Doctor Who - farewell, RTD...

[mrph]

So, RTD is leaving. Steven Moffat will be the new executive producer...

...and pretty much everyone on LJ seems to think this is a good thing. I'm not disagreeing - but just what do you want to see from Moffat's first season? Time for a quick survey, I think...

• Will he be able to keep the ratings as well as the critical acclaim? I mean, we seem to like his stories - and, by extension, he'll probably take the series in some interesting directions - but will the Saturday evening audience agree?

• What/who should he change or ditch completely?
  

• What/who should be bring back from seasons 1-4 of the new series?

• What/who should he bring back from the old series - and why?

• What general guidelines should he always remember?

Comments

Answering my own questions...

[mrph.livejournal.com]

What/who should he bring back from seasons 1-4 of the new series?

Sally Sparrow. The Gelth. Jenny.

What/who should he bring back from the old series - and why?

Ice Warriors, because they fill a niche that's not quite filled by any of the other 'big' enemies - for a start, they're not always enemies...

And Omega. Because all the Time Lords may be dead... but that's not exactly new for him... and he has a certain presence.

Some Rutans might be pleasant, too.

What general guidelines should he always remember?

Firstly, it's not all about Rose Tyler. *ahem*

Secondly, something I'm sure he already knows - a story with four million Daleks, a few thousand Cybermen and the Master is not necessarily a better story (or even a 'bigger' threat) than a story with one convincingly nasty antagonist or a handful of Daleks...

No more mutant pigs, please.

Re: Answering my own questions...

[spangle-kitten.livejournal.com]

Totally agree on Rose point - the constant references and the doctor staring dreamily into space and sighing really gets on my nerves! She wasn't even that great a character in the first place. And the general "assistant and Dr having sexual chemistry" is a no no as well, it just seems wrong somehow.

And agree on the second - giant battles are all well and good, but the Moffat scary angels episode was fantastic and far more scary!

No miserable suicide Daleks, no mutent pigs, and no more Catherine Tate!

Re: Answering my own questions...

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

That miserable lonely dalek was cool though.

Re: Answering my own questions...

[little-ems.livejournal.com]

that mutant pig shite was .. well .. crap.

and ditch catherine tate too

Re: Answering my own questions...

[emarkienna.livejournal.com]

Sally Sparrow ... as the Doctor!

(I'm sure they can fanwank it that her image/personality somehow imprinted upon him and appeared for a future regeneration. Or maybe the Sally Sparrow we saw was the future Doctor in some weird timey-wimey thing although that's probably getting too silly.)

Firstly, it's not all about Rose Tyler.

No more mutant pigs, please.

Agreed.

Unless it's Rose getting turned into one of those mutant pigs, which might be worth seeing.

[spangle-kitten.livejournal.com]

Ditch Catherine Tate - she drives me nuts, I've had trouble watching this season she's so annoying!

Steve writes brilliant storylines so there will be no problems there - as long as he stays writing - the epispodes I like least are the ones with minimal plots and too many special effects.

More John Barrowman ;p

[livingarmchair.livejournal.com]

No more bloody Barrowman. I'm sick of seeing him on TV all the time!

[little-ems.livejournal.com]

god yeah - he's bloddy EVERYWHERE just well over-exposed!!!! i liked him in the "first" series, but now he irritates the crap out of me.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_pinkdaisy_/]

less daleks- not every series needs several episodes featuring them, always making sure to leave a small loophole for them to come back again... and definitely no more human daleks- what is the point if they're not scary?

and definitely more sally sparrow. and captain jack :)

i'm not too bothered about them bringing back any more old baddies- moffat, more than any other person involved with the new series, is capable of creating an equally brilliant new baddy...

[the_axel]

What/who should he bring back from the old series - and why?

Lethbridge-Stewart - does that really need an explanation?'

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Not especially, no. :)

A retired Brigadier would be immensely fun. But only if Nicholas Courtney has time to reprise the role...

[ehrine.livejournal.com]

Having spoken breifly with him at Collectomania recently, I think he'd probably be up for it if the script is good. Seems he agrees with a lot of people that most of the recent Dr Who has focused too much on the effects and less on the writting. He also misses the good old fashioned cliff-hanger and 6 episode stories :)

[livingarmchair.livejournal.com]

Ditch all that sentimental crap about "Fings I've seen"
Ditch the sonic screwdriver
More alien worlds.
Better stories that actually have some sort of plot rather than relying on chases and slapstick.
Ditch Tate.
Ditch Tennant.
No more Slitheen.

[henry_the_cow]

While you're at it, ditch that stupid TARDIS contraption.

And the "Doctor" character - what sort of name is that, anyway?

No more daleks.

None of this time travel nonsense.

[livingarmchair.livejournal.com]

Who do you think you are, Fred Frith?

[henry_the_cow]

A Doctor based on Fred Frith would be Very Cool Indeed.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

I caught some part of a documentary the other day which mentioned the mileage the authors get out of Who meeting famous characters from history. I'm not a fan of the series - in fact I find it pretty tedious - but I'd watch it if Who was to meet Jesus.

[livingarmchair.livejournal.com]

So, a fictitious character then?:-)

How about:

Mark Twain
Jack London (Wrote a bizarre SF novel)
Tesla
Edison
Newton
Charles Darwin
Hawking
Wilfred Owen
Isambard Kingdom Brunel

[mrph.livejournal.com]

I'll second most of the above - especially Isaac Newton. Let's add Christopher Wren and/or Hawksmoor to the list, too.

[dmh.livejournal.com]

Tesla rocks. He should meet the Doctor, turn out in the punchline to be a Time Lord, and be played by David Bowie.

[dmh.livejournal.com]

Ditch completely: monsters created in Blue Peter competitions.

Bring back from "new" series: the Trees of Veen, or whatever they were called, from the second Eccleston episode. I want to know more about them, they already have a little back story.

Bring back from old series: the Vervoids, because they look amusing.

Guidelines: no stupid "body swap" episodes; more chases inside ducting.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Thing is, I'm willing to bet that Moffat could write a good Absorbaloff episode, too...

[dmh.livejournal.com]

Mebbe Rose will be Absorbaloffed?

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

paving slab?

[dmh.livejournal.com]

She has the acting talent necessary to carry off such a role.

[livingarmchair.livejournal.com]

We need more steampipe scenes.

[dmh.livejournal.com]

And steampunk scenes.

[evilruss.livejournal.com]

HURRAY!!
HURRAY!!
HURRAY!!
HURRAY!!
HURRAY!!
HURRAY!!

'Nuff Said.

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

NO MAGIC WANDS.

Sonic Screwdriver and Psychic paper are convenient blags for the doctor to shortcut into where he needs to be, for the plot. They're ok, as long as that's all they do.

Whilst a sonic screwdriver as a high-tech lockpick is fine, a sonic screwdriver as a 'deus ex machina' magic wand, is NOT. No zappys. No boomys. No zoomys. JUST LOCKPICK. Or bin it, like they did first time they realised they were getting lazy plot resolutions because of it.

Epic armys of monsters are not necessary. World shaking plot is not necessary. Hints that 'bad thing will destroy earth' are entirely fine, and having a small bunch of named character bad guys is far far preferable to 6 billion Toklaphane or however it's spelt.

Oh, and more backplot about the timewar. That would rock.
Less mooning over Rose. Actually, less 'being a schoolboy' in general. The Doctor is old, a badass, has been, seen, done things. Hints from backplot, and general canon, have him as possibly one of the most singularly devastating characters ... well at all actually. He's NOT going to be getting all hormonal over an immature, mentally inferior human.

More master, when he's not being a hopeless tosser, doing the 'I win the game' jig, and being comic relief. Sod it, Derek Jacobi was FANTASTIC as the master. More of that would be cool. (Although, that does set a precedent about timelines and stuff, but ... what if they tell the story of what made the master hide away at the end of time)

[evilruss.livejournal.com]

My god! I agree with you on every point.
Brilliant.

At last. Someone who has my sort of opinions about Doctor Who. Tell on.

[malal.livejournal.com]

No more "We are the last surviving Daleks!" stories. How many bloody times have they been 'wiped out' now? It's getting a bit silly. Either bring them back in full force (which probably involves messing around with the time war), or don't touch them at all.

[souldier-blue.livejournal.com]

Mmm, a double Doctor episode, like the ones they used to do - Tennant and Ecclestone, with maybe Tom Baker as a baddie - you know, just for kicks.

[dj-steve-rbn.livejournal.com]

I vote for the Sea Devils! :)

[emarkienna.livejournal.com]

The only thing I remember from the old series is Ace.

No more oood, I find them boring.

No more annoying attachment of the-companion's-family unless they actually become some interesting part of the story (I don't think involvement of the various families has always been bad, but it often seems unnecessary).

More interesting time-travel stories like Blink (and not those that involve "paradox machines" and reset buttons).

Not quite answering your question, but I want to see as a spin off Torchwood: the Victorian era, complete with lots of lesbians.