Noise to Signal

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Sue me, sue me, what can you do me?

So those rumours about an older companion in one of the Who specials were true. Lindsay Duncan, 58, has been cast as Adelaide in the second of the upcoming specials.

Marvellous, frankly. I’m all for shuffling about the companion dynamics, and RTD - non-stupid that he is - is clearly mindful of the popularity of Evelyn Smythe. I’d like to think that in the third one we might get a male/female pairing, or a robot, or an alien, or a talking penguin, but we also know that he’ll probably be on his own for at least one of them - and it can’t be the fourth, because he can’t be on his own when he regenerates. So I’m laying bets now that there’ll be no proper companion for the third, and Martha (and possibly Mickey and/or Jack) will be back for the fourth. You heard it here first.

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Weren’t there rumours that Jenny and Donna would turn up, either separately or together? Or were they debunked?

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By Somebody
February 20, 2009 @ 4:43 am

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How interesting! She’s sure to give a super performance, so I’m looking forward to it.

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By Tanya Jones
February 20, 2009 @ 9:36 pm

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Yes, excellent news. I’m really looking forward to this special because, frankly, Phil Ford > Gareth Roberts.

> So I’m laying bets now that there’ll be no proper companion for the third, and Martha (and possibly Mickey and/or Jack) will be back for the fourth. You heard it here first.

But the third and fourth are going to be the same, two-part, story.

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By Jonathan Capps
February 20, 2009 @ 10:36 pm

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Why can’t the Doctor regenerate alone? He’s done it before.

By J Clark
February 21, 2009 @ 7:01 pm

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What makes you think Tennant wont?

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By Jonathan Capps
February 23, 2009 @ 9:36 pm

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It just doesn’t really seem to fit with the way the show is under RTD. It’s going to be his LAST moment as a showrunner. Going on past form, do you really think he’ll be content to quietly go away with the Doctor on his own on the floor of the TARDIS?

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By Seb Patrick
February 24, 2009 @ 10:37 am

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I didn’t say anything about it being quiet or on the floor, though. My current prediction is still that he’ll be in the TARDIS on his own, but will be broadcasting out to the world (or at least a large group of people) via some sort of hologram projected in the sky. I think it’d be *very* RTD to have his definitive Doctor addressing all of humanity before he croaks.

it’s certainly be different, anyway.

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By Jonathan Capps
February 24, 2009 @ 4:49 pm

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I actually think the tenth Doctor “dying” alone in the TARDIS is quite a nice idea and would work well in the context of the RTD era ending and the Moffat era beginning but I don’t see that sort of thing as being Rusty’s style at all. I think he’s likely to want the tenth Doctor to go out in some kind of blaze of glory. We’ll see, though.

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By Zagrebo
February 26, 2009 @ 10:06 pm

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I also think the “blaze of glory” is most likely but I think it’d be a shame. RTD has just as much been setting up the “lonely Doctor” theme lately, and after all the increasingly-implausible-to-top finales to each series, a subdued end to this Doctor would be brave. I’m not sure though - the more I think about it, the more I think Tennant alone in the TARDIS would leave his era with a sense of irresolution that I wouldn’t find comfortable. It’s just the “broadcast to the world” would seem horribly narcissistic to me if not done properly. I guess if he’s already broadcasting and he regenerates I’d feel happier than seeing him intentionally broadcast his death and regeneration. Maybe.

By J Clark
March 04, 2009 @ 12:50 pm

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Having said all that, I’d also be disappointed if some random companion that I’d only known for one “special” was the sole witness to the Tennant>Smith regeneration. I would rather Tennant regenerate alone, or over a broadcast, than that.

A regeneration “style” I would quite like to experience again is the unseen one leading to Pertwee falling out of the TARDIS. I’m not sure Tennant should be the Doctor to have his regeneration unseen, though. I’d find it preferable to actually seeing him regenerate alone on the floor of the TARDIS, though.

By J Clark
March 04, 2009 @ 1:07 pm

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It’s going to be amusing to see his lovely face morph into Matt Smith’s, though. Stretching the limits of technology, there.

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By Jonathan Capps
March 05, 2009 @ 4:41 am

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