Christian Cawley's Blog, page 26

NuWho 10th Anniversary: What Is Your Favourite Series 7B Story?

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

This year, Doctor Who has been back on our screen ten whole years. It feels like yesterday that the TARDIS materialised once more; suitably, it also feels like forever.

So join us as we celebrate a decade with the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors. Let’s find out which serials are our favourites, and shine a light on the underrated ones too. Watch us run.

And then vote on your favourites. At the end of the year, we’ll find out which serials showcase our beloved show at the height of its game.

We’ve split Series 7 into two. There’s too big a tonal shift and so many new storylines to embrace. There’s a new face in the TARDIS. Well, actually, we’ve seen her before – and she died. Join us as we take in the adventures of the Eleventh Doctor and his Impossible Girl…

Drew Boynton: The Name of the Doctor

“What I did, I did without choice. In the name of peace and sanity.” That quote in that classic John Hurt voice topped off an already-good episode, and secured it as one of my favorite episodes ever.

We finally got to see glimpses (making use of old footage and stand-ins) of the other past Doctors – something that NuWho had pretty much avoided up until then. We also see River, The Paternosters, and Clara all team up to help save the Doctor from his final fate at Trenzalore, and all nearly get killed in the process. Clara also makes the supreme sacrifice of jumping into the Doctor’s time stream and having herself splintered throughout time and space.

But it’s the closing minutes that always give me goosebumps, as the mysterious, silhouetted man turns to the Eleventh Doctor and shows that he is “John Hurt as… the Doctor!” that make this into a great episode.

Andrew Reynolds: Hide

Hide has all the trappings of a classic ghost story: the stormy night on the moors, a spooky seemingly haunted manor and two intrepid scientists looking for answers from the unknown.

Taken as a straight-forward ghost story, Hide would still be an effective 45 mins of television; what elevates this episode is just how quickly it abandons its horror origins and embraces both the rational and the impossible.

Take Alec Palmer – a sort of stand-in Quartermass – and Emma Grayling: they both clearly know what they are doing and, in all likelihood, they would have come to some conclusion about the events at the mansion but without the Doctor working with them, as equals, they solve the mystery at the heart of this effective episode. And it’s because the Doctor isn’t saving us dumb apes from blundering our way into danger; that he is dealing with people at the limits of human understanding that brings extra electricity to the episode.

We also get a glimpse of something that I wish had been explored more with Clara – her fear of jumping head first into dangerous, mad situations. Her reluctance to explore what goes bump in the night gives weight to the gothic horror trappings. It also gives Matt Smith the room to act more alien than usual – which is always fun to see.

Both guest stars Dougray Scott and Jessica Raine make the most of a well-developed script – it’s not quite a character study, there are too many slightly underwritten elements and general Doctor Who nuttiness for it to be a simple three-header between the leads.

Raine in particular, who’s character doesn’t seem to even like the Doctor all that much, elevates the continued pain of her condition, letting you feel the burden she carries through the reading of others’ minds.

Her performance and Scott’s strong character work give the episode its strong emotional core; you could argue that, while the Doctor is necessary to the plot, he almost gets in the way of these two full formed characters coming to terms with their relationship together.

That’s not to say the Doctor doesn’t get a stand out moment – and even though you might plumb for Matt Smith’s genuine terror at being stranded with the monster, for me, it’s the moment where Clara forces him to adjust his cosmic, otherworldly view when she calls out his lack of concern as he watches the life cycle of Earth pass him by – it’s a great moment between the pair and indicative of the strong character work present in this gem of an episode.

Philip Bates: The Bells of St. John

I love Series 7. It’s fantastic. You won’t find that enthusiasm shared by many right now, and that’s a massive shame, but I think it’ll change in the future. It does, however, leave me with a dilemma. What’s my favourite Series 7B serial? I would happily go for The Rings of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, or The Crimson Horror. The Name of the Doctor, too, because it’s just so, so exciting.

But right now, I’m going for The Bells of St. John because… Well, I have a bold statement to make. The Bells of St. John is the perfect example of Doctor Who.

It’s not perfect in itself, but it does display everything the show should be; not all the time, but consistently.

It’s thrilling, intriguing, clever, fast, nonetheless contemplative, mysterious, and utterly beautiful. It’s a great introduction to the show, and it doesn’t matter whether you explain to That Person Who’s Never Seen Doctor Who Before about previous version of Clara dying. This remains a rip-roaring, ecstatic adventure against the striking backdrop of London.

It’s new. This is now. It’s relevant and sinister, exposing the strange in the everyday, the deadly alien tucked away in a modern convenience.

Director, Colm McCarthy must be given a healthy dose of praise, as must Murray Gold, the composer who gives us an eccentric, soothing, and yet lively score. Steven Moffat takes fair credit, naturally, as this is his vision. It’s a show that grabs you by the lapels and won’t let go.

Yep, it zips along. But it’s thought-provoking and gentle too. Just look at one glorious sequence, from Clara’s waking up next to a plate of Jammy Dodgers to her and the Doctor sitting down for breakfast.

Matt Smith is wonderfully kind and Doctorly as he assures Clara that he’s watching over her. Then Jenna Coleman’s bright and cheerful as she speaks to the Time Lord outside. The lights of London turn off and an aeroplane is coming straight for them. So they jump in the Snog Box and the TARDIS materialises again on the actual plane. Clara’s still clutching her cuppa. And next: the blue box arrives by the Thames and off they go on a bike to have food in a cafe overlooking the city.

“It’s a time machine,” the Doctor says. “You never have to wait for breakfast.” Speaking as a kid whose nighttimes were a nightmare, that’s a magical sentence, encapsulating the wonder of the Doctor’s world. Simple. Effective. Compelling.

Celia Imrie is a wonderful villain – and her demise is cutting and chilling.

And that’s the scope of this story. Exciting, sad, breath-taking, lingering. Matt and Jenna are an ideal pairing, and this is where it begins. Page One.

That’s the most exhilarating thing of all.

Jonathan Appleton: The Crimson Horror

Like many people this didn’t feel to me like a classic run of Doctor Who. It was hard not to feel short-changed by only getting half a season in the anniversary year. Perhaps I was also expecting more of a celebratory feel to the series as it marked its half-century but I did enjoy this fun, camp episode.

There was plenty going on to keep us entertained: a good mystery to keep us intrigued; the anticipation generated by the Doctor’s absence for the first ten minutes or so; and some grizzly icky bits. Best of all we had a terrific mother and daughter pairing of Rachael Stirling and Diana Rigg, for whom Mark Gatiss wrote the parts of Ada and Mrs Gillyflower. Rigg must surely have recalled her time on The Avengers what with the plot to achieve world domination and the over the top climax (to say nothing of Jenny in a catsuit). The whole thing managed to stay just the right side of silliness, delivered with a good deal of style.

Joe Siegler: The Name of the Doctor

Series 7B, eh? Well, for me it’s all one series, but never mind…

Favorite is by far The Name of the Doctor. I will admit up front that I’m a sucker for any kind of story about the Doctor himself, and this was all about that – actually the first part of a trilogy which included the 50th anniversary, and the Christmas Special that year.

I was instantly suckered in by the pre-titles sequence, which featured all the previous Doctors and Clara. My wife will tell you I sat there and replayed that about 5 times before carrying on with the episode. Told her where all the clips came from (although Sixey was new). Much eye rolling from the wife on my geek out there.

It was another episode where the Doctor had a “gang”, which appeared to be a theme with Eleven. The Gang worked for me, and especially the way they were brought together. The concept of a “conference call” between them across time was one I was surprised nobody’s thought of before.

Speaking of the Gang, this had River Song in it, and I rather liked this appearance of her. I know for some, she’s grating, but this one worked for me.

We ended up at Trenzalore – the place that the Doctor finally dies, according to Moffat – and had a bunch of things relative to the Doctor’s own timeline which were a geekfest. Which for me, was enough to carry the episode. They could have had Matt Smith just sitting there staring at you for 45 minutes; so long as the other geeky stuff about his timeline was in there, I was sold. There was another part in here where you got to pick out tidbits from old episodes – sound bites from Classic Who.

Then we get John Hurt appearing at the end as the War Doctor. A heck of a cliffhanger for a heck of an episode. By far for me the best thing of Series 7 overall, and definitely of 7B.

Thomas Spychalski: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

I love a Doctor Who episode that shows off the interior of the TARDIS.

As a kid I was fascinated by the machine, to near obsession. From the console, the endless corridors and the gleaming white walls full of ’round things.’

I even recorded TARDIS sound effects onto audio cassettes straight from VHS copies of the classic episodes and made my own console out of Speak N’ Spells, old computer keyboards and a large cardboard tube as the central time rotor.

This was the reason I adored Time-Flight when so many others hated it: it had tons of scenes set in the TARDIS interior and also an abundance of different materialization and dematerialization sound effects to use in my own make believe adventures.

So I guess it might not come as a shock then that my favorite episode of series 7B was Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. This one was a jack pot for my inner fan child because there was very little of the episode that was not set inside this amazing machine.

Much like Time-Flight way back when, many have said the story is rather poor but to me it is perfectly set up to have a romp through the endless corridors of the TARDIS. We even get to take a gander at some of the places inside the TARDIS which had never been seen before such as the library and the TARDIS engine room as well as the TARDIS’ connection to its awesome power source, the Eye of Harmony.

Although I would have to wait till Day of the Doctor and even later Hell Bent to see those gleaming white roundel walls properly again, the TARDIS never looked better in modern times.

The plot surrounding the Van Baalen bros, intergalactic scrap scavengers was nice as well; it did give the episode a villain to work around in Gregor, who had tricked his younger brother into thinking he was an android after wiping his memory to take over the family business after the death of their father.

Gregor also got into a tiff with the TARDIS and it was nice to see her throwing her weight around again as well.

I thought the ‘future monsters’ were a bit much but that is a very minor complaint.

Although not the choice of many fans, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS quickly became my favorite of Series 7B and I hope we get another TARDIS centric based story too… but this time, more round things.

James Lomond: The Snowmen

Carriages, barmaids, Victorian London and snow… Even though the resolution was somehow suddenly about tears, rain and psychic links and stuff that appeared without much warning- this was a corker. I loved it for the Mary Poppins-esque cloud moments, the Doctor’s reintroduction as a bereaved, sulking loner, the re-appearance of Clara as the impossible girl and that line – that WONDERFUL line: “hello, I’m a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife.” Merry. Christmas. Indeed.

Though the titular Snowmen were barely used and even though the Great Intelligence was denied its lurching toilet-flush-roaring snowmen of the Himalayan variety, there was so much here to love. It was the introduction of a new TARDIS interior – one that harked back to the original series and design more than any of the NuWho sets we’ve had. Two doyens of stage and screen, Sir McKellen and Richard E Grant lent their talents to this Christmas jingle. And Clara. Clara was perfect – I was so excited about having a period companion, and one that could match any 21st Century teen for wit and intelligence. I remember being properly sad at losing Cockney Clara but Coleman showed us how someone from a different era could easily fill the role of foil for the Doctor and emotional link for the viewer.

This had all the atmosphere and fun we needed – a proper dollop of Christmas Who!

Those are a few of our favourites from Series 7B. Now it’s your turn! Vote below for your favourite, and we’ll find out the overall winner later this year…

What Is Your Favourite Series 7B Story?

The post NuWho 10th Anniversary: What Is Your Favourite Series 7B Story? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Tell Us What You Thought of The Husbands of River Song!

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

The eleventh (eleventh!) consecutive Doctor Who Christmas special has just been unwrapped: a festive present that saw the return of Alex Kingston as River Song, her last appearance being 2013’s The Name of the Doctor.

Greg Davies! Matt Lucas! A (sometimes) disembodied head! Comedy antlers! And a memorable “bigger on the inside” moment!

But what did you think?

Here’s a Christmas task, then: how do you feel about filling out the below poll, essentially a glorified ‘how many stars out of five’?

What did you think of The Husbands of River Song?

Done? Champion. Thanks.

Expand on your thoughts in the comments section below and we’ll broadcast the best to the nation (or our readers, at least) pretty soon.

And once again, Merry Christmas!

The post Tell Us What You Thought of The Husbands of River Song! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Merry Christmas to All Our Readers

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

It’s Chriiiiiiistmas…!

On behalf of everyone at K Towers, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas at K Towers. We’ve hung up the mistletoe and invited as many companions as possible (Karen Gillan’s unplugged her phone and changed her mobile number), while our very own Becky is desperately trying to get hold of David Tennant. The tree is looking splendid, complete with Dalek baubles, sonic screwdriver lights, and a Weeping Angel model right at the top.

We’ve wrapped Andy up in tinsel because he’s threatened to make use of the photocopier again.

The Christmas cards are lining the mantlepiece, many of which read: “To Philip, Have a wonderful X-Mas! Love from Philip.” He’s a great guy.

Katie’s performing a circus show and David’s curled up on the sofa muttering, “but what about the reaktion round-ups?” We worry about him.

The rest of us are being entertained by The Chimes of Midnight. No, we’ve not got the CD on, but fortunately, Simon knows most of the words and James Lomond does a great Charley impression. James Whittington’s providing the TARDIS materialisation noise, but nobody actually asked him to.

So we’re a flurry of inactivity. Frankly, we’re all waiting for 5:15pm when The Husbands of River Song airs.

It is the festive season, so please forgive us taking a little break over the coming days. But don’t panic: we’ll still bring you daily features that are the culmination of our 10th anniversary of NuWho celebrations. Keep an eye out for them.

Have a great Christmas, everyone, and thanks for sticking with us throughout 2015!

The post Merry Christmas to All Our Readers appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Diary of River Song: Series One – Coming Boxing Day!

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Alex Kingston will be returning to the Doctor Who fold sooner rather than later as The Diary of River Song will become available on Boxing Day (26th December) from Big Finish.

Hot on the heels of her appearance in this year’s Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song, the time travelling archaeologist will make her Big Finish debut in her spin-off series!

The collection of four new stories will see River confront an ancient Egyptian curse, enjoy a marvellous party on a very exclusive space-station, tackle the threat of the world-ending SporeShips, and make a date with her future husband, the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann).

Guest stars in the new series include Alexander Vlahos as Bertie Potts, Alexander Siddig as Marcus Gifford, Imogen Stubbs as Isabella Clerkwell and Samuel West as the mysterious Mr Song. The stories have been written by Jenny T Colgan, Justin Richards, James Goss and Matt Fitton and directed by Ken Bentley.

The Diary of River Song: Series 1 can be pre-ordered today for just £20 on both CD or download from the Big Finish website. The title will be available to download on Boxing Day 2015, followed by physical copies being dispatched from our warehouse from January 8th 2016.

The set is also available as part of Big Finish’s New Series Bundle, which contains fellow January 2016 release Doctor Who: The Churchill Years Volume 1 and the July 2016 boxset Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 1.

River will return to Big Finish in Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 2, accompanying the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann), Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker) and Helen Sinclair (Hattie Morahan) in their next battle with the Eleven (Mark Bonnar).

And, as if you needed reminding, River Song will appear alongside Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor this Christmas Day in The Husbands of River Song at 17:15 on BBC 1.

 

The post The Diary of River Song: Series One – Coming Boxing Day! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Free Lethbridge-Stewart Christmas Short Story!

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Tis the season of goodwill and those at Candy Jar Books are offering readers a free brand new Lethbridge-Stewart short story for Christmas.

The Fright Before Christmas by Tom Dexter features invading alien spheres, Santa Claus and Buckingham Palace. The book can be download by clicking the image in this link.

Hayley Cox, Senior Publishing Coordinator at Candy Jar Books, said:

“Lethbridge-Stewart has had a great 2015. We were pleasantly surprised by all the positive feedback we received, and felt that we should give something back to the fans for the holidays. This story is just for them.”

Candy Jar Books launched the fully licensed Lethbridge-Stewart series in February 2015, with Andy Frankham-Allen’s The Forgotten Son kicking off the venture in style. Three more titles were subsequently released; each met with high praise from fans and the press.

Sadie Miller, daughter of Elisabeth Sladen and Brian Miller, is set to return to the worlds of Doctor Who with her debut novel, Moon Blink. Sadie’s book headlines the 2016 series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels, and is published in the spring, followed by The Showstoppers by Jonathan Cooper and The Grandfather Infestation by John Peel.

A further three novels will be released in the autumn.

The usual discounted pre-order bundles will be on offer from Candy Jar, with a new subscription deal for those wishing to get six books for the price of five! The Lethbridge-Stewart series of books can now be pre-ordered from Candy Jar Books.

The post Free Lethbridge-Stewart Christmas Short Story! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Ring in the Holidays with Special US Screenings of The Husbands of River Song

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Part of the magic of Christmas is getting to sit down, together with your loved ones and celebrate another year together…the other part of the magic of Christmas is fleeing from your loved ones after being forced to tolerate another year together.

Well if you are looking for something to flee to, why not ring in the holidays with the Doctor Who Christmas Special – The Husbands of River Song – at selected theatres in the US on Monday, December 28 and Tuesday, December 29 courtesy of BBC Worldwide and in partnership with Fathom Events.

The screening also includes an exclusive interview with Alex Kingston, as well as a 15-minute behind-the-scenes “making of” featurette starring Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and more.

What’s more, costumes are mandatory! No, wait not mandatory, the other one…erh…not quite mandatory…optionatory!

The Husbands of River Song sees the TARDIS parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveler River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas. River Song made her first Doctor Who appearances in 2008 in Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead and has appeared in 15 episodes to date.

Soumya Sriraman, EVP Film, Home Entertainment and Licensing for BBC Worldwide North America said:

“The return of River Song will be an incredible treat for Whovians heading to the theaters this December to celebrate the holiday season with their Doctor Who community,” said Soumya Sriraman, EVP Film, Home Entertainment and Licensing for BBC Worldwide North America.

Fathom Events CEO John Rubey added:

“The Doctor Who fans always come out to movie theaters in full force and we expect nothing less for the first-ever big screen showing of the Christmas special. Experiencing this special event as part of a community is the best kind of viewing party!” 

You can find out the full list of the 300 participating theatres and book tickets via the Fathom Events site or participating theatres box offices.

 

The post Ring in the Holidays with Special US Screenings of The Husbands of River Song appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Does The Twelfth Doctor’s Sonic Have a ‘Red Setting’?

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

It’s always the same when you get a new gadget, you immediately want to press all the buttons and try all the settings – but one setting we might have missed when the TARDIS threw a new Sonic at Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor is the fabled ‘red setting’.

Taking a gander at the original production designs via the Doctor Who Instagram page via the Radio Times – complete with colour swabs and buttons and, ooh! What’s this? Two red bars at the top? Could they be the much-heralded (Er…mentioned once) red setting?

A photo posted by Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) on Dec 9, 2015 at 1:23am PST

We first came across a Sonic with this setting in Forest of the Dead when River Song was able to use it on her Sonic (given to her by a future Doctor or perhaps this Doctor at, say, Christmas? Inside a present wrapped in yellow paper as seen in some of the publicity photos) to prevent interference from the sentient computer Doctor Moon. In Series Seven, episode Cold War, meanwhile, the diode at the tip of the Eleventh Doctor’s Sonic glowed red when he threatened to blow up the submarine.

So while it’s not exactly clear what this ‘red setting’ does (I mean, the Sonic seems to work just fine without it most of the time…except when faced with a bit wood) but it’ll be interesting to see what it could mean, if anything.

The post Does The Twelfth Doctor’s Sonic Have a ‘Red Setting’? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Behold the Monster in New War Doctor Trailer

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

At the heart of the battle, where the blood of the innocents flow, and only the monstrous survive…

The Daleks are gearing up for a final assault on Gallifrey and the War Doctor is struggling to reconcile who he was with who he needs to be in this trailer for Big Finish’s new audio drama, The War Doctor Vol 1: Only The Monstrous.

There’s certainly a lot to take in; the visuals are suitably impressive and doom-laden and it’s great to hear the rousing, defiant words of John Hurt’s War Doctor, ably supported by Jacqueline Pearce (Cardinal Ollistra), Lucy Briggs-Owen (The Nursemaid), Carolyn Seymour (The Slave) and Nicholas Briggs as The Daleks.

The War Doctor Volume 1: Only The Monstrous is available to order now from Big Finish on CD and Download for £20.

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BBC to Offer Independent Companies Chance to Make Doctor Who

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

In an attempt to win over sceptical independent production companies with its plan to spin-off BBC Studios, the corporation has offered such companies the chance to make programmes such as Doctor Who.

Pact, the governing body of the independent TV production sector, had been against the Beeb’s plans, raising ‘serious concerns’ about the regulation and transparency of spinning off its production business reports The Guardian.

One such issue was the BBC’s refusal to open up enough of its programme budget to competition, including contracts to the biggest hits such as Strictly Come Dancing and EastEnders.

However, the Corporation has relented in order to gain enough industry support for its BBC Studio plans, allowing independent studios the opportunity to pitch to make 40% of in-house shows by 2018.

“We welcome the agreement reached with Pact,” said James Purnell, the BBC’s director of strategy and digital. “Creative competition is in the best interest of audiences and BBC Studios is an essential part of the BBC’s future.”

In terms of its most popular shows, BBC commissioners will have discretion to pitch out a show if it needs “freshening up”.

How much these contracts will be affected by the increased pressure on the BBC to slash its budget is unclear – nor how the corporation plans to make such deals competitive with the private independent sector.

Previously, the BBC had said none of the flagship shows produced in-house would ever be pitched to outside production companies. The proportion of shows that are guaranteed to go to an independent production company will rise from 25% to 40%.

“Pact is pleased that we have been able to negotiate a progressive agreement with the BBC that will result in even more competition at the BBC for the best programmes, regardless of who makes them,” said John McVay, chief executive of Pact.

The rights to shows that are made by outside production companies will remain with the BBC. This is similar to Question Time, which is owned by the BBC but made by Tinopolis-owned producer Mentorn Media.

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Peter Capaldi Hints Series Ten Could be His Last

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Back when the fate of Series Ten hung in the balance, there were rumours that Peter Capaldi had, like previous Doctors Peter Davison and Patrick Troughton, a three-year exit strategy. Now that initial work has begun on the next series with a regularly scheduled amount of episodes and Capaldi signed up for the year, he has once again teased that this series could very well be his last.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Capaldi has inferred that he may walk away once his contract has expired.

“This could be my final year – it’s terrifying. I love Doctor Who but it can be quite an insular world and I do want to do other things. There will come a time when this is over. But I knew that when I started. I was thinking about my regeneration scene from the outset. That’s my terrible melancholic nature. When you accept the job you know there’ll come a day, inevitably, when you’ll be saying goodbye.”

These things only feel like natural preoccupations for the man carrying the mantle of the Doctor. It’s hard to think of previous Doctors who haven’t imagined their final moments and it’s no secret that Capaldi wants to do other things – there was a long standing rumour that he was going to either direct episodes of HBO sitcom Veep or another movie (Capaldi directed 2001’s Strictly Sinatra) based upon his early years in a punk band.

He also addressed the response to his Doctor – saying that he doesn’t read reviews but certain comments, both good and bad, have filtered back to him.

“Some feel good and some feel bad. I always think that if you’re Doctor Who, somebody some where’s going to love you. That’s comfort. But if people don’t like me there’ll be another one along in a minute. It’s only Doctor Who – and I say that with the greatest of respect and affection. It’s not a life-threatening illness.”

It’s both the healthy attitude and thick skin that comes with being at the centre of a lot people’s attention. Some of that scrutiny has focused on his age, which still feels strange knowing what has come before in the past, but still, it’s something that he choices to face with his usual good humour.

“No, because every Doctor should be different from the last one. If you want exclusively young, sexy guys, to me that’s not Doctor Who. You want occasional ones like that – but then some other eccentrics.”

For now, though, he is delighted to see the show return to its regular tea time slot with this year’s Christmas special, The Husbands of River Song.

“It’s a very festive, light‑hearted Christmas afternoon show,” he says. “Although a lot of adults really like it, at its heart Doctor Who is designed to entertain children as well. I like the idea of families watching together. That’s what I did when I was a child.”

So do we think Capaldi will leave at the end of Series Ten? Do you want him to stay? Is three years the right time to leave the show?

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