Ok, it's Monday and I'm sure that Donald Trump, his sycophants or supporters have done more than enough stuff that is stupid, unethical or immoral to warrant a blog post.
But I am determined, God so help me, that this post right here will be free of Trump related material.
Can I succeed in my goal to not make this a politics post?
Yes, I can! We have ourselves a good ol' I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You Doctor Who post!
And the Doctor is pleased.
Now, if you are missing something to remind you of Donald Trump, let me share with you this art from Scott McCloud.
Hopefully that will cover any feelings you might have about missing Donald Trump in this space.
First of all, Doctor Who topic #1---
THE FUTURE!
The Doctor Who Holiday Special is GO for... well, sometime. Will the BBC finally return Doctor Who to its Christmas Day slot or will it air on New Year's Day?
We don't know!
We do know that the special is locked and loaded.
As you may recall from the end of Series 12, the Doctor and the fam are off in two different directions.
Yaz, Ryan and Graham are on Earth, trying to pick up their lives without the Doctor.
But even without the Doctor, these three cannot escape the weirdness that comes with being companions of the Doctor. They discover a plan, an awful and disturbing plan and it involves a Dalek.
They really need the Doctor's help.
Where is the Doctor anyway?
At the end of Series 12, the Judoon have zapped the Doctor into a a high-security alien prison. Isolated, alone, with no hope of escape, it appears the Doctor has been there awhile, counting off the days.
A not completely unexpected development. I thought there might be a time jump of some significant amount of time when we picked back up with the Doctor and the fam.
Next up, Doctor Who topic #2---
THE FUTURE OF THE FUTURE!
What's up with Doctor Who Series 13?
Timely delivery of new Doctor Who under Chris Chibnall has not been that good. It took three years to produce just 2 seasons of Doctor Who of only 10 episodes each. What with delays and restrictions imposed by the global coronavirus pandemic, the odds of getting a new set of episodes a year after Series 12 do not seem that good.
But the BBC is sticking to their assertion that the Series 13 of Doctor Who is expected to air in 2021 as planned.
And it seems that filming for Series 13 may have begin begun.
A Doctor Who fan tweeted news of stumbling across filming when out for an “evening walk”.
This fan's tweet was shared by the unofficial Doctor Who Page: ”It seems filming on Series 13 of Doctor Who has begun!
“The tweeter said the Doctor was on set having a screaming match argument in scene with another actor.
“It was also described as being an emotional scene with ‘lots of shouting.’”
So we'll have to wait and see. I still expect some kind of negative impact on Series 13 even if the BBC can keep its commitment to air the new season in 2021, airing as late as the end of the year or perhaps have a truncated episode count.
Next up, Doctor Who topic #3---
THE PAST!
At the virtual New York Comic Con, we got this Season 12 recap. It's enough to almost make it seem like Chris Chibnall knows what he's doing.
And next up, Doctor Who topic #4---
THE PAST OF THE PAST!
Recently the Radio Times (UK) held a poll of who is the most popular Doctor on Doctor Who. With nearly 50,000 votes cast, below are the results of that poll with some expected results and some surprising ones as well.
- #1 David Tennant
- Tenth Doctor
- 2005-2010
- 10,518 votes
- 21% of the vote
David Tennant coming in first is not a complete surprise. His turn as the Doctor remains an enduring favorite 10 years after he left the role.
- #2 Jodie Whittaker
- Thirteenth Doctor
- 2018-Present
- 10,423 votes
- 21% of the vote
Jodie Whittaker currently enjoys a lot of good will among fans but I think that owes more to her historic role as the first female Doctor and Jodie's remarkably warm relationship with the Doctor Who fandom. What may be surprising is how close this vote is. David is in the top spot by less than a hundred votes.
- #3 Peter Capaldi
- Twelfth Doctor
- 2013-2017
- 8,897 votes
- 18% of the vote
I personally consider Peter Capaldi's turn as the Doctor as particularly iconic and one of my favorites. I am pleasantly surprised he did this well in the polling, passing even the beloved Matt Smith.
- #4 Matt Smith
- Eleventh Doctor
- 2010-2013
- 7,637 votes
- 16% of the vote
Matt Smith places fourth and I surprised he didn't do better in this poll.
- #5 Tom Baker
- Fourth Doctor
- 1974-1981
- 3,977 votes
- 8% of the vote
Tom Baker has perennially been a fan favorite and typically is closer to the top of polls like these so I am a bit surprised to see him placing below more recent interations of the Doctor such as Smith and Capaldi.
- #6 William Hartnell
- First Doctor
- 1963-1966
- 1,983 votes
- 4% of the vote
I am completely surprised by William Hartnell's irascible 1st Doctor coming in as high as 6th. I wonder how much of this influenced by the First Doctor's raised profile due to David Bradley's relatively more recent outings as the First Doctor?
- #7 Paul McGann
- Eighth Doctor
- 1996, 2013
- 1,427 votes
- 3% of the vote
With only one TV movie and one mini episode, it might be a bit unexpected to find Paul McGann as high as 7th on this poll. But during the wilderness years, from 1996 to Doctor Who's television revival in 2005, Paul McGann was the face and/or voice of the Doctor in novels, comic books and audio plays. Paul McGann's distinctive voice has served him well in many Big Finish productions of Doctor Who audio plays.
- #8 Christopher Eccleston
- Ninth Doctor
- 2005
- 1,144 votes
- 2% of the vote
While Christopher Eccleston's turn as the Doctor is well regarded, his relative brevity in the role (only 1 season) and his recalitrance to return to the role has served to diminish his standing. Perhaps with Christopher Eccleston finally agreesing to return to Doctor Who via new Big Finish audio plays in 2021, this might help bolster his standing with fans again.
- #9 Jon Pertwee
- Third Doctor
- 1970-1974
- 1,038 votes
- 2% of the vote
Of the remaining classic era Doctors in the poll, it's not surprising to see Jon Pertwee leading the pack even if his share of the vote is from a very slim portion of the pie. When I first began watching Doctor Who, the first person I ever saw in the role other than Tom Baker was Jon Pertwee. He remains for me to this day my second favorite Doctor from the classic era.
- #10 Patrick Troughton
- Second Doctor
- 1966-1969
- 915 votes
- 2% of the vote
Glad to see Patrick Troughton getting a little love in this poll and not winding up at the very bottom. A number of Patrick Troughton's lost episodes have found new life in animation. BBC America aired one just this week, The Faceless Ones. I hope to have a post on that soon.
- #11 Sylvester McCoy
- Seventh Doctor
- 1987-1989, 1996
- 462 votes
- 1% of the vote
The Sylvester McCoy era of Doctor Who fought against declining budgets, limited production values and a shrinking audience. Sylvester McCoy did not get off to the best start but the stories in the back half of his run were strong and deserved to be well rememebered. And as the writing evolved, so too did Sylvester McCoy's performance as the Doctor, taking a darker, almost sinister tone with the Doctor that had never been dared before but served as a template for the modern era.
- #12 Colin Baker
- Sixth Doctor
- 1984-1986
- 359 votes
- 1% of the votes
So hoo-ray for Colin Baker, for once not at the very bottom of a poll of favorite Doctors. Over the years, Colin Baker's Doctor has gotten a lot of grief that he quite frankly did completely deserve. Colin was poorly served by bad scripts and a lack of clear, consistent direction. I would speculate that Colin's considerably more superior Big Finish audios is what gives him a slight bump up from the bottom of the list.
- #13 Peter Davison
- Fifth Doctor
- 1981-1984
- 351 votes
- 1% of the vote
Well, I'm really sad to see Peter here. I mean, that's the nature of this sort of poll where someone has to be at the bottom. The stories from the Fifth Doctor era do not hold up that well but Peter Davison does valiantly give it a really good go despite the limitations of poor scripts and a too crowded TARDIS.
And finally, Doctor Who topic #5---
BACK TO THE FUTURE!
Also premiering at the virtual New York Comic Con 2020 was this clip from the Time Lord Victorious animated series featuring the Daleks.
In my post from September 18th, we covered come ground about the Time Lord Victorious event.
OK, that takes care of today's mega epic Doctor Who post.
I would rather post about Doctor Who everyday than even one day about Donald Trump. But in case you're missing Li'l Donnie in this blog post, Scott, may I borrow your art again for a moment?
Thanks!
Tomorrow we've got the Tuesday TV Touchbase with a look at the season finales of both The Boys and Star Trek: Lower Decks!
Until next time, stay safe and remember to be good to one another. And as the Doctor might say, it's better to build and create than to... well, you know....
Yeah, that.
Take us out, Doctor!
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