Doctor Who

[XIII]

This not correct. That is the BBC salary but The Doctor's pay is significantly boosted by commercial sales which are not declared.

Doing the convention circuit and fan events can be pretty lucrative.

[Amber Avenger]

Peter Capaldi was paid no more than £250,000 a year for his time as the doctor.

This not correct. That is the BBC salary but The Doctor's pay is significantly boosted by commercial sales which are not declared.

I also suspect as a life long fan of Doctor Who, money was not the main motivating factor in Peter Capaldi accepting the role.

I think there is probably a sweet spot in the middle somewhere - I do think overall it's unlikely to get a mega star in the role unless they have some sort of affection for the show, and whilst money won't always be a factor, it undoubtedly will be for some people - that's life, different people have different priorities.

To take the (unlikely, IMO) suggestion of Olivia Coleman - in an interview on David Tennant's podcast a couple of years ago, she stated that she doesn't really like to take a lot roles that take her away from her family for long periods of time. That sort of thing will be consideration for a lot of people considering the commitment of playing the Doctor takes a lot of time out of your year.

[Flux]

Peter Capaldi was paid no more than £250,000 a year for his time as the doctor.

This not correct. That is the BBC salary but The Doctor's pay is significantly boosted by commercial sales which are not declared.

I also suspect as a life long fan of Doctor Who, money was not the main motivating factor in Peter Capaldi accepting the role.

I think there is probably a sweet spot in the middle somewhere - I do think overall it's unlikely to get a mega star in the role unless they have some sort of affection for the show, and whilst money won't always be a factor, it undoubtedly will be for some people - that's life, different people have different priorities.

To take the (unlikely, IMO) suggestion of Olivia Coleman - in an interview on David Tennant's podcast a couple of years ago, she stated that she doesn't really like to take a lot roles that take her away from her family for long periods of time. That sort of thing will be consideration for a lot of people considering the commitment of playing the Doctor takes a lot of time out of your year.

Agree completely with your BIB. And that 'sweet spot' ultimately depends on the state of the show at the time of the offer, as does the level of 'prestige' associated with the role as all new Phil mentioned. Arguably, someone would be more willing to take on the role for that prestige alone at the end of David Tennant's run when the show was huge and they would have been stepping into a successful and revered programme. Now though, the show isn't the same juggernaut that it used to be, so that 'sweet spot' will probably lean more into the money (for actors of a certain calibre) because anyone stepping in would be taking a gamble at a time when the prestige of being associated with the show isn't what it used to be.

[Humphrey Hacker]

As a self-confessed "classic whovian" I am seriously disappointed with the show. Now I want to make clear that this isn't a slur against anyone but against the show in particular. It's lost its way. It's basically **** on its history and its fans by the ludicrous "timeless child".

Why? The reasons escape me. Maybe its socio-political or maybe Chibnall and others wee being total dicks.

I think whats needed is get the regeneration out of the way and take the show off the air for a couple of years.

There could be a possibility that your no longer the target audience and you have changed alto the point where Dr who no longer works for you.

People change and tastes change. I've not seen anyi of this incarnation yet as I wanted to go back and re watch all the new who. Some I loved first time round but less this time and 9ther episodes vice versa.

Yeah, I'll go with that. I'm of a certain age and a Pertwee-era lover so I'm biased.

[BettyS]

Much of the Doctor Who debate has become toxic because of box ticking appointments. The BBC now has to make as much revenue as possible which means the good doctor has to be popular worldwide not just in BBC management offices. It needs a proper producer and (I was going to say a believable character actor but you know what that sets off :lol: ) Point is it has to be commercial and the present set up isn't. Its a bit of a disaster.

[Blubatt]

X Factor 'taking a break', Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall leaving Doctor Who? It must be my birthday

In all seriousness, I have never been happier to see the end of this era of Doctor Who. I've never had that with Eccleston, Tenant, Smith, or Capaldi. Even when their stories were weak, I always liked their takes on the Doctor.

Jodie Whittaker is a decent actress, but she brought nothing new to the role. It was like a little bit of every other Doctor, but with no overarching trait. And that isn't her fault. It's the writing. You had a great group of actors and you didn't give them anything.

The Timeless Child arc felt contrived. A retcon for the sake of a retcon. And no development for anyone. Nothing was achieved except for brief ratings boosts and tabloid coverage.

As for who the new Doctor should be, I would love Jo Martin back. She was the best thing out of the bad, but Guy Ritchie, Richard Ayoade, or Cillian Murphy would be great. My personal pick would be Alex Siddig, but that would never happen. But you need a new Showrunner that will fix things, and that's more important now

[IanJRedman]

There's not even any guarantee the show will continue as we currently know it. I'm not expecting it to be cancelled, far from it, but until we (hopefully) get word of a Series 14, I'm half-expecting us to end up with a movie, or some kind of co-production deal like His Dark Materials. This feels very different to when RTD and Moffat stepped down - their successors were announced simultaneously. We'll have to see what happens; I just hope the BBC look after it.

For what it's worth, I'm not as anti-Chibnall as some, and even though there were rumours as far back as 2018 that he was only in it for three series, it still feels quite soon for the show to undergo a complete change again. It really feels like this era has only just started - the large gaps between series haven't helped.

[UTVLifer]

There's not even any guarantee the show will continue as we currently know it. I'm not expecting it to be cancelled, far from it, but until we (hopefully) get word of a Series 14, I'm half-expecting us to end up with a movie, or some kind of co-production deal like His Dark Materials. This feels very different to when RTD and Moffat stepped down - their successors were announced simultaneously. We'll have to see what happens; I just hope the BBC look after it.

For what it's worth, I'm not as anti-Chibnall as some, and even though there were rumours as far back as 2018 that he was only in it for three series, it still feels quite soon for the show to undergo a complete change again. It really feels like this era has only just started - the large gaps between series haven't helped.

The new showrunner and Doctor will be announced in due course, but the BBC have said that it's coming, so the show won't be going on hiatus.
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doc...pdate/amp/

However I am concerned about the timelines of all this, so Jodie will regenerate into her successor next October in the Blockbuster BBC Centenary special, and then 13 months later, the next showrunner will have to do the 60th anniversary - and if Chibnall does a Multi-Doctor for his final special, it will more or rule out the 60th being a multi-Doctor - I wonder if Chibnall's successor will do S14 before or after the 60th

[Blobs]

There's not even any guarantee the show will continue as we currently know it. I'm not expecting it to be cancelled, far from it, but until we (hopefully) get word of a Series 14, I'm half-expecting us to end up with a movie, or some kind of co-production deal like His Dark Materials. This feels very different to when RTD and Moffat stepped down - their successors were announced simultaneously. We'll have to see what happens; I just hope the BBC look after it.

For what it's worth, I'm not as anti-Chibnall as some, and even though there were rumours as far back as 2018 that he was only in it for three series, it still feels quite soon for the show to undergo a complete change again. It really feels like this era has only just started - the large gaps between series haven't helped.

The new showrunner and Doctor will be announced in due course, but the BBC have said that it's coming, so the show won't be going on hiatus.
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doc...pdate/amp/

However I am concerned about the timelines of all this, so Jodie will regenerate into her successor next October in the Blockbuster BBC Centenary special, and then 13 months later, the next showrunner will have to do the 60th anniversary - and if Chibnall does a Multi-Doctor for his final special, it will more or rule out the 60th being a multi-Doctor - I wonder if Chibnall's successor will do S14 before or after the 60th

Presumably series 14 will start New Years Day 2023.

[JK1985]

The one good thing for Doctor Who fans is the BBC stating that a new showrunner will be announced in due course - my guess is they have already hired a new team, but do not want to trample on the last series of Jodie's and Chris and so not reveal anything until at least the end of 2021 possibly even 2022.

They are under no obligation to reveal all at once.

In terms of when we will get to find out who the 14th doctor is, we can look back at previous doctors announcing their departure. Peter Capaldi announced his departure in January 2017, with Jodie revealed as the 13th doctor in July 2017 - so seven month wait we had in 2017.

David Tennant revealed his departure as the doctor during the National Television Awards in October 2008, and three months later we then knew Matt Smith was going to become the 11th doctor.

Matt Smith announced on June 1st 2013 he would be leaving at Christmas 2013, with Peter Capaldi revealed as the 12th doctor on 4th August 2013.

[Fireflash79]

There's not even any guarantee the show will continue as we currently know it. I'm not expecting it to be cancelled, far from it, but until we (hopefully) get word of a Series 14, I'm half-expecting us to end up with a movie, or some kind of co-production deal like His Dark Materials. This feels very different to when RTD and Moffat stepped down - their successors were announced simultaneously. We'll have to see what happens; I just hope the BBC look after it.

For what it's worth, I'm not as anti-Chibnall as some, and even though there were rumours as far back as 2018 that he was only in it for three series, it still feels quite soon for the show to undergo a complete change again. It really feels like this era has only just started - the large gaps between series haven't helped.

The new showrunner and Doctor will be announced in due course, but the BBC have said that it's coming, so the show won't be going on hiatus.
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doc...pdate/amp/

However I am concerned about the timelines of all this, so Jodie will regenerate into her successor next October in the Blockbuster BBC Centenary special, and then 13 months later, the next showrunner will have to do the 60th anniversary - and if Chibnall does a Multi-Doctor for his final special, it will more or rule out the 60th being a multi-Doctor - I wonder if Chibnall's successor will do S14 before or after the 60th

I personally don't think the 60th anniversary will be as big as the 50th was, especially as the BBC want a big special for their own centenary the year before.

My guess is the 60th will be all about the new Doctor, the new series and fresh look for the show culminating in a big series finale. If we do have a new Doctor in the 60th year I doubt they'd want to put them into a multi-Doctor story in their first year.

Saying that, if the centenary is to be Jodie's last episode I'd be surprised if that would be multi-Doctor as the return of previous Doctors might overshadow her exit. However if they are to have a multi-Doctor then the centenary special would be more likely than the 60th I think.

For what it's worth I think the Chibnall/Whittaker offered a lot of promise but was a bit of a misfire. I can't exactly put my finger on why, the whole thing felt very one dimensional right down to characterisation, then it went to the extreme with the Timeless Child thing, Of course we have another series and some specials to go and my views could change. But the whole thing has been a bit dull overall for me.

It will be interesting to see who the BBC goes with next to run it, I'd like to think they already have a team in place.

[DJ Dave]

I think for me the best episode and the one that I kind of only enjoyed since Jodie Whittaker became the doctor is "Rosa" Parks, but nothing against Jodie being an actor just think the stories haven't been interesting for me since she has taken the role. (I did like Bradley Walsh in it though)

For me I was to young to remember or see any of the first era of Doctor Who so my all time favourite has to be David Tennant, I did like Peter and Matt too an Tom Baker is a legend, but I don't know it just hasn't been that mazing for me since Jenna Coleman left the role as Clara.

I do agree, that the next person shouldn't get it just because they are a Woman/Black or Gay etc, it should go to the best person for the job and maybe that should be a nobody as that seemed to work well with Dave, Peter and Matt.

[Mateus Honrado]

While I'm gutted to hear about this regardless of the divisive nature of the current era, I wish both Jodie and Chris the best of luck on their careers after the show.

[johnnyboy]

I was dead against Jodie as the Doctor - until I actually saw her in the role. I don't like the "fam" stuff personally but, other than that, I am deffo a Jodie fan.

That's in contrast to Sylvester McCoy who I was also dead against - a view confirmed by seeing him in the role.

I'm not as against the Timeless Child retcon as others - I am 47 and I used to love the 80s Doctor Who (until McCoy - the only saving grace was the gorgeous Sophie Aldred, one of my first major teenage crushes and she still looks great today) but that suffered from the 13th Doctor roadblock which I know they tried to solve but I don't think they did it very well, in fairness.

Doctor Who is an international hit and it amazes me that there aren't 15-20 episodes every single year with a number of different spin-offs with similar-length runs in production at the same time (like Torchwood which I miss terribly).

This could be an absolutely moneyspinner for the BBC and, if a private company had a hit like this on their hands, they would have extracted the greatest possible revenue from it.

I also, for my sins, love Star Trek. The odd poor spin-off aside, that's the way you handle a globally-loved entertainment franchise.

[JAS84]

They'd need an American co-producer if they wanted 20 episodes a year. They don't have the time or budget to make that many themselves (if it took nine months to film 14 episodes in the Tennant/Smith days, it would take the entire year to make 20, with no breaks between seasons!).