http://www.dwin.org/ Recent news from the Doctor Who Blog and news from the Doctor Who Information Network en luca2006@rogers.com Copyright 2017 2017-07-02T04:34:08+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2457 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2457 The 38th Season* of Doctor Who came to a close on Canada’s 150th Birthday. What did you think to the conclusion of the Cybermen/Master/Missy two-parter? Did you notice the continuity reference to the Doctor Who Magazine 6th Doctor comic strip The Worldshapers from 1986? Or did you spot the fact that this was the first episode of Doctor Who to feature a reference to both Mondas and Telos in the same story since Attack of the Cybermen part two in 1985? And how about that ending and lead-in to the 2017 Christmas special? What did you think about the fate of Bill, Nardole and Missy? Shed a tear for any of them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. *Series 7 of the new series is being as two seasons - because they effectively were produced and shown as such - while the other extra season was David Tennant’s season of specials in 2009/2010. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2457 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-07-02T03:34:08+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2456 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2456 We might seem like we are late with this entry, and you’ve probably been waiting a long time for it. But in fact we worked on this right away, it’s just that the computer we are using is much closer to a black hole than the computer or phone you are using to read this. So thanks to time dilation, this entry is being posted late. And if you believe that, I’ve got a handy chest-unit I can sell you. So…...what did you all think of tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, World Enough and Time? This is not to be confused with the Diary of River Song Season Two story World Enough and Time which was released earlier in the year by Big Finish. This episode should also not be confused with the Big Finish audio The Two Masters, even if it does share a certain trait with that story (also released not to long ago, albeit in 2016). Nor is it to be confused with the Big Finish audio Spare Parts, released way back in 2002…..but if you enjoyed tonight’s episode and haven’t heard Spare Parts you really should check it out as it should also be your cup of tea. No doubt full judgment must be reserved until the conclusion next week’s season finale. Assuming this story even ends there, and we’re not waiting months - like Bill did in this episode - for the Doctor to come back once again. Only time can tell. Well, time and Steven Moffat. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2456 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-06-26T02:40:27+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2455 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2455 What did you think of tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, The Eaters of Light? For those that don’t know, this is the first episode of the revived series of Doctor Who to be written by someone - Rona Munro - who wrote for the classic series - and in fact, she wrote the very last story of the classic series, Survival. I believe the 28 years between having written episodes of Doctor Who for the television series also must be a record. Was it worth the wait? Did you hear the music? Did you buy that Bill for some reason thinks she knows more about the Romans that someone time-travelling for centuries would? Did you like the episode in spite of that? And how about those last few minutes in the TARDIS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, before he head on to the season finale…..... http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2455 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-06-18T00:18:10+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2454 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2454 So as you might have guessed by the title of this episode and the photo above, there are indeed female Ice Warriors! A historical footnote - this is the first time in Doctor Who‘s history that any of the major monsters from the classic series have been shown to have two genders (and a female gender at that). And no I’m not counting the female Cybermen in Rise of the Cybermen and Doomsday since they are really turned into Cybermen rather than Cyberwomen (and the less said about the unfinished Cyberwoman in the Torchwood episode of the same name the better - also not counting it since that isn’t in Doctor Who itself). But never mind technical arguments about obscure continuity facts - what did you think of the latest Mark Gatiss-authored episode of Doctor Who? How about that new Ice Warrior gun effect - a handy tool for packing up your clothes for when you are moving house or going on vacation? What’s going on with Missy? And how cool was it to see a certain character for the first time since h1974? Please let us know in the comments section below. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2454 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-06-11T00:56:35+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2453 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2453 Yes, I know I’m late by a few days - apologies for that - but I was busy meeting the 8th Doctor himself in Niagara Falls on the day (and in fact the entire weekend) that this week’s episode of Doctor Who, The Lie of the Land, was broadcast. Which is the reason for the delay in putting up this post. And that’s no lie. Of course we do want to know what you thought of the episode in the comments section below…...but that’s not all. Did Canadian readers of this blog spot anything special about this episode in particular from a Canadian perspective? The 8th Doctor wasn’t alone being in Niagara Falls on Saturday, as the programme itself also - for about half a second - also was set in Niagara Falls. In the opening montage, there is about a half-second clip of Niagara Falls included in the various footage showing statues of the Monks across the world demonstrating their conquest of the planet. And yes, it was the Canadian side of the Falls! And that wasn’t all - the clip of Niagara Falls was followed by another half-second clip showing the Toronto skyline, complete with the CN Tower! Why am I so giddy about a second of screen time featuring a couple of famous Canadian landmarks appearing in Doctor Who? Remarkably these half-second clips constitute the first time in the history of Doctor Who that a Canadian location has featured in the programme as a Canadian location and thus the first time ever that any part - even a single second - of any television Doctor Who story has been set in Canada. The T.V. Movie was shot in Vancouver, but the story was set in San Francisco, whereas here Toronto and Niagara are simply Toronto and Niagara. It is also, unless my memory is failing me (if so, I will blame the monks) the first time the new series has had a Canadian reference of any kind (though I recall that both Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures contained Canadian references) and the first time there’s been a Canadian reference since The Trial of a Time Lord in 1986 when our geese got name-checked. I believe the last time a Canadian location was mentioned on screen was in 1971’s The Claws of Axos (ending four seasons in a row of at least one reference - ah, the good old days…). It may seem pathetic or amusing to get so excited over a brief second of a story taking place in Canada, but after 54 years of starvation on this front, I’ll take it! As for the other 44 minutes and 59 seconds of footage of this episode, what did you think? http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2453 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-06-06T22:14:42+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2452 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2452 What did you think of tonight’s episode of Doctor Who The Pyramid at the End of the World? Faultless or Vaultless (or both)? How many of you were expecting to see Sutekh walk out of that Pyramid?  I am guessing the same number that were expecting to see Bad Wolf written in graffiti on the side of the Pyramid. Granted, we appear to be in the middle of (at least) a three-part story - the second time that Capaldi will have a story roughly the equivalent to an old six-part story from the classic series days. So it may be that you might be reserving full judgment until the whole story plays out, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t give your thoughts on this episode. And if you consent to giving us your comments, all you have to do is enter them in the comments section below, and it doesn’t have to be given out of love. Fear and strategy are okay with us too. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2452 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-05-28T00:56:47+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2451 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2451 Tell us the truth - did you think Doctor Who was extremely good tonight, or was this sort of thing not really your kind of game? What was less predictable - the Pope turning up in Bill’s apartment, the TARDIS or just turning up in Doctor Who at all? Would the Doctor be more likely to have been familiar with Pac-Man rather than Super-Mario? Do you think we actually know who is in the vault, despite what the episode appears to indicate? And just exactly who were those dudes who asked the Doctor to be an executioner at the start of the episode? Do you think we’ll ever find out? Provide us with your thoughts in the commentary section. Please note that this blog post is for real - it is not a simulation. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2451 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-05-21T01:27:09+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2450 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2450 Did tonight’s episode of Doctor Who vault to the top of your list of favourite episodes this season? Or did you find that it did not suit your tastes? Don’t waste your breath - instead type your thoughts on Oxygen in the comments section below. This week’s guesses as to what is in the vault: (1) Dodo’s grandchild Bobby Jim; (2) The other giant rat from The Talons of Weng-Chiang (one that we never saw on screen, but was always just off camera and which was still left alive in the sewers. It was in fact the rat-wife of the one that the Doctor shot); (3) The Garm. Let us know which of the three you think is the most likely (assuming of course that it’s not one of the guesses from last week’s entry). Just don’t hold your breath expecting any of these guesses to be correct…... http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2450 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-05-14T01:07:53+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2449 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2449 Was tonight’s episode of Doctor Who more to your taste than Little Mix, or is the kind of episode that you wish to knock? Wood you, er, that is, would you recommend this episode more than you’d recommend living in the house featured in tonight’s episode? Does David Suchet’s appearance in tonight’s episode of Doctor Who make up for the lack of Joan Hickson, Jeremy Brett, John Thaw and Ian Carmichael in past episodes as well as a nice-but-not-as-substantial-as-one-would like appearance by Roy Marsden in Smith and Jones? Do you think it is K9 in the vault playing the piano and eating all that food? If not him, how about Erato, the Creature from the Pit? Okay, those questions may have got sillier as they went on, but this episode did not. Tell us what you thought of it in the comments section below. And think twice before you step on that next insect with your foot….. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2449 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-05-07T01:09:38+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2448 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2448 We are of course interested what you thought of Thin Ice (we are of course referring to tonight’s episode of Doctor Who starring Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie, rather than the Lost Stories Big Finish audio starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Beth Chalmers a few years ago - not that we have any objection if you want to give us your thoughts on that audio instead). But we’re not just interested in your thoughts on the episode as a whole, we’d like to focus on one particular scene. The scene in question appears to have ruffled a few feathers (and not the ones being worn on Bill’s head), where the Doctor punches someone in the head after that person was shouting racially abusive comments at Bill. It’s not all that rare for the Doctor to punch someone (Capaldi’s Doctor has already done it before on screen), but normally when the Doctor strikes someone, it’s usually because that person has already been the physical aggressor in some way or they need to be stopped or the Doctor needs to free himself in order to save the lives of others. Which isn’t the case here, as the Doctor is really just striking someone for what they had said - what was said was vile of course, but no-one was in immediate danger or physical harm as a result of the comments. Which doesn’t necessarily make the Doctor’s actions wrong (that depends upon your point of view), but it does make it very unusual. The only other similar example which immediately springs to mind from a previous episode was in the 4th Doctor story The Face of Evil where the Doctor gets revenge on a warrior of the Sevateem who had slapped Leela viciously by flicking a flesh-eating Horda upon the warrior in question, who presumably got eaten alive from it. Some commentators are complaining that the Doctor’s actions in this scene promote violence as an answer which is against the ethos of the show, while others are quick to point out that the episode reminds us that the Doctor has probably lost count of the number of people/beings/creatures he has killed over the years and thus the ethos of the show is not quite as clear cut as some are making it out to be. It’s a long-time debate in fandom, but one which does not ever seem to be running out of steam. Before I provide my opinion, what do you think of it? Not just of the scene in question, but of the episode as a whole? Don’t be afraid to give your views - it’s not like by doing so you will be treading on thin ice. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2448 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-04-30T01:44:48+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2447 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2447 Did tonight’s episode of Doctor Who cause you to smile? Or did it put a frown on your face? Did a look of puzzlement come across your face when the topic of the oath came up? Where you curious about the distinct lack of Movellans this week? Or do you think perhaps they are inside the vault? Are you warming up to Bill, or did you wish that she was put inside the vault? Are you sick of Doctor Who portraying fashions in the far future as looking exactly like they do in present day? Any other questions we haven’t thought to ask? Is it perhaps time for me to type a sentence that isn’t a question? Please give us your thoughts in the comments section below. Emoji’s are both allowed and encouraged. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2447 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-04-23T00:49:08+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2446 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2446 The blog took a hiatus at the same time the Doctor did but now both are back. What did you think of the new episode, The Pilot? A good jumping on point for new viewers? Or a good jumping off point? How about the new companion Bill? What about the Doctor’s lecturing style? Are you warming up to Nardole, or do you think he has a screw loose? How did you feel about the location of the TARDIS washroom? So many things to discuss! Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Just like the television series itself, we’ll be back more regularly from now on! http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2446 The Doctor Who Information Network 2017-04-16T15:51:04+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2444 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2444 “Doctor Who off to a great start everybody here delighted.” - Telegram from Donald Wilson to Sydney Newman, 27 November 1963 http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2444 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-11-23T17:08:25+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2443 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2443 So now that we are just past the halfway mark in the first season of the Doctor Who spinoff Class, what are we all thinking about it? Where does it rank in the pantheon of Doctor Who spin-off television series? What do people think of the regular characters, and the actors who play them? Are they all too old to be in high school? Are they all too slim? Any favourites or least favourites? Would the premise of the show have been better off if there was no connection to Doctor Who? How has Patrick Ness’s writing been? I have opinions on all of the above questions, but I’m interested in hearing what you think. Assuming that you have been watching of course….. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2443 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-11-14T00:31:25+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2442 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2442 Another one of the most common pet theories put forward by fans which seemed to be stated as historical fact was the theory that John Nathan-Turner casting celebrities in guest-starring roles caused the show’s reputation to suffer and ratings to decline in the UK, leading the BBC to be justified in cancelling the series. The celebrities most often cited as examples are the casting of Beryl Reid in Earthshock, Richard Briers in Paradise Towers, Ken Dodd in Delta and the Bannermen and Nicholas Parsons in The Curse of Fenric. Over the years it wasn’t just a section of fandom that would make this claim, the mainstream media did as well - particularly in historical retrospective articles released for the 30th, 35th, 40th and even the 50th Anniversaries. Being from Canada, it’s a little more difficult to comment on the effect that seeing these “celebrities” would have on the UK audience. As a Canadian, I’d never heard of any of these people until they showed up in Doctor Who. (Similarly, note that I did not include Dolores Gray in Silver Nemesis in my list of the most-commonly cited examples, because even though she was a Tony-Award winning actress that had co-starred alongside Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in the film Designing Woman, by 1988 nobody in the UK seemed to know who she was). Nevertheless, I find it difficult to be convinced that these so-called celebrity casting decisions were inherently a bad thing which did the show much harm. It’s the examples of Beryl Reid and Nicholas Parsons stand out. Earthshock was so popular with casual viewers and fans alike that its difficult to argue that any part of it did the show’s fortunes any harm. As for Nicholas Parsons, it’s tough to argue that his casting did any harm given that the show had already reached its lowest regular ratings level when the final season started. There’s nothing in his performance that suggests that he was either unsuitable for the role or sent viewers to reach for their remotes (nor is there any ratings or audience research data which suggests this). What then about the example of Richard Briers and Ken Dodd? They were both cast in the most unpopular (at least with UK viewers and fandom at the time) season of all time, Season 24- arguably the season with the highest concentration of celebrity guest casting. Both celebrities were cast in fairly silly roles, in fairly “light-weight” stories that weren’t exactly known for being dark and mysterious, or for putting kids behind the sofa. It is perhaps much easier to see why these celebrity casting examples might have caused the show’s reputation to suffer. However, when we look at the audience research report for Season 24, when viewers were asked what they didn’t enjoy about the season, it was Bonnie Langford and Sylvester McCoy who took the brunt of the blame. “Silly guest-star casting” (or variations thereof) is not listed as a common response to this question. The only answer which might hint at viewer dissatisfaction with respect to casting celebrities is large portion of respondents who complained about the light-weight tone of the show and the fact that it was, in their eyes, becoming “increasingly silly”. This might be a reference to Dodd and Briers because they were both cast in silly roles in somewhat silly stories. But isn’t that - the silliness- at the heart of the issue? I can remember in 1989 the teeth-grinding from certain areas of fandom when Nicholas Parsons was announced to be appearing in the forthcoming season, because the assumption was that he was cast to be playing a silly role. Of course, his role was not silly at all, in a story that was not silly at all (in tone at least - let’s not quibble about how silly the scene where Ace seduces the guard turned out to be, as that wasn’t the intention). Criticism of this casting was considerably muted (in comparison to when the news was announced) once the story was broadcast. Had they broadcast The Curse of Fenric and Survival in Season 24 rather than Delta or Paradise Towers, it’s difficult to imagine that viewers would have picked on the silliness of the stories (whether it be the tone, guest casting or storylines). If the viewers still hated the show, it would presumably have been for other reasons and unlikely because Nicholas Parsons puts in a good dramatic performance in a non-silly role. In other words, it’s not the fact of celebrity casting per se which is the issue, but the kind of roles (and performances) that the celebrities are cast in. The new series has done celebrity casting - especially with cameos - to a far greater extent than the classic series ever did, and the popularity of the show has not suffered as a result. Times are different of course - we live in a more “celebrity-based” culture for one so many celebrities have been cast as themselves in cameos - but the fact that the series’ popularity was not harmed by this further supports the notion that casting celebrities is not inherently bad for the show - at most, it depends on how it is done. For the classic series, the show seemed to have other issues that were far more of a problem than celebrity casting per se (if that was a problem at all). http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2442 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-10-02T23:13:44+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2441 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2441 In case you haven’t heard or seen, this video clip, featuring clips of a high-quality animated version of Patrick Troughton’s debut story The Power of the Daleks, has surfaced recently. Actually, it surfaced, then sunk and then re-surfaced on youtube. It is possible that by the time you are reading this the link - which I will put here - may no longer work (or at least, the link may work but to a video which is no longer on youtube - you know what I mean). For now, enjoy it while you can. Even if nothing else comes of this and nothing further was or will be produced, it is still very well done and looks quite professional - and thus is very enjoyable to watch. At the time of writing, no-one (either in fandom or with the BBC) has come forward to claim responsibility. It’s most likely a fan effort done for fun rather than for an official DVD release, but who knows. As the Doctor once said, time will tell - it always does…..... http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2441 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-08-22T00:52:55+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2440 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2440 For years, moreso from word or mouth than printed reviews, fans had heard the refrain - mainly from critics of William Hartnell - that his Doctor was basically the actor playing himself in the scripts - irascible, absent-minded professor, prone to gaffes, irritable, grand-fatherly but bad-tempered. It was even claimed that some of the scripted gaffes (where the Doctor gets Ian’s last name wrong) were not actually scripted. This view of Hartnell’s performance took somewhat of a beating when the soundtrack to The Massacre was released on CD for public purchase in 1999. At that point fans far and wide could hear for themselves the very different role that Hartnell plays in the story, that of the Abbot of Amboise. It should have proved to people Hartnell was a good actor who simply chose to perform the Doctor the way he did because it suited the character he was helping to create with his performance - however the view that he was essentially playing himself on screen persisted in certain quarters. However, it was arguably the discovery and release in the past few years of two interviews with William Hartnell taken from the 1960’s which pretty much nailed the coffin lid shut on this fan myth. First there was the only known-to-still-exist video interview with Hartnell after (or even during) his time on Doctor Who which was released on The Tenth Planet DVD in 2013. Now, you can certainly argue that Hartnell sounded irritable in the interview, but that argument has to be countered by pointing out that just about any actor would have found those (in some cases insulting) questions posed to him (or her) as being very irritating, particularly in a dressing room. The main thing that strikes the viewer is just how different Hartnell’s mannerisms and vocal patterns are - he sounds much gruffer here when he is legitimately irritated than when he plays irritation as the Doctor. Gone is any trace of sounding or acting like a professor or a learned man of science. That’s clearly an act, as it should be given that this is required as part of the role. Perhaps more startling is the 2nd Hartnell interview to be discovered, which dates from about a year and a half earlier, in 1965 when he is still playing the role. This interview is from an episode of Desert Island Discs, a popular radio programme where celebrities pick what records they would choose to have if they were stuck on a desert island. The first time I heard this I had to re-check the link about three times to make sure it was the correct one. It just didn’t sound like Hartnell at all - or at least, the version of Hartnell that I was familiar with, which was, for decades, the 1st Doctor. He sounds so incredibly different that it took me some time to realize it was the same man I’d been watching and listening to episodes of since the mid 1980’s.There’s no trace whatsoever of his first Doctor character in this interview, of which we hear far more of his speaking voice (and in much less-trying circumstances) than we do in the film interview that is on The Tenth Planet DVD. Even more than the other interview and his performance in other roles, this interview demonstrates that his first Doctor was a character he created and wasn’t merely an extension of himself. For those that haven’t heard it (and we’ve posted a link to this before on this blog but frankly it’s worth a re-listen), you can find the clip on youtube here.  http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2440 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-07-18T00:37:19+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2439 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2439 As we wait for the news of the next episodes to be made, it seems a good time to reflect back on the history of the now-53 year-old television phenomenon, Doctor Who. In particular, it seemed an ideal opportunity to lay to rest several fan theories which had been repeated and gained wide enough acceptance over the years that people began to accept such theories as historical fact and part of fan “received wisdom”, despite seemingly having no factual basis to support these theories. The passage of time (and in some cases, new information that has come to light about the show’s past) has helped to consign these theories into the realm of fan myths that hopefully have died once and for all. One just hopes that one isn’t resurrecting them by writing about them now. In any event, here is the first of five such fan theories that we’ll try to put to bed over the next five weeks. The first of these I’d like to tackle is the often-cited view that the classic series was “killed” by continuity usage, a theory seems to stem from the belief that a continuing series making some reference previous episodes is an inherently bad thing which will lead audience to confusion and dis-satisfaction. Which is something that I will agree is conceivable - but something being conceivable and something actually being the case are not the same thing. Not even remotely. There has never been an shred of evidence put forward to back up this assertion, other than fans pointing to the decline in ratings which occurred after the 18-month hiatus and then coming up with their own unsupported theories as to why the ratings decline happened. The actual audience research conducted by the BBC and by BARB at the time points to other factors for audience displeasure which are far more common reasons. Of Doctor Who‘s final few seasons, the one that got the most negative response from the audience was Season 24 (ironically for those foisting the anti-continuity argument, since it is probably the least continuity-heavy season of the last four of the classic series). When asked what they disliked the most about the season, the audience research indicated that they didn’t like the performances or the characterization of the regular cast, nor did they like the stories themselves or the “increasingly silly” tone. There was not a word to be mentioned about the re-use of the Rani or Sabalom Glitz. If there’s an argument to be made purely from the ratings, the last two times the Daleks and Cybermen were featured in the classic series, the episodes they were featured in garnered some of the highest ratings for the particular seasons in question (Season’s 22 and 25, respectively) - which doesn’t exactly fit in easily with the “continuity killed the ratings” theory. There is the view that poorly-explained continuity could confuse the “casual viewer” and cause them to switch off. That’s an acceptable and believable theory, but one that doesn’t have much in the way of evidence to support that this was the case with Doctor Who. One might argue that one such example of poorly-explained continuity usage was the unexplained references to the Cybermen in the climactic moment of The Curse of Fenric (something that a fan would get but the casual audience who would have heard of the Cybermen would not have understood) - except the ratings were already pretty low that season by the time you got to its 4th last episode, suggesting that something else had already caused the audience to not tune in. However the bigger problem with this theory today is that the new series has arguably had the clearest examples extremely-heavy continuity-based episodes which didn’t bother to explain the continuity references properly - or at all - to the audience, and yet the lack of explanation didn’t cause the slightest dent in the ratings in the grand scheme of things. For example, Journey’s End features appearances from characters from other television series altogether (spin-offs that were seen by a fraction of the audience that Doctor Who was getting at the time) without much in the way of a proper introduction (or in the case of K9, an explanation of why he suddenly appears out of thin air to help save the day). Another good example is The Time of the Doctor, which spends a great deal of time wrapping up about a thousand continuity questions built up over the course of the Matt Smith-era, questions that the casual viewers for a Christmas Day episode would have no knowledge of in the first place. I know this one from personal experience, having watched Matt Smith’s finale with two family members who had only seen a handful of Matt Smith episodes and confessed to me as the episode went on that they hadn’t a clue as to what was happening on the screen and why. People often like to discuss what would be a good story to introduce the series to a new viewer - I would suggest those two episodes would be among the worst stories you could show as a means of introduction, unless you’d like to spend four hours explaining things ahead of time. And yet on both occasions, the ratings for the episode and the episodes which followed were extremely high, suggesting that heavy continuity-usage without explanation didn’t turn off any significant number of viewers (if it turned anybody off at all). So maybe it is possible for unexplained continuity references to kill the popularity of a sci-fi tv series, but if there’s no evidence of this happening in the classic series and the worst offenders from the new series haven’t caused the desertion of the audience either, it makes the contention difficult to take seriously. It wasn’t just the classic series that has had this claim made against it. The 1996 TV Movie starring Paul McGann also frequently has had this charge leveled at it. “Continuity….. killed Doctor Who in 1989, and it was a desperate shame to see the same infections do it again in ‘96” is a typical contemporary quote (this one from a former Doctor Who Magazine editor in a fanzine interview from 1997). It has always been mystifying to me that people put the lack of further episodes stemming from the TV movie to anything other the lack of the miraculously-high audience tuning into the US broadcast to begin with. The US ratings indicated that those who tuned in stayed tuned in for the two hours - if there was a decline in the US ratings over the gradual course of the TV Movie, then perhaps a theory could be supported - but there was no such decline. The view that the continuity references confused US viewers and caused them to switch off is not based on anything factual. And without further episodes broadcast in either the US or the UK (where the TV Movie, rather than “killing” the franchise, proved that Doctor Who could once again be a mainstream hit), it is really impossible to say either way whether the continuity references in the TV Movie would have put off anyone tuning in to future episodes. The audience research done in the UK (none is known to exist by Fox in the US) certainly suggests that the UK audience enjoyed what they saw (references to the Daleks and the Time Lords and all) - and thus would be more likely than not to tune in again. It also seems far more likely that the TV Movie could have been a complete re-boot with no past continuity references whatsoever, nor a regeneration, and still not garnered the miraculously-high ratings needed to convince FOX to continue with the expense and continued protracted-hassle of more TV movie co-productions with the BBC. That is purely a theory on my part, but unlike those who have claimed that continuity killed the TV Movie and/or the Classic series, I am at least acknowledging it as such. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2439 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-06-13T02:48:12+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2438 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2438 It hasn’t received a lot of fanfare or buzz, but Class, written by Patrick Ness, is currently filming and will be the fourth Doctor Who live-action spin-off series to be broadcast (after K9 and Company, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures). Perhaps some of the lack of buzz is the fact that this spin-off is not based upon popular characters from the television series, but a location that has been used on and (mostly) off over the past 53 years - Coal Hill School. Nothing much is known about the characters of Class or the regular cast that has been announced (who are pictured above), which probably also contributes to a lack of anticipation. There are rumours that Peter Capaldi will guest star in one episode - which, as a means of generating some excitement (and ratings) for the 8-part 45-minute episode series - probably seems like a wise move. The Class cast announced is Greg Austin, Fady Elsayed, Sophie Hopkins, Vivian Oparah and Katherine Kelly, the latter of whom has been confirmed to be playing a teacher at the school. The rest of the regular cast are apparently playing students yet they all look far too old to be playing students of a school like Coal Hill School (where none of the students over the years have looked older than 16, and often much younger), so it will be interesting to find out if Coal Hill School has now changed or expanded its range of academic years offered. Or maybe they are all humanoid aliens who have emigrated to the Earth but still need to get a primary school education before they can get a job here and will be sitting in the same class as a bunch of 7 year olds. If that’s not the premise of this spin-off then so be it, but I think that would actually make for a fun premise nonetheless. http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2438 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-06-06T00:14:13+00:00 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2437 http://www.dwin.org/home/blog/article/2437 So now that the countdown is complete, we have one more companion exit to deal with (no pun intended) posthumously. This countdown started so long ago that when we began Clara Oswald was still a companion in the TARDIS and thus hadn’t figured into the original numbering. So where would Clara’s departure fit in? At the moment (and it is possible that one’s mind might change with the passing of time since this departure is still so “new’) I think Clara’s rubbing shoulders with Peri with respect to their respective departures - part of which is perhaps due to the fact that Peri’s departure is the one that Clara’s arguably contains the most similarities to (although generally speaking it is a pretty unique departure). Both companions are seemingly killed off for good in the middle of an epic adventure, only for it to be revealed during the last act of the said epic adventure that the companion’s death wasn’t quite as final as it seemed. Of course, that is supposed to be Clara’s actual death in Face the Raven (whereas it ends up not being so in the case of Peri) - but at the same time she is effectively granted ageless immortality by the stories end when the Doctor uses Time Lord equipment to extract her right before her death (which she will eventually be returned to, although that could be a billion years later). Certainly the ending does fit nicely with Clara’s increasing recklessness that is set up throughout the season - and also gives us the companion departure from the new series that is the least tragic or sad from the point of view of the companion at least, so “differential points” for Clara’s departure on that front. For that reason alone, it is probably the most satisfactory of the modern series’ companion departures (after 10 years, it seems silly to call it “new’). Clara’s departure might also be said to share similarities with Romana’s (which I placed just ahead of Peri’s) because they are the two companions who’s departure most signify that the companion has become so much like the Doctor that they end up leaving the TARDIS to travel time and space on their own, and with their own companion for that matter. Romana’s companion of K9 (or even Biroc) I do think works better than Clara’s companion of Ashildr in terms of being a logical choice. I don’t have an issue, as some have had, that Clara is now traveling time and space with the girl that is responsible for her eventual death - Clara’s recklessness and the President of the Time Lords who forced the situation have to take the real blame here since Ashildr genuinely didn’t intend for Clara or anyone to get hurt and they wouldn’t have done so if Clara hadn’t intervened behind the Doctor’s back. No, the bigger issue is that traveling for the rest of eternity with someone you’ve not had much chance to develop any chemistry with or a genuine friendship with doesn’t quite work as well as it does in Warriors’ Gate. Having said that, Ashildr also happens to be an immortal, ageless girl, so Clara does have that in common and there is plenty of time for chemistry to build post-series. Given that Big Finish do not yet have a license to do 12th Doctor stories, those hoping for a Big Finish spin-off audio series about two pretty, forever-young-looking girls traveling time and space together may have to wait a while to hear it…... http://www.dwin.org/blog/article/2437 The Doctor Who Information Network 2016-05-09T21:57:58+00:00