Raonaild

New thread at last! Bringing this over from the previous one:

The mention of Gallifrey. It wasn't really necessary to the plot, but it was a little bonus for the classic Who fans (like me) who've been waiting for the Doctor to stop being so coy about his homeworld and actually say the damned name. When they started the new show, they made a big deal about how the new series was different and distinct from the old, but gradually over time they've been bringing classic continuity back into the show, blurring the lines between new and old, which I appreciate. The fact that Gallifrey was not mentioned until now stuck out like a sore thumb to me, and I was pleasantly surprised when the Doctor finally said it. Though in hindsight, all the Mars talk through the ep was there to set it up.

I still believe that, eventually, we will see a return of the Time Lords. If not the whole lot, then at least one - either as an enemy along the lines of the Master, or as an ally, like Romana. Maybe not those specific characters, but the possibilities of throwing another Time Lord into the mix must be very tempting. Since they've already brought back the Cybermen and Daleks as the big events for the last two seasons and they can't keep playing the Dalek card every year, the other major classic Who antagonist left is the Master (and more generally the Time Lords, who were usually at odds with the Doctor). Counting by story, the Master actually appeared more often than either the Cybermen or Daleks in the classic series:

- The Daleks appeared in 16 serials - 1 story apeice for the 5th, 6th, and 7th Doctors, 2 for the 4th and 2nd, 3 for the 3rd and 5 for the 1st, plus the Five Doctors.
- The Cybermen appeared in 10 serials - 1 story apiece for the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors, 0 for the 3rd and 4 for the 2nd, plus the Five Doctors.
- The Master appeared in 19 serials - 0 for the 1st and 2nd Doctors, 8 for the 3rd, 3 for the 4th, 4 for the 5th, 2 for the 6th and 1 for the 7th, plus the Five Doctors.

The Master also appeared with the 8th Doctor in the TV movie. There was another Time Lord villain, the Rani, who was featured in two stories with the 6th and 7th Doctors.

Cryostar

Jut an FYI...they're talking that the Dr may once again switch out at the end of season 4....2 actors are being thought about....head over to Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news. for more details.

Raonaild

The Sun reported earlier this week that David Tennant would leave the show midway through season 4, and the Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty) or David Morrisey (Basic Instinct 2, Blackpool) would replace him. However, the next day, the BBC denied it all, since they haven't even decided whether there would be a season 4 or not yet.

Personally, I think Tennant could leave after a fourth season, that's a pretty standard run for a Doctor. But I think he's going to be very conflicted about leaving ... while it would be best for his career, being involved in Doctor Who is something he dreamed about since he was a kid, and he was actively involved in the Who universe long before he became the Doctor (he had roles in two Big Finish Doctor Who audios, and played a major character in their Dalek Empire III series).

Cryostar

Supposedly BBC has debunked this....haven't seen it yet, though.

Raonaild

In case it wasn't clear in my previous post, the BBC's response is here:

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | BBC denies Doctor 'quits' report

AisicsRule

Oh, me too. I keep expecting the Master to return at some point for sure. He's too big a part of the classic series to not include him. With all the parallel universe stuff in season 2, it would be easy to say that something in the Time War caused the Time Lords to all be scattered throughout various universes and that's why everyone thinks that they're dead.

Question: If Gallifrey was destroyed, how would the TARDIS still be working? Doesn't it get it's power from something on the planet?

Raonaild

How a TARDIS works has never been entirely clear, and the bits of information revealed in stories over the years are sometimes contradictory. The theory generally accepted in Who fandom (pieced together from these bits of information, but never explictily laid out in the TV series) is that the main source of power for a TARDIS is the Eye of Harmony, which is the nucleus of a black hole (created by Omega and harnessed by Rassilon) and is indeed located on Gallifrey.

But it's all very fuzzy, and the Doctor being the Doctor, even if the Eye were destroyed (which is also not certain), he'd probably just jury rig a different power source. Like the temporal rift in Cardiff, for example.

Primordial

Well said Rachel. Good example at the end.

sum1

I'd love it if Carlyle replaced Tennant but I bet that won't happen.

Primordial

Who is Carlyle sum1?

Raonaild

Robert Carlyle ... Full Monty, Trainspotting, Angela's Ashes. Also played Hitler a few years back.

I like him, though I'll always think of him as tough guy Begbie from Trainspotting. I cannot picture him playing the Doctor. If RTD is still around when the next Doctor needs to be cast, I really think he'd go for a younger actor, Carlyle is getting a bit too old for the part.

sum1

Carlyle would be much better than Tennant as the Doctor. I think he'd be a bit like Eccleston. He'd make an interesting Doctor. But yeah they'll probably go for a younger actor. And probably a weaker one too.

I certainly don't want David Morrissey in the part.

AisicsRule

Thanks Raonaild for the explanation! That's something that's been bugging me.

Younger than Tennant? Isn't he already the youngest actor to portray the Doctor? Or at least tied with Peter Davison?

Why weaker?

sum1

.

sum1

Younger than Carlyle.
Tennant's a good deal older than Davison was. He's 35 (34 when he got the role), Davison was 29 when he got the role and less than 33 in his last ep.



Like Tennant. And chances are they won't get an actor anything as good as Carlyle.