...I heard it was the Hoff?

with how the beeb has been picking actors for this last series *cough* Tate *cough* they're bound to find some muppet. Am expecting Graham Norton, or maybe Julian Clarey to give Capt Jack some company :P

Although, there is that whole annoying woman Tate will die...and that did get me thinking (I do hope not) that the Doc will turn into her! and due to a paradox cause the other one to explode. Hope not though, as am hoping she'll have some form of accident involving industrial machinary and her head in the TARDIS door :P

might actually start to be what it once was rather than 45 mins of fluff where you can't explain anything interesting.

mind you i wont watch it until they get rid of tennant. i'd love to know who he has been blowing at the bbc to get so many jobs (and good ones at that) over the last few years.

There can only be one person to play the doctor who should - David Thewlis. playing it like "Johnny" from Mike Leigh's film "Naked". Now *that* I would watch.

I'm betting on it still being Tennant... It'll either be:

a) he regenerates as himself - improbable, not impossible (he can take any form, why not the same one through coincidence?) - due to his determination and his love for Rose

b) he was only half-hit by the Dalek

Either way, on tenterhooks, and gutted I'm out of the country on Saturday. Gawd bless iPlayer

Considering he has already been seen filming the Xmas special - I don't think Saturday marks his departure.

I am sure the regeneration will split the fanbase....

The doctor always has nice coats.

Come oan ye fecking Dalek, I'm goan kick in yer wee tin baws.

Remember that bit Russell T Davies invented for "The Christmas Invasion", where the Doctor lost a hand and grew a new one? And how Captain Jack was toting that about as a Doctor Detector through Torchwood season 1? That's been hanging about in the TARDIS lately.

See also the publicity photos for this two-parter featuring both David Tennant and Camille Coduri, who wasn't in the first part.

But more importantly: since Steven Moffat of "Coupling" fame is about to take over as show runner, I anticipate that Doctor Who will soon become substantially less gay and there will be five assistants -- although one of the girlie assistants will pretend to be bisexual.

Its funny that Dr Who is the only British program that can weave its plots in a similarly intricate fashion to US shows like Lost, Heroes and so on. It might still be cod sci-fi, but its still better than 95% of the soapy rubbish we churn out. Since Hustle finished Brit TV is a sadder, reality-toss filled, place.

Paris, because she likes her plot holed

...and it's not even Friday.

Paris, 'cos she's been seen punting on that one in William Hill's.

Will Caan be appearing on Calls For Cthulhu any time soon? They would make a great team.

It's unusual for the Doctor to be unconscious when he regenerates (though I don't think it's the first time), so maybe he has more control that in prior occasions. Note also that his 'daughter' (seen earlier in this season) was seen to regenerate whilst remaining in her original form... it might yet happen. And as the article says, RTD is fond of blowing prior settled issues - this may well be another.

I do think Robert Carlyle would be an excellent Doctor, though. :)

Because it will make that twat RTD feel like he’s being clever...

Also, with all these universes and stuff, is anyone else reminded of the Marvel Multivers crisis stuff, where they screw stuff up and then say "well it happened in a different universe" and then get so confused they have to have something to re-set it?

That hand has been significantly lurking around the Tardis all season; it's bound to be the excuse for how he regenerates as himself again.

That the BBC didn't consider me for Davros or The Doctor *grumble* Though the new Davros, Mr Bleach does bring back more than just echoes of Michael Wisher. He's scary, with insides that look like 3 day old fried chicken leftovers. Daleks aren't once you've seen them in a Spike Milligan sketch.

If there is a new Doctor I so hope it isn't James Nesbitt. I may have to get my Validium bow and arrows out and hunt down RTD if Nesbitt turns out to be the new Time Lord.

As for the episode itself, the tight direction of Graeme Harper does well to disguise thinly used and too many characters and RTD pinching ideas from a Big Finish Audio story and Space:1999. Way too many Daleks too. Yes, we know you can animate them so they can fly like they did in the comics. Now bring back old school Cybermen that kick ar5e and put their hands on their hips a lot.

If you're going to have girls with guns, where the hell is the best ass-kicking girl with a gun? I'm talking about Ace.

On the plus side seeing Michael Brandon again reminded me of Dempsey and Makepeace (I'd like to make more than just peace with Glynis Barber... *lewd smile*) and it's always nice to see Sarah Jane again.

Mine's the coat saying "Bring back Ace!"

Given that the doctor's "daughter" came back to life (regenerated? or not?) as "herself", precedent has been created for the Doctor to revive without the usual change of face and personality.

...gets split in two. The hand in the jar 'absorbs' the energy during The Doctor's regeneration phase to create a new version of himself.

It's John Simm I tells ya!

The Doctor keeps on saying he's the only Time Lord alive, so it stands to reason that The Master is actually Doctor Who in a different universe or some gubbins like that.

Hated the last Doctor as the Doctor is not suppose to be some sort of Chav trying his best to fit in with society. He is old man with a predeliction to young girls (gotta love the guy) who sticks out like a sore thumb. The last time they had a Doctor this good with such good story lines Tom Baker was doing it.

Maybe I will have to get a life as I cannot wait for the weekend not for tme off work or to go out partying but so that I can see the next Doctor Who.

The doctor's daughter will show up, and prevent the regeneration somehow (She managed to just bring herself back to life, rather than regenerate herself). The dalek's plan falls into place with the 27 planets, and Satan pops out. He doesn't take kindly to the daleks, and fighting breaks out. The companions flee Earth, and land on nearby Clum. Peter Kay appears as the Abzorbaloff, and absorbs Satan. Mickey also appears with his trans-dimensional warp thing, and throws himself after Satan, thus proving himself the most faithful companion. Hence the three-fold man business. But no one weeps for Mickey.

I think Tennant has been quite good, although the majority of scripts have been reasonably weak. My most enjoyed one was the one which had many MANY allusions to the plot of Doom (the original game) with the end boss being a huge demon (once again, the Doom kind). Other than that there's been a few good ones, but

"It's unusual for the Doctor to be unconscious when he regenerate (though I don't think it's the first time), so maybe he has more control that in prior occasions."

Doubtful - Eccleston was wide awake when he regenerated into Tennant. Gave a big soppy speech to Rose as I recall.

Tennant is The Doctor in the xmas movie, I saw him filming bits of it with my own eyes.

I suspect Donna will use the residual energy of the time bug on her back to make a timey-wimey ball of stuff and go "What if you hadn't destroyed your own planet?"

ZOT! Gallifrey returns!

POW! Timelords arrive!

BOF! Cliffhanger ending as everyone the Doctor knows or cares about fades from this now redundant time line.

Barry scott from the Cilit Bang advert would make a great Doctor Who....

He would get rid of those pesky Daleks - the sulfamic, and phosphoric acid will be their downfall....

Given how the press all celebrated Martha as the first black companion I don't think many people even remember Mickey exists.

In the Library episodes, the woman (can't remember her name) said she recognised the Docter (ni his current form) and had spent a lot of time with him, since that hasnt happened yet...

Well I *like* Tate. Surprisingly a rather good actress, and more importantly NONE of this annoying luvvy shite between her and The Doctor. Did anyone else groan very loudly when they heard Rose would be coming back to make gooey eyes again?!

Tennant of course is stunning, if sometimes looking like he's grasping for substance in what has been an extremely variable quality season.

As for the Daleks, well for a race supposedly wiped out in "the last great Time War" they have a remarkable ability to not stay that way and keep reappearing. As said before, doesn't Russell like to show how clever he can be by lazily contradicting himself. Invent a *new* enemy for the series climax?? Oooo no matron!

And as for the regeneration: interesting, but quite obviously a red-herring just to beef up the cliff hanger...

Well, the Doctor will regenerate into someone else, but they are slightly out of synch with time, so the "new" doctor will set about fixing everything by some seriously incredible plot involving bees.

When the doctor fixes everything, the time shift will revert everything back to how it was before Davros started messing with time, so the Doctor will degenerate back into Tennant.

However, what is most likely to happen is his assistant is actually still dreaming it, she hasnt got rid of that bug in her back, she wakes up in a shower and finds out the past series never actually happened! What? It happend with Dallas!

Daniel Craig?

Stephen Hawking?

Bungle from Rainbow? (someone above mentioned muppets)

Robbie Williams? (OK, that's pushing it a little)

Or really alternatively,....

Rowan Atkinson?

Robin Williams?

Jimmy Nail?

Colour me scared!

Tennant. But it would be nice to be surprised. I'd much rather see an English man in the role. Some one like Keanu Reeves or Kevin Costner. You know, people that really represent England......................

Who turned out the lights?

... has a predilection for Dallas style plot resets. I expect to see Tom Baker coming out of the shower (though regeneration does get you past the Ms Ellie flip/flop).

As this is RTD's swansong, expect the clunky plot hooks to be picked up. We've already used "Emergency Temporal Shift" to get Daleks after they all disappeared into the rift from where Rose bought it. I assume we'll discover who picked up the Master's ring after his cremation.

"Doubtful - Eccleston was wide awake when he regenerated into Tennant. Gave a big soppy speech to Rose as I recall."

The Master also regenerated while conscious taking the time to gloat that he had the Tardis when he did. Remains to be seen what happens, but there has been enough speculation about Tennant being busy and possibly leaving in the media of late to indicate we might have a new guy, but knowing RTD we can always get the guy back again.

Wait and see...

Anyway..Donna turns out to have the Master's ring (you can get cream for it),Hugh Grant turns up, Billie Piper gets offed, they win, Freema Handgrenade uses that key thingy Michael Brandon gave to her, time reverts, Tennant comes back via the hand, everyones saved, we all go down the pub.

Probably.

Apart from that, I know nothing.

Tennant - Gotta be. The program for the proms at the royal albert hall has ...

'To be recorded for BBC One and Live on BBC Radio 3. Available as audio on demand for the following week.

A family concert featuring music from the BBC's Doctor Who series, and including a specially filmed scene, written by Russell T Davies and starring David Tennant'...

mines the one with the sonic screwdriver.....

. . . . There will be two Tennents in the next episode. Blue suit & Brown suit.

Donna ends up dying, nearly, and Tennent takes her back to her granddad and then buggers off in the rain.

I still like Eddie Izzard. But then without RTD, there'll be no need for further gender ambiguity...

RTD is very fond of the Reset Button. Remember last years cliff-hanger were everything just returned to normal?I'm expecting more of the same this year (with the same shite dialog)

Paris Hilton should be the next Dr.

...quite surpised myself by liking Donna. I was expecting her to be either just like she was in the previous Xmas special (i.e. infuriatingly shouty and annoying), or that we'd get a series of "Do I look bovvered?". But she actually turned out to be one of the best companions by a) NOT being all gooey about the Doc, and b) challenging him all the time to re-think his position on things.

As for the Doc's regeneration, there's going to be some wonderful Deus Ex Machina that RTD has thought up. My money is either on the hand, or Rose opening the heart of the TARDIS - she opened it once, and it's linked to psychically or somthing (insert usual complicated reason here) - and most of the Doc's regernation energy is sucked in, leaving just enough to heal him but not change his appearance.

However, the "Time Beatle" theory is out. The frizzy-haired one definitely said "There WAS something on your back", not "There IS something on your back".

Mine's the one inside the blue police box with "Bad Wolf" written on the door...

Can't believe I've signed up just for this, how sad... but...

At the Shadow Proclamation the woman talking to Donna said there was something on her back (Donna's) - this only happens in Donna's alternate universe...

In the Confidential thingy Micky was sat round the table during rehearsal so I think he will make an appearance...

This leads me to believe that this is all happening in alternate universe(s) and that this is an alternate Dotor that's regenerating...

And I'll be gutted if they replace Tennant now, I think he's ace as The Doc - I certainly won't be watching James Nesbitt if it turns out to be him!

I've heard the new Doctor is going to a woman; not sure which one as we have a few billion to choose from.

... it'll be Richard Hammond.

That way they don't have to change the merchandising too much, apart from trading the TARDIS in for a Morgan Roadster. Could always call it Bessie I suppose...

Are you my Mummy ?

Danny Dyer, He'd get it 'sorted' in no time....What you lookin at Dalek, 'stitch that you F**k*r'

Cyberman, 'Ow'd you like my Golden DM up yer jacksy?'

No prob for Dr Who, king of the terraces!!!

...he used the excess regeneration energy to regrow his hand - perhaps the severed hand will absorb the regeneration energy to grow a new Doctor, paving the way for 2 Doctors in the episode, and allowing Tennant to continue playing the role.

Also, Donna appears to have recently aqquired a ring which the camera seems to like focussing upon - perhaps said ring will absorb regeneration energy and use it to regenerate the Master in his John Simms incarnation.

Maybe Donna has a fob-watch of her own, and is one of the female Time Lords in disguise:

Evidence, Donna Noble is a temp, a point which she makes quite frequently.

Donna = Italian for 'Lady'

Noble = Nobility, read as 'Lord/Lady'

temp = Latin for 'time'

Donna Noble, temp = Lady Time Lord?

@Jamie

"He is old man with a predeliction to young girls (gotta love the guy)"

Yeah, he's like the James Bond of the sci-fi world - and that bastard keeps changing too...

I think that the coincidence of 4 of the Doctor's campanions being all together in the same place (including one of them 'visiting' from a parallel universe) will be all that's needed to stop the Doctor from changing into Robert Carlyle - and the longer they can hold that off the better, really...

I want to see the next Dr Who as Begby from Trainspotting

the Dr's far too much of a pacifist for the world we live in today - i wanna see the Doctor striding into a pub on a distant planet, calling the Darleks a bunch of ***ts, headbutting the Face of Bo and then glassing a Sontaran with his pint and kicking a Cyberman in the happy sacks

a subject is required

...But lousy resolutions.

It'll all be solved with some deus ex machina, probably involving glowing lights, whilst the Doctor stands around gawking.

It'd be nice to be proved wrong, but not betting on it.

And is anyone else disappointed we didn't get to see Martha meet Agatha Christie? 'So Agatha, what the new book called?' 'Ten Little Ni.... Oh look a big wasp'

If they just started from scratch. The original black and white ones were actually interesting and differed from the current job lot in that they tried to explore interesting science with the Doctor acting as that bloody know it all.

Now it's just "that bloody know it all who doesn't know very much at all about science and a great deal about _people_ and _emotions_" It's not sci-fi any more, it's drama with sci-fi as the back drop.

I blame science GCSEs

Didn't they suggest Joanne Lumley 10 years ago?

Alternatively, Rose- she's already been essentially God, the Doctor's looked very much like a glowy, flying Jesus so it would be pretty good. Also, she could have been the one who picked up the master's ring. If she wore red nail varnish, anyway.

>>This kinda means it's the master's wife who's the master now. Or something. Maybe she'll come back and save the Doctor, they'll fall madly in love thanks to physical attraction and shared history, and everyone will live happily ever after until the Rani comes along and steals the Master (Mistress?) from the Doctor.

Anyway, hoping it's John Simm who becomes the next doctor as I got 7/1 odds on it... or a woman at 25/1 odds :P

She could be a really physical Doctor Who, fighting like she did in Dark Angel.

not to mention all the sound effects ripped straight from the game!

Rowan Atkinson?!? Umm... Wait, I can see it now... He could totally be the Doctor!

Of course, his sidekick would have to be Miranda Richardson!!! Hugh Laurie would have to take a break from playing A doctor so he could be seen with THE Doctor...

And just think every episode in the season could take place either during WWI or Elizabethan England...

Oh the hijinks those three could get up to...

Baldrick loses the Tardis! (A two parter)

Prince Ludwig tortures the Doctor

Ze Daleks are coming!

I mean RTD could do all sorts of lazy paradox... The last living timelord has his rich, missionary Aunt show up and TOTALLY disapprove of Rose... (Played by Catherine Tate)...

....The Rani?

There is only one feasible candidate for the newest Doctor.

Only one actor can give the nuanced performance required for this beloved icon of British TV.

I speak, of course, of Will Smith.

I watched it on Sunday, for those who missed it....

Darleks can now time travel (because they were able to shift 27 planets 1 second out of time phase or some such and grab them across time and space from their original orbits), however simultaneously dialing the same telephone number is able to break the time phase continuum because Nokias all contain a time space phase damper (only in the bluetooth models obviously!).

And the doctor is regenerating or something, he went to a concert with Cliff Richard and the Shadows Proclamation, which turned out to be a really cheesy show where a women in bad makeup said there were lots of planets missing, then Catherine Tate did her 'am I bothered?' act, which killed the doctor and there were Darleks, who shout 'exterminate' but as usual they're all talk and no killing. One of the Darleks was broken and talked like Julian Clary.

Gotta wonder, if you wanted to exterminate the Earth why you'd go to such effort, instead of simply transporting it to the nearest sun instead of torturing humans with Catherine Tate, but apparently Darleks are really evil.

And Darlek Julian went into the time wars, which are time locked, but not for him, because he has the very latest Nokia with MP3 ring tones and touch screen. He rescued Davros Clarkson, who test drove the new Evo and thought it was fantastic.

Yeh I think that was the plot, I kind of lost interest and flicked the channels a bit, but that was the essential parts.

"perhaps the severed hand will absorb the regeneration energy to grow a new Doctor, paving the way for 2 Doctors in the episode, and allowing Tennant to continue playing the role"

Depending on contract negotiations ? '£1.3 million and all the TV dramas you want so people don't typecast you' is the Beebs offer, otherwise the spare hand could regenerate as Christopher Ecclestone.

I think it is Bernard Cribbins who is the oldest companion who will die, he first appeared in Dr Who in the 1960's. Because the barriers between universes are collapsing, and because the BBC are cross-linking so many programmes, I fear that Cribbins death will start a new Time War, between the daleks and the wombles.

What's less likely than a female Dr Who? Less likely that Tenant regenerating into himself... or the Master... or Rose... or a jam doughnut with sprinkles?

The new Doctor will be Michael Grade. In a fit of circular and repeating time he will immediately cancel himself, schedule an Australian soap opera in his place, fire David Tenant and begin dating one Tenant's ex-girlfriends.

Well, lets hope RTD doesnt read el reg as you lot have written then ep for him!

It'll be an horrendous copout of some sort no doubt. All of RTD's season enders have involved one, so why would he change now?

My money's on the two Tennants theory with one of them going off to live happily ever after with Rose. That'll be the point where I vomit.

@ The guy who referred to "intricate" plots on par with Lost and Heroes

Are you insane or just 10 years old? That anyone could think RTD's story structures are intricate really beggars belief. If you look up intricate in the dictonary, you will not find the description "a big loud mess".

a paradox can be paradoctored

Doctor Who is sci-fi for kids.

That is all.

surely just a parapox could be paradoctored, still both would be a pain in the ...

Sulehir: "In the Library episodes, the woman (can't remember her name) said she recognised the Docter (ni his current form) and had spent a lot of time with him, since that hasnt happened yet..."

I was under the impression that she recognised him but not from his face, though she did know he was young.

Some peeps are saying she might even be a future incarnation of the doctor himself, though I don't quite see this making sense...

Make sure it's a stab-proof coat :-P. I love CT as Donna Noble, especially when she has that vulnerable look. Too bad she's spoken for!!

I speak of Tom Cruise - he talks to real aliens every day.

If David Hasselhoff could do the soundtrack that would be awesome.

That makes good sense, although the Latin for time is Tempus. Donna could be a new regeneration of Romana sent by the hidden Time Lords to see whether the Doctor's ready to learn that his race wasn't wiped out.

Sam's suggestion (Doctor Whoswings) also makes sense.

RTD loves reset buttons (also known as timef**ks) so the key is probably the key used with Time Lord technology to create the second season finale timef**k.

@Matt - you swine sir! I've got visions of that twunt Barry Scott coming out of the TARDIS with a bottle of Cillit Bang in his hand...

Along with Bonnie Langord and that bloody Tate woman.

BILL BAILEY FOR DOCTOR!

Knew she'd break.

OK, who had her down for post 57?

I loved the Donna Noble Temp = Lady Time Lord Theory, and that made me remeber something about Saturdays episode, that being the sad Dr Who fan i had to look up at the time.

One of the "guest" Scientists commenting on Earths movement was Richard Dawkins! .....

Now Richard Dawkins is married to Lalla Ward....

Lalla Ward played Romana in Doctor who a while back Romana being a female time lord!

I think Sarah Bee should be the next Doctor - And can i sugest the outfit you choose?

Was mentioned in Confidential for the Donna-only episode they wanted to blow up the Tardis but weren't budgeted for it. I think they'll do it in the last episode, which means without a time machine to do the time/space travel the only possible choice must be

Chuck Norris

cos even time and space bows to his will.

BTW, I think you'll find Rowan Atkinson already played the Dr in a Children in Need special a few years back.

Oh yeh: skull and crossbones, cos with Chuck in town everyone dies.

See http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/27030/the_den_of_geek_interview_colin_salmon.html

"Can we talk about Doctor Who? How did you come to be involved in the new series?

My agent got a call and asked if I would be interested in doing The Doctor. Having just been away for two months, my children would have probably locked me out if I had turned it down."

"The Doctor"? Slip or mis-quote?

Would make sense if the Doctor arranges for copy of himself to be resident in the Library VR to keep River whatsit company.

"Daleks can now time travel"

Umm... Have you been watching the show? They mastered time travel long ago. Couldn't say when for certain but they certainly had Pertwee's doctor borrowing their time displacement gear at one point.

I enjoyed watching the Doctor back in the '90s when you could find the damn show being offered in the States (in the days before we had 5000 channels of shit being broadcast).

And I have to admit I've enjoyed Tennant as the current Doctor. He brings some real energy to the show and the part. Yeah some of the stories / plots are a bit campy or over the top --- but also so good surprises here and there.

Whoever the next Doctor may be ... I hope you Brits don't fuck this up. Or would cock up be more accurate ?

Paris - because we're both Yanks and we don't have a friggin' clue.

What has been established, but not resolved so far?

The Hand : Obviously key to the regeneration - I like the Blue Suit & Brown Suit Doctor theory.

Jenny, the Doctors daughter is out there, showing us partial regens. She's also allegedly dating Mr Tennant. IIRC DT's last Dr Who related girlfriend (Sophia Myles - Girl in the Fireplace) they split when she started shagging Vampires in "Moonlight", filmed in LA. Hire them (DT & GM)both, so they can be together. Perfect.

Donna Noble is a temp: (Lady, Lord, Time) She's a time Lord! She can create parallel universes, and do things that only the doctor can do.

What else do we know?

The Doctors most faithful companion will die. Dogs are faithful. The rights to K9 have been sold. K9 is guarding a black hole. Let the tin dog along with Mickey and the Daleks get sucked into a singularity.

Sylvester McCoy appeared to be in costume for the Confidential. Why?

Kylie Minnow's character, Astrid, died and went into spooky regeneration smoke. Astrid is a nice anagram.

I love the Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward - Romana connection. That would be great.

The Threefold Man angle is puzzling, but 2 Doctors and a Master who transferred his life force into the Doctor could explain that.

And what's the Osterhagen Key? Oster = Easter = Resurrection?

But really, I'll be overjoyed to see Bernard Cribbins take down a Dalek with Rose's BFG. That moment alone would justify the Licence Fee.

"Given that the doctor's "daughter" came back to life (regenerated? or not?) as "herself", precedent has been created for the Doctor to revive without the usual change of face and personality."

1) I'd like to see her back (and given last I heard she was dating David Tennant, I'm sure her phone number was available!)

2) She didn't regenerate. She was still in that early phase after regeneration (like when DT grew his hand back ... just after you regenerate you are still in a state of flux) ... of course that's just my opinion that it applies if you're a newly created clone of The Doctor (which is what she was/is) and that's why she came back to life, she was still in that early stage ...

3) I'll get me coat ... :-)

4) Come to Redemption in Coventry next February (www.smof.com/redemption) and argue it out with Paul Cornell, I'm sure he'll have some theories too!

Can't have Tom Cruise... time lords are like shapeshifters - they have to retain their overall volume... losing that much volume would cause the Doctor to become unstable and cause a localised black hole.

"Daleks can now time travel...Umm... Have you been watching the show? They mastered time travel long ago. Couldn't say when for certain but they certainly had Pertwee's doctor borrowing their time displacement gear at one point."

What's a Pertwee? Is that Jacqui Smith euphamism for an erect penis?

Anyway, I can't wait for next weeks show where Darleks get to drive the reasonably priced car and Davros demands MORE POWER! Not suprised, did you see that little things they had him drive this week? Carbriolet, Joystick controlled, did 2 miles and hour, bet it was some kind of eco hippy wagon. I've never seen him with such a frowny face, no wonder he's mad at planet earth....

Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow) turns up and gets naked. For the whole 65 minutes.

And that's it. No loose ends or regeneration issues to tie up etc. etc.

A BAFTA for me, me thinks!!!!!

The Daleks were using time machines to chase William Hartnell, landing on the Marie Celeste among other places before coming a cropper against the Mechanoids.

mines the one with the zimmer frame built in

.... Ricky Gervais. Nuff Said! Probably, possibly, maybe not.

DALEKS (note the correct spelling) have been able to time travel since The Chase was broadcast way back in 1965

Love all the speculation here - but expecting an RTD reset next Saturday...

I was watching Confidential, and watched back the shots of the script read thru a few times as I couldn't quite believe this, but check it out and you'll see it for yourselves.

When Nick Briggs is doing the Dalek voices at the read thru the camera mainly stays on David, Catherine and so on. Every now and again it moves left to show the Torchwood on the otherside of the table.

You'll see Phil Collinson and Julie Gardener at the top of the table, and just to their left is a guy sitting there 'hiding' behind his hand.

Pause and look CAREFULLY.

It's Ecclestone.

Yeah, Yeah, I paused and looked real carefully. I know, I'll get me coat!

I keep mistaking him for Jim Carrey.

It has to be, or RTD has just totalled the stars of three BBC TV series.

(I'm feeling horribly old--I realised that Donna and Sarah-Jane are the two hottest babes on the show.)

Colin Salmon has already appeared on Doctor Who, as "Dr Moon" in the Library episodes:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0758760/

He's talking about these episodes.

I'm pretty convinced that RTD is going to keep David Tennant, based on the current evidence.

So if two observations here are right then Sylvester McCoy and Christopher Eccleston were seen on Confidential. Add DT and there you have Three Doctors (hang on, that was a story in 1972!).

We've already seen in the Children In Need story a manifestation of Peter Davison's Doctor as he looks now, so manifestations of Sylv and Chris are possible.

Like others I still think there's going to be a timef**k somewhere.

Gordon Ramsay, yes?

David Tennant regenerating into David Tennant, but this time having a a Scottish accent.

There is only one person who could possibly give the role the dignity and poise needed for a convincing doctor...

Johnny Vegas.

... either David Tennant again (isn't the good doc nearing his max times of regenerations?) or if not, please let it be Chris Ecclestone again.

I can't wait for the doctor to shout "I can't hold her anymore" with such accent :)

Thanks for the headline spoiler - totally ruined the episode for me. Not all of us get to watch things as soon as they air. Assholes.

If we had to suffer the equality of a female Doctor then I hope it is Jessica Hynes.

Love Johnny Vegas but no, not for ten regenerations at least. If you want a fat bloke at the controls of the Tardis then I'd recommend my mate over any professional actor. This guy has a Doctor Who room that all his Doctor Who stuff can't fit in, he has prepared all his life. He has never failed to defend every dodgy plot and every wobbly set with a cheery smile. He has no acting experience, but then it is Doctor Who. Plus he wouldn't need £1.3 million, he'd pay to play the role.

The Hand has been "pickled" since last Christmas - it's "genetic" structure may still be in flux. Add proximity to a regeneration and it's entire possible (for a Dr Who value of "possible") that the Hand's gene matrix gets super-imposed on the Doctor's mutating genes... Voila! Instant Eccleston! ^_^ Yes, I am an Eccleston-Doctor fan.

i cannae believe so many of the reg's notionally intelligent readership actually watch the absolute crap that is nu-dr. who!

* single episode plotlines - so the 5 minute attention span kids of today can take it all in at one sitting - instead of the 4 or 5 parters with a cliffhanger ending every week, we used to have in the good old days.

* revolving door cast who stay loyal to the show for the ten minutes it takes to revive their flagging careers, before fucking off to something more 'grown up'

* tissue thin plots. but never mind - look at all the brilliant explosions and expensive special effects!

no ta. i'll stick to my john pertwee & tom baker series on DVD. now that's proper dr. who!

While I'm not prepared to rule out Eccleston making a reappearance, what you see in that shot is someone in a dark top with cropped hair with their face behind their hand - anyone sitting like that, from that range, with cropped dark hair, could be passed off as Eccleston. Hell, I'll get a No2 all over, throw on a dark top and a my black bomber jacket, hide my face behind my hand and I'll pretend to be Eccleston if you like.

Alas, your theory is blown by the fact that there are several shots of this person later on [I'm *utterly* positive it is the same person as in the initial wide shot] and it clearly isn't Eccleston. Unless he has had pretty major facial reconstruction surgery.

Hope that helps.

Steven R

PS: No, I have no idea why I am up this late on a Tuesday night posting about Dr Who either. I think it's a bad thing.

I noticed in the last episode more than I usually notice (with USA shows*) that it was heavily into strong female characters with all the men wet blankets apart from the Doctor so hopefully with a female Doctor all the men will be strong chars and the women useless, as men are usually portrayed these days.

*Watch a myriad of US shows and the current form is useless weak men and powerful women characters, e.g Cold case, Bones, Ghost Whisperer etc etc

"She didn't regenerate. She was still in that early phase after regeneration (like when DT grew his hand back ... just after you regenerate you are still in a state of flux) ... of course that's just my opinion that it applies if you're a newly created clone of The Doctor (which is what she was/is) and that's why she came back to life, she was still in that early stage ..."

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

That certainly makes a hell of a lot more sense than her somehow "regenerating as the same person", especially given that she displayed none of the special effects surrounding regeneration.

Killed during the critical period and then "healing". Yeah, I can live with that.

Now let's watch RTD fuck it up and have the Doctor regenerate as he was before "because his daughter could".

I'm picking that they'll have him regenerate as Tennant with no ill-effects, no post-regeneration confusion/issues (I wonder, since it's official he's half human, is that why he has regen difficulties when the Master and Romana change with no issues at all?) just so it won't affect the show.

If I were writing the episodes, I'd definitely have the doctor change mid-emergency and have him having to cope with the post-regen issues during the height of danger - "bptism of fire" sort of thing but fucking RTD will hit some sort of reset switch for sure.

A thought on "Everlasting death for the most faithful companion":

Whose companion?

One of the Doctor's companions, or the sort of "faithful companion" that would plunge into the heart of danger and "succeed where timelords and emperors failed" to allow Davros to rebuild the might of the Daleks?

Tennant does regenerate, and either Tom Hardy or James Purefoy get to drive the Tardis. Donna turns out to be a Time Lord with a fob watch on a sabbatical and sorts out Davros using the key thingy (or maybe the Sash of Rassilon makes a comeback), leaving Mad Dalek to take over the Dalek leadership (kinda like NuLabour) and shapes them up for future membership of the EU and NATO. Martha doesn't fancy the new Doctor and heads off to Cardiff for some heavy group action with the Torchwood crew in which Captain Jack finds a novel use for the Doctors (now rubber gloved) spare hand and a tube of KY (a farewell from RTD).

Tennant does of course reappear, cos they're going to do another "Three Doctors" number with him (Threefold man?), Eccleston and Hardy/Purefoy, summoned together by the Time Lords from (yet another) dimension accessible only via a Reality Distortion field that exists in the number 10 Press Office.

The Hardy/Purefoy Doctor will represent a departure from conventional characters, offering a more 'business friendly' image, parcelling out marketing access to the Space Time Continuum to the highest corporate bidder, who will partner with Phorm to carve giant contextual ads into the mountain ranges of newly formed worlds in anticpation of reaping vast future profits from the life only just evolving in their oceans. The Doctor will finally take over as head of Ofcom, bringing a dose of much needed realism to the job.

Mines the one with the long scarf poking out of the pocket.

I have to rely on the Sci-Fi Channel for my Who fix, so I'm not sure how far behind I am.

It would be interesting to see a regenerated Doctor open *her* eyes and realise that he isn't a he anymore, but I had an idea the other day--

What if something went awry during regeneration and he came out as someone who morphs back and forth between two different incarnations, like say one moment he's Hugh Laurie and the next he's Stephen Fry!

(although what I really want to see is Fry's Gordon Wyatt character from the show "Bones" brought in for season or two of psychoanalyzing Hugh Laurie's character Dr. Gregory House on the show "House".)

What IS Donna Noble ("what are you... what will you be...?")?

Why is Rose so much more upset about The Doctor 'possibly' regenerating than everyone else ("but you can't...")?

Has The Doctor's ability to regenerate been fubared due to what the Master did to him in last season's finale ("what if I suspend your capacity to regenerate?")?

And finally, how can a 'sonic' screwdriver do so damn much, and yet can't open a wooden door? Bad enough that we've seen it do all kinds of electromagnetic things, but for crying out loud, it reconstituted an absorbed human being (well, mostly sorta, but still an impressive feat for a sonic device).

from a normally reliable source, I've heard the new doctor is tom baker

"i cannae believe so many of the reg's notionally intelligent readership actually watch the absolute crap that is nu-dr. who!"

I'm with you on that.

Does the following link remind anybody of the first episode in the current series?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icWy4eeTJuU

darkics (I know I can not spell dyslexica) and time travle: they have allways apreared in lots of diffrent preiouds of time to qoute the last "proper" darlek ep "the darkics have had time coridor technoligy for a long time but it is crude and nasty what they want is the power time lords have"

@ female doctor : not realy going to happen nice idar but not going to happen (they did a spoof of it and so if they did it for real it would be laughted out of cort)

@ Rowan Atkinson : again not going to happen anyway he did in a comady speicle he was actuley quite good

@ staying as him self: concidering all the time-wimey ball ness of this ep it is a distent posibily

@ this new doctor who series : as I sadi when they first can out "if I had to re do doctor who for the new melinum it might look prity simla but defently needs a return to 4 parts to an ep you just had better sotries when you had proper clifhangers and long time to spin things out

@ RTD is it me or most of his eps along the line of "beleve in the doctor" the hole "hold your phone to the sky and pray" bit was a bit off for me not that he is bad I just prefer some of the other writers

I am I the only one who'll be watching this Saturday hoping they'll explain WTF happened to Billie Piper's teeth?

please let it be Buffy, or maybe Spike ..... Hey! he was already in the other Who show!So this time, it Sara Michelle Gellar! Or Cordelia at LEAST...PLEAAASSSEEEEE

Penguin cos Mepis is the only live CD that works on this brokn Tecra : )

Kevin Warwick is bitterly disappointed that he wasn't given the role of Davros.

Colin Baker's Doctor suddenly appears, screams the Daleks and Davros into submission with the aid of Frobisher, his penguin shaped companion (he's in the Colin Baker era comics and a BF audio story) and Captain Jack with his big gun.

Rose, Martha and Mickey get toasted, Jack rescues Sarah Jane from a second bout of torture at the hand of Davros (Genesis Of The Daleks anyone?) while making a note of the torture rig design for future use (*ahem*), Donna sees Colin Baker's coat and runs off into the night screaming and Jack, Sarah Jane and Frobisher relcoate to Cardiff for some fun times leaving both Doctors on their tod and Sarah Jane's lad being told Womble stories by Bernard Cribbins.

Am I the only one wondering why Billie Piper's got a permanent grin like Jack Nicholson's Joker?

Too right, thought it was just me and didn't want to say anything to upset the many Ms. Piper fans out there but christ, WTF has she done?

Maybe she regenerated at some point but the process got halted just after the second set of teeth started to grow over the first?

Seeing as you pointed out the rather nice anagram, of Kylies charecter, I'm surprised you never noticed that "Osterhagen" is an anagram for "Earths gone".

One of my fave theories for the regeneration is that he is actually being hit by a Dalek Transmat beam, to be replaced by a human-foirm Dalek who will lead the gang astray while Davros has his wicked way withThe Doctor - not my theory, just one I read somewhere, and it would make more sense than the alternative.

And Steven Fry, Robert Carlyle, or Robbie Coltrane for Doc 11, please.

(Dedicated to AC):

Dumbledore gets killed - an Snape really IS a goody after all.

Yes Luke, Darth Vader really IS your Dad.

Sophie Neveu just happens to be the last living descendant of Christ.

Gordon Brown really is a muppet.

I can't belive i just wasted 30 minutes of my life reading this!!!

Actually there explianed the whole doctor regens being all screwed up then they showed romana showing several choices of posible regen before chooseing her new form and it's simple the doctor never learned controlled regenaeration at school the excuse was basically he skipped that day. i believe romana could have cept her old form if she'd choosen but her regenaration was because of old age not violent death.

i'm hoping RTD doesn't cope out. i want tennet and i want he to completing ignore the fact he regenerated and just start helping people then at the end some one finally collar him about it it was a defensive plan against daleks due to the confusion that results from violent death regeneration the time lords put a plan inplace to allow them to regenerate into their current forms to avoid the confusion and keep troops fighting. but rtd will do something with the hand and then fix the world with a paradox like last year. :-(

i just wish he had the balls to muck the world up and leave it instead of have the doctor put it right it would make a better back drop for touchwood if the whole world knew of aliens etc and they had to deal with it

Its going to be .......... Adam Baldwin from Firefly.

Shiny!

Mines the brown jacket, with the grenades in.

Must be Bill Gates as he has cock all to do now!

He will put Windows Vista on all the Daleks and cause them to screw up cause all they want is XP Pro but Doctor Gates has a plan and pulls XP Pro from the shelves ha ha!

A Bit far fetched but you never know????

Mines the one shoving the annoying assistant in the tardis and sending her back to her Grandad!

Captain Jack's regeneration power could be used instead of a regeneration. (There was something similar in an early Torchwood IIRC).

It would be good if they could bring the Brigadier back as the loyal companion who saves the day.

I hope they explain what caused the divergence in History between the "normal" reality and the Cyberman universe. (Presumably diverging a few months before Mickey's birth.)

it would be nice if they used the Torchwood show to explore what happened to some of the companions (eg Ace.)

And how did they miss the opportunity of bringing Bessie out of mothballs when they were looking for a Car without a sontaran device fitted?

The BBC placed a self inflicted limit upon itself with the DR Who series. He can only regenerate 12 times. [In the 1976 TV story 'The Deadly Assassin', we're told that Time Lords die after their twelfth regeneration, i.e. they have a max of 13 bodies they can use. An exception is the Master, who 'stole' the body of Tremas after his 13th body was dying.]

Unless RTD is looking to destroy that idea (i.e. he's discovered he's on to a good thing with the Dr Who series) we have only 3 more Drs to go after David Tennant. As for the Drs daughter - it's more probable that the Genesis project "gas" stuff brought her back and not regeneration. Unless of course RTD is looking for a whole new spin-off series.....?

As for the spare hand, well, I suppose we could be looking at the option in the future of a 'clone' regeneration, but would it have the same regenerative powers, would it look like DT and perhaps more importantly, would it start at "1" leaving a whole new line of regenerations available?

Time will tell...

I believe the story goes something along the lines of:

The hand prevents regeneration from occurring properly so they wind up with two Doctors (in the blue and brown suits to help avoid confusion) and Tennant gets to stay on.

The Doctor regenerated from the hand turns out to be human and so can go off and live happily ever after with Rose. That or he needs to be reunited with the other half or the regeneration will fail and the Doctor will die.

Donna dies in a car accident or trying to stop Dalek Caan from jumping back again, but the Doctor goes back in time and saves her life and ends up wiping her memory of everything she has done with him, so she doesn’t remember who he is and can go on living without missing him and all her adventures... and turns up later with his daughter as another Time Lord in disguise.

FWIW I like David Tennant as the Doctor so I'm looking forward to seeing how he is "saved". Besides the Doctor gets younger each time he regenerates so most of the names I've seen on here won't be eligible.

New Doctor: Gene Hunt... "Shut It you Dalek slags"

Davros creates the Daleks from cloning his own cells,

so the technology is present to make lots of Tennants from the

severed hand.

IMO the new regenerated doctor is going to be the wiped out.

I didn't think anyone would believe me about Tom Baker. Oh, and who told you I was a reliable source?

I'm still pulling for Gordon Ramsay. I think he'd sort the DALEKs out right nicely; perhaps a cream sauce on the side?

The last one's not technically a "spoiler" as it has been evident from the start - unlike the other examples wherein the respective authors sprung the information on us later in the book/series.

Personally, I think it'll resolve so that in some way they retain the Tennant doctor - River Song would could not have failed to notice if the Doctor that answered her summons was a completely different regeneration - she was only able to tell the difference between him and the version she knew by the fact his eyes looked younger.

When she first saw him, she reacted as though he was the same Doctor she'd last seen, she didn't do a double-take and say "oh, you've regenerated" or "Oh crap, you're the wrong incarnation."

So there will be some reason for retaining the Tennant version.

Donna is dead meat. As in kebab material. Fo sho'

David Morrissey is the new Doc. But not just yet...Some getting used to but an ideal leftfield choice.

Mine has jelly babies in the pocket...

And wasn't the final regeneration the evil one who was involved in Trial of a Time Lord?

I cannot believe some of the nonsense being spouted here; RTD revived Dr Who, for heaven's sake, after it had been allowed to die off by the BBC. We have a great deal to thank him for.

And, speaking as one who can still recall watching An Unearthly Child back on November 23, 1963 (yes, the day after), I think that the revival has been great fun -and I, for one, PARTICULARLY enjoyed the meetings with great authors, especially Simon Callow's wonderful Charles Dickens.

As Alfred Hitchcock didn't quite say: "It's only a tv programme, Ingrid".

its still tennant i have it on good authority from an auntie beeb insider ;-) tennent is signed up for one more series

maybe his 'daughter' has some part to play?

there was a fair bit of emphasis played on his hand in a jar

Gaaaaaaah damn you beeb making me wait!

I really really don't want to see David Tennant go, he's done so much to repair the Sylvester McCoy damage and deserves a reward. But can the doctor control his regeneration? The master, as I understood it, was "stealing" from the doctor, not actually regenerating (I may be wrong). More importantly (to me), I have always felt robbed that Paul McGann was so rudely dumped and Christopher Ecclestone was a fantastic choice with far too short a season. These are the cream of the modern regenerations - each one a truly fantastic Doctor.

If the powers that be are reading ElReg and still looking for ideas... how about this... A bit of clever photo-trickery and draw ALL the previous doctors into this timestream, keeping Tennant to stay with Rose, McGann to return to reality (perhaps with Martha, a different nurse), Ecclestone to hunt down Davros and do an entire remake of the time-wars and McCoy to go off with Catherine Tate somewhere really damp and dark where television cameras don't work. Faint monochrome images of the earliest doctors could exist fleetingly and then disperse to times unknown... maybe I should consider a career in script writing.

This is a regeneration however, the death ray is fatal, the Doctor's body is doing what it does "at the moment of death". However, this regeneration is taking place one second out of synch with reality, the doctor's spare hand is obviously relevant, the time-wars have broken out into an alternate loop that needs fixing and Martha is holding something important that she has been expressly forbidden to use. Obviously, she'll use it.

And would people please stop suggesting that the new doctor is going to be one of the female companions - that is simply too ridiculous even for RTD. Paris would make a very good bi-companion though (if all you want are ratings), votes too for Jessica Alba. I'd be more than happy to see a permanent return of the ex Mrs Carrot-top too as she is also a very strong character. I just hope they can offload Catherine Tate fast - every time she opens her gob I just want to slap her.

Yes, I am another DW nerd. I'll zap you with my sonic screwdriver if you say it isn't so.

Rose told Donna there was something special/unusual about her since the day she was born. Later in the same episode, the Doctor noted to Donna that that's twice a parallel world has sprung up around her and that (effectively) weird timey-wimey shit keeps happening around her and he mentioned the coincidences in meeting her then her grandad and her again.

Also, the woman who tricked her into becoming a host for the Time Bug flipped out and was asking *what* Donna was - not "who".

From Last time he regenerated... By Anonymous Coward 1/7/08 14:39 GMT:

"Maybe Donna has a fob-watch of her own, and is one of the female Time Lords in disguise:

Evidence, Donna Noble is a temp, a point which she makes quite frequently.

Donna = Italian for 'Lady'

Noble = Nobility, read as 'Lord/Lady'

temp = Latin for 'time'

Donna Noble, temp = Lady Time Lord?"

I'm not going to rule that possibility out - it's been hinted often enough that something pretty cataclysmic is going to happen to Donna - the DoctorDonna's song will finish (the Ood), "the loss that is about to come" (the frizzy-haired chick at the Shadow Proclamation) etc.

I would not be too shocked if it turned out that Donna was a disguised Time Lord.

My big question is who's going to be the Doctor's companion for the next series - I'm getting the vibe that the "DoctorDonna song" will be ending with this season, I doubt they will bring Piper back permanently.

Will the specials and the 2010 series bring in the character of River Song as a regular?

Female time Lord yes... Donna no, how about Alex Kingston aka Professer River Song (is there an anagram there). In Silence in the Library she had a sonic scredriver...and new the Docs name...

Will

She had the *Doctor's* sonic screwdriver (well, an older version of the Doctor, anyway) and one gathers they're a little more than "just friends", which accounts for how she had the screwdriver and knows his name.

It's revealed in "Forest of the Dead" that he would know, before he even starts anything with her, that she would perish in the Library and thus he later (in his timeline, earlier in hers) gives her the (by now very modified) sonic screwdriver to capture her data ghost so he could record her into the Library's brain - Moffat loves playing around with the Doctor knowing something because he remembers something out of synch with the current time.

Their obviously deep relationship (her past, his future) is the reason she knows his name.

I'm just wondering if the Library episodes mean that Tennant will still be the Doctor and that River Song's going to be a regular or semi-regular character in a later season.

Rewatching The Stolen Earth - anyone notice that while Donna was sitting on the stairs in numb shock at the Shadow Proclamation there's the drum/Heart beat sound before she's interrupted by she-of-the-frizzy-hair? Very much like the prelude to revealing Prof Yana was the Master...

My apologies to the eminently slap-able Catherine Tate (AKA Donna Noble)... I have an excuse. I don't do TV... I haven't seen most of the recent Dr Who episodes.

Having watched part2 (journey's end) on BBC ipap I found also a link to the prequel (left turn) and am compelled now to re-watch part1 (the stolen earth), closely followed by a review of part2. I conclude that this does indeed make for an excellent Dr Who series extended script and has in fact prompted me to start seeking out the last two series that I missed in their entirety. Sadly, I must also now seriously consider trying to get my hands on as many "Sarah Jane Investigates" and "Torchwood" episodes too. (Well, that's how it was for me with StarTrek so why not?).

Very well acted, very plausible and a thoroughly welcome hug to the additional crew, especially Elizabeth Sladen (always a place in my heart you gem) and Davros (the ultimate in evil).

However, I stand by my earlier comment - I should be "considering a career in script writing". R.T.D., I forgive you, but don't get complacent and you have no right to be cocky; you took far too many liberties and you could have done an awful lot better.

"Hated the last Doctor as the Doctor is not suppose to be some sort of Chav trying his best to fit in with society. He is old man with a predeliction to young girls (gotta love the guy) who sticks out like a sore thumb."

That's it then...

the next doctor will be Bruce Forsyth for sure when it happens.

In the beginning of the penultimate episode of the last series of Dr Who, one of the people who appeared to make a comment on the effects of the Earth being moved was Dr Richard Dawkins, who is a lecturer at New College, Oxford University, England. His wife was formerly known as the actress Lalla Ward, who played Romana in past episodes of Dr Who. Strange that she did not appear as one of the past Doctor's companions...