Should I watch all 20 years of the original run or just begin with the new one which I think is been around for 15 years? What are the best episodes? I've seen only a handful of the old and New ones but I liked what Ive seen, just hoping for a guide to really get into it

Jo Martin and Alice Krige star in a brand-new box set of full-cast audio drama due to be released in January 2025, as the long-awaited Fugitive Doctor lands at Big Finish Productions.

For most of this episode I thought it was a good (if a bit on-the-nose) commentary about our societal distraction sickness and everyone living literally in a bubble. The hero was someone who literally able to walk on his own two legs, etc. But once they went underground everything kind of went loopy?

Where did the slug monsters come from? The idea that they came from "outside the (city's) bubble" kind of reinforced the idea that it's dangerous to hide from what's scary. But then we see the homeworld was also eaten destroyed by the same slug-monsters? If the slugs are controlled or created by the dots, are we meant to understand that the people of the home world are similarly walking around in bubbles? If so, then why does Finetime exist? The whole premise of an off-world "perfect" colony seemed to imply they were providing some service to the home-worlders beyond their 2 hours of "work". Why would a society of people living in bubbles send their youth to a faraway planet?

Then we see that the dots are capable of quickly killing the inhabitants. So where did the slug monsters come from? Why did the dots not just kill zippoty zop? Were the slugs obeying the dots alphabetical order parameters? Were they created by the dots?

At this point I was like "whatever it's Doctor Who, the plots are never as consistent as the vibes!" But then the vibes changed completely when it's revealed everyone is racist?!

My best guess is that this is some bungled way of comparing the people of Finetime to our modern social problem with radicalization on social media, like "look beyond yourself man" but that feels a bit of a stretch. I feel like I'm missing something big here!

Since returning as show runner of Doctor Who, RTD has stated fairly confidently that he was going to make sure the show delivered one season per year going forward. That made the reduced episode count a bit easier to swallow... a tiny bit...

In the meantime, though, streaming companies have become more cautious splurging money on show commissions, and it seems that includes distributing deals like the Disney+ one that boosted Doctor Who budgets for the most recent season, as well the forthcoming, already filmed season.

Quoted from an interview with SFX magazine, RTD now says that we won't have a definitive answer about a third Ncuti Gatwa outing until season 2 has finished airing:

> It’s an industry decision, it's like any business – these things take time. I think the decision will come after the transmission of season two. That's what we're expecting, that's what we've always been heading towards.

Given the time it seems to take only producing 8 episodes and a special these days, that will likely mean at least an extra one year gap between seasons 2 and 3 airing, if the show is even renewed by all current production and distribution parties.

Maybe, just maybe the spin-off The war between the land and the sea can fill in such a gap, but only time will tell.

I do appreciate that the Lemmy Doctor Who communities are less prone to wild fan speculation and continuity semantics rabbit holes, I really do. Sometimes, though, I dip back onto the main subreddits, and boy, do they get into massive circle jerks over little things that only jar others slightly.

Having exposed myself to the fandom mind virus, but refusing to join the fray on Reddit, I'll just infodump my own head canon explanations to (apparently controversial) occurrences in the latest season of the show here:

Is the Shalka Doctor now unredacted from continuity?

In the episode "Rogue", holograms of the Doctor's past selves loop around 15 like an old iTunes cover gallery. One of them is clearly Richard E Grant, who played the a ninth Doctor in "Scream of the Shalka". The animated series was short-lived and written out of the show's canon when the 2005 revival show introduced Eccleston as the "authoritative" ninth Doctor.

IRL explanation: Russell T Davies thought it would be fun to throw in Grant's face in the line-up. There's probably not more to it.

My in-universe explanation: The eighth Doctor actually regenerated into the Shalka Doctor, but because the Time War happened and rewrote timelines several times over, 8's eventually solidified upon the events of "Night of the Doctor", where he instead regenerates into the War Doctor.

However, time being relative, the Shalka Doctor is still extant if only as a wisp of an individual timeline, because a) he is a time traveler and therefore a complex temporal event not easily erased, and b) the Time War left the time stream in such a disarray that he may exist in a state of flux (no, not that one), and either continues adventuring as an offshoot of the Doctor's timeline, or is suspended in some kind of quantum field just slightly removed from it.

Pretty handwavy, yes, but all of Who continuity sort of requires you to gesture wildly like the eleventh Doctor having a thought, just for it to make some sort of sense.

The Doctor "was a dad", but 15 "hasn't had children yet"?!

In "The legend of Ruby Sunday", the fifteenth Doctor talks about his granddaughter Susan, who traveled with the first Doctor in the early years of the show. He then pivots to saying that he hasn't had children yet.

This is despite several if not all NuWho Doctors having referred in some form to having been a dad — including 15, just a few episodes earlier, in "Boom"! So which is it?

IRL explanation: As above, Russell T Davies likes to throw in non sequitur comments and details that mess with people's understanding of the show's lore. On a positivist note, it keeps that lore dynamic and throws some mysteries out for himself or subsequent writers to glom onto, like the Morbius Doctors or "half human on my mother's side" of the past. If it doesn't stick, ignore it.

My in-universe explanation: Ignoring the extended universe here, we don't know a lot about the Doctor's life previous to "An unearthly child", and nearly none about their family relations. What we do know is that they are a very prolific time traveler, and as witnessed from 11 and 12's relationship with River Song, things tend to get complicated, and invariably nonlinear.

With that in mind, it's perfectly feasible that 15 or a future incarnation has a child (the birds and bees part, or possibly looms?) that, for whatever reason, they leave for their previous, Hartnell self to raise (be a father to). Heck, given the above Shalka Doctor explanation, he could be the father, and 15 would be off the hook. Exactly what can we assume about a Time Lord's sense of self when alternative timelines come into play?

Along with the Doctor's realization that they are an "adopted" Timeless Child, as well as Ruby's search for her bio-mum in the past season, this explanation plays nicely into the twin notions of parenthood as giving life to a child versus raising it. Add to this that the Doctor's relationship to his companions (post-Susan) have always been stories of found and/or extended family.

It all makes sense when you (don't) think (too hard) about it!

So there you have it, the Doctor Who Reddit post to end all Doctor Who Reddit posts, deliberately not posted to Reddit. The important TL;DR is, time is in flux, several things can be true at the same time, and don't break your mind thinking about a TV show.

Anything else that needs explaining?

> Ruth Madeley is now confirmed to be reprising her role as UNIT's scientific advisor Shirley Anne Bingham in the spin-off.

> Though fans might have anticipated Shirley's appearance in The War Between The Land And The Sea, the second new cast member is rather more surprising... > > Colin McFarlane will also appear in the series as General Austin Pierce, a role he last played in the 2009 miniseries Torchwood: Children of Earth – 15 years ago.

Good to see Madeley back on screen! Her replacement in the recent season by Lenny Rush did give us another memorable UNIT character, but I'm looking forward to see more of Shirley.

Now, my memory of "Children of Earth" is a bit rusty, but iirc General Pierce will probably be wary of invaders from another world after that experience... We can hope that is the reasoning for his inclusion in this storyline?

>Doctor Who: On Ghost Beach

>by Niel Bushnell

>A haunting tale of mystery and adventure for the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday!

>The TARDIS arrives in County Durham, England, in 1958. Seaham Chemical Beach was once a scene of heavy industry, long since abandoned, but now local residents are having nightmares and seeing apparitions.

>It isn’t long before the Doctor and Ruby are affected by the beach’s peculiar atmosphere. As they begin to forget exactly who they are, Ruby hears a distant voice calling her on.

>Whose memories are filling the travellers’ heads, and what is the significance of Ghost Beach, in the Sea of Despair, on the planet Farfrom? Even more importantly – who is Reg?

>Susan Twist, who played the recurring woman in the BBC TV series, reads this atmospheric original chiller by Niel Bushnell.

---

>Doctor Who: Sting of the Sasquatch

>by Darren Jones

>A full-throttle adventure in America for the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday

>In a National Park in North-West America, the Doctor and Ruby are pursued by large, ape-like creatures who seem to literally disappear into the trees. When Ruby falls ill after apparently being stung, the Doctor believes the infection is extra-terrestrial in origin.

>They meet Dixie and Greg, two Bigfoot hunters determined to track down the mythical Sasquatch. Standing in their way is Ranger Peone, who’s adamant that the forest is too dangerous to explore. Dozens of people have vanished, or reappeared with no memory, in the last month alone.

>Then the ape creatures kidnap Ruby, and the Doctor is determined to both save her life and solve the mystery of the Sasquatch.

>Genesis Lynea, who played Harriet Arbinger in the BBC TV series, reads this tense and dramatic original story by Darren Jones.

> co-creator Alexander Woo told The Hollywood Reporter: "There was another sequence that was really fun and played really well and would have been a fantastic cameo appearance for an actor that I don’t want to name —because I don’t want to make someone feel bad for being cut out of the show. > >"However, it is a former Doctor Who, I’ll say that much. Fans of that would probably would have found it delightful. But for the sake of the rest of the episode, we had to set it aside." > > DB Weiss joked: "Jon Pertwee – 124 years old and still showed up."

Leave it to the former GoT showrunners to casually axe a high profile cameo. Apparently even their cutting room floor is like a Red Wedding.

So we'll never know which surviving Doctor didn't make the final edit, but speculation is fun, and free. Go nuts in the comments 🙂

geteilt von: https://feddit.org/post/1678587

> https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=qtQ2jTmzIok

> Davies addressed the fan theory that Mrs Flood is former companion Romana as she was wearing a similar costume - and he didn't quite rule it out. > > […] "Probably because she’s wearing white fur, people are going to think she’s [Time Lord companion] Romana, aren’t they?" > > Davies added: "I promise you answers to that. […]"

I guess it wasn't an on-camera appearance after all.

Logline

When the Doctor and Ruby meet The Beatles, they discover that the all-powerful Maestro is changing history.

---

Written by: Russell T. Davies

Directed by: Ben Chessell

The official Star Trek website has a companion piece, which has been shared here.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/12915798

> That's a damn fine poster, and the artist is selling prints (to people in the US).

>During Doctor Who's San Diego Comic-Con panel in Hall H, it was confirmed that Sethu's character will be called Belinda Chandra.

>The character's name is all that has been revealed thus far, but that hasn't stopped fans already wondering whether Belinda's surname could link her to fan-favourite Sarah Jane Adventures character, Rani Chandra.

Logline

Ruby learns the Doctor’s amazing secrets when he takes her to a Baby Farm in the future that’s being run by babies, but threatened by a bogeyman.

Written by: Russell T Davies

Directed by: Julie Anne Robinson

> ...being on Disney Plus now, this is a very deliberate choice to bring back an old BBC enemy – we've even cast the same actor [Gabriel Woolf] – to prove that the show hasn't severed its roots. To delve into your backstory is a very fine thing. That's thrilling for new viewers, and for old viewers it's a great reward. > > Also, you're guaranteed that the internet will do your work for you. In the old days, you could feasibly have said, 'Will people know who Sutekh is?' Now, it's on our official site. It's on our Instagram posts. Type in the word 'Sutekh' and there's an entire Wikipedia article, full of the history.

Written by: Russell T Davies

Directed by: Mark Tonderai

>Speaking of the Mouse House, ratings analyst Parrot Analytics tell us that Doctor Who was the most in-demand UK-originating show with U.S. audiences during its early release, although it didn’t have enormous competition in this realm (Bridgerton counts as U.S.-originated while Baby Reindeer had been out for a month by the time Doctor Who launched). It was seventh on Disney+’s list of most in-demand series, Parrot adds, trailing the likes of The Simpsons and the Star Wars offshoots.

>Considering its marketing might and budget, a senior U.S. ratings source positions these figures as “underwhelming,” although they acknowledge Doctor Who has long struggled attracting mainstream audiences in the U.S. “Okay but not stellar,” was the simple verdict from a Disney insider about the internal view on its performance.

>All eyes now on the upcoming season, which is in the can and due to launch next year, along with a long-rumored set of spin-offs that comprise the new ‘Whoniverse’ including The War Between the Land and the Sea. Fans were delighted when this spin-off was alluded to in the ’73 Yards’ episode of the latest season and Deadline is told that shooting will commence in September.

>One of our sources close to the production believes Disney will “need to make a decision” on its future relationship with the show soon after The War Between the Land and the Sea wraps, and this could have a bearing on how long the in-demand Gatwa — who will lead a West End production of The Importance of Being Earnest at the end of this — remains Doctor. Although the next season has wrapped, this source predicts the final episode has been left open-ended, with the possibility remaining open that Gatwa could regenerate into his successor if he chooses to exit. Gatwa’s agents hadn’t responded to Deadline’s request for comment by press time.

So, it sounds like her double-casting won't be part of some season-long mystery:

>"It’s one of those very simple situations, like with Freema [Agyeman, who appeared in Army Of Ghosts before being cast as Martha Jones]: when you cast a great actor, you need a new companion...

>...I was thinking, 'Should we go back to the 51st century, could we meet her again?' and then I suddenly went, 'Oh, let’s just cast her again. We’ve done that before. Lovely.' The relief that went around the entire production and the BBC, everyone went, 'Oh, great.' It was the most instant 'yes' you’ve ever seen...

>...We had a great meeting. She was kind of amazed and delighted. Lovely. Good stuff ahead. Completely new character, again, a completely new story, and that’s a great new story that will run across eight episodes."

Big Finish Productions, in partnership with BBC Studios, today announces the first ever Thirteenth Doctor audio dramas as Jodie Whittaker returns to the Whoniverse alongside Mandip Gill as Yasmin Khan.

(...)

Big Finish listeners can now pre-order The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures, starting at just £11.99 (per story on collector’s edition CD + download) or £9.99 (download only) exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.

A complete series multibuy bundle of all twelve releases is also available to pre-order at the specially discounted price of £126 (on collector’s edition CD + download) or £102 (download only), again exclusively from the Big Finish website.

This is the c/doctorwho discussion thread for "The Giggle" - join the conversation in the replies!

Written by: Russell T Davies

Directed by: Chanya Button