Doctor Who: Rumours

Doctor Who does generate a lot of rumors (or rumours as they say across the pond) and no subject creates a bigger turnout for rumor mill than the topic of the next Doctor.

“Wait! What? The next Doctor? What’s going on? What’ve you heard?”

Me? I hear lots of things. But what I hear and what I know are two different things.

Here is what I’ve heard and chances are you’ve heard it too if you keep your ears to the internet ground.

The BBC has apparently made it known that they want a younger, more dashing Doctor (like the 10^th Doctor). Additionally, they want incoming Chris Chibnall to have a clean slate with this brand new Doctor when he launches his run of the show with Series 11 in 2018. And a clean slate would also mean a new companion so there goes Bill (Pearl Mackie) after only 1 year. Ditto for Nardole (Matt Lucas).

Here’s what I know. Peter Capaldi has gone on record as saying the BBC asked him to stick around for another year to transition the show from Steven Moffat (the Moff) to Chris Chibnall (the… Chib?). And Moffat has said he “does not expect to be writing a regeneration scene for the 12^th Doctor.”

And here’s what I know from what I know: nothing. Peter Capaldi being asked to stay is not the same as actually agreeing to stay. It could also be the BBC hedging their bets while they debate having some continuity between Steve and Chris’ respective runs on the show or giving Chris an all new launching point. And Steven Moffat’s statement is prototypical Moffat at his most sneaky. Basically, “not expecting to write” is the same as saying “not planning to write” and it may be a true statement in that when the Moff made that statement, Peter Capaldi had not made a decision to stay or go. And if Peter does decide to go, it won’t be at the end of Series 10 but in the 2017 Christmas Special which is Steven’s last true episode as showrunner and head writer.

I should also mention that Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas are on 1 year contracts but that's pretty much standard for new characters. If they really take off, I can see Chris Chibnall wanting to keep one or both around. If they don't work out or the Chib (!) does want to go in a brand new direction, he has the latitude to move on and not worry about contract entanglements.  

Also don’t forget my theory that Capaldi may in fact stick around to kick off Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who but to do a regeneration scene in the first episode of a series instead of the last one in a series or in a special.  (Click here for more about that.) 

So what I know (which isn’t much) and the speculations of the rumor mill pretty carry the same value; in other words, not much. And it bears noting that the source of the rumor cited above is the Mirror, a tabloid rag in the UK notorious for spreading rumors, gossip and half-truths. Breitbart for the British, I guess.

That’s that for today’s post. But before I close this out, a new clip from the 2016 Christmas special was released this week. Click here to see it for yourself. 

We’re back to politics tomorrow with another installment of Donald Trump As President: Oh My God!. And Doctor Who stuff is back next Sunday with what I hope is a review of Power of the Daleks, the animated version of Patrick Troughton’s first story as the 2^nd Doctor.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.