He's certainly going to be in multiple stories but exactly how many remains to be seen.

Right, so Nardole's involvement is quite an unknown quantity as it stands then. I saw comments from Moffat saying Matt Lucas had asked to return and that's why he's back. A bit of a poor reason if that's the case.

Hopefully he'll have a bit more about him in Series 10 than his lack of character we saw in the Xmas ep. At a guess, I'd imagine he'll be in 6 of the 12 episodes. That is a pure guess though!

Much better look at Capaldi (without the hat).

I very much hope the ridiculous hydroflax body isn't in the stories.

BTW, congrats to Karen Gillan on securing a new Hollywood film...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...lands-37229831

Sounds a blast - I loved the original.

Love!

No one should be asking to come back. Its the producer that does that not the actor.

More!

I didn't know this. Heard about his return, but not about it being a large return.

Still doesn't necessarily mean he'd have to be in this years christmas special though. He could always be introduced in episode 2 or 3 when we have been introduced to, and are a bit familiar with Bill. I think if he is brought in before her, that would overshadow her.

Loving that look very smart indeed. Capaldi suits the serious look too

He's deffo in episode one, and at least in some of episode two. No sign of him on location for episodes three and four though.

Is there a DW/Class crossover in the DW Christmas Special?

Just seen this mentioned as fact in the Ratings thread on here but not seen anything about it elsewhere?

Edit
I see Radio Times is speculating about it but that's all it seems to be.

No but Capaldi is finally confirmed for Ep 1 of Class. It was already assumed from filming pics way back though.

Please no. Don't want to see an episode of the main show ruined having to accommodate a teen show, that from what I've heard so far, doesn't sound like it will last.


Not surprised. The premise sounds like such a weak link to doctor who, barely enough to be a spin off at all, that they almost had to have the Doctor, and likely a few mentions of Clara, to prove the point.

I think the way Class was first pitched didn't do it much favours but the press release we got with the cast in April sold it a lot better. It does seem more like it'll have more in common with Torchwood/Being Human than say, The Sarah Jane Adventures but the Capaldi cameo is a nice thing to have for the first episode alone.

Now if the BBC could get off their backsides and give us some details on the Christmas special before they inevitably leak, that would be lovely.

Think we'll survive for now. It is September, after all.

Just something though would be nice. This time last year, we knew Alex Kingston was coming back and if they're doing any major outdoor filming, something is going to leak.

Matt Lucas spotted filming with Capaldi in Cardiff today so Nardole will be in the Xmas special!

I still cannot fathom what Moffat is thinking bringing him back. His character was a total nonentity in last year's special and given that Bill seems to be something of a Donna type companion as well, do we really need Nardole in the mix? It seems like both Moffat and BBC are out of sync here.

I know there's a chance he might turn out interesting but for Moffat's last series, he's a ridiculous choice of returning character though.

...give him a chance.

Though I have to agree it does seem a bit odd. The character himself was clearly designed to be comic relief and easily disposable - giving someone like Matt Lucas a quick one-off to say that he was once in Dr Who!...

For goodness sake they even decapitated him.

I suspect that this had come from a genuine need to have a complete change of emphasis and style for the 12th Doctor, and to soften his character a bit more and make the show a bit more 'accessible' again. They have obviously seen the re-introduction of Nardole as a good way to do that, and given the fact that Matt Lucas reportedly wanted to take on the role again... its as easy fix.

.. of course the silly thing is that he really couldn't come back after what happened to him in the Husbands of River Song.... so expect some totally implausible and rather desperate get-out to have him back on the show!

Nope, they have Bill who clearly seems to be Donna-ish to an extent. There are far more interesting characters from Capaldi's era they could've brought back. Nardole is not one of them.

This is the board that wrote off Class before a single moment had been filmed or a character cast. We're not about chances

Then again, we also watched The Husbands Of River Song and just didn't warm to the character so seeing more of him is hardly going to ignite excitement? There's that as well.

I don't have any strong feelings either way about the character so far. He was a side bit of comedy in the last Christmas special, and not particularly any big deal to the story, so I'm neither excited or horrified at the idea of his return.

What I will say though, is that when it comes to character writing, I think Moffat has a certain strength in writing the 'pop in and out' type side characters such as Missy, Jack, River,paternoster gang more so than his doctor and companion writing in my opinion. Given that I will wait and see how he develops the character before passing judgement.





What are people basing this 'Donna type companion' stuff on?


And now that it's been filmed, and characters cast, and soon to be shown I still think it will be a failure, because that feeling is down to the core concept, and how it seems such a dull idea where there were so many things that could have been done as a new spin off.

Happy to be proven wrong of course, but I don't see it at the moment.

I try to avoid thinking about things in this way too much.

I loved Buffy when it was on TV, was sad to see it go when it did - as much as it got a decent ending. I was never much interested in comics but then I heard the tv story was continued in them and I decided to find out more... no longer constrained by a TV budget the possibilities were surely endless. What I found though was shocking... they turned Buffy's sister into a giant, and then a centaur... you don't need to even watch the show to know how bizarre that sounds. As someone who did watch it, it was just insulting to the shows own integrity. Every plotline seemed to involve a character from years earlier - now they didn't need to try and get back actors for it they could do whatever the hell they wanted. It was like the power went to the writers heads, and the whole thing failed to carve out its own essence whilst also failing to emulate that of the show it was based on. There was so much potential in what could have been done, and it wasn't realised... the main reason actually being because anyone who was anyone that was involved failed to excercise restraint.

I could say the same for Torchwood. RTD and Chris Chibnall collectively thought that it'd be a good idea to promote a 'grown up sci-fi show' by having a sex alien in the second episode? It could have amounted to so much more at that stage, whereas I would argue the show peaked when it only had five episodes and a diminished main cast to work with (namely Children of Earth). When there was a sense of restraint.

Recognising that the BBC doesn't have a whole load of budget to chuck at a spin-off, I'll admit I was just frankly surprised that one was cropping up at all - not many shows get confirmed spin-offs when they're airing their ninth series, especially sci-fi shows. If Class can have a bit of an edge like the best of Torchwood, and a bit of the heart of the best of The Sarah Jane Adventures I actually think it could almost come across as a rather decent merging of the two concepts into something decent of its own. It's set in a school in London and therefore isn't going to be Doctor Who itself... but if it can carve out its own essence then all the power to it. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, especially given Capaldi is involved albeit to a small degree too.