[Mr. Sam]

It's been nearly two years since the last thread was created in November of 2010 (you know - this one). Time flies, doesn't it? Well, here we are again - a little older, none the wiser. Ever hopeful about what's to come, ever cynical when we get it. Unless it's written by Neil Gaiman, of course.

I'll keep it short and sweet - here's to you, WhoGAF, and another fantastic almost-two-years.

For the newcomers, have a glance at the trailer for the series ahead (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrEUBl2pacU) and feel free to join in. We're a friendly bunch, honest.



Spoilers regardinging episodes not yet aired are to be spoiler tagged. Discussions about episodes that have aired in the UK, however, are not to be spoiler tagged. Not only does this prevent the thread from looking like a giant barcode - which benefits no-one - but it allows members to pick out real spoilers from plot points about episodes they've already seen.

This isn't an effort to be unkind and exclude people, it's simply an issue of practicalities.

Thank you.



Copied and shamelessly pasted from the previous Doctor Who thread, with some minor - but essential - modifications.

What is Doctor Who?
Essentially - and this is hugely underselling it - it's a British sci-fi show that began in 1963 and, a sixteen year gap aside, continues to run into its 33rd series and 785th episode this year. Those good at maths will have noticed that next year - 2013 - will be the show's fiftieth anniversary. More specifically, it's a show about a 907-year-old alien time traveller and an assortment of companions travelling through time and space, going through genres as quickly as they do historical periods and saving the world, the universe and, if they have the time, Space Florida time and time again.

Will I have to do a ton of catching up if I want to get into it then?
The short answer, no. The long answer, no, you can get into the show at any time - even during the series - thanks to the lead writer intentionally dispersing "getting on points" throughout episodes; but there's a lot there if you do want to watch up. There's the 32 previous series - divided into 26 'Old Who' series and six 'New Who' series - two spin-offs (The Sarah Jane Adventures for the young'uns and Torchwood for the, ahem, 'more mature' audience), a TV movie, books, audiobooks, boardgames, a videogame and, well, pretty much everything you can think of.

What's the format of the show?
Thirteen 45 minute episodes a year, accompanied by an hour-long Christmas special, which airs later in the year, surprisingly, at Christmas. This format can change slightly but by and large remains the same. This year, as it was last year, the series will be split into two - one half in 2012 and the other in 2013.

If I were so inclined, what is the recommended watching?
Different people will give you different lists, but generally, if you're going to watch New Who, this is the cream of the crop (or just the ones with important story elements, whatever). Series finales and openers are always included - because they're important to the story - but they can be of questionable quality. The best episodes will usually be within the series:

Series 1 (27):

• Rose
• Dalek
• The Empty Child [Part 1]
• The Doctor Dances [Part 2]
• Bad Wolf [Part 1] [Series Finale]
• The Parting of the Ways [Part 2]

Series 2 (28):

• The Christmas Invasion
• Tooth and Claw
• The Girl in the Fireplace
• The Impossible Planet
• The Satan Pit
• Army Of Ghosts [Part 1] [Series Finale]
• Doomsday [Part 2]

Series 3 (29):

• The Runaway Bride
• Smith and Jones
• Gridlock
• 42
• Human Nature [Part 1]
• Family of Blood [Part 2]
• Blink
• Utopia [Part 1] [Series Finale]
• Sound of Drums [Part 2]
• Last of the Time Lords [Part 3]

Series 4 (30):

• Partners in Crime
• Silence in the Library [Part 1]
• Forest of the Dead [Part 2]
• Midnight
• The Stolen Earth [Part 1] [Series Finale]
• Journey's End [Part 2]

'The Specials':

• The Waters of Mars
• The End of Time [2-Parter] [Series Finale]

Series 1, 5, 31, 2010 or Fnarg (31):

• The Eleventh Hour
• The Beast Below
• Time of Angels [Part 1]
• Flesh and Stone [Part 2]
• Vampires in Venice
• Amy's Choice
• Vincent and The Doctor
• The Lodger
• The Pandorica Opens [Part 1] [Series Finale]
• The Big Bang [Part 2]

Series 6 (32), Part 1:

• A Christmas Carol
• The Impossible Astronaut [Part 1]
• Day of the Moon [Part 2]
• The Doctor's Wife
• The Rebel Flesh [Part 1]
• The Almost People [Part 2]
• A Good Man Goes to War [Series Finale]

Series 6 (32), Part 2:

• Let's Kill Hitler
• The Girl Who Waited
• The Wedding of River Song

What are the basics of Doctor Who lore?
The expanded Doctor Who universe is as - if not more - massive and daunting as something like Star Wars or, um, Star Trek. Or Stargate.

The basics then: The Doctor is a 900ish-year-old (it changes depending on who you ask - and he's aged a few hundred years since the start of the series) Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He has two hearts, a sonic screwdriver that does almost everything - but it doesn't work on wood - and can regenerate when fatally injured, which handily explains the eleven (canon) actors who have portrayed him. He can supposedly only regenerate twelve times, and has used ten of these up [UPDATE: it's been confirmed there is now no limit on regenerations]. Time will only tell if he can escape this death clause [he has]. Aliases include John Smith, Doctor Who (as in "The Doctor? Doctor Who?") and his real name, *inaudible whisper*. He is the last of his kind; his species having been destroyed in the Time War with the Daleks, which is time locked... although both sides have found ways to escape the conflict on numerous occasions.

He travels in The TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). Its chameleon circuit malfunctioned, leaving it stuck disguised as a blue police telephone box. The TARDIS is bigger on the inside than on the outside, with sprawling staircases and corridors, a swimming pool, a library... most of which you oddly never see on-camera. It travels in space and time, impressively - and has also been known to inconveniently pop into alternate dimensions. Oh, also, it's kind of sentient. Doesn't say much, mind you.

Traditionally, The Doctor travels with a 'Companion' or 'Assistant'. In New Who, he'll usually have a primary female companion and occasionally a male supplementary companion who'll tag along for an adventure or two. Currently, The Doctor travels with young, attractive, ginger Amy Pond and her new husband, Rory. Or alone. That's not as boring as it sounds by the way.

The enemies/monsters are part of what makes Doctor Who. There are the iconic pepperpot-shaped Daleks, the steel-coated Cybermen, the growth-stunted, potato-headed Sontarans, the inanimate-only-when-you're-looking Weeping Angels, the dastardly bastard that is The Doctor's fellow Time Lord, The Master - who's dead... for now. Oh, and yes - there's the Silence; a sort of alien illuminati who you forgot about when they're out of sight. Basically, it's a long list and you wouldn't want to read it in its entirety. Probably.

How does time travel work in Doctor Who?
People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey... stuff. It will pay to remember this.

I'm American. How do I watch the latest series if I don't want to torrent it (like a monster)?
Yeah, uh, wait and see on that one.

[infiniteloop]

Good stuff!

[Gowans]

It's that time of year again, FANTASTIC!

[Fiction]

Sooooooon. I can't wait.

[SquiddyCracker]

Wow, that trailer was a bit spoilery - I wish I didn't watch it :(

Dat dalek empire

[CorrisD]

We have the topic, now to wait for the series to start, lol.

[Alphahawk]

What's your basis for thinking that the U.S has a two week delay? Last season it was day and date. BBC America has also already been airing several Dr Who special recaps, I can't imagine that it would be more than three or so weeks away.

Also why does season 6 pt 2 only list two episodes?

[Keyser Soze]

* thread regeneration*

Who made the awesome thread?

Who do you think!

[Mr. Sam]

Sorry - I left that in from the old FAQ. I'll take it out until I can confirm it.

[wind_steaker]

Lovely thread, I'm getting excited now!

[Alphahawk]

Sorry - I left that in from the old FAQ. I'll take it out until I can confirm it.

Ok you scared me for a bit.

If you have spill it though....

[Axiom]

The only disappointing thing about this lovely OP is that I had expected there to be a date for the show to be coming back along with it.

[Alphahawk]

The only disappointing thing about this lovely OP is that I had expected there to be a date for the show to be coming back along with it.

IMDB says August 25th

[piratepwnsninja]

Huzzah! Can't wait!

[infiniteloop]

The only disappointing thing about this lovely OP is that I had expected there to be a date for the show to be coming back along with it.

There's a press screening of Episode 1 on Tuesday, probably be announced around then.

[DrForester]

Hopefully BBC America is on top of things again.

[Galvanise_]

IMDB says August 25th

Its not. September 1st is probably the date. BBC listings don't have it down for the 25th at all.

[piratepwnsninja]

Possible spoilers, not specific to this upcoming season, but may give a confirmation of something:

According to MTV.com Matt Smith is to play the role of The Doctor until at least 2014.

This comes after a quote, that originally came from a Doctor Who Magazine interview, that Matt had seen what was in store for the 2014 series which will be Series 8.
Matt Smith said: It (Series 8) hasn’t been written yet but the idea is as brilliant and as mental as you’d expect from Steven. So there’s a lot to look forward to.
“When Steven was going to pitch the next season to me not long ago, he said, ‘Are you ready to cry?’ ”
This, however, does not confirm that Matt will still be playing the role in 2014, but there are strong suggestions he will still be on board knowing that Steven Moffat has pitched what he has in store. One bit of news we can get out of this is that Steven Moffat will definitely by in charge after the 50th Anniversary.

[SquiddyCracker]

Your avatar is a bit spoilerish for those who haven't seen the trailer.

[piratepwnsninja]

Your avatar is a bit spoilerish for those who haven't seen the trailer.

Maybe. I'm not the only person sporting avatars from the image though.

[Beaniedude]

Woah woah woah woah.
Where was it confirmed that The Doctor had unlimited regenerations?
I was looking forward to seeing them write around that.

[Mr. Sam]

It was a throwaway line in the Sarah Jane Adventures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9D-2HJMD9s

[Galvanise_]

Woah woah woah woah. Where was it confirmed that The Doctor had unlimited regenerations? I was looking forward to seeing them write around that.

Wasn't it a throwaway line in The Sarah Jane Chronicles?

Edit: Beat

[isny]

One bit of news we can get out of this is that Steven Moffat will definitely by in charge after the 50th Anniversary.

Boo!

[Galvanise_]

Boo!

Explain yourself or get out. He's the only person I want running the show. No-one else even springs to mind that I deem worthy.

[Axiom]

Boo!

The transition from RTD to Moffat made a lot of sense, both were fans, Moffat had written the best episodes of the show and they got along.

I can't even think of who makes sense following Moffat aside from Gatiss, and I really doubt he'd do it.

I really worry about the show getting another John Nathan Turner.

[isny]

Explain yourself or get out. He's the only person I want running the show. No-one else even springs to mind that I deem worthy.

He can run the show if he wants, as long as he stops writing. Alternatively though I'd rather have Phil and Julie back running the show together along with Mof as he needs someone to actually say no to him and say no to the execs at the BBC when they do stupid stuff like cancel Confidential and remove almost all commentaries from the DVD's.

edit: on second thought, lets have Neil Gaiman showrun and write for awhile /drool

[Mr. Sam]

Explain yourself or get out. He's the only person I want running the show. No-one else even springs to mind that I deem worthy.

Neil Gaiman? Just throwing it out there.

[The Technomancer]

Calling it now: the reveal of the answer to The Question will be vastly underwhelming.

[BatDan]

Maaan, can't wait for this to start up again. I'm ready!

[Galvanise_]

He can run the show if he wants, as long as he stops writing. Alternatively though I'd rather have Phil and Julie back running the show together along with Mof as he needs someone to actually say no to him and say no to the execs at the BBC when they do stupid stuff like cancel Confidential and remove almost all commentaries from the DVD's.

What is this? I don't even. . .

He's the best writer Who has. I consider him to be the best writer the BBC has. Jekyll, Sherlock and Who. The stuff of legend in my opinion.

If it was a question of funding, and something had to be cut, I'm fine with Confidential being cut as long as the actual show isn't harmed in any way. He's done an excellent job shielding the core product in my opinion. What's more, everyone seems to like him, unlike Beth and Wenger.

Gaiman wouldn't take the job. He's a good writer, but he has no experience at all in running a show.

[The Technomancer]

What is this? I don't even. . . He's the best writer Who has. I consider him to be the best writer the BBC has. Jekyll, Sherlock and Who. The stuff of legend in my opinion.

Mm, yeah, gonna disagree with you there. His writing in both Who and Sherlock often seems to have this self-indulgent bent to it (and I have more problems with Sherlock that I won't go into) He's not "bad" but the last couple seasons of Who haven't been my favorite.

[DoctorWho]

Great thread!!

[EuroMIX]

Moffat was better as a single story writer and not as the show runner. His ideas seemed to work best contained within individual episodes that supplemented the main arcs. I was massively disappointed by how Series 6, and subsequently River Song's story arc, ended up.

[BackwardsSuggestions]

Great thread. I wish the BBC would keep the old style series where there's a whole 13 episode season at the start of the year. Don't like this split season thing.

[Pixel_boy]

Is it a full seasons or half with a xmas one?

Edit ^ So its half?

[Galvanise_]

My biggest criticism of Moffat is that he doesn't dip into classic Who more. Omega/Romana etc should have had a showing by now. I wish RTD didn't do The Master. Moffat would smash that out of the park. The endings to the two arcs he has written have been incredibly predictable. That said, it is a show targeted at the whole family.

There isn't anyone in the current crop of writers that I'd be happy with the show being handed off to. All of them lack something and Gatiss would do something fucking stupid with it.

Visually, Moffat helped transform the show into something much more stylish. The logos etc are fucking sexy compared to the RTD era.

[SquiddyCracker]

Moffat was better as a single story writer and not as the show runner. His ideas seemed to work best contained within individual episodes that supplemented the main arcs. I was massively disappointed by how Series 6, and subsequently River Song's story arc, ended up.

Agreed.

Though he kept season 5 feeling really fresh and tight.

[isny]

Moffat was better as a single story writer and not as the show runner. His ideas seemed to work best contained within individual episodes that supplemented the main arcs. I was massively disappointed by how Series 6, and subsequently River Song's story arc, ended up.

This.

[Santiako]

Ugh, why is River on this again? Besides that, the trailer looks ace.

[Diablos54]

Hmm. I don't know if I like this new regeneration. :p

Can't wait for the new season, it's going to be fun!

[The Technomancer]

My biggest criticism of Moffat is that he doesn't dip into classic Who more. Omega/Romana etc should have had a showing by now. I wish RTD didn't do The Master. Moffat would smash that out of the park. The endings to the two arcs he has written have been incredibly predictable. That said, it is a show targeted at the whole family. There isn't anyone in the current crop of writers that I'd be happy with the show being handed off to. All of them lack something and Gatiss would do something fucking stupid with it. Visually, Moffat helped transform the show into something much more stylish. The logos etc are fucking sexy compared to the RTD era.

I think RTD's handling of the Master was alright except for the fuck-stupid Deus Ex Machina solution to the Last of the Time Lords

Ugh, why is River on this again? Besides that, the trailer looks ace.

I'm kind of resigned to her at this point.

[Galvanise_]

I think people are forgetting just how shit RTD was. His Time Lords/Master/specials etc stuff was hilariously awful.

Agree about River though. I wish she'd just pop in at the beginning of an Episode and say 'off to a Library now, see you later'. Done.

[Andrex]

Hm, this is premiering on a Monday then? I forget when s6 was on...

[Galvanise_]

Hm, this is premiering on a Monday then? I forget when s6 was on...

September 1st, UK. Its not in any BBC listings for before then.

[The Technomancer]

I think people are forgetting just how shit RTD was. His Time Lords/Master/specials etc stuff was hilariously awful.

Oh his specials were terrible, my most hated moments in the show are the "the Doctor is infallible jesus" moments that usually occurred in those. But then its like Moffat actually increased the amount of "OMG the Doctor is the most amazing person ever"

[Quick]

Don't be scared, guys, it's a new thread.

Scared? Who's scared? Geronimo.

He can run the show if he wants, as long as he stops writing. Alternatively though I'd rather have Phil and Julie back running the show together along with Mof as he needs someone to actually say no to him and say no to the execs at the BBC when they do stupid stuff like cancel Confidential and remove almost all commentaries from the DVD's. edit: on second thought, lets have Neil Gaiman showrun and write for awhile /drool

Wounds are still fresh, man. I loved Confidential. And I had to double check my Series 6 set on the commentaries, and they're there for a four select episodes, but still.

[Galvanise_]

Oh his specials were terrible, my most hated moments in the show are the "the Doctor is infallible jesus" moments that usually occurred in those. But then its like Moffat actually increased the amount of "OMG the Doctor is the most amazing person ever"

For me that has been countered by the amount of focus on Amy. Both series with her in it have focused on her obsessively. At times The Doctor has felt like a tag along. For him to stand out, he's had to be a bit more 'TA-DA'.

[PhoncipleBone]

I think RTD's handling of the Master was alright except for the fuck-stupid Deus Ex Machina solution to the Last of the Time Lords

After all these years, it still hurts me to think about it. Ugh...

[Quick]

After all these years, it still hurts me to think about it. Ugh...

We all know that feel, bro. Absolutely dreadful.