Fucking Major Doctor Who spoilers!

[The Romulan Republic]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/progin ... /doctorwho

If you took everything from him, betrayed him, trapped him, and broke both his hearts...how far might the Doctor go?
Returning to Gallifrey, the Doctor faces the Time Lords in a struggle that will take him to the end of time itself. Who is the Hybrid? And what is the Doctor’s confession?

Writer / Steven Moffat
Director / Rachel Talalay
Producer / Peter Bennett

So, looks like they're finally addressing the big red planet-shaped elephant in the room.

Hope they have the guts to resolve the missing Gallifrey plot for good rather than drag it out.

Edit: Also, who wants to bet that this means the Time Lords, or an element of them, were behind last episode and Clara's death?

[NecronLord]

I was imagining it was a Time Lord plot, thought it might be. I think the cuff in the last episode had a time lord sign on it, but that might just have been me.

That said, it's odd that they've gone from giving him new a regeneration cycle to being his opponents, offscreen. Will wait and see though. Maybe it's a different faction (like the High Council in End of Time) or something.

[The Romulan Republic]

Be interesting if they brought Rassilon back.

[Broomstick]

I was going to bring up that it is entirely possible for there to be more than one Time Lord faction. We've even seen that before. We've also seen them give new regenerations to some pretty despicable characters before, like the Master during the Time War, so giving them to the Doctor in exchange for saving their bacon makes sense. Also, remember that while the Doctor is portrayed as the good guy from our viewpoint he is not that to the Time Lords, who have alternated viewing him as a renegade, a criminal, and once in a great while President of the Council.

Also, all of that stuff outlined in the OP are the kind of dick moves they're known for. Not nice people, the Time Lords. Really, Master/Missy is more typical of the breed than the Doctor is.

A lot of folks were suspecting "Time Lord Plot" between MayorMe/Ashildir having a lock to fit his TARDIS key and knowing about his confession dial.

I look forward to the next couple episodes. Hope they don't blow it.

[The Romulan Republic]

Now that you mention that stuff that Ashildir had, I'm almost surprised I didn't put it together just from watching the episode.

Edit: And while we're on the subject of asshole Time Lords, the Doctor himself isn't a fluffy little kitten. Because he's the main character, and he's usually pleasant (if nuts) when not pushed too far, people seem to forget that he has multiple genocides and mass mind control on his hands.

[Tribble]

Gallifrey is probably going to be restored now, and for whatever plot reason a new Time War won't break out. So ya...

[The Romulan Republic]

Or a new Time War will break out, and that'll be the main season 10 arc.

Yeah, probably not, but you never know.

Edit: It would be a nice pretext for a mini-multi-Doctor episode to celebrate ten seasons of the new series. I've been particularly wanting Eight to show up again for a while. I think he and Capaldi would make for an interesting contrast, and Eight deserves more screen time.

[Tribble]

Well, technically speaking we still don't know what started the Time War. For all we know the whole thing was a giant paradox - it may have started because of Gallifrey's return, with the Dalek's attacking the moment they found out about it. It was called the Time War for a reason after all. Of course, I highly doubt that they are going to go that route.

[The Romulan Republic]

Wouldn't put it past Moffat. This is the man who invented the term "...ball of wibbly wobbly timey whimey suff."

[DaveJB]

If memory serves, one of the RTD-era reference books suggested that the Time War had its roots all the way back to the Time Lords trying to prevent the Daleks from being created in "Genesis of the Daleks," and that what really set them down an unstoppable path to all-out war was the Seventh Doctor duping the major Dalek factions into wiping each other out in "Remembrance of the Daleks."

[Q99]

Well, technically speaking we still don't know what started the Time War. For all we know the whole thing was a giant paradox - it may have started because of Gallifrey's return, with the Dalek's attacking the moment they found out about it. It was called the Time War for a reason after all. Of course, I highly doubt that they are going to go that route.

In general, the temporal factions tend to pass 'forward'. Like, the prior doctors are still definitely in the 'past,' so are more primitive Daleks. All the major powers consider the war over now.

I like to think that what started the time war was when the Time Lords sent the Doctor to prevent the Daleks from occurring in the first place back in the day.

[Tribble]

Well, technically speaking we still don't know what started the Time War. For all we know the whole thing was a giant paradox - it may have started because of Gallifrey's return, with the Dalek's attacking the moment they found out about it. It was called the Time War for a reason after all. Of course, I highly doubt that they are going to go that route.

In general, the temporal factions tend to pass 'forward'. Like, the prior doctors are still definitely in the 'past,' so are more primitive Daleks. All the major powers consider the war over now.

I like to think that what started the time war was when the Time Lords sent the Doctor to prevent the Daleks from occurring in the first place back in the day.

Well, given that this was a war involving all of time and space, time itself was used as a weapon and timelines kept being re-written over and over again, it's at least plausible that when it "ended" nobody actually knew how it started. Or for all we know it may turn out that "ancient Gallifrey" was in fact the immediate post-Time War Gallifrey sent back into the past. A lot can be forgotten in a billion years.

[Parallax]

The Time Lords are absolute masters at forgetting thing.
As The Deadly Assassin showed us, the Time Lords had even forgotten where their Eye of Harmony (you know, the piece of tech that is the cornerstone of their very civilisation) was.
And it was right under the Panopticon, where they gathered every single day.

[The Romulan Republic]

One wonders how they ever survived without the Doctor to bail them out.

[Enigma]

There's also talk by Moffat that this might be the last season for him as the showrunner. I think he quoted that he brought back River as some sort of a goodbye?

[The Romulan Republic]

Huh.

I'm torn between "Good riddance" and wondering who is successor might be.

[Tribble]

Huh.

I'm torn between "Good riddance" and wondering who is successor might be.

Ya, I know the feeling. Hopefully the rumors are true and he decides to step down. After all, even RTD knew when he'd been on long enough.

[The Romulan Republic]

Moffat has had a four season run. Same as RTD. Of course, RTD got the 2010 specials too, but Moffat got the 50th. anniversary.

[Tribble]

Which is why I'm concerned that Moffat may stay at east an extra season, so that he can "beat" RTD's record.

[Bedlam]

Which is why I'm concerned that Moffat may stay at east an extra season, so that he can "beat" RTD's record.

It's not really a record, John Nathan Turner was the Producer for 9-10 years running through 4 different Doctors back in the 80's.

[DaveJB]

There's also talk by Moffat that this might be the last season for him as the showrunner. I think he quoted that he brought back River as some sort of a goodbye?

He's apparently sticking around for next year, but that likely is going to be where he calls it quits. Wouldn't surprise me if Capaldi leaves at the same time and the BBC does a major retool with a new Doctor and showrunner.

As for the next showrunner's identity, Mark Gatiss is apparently still the overwhelming favourite, though Toby Whitehouse's name has also been mentioned a couple of times.

[The Romulan Republic]

Ugg. I'd really rather not have Gatiss.

Don't know enough about Whitehouse to say.

[jwl]

Gatiss ruled himself out as recently as last April, if Moffat leaves after christmas or after series 10 he's probably not going to be the next showrunner.

[The Romulan Republic]

So then who is? I'm not aware of any other high profile Doctor Who writers, except maybe that Whitehouse guy DaveJB mentioned.

Truth be told, I'd rather like an outsider. Someone with experience in science fiction television, but not someone with the baggage of being on the current staff. Someone who could bring a fresh approach.

[jwl]

So then who is? I'm not aware of any other high profile Doctor Who writers, except maybe that Whitehouse guy DaveJB mentioned.

Truth be told, I'd rather like an outsider. Someone with experience in science fiction television, but not someone with the baggage of being on the current staff. Someone who could bring a fresh approach.

At six episodes, Toby Whithouse has now written more episodes of mainstream doctor who than Steven Moffat had before becoming showrunner (Moffat wrote five). So has Gareth Roberts, who also wrote six; and Chris Chibnall has also written five episodes. Bob baker, who is doing the K9 movie, co-wrote nine serials of doctor who in the classic series and is still active. If you are including Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures, Phil Ford, Helen Raynor, and Catherine Treganna would also qualify.

So no, Gatiss isn't the only writer which has doctor who experience (of course many of these are also unlikely for various other reasons, I would bet on Toby Whithouse myself).