I just wondered how forum members feel about the fact we skipped a season of Doctor Who in 2009 and had a number of 'specials' instead.

Do you think this helped build your excitement around David Tennant's departure/Matt Smith's first season?

I must admit, I didn't enjoy the 2009 specials particularly. The 10th Doctor on his own was a bit dull. I've had the specials box set for three months now and still haven't felt the need to watch any of them again.

I would have prefered a whole series, not just specials (that;s not to say I didn't like the specials, mind).

thing is, it was, by all accounts a product of necessity, so whether it worked for me or not is kind if irrelevant. It wasn't there to hype up Tennants departure, it was there to allow for a change of production.

So i'm neither here nor there on this one really, if that makes sense...

I would have preferred if the stories had been much stronger. I did enjoy "The Waters of Mars" - I liked it's dark tone and, as a zombie afficionado, I loved the Flood creatures - but the others were rather "meh". I found "The End of Time" to be flabby and self-indulgent (the "Master as vampire" ideas RTD mentioned in "The Writer's Tale" sounded much better) but I know plenty of people who loved it. Call me insane but I don't expect the series to be catering to my every whim and desire.


No. I actually felt that the Eleventh Doctor appeared far too soon after the Tenth's regeneration. Four months wasn't long enough!

Agree...with most of that...it was definitely for production reasons. I also feel that overall it didn't do it any harm either...a nice rest with the occasional episode was enough to keep the public interest in the show, and not have the fear of them getting tired of it after four years.

For me, the specails were mostly great....as a fan ofcourse I am a little selfish and would have loved a series....but at the same time it was great time to catch up with a lot of Classic Who.


that is the most bizarre thing I have ever read on a Doctor Who forum!!! Are you sure your a fan????

Funny, they never needed a years break to prepare for a change in production team prior to 2005-and in the early years it was on for 44 weeks! Bunch of wimps...

I've occasionally wondered what it would be like to do that. I've been a fan forever (I've mentioned before that one of my earliest memories is Who-related) but, if my memory were wiped, would I find the old series entertaining? I'm a huge fan of - for want of a better word - "retro" TV but is that because I spent some of my formative years watching 405-line recordings of Doctor Who?

I'd quite like to rediscover it all and I kind of envy all of the more recent fans.


No, you're quite right. I eat my words. The series should be made for me and me alone and the rest of you can b*gg*r orf.

Pretty much agree with that. I thought the gap between Planet of the Dead and The Waters of Mars was too long. I was starting to lose interest after being disappointed by PoD. The BBC hyped up DT's departure. He seemed to be popping up all over the place during the Christmas period.

I would have preferred a full series.

Now we've got DW back, it seems perverse not to have it on every year. I missed it.

And we would have got to see more of the 10th Doctor.

There's always a silver lining.

Yes, because TV production and it's complexity hasn't evolved at all since the days the show started has it? I mean time has literally stood still....

Anyway, interesting to here you refer to The Moff and co as wimps, or were you intending to have a dig at someone else and forgot who the break was actually designed for?

No, it's probably gotten a damn sight easier.

There was never going to be a full series, it was either the specials year or nothing at all, so you;d have got less of Ten not more....

Well yes, ofcourse they are whimps....for wanting to give it all the due, care and attention as much as time would allow, and the BBC wanting to rest it because they love it rather than getting bored of it...that the classic series were not always fortunate to have because they had to produce to the usual typical schedule, and when it was put to rest it was because the love was waning....yes bunch of whimps....


That is odd, I never thought of it like that...I remember being jealous of Tigger being able to watch the New show with fresh eyes....not actually realising that I am pretrty much doing the same with over twenty years of history to choose from! I guess we are all in the same boat when it comes to the Christmas special though!




Thats better!!!

lol, yeah right-o!

Production values are 100 times higher now than they were then, best will in the world.

I agree.


Gotcha! I only mentioned DT to annoy the antis


Sorry, I misunderstood the OP

Agreed. I'm obviously generalising here, but some of classic Who was just churned out - and it really shows! And actually by the very end, classic Who was actually on for less overal time than it is now - Slyvestor McCoy's last series was quite short, and all the better for it.

In many ways, the modern Who team are making 14 mini films every year, and that's bound to take it's toll. A built-in break every few years can't be a bad thing, particularly not if it builds up anticipation and interest in the series afresh.

As are production techniques! That's rather the point-what can now be accomplished by CGI, in the old days required a combination of live action and model work which would have been much more time consuming for the actors, plus they had to put in five days rehearsal for each episode before effectively shooting it as if it were live-a huge amount of pressure which modern actors never have to deal with. Sorry, but if most of the cast of new Who had to cope with the conditions Hartnell and company had to face in circa 1964, I doubt they'd last one series.

Plus they had the indignity of only being afforded a couple of hours studio time per week. No time for re-takes... Dr Who never stood a chance with the way the Beeb treated it back then, but the premise of the show always meant a loyal fan base would forgive it no matter...

Yep! At ten o'clock precisely the lights would go out in the studio, even if they were still filming-I'd love to see current day TV produced under those conditions! 'Churned out'? It was created with blood, sweat and tears, and a lot more dedication than you'd see in many productions now!

For argument sake lets say that current teams are not working as long hours and don't face any problems compared to those involved in the past production.....So now your berating the current production team for not working to the conditions of the past because they don't need to now, and are loved by the BBC? There is no denial, and no one here is denying that the past teams didn't put there blood sweat into the show.....but only because they did that does that mean they really wanted to, or that they actually happily chose to work their as**s off? (the stories you hear about the things that happend backstage are hardly always pleasent and happy go lucky memories) And now that the people who are making the show, and love it as equally...are being given the opportunity to have some time off air so they can carry on giving it their full attention, knowing full well that the reason the BBC is giving them that time is because they love the show....should face harsher conditions????


That is like saying that the show should always have been black and white, and the classic series always should have been shot live...and they shouldn't make things easier for them...and that we as fans should be proud that the BBC treated Who like sh*t, never gave them enough money....just so they could work in blood and sweat...and then give them the great excuse to take of air for good!


Yes BBC how rediculous of you to love the Show now that you want the new production team to settle in and give them all the space to make the changes that they want.....no you should be sending them to workhouses! Well at least you made it up with the budget cuts!!! Tony will be proud!

Didn't work for me AT ALL.

I went from being a rabid fan to being barely interested. Tennant's great season with Donna was wasted as the self absorbed "lonely god" got more and more tedious.

The "specials" were (on the whole) less interesting than the shows from Tennant's series and it really took away from my enjoyment of the show.

As a result Matt Smith had somewhat of an uphill climb to get me interested again. He has done a pretty good job (well the stories and his characterization), but RTD wasted a lot of good will.

It did work, but there was too much DT anyway to ruin that.

Not really, considering that only one of the episodes (The Waters of Mars) was an absolute belter.

Had Planet of the Dead aired in-season, it would have been hidden away in the middle of the run. A forgettable meh.

And The End of Time? Nonsensical, self-indulgent, irritating.

Compared to the proper series' I would have to say the Specials were pretty pointless and I agree that Ten on his own was really dull =/ its nice to have a recurring companion alone side him I wouldn't say no to rewatching the Specials though and they admittedly aren't the worst Doctor Who episodes ever *cough* Love and Monsters *cough* lol