In 2010, I was in the middle of preparing my second album Zwo Elf Zwölf as Wolfwetz, when photographer Chris Stockhammer offered to take some photos for the cover in the basement of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. I rediscovered them today and felt they reminded me of Mary's escape scene at the end of Backrooms.
A while ago I heard the audiobook version of "Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who" by John Higgs. Good book, you should read or hear it too! Anyway: It mentions the problems the BBC ran into, concerning the continuity of the show and the fan's outrage when they ignored it.
This wasn't that big of a problem when they started, as most old episodes had either been wiped or were rarely shown on TV again. VCR wasn't a broadly available option until the late 1970s and even the famous Target book versions of old episodes started just in 1973, with a slowly growing range.
Once the fanbase had the chance to catch up on the lore, they began to criticize the makers of the show for inconsistencies and retcons. This brought some adjustments, but the growing toxic behavior of some members of the fanbase also strained the relationship with the makers and the BBC itself. To this day they're very sensitive with criticism and rather tend to ignore it.
Which brings me to the observation that there are still individuals in this Subreddit and others who tend to criticize the current state of Doctor Who. I won't take it from them, it's their right to speak their mind! But I have to ask: What exactly does this achieve? It seems to have no impact on the show itself, yet it has an impact on other fans who may or may not still enjoy it. And although it could influence if folks keep watching, what difference does it make at the moment when there's nothing new to watch?
Now imagine they bring back Doctor Who and it's genuinely good - what does it matter if the fanbase is too discouraged to even watch it?
One would think their knowledge of the series gives them a clear advantage, but it's a huge difference to be a writer and a decent person who's able to run down corridors on a daily basis.
Multi-Doctor episodes are very popular, but they're far from easy to pull off. How do you schedule such a production if actors are unavailable due to other commitments, health issues or even death. Or if they refuse to appear as long as certain criteria - which their colleagues do not approve of - are not met.
Once you've managed all that another problem pops up that makes things additionally difficult: The story. You have multiple main protagonists and their companions to balance through a compelling plot with monsters and all sorts of science fiction shenanigans, within a very limited amount of time and on a shoestring budget.
It's almost seems impossible and yet, specials like "The Three Doctors", "The Five Doctors" and "The Day of the Doctor" show it's not only possible, but absolutely worth the hassle. Although there's definitely room for improvement!
Christopher Eccleston refused to appear in such stories in the past, cause he saw them as a cheap gimmick with no narrative value and preferred to have his Doctor standing on his own. The special "The Dark Dimension" that had been planned for the 30th anniversary got cancelled, in part because some of the Doctors felt their roles were too small compared to Tom Baker's incarnation who got strongly favored.
As always we have to thank Big Finish for a series of well-crafted Multi-Doctor stories that allow for enough focus on every appearing Doctor AND serve a solid story - or multiple intertwined stories - that's entertaining to hear. And there was also a little more character drama between the Doctors, that really flashes out the clashing differences between the incarnations.
He Who Moans AKA Stubagful AKA Stuart Hardy made a lot of Doctor Who related review videos in the past. When I discovered him, I'd only just begun watching Doctor Who as well and was too smitten by that lovable Timelord from Gallifrey that I wasn't having any of his "hateful commentaries".
But then I found myself returning to him over and over again. Because, well: He was funny! He had a unique style! And he had some interesting points! And he never claimed his critique was anything other than his own personal observation and opinion. If you liked "Hell Bent", no judgement!
What makes me still watching him is the fact that he grew as a reviewer and stopped to overly rely on the old Angry reviewer trope guys like the Angry Video Game Nerd were famous for. A trope that became redundant anyway, as every Tom, Dick and Henrietta began to start their own channel and profit on dumping on their "favorite" franchises they're so "disappointed" of, because they got so "woke" or whatever.
He also expanded his field and produced a load of very interesting features about all sorts of stuff. When he talks about Doctor Who nowadays he's still critical and entertaining, but makes a real effort to give you a unique experience - something you can most definitely take away from it!
I'm bored of all the channels that focus on opinions - mostly bad ones - and have otherwise nothing new to say I haven't heard from dozens of other reviewers before. Just because "everyone's saying it" doesn't mean it's a valid point. It might as well mean they're just part of the same echo chamber and have no brain of their own!
- Battle ground is the Death Zone from "The Five Doctors", but there are some (not too overpowered) monsters from each era sprinkled in for good measure as well. The Doctors may salvage whatever they can from defeating those.
- Elements from the Extended Universe (books, comics, Big Finish etc) play no role, as this can get WAY to complicated.
- No TARDIS. No Companions. They would make this too easy!
- To make the contest fair the Modern Doctors have no memories of what their Classic counterparts were doing at the time.
- 8 fights with the Classic Doctors, the War Doctor with the Modern Doctors. Not involved are the Valeyard, the Metacrisis Doctor, the Doctor-Donna, the Fugitive Doctor, that Billie Piper Doctor(?) or other alternative incarnations. It's a simple 8 vs 8 fight.
- Temporary alliances are permitted when things get too dangerous, but the Doctors can't band together all at once or the contest is null and void.
- Every Doctor that might die during the contest gets resurrected at the end.
- For the grand prize: The winning side would have either every companion they lost brought back to life or granted the answer to one big question, no matter what it may be.