Rassilon
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Post by Rassilon on Dec 1, 2015 16:50:53 GMT
What If You Ran The Show?
You have just been made the Doctor Who show runner and are now an Executive Producer at the BBC in Cardiff. It is Peter Capaldi's last season. He has no companion, so you need to hire a new actor. There are no previous season's story arcs and you have a clean slate to do anything you want this season and for the following two seasons with a new Doctor.
You have complete script control and can take the show in any direction you like. Peter has decided to leave at the end of the season so you will need to hire a new actor to play the lead role.
What do you do?
Guidelines: your ideas must adhere to what is normally accomplished on the show, in terms of effects, locations, budget and the fact the show must have wide appeal. As seen recently, the show can have a darker more adult edge and this could be pushed further if that's the direction you want.
You have three seasons. One with Peter and two with a new Doctor.
Discuss, using broad strokes in a general synopsis of your actions and the direction of the show.
Each (sensible) entry gets a special forum custom title of their own choice and colour.
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Post by Stormcrow on Dec 1, 2015 20:26:00 GMT
Lighter, not darker. Dark, gritty, angsty are overdone and cliche-ridden.
Stories about people the Doctor and companions meet, and adventures, not about the Doctor, his companions, and their relationships. The Doctor and companions should be in many more fish-out-of-water situations; the Doctor shouldn't always know what's going on.
No more heroically announcing, "I'm the Doctor, and I'm gonna blah blah blah." That's just ego. No more Doctor-worship.
Get rid of the sonic shades, bring back the sonic screwdriver, but reduce its usefulness. If he uses it, it takes a bit of effort. He can't just wave it around and scan for everything/open anything. It doesn't work by thinking. It works on wood (why wouldn't it?). It mainly works by vibrating things; if you can't envision a way something could happen by vibrating something, it can't be done with the sonic screwdriver. Oh, and it's not called a "sonic." It's a screwdriver.
His companion(s) has her own personality but is not simply someone who puts the Doctor in his place. (All Moffat companions do that.) The companion(s) is the primary viewpoint, the most relatable character, through whose eyes we see the Doctor. Occasionally bring on some other companions, male or female.
NO LOVE STORIES ABOARD THE TARDIS.
Stories should be relatively self-contained and should be written by someone who actually knows how they're supposed to come to a conclusion. No writing by the seat of your pants. One or two two-parters per series, no more. The finale is should be big, but don't try to outdo the "entire universe disappearing" and "entire universe disintegrating" plots that have already been done.
No more than one appearance per classic villain per series, and no more than two classic villain stories per series. No alliances between classic villains.
No more "nods" to the pre-2005 show. For heaven's sake no more showing a series of the Doctor's faces. We get it. Look forward, not backward.
No genre-of-the-week stories. You can tell which stories were written like, "I'm going to write a psychological horror story. What should it be about?"
Speaking of which, lay off the horror.
Let Steven Moffat write a two-parter. He's got to invent a new, creepy villain, but he can't invoke time travel, River Song, or anything else he's already created. Then edit the hell out of whatever he comes up with. He's a great episode writer, not a good producer.
All in all, get Russel T. Davies to do all this, provided he lays off the everyone-is-gay-or-interracial-or-in-love-with-the-Doctor message.
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Post by starkllr on Dec 1, 2015 21:17:50 GMT
OK...Stormcrow started things off very well! And I'm going to have to echo some of his points. But first a couple of assumptions:
Season 9 leaves us with Gallifrey found and back in the real universe and the Time Lords as a force again. And the Doctor has the TARDIS and it's the same old Sexy and it's in one piece and working as well (ha!) as usual. And the Doctor has, once again, refused to stay behind and lead the Time Lords ("why not? That's how it all started!")
That said, my ground rules:
Lighter, more humor (as Stormcrow noted). We can and will tackle serious stories, but overall this is meant to be fun, not angsty.
Far less returning monsters, again as Stormcrow noted. NO Daleks! Unless of course we're required to use them to hang on to the rights from the Terry Nation estate, in which case we shoehorn them in as quickly and unobtrusively as possible for one story a season.
I'd go farther than Stormcrow re: the Sonic Screwdriver. I'd take it away entirely. Whoever writes the premiere episode can have their choice of hand-wavey explanations why the TARDIS can't make any more for the Doctor.
Companions: more than one, to start with. NOT from 2015 London or thereabouts.
No more earthshaking revelations about or huge alterations to the Doctor's origins or major Who mythology.
I disagree with Stormcrow about nods to the classic series. It's part of the show's history, and there is a lot of goof stuff there to touch on or possibly revisit. I'd actually go so far as to do a "sequel" or two to well-remembered or especially fun stories. A couple of suggestions along those lines:
A return to Tara. How do things look on the planet of swordsmen and lookalike androids forty years after the Doctor and Romana visited?
A follow-up to "City of Death". There are still a dozen splinters of a superintelligent and vicious alien scattered throughout human history. What have they gotten up to? And who took possession of the Scarlioni fortune (and all the technology he developed) after the events of the story? That might be a nice "period" piece with UNIT (or even Torchwood and Captain Jack).
Maybe one of these a season.
I said above to tread lightly with old monsters. But we can't abandon them altogether. Ones I'd want to use:
Silurians/Sea Devils
Cybermen - let's due a proper origin story for them, something along the lines of the "Spare Parts" audio, maybe.
The Slitheen. If we can lose the fart jokes, there are some interesting ideas to play with. Maybe visit them on their home planet, or among other aliens.
The Ood. We've never seen how they live when left completely to their own devices. Let's rectify that.
Other things: let's do a pure historical or two. No timey-wimey, no aliens. Just plain old humans dealing with human problems.
Bring back a Time Lord other than the Master for the Doctor to encounter. I've always been partial to the Rani, and you could do a current-events driven story with her with genetic engineering.
Make the Doctor pro-active. Give him a mission. Something along the lines of the Key to Time season. Make the stakes personal rather than Universe-shaking, though. This is going back to Classic Who again, but let's throw some cash at Lalla Ward and get her to reprise her role as Romana, still trapped in the other E-Space universe all this time, with no way out. And the Doctor must collect various artifacts or arrange certain circumstances for his one chance to open the door and bring her home. I think that would be my first season, and Capaldi's last.
How's that for a start?
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Post by Escher on Dec 2, 2015 12:11:42 GMT
A few cosmetic changes that would alter the show's appearance.
The titles. I'd have a new kaleidoscopic Pertwee-style intro.
I'd bring back the TARDIS roundels.
I'd commission a proper Auton story. Not with them as the usual supporting element but a real deep creepy Nestene tale.
I'd ask Alan Moore to write a story.
I'd take up the comment of the future Tom Baker caretaker incarnation of the Doctor where he said 'you might revisit a few faces....just the old favourites'. This gives a rubber stamp to have Sean Pertwee audition for the role. He said 'no' in the past but as we know, people mellow.
I'd commission a cryptic episode (one of the Doctor-less offbeat ones) where we see two young kids at the Time Lord academy become friends. Neither is named and they might or might not be The Master and The Doctor. Nothing is implicitly stated or named. Ambiguous. Both show the possibility the one or the other might be the Doctor or the Master...or not. Or it might just be two kids. Something for the fans to ponder and enjoy. I'd probably get Neil Gaiman to write it.
I'd also commission a Back To The Future style episode, where the Doctor goes back to several of his past classic stories and is hiding in the background trying to do something. This would cost a lot for the CGI and video effects to layer the two but I think it would be awesome. He could be hiding behind a desk at UNIT HQ while the Third Doc and Jo Grant are talking about Ham-fisted bun vendors.
I'd get a new companion. A hot young lady from the late 1960's.
That is all.
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
It's complicated....
Posts: 3,753
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Eleven, Twelve, One, Nine...
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Dec 2, 2015 12:35:55 GMT
Season 9 leaves us with Gallifrey found and back in the real universe and the Time Lords as a force again. And the Doctor has the TARDIS and it's the same old Sexy and it's in one piece and working as well (ha!) as usual. And the Doctor has, once again, refused to stay behind and lead the Time Lords ("why not? That's how it all started!") That said, my ground rules: Lighter, more humor (as Stormcrow noted). We can and will tackle serious stories, but overall this is meant to be fun, not angsty. Far less returning monsters, again as Stormcrow noted. NO Daleks!
Companions: more than one, to start with. NOT from 2015 London or thereabouts. No more earthshaking revelations about or huge alterations to the Doctor's origins or major Who mythology. A follow-up to "City of Death". There are still a dozen splinters of a superintelligent and vicious alien scattered throughout human history. What have they gotten up to? And who took possession of the Scarlioni fortune (and all the technology he developed) after the events of the story? That might be a nice "period" piece with UNIT (or even Torchwood and Captain Jack).
Maybe have a Clara appear in such an ep? To be killed off and give a reason for the Doctor to avoid such meetings in the future.
Or have an ep that deals with the problems caused by the Doctor's carelessness (à la Just War). All that alien detritus left around history...
Maybe one of these a season. I said above to tread lightly with old monsters. But we can't abandon them altogether. Ones I'd want to use: <snip> Other things: let's do a pure historical or two. No timey-wimey, no aliens. Just plain old humans dealing with human problems. Bring back a Time Lord other than the Master for the Doctor to encounter. I've always been partial to the Rani, and you could do a current-events driven story with her with genetic engineering. Make the Doctor pro-active. Give him a mission. Something along the lines of the Key to Time season. Make the stakes personal rather than Universe-shaking, though. This is going back to Classic Who again, but let's throw some cash at Lalla Ward and get her to reprise her role as Romana, still trapped in the other E-Space universe all this time, with no way out. I'd commission a proper Auton story. Not with them as the usual supporting element but a real deep creepy Nestene tale. I'd ask Alan Moore to write a story. <snip> I'd also commission a Back To The Future style episode, where the Doctor goes back to several of his past classic stories and is hiding in the background trying to do something. This would cost a lot for the CGI and video effects to layer the two but I think it would be awesome. He could be hiding behind a desk at UNIT HQ while the Third Doc and Jo Grant are talking about Ham-fisted bun vendors. I'd get a new companion. A hot young lady from the late 1960's. |
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
It's complicated....
Posts: 3,753
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Eleven, Twelve, One, Nine...
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Dec 2, 2015 12:44:10 GMT
Stories about people the Doctor and companions meet, and adventures, not about the Doctor, his companions, and their relationships. The Doctor and companions should be in many more fish-out-of-water situations; the Doctor shouldn't always know what's going on. No more heroically announcing, "I'm the Doctor, and I'm gonna blah blah blah." That's just ego. No more Doctor-worship. Get rid of the sonic shades, bring back the sonic screwdriver, but reduce its usefulness. If he uses it, it takes a bit of effort. He can't just wave it around and scan for everything/open anything. It doesn't work by thinking. It works on wood (why wouldn't it?). It mainly works by vibrating things; if you can't envision a way something could happen by vibrating something, it can't be done with the sonic screwdriver. Oh, and it's not called a "sonic." It's a screwdriver. His companion(s) has her own personality but is not simply someone who puts the Doctor in his place. (All Moffat companions do that.) The companion(s) is the primary viewpoint, the most relatable character, through whose eyes we see the Doctor. Occasionally bring on some other companions, male or female. NO LOVE STORIES ABOARD THE TARDIS. Stories should be relatively self-contained and should be written by someone who actually knows how they're supposed to come to a conclusion. No writing by the seat of your pants. One or two two-parters per series, no more. The finale is should be big, but don't try to outdo the "entire universe disappearing" and "entire universe disintegrating" plots that have already been done. |
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Post by Hedgewick on Dec 5, 2015 16:57:03 GMT
Here are some general thoughts from the top of my head. When the BBC calls me in for a formal pitch meeting, I’d happily expand these into full treatments. 
Series Ten (2016): Embracing Humanity
Clara Oswald was, undoubtedly, one of the more grandiose or ambitious of the Doctor’s many companions. With her departure, it’s time for a new companion to take her place--and, at long last, it’s time for the series to make a bold choice in this regard! The new companion will be a young woman but also alien, not only in origin and personality but also in appearance. (In other words, the character’s features will be more C’rizz or Chantho than Adric or Nyssa.) This ought to present some amusing or dramatic complications when it comes time to blend in during a historical adventure, but it also presents an interesting new character dynamic. While the Twelfth Doctor appeared cold, distant, and quite alien in contrast with a very human character such as Clara, serving as a mentor to this unconventional new alien companion will draw out the Twelfth Doctor’s human qualities. This will not be a wholesale change for the character, of course, though we will see the curmudgeon crumble as he gains a newfound passion and optimism. The season will open with galactic adventure, tales of excitement set on runaway spaceships or faraway alien worlds. This should, at first, appear to present a stark departure from the more Earth-centric storytelling that we’re accustomed to. Over the course of the season, however, as the alien companion and these exotic settings gradually draw out the Twelfth Doctor’s humanity, the focus will begin to close in. Some of the terrifying alien threats introduced earlier in the season will turn their attentions to Earth, and the epic season finale will see the Twelfth Doctor making his last stand to save his beloved planet as he bids farewell to his alien protégé. The Doctor has saved Gallifrey. Now it’s time for him to make the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to spare the “pudding heads” he’s come to admire so much from the fate that befell his own people.
Series Eleven (2017): Curiouser and Curiouser
Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor has departed in epic fashion, saving the Earth one last time. In casting the Thirteenth Doctor, as well as a new companion, and seizing the opportunity to reimagine the style of the series yet again, it’s time to adopt a back-to-basics approach. The new Doctor will be young, vibrant, romantic, and full of good humor, seized of all those qualities that were recovered or remembered during the Twelfth Doctor’s defense of humanity. (In character, this hero will most resemble Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor.) The season will see the Thirteenth Doctor embracing his innate curiosity and sense of adventure. In one of his early visits to Britain’s past he will encounter his next companion, a young woman from a historical setting who brings an entirely unexpected perspective to the proceedings. (Enough has been done with contemporary companions. This new companion will be more Charlie Pollard or Joan Redfern than Rose Tyler or Donna Noble.) The season as a whole will eschew any obvious or overwrought mytharcs as well as classic monsters, opting instead to weave recurring dramatic themes throughout stories that take place in a wide variety of settings. The tone of this series will be one of the familiar contrasted with or corrupted by the strange or bizarre. The Doctor and his companion will find themselves exploring the sort of landscapes that might have been imagined by M.C. Escher, challenging foes that have emerged from our most surreal nightmares, and facing the sort of scenarios that should be utterly impossible in a sensible universe. (Ever read the Sixth Doctor comic story “Voyager”? There you have it.) Doctor Who should be weird! The new series will embrace this. Its finale will also feature the regeneration of the Doctor’s greatest foe, reestablishing a dynamic of conflict that will dominate the next season. The Master has returned!
Series Twelve (2018): Alternate History
While the previous season eschewed a dominant mytharc, this season will be ruled by one. The Master has set out in a TARDIS of his own on an ambitious mission to alter Earth’s history for his own nefarious purposes. His scheme will involve targeted intervention at several pivotal points in Earth’s history. The Doctor and his companion set off in hot pursuit, but when they next emerge from the TARDIS they find that history as they know it has been corrupted. The theme of the season is “alternate history.” Amazon’s adaptation of The Man in the High Castle has reignited the public’s interest in alternate history, reminding us just how cool it can be. Every story of this season will provide the audience with a different alternate history setting, allowing Doctor Who to fully explore a science fiction premise that it has only briefly toyed with in the past. At the Master’s heels every step of the way, the Doctor will find himself in radically reimagined versions of Victorian Britain, feudal Japan, ancient Rome, Fifties America, and others. Some stories may comprise two or even three-part episodes. While the goal of the season is to radically reimagine the traditional Doctor Who historical and to fully embrace international settings, there will still be room for monsters both new and familiar. The season will end with a final confrontation between the Doctor and the Master, one that will decide the fate of human history.
These ideas represent a number of things which have been on my mind. I'm quite vexed by the fact that new Who has yet to be bold enough to adopt a full-time companion from an alien background or historical setting. The overview of Series Twelve, in particular, represents an overview of an extended storyline that I've been developing in the depths of my imagination for quite some time. Who knows? If I continue to draw out the details, it just might form the basis for a future roleplaying campaign. |
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DamagedGoods
2nd Incarnation
Posts: 10
Favourite Doctors: Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh, Twelfth
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Post by DamagedGoods on Dec 8, 2015 23:09:08 GMT
In the unlikely but enticing prospect of the BBC and Steven Moffat deciding that I’d make a good replacement showrunner for the next three years of Doctor Who, here’s what I have in mind. I’m going to borrow my compatriot Hedgewick ’s format here to some degree in terms of presenting a theme alongside a brief treatment for each series. His interest in alternate history parallels my own, but I’m striking out in a different direction than his brilliantly-defined plan for the series. It also draws upon some ideas from our campaign—both past and future, and pertinently so in respect of the Divinity, a new foe co-created with him—so consider this another potential alternate timeline for our beloved series...
Series Ten (2016-7): Ripples
The Twelfth Doctor is, to some extent, renewed, ready to resume his adventures through time and space unencumbered from the grief that had haunted him for so many aeons. Nevertheless, Clara represents an unknowable but cloying absence in the Doctor’s soul, and he finds himself drawn back to Earth in the twenty-first century for reasons he doesn’t quite understand. When happenstance sees him come face to face with Shona McCullough (Faye Marsay), the two are drawn to one another due to a faint remembrance of having met before (whilst the specifics of their Christmassy struggle with the dream crabs continue to elude them). Haunted by the lost memory of a former friend, the Doctor is drawn to Shona as she is to him. When he offers her the chance to travel with him in the TARDIS, she jumps at the opportunity to escape the dull and dissatisfying chaos of her everyday life. This gives Twelve the chance to truly “be a Doctor” again—a new friend to impress and with whom to seek adventure through a new perspective.
And seek adventure they do, exploring new planets, coming face to face with novel monsters, and carving a brand new arc through time and space. During a special extended episode—maybe at Christmas, with this series spanning either side of the holidays—I would grant Peter Capaldi his wish of meeting the First Doctor (David Bradley), in a wintry multi-Doctor adventure that comes to remind him once again of just why he left Gallifrey the first time around, and what home has come to mean to him through his long life.
The ripple effects of the Doctor's climactic exploits with Clara are, though, somehow never far behind and, ultimately, destined to catch up with him. When Missy and Davros appear to have united with a new Dalek-led scheme to wreak havoc across the universe, talk of the Hybrid boils back to the surface. More dangerous still, though, is the new renegade Time Lord that the Doctor has created. Though diminished and shorn of his former title, Rassilon is arguably more dangerous than ever, and the likes of Missy and the Daleks are revealed as but pawns in his game to ruin this new High President of Gallifrey who dared unseat and exile him, before then abandoning his title and its manifest responsibilities.
In the series finale, the Doctor is consequentially forced to return home once again, for an altogether different kind of showdown with the Time Lords. This time when he fled his home world he left a power vacuum in his wake that has undermined the integrity of the High Council and threatened the stability of Gallifreyan society. Yet this is the least of his concerns. When he finally learns how Gallifrey was returned to the firmament and that the very fabric of reality is at stake, it is his own life that is now in deeper danger than ever. Cornered and in mortal peril, he is fast running out of allies in the fickle corridors of the Citadel’s power.
Ultimately, he is saved by a returning traveller: Clara Oswald, who—with her final breath—has what it takes to save the Doctor one last time. Me returns alongside her, but the not-quite indestructible Ashildr is a casualty of a climactic battle that takes place in the Matrix. Both she and Clara finally find the eternal rest that has eluded them for so long, content in the knowledge that the Doctor’s life is saved. But, unbeknownst to Clara, it comes at the cost of the Doctor's latest incarnation…
Series Eleven (2017): New Gothic
A confused Shona still at his side, the newly-regenerated Thirteenth Doctor (Harry Lloyd) strikes back out from his home world, vowing never to return to Gallifrey. This new Doctor assumes something of the guise of a travelling Englishman from the early twentieth century, all panama hats and sharp linen suits, and seemingly with boundless energy.
The tone of the duo’s new adventures is decidedly gothic with a post-modern twist. Returning classic enemies such as the Rutans lie in wait, as do all new terrors. After a series of standalone adventures, a pivotal two-parter finds this youthful Doctor and Shona meet none other than author H.P. Lovecraft, as they become embroiled in a terrifying cult to the Sea Devils in a New England seaside town in the 1920s.
The Doctor’s growing sense of some eldritch evil reaches its climax during a series finale in which he meets a Time Lady he thought long dead: the Rani (Gillian Anderson), who taunts him that he understands so little about the origins of evil in the universe. Reeling from this encounter and with a new mission, he sends a furious Shona home so that he can seek out this wellspring of evil alone, ignoring her protestations and refusing to place her life into such danger...
Series Twelve (2018): Origins of Evil
Alone at first, the Doctor seeks out the source of his growing sense of unease and begins his quest to understand the essence of evil. A series of one-off companions team up with him as he willingly seeks out encounters with such adversaries as the Daleks. Evil perpetrated in the form of all manner of belief systems becomes a recurring theme.
Mid-series he tracks down, in a new guise, the Master (Aiden Gillen). After all, if the Doctor is to understand the nature of evil, where best to start than his best friend and perfect opposite. The duo come to understand they have a common purpose of sorts in identifying this elusive essence of evil, and become uneasy travelling companions for a short time.
When his quest returns him to Earth during a perilous period in its (near future) history, the Doctor finds that Shona is having none of his attempts to shirk her company a second time, and she stows away onboard the TARDIS even as it hurtles to a revelatory encounter with a new foe: the Divinity. An ethereal race that seeks to manipulate “lesser” species by influencing their course of history through the exploitation of belief systems, the ultimate lesson that the Doctor learns is that so-called evil is a seed that can grow anywhere, given the right conditions, and that its terrible potential is a fundamental aspect of the building blocks of the universe, inextinguishable. His role as a Doctor is at best to heal it wherever he can, his victories only ever fleeting.
During a climactic finale, the Doctor’s and the Master’s motives inevitably clash, setting the pair into direct conflict once again. Ultimately, however, they have to unite once again to defeat the Divinity’s scheme, but the Master falls foul of their plans, is badly injured, and regenerates. Into none other than the familiar face of Missy... |
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Post by zebaroth on Dec 10, 2015 21:37:21 GMT
i would revamp the tardis console room intduce a companion that was like ace a troubled teen that is in need of a mentor
would make the show longer by with 15 episoads
would have better clifhangers in the two parters
would have at lest 1 3 part show
the docotr would fight the atouns in the last 2 epsioads
he dies after getteing blown out the window in the explosion that
destroys the nesten he regenarites in to rowen aktsen
the 14 doctor would be more colder he would help his the ace like companion find his place in time and space
the show would be a bit more darker but whismcal would bring back the rani and have her be the big bad for Rowens 1st season
she would be trying to remake the timelord race by useing her dna urack the titrap would be helping her he is the last one
the rani made him time locked so he will never die
in the 3rd saeson omega would return as the big bad the ace like companion turns out to be the doctors grate grandson
when susen joins the show and starts to travel with the doctor and the ace like companion the doctor also finds out that a gourp
of young time lords left before the end of the time war and have carted new galafry the doctor is a here to them they have a saturate of him
as jon prwtey in the center of the new citdal soon after he finds new galfrey omega has worked out how to exist in the univrese and not destory it
he steals a regnaration cycale were in the body of a human that is decaying due to him being anti mater based he regenartes and omega is reborn
the end of the season would be will omega has rebuilt the hand of omega and plans to counqer the univrese with it he would be defeted but still out there
in his tardis
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Post by Eryx on Nov 20, 2018 17:30:14 GMT
Coming in late to this one but having only just seen it on the bottom of the page...
* Bring the show back to it's classic roots. Drop the silly science-fairy tale stories like we've had over the last few years.
* Reign in the classic monsters to one maybe two episodes per season if that, but at least one. They are the classics for a reason.
* Two companions and not necessarily modern day ones.
* Closer ties and references to the classic show without overdoing it.
* Bring back Susan and Romana, even just once, with new actresses if needs be, just to please the classic fans who have been asking since the new show started.
* No more changing established lore and plot. Use what exists and work with it not replacing it.
* Mix of historical, classic science fiction and the gothic creepy horror stories that Doctor Who does well.
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