Re: Doctor Who
 

Has gender really ever been part of the Doctor's identity?

Re: Doctor Who
 

Up until recent series it was always inferred that Gallifrey consisted of males and females.

There are Time Lord's and Time Ladies. It was only recently the show runner decided that gender was not a thing by having the Master turn into a female.

Re: Doctor Who
 

trailer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06f6j8s

Re: Doctor Who
 

Re: Doctor Who
 

Well yes, clearly it has been, because the show originated in the early 1960s when there was no mainstream acceptance of the idea that gender could be different from biological sex. If you present someone as a grandfather in that context then you are tapping into a deep, commonly-held understanding of what that meant. Much is now made of how the classic doctor was “sexless” because he didn’t carry on with any of the classic companions, but if you understand the show in its correct historical context, the very first thing we knew about him was that he was a grandfather. Not being interested in relationships is then not so surprising.

The idea that the doctor is male was reinforced by the publicity stunt performed by John Nathan Turner and Tom Baker in wishing the new doctor well, “whoever he or she is” - she being a joke, not a suggestion to be taken seriously. The idea that a time lord can change biological sex in regeneration wasn’t taken seriously in any canonical material until after the revival of 2005.

All that said, there never was a showrunner’s bible for Doctor Who and much of what we think we know about Time Lords and Gallifrey was only ever invented when a story came along that required it. The Doctor’s universe is still being invented to this day. That’s probably a major reason it has survived so long. It’s always fresh and can always be adapted to fit stories that appeal to its current audience. I have no doubt that over the coming seasons the show will explore the psychological effect of a time lord sex change, and as all good sci fi does, will most likely generate a discussion about contemporary issues at the same time.

Re: Doctor Who
 

Re: Doctor Who
 

It seems that the BBC have moved Season 11 from its prime time Saturday spot to Sundays (time unconfirmed atm).

Episode 1 is on Sunday 7th October.

Re: Doctor Who
 

I have read in the past that if you watch enough Doctor Who episodes, it actually contradicts itself in a lot of areas, which may be as a result of the writer making changes to canon to fit in with the story, it can also be a result of bad writing. Changing canon to fit the story, if done well, can improve things. Take Genesis of the Daleks. It did make changes to the back story of the Daleks, but concentrated on areas that had been largely left alone by other stories, and was well written, so felt like an extension of the Dalek backstory rather than a rewrite. Even though the special effects look cheap (even by 70s standards), it's still probably my favourite Doctor Who story.

We've had disagreements on here in the past about female Doctors, but I think the Doctor Who is good as long as it has well written, well acted stories, and I suspect you actually think the same. It will also hopefully provoke some interesting discussions, both on and off line. I look forward to it.

Re: Doctor Who
 

They are hoping for a ratings spike l reckon.

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I think this will be a good move.

The Sunday evening schedule is a lot more stable because there isn’t generally much live or one-off stuff to compete with. The autumn schedule on a Saturday is a nightmare for a drama series trying to build or retain audience because of Strictly, whose show length including start and finish time changes almost every week.

I predict they will pick a time and stick with it, but it’s not obvious to me what they’ll pick. Countryfile has the plum 7pm slot and AFAIK is on year-round. Who is either going to get the slightly-before-6pm slot presently occupied by gameshow repeats, or the 8pm slot occupied by some poor relation of Antiques Roadshow. Those are too early and too late for my taste but we’ll just have to see how it pans out. It’s worth remembering that this season they have ditched the 40 minute, advert friendly format for full hour-long episodes of the kind people using streaming services expect to see. Who has always been in the vanguard of the BBC’s iPlayer strategy and it looks like that’s set to continue, perhaps with BBC Worldwide focusing on streaming sales for international distribution rather than traditional ad-funded broadcast channels.

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The explanation given was that they could not get the early evening timeslot they wanted on Saturday, and showing it later caused ratings to fall, so they opted for Sunday instead. It remains to be seen how well that goes.

(of course, if ratings are bad, it also gives them an excuse other than the new female doctor ;))

Re: Doctor Who
 

If they think being on too late is the enemy, then they’re going to have to go for the teatime slot before the news, which to be fair is where the classic series started out, albeit on a Saturday.

Doctor Who is far less vulnerable to lower broadcast ratings now than it used to be. Its catch-up ratings have always been ahead of the curve and it makes the BBC a mint in merchandising and overseas sales. I think the 60 minute format is aimed squarely at streaming service providers overseas, and I suspect the series will have a well-defined arc and something close to a cliffhanger every week, which makes it more bingeable -although, once again, if you go right back to the show’s origins, William Hartnell’s Saturday teatime adventures almost always ended on a cliffhanger, even between stories.

Re: Doctor Who
 

Yeah I doubt the BBC are too concerned about the viewing figures for the actual broadcast. It's a show whose audience is more likely than most to stream it.

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And always watched from behind the sofa at my Grandparents house.
i'm still terrified of bubble wrap and toilet plungers ;)

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That was the case for most of the pre "new" series.
All the episodes I used to watch ended on a cliff hanger each week (3rd/4th/5th etc Doctors), and every story was generally 4 or 6 episodes as well.

Autons ! :cool: