The Thirteenth Doctor

[JCC]

The addition of the Division though, I find much more interesting.

Oh, you mean section 31?

haha! Definitely similar. Did Section 31 do memory wipes? I can't remember. (queue drums)

[JCC]

Has it been CONFIRMED, that Ruth is from the past? What if Ruth is a future regeneration of the Doctor?
Maybe she DOES know the current Doctor and is just hiding it?
Maybe at some point, the doctor's mind gets wiped again and Ruth is from the future and doesn't remember her?

Definitely not confirmed, but I would say implied by what we have seen so far. The Doctor does lie so it is certainly possible Dr Ruth is a future Doctor who is lying to her former self (but why?) or forgot her former self (again why?)... (I would guess in that case she is inked to play the next Doctor.) However, we have a mystery Doctor, and they have just told us our current Dr doesn't remember her whole life, so it's logical at this point to presume Dr Ruth is pre-"first" Doctor. (Though, the Police Box TARDIS remains a problem there.)

I assume Chibnall will close this plot hole. It seems a too obvious thing to miss or screw up, so I assume we have more revelations about Dr Ruth coming...

[Punisher]

Has it been CONFIRMED, that Ruth is from the past? What if Ruth is a future regeneration of the Doctor?
Maybe she DOES know the current Doctor and is just hiding it?
Maybe at some point, the doctor's mind gets wiped again and Ruth is from the future and doesn't remember her?

Definitely not confirmed, but I would say implied by what we have seen so far. The Doctor does lie so it is certainly possible Dr Ruth is a future Doctor who is lying to her former self (but why?) or forgot her former self (again why?)... (I would guess in that case she is inked to play the next Doctor.) However, we have a mystery Doctor, and they have just told us our current Dr doesn't remember her whole life, so it's logical at this point to presume Dr Ruth is pre-"first" Doctor. (Though, the Police Box TARDIS remains a problem there.)

I assume Chibnall will close this plot hole. It seems a too obvious thing to miss or screw up, so I assume we have more revelations about Dr Ruth coming...

OK. Another thing since I don't remember.
Was it ever confirmed that it WAS the actual TARDIS and not a replica or anything (for whatever reason)?
Was it actually confirmed Ruth WAS THE Doctor or are we just taking her word for it?
IIRC there are plenty of Doctor fan clubs in the series world. maybe its a replica built by one of them who has gotten a little looney? Hell, Maybe Ruth is just another version of The Master fudging with the Doctor?

[JCC]

OK. Another thing since I don't remember.
Was it ever confirmed that it WAS the actual TARDIS and not a replica or anything (for whatever reason)?

No, but it really wouldn't make much sense for the Doctor to be travelling around in another TARDIS that looks like a Police Box.

Was it actually confirmed Ruth WAS THE Doctor or are we just taking her word for it?

The best confirmation is that she is credited as the Doctor, and this quote from Chibnall:
“The important thing to say is – she is definitively the Doctor, there's not a sort of parallel universe going on, there's no tricks,” he stressed.

"Jo Martin is the Doctor, that's why we gave her the credit at the end which all new Doctors have the first time you see them. John Hurt got that credit,”

[Daveman]

I didn't care for that season finale at all. In no particular order...

- The "revelations" about the Time Lords and the Doctor weren't very significant to me. It had already been established a few times waaay back in the old series that the Doctor was sometimes employed by the Time Lords as their reluctant "fixer". That the Doctor has fulfilled that role in a semi-official capacity via some clandestine organization didn't have any impact for me.

- I'm pretty sure it's been the lore that Gallifreyans couldn't naturally regenerate, that it was only after development of time travel and exposure to the continuum that granted that ability, and that only time-travelling Time Lords could do so. Run-of-the-mill Gallifreyans aren't so lucky. Altering this so that they obtained the ability (and still restricted it to the elite) via an other-worldly child isn't a huge change, and they're vague in how it was presented whether this was done maliciously (lets keep killing this poor child over and over and over) or just done over many years.

- The Doctor not being a "real" Time Lord and some special being with unlimited regenerations flies in the face of the show's history. What was the significance of 11 finally reaching the end of his cycle and being, in the final critical moments, gifted additional regenerations by the Time Lords?

- Somehow, all this was the Earth-shattering deep secret that "changes everything" that pushed the Master over the edge, forcing him to wipe out the Time Lords (presumably)?

- They spent 3 episodes building up that aging Cyberman as a pretty interesting villain and then he dies like a chump after revealing his master plan?

- They certainly built up the "death particle" as something that was going to wipe out all organic life. Period. Not unlike the Dalek's Reality Bomb, or the crazy desperate Time Lords plan to undo the universe. Then all of a sudden nevermind, it's just one planet. Plus I hated the way they hurriedly made passing reference to this "legendary Cyberman weapon" to the Doctor just to give her a reason to get off the TARDIS.

- I have not been a fan, at all, of the 3 companions. Graham has been the best but I've haven't liked the way they've been forcing this tight knit "fam" on us without spending the time to actually flesh them out and make them characters worth caring about. Getting to know a new Doctor and 3 companions was too much all at once, in my opinion. Having said that, it felt to me like that this was going to be the end, for at least a few of them (Graham and Yaz had a lot of touchy feely moments that led me to think one or both were going to die/leave). Now it almost feels like they have a chance to write them out altogether and after having presumably built up the "fam" to end it like this will be really silly. Yeah I know that's speculative.

- I do like the new Master, and the appearance/style of the Cyber Time Lords.

[JCC]

They've already announced that Ryan and Graham are gone next season - or at most you will only see them occasionally. Yaz they are mum on though the actress said she hopes to be back. I agree, that I would love it to be the Doctor and Graham solo. The young Doc / older companion is a fresh dynamic which was done beautifully in Big Finish with the 6th Doctor and Evelyn - possibly the greatest Doc / Companion team up EVER~!

[AWS260]

Love this.

[Smoove_B]

[hepcat]

After the terrible events of World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls, Bill Potts and Nardole are trying to keep their spirits up...

Written by Steven Moffat and starring Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and Matt Lucas as Nardole, this video was home-produced remotely during the 'lockdown' period of the COVID-19 outbreak in June 2020.

All involved in the making of this video contributed their time and talent for free. If you enjoyed it, it would great if you could consider making a donation to support one of the Black Lives Matter organisations chosen by Pearl Mackie...

[$iljanus]

Thanks for posting that. Bill and Nardole rank up there with some of my favorite companions. And I really enjoyed their season too.

[hepcat]

Matt Lucas can do no wrong. I also enjoyed their seasons immensely.

[Max Peck]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Doctor Who: Russell T Davies returns as programme showrunner

Screenwriter Russell T Davies is to take charge again of Doctor Who, the sci-fi show he helped revive in 2005.

Davies, who was the fantasy drama's showrunner until 2009, will take over when Chris Chibnall departs next year.

"I'm beyond excited to be back on my favourite show," said Davies, who resumes his role as the show prepares to mark its 60th anniversary in 2023.

One of his first responsibilities will be to decide who takes over the Tardis following Jodie Whittaker's exit.

The actress is set to hang up her Sonic Screwdriver after one more six-part series and three 2022 specials.

[JCC]

Very excited for RTD to return. Chibnall's a very good writer but I have only liked his era in Who. Hope I can get back to loving it with RTD.

[Defiant]

Not a fan of RTD's tenure, so I found this disappointing. The first two seasons were my least favorite and while there was some improvement during the third and fourth seasons, I'm still not fond of it. I also hate all of his season arcs (which were always way too over-the-top and relied on lame deus ex machina). To be fair, a few of his stories were excellent (eg, Midnight) and I like some of his non-Who stuff.

I would rather have had J. Michael Straczynski, who was reportedly being considered.

[JCC]

RTD did something I thought was impossible. Bring back Doctor Who for a modern audience in a way that didn't alienate non-fans while also pleasing long time fans. It also maintained continuity with the old show while still making it easy for new fans to watch. That is an incredible thing!!!

While it's true the first 2 seasons are possibly the worst (though I would make the argument they were better than Chibnall's seasons at least in terms of better stories) they were still very good. Best of all they were just more fun and interesting than Chibnall's run was - though his second season was far better (if controversial for old fans like me) than his first.

I've posted what I like and dislike about B5 many times so I won't repeat them again. I do think JMS is a great writer, though there are aspects of B5's story I really didn't like. But, I would have been more than intrigued if he got the job.

But, I am excited it is RTD. I expect his new series will be better than his worst two series were, and I expect them to be better than Chibnall's. Fundamentally, I just prefer Brits being in charge of Doctor Who. When Americans got involved we got the TV Movie which had a great Doctor and a bad everything else. JMS working for the BBC would likely have been fine and maybe even brilliant. But RTD is a solid, safe pick. I am not sure it will turn around DW's ratings in the UK. (In fact I am pretty sure it won't.) But I am still excited to see him try.

[$iljanus]

I really wanted the Chibnall era to succeed. It had a talented group of actors but his first season was underwhelming and except for the Master episodes and the episode with Jo Martin the latest season was the first time I didn’t feel the need to watch as the episodes aired and I didn’t even finish the season. So maybe we’re back to the same old same old with RJD but that could tide me over until they find a different person to take over. I’d watch the adventures of Jo Martin as The Doctor in a heartbeat, though. That episode completely took me by surprise in a good way!

Also bring back Murray Gold for the music!

[JCC]

Good grief - you should definitely finish the season. It antagonized plenty of old fans but it was quite a shock. (I liked it even though I don't really approve of the big reveal.) My guess is it will be ignored, (or RTD may retcon it) which is a shame as I too would like more of Joe Martin's Doctor. Of course the Chiball era isn't over yet so who knows?

[Defiant]

RTD did something I thought was impossible. Bring back Doctor Who for a modern audience in a way that didn't alienate non-fans while also pleasing long time fans. It also maintained continuity with the old show while still making it easy for new fans to watch. That is an incredible thing!!!

While it's true the first 2 seasons are possibly the worst (though I would make the argument they were better than Chibnall's seasons at least in terms of better stories) they were still very good. Best of all they were just more fun and interesting than Chibnall's run was - though his second season was far better (if controversial for old fans like me) than his first.

I'm a season and a half behind, so I've only seen the first half of Chibnall's first season - perhaps not enough to judge, although my understanding was that some of those stories were considered poor - and I didn't think it was bad (at least, relative to New Who, of which I'm only a casual fan of and my expectations are lower), and I enjoyed it more than maybe three quarters of the stuff during RTD's tenure. But, then, I guess I'm one of those exceptions about "pleasing long time fans". *shrug*

[JCC]

Chibnal's seasons are fine. They certainly look better being shot in HD and with better use of CGI than most of the Davies era. I mainly think it's inferior to Steven Moffat's era which preceded it. I also had high hopes for Jodie Whitaker as the Doctor - and while she is fine, I would say she is my least favorite of the modern Doctors.

[Defiant]

So I finally got around to finishing Season 11, and I thought it was pretty good.

I thought Rosa, Demons of the Punjab, Witchfinders and Resolution were all very good (although I think the first two could have been better as historicals, without sci-fi being shoehorned it). Most of the others were more average-ish, but still entertaining, with Ghost Monument and The Battle of whatever being my least favorite of them. I liked that it didn't have a story-arc, which I've usually disliked in previous seasons.

[JCC]

I am inclined to tell you that Jodie's first season is her worst but, if you don't like story arcs, you may be less happy with her other seasons. I definitely prefer her later series to her first. I will say this, Chibs will throw some surprises at you going forward.

[Defiant]

Well, I've finally caught up to the rest of the series. Overall, I found Season 12 to be weaker than Season 11, although there were a few good episodes. I liked Season 13, but it felt very rushed that they were trying to tell it in a shortened season (so it was confusing in spots).

How rushed it was, and the Jo Martin stuff echo some complaints I have with the seventh Doctor era - that it's pacing was too fast for me, and that I didn't like the whole...

Spoiler:

"the Doctor is more than a Time Lord" stuff. Though I don't hate the Jo Martin Doctor the way some fans apparently do.

And really, giving the Doctor unlimited regenerations is stupid. But then, I also think the whole CyberMasters stupid too. Cybermen have gotten so far removed from their original humans-turned-into-cybernetic-creatures and into all powerful machines.

Overall, I liked Jodie Whittaker's Doctor. Also, I think Dan is a great companion.

My favorite episodes are probably:
Rosa
Demons of the Punjab
The Witchfinders
Resolution
Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror
The Haunting of Villa Diodati