Series 11 News & Spoilers

[The Wormhole]

I'll admit, at the time Day of the Doctor aired, I was bothered and even a bit offended that the destruction of Gallifrey was undone. At the time, I was dealing with a recent death in the family that I was having some trouble with. And this, honestly felt like the message Moffat was sending was "pain and loss are so uncool. Everybody lives!" Which if anything, is a pretty horrible message to send. Pain and loss does suck, but it is something everyone has to deal with, and most of the times it doesn't get undone. And so, to have it undone so here, was rather unsettling to say the least.

I'll admit, I'm not against the Time Lords having a place on the show, indeed many of their classic era appearances are favourites of mine. However, since RTD established the Time Lords were gone, I've always viewed it as the Doctor's darkest regret. The one thing in his past he's most ashamed of that can't be undone and will forever haunt him. But instead, we get that wiped clean in Day of the Doctor, which honestly, was a mistake. Doctor Who has a large children audience, and indeed Moffat even stated he believed the show to be a children's show. Something like the Doctor's grief over the loss of the Time Lords could help children and adults alike deal with the inevitable losses which will come in their own lives. Undoing that only really provides a cheap feel good moment, and in the long run does more damage since it sends the message that the only way to deal with loss it to arrange to have it undone, which is impossible in the majority of losses everyone experiences.

This is the primary problem I had with Moffat's near refusal to kill characters in his scripts, or when he does kill characters he brings them back. It's even worse when he brings back dead characters and never revisits them after they were brought back, like with the Paternoster Gang or Osgood, or even the Time Lords themselves.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Indeed. On the one hand, it makes sense that eventually the Doctor should have found a way to undo it... on the other hand, it took away a dimension from the character. I lament the latter part, because it meant that no matter the Doctor's good intentions, some things, like a cosmic Time War, could never be undone.

 

[captainkirk]

I don't have a problem with bringing the Time Lords back. I think the "Last of the Time Lords" stuff had run its course. As others have said, the problem was that the Daleks kept coming back. I personally think that Dalek should have been their last episode. In my opinion, none of the Dalek stories since then have even come close. It provides insight into to the Doctor's hatred of them and shows them at their scariest.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I thought their return in the series 1 and series 4 finales were more than fine enough. Not better than Dalek per se, but good enough. I don't think there should've been any Dalek appearences since, though, at least in the Matt Smith Era (where they became a joke).

 

[BritishSeaPower]

However, since RTD established the Time Lords were gone, I've always viewed it as the Doctor's darkest regret. The one thing in his past he's most ashamed of that can't be undone and will forever haunt him. But instead, we get that wiped clean in Day of the Doctor, which honestly, was a mistake. Doctor Who has a large children audience, and indeed Moffat even stated he believed the show to be a children's show. Something like the Doctor's grief over the loss of the Time Lords could help children and adults alike deal with the inevitable losses which will come in their own lives. Undoing that only really provides a cheap feel good moment, and in the long run does more damage since it sends the message that the only way to deal with loss it to arrange to have it undone, which is impossible in the majority of losses everyone experiences.

I recall some interviews with Moffat around DotD where he... I wouldn't say outright contradicted RTD and the Last of the Time Lords plot, but I got the very real sense he definitely found the concept of the Doctor destroying his own people to end the war to be distasteful and not in keeping with the spirit of the character or a children's show. It's why DotD is about absolving the Doctor of that particular issue and about creating a non-Doctor to bear the brunt of that deciding to do it to begin with. Moffat didn't really like saddling the Time War on Eight (He's said he always wanted to write a BF Eighth Doctor story and then just created an opportunity for him do it for himself) nor on Nine, even before Eccleston wouldn't show back up. And honestly, John Hurt's Warrior is so very much The Doctor in both that episode and the audios that it's actively weird that the Warrior isn't the Doctor after a while. (Something Moffat alludes to in the Day of the Doctor novelization, where the Sisterhood's regeneration serum is referred to as just fizzy pop.)

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Moffat clearly wanted to bring back Eccleston, and resolve the Time War plot with all three of the NuWho Doctors. It feels odd he's not in Day of the Doctor but Ten is, but its obvious when you read that Moffat's own scheduling problems for the 50th and lack of commitment to a draft led Eccleston to not returning. And Tennant almost didn't, but I'm guessing he's such a fanboy he'd come back for any part, really.

At the very least I would've been fine with McGann being the Time War Doctor, but then I'm reading the BBC didn't want to bring him back for the anniversary?

Whatever. The War Doctor sucks.

 

[The Wormhole]

I personally think that Dalek should have been their last episode.

Parting of the Ways is really good at showing how much of a threat Daleks can be at full strength, and Stolen Earth/Journey's End works as a fanboy's orgasm. Resolution was also okay, but otherwise, yeah, there really isn't much to the other modern Dalek episodes.

but then I'm reading the BBC didn't want to bring him back for the anniversary?

I don't think it was that BBC didn't want McGann per se, but rather BBC wanted a big name guest star for the special. And since they were also demanding bringing Tennant back, I guess Moffat felt introducing a forgotten Doctor and casting a big name guest star to play him was the best way to keep his masters happy.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Resolution is not much better than any of the other Dalek eps, honestly. Into Dalek at least tried to have the Doctor effectively try and change one, but realizing he could never, ever completely do so.

 

[captainkirk]

Parting of the Ways is really good at showing how much of a threat Daleks can be at full strength

And then never are again because they're always up against present-day Earth, so they're not allowed to nuke it to rubble.

 

[matthunter]

Whatever. The War Doctor sucks.

Disagree. Whilst the idea of a forgotten incarnation is a bit much, the idea of the Doctor temporarily abandoning the title because he's pushed to actions he disdains (even if it's clear to us that he's still the Doctor) is a solid one. And the spin-off media with the War Doctor is excellent. I just got done reading the short story about the Nightmare Child in the anthology Twelve Angels Weeping which is told from the perspective of the Time Lord who would go on to become The General in Day of The Doctor and Hell Bent (prior to regenerating). It shows a Doctor obviously scarred from the war and of fearsome reputation - to the point that a Time Lord scout force assume HE is responsible for the million-or-so destroyed Daleks they find at their attack coordinates - but still compassionate, enough so that he risks his life to save a mortal enemy, or tries anyway.