Having just checked Sky planner, this is indeed correct. I'm wondering if, due to the earlier time slot, they are showing the full uncut version late at night on the BBC3 repeat. I hope so.

I really don't have a problem with that, as long as it's the full 45 minutes as made. It's really quite understandable that anything 'gory' wouldn't want to be broadcast in an early teatime slot where children could be watching - as long as we 'grown-up children' can watch the full episode later.

<gasp> <splutter>

Thanks Heather - and welcome along.

Well i expect they must have been invisible
else they would have been recognised
when they turned up for the other wedding

unless.....that clip was just a sort of thought,
like imagining they were there

oh dear,my head hurts now

I'm trying very hard to avoid all references to future episodes, but reading people's reactions and speculation here is just too addictive, so I would like to see spoiler tags continue.

And just a word about spoilers, any fact about a future episode is a spoiler, even if it appears in an interview or a press release, I already feel I know just a little more than I would like to about coming episodes.

No, I think they were definitely there. They just sat quietly at the back, un-noticed by people. Then slipped away quietly after the ceremony, as the Doctor usually would.

I know some people can't help reading the spoilers, and that's all to the good as it generates more interest in upcoming episodes.

But not everybody likes to know in advance, so as I said, any fact about unshown episodes should be kept under spoiler tags, so that we don't spoil things for people who don't want to know.

Ok then,
i can live with that lol

I also read that apart from Captain Jack

Now, looking at the original planning for the very first Doctor Who series,

which can be found here,

that's only 400 years bahind when the Doctor first stole the Tardis.

So he could be from Gallifrey's earlier history, or from Earth's future.

Or both of course, if you believe Cassandra when she said Earth was the cradle of civilisation.

I like Alrightmate's idea that he is an agent of Geocomtex - it was said they had agents everywhere during 'Dalek' - I like the fact they would have agents throughout time as well as space.

hey i have the "trial of a timelord" videos in a tardis box...

on a separate note reading through all the bad wolf stuff on here... i saw a post which speculated that the doctor might not be the doctor which i think is an interesting idea.. i cant think of anything offhand from the current series to back this up, but what if rose is related in some way to Susan, the original grand-daughter of the doctor? indeed is it beyond belief to think that rose's mother might even be susan? if the doctor is not the doctor, then whoever he is might be using that connection to track the real doctor down (by the way we only have the "doctors" word for it that the timelords have been destroyed....)

finally, someone on here was asking whether the date of the death of rose's father has any who-related significance given how much it was stressed in the ep: i ran a search on google just for the date and the top result *yesterday at least* was the episode guide for the 1987 sylvester mccoy season! weird or what

The little blue aliens in episode 2:The End of the World, moving the Tardis and squealing "Bad Wolf".

That's a fascinating document, Den. The other pages are worth reading too:

Page 1 and Page 3

I know the approach changed a bit before the programme was produced, but it raises some interesting points.

If the Doctor was 650 at that point, and presumably hadn't had a regeneration yet, it's rather careless of him to use up 8 in the 250 years since. Was the start of the original series the point where he first started to take on human companions? If so then maybe it's time he reconsidered this policy as they're clearly doing him no good!

This first story idea involved shrinking the unwitting Tardis passengers. Probably too much for the special effects department back then, but was this idea ever used in the series?

Finally, look at the reasoning behind the scheduling - "designed to bridge the gap between our massive audience who watch sport on Saturday afternoon and those teenagers who watch Juke Box Jury." How times change?

Sorry this has nothing to do with Father's Day, or the current series really, but I had to get it off my chest!

I'm pretty sure that the reasoning was explained as whilst bumming around on Gallifrey observing and watching the silver leaves fall off the trees then life was pretty easy and therefore Time Lords lived long lives. Once The Doctor started haring round the galaxy "interfering" he speeded up his life cycle and obviously faced mortal dangers: The Cybermen, The Great One, The fall off the Telescope etc. which necessitated regeneration. In the case of The Master he was said to have brought on regenerations to disguise himself from pursuers after evil deeds so used up his lives rather quicker and therefore nicked poor old Tremas' (fab annagrammatics always amuse me) body while he was looking the other way...allegedly.

Well, lucky for us then, if not for him, that he started haring around!

Thanks Mr Slug.

I too found it fascinating - I'd seen page one before but not page three. As you say, it was slightly different once the series hit the screen, but the basic premise was the same.

Yes, they used the miniturisation concept for a story much later (still Hartnell though) when they aired Planet of the Giants.

Strangely enough I had the 'how old is the Doctor' conversation at home last night, and I put him around 600 and something mark (couldn't remember precisely tut tut) at the time of Hartnell. And as Hartnell did indeed regenerate due to old age (the only one to ever reach this achievement, as I'm sure you know) it doesn't look like his travels have done him any favours.

I think it's easily explained though, after seeing future stories set on Gallifrey. They were all fairly sedentary and never ever did anything even remotely dangerous, so I guess it was much easier to attain a ripe old age by staying at home and not going off gallavanting around the universe fighting Daleks and Cybermen et al.

I'd love to see the planning document for the new series.

Trial of a Timelord was a whole series of Doctor Who stories brought together under the 'Trial' unbrella - yes, I have the box-set too. With Britain's favourite mum, Linda Bellingham, playing the presiding 'judge'. Well, at least Peri left, and we got to see a possible evil future incarnation of the Doctor.

There has been a lot of speculation about the Doctor possibly not being THE Doctor, but as you say, there's simply nothing in the series to back this up, and while it is an interesting idea, I agree with the consensus that it would be the easiest way to alienate (sorry) viewers.

In the original series, Susan stayed behind after the 'Dalek Invasion of Earth' in the 22nd century - she wasn't seen again until the Five Doctors (played by the original actress - nice touch) many years later. There was some speculation about Rose possibly being a relation to the Doctor in previous threads, but since the search function is not working, I can't really point you to any links.

I was speculating yesterday that if the 'reality tv' theory is correct, the Doctor might think that Gallifrey has been destroyed, but since he's part of a tv show, it might not be sdestroyed after all. I guess we'll have to wait and see (although the speculation is of course fun.)

Just think twice if anyone offers you a large blue crystal as a wedding present.

LOL cheers John!

I was playing catchup - could have saved myself a post

If "BadWolf" is going to be a reality show, will it get the highest reality viewing figures for the year ? (what's the best that BB/CW/CLI/XF/IACGMOOH etc have achieved?)

K

Unless it was someone else actually conducting the time travel experiments....long shot I know!

That reminds me of something - it's not how we get there, but the journey itself that's important?

Sort of the point of last week's episode, I think someone said.

The starting point for any good "road" story...?

Only using an old type-40 Tardis instead of an old Cadillac?

You know, sometimes I think I must be REALLY thick...

The Keeper of Traken was first shown in 1981; I've read the novelisation, I've watched the video numerous times, and indeed caught the episode only a few weeks ago on UK Gold, and do you know what...

this is the VERY FIRST time I have ever realised TREMAS is an anagram of MASTER (and only then because it was pointed out!)

DOH!!!

And here am I, first novel about to be published, in which character names and place names are so important that they give the game away if you sit and think about them too long.

was i the only one crying towards the end?

Spoiler for saturdays episode here.....

Nice one re-offender... I wonder if that has anything to do with the episode being slightly shorter on it's BBC1 outing, than on the later showing on BBC3?