Doctor Who Series 8

[Garett Hornwood]

With less than a week left before the start of the new series/season, I figured it was time to start a thread.

Peter Capaldi takes over for Matt Smith as The Doctor and Jenna Coleman reprises the role of companion Clara Oswald.

Capaldi has appeared as The Doctor twice briefly, once uncredited in "The Day of the Doctor" and briefly at the end of "The Time of the Doctor" right after The Doctor's regeneration, but this will be his first full season in the role. Coleman's Clara was the companion for the 2nd half of Series 7 as well as the 50th Anniversary and Christmas special, two variations of her character appeared at the beginning of Series 7 and the 2012 Christmas Special, "The Snowmen". This is rumored to be Coleman's only full season as Clara might leave The Doctor during the Christmas Special.

On Monday, the list of episode titles and writers were released:

1 -- Deep Breath (by Steven Moffat)

2 -- Into The Dalek (by Phil Ford and Steven Moffat)

3 -- Robot Of Sherwood (by Mark Gatiss)

4 -- Listen (by Steven Moffat)

5 -- Time Heist (by Stephen Thompson and Steven Moffat)

6 -- The Caretaker (by Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat)

7 -- Kill The Moon (by Peter Harness)

8 -- Mummy On The Orient Express (by Jamie Mathieson)

9 -- Flatline (by Jamie Mathieson)

10 -- In The Forest Of The Night (by Frank Cottrell Boyce)

11/12 -- Dark Water/Death In Heaven (by Steven Moffat)

Okay, that's all I have plan for an introduction for this season. We have a few days to speculate and comment about what we hope to see in the season followed by months worth of commentary on what we do see.

So, the floor is open...

[Batbob45]

Strax need to be in more than an episode. I hope Rory's dad join the new doctor on a adventure.Didn't 11 wipe out the Daleks hate of him?

[Night's_King]

Dinosaurs.

[Sansa's Bad Memory]

Strax need to be in more than an episode. I hope Rory's dad join the new doctor on a adventure.Didn't 11 wipe out the Daleks hate of him?

I'd love to see Rory's dad, too! Between the two, you'd never know what they gave in their pockets!

[Crazydog7]

I love Doctor Who as well as the next guy but does the fallback villian always have to be Daleks or Cybermen?

The Weeping Angels were very scary and so was The Silence. I know they are being conservative because they don't want to piss off the fanbase but it would be nice to see them not always have to rely on the old favorites.

[Black Wolf Smith]

I am not excited about Capaldi's Dr. Who. I hope I am wrong, but as an old school fan, I think I seen this Dr. a couple times. Even the names of ep 3, 8, 10, sound like old ep.

That being said, I will cross my fingers, and hope for the best.

@batbob45 He deleted his history, so they nor many other's no longer know that he exist. That doesn't mean he won't run across them, just they won't know the history between them.

[Zelgrath]

They know about him again since the last Matt Smith episode. The Dalek's took the Doctor's history out of the church's computers when they attacked the ship.

[protar]

I love Doctor Who as well as the next guy but does the fallback villian always have to be Daleks or Cybermen?

The Weeping Angels were very scary and so was The Silence. I know they are being conservative because they don't want to piss off the fanbase but it would be nice to see them not always have to rely on the old favorites.

The Weeping Angels have been sadly rather overused in the past couple of seasons. I think each successive appearance has made them less scary. So I'd rather they gave them a break. I'd rather Dalek's got a break too but IIRC they're legally required to include an appearance at least once a season or they lose the rights to them.

[BormonReborn]

I am not excited about Capaldi's Dr. Who. I hope I am wrong, but as an old school fan, I think I seen this Dr. a couple times. Even the names of ep 3, 8, 10, sound like old ep.

That being said, I will cross my fingers, and hope for the best.

@batbob45 He deleted his history, so they nor many other's no longer know that he exist. That doesn't mean he won't run across them, just they won't know the history between them.

Its sad, I really REALLY disliked the last Angels episode. I still don't truly understand why the doctor can't just pick up Amy and Rory in the past... the ending seemed a bit forced.

And because of that, I am guessing no more Rory's dad.

I am excited to see and older Doctor again.... I am looking forward to a more fatherly role for the doctor that has been missing since the new episodes started.

[red snow]

I am not excited about Capaldi's Dr. Who. I hope I am wrong, but as an old school fan, I think I seen this Dr. a couple times. Even the names of ep 3, 8, 10, sound like old ep.

Capaldi is an excellent actor so I don't doubt his part at all. I'm slightly more concerned that the showrunners are the same so I don't really expect anything too different from Matt Smith's run. That said they were perfectly passable junk tv with the occasional great episode.

Ben wheatley directing the first two episodes is interesting but I'm not sure how much of an effect the director has on TV - he can only work with the script provided.

[polishgenius]

They know about him again since the last Matt Smith episode. The Dalek's took the Doctor's history out of the church's computers when they attacked the ship.

Making it a completely pointless plotline for Moffatt to ever have implemented in the first place. Not his first and I daresay not his last, but it was a bad idea really so it's good that it's gone (I guess it was going to be something he'd unravel more slowly if Smith was still in place but doesn't want to drag old plotlines over to the new Doctor).

Its sad, I really REALLY disliked the last Angels episode. I still don't truly understand why the doctor can't just pick up Amy and Rory in the past... the ending seemed a bit forced.

It was terrible, especially so because that episode and the previous one felt like they had been building to the notion of Amy and Rory deciding themselves that they didn't want to travel with him anymore. That would have made much more sense, and the Doctor's massive hissy fit in The Snowmen would have been more understandable too. It felt like Moffatt just bottled that storyline.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Capaldi, and there are early indications that Moff might be reigning in his tendency to complicate things with the arcs which might be a good thing at least to start. I agree we need more memorable new villains, though. Fucking hate the Daleks by now, but apparently there are rights reasons for them coming back every season. I don't mind the Cybermen, they're actually much creepier than the Daleks and haven't been quite as overused, though they need to be careful.

[Jaxom 1974]

DVR is set. I intend to actually try to follow Who beget this time out. For what that is worth.

[john]

Wasn't the mummy on the orient express what the Doctor went off to do with Amy and Rory on their wedding night at the end of series 5?

Looking forward to Frank Cottrell Boyce's episode. I've only seen 24 hour Party people and I doubt he's drawing on that much, since he also has apparently written award winning children's fiction, but that is ace.

[House Hendrix of Rock]

The Weeping Angels have been sadly rather overused in the past couple of seasons. I think each successive appearance has made them less scary. So I'd rather they gave them a break. I'd rather Dalek's got a break too but IIRC they're legally required to include an appearance at least once a season or they lose the rights to them.

What? so if they don't appear one season they can't show them anymore? Strange deal no ?

[polishgenius]

What? so if they don't appear one season they can't show them anymore? Strange deal no ?

Yes. And when they do appear, the Terry Nation estate get script approval and can kibosh it if they think it's not prominent enough or whatever.

Frankly if I was Moffatt and the BBC I'd tell Nation's descendants to do one. The rights are likely to get back to the BBC at some stage anyway, they're too intrinsically linked not to, and even if it means no Daleks for the next 10 years or something, that would just make their return all the more special. He's got plenty of enemies to be going on with in the meantime anyway. Whereas the Daleks aren't going to mean anything without the Doctor.

[Garett Hornwood]

After Episode 2, the Daleks don't need to be seen until close the end of Series 9 after being saturated with their presence in so many recent shows. Personally I think it's a given that the major event of Capaldi's era is the return of the Time Lords and Gallifrey to the Universe, which means the Daleks will play a major role when that happens. However that doesn't have to happen in this upcoming Series or in the Christmas Special, this Series can be dedicated to getting to know the "new" Doctor and for the Doctor to find himself, so to speak. So getting the Dalek episode out of the way early makes sense and allows the show to avoid using them until they're needed late next year.

As for the Angels, since "Blink" they've progressively gotten worse as villains. "Manhattan" was a debacle (seriously the Statue of Liberty?) and they shouldn't be seen for a long while until someone figures out how to make them formidable again.

[Black Wolf Smith]

Capaldi is an excellent actor so I don't doubt his part at all². I'm slightly more concerned that the showrunners are the same so I don't really expect anything too different from Matt Smith's run¹. That said they were perfectly passable junk tv with the occasional great episode.

Ben wheatley directing the first two episodes is interesting but I'm not sure how much of an effect the director has on TV - he can only work with the script provided.

1. There is the Dr. Who/Tom Baker theory that I heard a while back, that in a nut shell is that T Baker stayed too long, got to much power and in the end really hurt Who overall. I think I heard that even T Baker believes that he stayed too long, and has told new Dr.'s that they should only hold it for about 3 years. ( rumor has it he told both DT and MS). Moffat has been Showrunner for near 6 years, and has a much bigger control then Baker ever did. I will skip the whole debate about what he has or hasn't done for Who, except that he always does too much. Falling Angels are a prime example. They started out good, then got better and better but he did them too often, and then "Manhattan" which was good, except the stupid Statue of Liberty. To top it off, Moffat is a fan, but he could careless what anyone else thinks about his work.

2. Capaldi is good, and was good on both Dr. Who and Torchwood, but he reminds me too much of 2 or 7 grouchiness w/ bit of 3's arrogance, and whatever that thing 6's had aloofness? From what little I have seen in last ep and the clips seems to be the same character he always plays.

As for the Angels, since "Blink" they've progressively gotten worse as villains. "Manhattan" was a debacle (seriously the Statue of Liberty?) and they shouldn't be seen for a long while until someone figures out how to make them formidable again.

I just think that we got too much of them, too often, and then Manhattan went back to what 10 had said about them from the very beginning, It isn't an awful way to die. The worst thing about SoL was that it looks so cheap. I am ok w/ bubble wrap monsters, plastic dummies, and even rock looking monsters, but at least keep it at a level w/ the other monster on the same ep.

[mormont]

The Nation estate/once a season condition thing appears to be rumour rather than fact, albeit pretty widely circulated rumour. It might be true, might not.

I personally think it's more likely that the deal is that the Nation estate gets a payment every season for Dalek rights whether they appear or not, so the showrunners have tended to think 'right, might as well use them'.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Except from the fact that I really like Capaldi as an actor, I hope that his older doctor will stop this flirting thing silliness surrounding the new Doctors and will bring back the good old classic Doctor.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Tennant will always be my favourite Doctor Who.[...]Rose <3 That is all.

I used to like you Leap and I used to enjoy your posts. :P :D