The Next Doctor Discussion…
Merry Christmas! And what a gift we have received from the Beeb. I would post the SPOILERS pic to give you all a heads up (those of you who have yet to see this episode). But I igure if I just type SPOILERS in large bold text you’ll get the idea. If you continue reading… well, that’s your own look out.
After months of waiting we finally get to see The Next Doctor. Having just watched this episode this review will most likely be a lot of stream-of-consciousness babbling (and let’s face it, it’s been six months since my last review, so I’m out of practice…), so please forgive me. First off, when the episode started, I really felt the sense of watching another version of A Christmas Carol. Of course I did watch the George C. Scott version twice in a row today (thanks, Ma…), so that may have altered my perceptions a bit. I noticed the opening had a bit more going on than the teaser released last month, not to bad. Then we get to meet a Cyber-Shade. What exactly is a Cyber-Shade? Part Cyberman, part monkey? It’s never really made clear but they are servants to the Cybermen. And when I say Cybermen I of course mean the “Cybusmen” (that’s for you purists out there…). Now here are the Cybermen stuck in London at the dawn of the industrial revolution. The whole time I’m thinking, “Cool, we’re gonna see some steampunk Cybermen!” The Doctor in the meantime is following his future incarnation, but notices that there is something wrong. The next Doctor can’t seem to get his memories straight. That and his sonic screwdriver is just a screwdriver (funny little bit there). While investigating a murdered man’s house the Doctors find a Cybermen device that later, in a great homage, shows all of the Doctor’s past incarnations (but no Rowan Atkison…). The Doctor comes to realize that the man claiming to be the him is not him, he just absorbed the information from the Cyber device to escape the horror of what happened to his own. Anyway, I really think I’ve given away too much (but you did get your spoiler warning…).
I really thought this was a much stronger special than last year’s. Let’s be honest, Voyage of the Damned was weak. Though it moved at such a fast pace you didn’t notice it was well over an hour long. And it was also nice of them to let 21st Century London a normal Christmas for a change. The BBC got to do what they do best, a period piece. And David Morrisey’s take on the Doctor was fantastic. He really would have been a good choice to be the Eleventh Doctor. Rosita looked like she could have been fun, but didn’t really get a whole lot of screen time. Dirvia Kirwan’s Miss Harttigan seemed so close to the Matron from Partners in Crime that I really thought they used the same actress. And I did get my wish to see a steampunk Cyberman. Though I didn’t think it would be two hundred feet tall! I have to say that was probably one of the coolest effects I have seen in the revival series. Though oddly enough, that’s how I kind of pictured the giant bug-killing robot from the Doctor Who audio book, Pest Control. Minus the Cybermen accouterments. Okay, enough of my rambling. Gotta get up early for the second busiest day in retail. So… what do you guys think?
21 responses so far ↓
1 Drudatz // Dec 25, 2008 at 10:49 pm
The Episode was AWSOME!
Yes Morrisey would really made a great Doctor and ones sad that he isnt but on the other hand one is happy that David sticks around as the Doctor
2 Aaron // Dec 26, 2008 at 1:18 pm
He sticks around… for now.
I really disagree with your comment about Miss Hartigan. The only way she reminded me of Miss Foster was the way she referred to herself as “Matron _____ of the _____”, just as Miss Foster did. Miss Foster genuinely thought she was doing nothing wrong, besides breaking the Shadow Proclamation. But Miss Hartigan did realize, at the very end, that she was wrong.
Also, I liked Morrisey as the Doctor, but the revelation about who he really was was a little disappointing.
3 Chimina // Dec 27, 2008 at 1:54 pm
So… who IS going to be the 11th?
Does anyone know when Planet of the Dead comes anyway?? And for once we don’t have a teaser of it… but the “of the Dead” part maybe is a nudge towards a zombie oriented Who episode? Would be fun
4 dkrouskop // Dec 27, 2008 at 6:04 pm
The episode certainly doesn’t rule out the possibility that Morrissey will indeed be the 11th Doctor. Tennant’s line about if someone had to be the Doctor, he was glad it was Morrissey’s character feels like foreshadowing to me.
As an aside, I get a bit perturbed when people pick on VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED. There have been two feature film versions of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, and a TV movie, and yet the DOCTOR WHO production team remains the only crew ever to do it right. The action was fast-paced and spectacular, the characters were interesting and likable, and the whole endeavor was a great deal of fun - something DOCTOR WHO should always aspire to. In all, VOTD was a far stronger Christmas outing than THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, despite how great Donna’s subsequent return to the series turned out to be.
5 Chimina // Dec 27, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Well, the man that gave himself 1 million quid in VOTD, mr Copper, was mentioned in the season 4 episode The Stolen Earth in being the man behind the Subwave network (the Mr Copper Foundation) so the Doctor saved the Earth twice in VOTD ! ha!
6 Chimina // Dec 28, 2008 at 7:00 pm
IMDB lists Planet of the Dead for April 11th, which is the Saturday of the Easter weekend.
Would be awesome if it’s true, but it’s still over 3 months :/
7 Joe Larson // Dec 29, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Wait, so we have a Christmas special and an Easter Special. Is Doctor Who the next Catholicism?
8 dkrouskop // Dec 29, 2008 at 4:03 pm
VOTD and POTD aside, THE NEXT DOCTOR was very, very enjoyable. Morrissey was excellent. At first, I was a bit sad that he wasn’t actually the Doctor. Then, I found myself thinking that he was so good as Jackson Lake that it would be almost a shame to overshadow that performance by having him show up next year as the actual 11th Doctor. Either way, he has left an unforgettable mark on WHO history. I also really enjoyed the plot, which was abit different than the usual Cybermen shenanigans, though retaining the important core elements. The Doctor’s defeat of the CyberKing wasn’t as cerebral as I would have liked (except for TCI, the Christmas specials tend to be particularly effects-driven), but the overall package was quite satisfying. I just wish the Doctor would get to end an adventure on a less melancholy note once in a while. Hopefully, Mr. Moffatt (whose EMPTY CHILD/DOCTOR DANCES resolution remains the most satisfying of any new WHO ending) will steer the series away from the whole “lonely traveller” theme a bit more often. In all, I’d give THE NEXT DOCTOR 4 out of 5 stars.
9 dkrouskop // Dec 30, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I’m really surprised that this, the most anticipated WHO Christmas special of all, hasn’t resulted in more comments on this page. Surely more of you have seen it, and surely some of you have some thoughts, feelings, reaction to share. Anything?
10 Chimina // Dec 31, 2008 at 8:55 am
Joe, since there is no real season 5 in 2009 but in 2010, they are going to do 4 or so specials throughout the year. They plan to do them in the weekends where people are free for holidays, which includes Easter.
11 dkrouskop // Dec 31, 2008 at 11:11 am
Guess I’ll keep it going.
I loved TND for a lot of reasons, but it will always hold a special place in my heart for two reasons. First, it features the Cybermen, my all-time favorite DOCTOR WHO villains. These Cybermen were particularly good, as they looked even leaner and more menacing than when we last saw them. I love how they intended to “betray” Miss Hartigan all along, and how she managed to turn the tables on them. The CyberKing was definitely cool, though I wouldn’t want to see one in every Cyber story from here on. The CyberShades, on the other hand, were very nice “historical” replacements for the “old” Cybermats. The idea of the Cybermen converting beasts into cyber servants is intriguing, and works particularly well in this setting, where power and raw materials for conversion are in short supply. In any case, they were scary, and that’s what counts! Finally, you have to love any Cyberman with brain matter showing! Let’s just hope this isn’t the last time we see the C-men (Can anyone say “alternate universe Cybermen meet Mondasian Cybermen”?).
The second reason this story will always be a favorite is the use of clips of all nine of the previous Doctors. I realize that you want to use these sorts of things sparingly, to sharpen their impact. But it’s always sort of bothered me that, in this WHOniverse in which there are websites and fan/nutjob groups and UNIT dossiers and returning companions/monsters, the only glimpse we’ve ever gotten of seven of the last nine blokes (Eccleston and Davison have obviously been there in person) came in the form of sketches in a diary. That Sarah Jane Smith has no photos of either of her Doctors, and that UNIT has none that we’ve seen (considering the fact that they’ve called on him for help twice since 2005), has never made much sense to me. I acknowledged when the Russell T. Davies era began that this was a new series about the lead character of the original series, with a different style, format, and (often) tone. That doesn’t bother me anymore. But it has always been a bit needling that the continuity is intact, but none of the thousands of Earth folk and aliens who know about the Doctor seem to keep a visual record of his various appearances. Leave it to the Cybermen (just as they did with the first five, way back in EARTHSHOCK) to answer my prayers by giving us the first true glimpse of all ten Doctor in action in a single story.
Here’s a question, though - How do the alternate universe Cybermen know about the previous nine Doctors? Hmmmmm…
PLANET OF THE DEAD is, of course, a great title for a WHO story. With its horror implications, perhaps this will be the story where we see the return of the Gelth. Or, perhaps this will be a vampire tale, either with a new type of undead bloodsucker, or the return of the old-school, STATE OF DECAY variety (isn’t the E-Space Trilogy due on DVD soon?). Some are speculating zombies, and that could be very cool as well. Then again, maybe PLANET OF THE DEAD refers to someone or a group of someones who are believed to be dead - like, say, the Time Lords. After all, Easter is a holiday centering around resurrection!
12 dkrouskop // Dec 31, 2008 at 2:51 pm
More PLANET OF THE DEAD (and beyond) speculation…
Russell Davies said this in a recent interview:
“We’ve got a young female companion at Easter, and then a much older woman next Christmas - someone in her fifties or sixties. I love that.”
Could we see the return of Jenny, the Doctor’s genetically engineered daughter, at Easter? Again, the Christian holiday of Easter is all about resurrection, and the Doctor believes that Jenny is dead. Perhaps this is her “rebirth”.
For next Christmas, maybe we’ll see the return of a previous female companion, now a bit older and wiser. Janet “Tegan Jovanka” Fielding will be 52, Louise “Leela” Jameson 58, Lalla Ward 58 and Mary Tamm 59 (though Romana herself would presumably be much older), Katy “Jo Grant” Manning and Wendy “Zoe Herriot” Padbury both 61, Nicola “Peri Brown” Bryant and Sophie Aldred both 47 , Sarah “Nyssa” Sutton 48, Bonnie Langford 45 (these last four are a bit of a stretch, perhaps), Caroline “Liz Shaw” John in her early 60s, and Deborah “Victoria Travers” Watling 61. Carole Ann Ford, Anneke “Polly” Wills, Maureen “Vicki” O’Brien, and Jackie “Dodo” Lane are certainly in the right age group, as well. (Apologies, ladies, for mentioning ages!) Any one of these companions returning for a Christmas special would be a treat for longtime fans. And if my longstanding assertion that Davies will end his run by tying up the whole Gallifrey/Last of the Time Lords business is true, Jameson, Ward, Ford, or even Tamm would make perfect sense. Leela stayed on Gallifrey at the end of THE INVASION OF TIME, Ward’s Romana was in E-Space when last we saw her, we don’t know exactly what happened to Susan after she was left on Earth, and it’s not too great a leap to imagine that Romana regenerated into a form similar to her original appearance at some point.
Of course, all of this may be idle speculation. Davies does give us another clue in the same interview:
“It’s made casting next year’s four specials difficult because we’re going, ‘Well, that’s an interesting actress, but they might want her for series five.’ We don’t want to ruin anyone’s chances of being the new companion by casting her for a one-off.”
This would seem to preclude bringing in a former companion, though we can hardly rule out the possibility that Moffatt will do that in Series Five to smooth the transition to a new Doctor. Another possibility is that Davies plans to use Romana in one of the two specials in question, but intends to recast (and doesn’t want to stick the production team with a sort of inverse of the whole Princess Astra/Lalla Ward dilemma).
Any thoughts?
13 MondasSentinel // Jan 1, 2009 at 1:38 am
I await for the return of the Mondas Cybermen to return and open the time vortex then “delete” the Cybus Cybermen from Dr. Who forever
14 dkrouskop // Jan 1, 2009 at 3:19 am
Though I’m with you on the return of the classic Cybermen, I’m not ready to see the alternate universe Cybermen disappear forever. They’ve had three go-rounds so far, and they have been very cool all three times. Granted, TND has some illogical stuff going on, but the Cybermen themselves still rock.
15 Kern // Jan 1, 2009 at 5:57 pm
dkrouskop - rough guess as to how the Cybermen know about the Doctors? Nicked the data from the Torchwood database when they invaded there.
16 Chimina // Jan 1, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Actually, I believe it was implied in TND that the Cybermen stole the stamps from the Daleks inside the void, along with the void vault thingamajig.
but, i want to be surprised with the upcoming specials
even though the rumoring is fun, whatever happens is the last of Tennant so I want to enjoy and not know everything in advance, just hope 
17 dkrouskop // Jan 1, 2009 at 10:41 pm
I don’t really know if any of this stuff is even close to true, and I’ve been wrong more often than not in the past. Just biding time until real news comes along. That said…
A special DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL is scheduled to air on BBC 1 this Saturday afternoon. It’s subject is all 10 previous Doctors and the things that make them and their eras distinctive from one another. The rumor is that this special episode (the first ever to not be aired in direct conjunction with a new WHO episode) will culminate with the announcement of David Tennant’s replacement! We shall see, very soon!
18 dkrouskop // Jan 2, 2009 at 1:28 am
Any hardcore fans (that is, fans who love every DOCTOR WHO actor, story, etc.) care to join my Yahoo group?
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/doctorwholoyalists/
19 Chimina // Jan 2, 2009 at 10:47 am
If you haven’t seen it yet, watch Doctor Who at the Proms. It’s just brilliant and fantastic
20 dkrouskop // Jan 2, 2009 at 12:39 pm
It’s official!
From OG: “BBC News has announced that the identity of the actor who will play with Eleventh Doctor, succeeding current Doctor David Tennant, will be announced tomorrow.
The news will come in a special edition of tie-in documentary series Doctor Who Confidential, which is being transmitted on BBC One tomorrow evening at 5.35pm. The actor was confirmed in the role over the Christmas period, and will begin filming for series five this summer, for transmission in 2010.
New executive producer Piers Wenger is quoted as saying: “We believe the actor is going to bring something very special to the role and will make it absolutely their own. I just can’t wait to tell everyone who it is - it has been a nail-biting Christmas trying to keep this under wraps!”
The release from the BBC Press Office confirms that the Confidential episode has been retitled “The Eleventh Doctor” (it was formerly advertised as “The Ten Doctors”), and will feature the actor concerned giving his or her thoughts on having been cast. The press release also suggests that the last of David Tennant’s episodes as the Doctor will be broadcast in the New Year of 2010.”
WOOOHOOO!
21 Chimina // Jan 2, 2009 at 7:23 pm
AMG!
now im too excited I wont be able to sleep!!
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