I wanted a year of the best Doctor under the best writer, though :-\

I can completely understand his reasons (and let’s face it, we know from The Writer’s Tale this isn’t a recent decision - this has been planned all along), but… he’s so fucking good, it’s amazing having someone who’s such an enthusiastic fan in the role (would anyone else, as Julian said, have done that DWM400 photo shoot with the same gusto?), and while I’m sure the next one will be a fantastic actor, will he be the same?

My vote’s for Paterson Joseph, anyway.

Doctor Whoa!

Also, I’ve never seen the show.

I’m not sad…

… don’t know why, I usually am when that kind of thing happens.

I do like Tennant’s Doctor. But he’s been doing it for a while… I’m curious what and who’s gonna happen next… and I remember that the Doctor was once someone entirely else and it was okay.

I think I still miss Eccleston’s Doctor. How very untypical for me.

It’s such a classic fanboy decision that I can’t help laughing- he’s done the three years, a quick lap of honour, and then he’s off. It’s not much of a surprise, really. As Seb mentioned, The Writer’s Tale pretty much gave away that RTD would be writing his regeneration, and staying on for Series Five would mean shooting Who for 16 months on the trot. Besides, River Song didn’t recognise the 10th Doctor…

He’s not my favourite Doctor, but he’s given the show a rock-solid foundation that it sorely needed after Ecclestone’s early departure. We’re going to miss him.

I think part of the reason I’m not upset is that four years is more than I ever expected from him. I thought three at most. So the fact we’ve got more than I thought we might get from him means that I can’t feel too disappointed.

But yeah, I get the point. To have such a fan of the show in the role as well as an amazing actor… no, we won’t see the like of those sorts of days again. But I choose to see the positives - that Moffat can now mould the show exactly how he wants it. And I just can’t see Moffat miscasting the role.

I’m shocked but not really sad - he had a lot of good moments over the years.

Does this mean we’ll have the death/regeneration on Christmas Day? The stage is set for classic television just as long as he doesn’t die by possessed Christmas tree.

I’m a little disappointed, I was starting to think that he might be persuaded to do Series 5 seeing as Moffat has been such a bloody good writer for the show. Can’t say I’m that surprised though, we all knew his time was coming to an end soon, you could just feel it coming really. We’ve still got another 5 hours with him though and I’ll be treasuring them even more now.

I always get nervous about new Doctors, I don’t like change!! Its just the thought that the new Doctor might be really bad or hated by the public and spell the end for the show (again). However I was worried when Ecclestone left and look at what we got! I love the 10th Doctor and it won’t be the same without Tennants cheeky little grins and excitable style but hopefully we’ll get something a bit different that is equally as good. And you can’t really worry too much when you know that Moffat is going to be in control can you?

Sorry for the double post but I just saw something interesting. The Doctor Who website now seems to be claiming that the specials will air in 2009 and “early 2010”. Maybe it’s thought that the Doctor regenerating on Christmas Day is a bit too sad at what should be a happy time?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/news/latest/0810…

Yes, I’ve heard mutterings that the specials are going to run over into 2010, as well (this is the first time I’ve seen it publicly, though, which means I can mention it!) Which seems odd to me, because that means you’ve got specials AND Moffat’s first series in 2010. Unless they’re pushing the series back to later in the year?

Or unless, god forbid, Moffat won’t be starting until 2011…

>I wanted a year of the best Doctor under the best writer, though :-\

Well, quite.

>Besides, River Song didn’t recognise the 10th Doctor…

Care to elaborate? She knew who he was, just realised that he was “younger”.

Thing is, I never in a million years thought Tennant would do five years. Ever. So I find it difficult to regret something I never thought we’d have, when there’s so many positives to Moffat taking over. I like the idea of a clean sweep.

Mind you, there is also the point that I don’t think the Doctor has *ever* been miscast. Not once. (McCoy perhaps comes closest in terms of acting ability - yes, I know he’s done Shakespeare, but that sometimes doesn’t quite come across on-screen - but he’s so hugely likeable that it doesn’t really matter.) So I can’t imagine them starting now. Which means I’m not actually that worried about who gets picked - I trust it’ll be someone great.

It also gives the specials some focus. Of course you could do four really entertaining specials without a regeneration… but this sure as hell makes them a lot more exciting. It all just fits together and feels… *right*, for me, as fucking great as Tennant is.

Still, I do wish that no announcement had been made, and we’d all been surprised. But it’s so difficult to do that these days…

If they are planning to run the specials into 2010 I would think there would only actually be one in 2010 and it would be VERY early. Assuming one of the four specials is next years Christmas episode that would mean they have only 2 throughout the rest of 2009 :-( Then they would do the 2009 Christmas special and maybe a week later on new years day they show the last one with the regeneration? New year, new Doctor?

>Thing is, I never in a million years thought Tennant would do five years.

If he were to leave in the Christmas episode next year it will actually have been four years…he started Christmas 2005. So at the most it will be four and a bit! Not that I’m complaining of course, that’s a good length.

Sorry, yes, I wasn’t very clear - that’s my point. I never thought Tennant would do five years, so it’s not that upsetting to me that he’s not doing it!

I thought he’d leave after three, to be honest, when he was first cast. The specials are a nice bonus. I know he’s a fan, and I know it’s a good gig for him… but I also think we’re lucky to have had him this long.

>I would think there would only actually be one in 2010

Yeah, but that’s not what I’ve heard ;-)

> The Doctor Who website now seems to be claiming that the specials will air in 2009 and “early 2010”.

I was under the impression that they were considering New Year’s Day. Did I get that from the RTD book? Not sure.

The final RTD/Tennant scene will be interesting. I can’t imagine the regeneration being done anywhere but at the end of Tennant’s last episode as per Eccleston’s departure. Any sooner and Davies ends up as the first guy writing for the new Doctor; and there’s no sense in saving the change until, say, the middle of Moffat’s first ep.

All of which begs the question: who writes the ‘New teeth/Barcelona’ lines? Will the last moments of the last special be Davies’ or Moffat’s?

Well *I* think it’s interesting. :-p

> Will the last moments of the last special be Davies’ or Moffat’s?

Maybe they’ll do it together.

Wasn’t the rumour that one of the 2009 specials would be at Easter, and the others would be Xmas Day/Boxing Day/New Year’s Day?

That’s long been an assumption… but it still doesn’t square with what I’ve heard ;-)

> But he’s been doing it for a while…

He has really, I suppose. As an adult it always seems like much less time - but three or four years to an eight year old is ages. So I guess we should just let go. Like others, though, I was looking forward to just one Tennant-Moffat series; it seemed like the ideal match, although it’s impossible to tell at this stage what taking responsibility for the entire series will do to Moffat’s episodes. I’m sure I’ve read that he won’t allow the series to get darker as a whole, despite what we might be expecting from the style of his contributions so far, as he doesn’t want to alienate the current core demographic.

> Or unless, god forbid, Moffat won’t be starting until 2011…

No no no, I’m sure not this. One special for the whole year wouldn’t make sense.

> Care to elaborate? She knew who he was, just realised that he was “younger”.

I might be wrong but I seem to remember her saying she could tell it was him behind his eyes or something like this. A lot of people on other forums are saying “ah so River Song will definitely be in the specials then because she recognised the tenth Doctor” but I definitely took from the library episodes that she knew a later incarnation. Unless Tennant’s Doctor ages loads in the specials, I can’t see why his youth would have been so pronounced to her when she met him in series 4.

> I don’t think the Doctor has *ever* been miscast.

While I think the BBC treated him dreadfully, I have to side with people who say that Colin Baker didn’t have an adequate range for the role. I was watching Trial of a Timelord recently and thought that while he began to soften a little during that series, he still came across as something of a gurner rather than capturing the emotion and energy that most of the other Doctors have managed. An eccentricity may not be a necessity for the role, but I don’t know, he just seemed to lack that… something. I still have a soft spot for him because I grew up in the 80s; without this, I wonder whether it might be pretty difficult to get into him.

> All of which begs the question: who writes the ‘New teeth/Barcelona’ lines? Will the last moments of the last special be Davies’ or Moffat’s?

Really good question! I guess it all comes down to whether whether the structuring makes the regeneration feel more like the climax of the RTD special, or within a pause after all the action has finished. We’ll just have to wait and see! I was thinking the other day how much I liked the “new teeth” line - it’s the first thing I’d notice too! He should have said “Blackpool”, though!

Finally, just to chuck my ideal Doctor in the pot - sorry, but I haven’t done it before: Bill Nighy. Yes I know people feel he’s too old and possibly too famous but I just think he’d be pitch perfect. A nice grandfather figure, a more gentle pace, no seemingly romantic stuff with his companions, brilliant. All a good combination for the youngest kids and I’m sure everyone else would get to love it too. So there!

> That’s long been an assumption… but it still doesn’t square with what I’ve heard ;-)

> Or unless, god forbid, Moffat won’t be starting until 2011…

Seb, you can be jolly infuriating! Half informed tease, half terrifying speculation!

Presumably the aim was (and may still be) that Moffat’s series begins in April 2010. The specials…I dunno, all kinds of practical considerations - creative and logistical - could put one of most of then beyond January 1st. Regardless, there are months in there to fit a few hours of TV. (One may imagine that a ‘new Doctor’ cliffhanger, after so many Tennant episodes, would be easier for kids to deal with if they don’t have to wait quite so long to move on.)

That said, there’s nothing to say they can’t choose to show Who on a new schedule - move it to the autumn/winter season or whatever.

This isn’t *really* based on insider knowledge (aside from the suggestion that two specials will be in 2010), but my theory is that we’ll get one special at Easter ‘09, one at Christmas ‘09, one on New Year’s Day, then one at some point in the first half of 2010 - maybe Easter again. Then Moffat will start later in the year, maybe around September…

My theory is that Seb’s being secretive because the new Doctor Who is SEB PATRICK.

I believe RTD considered doing one of the 2009 specials as a Hallowe’en Special at one point… then ran a mile when he realised it would be directly against X Factor. I doubt Moffat’s any keener on the idea - especially for a WHOLE SERIES (and looking at how Merlin;s been bounced around the schedule won’t help that notion)

The news of Tennant leaving on the Doctor Who website is accompanied by a video trailer for the next Christmas Special. I’m not sure if it’s completely new or if my memory is rubbish; I remember parts of it, but I don’t remember seeing quite as much of the crawling brown cyberman-inspired creatures before. Here’s the link anyway, apologies if it’s old: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/misc/news/index….

> I wanted a year of the best Doctor under the best writer, though :-\

Clearly you never watched series 1…

It’s so so RIGHT for Tennant to leave after the specials. In fact, IMO it’s a shame we have to endure four specials which may end up being totally indulgent and almost pointless before the new era arrives. I like the previous specials but I always think of them in an ‘oh it doesn’t matter, it’s only a Christmas special’ sort of way. They’re like big bits of fluff that get stuck in your belly button. I don’t want the upcoming four specials to be like that.

But what WILL they be like? I’m not looking forward to ‘The Next Doctor’ because it looks like a retread of everything. The four others will run like that too if it’s just as simple as bringing back big-hitter enemies for another whirl while giving us more one-off companion characters. I wish Moffat’s era, complete with new Doctor, was coming right away. ‘Journey’s End’ played like a natural conclusion to both Doctor and producer.

> ‘Journey’s End’ played like a natural conclusion to both Doctor and producer.

For me, the strongest part of “Journey’s End” is the very end, with Tennant’s Doctor staring into the TARDIS console alone after having all his friends around him. The way he experiences the comparative mortality of his companions isn’t really looked at very often, and I really loved that very simple moment, the space that emerges in the pauses between adventures. I think that any genuine regeneration straight afterwards (either at the end of the episode or at the start of the next) would have really taken away from this moment, which I feel the specials provide the perfect opportunity to expand upon. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the Doctor works (more-or-less) without a companion. If they can pull this off without having the Doctor talking aloud to himself constantly, they’ve set up the opportunity for some wonderful moments of him thinking and figuring stuff out without gurning and doing his “OH YES!” Churchill Dog impression. I really hope that these specials accumulate into more psychological explorations of the Doctor’s character than being, as you fear, just the light fun-fests of previous Christmas specials.