Doctor Who Community Discord

Title. Everybody is blaiming Disney for the new release times with nothing but circumstantial evidence at best and it's getting frustrating. Now I have little love for the Disney corporation, and maybe they did do it. But if I said the music, tone, style, or anything else (except budget) was because of Disney I'ld be rightfully booed of stage for not understanding the deal "because Disney bad". But this one time the fan base just seems to say "Disney bad". So here's why I think it's BBC who did it, and why we shouldn't just point fingers when we don't know.

1. The specials released differently. Let's say Disney wanted a US-lead time. Ok so they negotiated for that releases schedule for new episodes... but not the specials? Why? That seems weird to me, and also a hard selling point for a BBC that puts the event television in high regard.

However, what does make sense is a BBC that negotiates that Disney can releases episodes exactly when the BBC does, but the BBC gets to decide when that is. Disney wins becouse they get an instant release that avoids spoilers and piracy, while the BBC keeps the ability to experiment with and adapt their release schedule.

2. "US prime time". I'm an American, and if you are too then you probably remember the phrase "8/7 central" from every TV ad ever. It refers to a show which releases at 8pm EST and 7pm Central time. For PST (my time zone), that's 5pm. And that's US prime time. If you don't have these memories then Google "when is us prime time" and you'll also see it starts at 8pm EST. Sure, that's basically the 7est 4pst release we're getting now, but it's not quite prime time.

You know what time zone does match a supper common release though. The UK Midnight release the BBC would set if it really did want to try and adapt or experiment with what basically every international streaming show does. A time that coincidentally is fantastic for Americans, who just so happen to be the biggest market for the shows primary financial backer. So it at a glance it looks like it's a decision which caters to us.

3. RTD recently did an interview for DWM defending the midnight release. His arguments are condescending, avoid the real issues, and apply equally to international audiences who would have to deal with a UK-centric release. But you know what else his arguments robably are? "Good enough" for BBC executives who know you can't please everybody, knows most people could avoid spoilers if they really wanted to, aren't hardcore fans of anything, and think hardcore Doctor Who fans are dedicated enough to bury their phones in the park to avoid spoilers all Satderday. Not to mention RTD is right that it's a fact of like some spoilers will get through to some people, and so much is online you could learn major details about the season after this one. Which all help make spoilers a smaller part of the equation for the BBC suits.

So yeah, I don't know who decided to do this release (which for the record I'm against. The 60s were fine and at a great US time). If I was forced to guess I'ld say the BBC, but ultimately I think is unhelpful and disingenuous to "just decide" either the BBC or Disney are solely or even mostly behind something unless we hear from the inside that they are. In every other case most of the fandom is great at this, and shoots down comments that go against the publically avalible information about the deal. But in this one area I think we need to do better.

The timeless child makes sense. With something like the eleventh doctor thinking he would die, it is because the memories were wiped. The time lords obeyed not wanting it to get out. Chibnall did not ruin it with the timeless child. Give me reasons it doesn't make sense or your problems with it and i will counter-act them in the comments

This doesn’t go just for Doctor Who but all fandoms but can we nerds stop arguing about canon . Doctor Who is lucky that it’s never been established to have a proper canon yet so many fans feel the need to create one. “Oh this is canon and this definitely isn’t”. It seems like a pointless endeavour, especially for a franchise this long lasting

Let me start by saying that I LOVE Karen Gillan. This is strictly about the character Amy Pond.

I understand that part of her character arc is that she never really grew up after meeting The Doctor as a child. However, I feel like at times, this made her come off as rather stupid, rather than immature or childish.

I also understand that at times, the Companion has to play dumb for script/story reasons (like we need an explanation) but I just don't feel like Amy was the best at this.

Take, for example, the Crash of the Byzantium. The Doctor et al gets cornered by the angels so The Doctor does Doctor stuff and they go from the floor of the catacombs to standing upside down on the crashed spaceship. I totally understand that this would be diorientating, but Amy's reaction pulls me out of the story and I can't help but thinking "Damn she is stupid." She asks The Doctor to explain what happened and where they went, like 5 times!

The Byzantium bothers me because I feel like it undermines Amy's intelligence. She is smart, and I think this could have been a great way to show that intelligence...by letting her work out what happened rather than harassing The Doctor for an explanation. Ask him once, sure...maybe twice but then let her work it out. Even The Doctor gets irritated with her in this scene and tells her she's smart and to work it out...her response? She doesn't understand...🙄

It seems like the Byzantium is in stark contrast to The Beast Below where Amy's observation saves The Doctor from "killing" the star whale - she SAW that it liked the children. Mighty powers of observation, Amy ...but then she can't tell when she's in the same spot but upside down??

I won't list more examples because I could go on for a while, so the last thing I'll say is I HATE the intro to the show in series 6 where it starts with Amy talking about The Doctor...this is beyond pointless to have in the intro, but even the way she talks about him is just SO stupid. "He comes from far away"...seriously?? Europe is far from the States. The Doctor is from another PLANET and TRAVELLED IN TIME to get to Earth during Amy's time...that's a bit more than "far away" and I think it undermines the awesomeness that is The Doctor.

Now, all that being said, some of my favorite episodes are with Amy and 11, so please don't hate me...I just HAD to get this off my chest. Amy Pond is my least favorite NuWho companion!

Thoughts?

Personally, I really dislike the fact that Series 14 is now being called “Season 1” because that would get new comers mixed up with Classic who Season 1 or NuWho 1.0 (as I call it for now) Season 1. This is probably mostly Disney’s involvement because they don’t have the license for the other series’. But yea, I’m still going to call “Season 1” - Series 14, then 15, etc.

Now with the Davros thing that he mentioned (yes, this again) - Personally I find his reason to be incredibly far fetched and over-exaggerating. It’s fine to change his appearance for CIN since self explanatory, but going forward? Just why? As someone who’s disabled myself: I’ve seen NO ONE claim that people in wheelchairs are evil because they’re disabled. If you seriously claim that’s the case, then you don’t know the character at all.

Another criticism I sorta wanna give about RTD is the way he acts like (insert thing) has “NEVER been done before!”, like his assumption on Ruby doing a full 360 look around the Police Box, completely ignoring Donna and Clara

I’m a bit worried for the changes that RTD might do with the show and also the fact that one of the people he’s casting - Helena Bonham Carter in the show (who is a bigot that defends JK Rowling) by giving her a “huge role” in the future which is worrying

But yea, besides my rambling - what do you guys think?

I would say Amelia Pond, always. So much character development and emotion in three words:

"Raggedy man... Goodbye!"

Note: I don't count "The Time of the Doctor", as that was a hallucination. But a nice callback nonetheless.

I've been watching Classic Who for the first time, and I'm coming to the end of Hartnell's run. I've been watching the Loose Cannon version of missing episodes. I'm interested in the animated version of the Underwater Menace, but it's not available on iPlayer yet (which I understand because it's quite new). I was wondering what people think of this story. It's decently expensive (tight budget and all), but it might be a nice treat -- assuming the serial is good. What do people think? Is it good? Is it worth the money? Or should I just wait for it to be added to iPlayer?

During season 1 and 2 whenever the antagonist heard the phrase 'time lord' why were they not scared?

Reading RTD's article in DW Magazine today got me thinking about how many times in the past I've accidently swiped right on my Android phone to show the Google "Discover" news feed, and been presented with a photo or headline spectacularly spoiling a new episode that I hadn't caught up with yet.

To turn this off for Android, open the Google app (for me if I swipe right enough it opens as a sort of widget), click your profile pic/letter in the top right, choose "Settings", then "Other settings", then turn the "Discover" toggle OFF. This will disable the news feed.

Think will be more important than before as the episodes will be dropping on the streamers before transmission.

I really enjoy the love and monsters episode and that they show the impact of random people accidentally meeting The doctor they kind of did this in a previous episode with the time men but this one goes more in depth about his impact it shows that when someone realizes that something odd is going on that the doctor and rose aren’t normal (some moments being way more impactful than others like a ship destroying a clock tower lmao) I mean it is kind of sad that hey yeah this dude is here and now it’s all I think about kind of like his companions and in a way I feel like their showing us and saying this is what happens when people find out about him it is also cool that some of their theories in the episode are super on point for example the one woman a constant being the police box that in some way he uses it for something along with when the tardis leaves and the noise it makes (honestly just felt like yapping about it since I found it cool) (also them showing victor as the boss also gives office vibes or parody vibes of something)

Not my video, but is my screenshot: https://youtu.be/HeCSiFvNnvw?si=GA7P_6z_RiyVfHxc

Hello! I’ve been trying to find this figure called The War Doctor • Character Building Micro Figure Series 4. I’ve tried Googling , eBay and haven’t been able to track it down .

I wanted to give it as a gift , but haven’t had any luck . Any suggestions would be appreciated , thanks !

No, not just him. No, not just him. No, not just him. Again.

Back in the heyday of Channel Awesome before the dirty laundry was exposed to all, Diamanda Hagan had a series of "Twatty Who Reviews" with some terribly negative takes on New Who. I saw these before Steven Moffat stepped up when RTD stepped down.

Thinking of them now, it's bizarre how many view RTD's first run as a Golden Age when takes like Hagan's weren't too uncommon. You had uptightness about continuity and retcons like the Time War, how regeneration worked or the sound of drums. There was also stuff like Deus Ex Machinas or how companions now got a more tragic send off with the Doctor's lot in life being more cursed.

There's more but this might surprise you given how lauded this era has been for the last two tenures under Moffat and Chibnall. Especially during the Moffat era, there were soooooo many pining for RTD due to Steven's own radical directions.

Sadly, Chibnall's backlash hasn't full come with a mass pining for Steven Moffat.

All of this leading to RTD returning and many streamlining the process with backlash to his opening special trilogy. I mean, granted in this age of hyper reactionary content, I shouldn't be surprised but...

Ultimately... I am fascinated by how the showrunner is always hated in their time. Seriously, I will bet great money that Christopher will be remember more fondly as RTD's new seasons unfold.

Yes, I am serious.

So what's going on?

Just a point I noticed about the Matt Smith's Doctor. Has anyone noticed that apples seemed to show up when there's a major Shift between the Doctor and Amy? What I'm referring to specifically 4 times. Specifically during his first episode is where we see most of these:

1. When he crashed in her yard, all he can think about are apples, and when he tries it he called it rubbish. This kicks off the whole new mouth new rules scene so Amy's first impression is he's funny.

2. When he goes to see the crack in her bedroom wall, she gives him the apple with the face on it. This is the first encounter with "Prisoner zero has escaped" which is quickly followed by amazement and excitement as little Amelia is planning to run away him. We all know how that goes.

3. The apple shows up again when Amy traps the Doctor's tie in the car door. Granted ita the same apple but moment with it is where her believe in the man that was reaaally late coming back is restored and she starts to trust him again.

Finally the God Complex episode. When they first arrived in the hotel, the doctor eats an apple... first of all, what happened to apples being disgusting and rubish... that's something that dwells in the back of my brain now and then, but regardless, we finally see the appearance of an apple again after all their travels. And this particular episode the one where the key to their escape from the hotel in the end is the major shift in their relation shift again: when the Doctor has to destroy Amy's faith in him.

Am I just reading way too much into this or was the apple a sort of motif in this story? (forgive me if I'm using the wrong term)

What are the 5 or 6 best episodes to watch to showcase the relationship between Amy and Rory? I know the Pandorica episodes, and the rescue of Amy at Demons Run, and the episode showing them as kids, and their final episode, but I need a few more.

Re: g/f has never seen Doctor Who and I want to watch the highlights of the Amy/Rory story with her so she will understand when I tell her that she is the Amy to my Rory.

After watching the recent trailer for Doctor who, I thought back and wondered, What if the Master with the help of the Toymaker somehow stole one of the Doctor's regenerations and gained a new body from him?, I mean after the doctor defeated The Toymaster, the ring in which he captured the Master was seen, I'm just theorising but...

1. Who else in doctor who have we seen do Dance numbers?
2. In his first episode, Didn't he just murder a ship full of creatures with a baby on board?

3.Why is Bi-Regeneration only now just a thing or is it just a trick for the Master to come back?

Spoilers for Season 8, Episode 5 "Time Heist".

I recently rewatched "Time Heist", and I feel like they had this really great set up with the memory wipe and the whole "You will rob the Bank of Karabraxos!" And then it turned out that they were just there to rescue the Teller and his mate! I mean, don't get me wrong, it totally feels like something that the Doctor would do, saving the last of the species and all, especially at the behest of someone who regretted letting them burn. However, I felt like the side characters had a much more interesting motive to be involved than the Doctor and Clara did. Getting the memories of your lost family members and curing a condition that isolates you, while selfish reasons, are very understandable and relatable. The incentives feel earned at the end when they succeed.

Also, I'm not sure I like the idea of the Doctor being the Architect. I think it would've been much better if the Doctor had been conscripted by someone else, and it really HAD been someone else arranging everything. What if that person had actually wanted to rob the bank, recruited the Doctor, and the Doctor's payment was saving the Teller, as opposed to that being the ENTIRE reason for the Heist. Like, yeah, ok, they're committing a crime and helping someone get some incredibly valuable trinket, and IF they succeed, they also get to save the species, therefore they agree?

So instead of the Doctor saying "we're here to rescue the Teller, let me hire these people and set up this whole elaborate plan", someone else says "Hey Doctor, were robbing a Bank, I need your time travel abilities, and as payment, you can rescue this last of the species". Maybe the person could even be like "oh, the species WAS what we wanted to steal, because they are super valuable" and then the Doctor could realize he's been tricked and THEN step in and pull a clever thing to rescue them for real and THEN take them somewhere safe.

I don't know, it just felt like it started with a classic heist hype up, and then ended with a disappointing resolution.

As the title asked what would you do if you saw the doctor with your friend/relative's face walk out of a blue police box?

I would personally be confused and excited if I saw the doctor with one of my friend's faces, I would just be asking why didn't you take me on an adventure with you. If the doctor regenerated into one of my grandparents I would be so confused cause I just saw you yesterday having trouble walking up the stairs and now you running around like you don't got back problems.

So I’ve got to thinking. While I’ve enjoyed ( more or less) all the companions I’ve seen on the show so far I wish that the show was more creative in the types of companions that we see travel with the Doctor ( I’m basing this off New Who by the way, I know it was a bit more diverse in the classic series but unfortunately I haven’t gotten the chance to get into that monster of a commitment yet). We’ve had primarily young female companions, a few male, and an older woman. they’ve all been from ok to great to absolutely fantastic, yet I just feel like after seeing snippets of the new companions for the new Doctor and knowing that the companions are going to be two young 20 something women AGAIN; it’s a bit lacking in creativity and freshness ( which has mostly been reserved for the new Doctor it seems and Mr. clean’s Tardis).

I’d definitely love to see some companions that aren’t entirely human or maybe a preteen or in their late Mid-teens. Or even a companion who is older than most of the companions we’ve had so far ( including Donna), but younger than Wilfred. I’d also love to see a human companion from the Victorian times or the 1930s. I also enjoyed the brief time that Nefertiti and that other guy from the Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, despite the issues with the episode as a whole, I loved the diversity of the companions and wished they’d stuck around for longer, or had been the new companions succeeding the Ponds instead of Clara ( who is not bad by the way, don’t misunderstand me. And I would also like to say, this isn’t a hate post against female companion, because I think 3 out of the 5 were written really well).

What do you guys think, is there any type of companion you’d like to see on screen in the future of this show ( even with the new Doctor if he sticks around for more than a season) but has yet to happen due to ratings or some other reason?

Some have argued that the Celestial Toymaker is racist. I don't see how he is. Supposedly it's because Celestial was a victorian term for Chinese people. Now outside of discussions of Dr Who I've never never heard anyone use Celestial as a term for Chinese. Maybe in the States it was, but I'd be amazed if it was here.

Now it is true he's dressed like a Chinese nobleman. But other than that their is nothing Chinese about him. Alfred the butler isn't in yellow face nor is he doing a Chinese accent or something like that. He looks more like a wizard than anything. Now is it possible that the costume designer heard the word Celestial and thought "well as well as spacey wacey it can also mean Chinese, when not give him the outfit of a Chinese lord." Maybe. But no one in China had dressed like that for 50 years, I'm no expert but I don't even Puyi dressed like that. If they wanted to be anti Chinese they'd have put him in a Mao suit.

If the costume was it, then is the Master racist? Because he's a Hispanic wearing a Nehru suit? Or what about the Sea Devils in Warriors of the deep they are dressed like samurai is that anti Japanese? Or the Silurians being anti semantic? Since they are a metaphor for Israel (Silurians) and Palistine (humans). Or is Sharaz Jek racist because he's terrorist drug dealer who sees women a property? Since Sharaz is an Persian name? Or is Salmander anti Mexican?

It's just bizarre. I don't see how the Toymaker is any more anti Chinese than Sharaz jek is anti Persian or the Delgado master is anti Indian.

Are there DW characters that are racist ? Yes. But I don't see how TCT is one of them. Is there something I'm missing? I guess you could at a stretch argue having a Chinese villian plays into fears of these rise of Communist China. But having that be represented by the pre Communist China is perplexing to say the least