Fantasy League Doctor Who Producer ...

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Well you all know Fantasy League Football, you draw up your ideal dream team.

So Fantasy League Doctor Who Producer follows the same pattern, but with a Doctor Who twist. If Stephen Moffat was to pass the reigns of the show to you, and you had a complete blank slate, who would you cast? What would you want to do with your tennure?

Questions below ...

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?

2) Who would you cast as companion?

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

[Andrew Curnow]

Ooh, good idea - that'll give me something to do at work today!

[SiHart]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?

Peter Capaldi. Firstly he's a great actor and I think he has the right sort of qualities to be a great Doctor. I've thought this since seeing him playing Rory in The Crow Road.

2) Who would you cast as companion?

More difficult. I think I'd go for Neighbours James Sorenson as a male companion and Robyn Addison from Survivors as the female companion.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

Peter Serafinowicz.

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

I'd make the PS Audios canon by bringing in Vera Jundrey as he Doctor's love interest. She'd be played, as she always should have been, by Miriam Margoyles.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

The Cybermen. There's still a great Cybermamn story waiting to be told. I just can't quite work out what it is!

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

The Zygons. A great tense shape shifting story.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?


Not really. The books were a great range at the time, but you can't keep relying on the past. You need to move things on all the time.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?
Futuristic, with mementoes from the past. Much like an updated version of the original control room. I'd like it to reflect the Doctor's travels with furniture and stuff from all over the universe and through Earth history.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

keep it but restrict its use.

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

The 1990s! We had very little Doctor Who set then!

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

Giving Terrance Dicks one last hurrah mioght be a nice touch. Or Stephen Wyatt perhaps, who's ideas in his McCoy stories were somewhat ahead of the game.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

Not really.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

I'd make the theme tune scary and atmospheric again. The Doctor's face would be in the titles. There would be more cliffhangers and 2 part stories and I'd probably have viewers leaving in droves!

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?
I would cast someone 40-50ish, good looking in an 'older man' kind of way, kindly and a little bit quirky. Nigel Havers.

2) Who would you cast as companion?

Helen Flanagan and Justin Bieber.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

I would make sure that Sue Johnston, Doreen Mantle, Liz Smith and Joanna Lumley got to do a Who.

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

I'd probably steer clear of the Time Lords and the Master, but I would do lots of stories around time in a Sapphire and Steel fashion, and explore the Doctor meeting himself more deeply. He's a time traveller, he should be bumping into his past and future all the time.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

Like Si, I would do the definitive Cyber story that's still to be made, I would also do the same with the Autons. After 40 years we STILL haven't had the contemporary 'people are throttled in their homes by their mobiles/TV's/dishwashers' story.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

The Ice Warriors and Zygons, as a matter of course. I'd also bring back Kate O'Mara as the Rani, and Michael Jayston as the Valeyard.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?

No.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

Futuristic, that was always the point! Who cares if it dates? It should look like something out of Buck Rogers. It would be amazing to see it done "futuristic" style on a modern day budget.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

Absolutely keep it, it's iconic and as long as it isn't involved in the plot resolutions, then it's fine. We have it in our audios, but we only use it every so often, when we need to get past a boring locked door or something.

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

Slightly fantasy style historical settings - I'd do a Treasure Island type one on a sailing ship, so Long John Silver is my answer. Nothing too boring with wigs and politicals.

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

Robert Shearman, Terrance Dicks, Pip and Jane (for the Rani story!), Stephen Moffat, RTD.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

Chris Chibnall wouldn't get anywhere near my new series.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

Again like Si, the Doctor's face would be in the titles and I'd redesign the Cybermen.

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?

Alexander Siddig, because he's an extremely versatile actor. In everything I've ever seen him in (yes, including Deep Space Nine), I've been left thinking "gosh, he'd make a fantastic doctor!"

2) Who would you cast as companion?

With someone as dashing as Alexander Siddig as the Doctor, we'd have to have an equally attractive companion. However, I think that the companion is an area where someone can really launch their career these days. Who took Billie Piper seriously before she was Rose? Who had even heard of Freema Agyeman or Karen Gillan before they were cast!? Thus, I would cast a relative unknown, through an extensive auditioning process.

However, if you pinned me down and forced me to pick someone, I say Zooey Deschanel. We haven't had an American companion since Peri, so let's do it properly this time!

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

Oh several - Ken Stott, Paul Darrow (give him another chance!), Sir Patrick Stewart, Matt Berry and Charlie Cox, to name but a few...

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

I, like Si Hunt, would choose to stay well clear of the Time Lords. I think my biggest desire would be to follow the NAs, and give the Doctor a base of operations on Earth - so many stories are Earth-centric, so let's have him owning a big house in the outskirts of London!

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

Well, given that I would very deliberately steer away from using the Daleks, I would want to do something a little different. Let's have a psychological story using the Mara.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

Zygons, without a doubt. They have SO much potential, it really is a shame that they were never used again on screen.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?

As I've said - giving the Doctor a base of operations on Earth, lifted from the NAs.

And while we're on the "wider fiction" label, there are some books/audios that I'd want to see adapted during my tenure. I'm assuming that, like RTD, I'd get four years, so I'd look at adapting one story a year, my short-list of four being The Chimes of Midnight, Project: Twilight, Anachrophobia and The Bodysnatchers (the latter for my Zygon story)

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

Well, mine would be a cross between the Moffat-era interior, and the gorgeous gothic interior of the Eight Doctor. Lovely!

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

BIN IT!

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

The American Civil War, with alien intreague - perhaps some aliens giving the Confederate forces advanced weaponry, and the Doctor having to attempt to preserve the time-line.

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

In terms of writers - Marc Platt, Ben Aaronovitch, Robert Shearman, Paul Cornell, Steven Moffat and Neil Gaiman (I know that the last one is cheating, given that we won't see his story for another year, but I do love his novels so much!)

In terms of actors - Lalla Ward, Simon Pegg, Bernard Cribbins, Anthony Head, John Barrowman and Sir Patrick Moore.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

Toby Whithouse (School Reunion was brilliant, Vampires of Venice felt a little pejorative..), Chris Chibnall, RTD.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

I'd have the Doctor lose control of the TARDIS again. Sure, it's unreliable, but he always ends up vaguely in the right direction. Let's go back to the days of the First Doctor, where we have no clue where we'll end up.

Ant x

[SiHart]

I'd have the Doctor lose control of the TARDIS again. Sure, it's unreliable, but he always ends up vaguely in the right direction. Let's go back to the days of the First Doctor, where we have no clue where we'll end up.

That'd make it difficult for him to get back to his country house just outside London!

Si xx

[Anthony Williams]

That'd make it difficult for him to get back to his country house just outside London!

That's a very good point. I wasn't thinking when I wrote my answers!

Scrap the country house, let's just have him wondering time and space instead

Ant x

[Logo Polish]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?
I would cast someone 40-50ish, good looking in an 'older man' kind of way, kindly and a little bit quirky. Nigel Havers.

He's 60 now, although I suppose you could argue that he still looks 40-50ish, so might qualify in that sense.

[Si Hunt]

No, I like the country house!

Sir Patrick Stewart

Definately! And I'd use Sir Derek Jacobi again, but better.

And Julie Walters! AND JUDI DENCH! How on Earth did I overlook her the first time round? I'd cast Dench as the Doctor's mum, and Sir Geoffrey Palmer as his Dad! And Phillip Bretherton as his energetic, entrepeneurial son-in-law.

Si.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

This thread came about cos of a couple of chats I've had with folk around general Doctor Who casting, when I realised who I would definitely have as MY Doctor given the choice.


1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?



Kevin Eldon. This started when me and Paul were talking about links between Big Train and Doctor Who.

He's a fascinating actor, and I believe he would make a memorable Doctor - you look at him in some sketches and you can't help but think he's be channelling the best bits of Tom Baker and Sylv McCoy whilst still bringing a piece of himself into it.

He was brilliantly watchable in Hyperspace, in fact the only reason I watched it, cos everything else was frankly shit!

2) Who would you cast as companion?

Toughie ... there's a shortlist ...



Probably over egging the comedy quotient here - but Sally Phillips from Smack The Pony. She can be brilliantly funny. And lets face it, seeing how well Catherine Tate worked, I'd be tempted to use another comedian.



Anna Maxwell Martin - she was absolutely brilliant in Bleak House, and I've seen her in a few things since. I know she was in a previous story, but so were Amy and Martha.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

David Warner - he's an acting legend, brilliant in the audios, I can't believe he's not been in the real thing. He would just be a coup and absolutely fantastic.

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

I think I'd like to bring back the Timelords. But I'd really want to bring them back with a twist. Keep them a bit like the End of Time, not quite the galactic guardians, keep them mean, edgy and not too silly.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

I'm afraid I was going to say Cybermen!!! There's a great Spare Parts-inspired story out there about how they are just desparate human beings clinging to life inside metal shells waiting to be made.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

Sorry but the fan soft porn Zygon video has killed the Zygons for me for all time.

I'd be awfully tempted to bring back the War Lords, and almost redo the War Games. Lots of material there, soldiers being formed for an unending war ...

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?


Hmmm - can't think.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

I love the retro-ness. I love it's full of junk the Doctor collects. Somehow the foam on Ecclestones target he's put around something, then duct taped it, made the interior of the TARDIS feel that more homely and real. I love the fact the TARDIS phone is one of those phones from the 70s.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

The sonic screwdriver is incredibly useful. Used well in a story, it can keep a story going at pace. It's a useful shortcut in stories, and allows the Doctor to access stuff/build stuff much the same way the A-team used the oxy-acetyline welder they were always locked in a room with ...

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

Could there be any doubt ... todays historical figure will be Oliver Cromwell. Except for viewers in Ireland ...

He is for me a very complex and fascinating historical figure. If a bit controversial.

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

David Collings - so brilliant in Robots of Death. Absolutely. And probably Pamela Salem as well.

And be it ever so brief, I'd have to get William Russell to do a cameo as Ian Chesterton.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

Away with you Ian Levine!

And perhaps I'm being cruel - but there's something about the words "by Pip and Jane Baker" which makes my blood run cold.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

Make it compulsory for new companions to pose naked with a Dalek for publicity? Would get the Sun onside.

Actually and it might seem a small thing, but I'd make Doctor Who at a fixed time in the schedule - no more bobbing around other programs 7pm every Saturday. Obviously being realistic, still moving slightly for football games overspilling and Eurovision, but otherwise a fixed time.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Actually could I have David Warner playing Oliver Cromwell - warts and all???

[Awesome Wells]

I've not looked at anybody else's... so if I've nicked your ideas, I haven't - I've just invaded your mind with my psychic powers. Alrighty!

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?



Richard Coyle - great actor, can be funny, weird, serious, moody, but most of all, did I say funny? His "Coupling" credentials would probably rule him out as a Moffat acolyte, but never mind. I won't be watching "Going Postal" but I wish him well - he'll be nicely set up to take over from Matt Smith.

2) Who would you cast as companion?



Samia Smith. Because she's lovely - and hopefully talented too. I've never seen her in anything but I'm sure she is. Apparently she was in "Cracker" as a kid, but I don't remember her.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

Not really. In fact, I'd be encouraging new and upcoming talent, not jaded old has-beens. Maybe a big superstar for the season finale?

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

I'll let you know when they give me the job.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

None. All new ones, please.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

No.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?

No.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

I'd like to see all of the old console rooms at different points. Corridors in a traditional roundel-stylee.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

Ramases II/Abu Simbel Temple/Pyramids/Ancient Egypt/The Nile.

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

Maybe Alex Kingston - depending on how the River Song arc unwinds in the current series.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

All of them will be firmly restrained - except maybe River (see previous question).

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

No more next time trailers. Trailed in the week, yes - but nothing after the individual episodes themselves.

[WibblyWombly]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?
Hmm tough one. I'd say Daniel Craig would be quite interesting. I'd certainly go for a slightly older actor as the Doctor should be a bit of a grandfather type figure. That said it would be cool to have him as more of a young, dashing Pertwee action hero type Doctor. I'm really not sure tbh.
2) Who would you cast as companion?
Emma Watson. She's quite a good actress, is the right age for it and is generally quite suited to the job IMO.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?
Paul Merton would be awesome to have in it, even only for 1 episode. He is completely mad and totally hilarious. He'd be brilliant in Dr who!

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?
Nothing much. I'd be cool to bring back Skaro and maybe Gallifrey. I'd certainly have a lot more episodes set on alien worlds than the current series.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?
The Cybermen. They've always been my favourites. I have quite a few story ideas for them bubbling away in my brain like them invading a sleeping colony of humans on another planet, planning to convert them all into Cybermen. I'd probably redesign them too to look more like the ones from the Invasion who have always been the best IMO.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?
As lots of people have said the Zygons and the Ice warriors would be pretty awesome. They both have lots of potential. I'd also be interesting to do a Rutan story too, or even a story with both the Sontarans and the Rutans. Suketh and his mummy robots should also return. Suketh was just SO awesome .

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?
Dalek X from the prisoner of the Daleks book would be good to bring into the series but not much other than that.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?
I'd basically change it back to the Tardis from the TV movie. That Tardis was one of the best bits about the enire movie IMO. I just love the candles and bookcases and wood panneled walls. I might make the contrast between the gothicnees of the place and the futuristic high tech of the console a bit more obvious though. Plus I'd bring in the huge domed ceiling of the RTD era Tardis and make the room six sided again with Roundels on the walls. There should also be a big pair of double doors to other parts of the Tardis.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?
Keep it but not use it as much as it is now, certainly not in every episode.

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?
Ancient Egypt would be cool, maybe including Sutekh and his mummies. Also travelling to the time to when the Silurians ruled the Earth would be great to see. Maybe Tudor times to with Henry VIII, that'd be quite immense.

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?
Gorgia Moffat would be cool to work with. Her character has tonnes of potential. Alex Kingston and John Barrowman(Maybe in the same episode ) would also be great too.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?
The person who was in charge of redesinging the Daleks for Victory of the Daleks.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?
Change the Daleks back to how they looked in the RTD era but painted gun-metal grey like in Genesis of the Daleks.

[Lissa]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?
Hugh Laurie – he’s just about the best actor on television and has a blend of intensity and comedy that no one else can touch.

2) Who would you cast as companion?
If she could act I'd say Alice Roberts but (as far as we know) she can't so Olivia Hallinan and Lenora Crichlow playing basically the same characters they played in Sugar Rush instead.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desperate to work with?
Stephen Fry – he could be something mischievous, devious, sinister, charming, epic and smooth.

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?
I’d like them to stop saying he’s 900 years old or at least make it obvious he’s lying about his age. He’s been 900 since at least his sixth incarnation.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?
The Guardians have plenty of life left in them as universal chess players.

6) Is there a monster/villain from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?
I still think there is mileage in the Valeyard, though it depends what (if anything) they’re going to do this year or next year with the darker side of the Doctor’s nature.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?
Not the books but the audios – I’d love to see adaptations of Spare Parts (thanking Marc Platt at the end of Rise of the Cybermen doesn’t count), Davros, Master and a few others.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?
Both – a retro console room based on the futuristic original. Imagine a two tiered version of the classic set with dials and levers and proper switches.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?
Get rid of it. It is too easy a way out of any situation. To borrow a joke from the Completely Useless Star Trek Encyclopaedia, the final act of any New Who story could be “Help me, Doctor” (waves sonic screwdriver), next week on Dr Who...”

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?
As they seem to have squandered any chance of doing something interesting with Elizabeth I thanks to some smutty jokes, it’ll have to be her father instead. I’d say her grandfather but I can’t think of anything Henry VII did that would lend itself to forty five minutes of dramatic television. He may be overlooked by most people but he wasn’t really exciting.

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?
Jacqueline Rayner is too good a writer not to have penned a script for the TV series already. Joe Lidster is around Cardiff but frustratingly never on the main series. Nev Fountain has written two of the cleverest audio plays and obviously Robert Shearman’s track record speaks for itself. There are lots of Big Finish writers who can write better Doctor Who than people like Helen Raynor or Matthew Graham.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?
I’d ban Ian Levine. Just generally. Possibly from a great height. Or out of a cannon.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?
Kill a companion and not in the season finale. Just to show that it could happen. Spooks did that and it’s had a greater sense of tension and less audience complacency ever since.

[Awesome Wells]

Kill a companion and not in the season finale. Just to show that it could happen. Spooks did that and it’s had a greater sense of tension and less audience complacency ever since.

Torchwood didn't manage it quite as well, admittedly - but this is a brilliant idea. In fact, it's almost too good. It makes me fear for Amy Pond's safety at the end of the series.

[Andrew Curnow]

Veering off tangent like many of my conversations, but probably the most shocking TV death for me was when they killed off Nigel's wife (Debbie I think) in EastEnders - because we didn't see any of it, she just went off to work in the morning and then later on the police turned up to tell Nigel she'd been in an accident and was dead. It was shocking because it was kind of how it would be if it happened - sure, it's shocking (in TV terms) to know somebody's being written out, and to watch the minutes to the end of the episode tick away, and watch the car veer out of control, or the bomb reach zero, or whatever. But to suddenly out of the blue be told that somebody has died off-screen was actually very brutal.

And now, back to TV's Dr Who...

[Lissa]

Torchwood didn't manage it quite as well, admittedly - but this is a brilliant idea. In fact, it's almost too good. It makes me fear for Amy Pond's safety at the end of the series.

Surely, if anything, Torchwood managed it too well. The death of Suzy was such a shock that they kept doing it until there was no one left to kill.

[Andrew Curnow]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?
For many years I would have nominated Michael Crawford, as being a charismatic actor who has incredible range. However, he's probably a bit old now (sorry Michael) so I... erm, I don't know actually. I actually like the idea of casting a more-or-less-unknown actor, and to be fair neither Tennant or Smith (or, in the old days, Mr Thomas Baker) were really 'names' when they were cast.

2) Who would you cast as companion?
Claire Goose, or the rather beautiful lady from the BT ads whose name temporarily escapes me. Or both.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desperate to work with?
Not really - although I think it's way past time that Geoffrey Bayldon was on TV in proper Doctor Who.

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?
Nothing big, just a consistently exciting and entertaining run of adventures in Time and Space.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?
The Cybermen. Yes I know we're all singing the same song, but I'd like to do a story where they've 'evolved' to the stage of having upgraded everything to the point where they 'wake up one morning' and discover they are a race of robots. From there, the next evolutionary leap is to go looking for emotions... We've come Full Circle, to coin a phrase.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?
In my fanboy world, the Yeti, but on a more practical level I think you'd struggle to make them 'relevant' to any new story - tbh their presence in The Web of Fear is a bit odd, but we're just so used to it as a fact that we don't usually question it. So I'll go for the Terileptils or the Tetraps, both of which have plenty of scope for expansion.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?
Not really, and tbh some of what made the books good (a more emotional sense to things, for example) have already come into the TV show (as well as tiny details which first appear on the page, such as the Doctor using a mobile phone, etc). Although, having said that, I think the Chelonians could probably make the leap and be something of a hit.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?
I'd like something akin to the classic gleaming control room, roundels and all. Console in the same style, but of the earlier version rather than the keyboards 'n' screens version of the 80s. I'd like that sort of version, but on a bigger scale and on a bigger budget.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?
Keep it. It's a bit of nonsense, and like the police box helps the show avoid the danger of becoming too po-faced & real.

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?
Is it too obvious to suggest a story set around the assassination of Kennedy? Or even, I've always in my idle (well, idler) moments mused over a fourth Hinchliffe year, with the six-part finale being set in India at the time of the Raj, and featuring some sequences set on a train. So an Imperial India setting!

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?
Like Si, I'd like to suggest Stephen Wyatt - I loved his two McCoy stories, he is/was a really distinctive writer, very imaginative. And... Although I can see why they've done it, having the same composer for every story, I'd quite like to shake it up and have some incidentals from Mark Ayres and Dominic Glynn.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?
At the risk of being controversial, Marc Platt. I enjoyed his Ghost Light, and mostly enjoyed his Spare Parts (although that faffing about in the TARDIS, and the whole bit about them being based on the Doctor, I didn't like) but in general his stuff is too weird for me, and not really how I think Who should be.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?
I would rather like the show to air in the Autumn - the only problem then being that the Christmas Special effectively becomes the last episode of the season, and then it's nine months without Who. So, erm, no. Actually, yes - no more snogging. I don't mind it, but we've done it now, there's only so many times the same joke can make you laugh.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Cool - it's interesting to read everyone's ideas for sure. Nice to see how common themes of the Cybermen and Zygons are coming out.

And d'oh ... why didn't I mention the Valeyard? I could have the Valeyard leading a renegade group of nasty Timelords!!!

[Logo Polish]

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desperate to work with?
Not really - although I think it's way past time that Geoffrey Bayldon was on TV in proper Doctor Who.

Not a fan of Creature From The Pit, then?

[Andrew Curnow]

They call me The Idiot!!

I really should have known that shouldn't I. Well, he's well overdue a return appearance then.

[duncan]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?



Andrew Lincoln. He looks the part and is that bit older than recent Doctors without being too old. I think he's about 37 years old.

2) Who would you cast as companion?



Evangeline Lilly. She has proved that she can be both sexy and adventurous in Lost and seeing as that has just finished...

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

Not really desperate but I'd like to see helen Mirren do something on the show.

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

More alien worlds and less of earth bound adventures.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

The Cybermen. Not the new version but the classic version should come back.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

The Zygons. yes, definitely the Zygons.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?

No. I've not read the books apart from the first dozen or so.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

An updated of the Classic console room would be nice. Let's see other parts of the Tardis again rather than just talking about them.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

It has it's uses so I would keep it. But I'd stop the Doctor from brandishing it as a weapon.

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

Cleopatra maybe?

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

Someone else mentioned Georgia Moffatt and I think I'd agree on that.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

Ian Levine is the obvious choice here I think.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

The opening titles and theme music would be the first to go under my reign and I'd put the Doctor's face back in the titles. I'd also make a story lead directly into the next and end on a cliffhanger rather like Lost in Space used to do.

[Dino]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?

Marshall Lancaster, the one who played Chris in Ashes to Ashes, because it would be good to have the "How is this idiot going to be the Doctor, let alone save the universe?" angle again.

2) Who would you cast as companion?

I can't think of anyone offhand, but I'd love a companion for a couple of episodes who then goes on to have a massive domestic with the Doctor and leave the TARDIS only for the Doctor to become totally obsessed with her and questioning his methods. It would be an angle RTD and Moffatt so far haven't touched on that much. "The Doctor as a stalker"

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

I'll come back to this when I think of one. The best thing about this show is it brings out great performances from the people you thought would be rubbish? So "Any of 'em Robin! You can't miss!"

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

Even heroes can be a*******s. Get rid off the psychic paper and the UNIT files on him. He can't just wave a piece of paper around or say "It's me... The Doctor." He has to earn respect and go over people's heads again.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

It has to be the Daleks but I'm buggered if I can think what to do with them?

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

The Voord could be so much better now. It would be good to go into their backstory a bit. Maybe the ones in Marinus were the soldier Voord and their society is more complicated?

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?

Not that much!

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

I'd have the TARDIS act like it's rejecting The Doctor and probably have it change from futuristic to retro in an attempt to confuse him. (If money were no object of course!)

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

Keep it. It does open doors etc, but limit it's use.

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

The TARDIS breaking down in Hiroshima half an hour before the bomb drops would provide a lot of tension? Psychic paper wouldn't be much use then...

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

It would be good to have Terrance Dicks back, but TV has moved on a bit since his day and I think he knows it?

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

The woman who wrote Daleks in Manhatten. If I had one bullet and her and Chris Chibnall wandering around, and killing one could bring peace and harmony to the galaxy... it would be her. No second thoughts!

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

For one series (and this is going to blow up in my face so badly!) I'd like to do a "multiverse" story, so you have the same guest cast, but they are in different roles depending on which universe they'd be in? It would be a nightmare to write for but if you can't stand the heat... *cracks producer's whip

[Andrew Curnow]

Kill a

companion and not in the season finale. Just to show that it could happen. Spooks did that and it’s had a greater sense of tension and less audience complacency ever since

Indeed Monitor, indeed. It's like the Jon Pertwee cameo prediction all over again...

[Stuart Wallis]

1) Who would you cast as your Doctor and why?
2) Who would you cast as companion?

I'm stumped already! I watch so little TV these days, and films don't really interest me, so I have very little idea who's doing the rounds. In terms of the Doctor, I'd say Robert Glenister, purely because he's the first actor who comes to mind who's below a certain age group whom I think is any good. Companion? I'm open to suggestions.

3) Is there a guest star you'd be desparate to work with?

Again, rather difficult to answer, for the reason given above.

4) What would you like to add to Doctor Who mythos/continuity?

With the time Lords out of the way, there's only the Doctor and the Reapers to speak of who are keeping the timelines tidy. I'd like to develop a new and mysterious species who appear occasionally who are attempting to change time for their own ends. Mind you, that's what we're getting now rather regularly with the crack, the Daleks and the Cybermen; that's why I'd like to have something new do it on an occasional basis.

5) What classic monster would you most like to work with?

The Cybermen, for the same reason as Mr. Hart.

6) Is there a monster/villian from the classic series you'd most like to bring into the New Series, which hasn't been covered?

The Great Intelligence. It needn't use the Yeti; I gave this some thought ages ago, and if they used something vaguely gorilla-like, as the Yeti from legend, and made it feral and far more active than the classic series monsters, they might be compared to the werewolf from Tooth and Claw. The old Yeti would have to be reinvented again if they were to be used again though, as the ones in The Web Of Fear would still be considered cute, cuddly and too lumbering, and also probably too expensive. The basic concept of the possession and the control spheres is good though.

7) Is there anything from the book series you'd be tempted to bring into the New Series?

I'd like to adapt Killing Ground and Illegal Alien as a way of reintroducing the classic series Cybermen, and First Frontier if people want the Master brought back that much. Otherwise, not being greatly keen on certainly the Virgin ranges, I wouldn't be in that much of a hurry.

8) TARDIS design. Go futuristic, or keep it retro?

The idea I've carried around in my head since the TVM is rather like a cross between a cathedral and the Natural History Museum; with alien designs and Gallifreyan pictures instead of the gargoyles and memorials. The console would be a bit like a carved wooden font and the scanner would be a circular stainedglass rose window when it wasn't a scanner.

9) Keep the Sonic Screwdriver, or do a JNT and bin it?

Get rid of it. If there's one thing JNT got right, it was to get rid of the Sonic and K9, and to let the Doctor start using the brains he's supposed to have.

10) What historical figure/setting would you like to use?

In part i refer you back to question 7; bearing in mind we've had the fifties already in Dreamland and Delta, and WWII in Victory Of The Daleks and The Empty Child. Otherwise, setting: the Fire of London. Gives us a chance to meet Charles II and James II when the latter was still Duke of York - both were involved in putting the Fire out. Character: Basil Rathbone. See if he can solve a crime on a film set.

11) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to hire?

Peter Miles and Julian Glover. Both very good actors, both very nice people from what I can gather, and their attitude towards Doctor Who fans is exemplary.

12) Is there anyone from the classic series/new series you'd want to fire/put a restraining order on?

I've finally got round to noticing Murray Gold's incidentals, and they're annoying me immensely.

13) Any other change you'd like to make?

Sinister theme tune arrangement; mix some synthesiser incidentals with the orchestrals.