Doctor and the inter-galactic Nanny which reminded me of Harry Potter.
The story suggests that the aliens are after Donna from the get-go and that's when we get a nice suprise twist. Not too significant in the grand scheme of things, but still it happened.
Another surprise, although I realized it just a moment before it happened, was the encounter between Donna and Rose. That is to say, a timey-wimey echo of Rose from Alternative Reality, and she probably didn't hear a word Donna said.

Personally I thought it was a cracker, almost like a Christmas special, but I don't want Donna to play the quasi-unsuitable companion in every episode.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Torchwood, which is a total mess

In what way? I'm not going to watch it because I don't think Jack will be a great main character, therefore I'm not worried about spoilers.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

This is an interesting article.

Everything Is Canon: Doctor Who Has Solved All Its Continuity Problems With One Line

Timeless Child or half-human, it's all canon.

screenrant.com

Basically, it asserts that the Doctor's history has been manipulated by the Toymaker.
So is anything canon at this point since what happened or didn't happen is in dispute, and for how long?
The Patrick Troughton Doctor did not regenerate onscreen.
Did the Second Doctor Bigenerate?
There could have been numerous adventures between
the end of "War Games" and "Spearhead from Space"
It would explain some inconsistencies in "The Five Doctors" and "The Two Doctors"
Was the Watcher a Doctor in Waiting (Davison) or a Toymaker creation? or part of the aforementioned possible Bigeneration
Has he been manipulating events since season 23 with the Valeyard (who might be a bigenerated Doctor)
Was the 8th Doctor half-human or is that another deception?
The War Doctor - The Toymaker's creation?
Clara the Impossible Girl - another Toymaker creation?

And the Master
Which Master did the Toymaker play in a game? It was not necessarily Sacha Dhawan.
Maybe the Master Bigenerated at some point

Moffatt messed up a basic fact. TBaker, PMcGann and DTennant (and presumably Pertwee) all said that a Time Lord could recognize another
Time Lord regardless of appearance. Yet Capaldi did not recognize Michelle Gomez.
John Simms Master did not recognize her at first, either.
Possibly Missy was the result of the Master in the appearance of a female time Lord in her final incarnation
The Master has taken on other appearances i.e. Tremas, and attempted to take the 8th Doctor's remaining regenerations
John Simm's Master did tell Missy not to bother regenerating.
There was presumably at least one Master between Eric Roberts and Derek Jacobi, during the Time War
We really don't know which number was Roger Delgado
Did the Toymaker manipulate the events that put the Master on Trial on Skaro and have the 7th Doctor collect
his remains?

All unresolved questions, not to mention the novelizations and audio adventures
Some of the Toymaker's history
"Divided Loyalties" (5th Doctor book) interestingly, asserts that the Doctor, Master, Rani, Meddling Monk and other Time Lords
previously encountered the Toymaker prior to leaving Gallifrey for good.
"Nightmare Fair" (6th Doctor book and audio)
"Magic Mousetrap" (7th Doctor audio)
Solitaire" (8th Doctor audio)

The good news is that there is now something solid in the series that can refute the horrendous Chibnall origin story
(which contradicts the entire history of the show).

The not so good news is that there may be no canon, no history, no tradition, no coherent fictional narrative.
If there is no foundation, all the content is weakened, without direction and implausible, at least in fictional organizing terms,
It is just chaotic, disorganized, messy, poorly constructed narrative story telling
Doctor Who deserves better.

 

[pete lashmar]

It literally makes me laugh out loud that some fans are using the Toymaker to erase whatever they want in the show, yet The Doctor clearly states that he is an orphan in the last episode and completely backs up The Timeless Child backstory. It's absolutely canon now, RTD has 100% backed Chibnall's back story and some fans will do or say anything to ignore it. Oh well, I'm sure a future showrunner will change it all again in another 60 years.

 

[James from London]

In what way? I'm not going to watch it because I don't think Jack will be a great main character, therefore I'm not worried about spoilers.

It’s meant to be very adult, dark and edgy, with swearing and sex, but feels very clunky, like it’s trying too hard. Jack is a terrible lead character; the actor takes himself so seriously sometimes you want to die of embarrassment. It feels like a British attempt to make a Buffy or Angel, but with no real understanding of how or why those shows worked. So it’s a mess, but a fascinating one. The first two seasons are all stand alone episodes. Some are pretty good; some might be the most unbearable television I’ve ever seen. The third season is one continuous story written by Russell T Davies and is really excellent. (Not uncoincidentally, Captain Jack isn’t in that one very much.) The fourth and final season is a co-production with a US company and features some American actors and locations. It’s very watchable, an interesting hybrid of the original Torchwood and a slick big-budget Hollywood sci-fi show, even if it doesn’t quite hit the heights of the previous season.

And airing at the same time, there was another spinoff, The Sarah Jane Adventures, which is very much a children’s show, brightly coloured and pretty much devoid of subtext. It’s as different a show from Torchwood as you could get while still being part of the same TV universe, and has a much stronger sense of its own identity.

 

[Willie Oleson]

It’s meant to be very adult, dark and edgy, with swearing and sex, but feels very clunky, like it’s trying too hard

Sounds like Footballers' Wives Extra Time.

the actor takes himself so seriously sometimes you want to die of embarrassment.

Knowing this beforehand almost arouses my curiosity, even if I suspect that I'm going to regret it.

The third season is one continuous story written by Russell T Davies and is really excellent

But now I'm glad I asked for more details.

another spinoff, The Sarah Jane Adventures

I presume that's related to the last DVD in my classic Who collection - K9 and Company (A Girl's Best Friend)?

I'll see how I feel about it after I've finished the stories of the Twelfth Doctor.

 

[James from London]

I presume that's related to the last DVD in my classic Who collection - K9 and Company (A Girl's Best Friend)?

Yeah, I guess you could say K9 and Co is an unintentional prequel to Sarah Jane.

 

[Willie Oleson]

If I was asked to write a TV series I would call it "Spin Off!" but without revealing what had been spun off. There would be some guest appearances hinting at a "parent show" but without giving too much details. But enough details to keep the audience guessing.
Sort of like JR in Knots Landing if Dallas didn't exist.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Now that the Toymaker has indicated that he manipulated the Doctor's past, there are some other considerations

River Song - she said the Doctor lies. The Doctor may not be lying, his memory of events has been changed because of the Toymaker
The Curator - a future/past Doctor resulting from the Bogeneration?
The Matrix - the Toymaker could have manipulated info in the Matrix

Again, when did the Toymaker begin manipulating events?
Was the Master part of the game, in as much as lying to the Doctor about his origins? Could be likely,
considering the Master's fate.
Did a dying Master purposely lose to the Toymaker, knowing the Doctor would
eventually meet him again, an be set free, somewhat like the TV movie Master's execution on Skaro?
Note: The Tv movie, had it gone to series would have revealed the Doctor and Master as Half-Brothers.
I have read that had Roger Delgado done the final Pertwee story, it is possible that they would have been revealed as brothers.
Too bad this was never realized

The woman in "The End of Time" - RTD has indicated that his preferred interpretation is that she is the Doctor's Mother.
She said something like 'I was lost a long time ago.
Was this part of the Toymaker's activities?

Is there a new continuity, a changed continuity, no continuity, an anything goes continuity?

Right now, much is uncertain,
However the Toymaker has put many events, including Chibnall's origin story, the reason some companions seemed destined
to meet the Doctor, the fate of any number of people, the Master's actions and motivations, the fate of Gallifrey ( was the second destruction somehow connected to the Toymaker?), Bigenerations, the complexities of the Moffatt era timelines and much more.

Still waiting for the Consolidated numbers from Gatwa's first episode

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

If I was asked to write a TV series I would call it "Spin Off!" but without revealing what had been spun off. There would be some guest appearances hinting at a "parent show" but without giving too much details. But enough details to keep the audience guessing.
Sort of like JR in Knots Landing if Dallas didn't exist.

Dallas?

What show is that?

I think the cracks in time erased a whole bunch of stuff.

I've never heard of Dallas or Knots Landing!

Now that the Toymaker has indicated that he manipulated the Doctor's past, there are some other considerations

River Song - she said the Doctor lies. The Doctor may not be lying, his memory of events has been changed because of the Toymaker
The Curator - a future/past Doctor resulting from the Bogeneration?
The Matrix - the Toymaker could have manipulated info in the Matrix

Again, when did the Toymaker begin manipulating events?
Was the Master part of the game, in as much as lying to the Doctor about his origins? Could be likely,
considering the Master's fate.
Did a dying Master purposely lose to the Toymaker, knowing the Doctor would
eventually meet him again, an be set free, somewhat like the TV movie Master's execution on Skaro?
Note: The Tv movie, had it gone to series would have revealed the Doctor and Master as Half-Brothers.
I have read that had Roger Delgado done the final Pertwee story, it is possible that they would have been revealed as brothers.
Too bad this was never realized

The woman in "The End of Time" - RTD has indicated that his preferred interpretation is that she is the Doctor's Mother.
She said something like 'I was lost a long time ago.
Was this part of the Toymaker's activities?

Is there a new continuity, a changed continuity, no continuity, an anything goes continuity?

Right now, much is uncertain,
However the Toymaker has put many events, including Chibnall's origin story, the reason some companions seemed destined
to meet the Doctor, the fate of any number of people, the Master's actions and motivations, the fate of Gallifrey ( was the second destruction somehow connected to the Toymaker?), Bigenerations, the complexities of the Moffatt era timelines and much more.

Still waiting for the Consolidated numbers from Gatwa's first episode

From the Doctor Who News page on Gallifrey Base:

Doctor Who: The Church On Ruby Road had an official 7-day rating of 7.49 million viewers.

The episode was the third most-watched programme on British television for the week ending 31st December 2023.

The only programmes to beat Doctor Who was the New Year's Eve Fireworks and the Christmas Day edition of the drama Call the Midwife.

ITV's highest-rated programme was the drama Vera with 5.71 million watching. The BBC had all 10 places in the weekly Top Ten.

Doctor Who was watched by 41.4% of the total viewing public. It had an Audience appreciation figure of 82.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

From the Doctor Who News page on Gallifrey Base:

Doctor Who: The Church On Ruby Road had an official 7-day rating of 7.49 million viewers.

The episode was the third most-watched programme on British television for the week ending 31st December 2023.

The only programmes to beat Doctor Who was the New Year's Eve Fireworks and the Christmas Day edition of the drama Call the Midwife.

ITV's highest-rated programme was the drama Vera with 5.71 million watching. The BBC had all 10 places in the weekly Top Ten.

Doctor Who was watched by 41.4% of the total viewing public. It had an Audience appreciation figure of 82.

Thank You for the update. I just noticed the news.

An encouraging start for Gatwa

It was the strongest rating for a special episode since Peter Capaldi "Twice Upon a Time" (7.92 million, 12-25-17, 6 years ago)
with the exception of "The Star Beast" which was only marginally higher (7.61 million)

It was the highest rated Doctor Who Story since 11-4-18, again with the exception of the Star Beast.

The three David Tennant Stories had ratings of 7.61 (AI 84), 7.14 (AI 83) and 6.85 (AI 85)
Average 7.2, AI 84

Chibnall/JW's final 3 special episodes in 2022: 4.40 (AI 77) 3.47 (AI 76), 5.30 (AI 82)
Average 4.39, AI 78 (3 specials)

Chibnall/JW Series 13 average 4.95, AI 76.5

Combined 9 episodes: 4.76(AI 77)


Comparing the 3 special episodes,
Average ratings increased 64%, AI increased 7.7%, and Gatwa increased ratings even more from the average
of the three Tennant episodes.

RTD, Tennant and Gatwa have revitalized Doctor Who!

A strong start to a new era!

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

So now there is a Miss Flood

Since it indicates water, is she a version of River Song?

Other possibilities, in no particular order

The Rani - its about time she returned. I still think Missy would have been better as the Rani
Romana - its about time for her to return as well
Clara - the impossible girl
Susan - can she regenerate?
Iris Wildthyme - has not appeared on screen yet
The terrible Zodin - could be interesting
Lady Pinafore - this would be specially interesting, since she seems to know the Doctor's secrets
Chancellor Flavia -what happened to her
The Inquisitor
Mysterious Lady from "The End of Time" -The Doctor's Mother?

Now that the Toymaker has admitted to manipulating the Doctor's past,
some, maybe much of the continuity is in question.
The good news is that anything can be changed
The bad news is that anything can be changed

Wait and see,
RTD has been successful so far, in bringing back Doctor Who , ratings and story,
and Gatwa seems to be doing well so far

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

More complications LOL!

The Toymaker has admitted to manipulating the Doctor's past
How and for How Long?
The Doctor himself doesn't know his past, at least not completely, and not accurately as a result.


A possibility is that the Toymaker could be involved with the Faction Paradox (as well as the Master)
who did indeed manipulate the Doctor's past https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Interference_(novel)

Alien Bodies (novel)

Alien Bodies was the sixth novel in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Lawrence Miles, released on 24 November 1997 and featured the Eighth Doctor and Sam Jones. It was the first novel to feature the War in Heaven, which would become a major arc element in the Eighth...

tardis.fandom.com

The Faction Paradox is a time-active syndicate devoted to opposing the Time Lords' traditional philosophy of rationality and stability over time travel. https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Faction_Paradox

As if to make it more complicated, the 7th Doctor seems to indicate that he collaborated with Rassilon and Omega,
in "Remembrance of the Daleks", but as River Song said, the Doctor lies!

So where does this lead? That nothing is certain, and RTD has a lot of material that he can utilize.

In any case, RTD, Tennant and Gatwa have revitalized the series, and we shall see if the ratings
continue the sizable improvement that has resulted so far.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Millie Gibson has already been dropped and the first episode of the new season has not even aired!
I know that the Christmas Special was well received. This is quite surprising
No apparent reason has been made public, at least I am not aware of one.

 

[Willie Oleson]

HOWARDS' WAY star Tracey Childs stars in the third episode (per watch count) which brings the Tardis to pre-eruption Pompeii.
There is a lot going on and everybody has something to say, especially about the future.
At the same time the Pompeiians are totally not worried by the various warnings coming from the mighty Vesuvius. I wonder if these scenes were inspired by MARY POPPINS.


The Sisterhood and the mysterious High Priestess must have been a nod to the dance academy and headmistress Helena Markos in SUSPIRIA.

It's such a fabulous episode.

Donna Noble is nagging the Doctor to save the citizens of doomed Pompeii but the Doctor considers it a fixed part in history. In fact, much more than he realizes since his arrival was predicted on a papyrus roll, thus creating an historical Russian doll effect.
Nevertheless, a major dilemma has been established and I wondered how they were going to sell the Doctor's cruelty to the quivering young viewers.
Excitingly, they come up with a brilliant plot twist: not only should the Doctor prevent the tragedy, he must make it happen in order to destroy the alien antagonists who want more of planet Earth than just a piece of Pompeii.

The rest is history, as they say, except for Lynne Howard's family who are saved thanks to Donna's persistence. I'm feeling a little ambivalent about this last part because to me it looks unnecessarily heavy-handed but on the other hand I realise that it was too late to cop out. The tears simply had to come, just like the rocks and lava that destroyed Pompeii.
The story also includes a water pistol, the Tardis as a google translator and throwaway comments like "the word volcano doesn't exist yet".
The Pyroviles are great as the schemers in the background (well, underground) but become less impressive on-screen. And I'm not sure how these creatures made of rock and lava were supposed to be destroyed by...rock and lava? Isn't that like saying "the sharks died because of the flood"?

It's really amazing to see how much they crammed into one episode, I don't think they could have done more. Pompeiians are getting stoned, that happened too.


The next episode about the Ood is less formidable but still a very good one.
The Sontarans (episodes 4/5, or 5/6 per watch count) is my first connection with classic Who because I recognised the name from one of the DVDs.
It's an outrageously addictive story despite the fact that ATMOS reminded me a lot of ADIPOSE only a few episodes ago. Perhaps someone forgot to look on the "reasons for alien invasion & destruction"-list that's pinned on the writers room wall.
Either way, these aliens are much more fleshed out (they look like football hooligan potatoes) and yet they're almost upstaged by the Earthly mini-villain Luke Rattigan. He's terrific, and the teleporter is a fabulous set piece.

Martha returns, first as herself and then as a scheming clone, and I must say that the return of a former Tardis Companion looks properly bizarre.
The story ends with an exhilarating Mexican standoff and the outcome is decided by Luke Rattigan. Phew.
The story's very finale cliffhangers into the unknown with the Doctor's ex trapped inside the Tardis. Watch your back, Miss Noble.

 

[Whovian]

Millie Gibson has already been dropped and the first episode of the new season has not even aired!
I know that the Christmas Special was well received. This is quite surprising
No apparent reason has been made public, at least I am not aware of one.

Absolutely ridiculous decision - how can you decide after1 season that she needs dropping. 2 seasons should be the bare minimum for a companion - it normally takes that long to fully appreciate them. I get this how RTD works, but with the short season lengths you think he'd change tack.

 

[Willie Oleson]

It's usually very obvious what's at stake in the stories that play in the past or the present, but the stories about the future (often about mankind inhabiting a new planet or on board of a space vehicle) need to make more effort to grip me from the very beginning. And that could be anything.
The Doctor's Daughter presents a drab and unknown place and all I know is that there's a war going on.
Without a whiff of fanfare the Doctor's DNA is used to create an offspring of sorts and I'm still none the wiser.
The story is explained throughout the episode when the Doctor and co. are running from one location to the next. Once I got the whole picture, the story was over.

Concept-wise it's great and quite mind-boggling - a myth that has grown over a period that never happened - it's just that I didn't get enough time to enjoy it.
The Hath creatures give another meaning to the word "mouth-watering" and I found it hilarious that Martha understood everything they said.
Daughter Jenny's exit is the most in-your-face spin-off announcement I've ever seen, but it didn't happen except for audio stories on the Big Finish label that also did the Dark Shadows audio stories.
I simply cannot imagine how that works for an action character like Jenny!
Anyone here who has played those CDs?

In the next episode the Tardis lands in the 1920s featuring Agatha Christie. Not surprisingly it becomes a semi-parodied take on the murder mystery genre with a alien twist. I don't know if the Unicorn thief is a reference to another infamous thief, from a Sherlock Holmes story perhaps?
After the murder in the library the suspects are questioned by the Doctor. They all lie about something but it's exactly those little lies that confirm their alibi.
The giant wasp is a frightening foe but the transformation from human to wasp izzzz very funny, and its origin is beyond bonkers.
Similar to the Shakespeare Code there are jokes about the author's future work but it's counterbalanced by paying tribute to the legacy of Christie's work.
Overall, a frivolous and very enjoyable episode.

 

[pete lashmar]

It's usually very obvious what's at stake in the stories that play in the past or the present, but the stories about the future (often about mankind inhabiting a new planet or on board of a space vehicle) need to make more effort to grip me from the very beginning. And that could be anything.
The Doctor's Daughter presents a drab and unknown place and all I know is that there's a war going on.
Without a whiff of fanfare the Doctor's DNA is used to create an offspring of sorts and I'm still none the wiser.
The story is explained throughout the episode when the Doctor and co. are running from one location to the next. Once I got the whole picture, the story was over.

Concept-wise it's great and quite mind-boggling - a myth that has grown over a period that never happened - it's just that I didn't get enough time to enjoy it.
The Hath creatures give another meaning to the word "mouth-watering" and I found it hilarious that Martha understood everything they said.
Daughter Jenny's exit is the most in-your-face spin-off announcement I've ever seen, but it didn't happen except for audio stories on the Big Finish label that also did the Dark Shadows audio stories.
I simply cannot imagine how that works for an action character like Jenny!
Anyone here who has played those CDs?

In the next episode the Tardis lands in the 1920s featuring Agatha Christie. Not surprisingly it becomes a semi-parodied take on the murder mystery genre with a alien twist. I don't know if the Unicorn thief is a reference to another infamous thief, from a Sherlock Holmes story perhaps?
After the murder in the library the suspects are questioned by the Doctor. They all lie about something but it's exactly those little lies that confirm their alibi.
The giant wasp is a frightening foe but the transformation from human to wasp izzzz very funny, and its origin is beyond bonkers.
Similar to the Shakespeare Code there are jokes about the author's future work but it's counterbalanced by paying tribute to the legacy of Christie's work.
Overall, a frivolous and very enjoyable episode.

I adore The Unicorn and the wasp....absolutely brilliant episode and full of laughs too. One of my all time favourite Nuwho episodes.

 

[Angela Channing]

Millie Gibson has already been dropped and the first episode of the new season has not even aired!
I know that the Christmas Special was well received. This is quite surprising
No apparent reason has been made public, at least I am not aware of one.

Maybe she was only hired for one season and her storyline came to an end.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Maybe she was only hired for one season and her storyline came to an end.

I am quite aware of that possibility.
There are sometimes other factors, and I would like to have verification
or reliable reports if available, rather than speculation