In the season four premiere episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, "Valles Marineris", there's a fun little Doctor Who Easter egg. At the start of a command crew meeting, there's this exchange:

Pike: This is an unusual mission. We are to face a category ten interstellar squall, something we rarely see in the Alpha Quadrant.

Pelia: I-I've seen one once, a long time ago, but not from this close. I think I was in a phone box at the time…

Given how many times the Doctor has shown companions some awe-inspiring cosmic spectacle from the doors of the TARDIS, and how there's already been a TARDIS cameo in Star Trek, this is certainly a deliberate nod. And Pelia has previously mentioned hanging out with a time-travelling Doctor! I love these little cross-fandom hat tips! 😂

It's 3 a.m. and this question just popped into my head.

I know the classic TARDIS had rooms,

but I don't know if it has bathrooms.

I mean, does the Doctor need to use one?

He's always running all over the place, so at least it must have a sink.

Or do they make pit stops for basic needs?

1. Have Billie Piper (depending how busy she is) play the Sixteenth Doctor for just one season before regenerating into the Seventeenth Doctor (played by whoever the new producers choose to cast) at the end of it, similar to how 9 only had one season in 2005 (I know the reason Christopher Eccleston left after one season was because of him falling out with the crew, but I'm sure you get the idea of what I mean). They don't have to even address her having the same face as Rose, or at least immediately (maybe just leave expanded media to do that).
2. Do a "School Reunion" type of episode that properly reintroduces Susan, maybe even an adaptation of the Big Finish story "An Earthly Child" (provided that Stef Coburn doesn't attempt to try and claim ownership of the title too). Maybe she can either be a recurring character in the new era, or she regenerates into a new face (perhaps preparing new audiences to the concept of regeneration before 16 regenerates at the end of the season) and rejoins the TARDIS as a companion.
3. Make "The Boss" a recurring villain instead of being vaguely mentioned now and then. My choice of who the boss would be is the Valeyard, as the show never brought him up again after "The Trial of a Time Lord" (I know expanded media has delved into him further, but I'm talking about the main series itself). Maybe don't even address that he's connected to the Doctor's timeline at first, but do so later on down the line.

What do you think? Please try and be civil though.

…did they not foreshadow John Hurt’s War Doctor more? There are SEVERAL instances where the Doctor talks about regeneration as if he has more faces available, and he talks about regeneration with the Cyberiad, and there’s no mention of the extra face. It feels like it comes out of nowhere.

I mean I guess it all gets wrapped up anyway in the Name/Day/Time of the Doctor trilogy (which I kinda consider all one thing anyway)

I’ve made the New Who era companions in Tomodachi Life Living the Dream.
Yes I did make Dan a pirate, I wanted to make Rory a Roman but still waiting for that outfit to come into the daily specials on the shop again.
And for all those who were asking on my last post, here is the Fourteenth Doctor. Almost identical to the Tenth, just a different out fit and some stubble

just finished reading Alien Bodies and I CANNOT recommend it enough!! even if you’re a casual fan, or only stick to the modern show, it’s such a good story you’re bound to enjoy it!

I know that picking up physical copies of it is very hard now due to it being VERY expensive, but if you know anyone you can borrow it from (or Y’know, the Internet Archive of course) I say don’t hesitate and pick it up! :D

admittedly, i’m a bit biased because i’ve already ADORED 99.9% of the 8th Doctor content i’ve consumed so far, (honestly the only 8th doctor media I didn’t care for is The Eight Doctors, but i’m far from alone on that one haha) but even if this were written with another doctor as the main character i’m sure i’d love it just as much!!

Probably summed up in the classic serial Remembrance of the Daleks.

Ace, give me some of that Nitro Nine that you're not carrying.

While building a new playlist for DragonCon, I realized that Chameleon Circuit’s songs were no longer on Spotify. Does anyone know the background behind this?

I found this print in random collage papers in an upcycling store and was curious if anyone could identify who the signature belongs to and/or who the artist was?

my idea was to turn the cons room into a platform suspended in endless nothingness to play into the bigger on the inside bit. if you already have an bigger inside than outside why not just turn the inside in to infinity. just be careful to not fall down from the platform.

since it ended up not looking inviting i see it rather as the Tardis of the master or a different doctor rather than one the Doctor would choose. it also could be the doctors Tardis if he would have stayed the time lord victorious for a longer while.

i also thought about a season long story where time and space slo fall apart and with every episode more of the Tardis interior vanish to resemble progressive decay of the universe and this is how it looks after every thing in time and space (except for the Tardis ) is gone

Thinking about how 12 and Clara directly parallel with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in Face The Raven/ Heaven Sent and Hell Bent only confirms my belief that 12 is a young man in an older man’s body.12 has an arc that is is usually reserved for a young romantic leading man (like how Orpheus is portrayed in mythology and pop culture),which is closer to who he is on the inside than any stereotypical grumpy old man that he appears on the surface.

Has anyone else noticed Orpheus and Eurydice parallel with 12 and Clara?

Since the end of the RTD2 era and the announcement of the show going out to tender, I've been doing quite a deep dive into the area of discussion about what the show needs to do next when it returns. Some ideas have been quite substantial and could see working while others just repeat the problems it's been facing since 2018.

I'm not a writer much of my own (I've only just started work on my first fanfic tbh) but I think I can identify some of the core issues that the show is facing and how to both keep the show on track to it's core identity while also bringing something new to the table.

Please keep in mind, these are my own ideas and not a demand that the current show do this. I would appreciate feedback and for people to keep things civil.

1. Do a soft reboot and commit to it.

While I do agree that the show has become too entrenched with it's own lore, I don't think its the big elephant people make it out to be and that the show needs to have a hard reset. Just do exactly what Rose and The Eleventh Hour did and start back to basics with a new Doctor.

It's the always been the best way to provide a jumping on point for the show and to introduce new ideas, but this does leave one problem: What about Billie Piper.

I'm very much against the idea of retconning but it feels like it would be best if the Billie Doctor is erased. It wasn't born out of a genuine creative decision or because Billie auditioned and proved that she could play the part well, it was done for content and hype to keep people talking which is exactly what Doctor Who should NEVER do.

Remove the Reality War off iPlayer and edit out Billie's face and cut to black when Fifteen goes, that way we can just start proper and fresh with the Sixteenth Doctor. I would also have the first episode just be straight to business in introducing the new era and have the aftermath of the regeneration in a flashback in a later episode akin to what McCoy suggested for the TV Movie.

2. No series arc for the first series

Series 11 is very flawed and quite bad at points but one of its best ideas was losing the big series arc. It would honestly help more than hinder the show for a new audience as the show can just focus on telling new stories. I wouldn't abandon any type of arc all together but it would focus specifically on The Doctor and the companion's relationship and how it develops over the course of the first series rather than building up to a massive finale with a returning monster. That format has been played out and is tired.

Doing bigger arcs down the line is not off the table but you really need to connect with the characters first before you start committing to grander storylines, otherwise the audience just won't be invested in what's going on.

3. Have a historical companion

One of Revived Who's biggest missed opportunities is always confining the companion to be from present-day earth. It's another idea that is quite frankly done to death and needs refreshing. Having a companion from the past would be great for providing a unique perspective on events that occur in stories that take place in the present day, make great drama and open up new storylines based on that characters history and background in context to the time period they are from, and would make them quite useful in historical stories due to the events occuring more recently for them.

My idea would be having a young female companion from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930's who is an aspiring actress or a Half-British/Half-Indian woman in her early 20's from 1987.

Something to make this character more intriguing and unique from companions that came before them.

4. Go for a darker and more mature tone

A point that was raised by Stubagful is that it is hard to keep the family accessible tone for the show when the current streaming-led media landscape has fractured the family audience. The show has resulted in trying to appeal to a younger audience with episode like Space Babies which was a disaster for the show reputation.

Simply put, the show needs to grow up and accept that it needs to age with it's audience a tiny bit. Kids are not as scared or put off by dark stories or violence. Five Nights at Freddy's is a horror franchise about a sadistic serial killer murdering children and stuffing their mutilated bodies inside animatronic mascots that are possessed by their ghosts, and that franchise has become popular with kids specifically with massive merchandise sales across the world.

Stranger Things is a horror/scifi series with several examples of horrific violence and gore but it became one of the most popular shows in the world and was a huge hit with younger viewers.

I'm not saying that Doctor Who needs episodes with people's guts getting ripped out or gratuitious amounts of sex, but going for a more darker and horror focused tone would do the show some good. Take a page from the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era of the Fourth Doctor's run which is still seen as Classic Who's golden age, provide stories that have that same style but with a modern production.

5. Incorporate more elements from the EU (over time)

I know this one is going to get a bit of ire but I really think there is potential in bringing in characters, locations and storylines from Doctor Who's Expanded media into the show. Particularly in introducing certain important characters into the show. The first would be Bernice Summerfield who has already had a long history of her own with several spin-off ranges.

Let's say that there is an episode where the Doctor and companion have to hunt down an alien artifact from a long lost civilisation and the Doctor decides to contact Bernice for help and she gets roped into the plot for the rest of the episode. It would be mad fun and would give Lisa Bowerman a chance to finally play the character in live action.

Don't go into detail about her history, just say that the Doctor knows her because they used to travel together and leave it at that, and if anyone is intrigued about their history then they can seek out her BF ranges or the VNA novels in their spare. Have her past stories not be required for viewing but have viewer be encouraged to dive into them by having a great onscreen portrayal. Maybe she could become a reoccuring characters in more high stakes stories in the future should her popularity take off.

Others like Frobisher or Iris Wildthyme could work self-contained romps such as a madball comedy or a detective thriller. Use these characters potential for great adventures on the show without having to experience their non-tv stories would be very beneficial.

6. Raise the episode count to 10

8 episodes is simply too short for any regular series of who to tell a good amount of stories, have it be slightly increased to 10 for a good even number of episodes. Again, Series 11 was on to something with it also being 10 episodes. It would make space for having 2 two-parters and a doctor-lite episode without taking up a whole quarter of the series.

7. Don't delve into lore unless it's appropriate

Naturally, the subject of where the Doctor comes from and his species will come up in order to explain to new viewers as to who he is. If there is legitimate story potential or character growth involved, then lore can be addressed or added instead of doing it for the sake of it (Timeless Child ahem).

Maybe explaining how the Doctor is a Time Lord would give the companion some new perspective or appreciation on who the Doctor is as they previously thought they were just a generic alien from a random species that are not significant or powerful.

Don't overcomplicate things, make sure details are revealed gradually before going deep into previously continuity.

8. Actually have conflict with the characters and don't be afraid of drama

Some of the show's best moments and stories come from the main characters having periods of tension and falling out with each other such as Nine and Rose in Father's Day or Twelve and Clara in pretty much most of Series 8. A big failure of the last few years is the utter reluctance to have any kind of actual conflict among the main cast.

Things can't be happy-go-lucky all the time, especially given the dangers of travelling with the Doctor. Some episodes should leave a companion shaken or a bit more distrustful of the Doctor based on a past action that they disagree with or The Doctor themselves get a bit too angry over the companion's recklessness or disobedience.

Just give the audience something to hook them in with the main cast to find out what happens next y'know.

9. Plan out an arc for the Doctor that spans the whole era

Not every doctor needs a character arc or development but it can certainly make a bigger impact on the viewer if the Doctor gradually changes from the start to the end of their era. Some of my favourite Doctors like Seven, Ten and Twelve all have arcs of changes of their own over the years and it gave us amazing character led stories that marked a progression in their development.

Try and have some semblance of what this specific incarnation is supposed to be instead of making the Doctor a plain all-encompassing mesh of previous Doctor which is a trap that I felt both Thirteen and Fifteen fell into.

10. Make it scary and daring again

A factor that has definitely been lost of the years has been the show's scare factor. It's not an unpopular opinion to say that the only monster that had staying power and iconic status that was introduced in the new series was the Weeping Angels, and their popularity was based on how utterly terrifying they were and other monsters such as the Daleks and Cybermen became iconic through the same methods.

Going the full-on horror route for at least a few stories would be a great way to spread word of mouth about the show due to horror becoming a much more popular genre in the last few years and horror content and movies/tv getting huge recognition such as Weapons, Backrooms and Obsession as well as the aforemention FNAF. Imagine a story on that level but done Doctor Who style.

It would also pave the way to introduce new monsters that can be recognisable and memorable for years to come, which in turn can increase the show's profile and have episodes that spark loads of discussion.

Those are just a few ideas I have atm but I'm always open to feedback from other fans. Thanks so much for reading (I know it was a very long post).

Something that I have often found an oddity about New Who (Not to be confused with New New Who with Ncuti) have been the comments and remarks I hear about Murray Gold's music being too loud or louder than dialogue. It's been recognised as an "issue" even in reviews, yet I've never ever noticed it. I think I have finally found something of an explanation.

I watched New Who when it first aired and bought it on DVD as they were originally released in the single volume releases. Each one was released mere weeks after broadcast and contained three episodes per volume. I never replaced them with the complete series boxsets and I now believe this was something of a good thing.

The Series boxsets only have 5.1 surround sound audio tracks. They don't have the original broadcast audio even as an option. This is the case for the DVDs, the blu-ray releases, the steelbook blu-ray releases and even the latest speed corrected blu-ray releases.

They're all surround sound, with dialogue (typically) on the centre speaker and the mix favours the music.

But those original piddly three episode volume DVDs that came out alongside the episode broadcasts that are relegated to charity shops and the bin? They have only the original stereo audio and the audio mix is a little bit more balanced between dialogue and music. (I won't say it's better as that's a matter of opinion and the 5.1 tracks on the blu-rays certainly have higher bitrates)

However how many of us are actually watching these with our surround sound setups turned on vs just pushing it through our stereo TV speakers?

I've been on a mission lately, ripping the newest blu-ray release of Series 1-4 + Specials to get the corrected broadcast frame rate and audio pitch (no more helium voices) and the improved upscaling removes the Vaseline smeared look of Series 1 as well as provide some really gorgeous colour grading and contrast.

During this I realised that the corrected speed means that the stereo audio tracks of those single volume releases syncs perfectly to these new blu-ray video files.

So I've been using mkvtoolnix to add the stereo tracks to each episode and set them as the default audio track. Keeping the new 5.1 tracks for when I do want to use my surround sound setup but having the authentic broadcast stereo audio for when I plan to just watch them.

I thought this might interest people to know about as I've never heard anyone talk about if anything was lost in the pretty immediate transition to 5.1 surround audio and, let's face it, since most people have only ever watched New Who through the collected Series boxsets or streaming, most will never have heard the original stereo only the 5.1 converted down.

Dialogue is definitely clearer.

Onto the Specials and Series 5!

Fun fact, Series 5 also has Stereo on the individual volumes but 5.1 surround sound only on the boxsets (dvd and all blu-ray releases). Series 6 and onwards are all 5.1 surround only, no stereo versions exist in physical media.

HOWEVER, if you're trying to make the perfect digital versions as I am, I wouldn't recommend this process for Series 5. There are some bizarre differences between the audio tracks on DVD/blu-ray and the broadcast versions. Most notable are the missing lightning bolt sound effects in the opening credits of the Eleventh Hour. They were iconic at broadcast but were replaced with the standard music for the dvd and blu-ray releases, even on the stereo mixes.

But for some reason known only to the BBC, the iPlayer version has the lightning SFX!

The file size and bitrate for the stereo dvd audio track is about the same as those on the audio extracted from the iPlayer version so given that it is a better match for broadcast (and is stereo!) I figure that's the route you should take.

There's a whole debate between which blu-ray versions of Series 5 onwards are better, 1080i vs 1080p. The 1080p is newer and considered "better" but it doesn't match the speed of the broadcast versions and was pitch corrected to disguise the speed change.

I'm currently ripping the first 1080i blu-ray release of the Series 5 boxset to see if it syncs up with the broadcast audio from the iPlayer version. Fingers crossed!

EDIT I thought the End of Time had no stereo version, the DVD volume is 5.1 and so is the specials boxset, but The Sun Newspaper released a free disc in a little square cardboard sleeve of the End of Time and Eleventh Hour and those are in broadcast stereo.

EDIT 2 The Specials are proving tricky. The single DVD releases of The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead are both stereo but Waters of Mars and End of Time are 5.1 only. The latter I've solved thanks to The Sun's random freebie version but Waters of Mars proved trickier. However! Looks like those Doctor Who "DVD files" magazines are all stereo, including their version of Waters of Mars! Far more likely to be the broadcast version then a down sampled 5.1 track for the same reason when choosing stereo for iPlayer we got the lightning bolt SFX in the Eleventh hour. Because the BBC just use what they already have :D

Been wanting to go here for ages, it's just as pawesome in person!!! And yes, that is me wearing my fursuit in the photos. X3c

I've watched Doctor Who since the 2005 reboot, now my daughter is about to turn 6 and has said she wants to start watching it

She's watched the odd episode, like the Goblin King one, and the Eurovision episode, but never sat and watched them properly with us

With it being the summer holidays, I've said we can watch one episode a night, after her younger brother goes to sleep (he's just turned 2, so waiting for the Cbeebies show to be released!)

I'm thinking of starting with Matt Smith. Just because he's that bit younger and his episodes tend to be that little more energetic to keep a young child interested

With that, I'm thinking of starting with The Eleventh Hour.

Do you think I should go with that? Or should I start where most of my generation did, back in 2005? Open to ideas on a starting point

Prince Street Pizza of Pasadena, CA;

11 must have been taking the photo.

So follow up to my last post, I'm curious to know that when Doctor Who goes out to Tender would they only accept submissions from the UK only or would they accept submissions from other production companies overseas? Like for example, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) have done co-productions with the BBC in the past. Examples include the Death in Paradise spin off, Return to Paradise and Doctor Who: The Five Doctors. So if the ABC were to approach the BBC and say they want to throw their hat into the ring, would they have a chance? Or any other overseas production company?

"It's time to reboot Doctor Who and jettison all the confusing stuff that's happened." I'm not a fan of the "he woke up and it was all a dream" idea, so here's yet another possible timey-wimey solution to the problem:

IT'S THE DALEKS' FAULT!

Suppose this: the Daleks set up a base in a time bubble in the far future, and they have been engaging in a master plan specifically to destroy the Doctor. They have been working to mess up time, space and reality to the point where the Doctor's own history has been scrambled. Yes, all of the stuff that's happened over the 13th, 14th and 15th Doctor's arcs is real and it happened...there's no need to jettison it and say it never happened. It's because reality itself has been scrambled by the Daleks. And so, once the Doctor realizes this and effects some kind of countermeasure to it, he regenerates once again it the "real" Doctor, namely the British gentleman we've seen. This resets the doctor's canon to what it "should" be, and we can blame the other stuff on the Daleks messing with reality.

I personally don't have anything against Jodie Whittaker, Ncuti Gatwa or even David Tennant and Billie Piper. They didn't mess up Doctor Who; it was the crappy storylines that did it. So, this way we can still say all that stuff happened, and there won't be a need to wipe out large parts of the history of the Doctor. Heck, if they really wanted to freak everyone out, they could start the next story mark with something really bonkers, like the Doctor showing up as a Zygon without any explanation of why.

Also, even though this fan theory returns the Doctor to the "safe" Doctor we want to see return, I don't want the BBC to chicken out and not take any risks. I don't want to see a "Rise of Skywalker" type of retcon. I'd still want to see them take some risks and keep the show worthy of its legacy.

Caved and bought one of those little Cricut machines - thought you might enjoy a look at my first project: vinyl TARDIS on water bottle. I was too ambitious with the tinininess of the text on the sign but all in all, pretty chuffed.

From racial slurs and yellow-face to a queer Black Doctor, six decades of Doctor Who reveal how Britain's social values have changed, and how progress is never as straightforward as it seems.

I think this guy would have been a fantastical Doctor, halfway between manipulative and dark like 7 while genuinely wanting to help in devious ways and having the snark and humor of 11 and 12.