Blimey, are we going to be in for two years of this? I'm not sure my nerves can take it.

I was actually starting to feel more positive about Chibnall taking over. After not being particularly bothered either way about any of his contributions to Doctor Who and having not watched any Broadchurch I was relieved to see that he'd written a few Torchwood episodes that I quite enjoyed and rather more of the serious ones too. I really liked how he handled the demise of Tosh and Owen.

It will be old hat soon

'Stan Lee's Lucky Man' is the title of the show.
I'm aware of Kirby and Ditko and the important parts they played during Marvel's Silver Age. I collect comics, some of my prized possessions are early Marvel from the 60s (I used to own #1 X-Men from 1963 in VG until I sold it a couple years ago!).
My point was directed at the Gallifrey Base poster that he should be aware of James Nesbitt's age when it comes to 'Marvel-ling' things up a bit with a young and rising star.

Woah. That sounds like the sort of random speculation you might find on, say, an Internet forum. I could've blinking written that. This anonymous 'source' should be revealed, though. They're constantly blabbing to journalists all the flaming time, it seems! Most unprofessional.

Typical tabloid putting two and two together and making five

A headline saying Capaldi WILL be leaving followed by an article full of ifs and buts with no named sources and crucially nothing from Capaldi saying "I DEFINITELY will be leaving after the next series"

His Torchwood stuff is certainly better than his DW stuff IMO.

That would the Dinosaurs on a spaceship that after a mixture of frivolous and fun and more serious issues like slavery featured the Doctor deliberately leaving a man to die?

Yes, there was an interesting mix of light and shade in that story and I know the death of Solomon was quite controversial at the time. It certainly showed that Smith's Doctor, for all the quirkiness and humour, could be a right dark beggar at times.

I actually think Chibbers has always written The Doctor well. I like the Silurian two parter a lot more than some and there are some fine scenes, such as the "Don't insult me" 'interrogation' and The Doctor's desperate, angry reactions to the breakdown in negotiations between the Humans and the Silurians.

There's a heck of a lot of good stuff in 'Power of Three' too, where character took precedence over plot, really. I think it's a hugely enjoyable episode. The "running towards you" scene with Amy and The Doctor is beautifully written and acted.

42 also captured Ten's heroism and concern for Martha really well, and the possession stuff gave Tennant some really intense material, which he pulled off brilliantly.

However the era goes, I'm highly confident that CC knows his Doctor!

I like Dinosaurs on a Spaceship quite a bit. As others have said, people think of it in passing, and remember it as a fun romp, and whilst it is that, people seem to forget that it has darker elements, like the imminent threat of the spaceship being shot down or the main one- the doctor, for the only time I can think of, actually fully intentionally killing a man.

Also, with 42, it's a more serious story, and the threat feels real, but at the same time it doesn't feel stuffy or overly depressing, and has some real emotion in it (the doctor screaming that he will save Martha as she is perilously being pulled away in an escape pod for example).

The power of three is not the most amazing episode ever, but it's entertaining enough, and one i'd happily watch again on tv.

The hungry earth/cold blood is probably the worst one to his name, and I don't actually think it's terrible or anything, just that it's a bit dull, and feels like there is only a single episodes worth of story stretched out in two.

Overall then, whilst I still maintain a showrunner's capabilities can't properly be deduced from their past work (Like when I thought Moffat was going to be a good showrunner based on his RTD episodes, but it wasn't the case), at this point what I will say is that his style seems to be simple stories with effective, believable writing so with that, coupled with people saying he is likely to return it to the more RTD populist style makes me feel confidence in his possible ability, for the moment at least.

Sorry-but due to my advancing years, I take exception to your dismissive tone.

I've been a Doctor Who fan for a great many years... but have found the tone of the show the last 2 years to be so unlike the show I enjoy - and a big part of that does come down to the somewhat depressive nature of the 12th Doctor.

I don't deny that Peter Capaldi is a great actor, but I really don't like his portrayal as the Doctor. It's NOTHING to do with his age, or looks (I'm a major Hartnell fan, so I'm not even against an 'angrier' approach)

It seems to be a lot of love for the 12th Doctor comes from who plays him. Just as the reputations of Billie Piper and Catherine Tate went against for a looooooong time.

The emotional mugging I felt every week watching series 9 has left me feeling that a change back to a more 'threat of the week' would not be a bad thing.

There are shows tailor made for a more indepth emotional analysis. For me, it's just not Doctor Who.

And in all my many years of viewing, I've never once disliked a portrayal of the Doctor... until now. There have been some I've enjoyed more than others (Pertwee and Tennant both irk me at times) but all of the actors have been able to flip the expectation of the character and narrative, and brought something fresh to the role. You can see Capaldi has the potential to be good, but it just seems very forced at the moment.

I agree, I enjoyed most of his Torchwood epsidodes as well and I'm looking forward to it though it's not for 2 years. As long as Capaldi stays on!
I would happily watch him for a lot longer than 3 years, especially now he's free of all the Clara stuff dragging him down.

This is where we're all different: I've been very attached in greater or lesser degree to all the Doctors and absolutely love 12. I don't care much about who the actor is who plays the Doctor but 12 himself is fantastic and a perfect expression of post-Trenzalore 11. The writing and episode format hasn't done him many favours IMO and I hated Clara hanging around when he was so much better on his own or with River at least that once, and someone else less self-absorbed than Clara could have made it different, but that's hardly his fault the new series obsession with the companion being almost more important than the Doctor should be reversed asap, though of course it may not be. The Doctor himself has so much potential (whoever plays him) he should never be overshadowed. Hopefully the best of 12 is yet to come

I'm hoping he's keen to explore lots of planets instead of returning to the "ordinary Earth" tone of Series 1-4. I was never enthusiastic over RTD's attempt to mix the ordinary and mundane with the more exciting aspects of the show because it was just that: mundane. Instead of spending ten minutes showing Rose's mother trying to get somebody into bed why not go somewhere exciting? It worked so well with Jon Pertwee's first few years because there was a constant ominous feeling of alien threats all around and it felt like the show was bringing the universe down to the Earth, as well as having the excellent cast of Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, John Levene and Roger Delgado. Katy Manning as Jo Grant in particular managed to remind us of the ordinary human without needing to waste time hammering it in.

By all means, have stories set on Earth, whether present day or exploring history, but I think we need to see more of the potential the TARDIS has in being able to go anywhere.

I can see exactly where you're coming from-and to a greater extent agree. Jenna is a brilliant actress-and I honestly wish either Oswin Oswald or the Victorian Clara had been the companion, both of whom had more identifiable character in one episode than Clara did in her entire run.

I really want to be able to find that Doctorish trait in 12... i guess it's the overwhelming portentousness of the series as a whole I'm struggling with

Thank God I thought I was the only one that liked Chibnall's story and The Hungry Earth and the next part.

You can't tell whoswho1 that there are different reasons why someone might or might not like the current doctor or the current writing of the show. He is obsessed with forcing his opinion on almost every thread lately that anyone who doesn't like what the show is producing actually has no interest in the stories and they are all just rampant ageist's looking for a bit of eye candy in the main role.

Me personally, I thank you for taking the time to post to prove to him/her that trying to assume a blanket position on other people's views simply doesn't work.

I felt Series 4 wasn't much earth bound except when Martha summoned The Doctor and Donna visited her family while in town and obviously in Episode one when they meet again. Towards the end of his reign I thought RTD started doing a bit more space exploration especially Series 4 where there was a heavy tone of seeing the stars.

I feel like this exactly especially on this forum I have to be very careful when I'm criticising twelve so that I'm not in the firing line and being accused of being "ageist" and them constantly mentioning that "oh maybe its because Capaldi isn't Zac Effron and etc that everyone dosen't like him." about anyone that dares question the direction the show has taken.

I could have enjoyed the companion being Victorian Clara, as long as she didn't end up being The Most Important Companion Ever. It would have been a good change having someone the Doctor had to explain everything to again rather than have them save the day all the time.


I agree. I think what did it for me was when everyone on Earth got used to not only knowing about the alien invasions but more or less being prepared for them, over and over again. At least in 3's day UNIT used to try and keep it all secret!

Exactly. It's foolish and small minded to act as though people who don't like Capaldi in the role are all just ageists who want a hunk on screen. (and I say that as someone who does like Capaldi in the role, but feel that Chibnall's fresh start should be allowed to be a fresh start with new doctor)

You and anyone else should feel free to think and feel however you want without people presuming to know your reasoning and acting as though their own opinions of others is fact.

Indeed, it got to the point where humanity seemed to start saying "not another bleedin' invasion" but back in the 70's people generally weren't aware of aliens so when the Axons, Autons or Sea Devils invaded they still managed to come across as a little creepy and enigmatic and still give the impression of a very large universe out there. You could have swapped one of RTD's alien invaders with any of his others and it wouldn't have made much difference. They were just "x alien from planet x with their own particular gag" The Ood were the only ones that really stood out for me, but their home planet may as well have been Earth. It was great back in the old series to visit such interesting and well-crafted planets as Peladon, Zeta Minor, Karn, Marinus, Vulcan, Deva Loka, Androzani Minor, Traken, etc.

I remember The Web Planet, where they had so little budget and stuff to work with but were still ambitious enough to create an alien planet that felt very mysterious and nothing like our world. I would love to see more of that. I've very much enjoyed how we've seen more locations and alien species with their own ambitions since Series 5 but there's always room for improvement.