http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Capaldi

I'm not really familiar with him and after Matt Smith and John Hurt, will he be a bit of a let down? 

I think Peter Capaldi a very good choice to play an older Doctor... something which, I think, is rather apt... to counter balance the youthfullness of Matt Smith, and even David Tennant preceeding him... and also, in a way, as a nod to the original Doctor portrayed by William Hartnell... in the 50th anniversary year.

Will be interesting to see how John Hurt fits into the equation too, of course...

Looking forward to seeing the 12th Doctor in action... and where it goes from here :)

Also really looking forward to seeing David Bradley play Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time...

Good choice.  I'm looking forward to seeing him as The Doctor.  So far, I don't think they've put a foot wrong with casting The Doctor.  At least, since the comeback in 2005, that is.

From the "Classic" Series, I never much cared for Colin Baker but that was more down to the shoddy everything about the show, rather than him.  I even liked McCoy but thought the show was irredeemably bad by then.  Looking back, some of Tom Baker's episodes were fucking painful to watch, with him being the only saving grace.  It pains me to say but, having watched Genesis of the Daleks recently, it's pretty grim stuff.  And I don't mean that in a Dystopian SF sense, either.

They do seem to like recruiting from the ranks.  Both Freema and Karen had minor roles before becoming companions.  

There's a bit of a history of recycling actors from minor / cameo roles, into more leading roles... playing a new character... or even the Doctor...

...Colin Baker was in Arc of Infinity, when Peter Davidson was the Doctor, etc...

It was Bonnie Langford that really scuppered Sylvester McCoy's stint, for me...

I quite liked a lot about Colin Baker... just unfortunate I thought, that his tenure didn't really work out, for all sorts of reasons outside of his control as an actor, I think.

It seemed like everyone from the wardrobe department up to the controller of BBC1 had it in for him ;-)

The show itself attracted a lot of hate from the Beeb's hierarchy.  Loads of 'em tried to kill it over the years.  IIRC, I read it's made more cash for them than all the other shows put together, so you'd think they'd treat it with more respect.

As I said, I have nowt against Colin B particularly, more the show seemed to be pretty much unwatchable by then.

Oh yeah, Bonnie Bleedin' Langford.  Kill kill kill.  Nuff said.  

Peter Capaldi?  Hmm... somehow I can only picture him as Uncle Nigel the penguin. Hopefully I'll be able to move beyond that. 

BBC America ran ran a live feed of the same special which aired on BBC 1 in the UK.  Amazingly, the 35 minute broadcast was NOT interrupted with any commercial breaks!  (Yeah I know the "real" BBC doesn't do product commercials, but BBCA does, so that's what made it very interesting.)

Fans had bounced around his name, but most thought Capaldi has grown too well known (having won an Oscar for a short subject film recently) for the production to seriously consider.  So while many fans "daydreamed" of Peter C. getting it, they figured the PTB would once again select a "young unknown".  So the announcement came as something of a double shock, though a pleasant one.

Funny enough, Capaldi's gaunt features remind me slightly of Peter Cushing, and for me, that's a good thing.  It makes him look "intense".

Here's another tidbit.  Capaldi is 55, the same age William Hartnell was when he originated the role of the Doctor in 1953.

Sincerely,

Bill

I'm afraid that most of my Dr. Who is confined to Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Colin Baker, then of the new guys Chris Eccleston and David Tennant. Of course, I live in the States so much of the first three was only thru reruns through PBS.

My favorite Doctor without a doubt is Tom Baker, but I did like David Tennant (well, until I recognized that he was Barty Crouch in the Harry Potter Movies.

And I think Eccleston did a stint on Heroes here in the States.

I kinda like the look of this new guy = he looks like a doctor who should be like. If nothing else at least it's avoided what the Politically Correct where demanding. Though don't get me wrong on that point, I'm not racist or sexist, it's simply that sometimes things are meant to be as they are because changing them wouldn't work. It would be like making london buses or phoneboxs dayglo purple. Fine for a short time, but long term you'd damage the iconic image of them and ruin what it means. Oh yeah, Bonnie Bleedin' Langford. Kill kill kill. Nuff said. Same with McCoy :) Give me Pertwee and Baker anyday

I agree with your statements about the PC brigade, Mr S.

@ EC - Yup, Ecclestone was in Heroes.  Played the Invisible guy.  Then vanished.  :)

My all time favourite Doctor was Hartnell but I really liked Tom Baker.  Since then, I had pretty much given up on getting a really good, first class Doctor again.  I enjoyed most of the rest but there was always something essential missing.  Until the new series.  I thought Ecclestone was superb and nobody could replace him.  Tennant proved me wrong.  Again, I was dubious about Matt Smith but, quite honestly, I think he's the best Doctor ever.  So far.  Yes, really.

Man.  You go offline for 24 hours and then this happens.  :lol:

I don't know much about Capaldi.  I guess I saw his appearances in Torchwood and series four Doctor Who, but I don't recall them very well, offhand.  I am pleased to see an older actor in the role, but also surprised.  Didn't Moffatt or RTD suggest that we'd never see an actor over 40 in the role, due to the shooting demands of the new series?

I am astounded that everyone at Gallifrey Base seems pleased with the announcement.  It's a little spooky to see them all agreeing about something.  :lol:  Any performer who's impressive enough to unite the posters at GB must really be something.

Hey an OT for the OT thread... anybody know whether Romana is still alive? I had heard that all of the Time Lords had been killed in a war (never got to see that), but if I recall, Romana was off exploring E-Space with a K-9. Did she ever get out? Also, isn't this supposed to be the last time the Doctor can regenerate?

Really, it's up to the writers for both instances.

I'll go into "in universe" ideas when I return home tonight.

Sincerely,

Bill

Wonderful, I've watching off and on for years.

*I had heard that all of the Time Lords had been killed in a war (never got to see that),*Yep - it's all part of the doctors 'back story'. Do remember some stories in the 80's which had timelord things. Personally found them a tad dull, though for many of the hard core whovians it's canon stuff. Give me a dalek or cyberman anytime. Especially the Ironside Daleks, the visual look just works so well as does the idea of an british army dalek. Big hint there Mr Sam :) Also, isn't this supposed to be the last time the Doctor can regenerate? Yep- though the advantadge of sci-fi, moreso for a time traveller, is good writing can easily fix that. As for the new guy, I just hope he gets some good stories. Ones which brings out the inner 9 year old, and get the womenfolk tutting at every bloke in the room to grow up, the mark of a classic who episode :)

They already answered the fate of the Time Lords - IIRC - with the last appearance of Tennant.  In any case, it's fair to say The Master is still out there somewhere.  

As for The Doctor's regeneration, there's always the chance of a fiddle/retcon/reset switch somewhere.  The trick will be to make it credible in context.

Ironsides... Don't much care for 'em meself but all you need is a new paint job for my existing NSDs.  I'll whip up some canvas belts and lamp covers at some point.  I guess a tea tray and articulated sucker would be in order, too.

I am - slowly - working on a new pack of Daleks, so maybe the Ironsides variant could be included.  No promises, though.  

What was wrong with the last Doctor?

"Also, isn't this supposed to be the last time the Doctor can regenerate?
Yep- though the advantadge of sci-fi, moreso for a time traveller, is good writing can easily fix that."

erm nope.

ppl have been getting that wrong. 12 Regenerations, 13 Incarnations.

Hartnell was Incarnation 1. the first Regeneration then brought Troughton, Incarnation 2..

I'm not sure where ppl started mixing up.. the Deadly Assassin set the final incarnation of the Master as the 13th body...

basically by these rules, the Doctor has 1 more regeneration left after Smith leaves...  12 to 13.

*tho the 50th may throw a spanner in that...

Quote - What was wrong with the last Doctor?

The actor was ready to try some new roles, apparently.  In-story, I don't think we know yet why the character of the Doctor will end up needing to regenerate.  From the perspective of popularity or audience satisfaction, I don't think there was anything wrong with Matt Smith as Doc 11, although apparently there are always some fans who gripe and gripe.

I did find a conspiracy theory last night that maybe Matt Smith was "pushed" from the role.  But there do seem to be a lot of conspiracy ideas about showrunner Moffatt anyway, over the past few years.  :lol:

Well, there are those who allege Moffatt is a bit of a dick and those who say he's an ok guy.  The truth is most likely a mix of the two, since that's how we all tend to be.  :)

I'll never forgive him for the New Paradigm Daleks, nor his attitude towards the fans about them, though.  His subsequent back pedalling and seeming retcon of his own words don't endear him to me, either.  That said, I think the show has been pretty damn good with the new team.  The fact he did see sense and returned the NSDs has to be good, even if there was a lot of face saving about the way it was done. :)

I think of Moffatt as sort of the opposite of JN-T, in terms of the balance between the public relations and creative aspects of their positions.  A producer for the "classic" series and a showrunner for the "new" series don't exactly do the same things, but there's some overlap.  Nathan-Turner seems to have been great at the public relations and promotional stuff, but seems to have made consistently dodgy decisions whenever he had direct creative input.  Moffatt as public relations guy likes to misdirect, toy with the hardcore fans, and perhaps even deceive outright.  Yet Moffatt's creative impulses generally seem pretty sound.  I mean, yes, he gave us the Fatleks and tried to tell us we liked them.  :scared:  But he hasn't slapped question marks on everything yet.  :unsure:

I'd like to know exactly how the Fatlek thing developed, really.  Who proposed it, who signed off on the final designs, etc.  In some ways I do kind of like the Paradigm design.  It isn't all bad.  But I think that is true mainly where they didn't vary the existing design motifs too much. Once they were adding or subtracting elements, rather than doing variations on the existing themes, they messed it up.  :unsure:  The paradigm design does make a decent action figure toy... but so does Colin Baker's crazy quilt outfit.  :lol:

Presumably John Hurt accounts for another regeneration - though didn't the Master airily dismiss the limit anyway, in an episode I missed as the VHS ate when it died.

Quote - Presumably John Hurt accounts for another regeneration - though didn't the Master airily dismiss the limit anyway, in an episode I missed as the VHS ate when it died.

The Master evaded the limit a couple of times, in Keeper of Traken and again maybe again in the Time War... although the latter may have been fan speculation.  In The Five Doctors, the Time Lord muckamucks offered him a new set of regenerations for his cooperation.  So there are already loopholes and "get out of jail free card" scenarios.  If the new series honors the regeneration limit at all, there's plenty of existing room within the established continuity for them to evade it.  :unsure:

I'm all confused about the Doctor's current regen count, myself.  :lol:

the Master was given a whole new Regeneration Cycle by the Timelords to Fight in the Timewars against the Daleks - see "Utopia / The Sound of Drums"

@ Cage - the 2010 redesign for the Daleks was by Pete McKinstry, who is an exceptionally talented artist and production designer.  The final, locked design looks subtly different from - and better than - the subsequent model that went into production.  Something happened between the design lock and production that made the finished article look worse than it should have.  Even so, I didn't much like the redesign as it looked on paper, though I found it easier to take than the ones on screen.

McKinstry also designed the big red Supreme from The Stolen Earth/Journey's end.  Some of the pre-production designs are completely insane, OTT and brilliant.  I reckon cost was the main reason they went for the "NSD with bloody big clamps" look in the end.

As it happens, they (the ubiquitous "they") appear to have tried to address some of the complaints levelled at the 2010s, by tweaking the design a little, as seen in Asylum with a less prominent rear vent and a metallic paint job.  

Quote - As it happens, they (the ubiquitous "they") appear to have tried to address some of the complaints levelled at the 2010s, by tweaking the design a little, as seen in Asylum with a less prominent rear vent and a metallic paint job.

Interesting stuff.  Thank you.  I wonder who decided on the modifications after the designs were finalized.  Hmm.

I've speculated that the main problem with the Paradigm design was the "hunchback" effect of that back vent area.  It changes the position of the head-dome, as seen in profile, which changes how we perceive the "attitude" and "posture" of the Dalek.  We anthropomorphicize... umm... if I got the word right... we project onto the non-human Dalek form as many human features as we can, unconsciously.  The traditional design gives the Daleks a very alert, upright, military posture, with the "head" drawn back.  The Paradigm design makes them seem slouched forward, with a philosopher's question mark posture, rather than a soldier's exclamation point.  They seem less imposing, as a result.  And they look sort of tubby.  :unsure:

Or that was my muddled thought, while showering.  Umm.

I guess I am OT in an OT thread again. 

McKinstry's Cyber designs are just brillaint.. shame we wont' see them... *if I was a better modeler, I'd make the CyberMondosian design... *

Looks like several people already answered the questions I said I'd address when I returned home.  I knew you guys would cover for me, even if you didn't intend to do so.  ;-)

I do see nothing was directly addressed about Romana.  Well, if we focus upon nothing more than what we've seen recorded and broadcast by the BBC, Romana's fate is "inconclusive".  We last saw her in "Warriors' Gate" as she walked hand in hand, er, paw with a time-wind striding, leonine Tharil as K-9 Mark II trundled behind them.  She remained within a pocket contiuum called E-Space while the Doctor returned to "normal" space-time along with Adric who had stowed aboard earlier.

Now the various novels and audio adventures like Big Finish followed upon those events.  The more popular stories had her returning to Gallifrey and becoming Lord High President and calling upon Leela (who remained on Gallifrey at the conclusion of "The Invasion of Time") to serve as Romana's personal guard.  Some stories have her eventually regenerate into a colder, more mercurial third personality and body after accepting the office.  Other books suggested different fates.

Some fans wonder if she returned to Gallifrey to assist in the Time War.  After all, the TimeLords managed to "draft" the Master one way or another (though he fled to become Professor Yana).  If they could drag back his butt, maybe they could have retrieved Romana from E-Space.

The fact is, we really don't know.  Nothing so far has been clearly stated in the televison series, so it's anyone's guess.  The production may record and broadcast a story revealing Romana led the majority of the temporal battles with the Daleks.  Or, they may depict her as a dissenter, urging for peace and being imprisoned as a "traitor".  Or, we could discover she has been safely tucked within E-Space all this time, protected from the paradoxes and eventual "time lock" that effrectively entombed the TimeLords.

It's for future show-runners to decide.

Sincerely,

Bill

P.S.  Frankly, I like the idea Romana and Leela became lovers after the latter dumped that weenie, Andred.  ;-)

Quote - McKinstry's Cyber designs are just brillaint.. shame we wont' see them... *if I was a better modeler, I'd make the CyberMondosian design... *

I ain't seen those, mate.  If they're in the same vein as some of his Supreme takes, they're definitely worth a look.

@ Cage - many of the Who team are forum members of DWO and Project Dalek, and several other Who fan sites.  They'll have taken a lot of the comments and complaints back with 'em and addressed 'em to a degree.  Full credit for that, although I must point out when I was in full rant mode about the new Daleks, I did say "We're the ones paying for this", in reference to the UK TV License fee. That was in response to Moff saying, "Everything changes, even the Daleks.  These are the new ones, so get used to it".

Your comments about it making a nice toy strike a chord with me.  I'd remarked they looked like they were designed with an eye firmly on the toy market.  Bright, friendly colours, simple outlines and minimal surface detail.  I believe it's the only official Dalek that doesn't suffer from "panel twist", too.  That probably makes it a lot easier to injection mould.  One of the guys on PD - Bill Bailey -  gave his 2010s a Genesis paint job, which made them look rather menacing.  He'd also played around with the design a bit, essentially doing what the BBC did to their revised 2010s, but Bill did it first.  

Mechmaster made a new version named the True Paradigm, which was built in consultation with McKinstry and some of the other BBC guys.  That was released as a Project Dalek only model.  Mechmaster is too much of a gentleman to have voiced any gripes about the BBC nicking his idea of rear vent slots.  We're not gents, so we did gripe about it, loud and long.  :)  I'd love to see Mechmaster's designs get official sanction and him get recognition and recompense for 'em.  In fact, all of the guys at Project Dalek can cook up a pretty mean looking Dustbin of Death.  We should all be given jobs at the Beeb. :D  

I did a quick Google and found this page relating to the Cyber designs.

http://cybermantra.wordpress.com/about-the-cybermen/cyberman-designs/peter-mckinstrys-concept-art-cyberman/

I think I've seen most of these individually, but collected in one place.  Neither did I know earlier these were "seriously considered" designs.  (I assumed a few of them were well drawn "fan" concepts.)

Sincerely,

Bill

I'm sometimes undecided about the "new" i-daleks. To me it's kinda like the modern VW bettle. While both have the overall shape, core design elements and some feel of the original, equally theres theres that "difference". Yes it works and I do like it, theres just something thats hard to express. Then again what we would we create if we given the challenge of creating a new one? So I do feel for the re-designers here, it's sorta of one of those impossible choices that comes with a heavy responsibility.

McKinstry was given a design brief that the Daleks had to look clean and simple, like the Classic versions, big and towering like the Movie versions.  According to what I've read, Ray Cusick - the original Dalek designer - hated the look of the NSDs, saying they looked like "agricultural machinery", rather than futuristic war machines.  I can see his point, but I disagree.

Anyhow, I believe, with all the above, McKinstry did a reasonable job of reinterpreting but...

The raised skirt panels, 4 ring neck, wok shaped dome and hunchback profile are horrible.  Needless to say, that's entirely my opinion.

Another guy at Project Dalek and Deviant Art, Librarian-Bot, has designed his own takes on all the Dalek variants, Including the New Paradigms, and I think his versions are some of the best I've ever seen.  Mechmaster also did a version for a Project Dalek calendar, which keeps the large, imposing size while keeping a more Classic outline.  And, of course, there's me own take on the beast, too.  It's something I may return to at a later date.  

Overall, I don't like the New Paradigms because I see so many things wrong with 'em.   

I've wondered once or twice whether the idea that the Dalek design is meant to look unlike something built by human technology has been lost in the new series, both with the RTD design and the Paradigm designs.  I do like the added detail on the RTD Daleks, but the bolts perhaps make the casing look more like familiar technology than it should.  Hmm.  I actually haven't thought that out very far.  I'll reflect on it.  :unsure:

But the Paradigm Daleks made me think of iPods and contemporary automobile design.  They look like they were designed and built by humans in the early 21st century, rather than a civilization with its own technology and design concepts.

Which is perhaps the long, blathering way of stating that I can see where Cusick might have been coming from.  :unsure:

I was going to post earlier today to ask whether anyone had any thoughts about Doctor Twelve's costume, but I didn't want to bump the thread if it had run its course somehow.  So, umm.  Does anyone have any thoughts about how the 12th Doctor will be attired?

Haven't thought about it.  I would have said a bit school teacher-ish but I think Smithy's kinda done that.  Just so long as it's not a Zoe style jumpsuit, I'll be happy.  :)

The Ol' Blue Box will probably be in for another makeover too, eh? 

Quote - I've wondered once or twice whether the idea that the Dalek design is meant to look unlike something built by human technology has been lost in the new series, both with the RTD design and the Paradigm designs.  I do like the added detail on the RTD Daleks, but the bolts perhaps make the casing look more like familiar technology than it should.  Hmm.  I actually haven't thought that out very far.  I'll reflect on it.  :unsure:

But the Paradigm Daleks made me think of iPods and contemporary automobile design.  They look like they were designed and built by humans in the early 21st century, rather than a civilization with its own technology and design concepts.

Which is perhaps the long, blathering way of stating that I can see where Cusick might have been coming from.  :unsure:

I was going to post earlier today to ask whether anyone had any thoughts about Doctor Twelve's costume, but I didn't want to bump the thread if it had run its course somehow.  So, umm.  Does anyone have any thoughts about how the 12th Doctor will be attired?

Zoot suit?

Sam Therapy said, "According to what I've read, Ray Cusick - the original Dalek designer - hated the look of the NSDs, saying they looked like "agricultural machinery", rather than futuristic war machines.  I can see his point, but I disagree."

Seriously, Cusick was not pleased with the NSD design?  I'm honestly surprised.  The overall dimensions and proportions (except for the "bumper") are almost identical to the original ShawCraft props.  The differences reside mainly in the aspect of detailing.  True, I can see how the rivets could be intrepreted as primitive technology, but I felt the rivets along with the overall bronze color scheme helped suggest German Panzer tanks, something with which the various nations of Europe could associate and see as something to be feared.  Haven't the Daleks been described as "trundling tanks of terror"?  You can't get more tank-like than plated armor and rivets.

Well, that's a shame.  The NSDs were almost universally praised, so I just assumed Ray Cusick liked them too.

Sincerely,

Bill

The Ol' Blue Box will probably be in for another makeover too, eh? Read in some fan mag that was a possibility - yea can see the story potential, but the police box is one of the core visual icons in the series. But the Paradigm Daleks made me think of iPods and contemporary automobile design. yea same here. Not saying thats always a bad thing, like I said above leaves me feeling not sure.

I just meant the TARDIS interior really...

...I don't see the Doctor "fixing" the chameleon circuit, to manifest the exterior as anything other than the resemblance of a Police Box variation, anytime soon ;-)

It's considered an iconic form, even by the Doctor himself, as I recall...

I always inferred the implication (and I don't know if this is backed up anywhere in canon or other storylines) that alongside the chameleon circuit function, the TARDIS was deploying a "perception filter" of some sort, anyway...

I suspect the Doctor will regenerate to a different gender or ethnithity before the TARDIS changes it exterior (more consistently) to anything other than the Ol' Blue Box...

In terms of the interior... the word I've heard is that the current interior is likely to remain for at least part of the next series. But, I guess we'll see...

Actually, I've wondered if it is possible for a Time Lord to regenerate to a different gender? And speaking of Romana again, when Mary Tamm left for Lala Ward, was Romana regeberating then or was that something else ?

@ Bill - I think the comments by Ray Cusick are referenced in a PD thread, most likely the old one where several of us are ranting about the 2010s.  

@ Chris - Yes, I think the TARDIS does have a perception filter.  IIRC, it's mentioned, or at least alluded to in The Parting of the Ways.  I can't see the exterior getting a makeover any time soon.    

Quote - Actually, I've wondered if it is possible for a Time Lord to regenerate to a different gender? And speaking of Romana again, when Mary Tamm left for Lala Ward, was Romana regeberating then or was that something else ?

I don't think the audience has ever been shown directly any Time Lord character who has switched gender while regenerating, at least in the "classic" and current runs of the TV show itself.  The matter may have been semi-canonically dealt with somehow in one of the other media.  :unsure:  But since the later 70s, various producers, showrunners, and performers have all presented the idea to the public.  I think the showrunner support of the idea reveals that it is taken seriously by those who can decide what is and is not acceptable and true and valid in the fictional universe of Doctor Who, and probably indicates that it can happen... at least as long as people who support the possibility remain in such positions of influence.

 In-story, I think the Doctor has made some comments in various episodes, since the start of the new series.  "He used to be a woman," or that sort of thing, when talking about some now long gone Time Lord.  (Maybe it was in the Gaiman episode?)  But is that to be taken seriously?  Until and unless we see it happen, it may remain a question along the lines of whether we should take seriously the idea that Doctor number eight was half-human.  As far as I know, we've never been presented with direct evidence that regeneration gender swaps can truly occur.  :unsure:

Fans and various books about the series (I get almost all my ideas from my muddled recollection of repeated readings of the About Time series) seem to take for granted that Romana's various changes of form in Destiny of the Daleks were, indeed, regenerations, although (again!) that question has never been directly answered.  There is fan disagreement about this matter (as almost all matters :lol:).  Some maintain that we saw some sort of projection of potential regenerated forms, and not true physical regenerations of Romana.  Some suggest that Romana was in that strangely flexible period which directly follows a regeneration, so she could change form repeatedly without sacrificing any limited count of total regenerations.  If that's what you're asking.  :unsure:  If you're asking whether Romana 2 was a regeneration of Romana 1, then the answer does seem to be an unusually solid "yes".

..I don't see the Doctor "fixing" the chameleon circuit,

it's not actually broken, never has been. Sexy just likes being a Blue Box....***

Really?  I thought the Doctor had mentioned it being broken in the past, or is that just me old age playing tricks?

There was certainly a reference to regeneration changing sex in the first Neil Gaiman story, the Doctor's Wife.

Quote - Really?  I thought the Doctor had mentioned it being broken in the past, or is that just me old age playing tricks?

Or perhaps the Doctor playing tricks, in his old age...? ;-)

Quote - There was certainly a reference to regeneration changing sex in the first Neil Gaiman story, the Doctor's Wife.

Yes, it was in a reference by the Eleventh Doctor to The Corsair.

Quote - Really?  I thought the Doctor had mentioned it being broken in the past, or is that just me old age playing tricks?

think on this.. he thought her guidance was faulty....... "I took you where you NEEDED to go...."

Yup, I remember that but AFAIK, the Chameleon circuit is kaput, even if most of the other stuff works OK.