Who's who: 12th Doctor has been chosen, will meet you on Sunday night The question of who will be the 12th incarnation of Doctor Who will be answered this weekend in a live TV special, the BBC has declared. Milking the appointment of the latest Time Lord for all it's worth, the Corporation will dedicate 30 minutes to the matter on BBC 1 on Sunday from 7pm. Fronted by Zoe Ball, the programme " …
True I agree....
the only thing is, no way could a whole new episode be filmed and edited without a few dozen people knowing who it is, so it would definitely leak out beforehand.
This isn't a small bit of text changed in the script as in "Luke, I am your father", where they just changed the audio in the editing and none of the actors knew about it. Whoever Who is needs to be physically present at the shooting, and even a cursory glance at any footage would identify who the main character was.
They might have had a chance of getting a new doctor in if no-one new there was a regeneration about to take place, but as it is, no chance
"the only thing is, no way could a whole new episode be filmed and edited without a few dozen people knowing who it is, so it would definitely leak out beforehand."
Sure it could. Pick the person you want, pick who the bookies favour, get a couple of others onboard. Film the same episode four/five times (well, only the new Doctor's part) - call it their audition. The final final absolute final choice will be made on the day of broadcast and we'll find out...by watching the programme.
Could be even funnier if they use their status to get some other well known people to play along - OMFG, Helen Mirren as the new Doctor?!?!? I can imagine the entertainment columns now.
Except several issues.
First, as the Doctor is the LEAD in this show, whoever it is will generally get the most screen time. Anyone stalking the studio area will use that as a basis. Also because of this, you can't mix up shills or the like without paying them, and since they can't leave unless the real one does, that's gonna add up. Besides, savvier snoops might find ways to tell which one is real.
Finally, there are those who may take the palm-greasing route and bribe someone in the production staff who HAS to know which is the real one as part of their job.
Put it this way, it's like hacking. If you're out there, you're going to be a target for SOMEONE with enough motivation, and given enough people, SOMEONE'S going to be motivated enough, and the Whoniverse has enough fans to provide the motivation. The BBC was up against a determined and resourceful adversary with global motivation. Against such an enemy, NO secret was safe for long, so it was best to do things on THEIR terms.
I did think that as well, but a quick look at wikipedia, and the years that they were in command of the TARDIS, shows that apart from Eccleston and McGann it's about normal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who#Changes_of_appearance
Ignoring the first two doctors ( they were really knocking them out then) and taking into account that the modern episodes are double the length of the old ones then it's almost the same amount of screen time for the old Doctors as the new ones.
If they were really going full circle, then the next Doctor would logically be David Bradley, who is playing William Hartnell in the Dr Who: Origins special "An Adventure in Space and Time" that the Beeb are putting out.
linky:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23267085
I haven't done copious amounts of research on the matter - but I don't imagine it normal that actors who formerly played other parts in Doctor Who come back to play the Doctor.
And I too would much rather wait for the actual regeneration. I'll refrain from watching the reveal and just hope the actor or actress is not known to me by name (lest I simply read a spoiler).
I could maybe see Grint playing it - but Hugh Laurie? You'd think he'd be tired of playing Doctor anybody by now.
Absent intervention from the High Council on Gallifrey Time Lords regenerated 12 times, meaning there would be thirteen doctors in total. The High Council offered The Master a whole new set of regenerations in "The Five Doctors" so they had the ability to extend it. With Gallifrey gone, who knows what the limit might be. Plus River Song gifted a bunch of regenerations to The Doctor when she healed him in "Let's Kill Hitler". There's so many ways to get around the 12 regeneration/13 incarnations limit and as long as the show is still popular they'll find a way.
I think it's 13 times, although it's unclear to me whether that's 12 regenerations or 13 (giving 14 incarnations). Peter Davison nearly sacrificed his remaining regenerations in one story line, saved by a random encounter between the Brigadier and the Brigadier.
We're still reaching the limit though, so it'll be interesting to see how they eventually get round it (if they do).
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