Doctor Who - Spoilers!

[JonWes]

I would actually love a full series of nothing but new monsters and villains. The Daleks desperately need a rest. "Dalek" was brilliant and I thought the Cyberman/Dalek stuff in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday was fun. But since then, I've not been enthralled with any of their stories. Asylum of the Daleks was very good, and I thought they did a pretty good job of making them a bit more frightening. But I don't think anything has made them as credible a threat. As fun as some of the scenes of Daleks getting torn apart in "Day" and "Time" were, they made them look too easy to destroy.

I think every returning race except the Ice Warriors (and Cold War does owe a pretty big debt to "Dalek"/"Jubilee") in Moffat's run has been pretty poor. The Silurians were watered down, the Daleks had an interesting redesign (love the colors, didn't like the humps) stuck in a so-so story, and the Cyberman have been utterly listless. Though at least they got a pretty cool redesign. The Sontarans have been pretty much non-existent other than Strax. And as much as I like the Paternoster Gang, a proper Sontaran story is needed some day.

I just don't think it should be the next series. If they bring back ANY threat, maybe the Ice Warriors in full force would be cool. Other than that, i'd rather new memorable monsters be the focus. That being said, I would love to see a Judoon pop back up again. Sometimes I think the line between RTD and Moffat's eras was a bit too hard in some circumstances.

 

[pixletwin]

Spoiler

The master will be back for series 8

but I wouldn't mind some good Dalek and Cyberman stories actually make them threatening where people die. I think even the sontarans could use with a bit of a repair.

And truthfully a big amen to what you posted Jon.

 

[Kamandi]

On Star Trek the Borg went from being a decent TNG-era villain to *yawn* Borg again. Dr. Who is making many of the same mistakes.

The Daleks are overused. They need a few seasons off. When they return they need to be smarter. Instead of a million or a billion give us 3 or 4 and more capable. I like the design they've used on newWho (except the ipod Daleks) but they need to evolve a bit like the Cybermen.

 

[ProgMatinee]

The Daleks don't need to change. Its the use of the Doctor/companion in how they fight them that needs to change.

Can't the Doctor have a hint of, for lack of a better word, "incompetency" to him? Why does he always need to know exactly what to do at the exact time? A little difficulty in fighting an enemy or a little more risk of losing a companion or something would go a long way into making the Daleks or any other villian more threatening. As it is, the Doctor seemingly can defeat the whole Dalek army with a swing of a sonic screwdriver.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

On Star Trek the Borg went from being a decent TNG-era villain to *yawn* Borg again. Dr. Who is making many of the same mistakes.

The Daleks are overused. They need a few seasons off. When they return they need to be smarter. Instead of a million or a billion give us 3 or 4 and more capable. I like the design they've used on newWho (except the ipod Daleks) but they need to evolve a bit like the Cybermen.

I agree, I think they should give all the major villains a break, and come up with something new. In the modern Who era, the only iconic villain they've come up with are the Angels, and they've already overused them. The Silents had potential, but I think we can all agree that that idea kinda petered out.

 

[Kamandi]

I would say one more thing Moffet NEEDS to stop doing is teasing the Doctor's past and his name. You can't give the Doctor a name anymore. That ship sailed decades ago.

 

[JonWes]

The Silents had potential, but I think we can all agree that that idea kinda petered out.

Yeah, and with "Time" they were pretty much defanged... until another writer comes along and makes them enemies again.

I would say one more thing Moffet NEEDS to stop doing is teasing the Doctor's past and his name. You can't give the Doctor a name anymore. That ship sailed decades ago.

I think he's done with that. Clara gave the definitive answer in "Time" to wrap that all up, I believe.

 

[bloodgear]

Until he decides:

"Right. We've done the who angle, who he is, what his name is...we need something else. Suggestions?"

"What?"

"Yes! Doctor WHAT! DOCTOR WHA?! DOCTOR WHAT? That's it, we don't know what he's a doctor of! That'll last us another regeneration!"

 

[The Mike]

I think even the sontarans could use with a bit of a repair.

I would actually love to see Strax have to be an aid to The Doctor against the Sontarans in a real capacity, let us see how that'd affect him.

The Daleks don't need to change. Its the use of the Doctor/companion in how they fight them that needs to change...
As it is, the Doctor seemingly can defeat the whole Dalek army with a swing of a sonic screwdriver.

I think what needs to happen really is a bit more collateral damage. Not graphic or even bloody, just more. The Doctor will always know what to do, he is the hero on the white steed but maybe have him stretched too thin or be a bit overwhelmed so we can see just how deadly these things are.

I agree, I think they should give all the major villains a break, and come up with something new. In the modern Who era, the only iconic villain they've come up with are the Angels, and they've already overused them. The Silents had potential, but I think we can all agree that that idea kinda petered out.

The Angels were perfect but have become old hat, they didn't even shock when seeing them in "Time".

The Silence I think still have great potential, I thought it was lame that they were lumped in as essentially overzealous priests but I think even in that they could be made more deadly. Even with Clara, there wasn't any fear because they abruptly just disappeared. I think The Doctor needs a few that go bump in the night and get people really freaked out and death isn't even necessary to do so.

 

[Magpie 7]

If they're going to go with a single companion for a while, i'd like to see K9 return for a short time. Surely now they can get the thing to work?

It's a similar thing if they bring back the Master, the program needs an old school Master. Against a now older Doctor, a more subtle nemesis is needed.....a goatee would'nt hurt either

 

[Kamandi]

The ownership of k9 is a legal headache. We're lucky to have seen him at all in the modern series.

 

[JonWes]

I don't think it's a particular headache. Bob Baker seems more than happy to let K9 out for Who. In a recent DWM interview he mentioned how he hopes K9 keeps popping up in Who long after he's gone. I think the main hurdle was when Baker was trying to launch his own K9 spin-off, which he did. And that seems pretty dead in the water, now.

 

[Magpie 7]

The real headache about K9 has always been reliability, similar to R2D2 they just couldn't get the remote controlled prop to do what they wanted 100% of the time. In the spin-off i believe they gave up on a rc K9 and went with old fashioned wires.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Another part of the problem with K9 is that like a real dog, he was always around. It would be nice to have something/one you don't need to address in every episode.

I liked "Handles". It would have been nice to see his origin and have him be an on again/off again sort of recurring character.

 

[pixletwin]

I liked Handles too.

 

[The Mike]

I loved Handles, I fully expect some sort of toy mask coming soon down the line but in terms of companions, I thought there were rumors that Clara wouldn't be the only companion? I know there were rumors of Tom joining Twelve and Clara around early December, but who knows.

Seeing all the parallels lately on the net comparing Clara to Martha Jones, I hope they could really let that character come into her own with Capaldi. I think the character has a lot of promise and definitely like her much better than Martha.

 

[pixletwin]

Some interesting speculation.

Tasha Lem.

Tasha means "Born on Christmas Day".

Lem is "Mel" spelled backwards (Melody Pond aka River Song)

.......

 

[bloodgear]

Tasha Lem is also an anagram. It can be made into "La Thames", The Thames (as in the River Thames) and thus River!

(Not entirely correct because it's not how the French say Thames; Thamise, but it's still something)

But if she is, is it post-Forest of the Dead or is it pre-Mel. Both are tricky but Forest would appear to work best. Consciousness trapped inside the saved Library mainframe. There'd be no Timelord body and thus no regenerations. Meaning android of some kind, probably.
But if it's pre-Mel, can she still regenerate with a Dalek poking out of her skull?

River Song makes my head hurt.

 

[The Mike]

This is an interesting attempt to get everything in line:

https://www.cultbox.co.uk/features/...e-doctor-making-sense-of-the-matt-smith-years

 

[jrice73]

Tasha Lem is also an anagram. It can be made into "La Thames", The Thames (as in the River Thames) and thus River!

(Not entirely correct because it's not how the French say Thames; Thamise, but it's still something)

But if she is, is it post-Forest of the Dead or is it pre-Mel. Both are tricky but Forest would appear to work best. Consciousness trapped inside the saved Library mainframe. There'd be no Timelord body and thus no regenerations. Meaning android of some kind, probably.
But if it's pre-Mel, can she still regenerate with a Dalek poking out of her skull?

River Song makes my head hurt.

Interesting theory on Tasha. That might just be River when its all said and done especially with that "psychopath" quote. Also recall that in the episode A Good Man Goes To War, when Rory came to get River out of Stormcage prison, she mentioned that she just got back from travelling with the Doctor who took her to Victorian England where the Thames was frozen for the first time in a long time and they listened to Stevie Wonder perform on the ice or something to that effect. Emphasis on the Thames River. Pretty crazy. Maybe i'm stretching.

Oh, and Handles reminded me of Wilson in Castaway with Tom Hanks.