#Whoniverse parallels

[greyhoundone]

Death of the Doctor / Farewell, Sarah Jane

[geekgirl750]

Shaking, screaming, crying, foaming at the mouth thinking about if Torchwood and The Umbrella Academy existed in the same universe...

Especially if Jack and Five ever met and realized that they were both old men doomed by their narratives

[mavity-defying-cheeto]

spoilers for dr who xmas special (church on ruby road)!

nine: watches his planet burn, hangs out (partially unwillingly) with a 19 year old white british blonde girl whose 4 letter name begins with r to deal with his trauma, shows her HER planet burning so they can bond

fifteen: discovers all the timeless child shit, hangs out (completely by choice) with a 19 year old white british blonde girl whose 4 letter name begins with r and who looks a bit like thirteen to deal with his trauma, already bonding bc they understand each other

i think people think ruby and rose are more similar than they are! on paper yes they sound like it. but the circumstances in which they meet the doctor and the dynamics they have are completely different!

9 is unstable and solitary, and rose tags along because she wants to. he doesn’t know how to reach out so he shares his trauma with her, and that’s how they bond. 15 is much more stable, although not fully healed bc that’s not really possible, full of life, joyful. and he finds someone else who is also full of life and joyful. maybe she reminds him of rose but i think that she reminds him of 13 more. ruby is freshly discovering that her one hope of finding her birth family is gone. the doctor has just found out he doesn’t even have a hope for that. so they bond bc they see themselves in each other, and they’re intrigued and comforted

[moodywho]

We’re all stories in the end.

Eleven and Amy Pond in The Big Bang

[ace-whovian-neuroscientist]

it feels like this season, doctor who is dealing with the fundamental rules changing. it was strictly sci-fi, you could always logic your way out of any problem with technobabble and a clever plan.

but it feels like so much of the plot is wrapped around poking at the medium of being a television show, of being a story. we have multiple characters looking at the viewers, we have the maestro playing the theme tune, we have such clear parallels to season 1 (2005) that it feels like a universal coincidence. like the whoniverse itself is recognizing its a medium and playing with its tropes.

the genre is changing too - we are leaning more and more into fantasy, rules like you would see in stories about fae, not sci-fi. musical numbers out of nowhere that no one seems to question, with rain inside and musical sidewalks. the vocabulary of rope and power in coincidences. hell, even the way that time travel works is changing! suddenly stepping on a butterfly (specifically a trope in scifi that has been mocked/debunked previously) has consequences. the doctor swiping away the translation circuit's effects with the wave of a hand and breathing life back into a creature without breaking a sweat.

not to mention the way that space babies foreshadows to a universe that creates a story with all the ingredients it knows are supposed to be there (re: bogeyman - there's supposed to be a villain so it made one)

something IS going on. there is a bigger player - bigger than tecteun, bigger than the toymaker. could it be rtd just having a grand ole time using canon as is playground? maybe. but i hope it's something cool.

[lokittystuckinatree]

Out of every single relationship in the Whoniverse, whatever the Doctor and the Master have going on just hits different. Like a rock. I’m sure everyone feels this way about their fave Doctor ship, but my experience is that once you go Thoschei, you cannot go back. Given the narrative symmetry, character foiling, interwoven parallels, tragically dramatic irony, frustratingly unspeakable ambiguous romance that defies traditional ship canonization in the true chaotic spirit of Doctor Who, and a unique backstory setup that allows the characters to have history that other individuals cannot match, while fate (and the format of the show) pushes them together over and over again indefinitely, without hope of lasting reconnection lest the setup break, the Doctor and Master’s codependent anti-soulmate life or death partnership arguably (narratively) cheapens every other pairing beyond comparison. Their tragedy never leaves you. (And keeps you up at night)

[crescentcitytorchwood]

Great. Now I'm heartbroken all over again.

Ianto: Gotta go!

Jack: Ianto, no! I never said it properly before!

Ianto: Does it need saying?

DOCTOR: I said, Rose Tyler.

ROSE: Yeah, and how was that sentence going to end?

DOCTOR: Does it need saying?

[silvereyedowl]

Selected Theories on the Origins of Ruby Sunday

(Some concocted by me, others found while trawling the Internet.)

Presented in random order.

Daughter of time travellers. If her parents are from time periods far enough away from the early 21st century, that would explain why she didn't get any DNA matches.

Alien in human form. That would also explain the lack of matches.

Chameleon-Arched Time Lady. Okay, where's her pocket watch then?

Daughter of Rose Tyler and the Metacrisis Doctor. On the one hand, Rose would presumably have some relatives still around in the early 2020s whose DNA could be matched with Ruby's. On the other hand, there is at least one recorded instance of information about Rose having been deliberately wiped, which could potentially obfuscate the existence of a genetic link.

Artificial human. As in created from scratch in a lab, like Luke Smith.

Human alien. Literally. "Human Aliens", as defined by TV Tropes, are aliens that look identical to humans. Doctor Who has no shortage of such aliens, such as the Time Lords. I'm talking about something different: humans who originated on a different planet instead of Earth, through convergent evolution. The Whoniverse absolutely has that kind of alien, by the way, as judging by "World Enough and Time", this seems to be the current origin story of Earth twin Mondas and by extension its Cybermen.

Temporal paradox. Hopefully not to "All You Zombies" levels.

Human from a parallel universe. Can't be too parallel of a universe if she's not getting any matches, though. Because something tells me that alternate universe Pete Tyler would still match as being Rose's dad even though her actual father was a different Pete.

Clone. Again, the donor couldn't be from close proximity to the early 21st century or there would be DNA matches.

[tenrose]

And I'm not blind, Disney has Doctor Who now, suddenly it's called Whoniverse, they bring back the guy who brought the show back to life in 2005, we have David Tennant, who's arguably the most popular Doctor of New Who, back and when he's about to die (again) suddenly the Doctor bi regenerate leaving us with David's part still alive. And we all know Disney likes to milk the cow for more money. So now they can expand their lore for more and more money using David's to do so. And I'm a major fucking hypocrite this time cause I will watch David as the Doctor for all eternity. But yeah. I know it's for that exact reason.

HOWEVER we could just have the parallel universe Tentoo x Rose series we all crave 😔

[cactiaintracist]

Why I think Martha Jones should/would definitely come back in the 60th anniversary or in future dw episodes

with David Tennant returning she would be the only companion of his who hasn’t been confirmed to return in a special yet (we know Donna is coming back and rose was there as the moment in the 50th anniversary)

she has been featured a lot in the new whoniverse promo

she’s a badass and an awesome character so why won’t she return

she’s a part of Torchwood and UNIT, so she has every reason to pop up and kick some ass

she literally is one of the only (if not only) nuwho companion who can come back without complicated explanations (not counting 13s companions) - she didn’t end up stuck in a parallel universe or different time or end up dead or mind-wiped or whatever

would LOVE to see her with Ncuti

[fandomrelatedshowerthoughts]

Another little Doctor Who realization post-this-season

I know I made some comparisons to "The Librarians And The Point Of Salvation" when "73 Yards" aired but there really are quite a few parallels between Ezekiel Jones and Ruby Sunday both from Watsonian and Doylist (not Doylist in terms of intentional but in terms of looking-at-story-as-story) perspectives I mean not just the aforealludedto going through a parallel timeline of personal absolute nightmare of too much loss and it being a matter of some fan debate whether they remember everything or not but the music connection, the pop-culture-referencing, the being younger than usual for their sort of role-both-in-the-Watsonian-and-Doylist-sense and basically giving off "little sibling vibes", the similar-ish personality and Chaotic Good alignment, the heritage-much-speculated-on-by-fans-of-their-show turning out to seemingly be them just having a normal family (who get met around Christmas or at least have their meeting have a Christmas association), and there still being weird things about them left unexplained by that revelation including an inability to be detected/affected by certain things you'd expect them to be and a seeming (albeit unconscious/passive) ability to twist their personal narrative in their favor in a similar manner to what happened on S2 of Loki (hey Ezekiel kinda has similar trickster-figure vibes and there was theories that the Doctor (because of the Timeless Child thing) and potentially Ruby (if all isn't as it seems with her heritage) could be god-esque figures that are basically good equivalents of what they've been fighting all season and if Ruby was one then there'd be an argument for (if it isn't Mrs. Flood who'd have that domain) her being a god of stories).

Hey, Ruby was even introduced the season that also introduced magic (and a bit of meta fourth-wall-breaking) to the world of Doctor Who and The Librarians kinda has Doctor Who implicitly exist in the same kind of weird fictional-and-real-at-once state in its universe thanks to Ezekiel referencing its existence as a show but a TARDIS in the time machine room that that one exchange between Ruby and the Doctor in "Space Babies" implies Star Trek does in the Whoniverse

TL;DR Ezekiel and Ruby seem to be very similar characters in narratives that turn in similar directions and in the event that all is not as it seems with Ruby's heritage because she seemingly got too much of her perfect happy ending (but we know she'll be back) then since you could make an argument for The Librarians and Doctor Who sharing universes perhaps if there is something "special" about Ruby after all Ezekiel could share it or at least have/be something similar

[denimbex1986]

'Say what you want: David Tennant is one of the best Doctors of modern Who. Ever since he strolled into the Tardis for the first time in his pyjamas (it's a long story), he has captivated audiences and arguably (under the showrunning command of Russell T Davies) helped make Doctor Who the international success is it today.

Part of it, of course, is down to Tennant's amazing acting range. From fury to playfulness, we got the full gamut during his time as Doctor - but in the interests of whittling them down, we've picked some of his best moments here. Enjoy.

Meeting Donna again – Partners in Crime

Both Tennant and Catherine Tate really get to show off their comedy chops in this episode. After first appearing in the 2006 special The Christmas Bride, Donna and the Doctor end up running into each other again when both start investigating the obviously evil Adipose Industries (yes, they’re aliens).

Mouthing words at each other from opposite sides of an office window, the wordless comedy is on point, Tennant’s confusion is priceless and their energy gels perfectly: an auspicious start to the new season.

Time Lord Victorious – The Waters of Mars

Sometimes, the Doctor bites off more than he can chew; nowhere more so than in ultra-horror special The Waters of Mars. As evil sentient water wreaks soggy havoc and kills members of a Martian research station one by one, the Doctor is forced to watch helplessly because it’s a nexus event – i.e. a moment in the timeline that can’t be changed. Until, that is, he stops caring and rescues the last member of the research station - only for her to commit suicide.

It’s a shocking moment and Tennant sells the whole thing utterly as the weary, battle-worn Doctor who ultimately tells the Tardis: “I’ve overreached myself.”

Sarah-Jane returns – School Reunion

One for the classic Doctor Who fans: the Doctor’s companions always leave, but just sometimes, they get to come back. School Reunion marked Elisabeth Sladen’s return to the Whoniverse after more than two decades as fan favourite Sarah-Jane Smith, who (as it turns out) has become somewhat of a mini-Doctor in her own right. Everything about this scene is gold: the Doctor’s simple introduction (“Hello, Sarah-Jane”), her sudden realisation of who he is, Tennant’s giddy grin, and their reminiscing about the old times. Chef’s kiss.

John Smith is the Doctor – Family of Blood

Family of Blood is one of the more out-there Who episodes. On the run from a mysterious family of aliens, the Doctor traps his Time Lord essence in a pocket watch and starts a new life without his memories, living happily as “John Smith” the literary professor.

He even ends up in a relationship – so imagine his horror when he is told that John Smith isn’t real, and that he has to give up his life (aka restore his memories as the Doctor, thus making him a completely different person) in order to save the school from the supernatural horrors plaguing it. Even though John Smith only appears for one episode, he makes an impression, especially with his anguish towards the end of the episode.

The Doctor and Rose are separated – Doomsday

This devastating scene happens at the end of Tennant’s first season as the Doctor, when Rose is dragged into a parallel universe and the two are separated forever. Or so they think!

It’s not just the heartbreaking scene where the pair realise they’re stranded on opposite sides of the massive white wall that serves as a portal between dimensions (sob) but their final goodbye in Bad Wolf Bay, where Ten tells her he’s burning up an entire sun to say goodbye. Tennant is acting his heart out, the puppy dog eyes are working overtime. Those who don’t want it and end up crying have hearts of stone.

“Did you miss me?” - The Christmas Invasion

Tennant’s Doctor spends most of his first episode trapped in a deep slumber after a traumatic regeneration. As the warlike Sycorax attempt to take over the planet, Rose puts him in the Tardis with a flask full of tea… which magically revives him. Strolling nonchalantly into the heart of the war operation armed with nothing but a satsuma, he winks at her and asks, “Did you miss me?” And in no time at all, it’s as if he never went away.

Possessed by Cassandra – New Earth

Few would argue that New Earth is one of the best Doctor Who episodes, but there’s one thing it does get right: when Ten gets possessed by the malicious sentient trampoline (yes, really) Cassandra. It’s a golden opportunity to Tennant to showcase his comedy chops. “Two hearts!” he crows. “Oh, baby, I’m beating out a samba!” In fact, he was so good he reportedly had co-star Billie Piper in fits of giggles throughout.

Timey-wimey – Blink

Who’d have thunk it: the most iconic Who episode ever is the one where the Doctor hardly appears. Zapped back in time by the Weeping Angels, the only way he can communicate with modern-day protagonist Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan) is via pre-recorded video tape. This is the episode that coined the phrase ‘wibbly wobbly, time-wimey’ that are now common Who parlance. Plus, while it’s hard to be charismatic through a grainy TV screen, he manages it.

The Master dies – Last of the Time Lords

Though Derek Jacobi was the first person to play the Master since the show’s reboot (what a catch), John Simm was the one who made the role his own. After capturing the Doctor, he transformed the Earth into an ultra-capitalist hellscape. When his comeuppance finally arrives, he’s shot by Martha’s mum Francine (Adjoa Andoh) but in one final act of spite, he refuses to regenerate, leaving the Doctor completely alone. The closing shots of him sobbing over his old rival’s body are gut-wrenching.

Goodbye Donna – Journey’s End

The scene that spawned a thousand memes: Sad Doctor In The Rain. After successfully saving the world (yet again) it turns out that Donna (who has sort-of merged with the Doctor’s DNA in order to save them all; another long story) is going to die unless she has her memory wiped. That means removing any trace at all of the Doctor. She pleads and begs to try and prevent it, but it’s no good – and that parting shot of him leaving her for ever is haunting. Sad eyes for days.

The Doctor regenerates – The End of Time (Part 2)

It’s the big’un. David Tennant plays a blinder in his last-ever episode as the Doctor who has lost his way: alternately raging, terrified, and accepting of his fate. His last swansong - revisiting all his companions, checking in that they're doing okay - is sweetly touching, and of course his final words, "I don't want to go," are delivered with such gusto that they elicit all the emotions. Every single time.'

[a-wartime-paradox]

What if Classic Who got another licenser?

I've always loved the nature of post-widlerness that is branching real-world continuity. By that I mean both New Who, Faction Paradox, and Cwej can (and do) shape how the wider Expanded Whoniverse is, in different ways

What would make this "mess" even better would be if the rights to classic concepts (the TARDIS, Gallifrey, Time Lords, the Doctor) got sold off to someone else alongside the BBC keeping them (a kind of deal that allows this Hypothetical Company to use the characters without continuously paying loads, but allows the BBC to withdraw at some point, idk. Don't care about the specifics or actualities of it). To be specific, this may mean that the wilderness years content can't be referenced, but meh.

Anyways. This alternative series could just do whatever the hell it likes in blatant contradiction to New Who (probably being interpreted as a parallel universe by most), which'd allow for so much more potential for Who stories, being as there'd be two pathways now. Anyway, that's my general desire, but now to how I'd actually do it:

Phase 1: either Season 1 of a TV series of a trilogy of short novels. This would feature Gallifrey falling, perhaps from an invaders POV (perhaps some facet of The Enemy? Could have some mammoths just appear for no particular reason). Would end with Gallifrey falling, along with hints it's just one of many cloneworlds, and we then follow some protags, probably children of Gallifrey who aren't Time Lords and got caught in the crossfire, or Enemy renegades, or maybe both. Perhaps even a child of the doctor?

Phase 2: seasons 2+ of a TV series or just many short novel. Set in the post-war universe, just doing stuff in the same way New Who did

Anyway yeah I just wish there were *even more* branches

[majorbaby]

And now I'm curious whether you're planning to check out RTD's second run on Doctor Who, or if you're wary and waiting to see how it goes, or if you're uninterested entirely. I admit I'm curious, but for me it probably depends a lot on how much it leans into Moffat and Chibnall's style of playing around with the show's established canon, vs how much it does its own thing and moves on from that. Plus RTD def has his own flaws too lol, though I've pretty much only heard good things about his post-DW dramas so I've got hope.

i'm gonna try this new thing where i actually answer the question being asked up front and then i put all my optional "and also" thoughts under a cut: i'm famously bad at watching things on my watchlist but what matters is i want to watch it. this has more to do with my love and trust of RTD's writing than it does with me wanting to go back to the whoniverse.

and also...

very very important disclaimer that it's been years since i watched doctor who but i've been meaning to recently for nine-hawkeye parallel reasons (cowardly hero, bad god) so some of this might be off: i'm so appreciative of my doctor who years because i really fell completely in love with that world and my love for the doctor is surpassed only by my love for a select few of the companions. i also learned from DW that you can definitely love parts of a thing without loving the whole and that's fine - in fact, i think that is what we are meant to do with DW specifically. there are themes to the character of the doctor and recurring motifs but they're all nodded to and i don't really think it's possible for such a long running show/character with so many writers involved to even have a singular arc for its protagonist.

i view it as being similar to comic books. what is the overall "arc" of batman? it's just the same guy in a billion situations, and your different 'actors' are your different writers who write him. i think you can say new things about the world with the doctor or say something about the doctor in a new way but i'm skeptical if you can say new things about the doctor with the doctor and i don't think he should be used that way and RTD seemed to understand that.

i also just generally prefer 'monster of the week' style to 'story arcs' and i found RTD did that more often. i'd go even further and say it's a better way to do doctor who because when i zoom out i find that dw's seasons are episodic, because of how much there is. the episodes are the seasons and the seasons belonging to an actor are the arcs because they're all playing the doctor their own way and what we refer to as 'eras' are moreso eras of main writer/showrunner to me than they are eras of actors playing the doctor. and i think RTD understood this too.

i'm not saying let's throw out story arcs all together, RTD pulled off the arc of all time with 'i am the bad wolf' so it can be done well i just found moffat in contrast to be very 'this is an ARC', let me show you what an ARC is you sheeple'. anyway not to make this a steven moffat hatepost - but it is always correct to make a steven moffat hatepost is it not? this immortal post sums up my feelings about his writing pretty well and an obligatory: well if steven moffat writes so badly with such confidence then why can't i????

so no need for me to return to that world just because i've loved previous iterations. i'd go back because i really i like RTD a lot and it's also nice to be genuinely excited for who. i was excited for there to be a woman doctor because i remember a time when i genuinely believed there could never be a woman doctor but i was out of it for so many years by the time 13 came around and i was so disillusioned by the moffat years. so i sort of waved at the fandom when that happened, good for them!! about time!! i also like 12 a lot and i think peter capaldi is brilliant but when i watched it it wasn't the same for me as before. so actor appeal and world appeal don't really do it for me. it does come down to the writing.

all that said, i am a guy who loves when a story ends. i think nostalgia is overrated and bad and right now it's grip on cinema and audiences is very very bad. so i was kind of meh about david tennant returning. i like ten but he's not my favourite and he had a very good run and got his due, i don't personally need more of him. i would've liked more of nine because i felt he did not get his due, even though they still wrapped on nine very well. but it's clear to me that eccleston has moved on so i also would not want him back either.

donna, well, if there must be a returning companion from the ten years than yeah i'm happy it's donna because their dynamic is truly chef's kiss and catherine tate is brilliant and i'm not married to her tragic ending, i do think she deserved better than that. but i would still prefer someone new because i always lean towards 'new stories'.

if 'a returning character named rose' turns out to be anything other than a character who shares the same name as rose and the parallels are all projected on by the fans, then i will riot lol. rose's ending was perfect and i don't want it to change and just like you, i'm not interested in her being immortal or even coming back to help the doctor save the world again. if it were not for RTD i would not even consider watching more of "rose". it's true that some past companions have returned (my sarah jane <3) but i think if it's not kept to a minimum then that's bad for the doctor who ecosystem. new stories! new opportunities for other actors and writers!

other reasons i like RTD: he clearly still has a passion for doctor who, he's usually doesn't miss with his companions, he knows how to do tragedy and romance while having respect for his audience, he's smart writer and he's an overall strong writer.

tbh i should check out his other stuff because i like him so much and since i'm saying i'm coming back for his writing and not for the world as much. but also i'm really excited for ncuti gatwa's 15th doctor and i hope RTD stays on to write him, so maybe this is how i find my way back to doctor who.

[sci-fiworlds]

A Sci-Fi Worlds Interview with Nick Pope

Back in the first edition of this new sci-fi column (available in issue 4 of Stuart Miller's Alien Worlds magazine) we examined the ongoing phenomenon that is Doctor Who. So when I had a chance to interview Nick Pope for Room 101, about his UFO work for the MoD, I was delighted to discover that he shared my love for this epic series and sci-fi in general. The icing on the cake, though, was when the two-time sci-fi author quickly agreed to do an interview for Sci-Fi Worlds where we get his thoughts on Doctor Who and touch on some other classics.

So what does a real life Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (though I'm not sure about Nick's rank) have to say on the Whoniverse and other sci-fi worlds?

Richard: First things first. Thanks for agreeing to do this so soon after my last interview with you for Room 101. In that interview we centred on your UFO work for the MoD, so here it will be interesting to do a sci-fi focused interview. As a successful sci-fi author yourself I'm sure you will be able to answer my questions and no doubt intrigue our readers too.

You've written two excellent sci-fi novels, Operation Thunder Child and Operation Lightning Strike. In our Room 101 interview you said: "As a successful sci-fi author myself I've been greatly influenced by Doctor Who." Which stories in particular do you think have influenced your sci-fi work the most?

Nick Pope: Although my two sci-fi novels are - on the face of it - about alien invasion, I wanted to get away from a one-dimensional good versus evil conflict. I wanted to blur the lines and make people think about the moral issues. While it's difficult to nail down particular Doctor Who stories as an influence, a central theme of morality run through the show as a whole. I guess the idea of the military being in the frontline is common to my novels and to any of the stories featuring UNIT.

Richard: In our other interview you also said that: "I'll always look back on Genesis of the Daleks as the all-time classic story. I'd love to see this remade or revisited in some way." I'm a big Genesis fan myself, why do you think so many fans continually pick this as their all-time favourite Doctor Who story?

Nick Pope: A number of reasons. Tom Baker was one of the greatest Doctors and the three way dynamic between the Doctor, Sarah-Jane and Harry worked very well. The daleks have always been popular villains, so the story was bound to appeal. But Genesis was more than just another dalek story - it was the story of the creation of the daleks and the central question of whether the daleks could be instilled with a sense of morality, or destroyed, made this a 'high stakes' story. Other highlights included the introduction of Davros and the Doctor's moralizing over his right to destroy the daleks. Finally, I think people enjoyed the parallels with the Nazis: a brutal, militaristic society in a total war. Genetic experiments. Genocide. The uniforms and the salutes. All this and more was present, with Davros as Hitler and Nyder as his Himmler.

Richard: Season four of the new series saw the return of the Daleks and their evil genius creator Davros. Why do you think they continue to be so popular with younger audiences?

Nick Pope: With CGI and a bigger budget, we can have more sophisticated-looking daleks and more of them. And now we have the fix to the 'they can't get up the stairs' issue. But again, I think the popularity reflects the fact that they are the ultimate Doctor Who villains: aggesive, ruthless, persistant and without any pity.

Richard: I think the first four Doctors will always be iconic. Whose your favourite Doctor and why?

Nick Pope: People often ask this and ask the same question about James Bond. Popular wisdom is that the answer is usually "the first one you saw". I started watching when it was Jon Pertwee, but eventually I came to prefer Tom Baker, who until recently was my favourite. But Doctor Who is now so polished that Christopher Eccleston took over the top slot ... until David Tennant joined. David, to me, is the best Doctor. I just think his acting is brilliant. He perfectly portrays the sadness, the loneliness and the detachment that are so central to the Doctor's character, but also the strength and sense of purpose. He brilliantly shows the audience the quiet "fury of the Time Lord".

Richard: Personally my favourite Doctor Who adversary has always been the Cybermen. The Moonbase, Tomb of the Cybermen and The Invasion are easily some of the best black and white stories, which is loudly echoed in the new series. With the Cybermen returning again this Christmas what do you think it is about them that still scares children so much? Why do you think the Cybermen have survived in the age of CGI special effects?

Nick Pope: I think there are parallels with the Daleks. People like the continuity of villains that return again and again. It gives the writers a chance to develop themes that couldn't really be included in a one-off story, such as the wider evolution of a race. But the idea that they were once humanoid, but transformed themselves into these cyborgs is scary. It's a case of "they're like us ... but not like us". Something green with tentacles is obviously alien, but maybe the Cybermen are a little 'too close to home'.

Richard: After Genesis of the Daleks, The Daemons is often said to be the best of the classic Doctor Who adventures. The way this and other classic stories like The Pyramids of Mars tied Erich von Däniken's theories into Doctor Who makes for an interesting mix of mythologies. What do you think of this?

Nick Pope: I think it's very clever. It was tapping into the popularity of such ancient mystery books in the Seventies, largely started by von Daniken. The Nazca lines get a mention in Death to the Daleks, as I recall. And we can't have mention of The Daemons without quoting the Brigadier's classic "Jenkins, chap with the wings there, five rounds rapid" line.

Richard: Two of the most memorable monsters not yet to return in the new series are the Silurians and their aquatic cousins the Sea Devils: the original reptilian inhabitants of planet Earth. Curiously, Doctor Who and the Silurians came out in 1970 the same year as Ivan T. Sanderson's Invisible Residents: The Reality of Underwater UFOs was first published. Do you think it might just be possible that another intelligent species like the Silurians or Sea Devils could have evolved right here on Earth? (ala the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis)

Nick Pope: Well, I hope these monsters are brought back at some stage! I reference the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis a fair bit in my first sci-fi novel, Operation Thunder Child. There are plenty of USO (Unidentified Submerged Object) reports and many UFO sightings where an object is seen over water, so who knows? I'm not hugely attracted to the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis, but I certainly can't rule it out. And as the saying goes, we arguably know less about the deep ocean than we do about the Moon or Mars.

Richard: Doctor Who and the Silurians ends tragically with the Brigadier blowing up the Silurian base. As someone who used to work for them, hypothetically how do you think the MoD would deal with a species like the Silurians or Sea Devils in the real world?

Nick Pope: Obviously I can't discuss specific details of Rules of Engagement, but in general terms I think I can say that if attacked, we would respond with proportionate force. However, in any contact with an extraterrestrial (or cryptoterrestrial) civilisation the key strategic objective would be to open lines of communication and facilitate peaceful contact. Secondary objectives would include information exchange, with a particular emphasis on science and technology.

Richard: In the following Jon Pertwee story, The Ambassadors of Death, Great Britain not only has a manned space program but also already sent men to Mars. As someone with an interest in space how far away do you think this was from reality at the time?

Nick Pope: This story was broadcast fairly shortly after the Apollo 11 moon landing, so there was immense public fascination in anything to do with space, coupled with a feeling that we'd all be holidaying on the moon by the end of the century. Those within government, however, would have been well aware that a manned space programme was quite beyond the UK at the time, both in terms of technical capability and, critically, finance. We still spend far too little on space, given the huge benefits to be reaped in terms of resources and knowledge.

Richard: Jon Pertwee's best enemy was easily the Master. What did you think of Derek Jacobi's and John Simm's portrayals of the character in season three of the new series?

Nick Pope: Both are brilliant actors and both were excellent in different but complementary roles that brought out that mixture of charisma and menace that defines the character of the Master. The scene where John Simms dances to the Scissor Sisters song "I Can't Decide" was outstanding.

Richard: I think Robert Holmes (who wrote the first Master story Terror of the Autons, as well as Pyramids of Mars and many other classics) will always be thought of as the best of all the Doctor Who writers but its starting to look like Steven Moffat might well give him a run for his money. I'm very much looking forward to his time as lead writer and executive producer beginning in 2010. What do you think?

Nick Pope: Russell T Davies will be a hard act to follow, but Steven Moffat can do it. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink were some of the best stories since the relaunch of Doctor Who, as was Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, so this all bodes well for the future. There's a darkness and a poignancy about his stories that I like (e.g. the "she's ghosting" scene from Silence in the Library) and another thing that appeals is that he's a writer who deals really thoughtfully with the philosophy of time travel.

Richard: Stories like Spearhead from Space, Ark in Space and The Lazarus Experiment seem to have been heavily influenced by Nigel Kneale's Quatermass serials. Interestingly, David Tennant also appeared in the BBC's 2005 remake of The Quatermass Experiment just before he became the new Doctor. What do you think of this mix? Why do you think Nigel Kneale's fiction continues to inspire writers even today?

Nick Pope: I agree that some of the Doctor Who stories have been influenced by Quatermass, probably because some of the Doctor Who writers watched Quatermass when they were younger. Quatermass and his British Rocket Group even get namechecked in a couple of Doctor Who stories. There are clear parallels between the two shows and in particular the idea of a clever, moral but quirky character facing down all manner of alien threats, despite the odds being stacked against him. Sci-fi is arguably dominated by big budget Hollywood movies, so Kneale's work (like Doctor Who) appeals to us because there's something very British about it.

Richard: I grew up in the 1990s when Doctor Who was sadly trapped in the void known as UK Gold. However, there was another show on the BBC that sent me running to "hide behind the sofa." That, of course, was The X-files. What did you think of the way the series incorporated the UFO mythology into its own storylines? For instance, Roswell, Area 51, abductions, MJ-12 and even the Face on Mars are all worked into the series.

Nick Pope: Skeptics often say UFO witnesses and abductees may be influenced by sci-fi, but if anything, the reverse is true. The X-Files is the classic example and the writers clearly did their research and borrowed freely from the UFO/abduction literature. I was hired by 20th Century Fox to do some of the PR for the new X-Files movie, I Want to Believe. As well as giving a number of media interviews I was commissioned to write material on real life mysteries and conspiracy theories, which was then used in various newspaper and magazine features that came out in the run up to the movie's release. I met David Duchovny and Chris Carter at the UK premiere and Chris already knew about my government work on UFOs. The X-Files is a brilliant creation and when they 'do' UFOs, they do it really well.

Richard: Do you foresee any new esoteric mysteries becoming a part of the sci-fi canon, much like abductions and Face on Mars have?

Nick Pope: Well, the disappearing bees got a mention in Doctor Who recently and all sci-fi writers will keep an eye out for real life mysteries. I think the big one to watch is 2012 and the associated mysteries and theories that surround the Mayan calendar. The sci-fi movie 2012 will be released next year and I'm sure the whole 2012 issue will crop up in other sci-fi books, movies and TV series.

Richard: Would you like to write more sci-fi yourself? Perhaps your sci-fi books might make interesting audio books. Any plans or thoughts?

Nick Pope: I'd love to write more sci-fi and at some stage, a third novel to follow the previous two. But I'm too busy with TV and promotional work at present to write another book. Operation Thunder Child was previously optioned by Carnival Films and a screenplay was written, but the project stalled. Operation Thunder Child and Operation Lightning Strike are currently being looked at by a major Hollywood studio, with a view to making them into a blockbuster sci-fi movie.

Richard: Thanks again, as always I look forward to your future media appearances, books and other projects.

Richard Thomas, BoA UK Correspondent and Columnist.

READ RICHARD THOMAS’S SCI-FI WORLDS COLUMN FOR BINNALL OF AMERICA

[nickjb]

Thing is, whatever the spinoffs turn out to be I'm sure I'll watch them but what I really want is something completely strange and unexpected that no one in fandom has predicted. Something as bizarre and away from the norm as Doctor Who itself originally was - we don't want the obvious series about scientists doing time travel, we want the man in a magic box travelling space and time with two teachers and his granddaughter.

And now I'm thinking I don't want a spinoff, I want something that runs parallel for some of the time, criss-crosses and spins in and out, something as chaotic and changeable as Doctor Who is. And that makes me wonder what culture in the Whoniverse is like. What does a dating show look like when the timeline isn't stable, but only one contestant notices? What happens when the 38th century equivalent of community theatre on a space station decide their next production is going to be The Time War? What stories do people tell that feature the Doctor or their wake without knowing it? How does living in such a strange universe affect people?

My latest newsletter is about the #DoctorWho spinoffs that I really want to see happen. What's YOUR favorite idea for a TV show set in the #Whoniverse?