Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
That's a very good question. I honestly couldn't tel you. I doubt
they've even gone into that level of detail at this stage.

It'll depend on whether the split over the co-production deal was on
amicable or acrimonious grounds. If the former then there's no
reason why Disney wouldn't be open to keeping a distribution
arrangement in place, for any additional Xmas special at least.
  

    
I searched for info, and what I found said that it's undetermined at
this point - maybe BBC America.
  

    
Maybe.

I'm certainly not surprised that it's "undetermined" at this point.
I get the feeling that the Disney execs have lost interest in this
minor side project and have wandered off to attend to other other
more pressing matters in the Mickey realm.
  

    
I just saw that they have five new MCU shows coming up...
  

    
Marvel seems to be the only franchise that Disney cannot get enough
or, or tire of. Unfortunately I have long since reached and passed
that marker.
  

    
Yep.
  

    
It got a little lost in the rush before and around Christmas, but
the BBC aired the latest Doctor Who spin-off entitled The War
Between The Land And The Sea. We've talked about it in the
<whovians.> conference but I promised to post some thoughts about it
here as well, so here goes.

This five-part (one-hour episodes apiece) spin-off from Doctor Who
is the last product from the BBC/Disney partnership, which has now
been sadly wrapped up. While the BBC has aired the show in the UK,
Disney Plus has yet to put a date on when it will start streaming
worldwide. So, I'll try and avoid any overt spoilers here for the
meantime until everyone else has had a chance to watch it. But if
you DO want to remain completely unblemished, then it may be avert
your eyes until you've seen it.

The mini-series does NOT feature the Doctor in any way, shape or
form not even as a brief walk-on-cameo. But some familiar figures
from the main series do have significant role, particularly Jemma
Redgrave as UNIT commander Kate Lethbridge-Stewart along with
Alexander Devrient as Colonel Christofer Ibrahim and Ruth Madeley as
Shirley Bingham. The plotting and battle of nerves between UNIT and
the world governments over how to tackle a full invasion is one of
the major plot elements.

But at the heart of the story is Russell Tovey as Barclay
Pierre-Dupont, a low-level UNIT transportation logistics manager who
finds that as the result of his manager having resigned to take up
another job in recent months, he's been unwittingly named as a key
part of plans in the event of an alien invasion for which he has no
training or experience. That ironically makes him the perfect person
so take a balanced, fair approach for how to do it while everyone
else is plotting and scheming.

Even so, he's sidelined until the moment that the alien threat
emerges and shows up for a fireside chat. They are revealed to be
what we originally knew in Doctor Who as "The Sea Devils" from a
1972 story of that name, which stared Jon Pertwee as the Doctor.
That nomenclature now been updated and corrected to Homo Aqua for
this series and they don't look anything like they used to in the
classic series, thanks to the massive Disney budget boost in makeup
and prosthetics. The one leading the negotiations with the humans
calls herself Salt and is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

While there is undoubtedly an epic quality to the show as humans and
Homo Aqua manage to fall out rather badly through a series of
misunderstandings, much of the emotional side of the mini-series is
carried by Barclay and Salt as they reach an understanding between
them that may be the only way to save both species if they are to
share stewardship of planet Earth. If that's even possible.

There are certainly some spectacular moments in the five episodes
and I could certainly see where the Disney dollars had gone in the
creation of the first two episodes. Showrunner and creator Russell T
Davies also knows when to vary the pace and slow things down - the
middle episode is largely set in a diving bell as Barclay and his
human colleagues descend to the ocean floor to parlay with Homo
Aqua. They sit around in a circle and discuss their hopes and fears
for what might happen, while we cut back and forth to the surface to
see bellicose military officers gearing up with some very different
intentions for the encounter.

If I'm going to be honest, I felt the story lacked a compelling
character at the heart of it - a Doctor, in other words. It just
didn't have enough to drive it at the very centre. The story
(co-written by RTD with Pete McTighe) also writes itself into a
corner and I'm not sure that they really knew how to resolve the
issues and the world-ending situation it writes itself into. I will
be interested to see what other people think and whether they agree,
or if I'm being too demanding and picky.

So - have you seen it yet? What did you make of it? I'd love to hear
from everyone who has been watching, either here (you can email
inkwell at well.com) or in the <whovians.> conference if you're a
member (it's easy to sign up for a trial.)

Look forward to seeing you here. Or there. Or, you know, anywhere...
  

    
We started this topic in May 2024 in a blaze of optimism for what
the BBC/Disney co-production deal meant for revitalising Doctor Who.
It had started really well with three specials starring David
Tennant, and we were about to get the first season starring Ncuti
Gatwa in the title role. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately something did go very wrong. By the time time the
second series began in 2025 it felt like the BBC and Disney were no
longer speaking. Showrunner Russell T Davies, who had been
omni-present in the run up to the previous season hyping up the new
direction of the show, was almost completely absent from any
pre-publicity.

Then came to the confused ending of that second season with Gatwa
abruptly bailing on the show, a non-sensical return of former
companion Billie Piper, and crickets when it came to news about when
the show would return. A Christmas special was eventually announced,
but not until the end of 2026. There was no word on a new series.
Disney (now under new management itself) bailed on the production
deal. 

And this week the other shoe dropped: that Christmas special isn't
happening. It was never even started (and mid-June is far too late
to get something like that underway for December). Russell T Davies
and production company Bad Wolf have quit leaving the BBC talking
about putting the show out to tender to find new partners. But all
that means it's unlikely there will be any more Who episodes until
at least 2028.

So what went wrong? Where does the show go next? What would YOU like
to see happen to Doctor Who in the next five years?

And yes, if your answer is "it could do with a long rest" then
that's a valid suggestion. I don't tend to agree with it, but I can
absolutely understand where that comes from and maybe you're right.
After all, Star Trek and Star Wars have both benefitted from
extended time-outs over the years. 

But if you DID continue with the show and were handed the keys to
the office, what would you choose to do with the franchise? WELL
members can reply directly here of course, and those of you who are
not current members can email in comments and suggestions to inkwell
[@] well.com or to me directly at draml [@] well.com if you prefer.

I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts.
  

    
Thanks for the followup, Andrew! If you put me in charge of Dr. Who,
I'd probably start with a detailed consideration of what's worked
and where we left the story at the end of the latest season. But I
think any real planning has to follow the selection of a new Doctor
Who, since the series is built around the quirks and capabilities of
the latest version. I don't have a clear idea for a next Doctor.
Bill Nighy just came to mind, or maybe Judi Dench. Simon Pegg? Helen
Mirren? So many possibilities...
  

    
I think a detailed consideration of what has worked and what hasn;t
would be an excellent place to start. Although I've yet to find a
group of three Whovians in a room that can come to a majority
opinion on such matters! But by all means, let's have a discussion
on those lines and see if we can get anywhere.

I'll start: I think Doctor Who got carried away with its own
ambitions and budget. Hubris. The show is not some grand
multi-million pound Star Wars epic, but it's got sucked into
thinking that it should be. A high stakes gamble that didn't pay
off. I think something smaller, quieter, more human in scale would
be a good direction. Not to mention an affordable one in terms of
production budgets.

> I think any real planning has to follow the selection of a new
Doctor Who

I would have to disagree with that. Surely you need to decide where
you want the show to go, and cast accordingly. Casting the Doctor
first is putting the cart before the horse in my view.

Nighy, Dench and Mirren are sadly too old to take on the rigours of
such a demanding show. Capaldi was late 50s when he signed up and he
was the oldest actor cast in the role. He was exceptionally fit and
able but it was still a huge ask. Nighy is 76, Dench is 91 and
Mirren is 80. Pegg would still be in the right range (56) but I
don't see him as a leading Doctor-type figure. Then again some of
the best Doctors have been "not leading men", like Patrick Troughton
for example.
  

    
Damn! I forgot how old those folks were, but of course. 

Jessie Buckley might be a good choice, though she's probably too big
for it now.
  

    
Yes, nabbing someone at the right stage of their career is very much
a key factor in any decision. Arguably Capaldi was both too old and
too famous (thanks to The Thick of It) to take on Who in 2013. He's
already been a guest star in a Tennant story and in Torchwood:
Children of Earth. But he was such a big fan of the show he really,
really wanted to do it. And his post-Who career has shown that he's
still in remarkable physical condition and well up to any challenge
even now at 68.

They were equally lucky with Tennant: he was just on the cusp of
'breaking out' as a big international star after a key role in the
Harry Potter films when they offered him the role of the Doctor. And
he too, of course was a huge Who fan. So much so that he was a bit
put out when Russell T Davies - who he knew well socially - didn't
give him a role in the first season of the revival. As I recall it,
the story is that Tennant went round to RTD's flat to watch a cut of
the pilot episode "Rose", and RTD asked him what he thought - and
then followed it up with a casual 'So would you like to be the next
Doctor?" at which point Tennant had a panic attack and nearly said
no for fear he would screw up the franchise!
  

    
Josh O'Connor would be a good choice, but his star's been rising,
possibly beyond series television. Maybe Luke Thompson or Simone
Ashley? Gillian Anderson? Tom Hollander? Matthew MacFadyen? Olivia
Colman? Martin Freeman? Kelly Reilly?

Once I get started, I can think of a lot of candidates. Here's a
list of potentials I found on Reddit:

Erin Doherty - 11/10
Matt Smith - 5/4
Aimee Lou Wood - 11/8
Hugh Grant - 6/4
Jo Martin - 15/8
Danny Dyer - 2/1
Tom Hiddleston - 2/1
Diane Morgan - 5/2
Stephen Merchant - 3/1
Lydia West - 7/2
David Tennant - 4/1

Includes Matt Smith and David Tennant, I suppose theorizing a
return. I'm not sure what the numbers mean.

<https://www.reddit.com/r/DoctorWhoNews/comments/1kng8jl/top_10_actors_billed_t
o_play_the_next_doctor/>
  

    
Josh O'Connor would be a great choice - I'm a big fan - but I think
you're right about him being too big a star these days. (He actually
had a small part in a Matt Smith episode as a Russian submariner
IIRC; another pre-star in the cast was James Norton). As a huge
recovering X-Phile I would LOVE to see Gillian Anderson in the role
but it also ain't going to happen.

I think most of those names are too well known TBH, certainly
Matthew MacFadyen, Olivia Colman, Martin Freeman, Tom Hiddleston,
Danny Dyer. Complete non-starters AFAIC. Likewise Hugh Grant who is
only there because he briefly played the Doctor in a pre-revival
charity sketch in the 1990s along with Joanna Lumley, Rowan Atkinson
and others, but it's a non-starter here. I would also discard any
others who have already played the Doctor in any capacity, so that's
Tennant, Smith and Martin out. 

Lydia West is in there because she starred in RTD's miniseries "It's
a Sin" and "Years and Years", but - as we know - RTD has nothing to
do with any new reboot so there is little chance she would feature.
Others like Stephen Merchant and Diane Morgan are comedy stars who
have "Doctor-like" sitcom personas but little drama background and
can be dismissed as wishful and limited thinking by the public.

TBH I don't think anyone has ever really successfully predicted who
would get the role. The only time I did manage it was Tennant in
2005 when Eccleston quit. I'd seen Tennant a few months earlier in a
RTD-written mini-series about Casanova and remember thinking  at the
time "It's a shame they cast Eccleston, this guy would have been
perfect as the Doctor". There was no way RTD didn;t have that
planned from very early on as his backup. I didn't guess Smith, but
as soon as I saw his name circulating online 24 hours before the
announcement (it had obviously leaked) it immediately clicked and I
was certain it was right - I'd just seen him in a short-lived BBC
drama called "Party Animals".  But otherwise, I never see them
coming; I'd almost be disappointed if I did!

(The numbers are regular betting terminology: 7/1 means if you put
down one dollar, you stand to win seven dollars if it comes up. The
"longer" the odds means it's considered more and more unlikely, and
the party taking the bet is willing to give you more incentive to
risk your money, so 100/1 means that for every one dollar you bet
you would get $100 in winnings. But the long odds tell you it
probably won;t happen anyway.)