Saturday, November 07, 2015

Doctor Who/Class - Recent Rumours/Spoilers Addressed

With five episodes left in the ninth series of Doctor Who and Jenna Coleman's departure as Clara Oswald looming, discussions have been circulating about the show's current situation. So let's clarify some things.


 - First of all, there will be a tenth series comprising of 12 episodes and a Christmas special, starring Peter Capaldi. Filming should begin at some point in 2016, but when pressed into revealing when it will air, Steven Moffat was unable to confirm.
- He has said, contrary to a published rumour in The Mirror that the show will not be halved.
- More interesting though is that both Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi have agreed that the show is airing in too late a time slot and would prefer an earlier one. Take the hint, BBC.
- The next companion will be someone new and not a previous recurring character (no Osgood or Shona then). Capaldi even cited wanting a working class companion like Rose Tyler.

After weeks of various and contradicting spoilers, it's nice to have some confirmation but until the ninth series and possibly the Christmas special with River Song actually air, I have a feeling we'll be waiting for definitive confirmation as to what will film and what will actually air in the next year or two.

Personally, I really do suspect that most of Series 10 at best will film in 2016 but that the series itself will air during Autumn 2016 and Spring 2017 with a Christmas special sandwiched between, in a similar manner to how the seventh series was dealt with in 2012 and 2013. I also think it'll end up being a swansong for both Moffat and Capaldi but that's speculation on my part, not an actual spoiler.

In terms of a new companion, I echo Capaldi's sentiments but I also think it might be a good idea to have two companions as well - introduce a new female companion in the first half and then a male companion in the second half of Series 10 and have both of them from different times and not romantically involved with each other.

I'm also hoping that with the BBC losing The Voice as well that the show will eventually move back to Spring because it's becoming increasingly clear that it's struggling in an Autumn slot at the moment.


Meanwhile the upcoming Coal Hill based spin-off, Class has had some little spoilers revealing but it still seems like things are early days with that show at the moment ....

- Patrick Ness hasn't confirmed whether or not the show will feature any guest appearances from Peter Capaldi, though to be honest I would be shocked if he doesn't at least cameo in one episode.
- According to Ness's own Twitter account, he's written a scene that is disgusting and evil for one episode, which sounds intriguing.
- The emphasis is going to be primarily on new characters, monsters and situations here.
- He already knows the last line of the first season, which is something that he cites as to doing with his books.

I'm still a little mixed on this show and I do get Ness's urge to do something new but at the same time, the odd familiar element here and there to remind people that Class exists in the same universe as Doctor Who wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Hopefully by the time the upcoming finale Heaven Sent/Hell Bent has aired, we'll have some more concrete details on both the main series and upcoming spin-off.

Doctor Who Spoilers/Rumours: http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/

Doctor Who currently airs Saturdays on BBC1 and BBC America until December 5th.

No comments: