How Best to Resume Doctor Who

The end of the most recent season of “Doctor Who” left things in a fairly bad place, and coupled with the uncertainty over the Disney deal, there’s a real chance the show will be going on another long hiatus. Even if not, there will definitely be a delay of a couple of years, as they will need to come up with a new cast (or at least part of one), new writers and scripts, and actually make the thing.

But there’s also the debate of how best to go forward with it.

My thinking is that the best way forward depends on whether there’s a short or a long pause before the show returns. But it boils down to three options:

Option One: A short pause, but otherwise everything continues

The best-case scenario, at least for the BBC, is that either Disney continue with their distribution deal or they find a new streaming partner straight away, RTD continues as showrunner, and they proceed into the new season more or less right away.

In that case, I’d recommend picking up where they left off: Gatwa’s Fifteen has regenerated into Piper’s Sixteen, and the fallout from that becomes the centre of the Christmas special in 2026 or 2027. This is then a one-off adventure culminating into another regeneration (as Billie Piper is almost certainly too expensive, and too in-demand, to be the Doctor long-term), before going into the next season.

Not ideal, but it gets them out of the current mess without too much turmoil.

Option Two: A short-ish pause, resuming without a streaming partner

Alternately, the BBC may find themselves without a streaming partner, in which case the show will inevitably face a somewhat longer hiatus and then may return but with a smaller budget. In which case the chances of having Billie Piper return even for a special are slim, and there’s a pretty good chance that they’d want to replace the rest of the team.

In that case, I think I’d advocate for, essentially, a “double regeneration” – the show picks up again from just before the end of the previous season, we see Gatwa regenerate, see Piper appear and say “oh, hello”… and then the regeneration continues straight through into whoever is cast as the “real” Sixteen. The explanation, if one is ever felt needed, is basically the same as for Romana’s regeneration back in the day – the Doctor was “trying on” a new face but it didn’t stick.

And then you go from there.

Option Three: A longer pause

In the event that Doctor Who finds itself without a streaming partner, the BBC may take the view that they want to rest it, to let some time pass under the bridge, let a new generation of writers come to it, and then revive the series – it was highly successful once, so why not again?

In which case, I’d recommend simply picking up with a new Doctor on new adventures, and simply not referencing what went before. At some point, way in the future, they may want to pull another “Day of the Doctor”, and thus fill in the gaps, but unless and until they come up with something really solid, just leave it unanswered. (And, crucially, don’t rush into answering the question, or even hinting at the fact that there is a question to be answered – let any revival get really confident on its feet first before touching it.)

(I was at this point going to talk about a fourth option, which would be a full-blown reboot of the series. But the more I think about it, the more I think that’s a terrible idea. Don’t do that!)

#18: “Tower of Fools”, by Andrzej Sapkowski

Fixing the Roof While the Sun Shines

I mentioned a few posts ago that we'd seen s few jobs pop up needing to be done: LC's car needed some work, the kitchen door needed a fix, the bathroom wanted repainted, and the washing machine needed something done. Over the last couple of weeks, these have now been addressed.

LC's car was fairly simple, if somewhat frustrating. Basically, it went back to the garage, they did what was needed, and that was the job done. No issues there, it just took a bit longer than we would have liked.

Repainting the bathroom was likewise just a job that needed to be done. So one morning I got up early, got on with it, and that was the job done. Huzzah!

Fixing the kitchen door was a bit harder, but once I'd found the appropriate advice it wasn't hard - the door is now remounted, and the hinges are no longer sagging. It still needs some sort of adjustment, but I'm not sure what wants done there. The advice I've seen looks like it wants a wrench applied, but I'm not so sure about that. I think we might just be leaving it alone.

That left the washing machine, which I took care of on Saturday. This was a job that has been waiting to be done for a long time, and so finally getting it done is really good. The issue was that the washing machine was wired directly into the wall, which I've now switched over to a socket-and-plug arrangement. This turned out to be fairly straightforward, though it did require quite a lot of care and double-checking.

(That's now three of four kitchen/utility room appliances switched over. The last is the kitchen freezer, which I'd like to get switched over as a matter of principle, but we have no plans to replace it any time soon, or really ever, so it would just be a job for the sake of doing it.)

We've now ordered a replacement washing machine - the old one is now pretty long in the tooth, and has some problems we've never quite been able to get fully fixed. That's all fair enough - we got it a couple of years before we moved, and although it didn't come into use immediately after we moved (the house came with a washing machine), it has done about eight years of good service. So it's had a good run.

That therefore clears the list of jobs, at least for the moment. It would be nice to think we'd have a spell without more jobs coming up, but that seems unlikely. I guess we'll see.

An Addendum to the Previous Post

My view, when allegations of the sort faced by Neil Gaiman are made, is firstly that these are serious matters and must be taken seriously (investigated properly, and appropriate action taken), and then secondly that the position of “innocent until proven guilty” is not only legally vital but also socially important.

The problem in this case is that the nature of the alleged offences, coupled with where they are alleged to have taken place, makes any such investigation nigh-impossible – “this happened, in an isolated location with nobody else present, and sufficiently long ago that any evidence that once existed is long since gone.”

The upshot of that is that while the allegations must still be taken seriously, they can’t meaningfully be dealt with. That’s not justice, whichever way it falls – if Gaiman did indeed do what was alleged, there’s an appropriate punishment but no way to apply it; if he did not then he has no means of clearing his name.

As for myself, my feeling is that I won’t now be buying any further books he publishes (where previously I certainly would have done so) and won’t be watching any new shows based on his works. I will watch the end of “Good Omens”, as we’re already well into the story at this point, but have removed (or will remove) “American Gods” from my watchlist, and won’t be adding anything else. I don’t like that that’s the position, but that feels about as close to ‘right’ as I can manage.

Sandman

Posting about “Sandman” in light of the allegations against Neil Gaiman is tricky. On balance, it’s probably right that this marks the end of “Sandman” (and that “Good Omens” has a much-truncated third ‘season’), though for the others involved it’s deeply unfortunate – the quality of the show doesn’t warrant cancellation.

“Sandman” is a bit of a weird thing. It was an iconic graphic novel series back in the day, but very much a product, not of its time, but of the age of its readers – what works when you’re at university isn’t quite the same as when you’re nearing fifty. But as a throwback, it’s certainly interesting. (I do wonder what people who are now at university would make of it – does it work the same as it once would have for me, or is it impossibly dated?)

Other than that, I’m not sure what more to say: there’s a great cast, it’s extremely well made, and it does capture both the mood and the style of the graphic novels, despite the massive changes to society and technology in the interim.

But… if you haven’t already started, I’m inclined to recommend skipping it. (And, likewise, with “Good Omens” I’d recommend the first season, the one based on the book, only.) Not because of the show, but the other stuff. As I said, a real shame, but…