bruinhilda

[bruinhilda]

I don't think I've ever known a time in Doctor Who fandom where so many assumptions were made so strongly and believed by so many. So here's a quick FAQ about the current state of the show:

Will Disney renew their deal to co-produce Doctor Who?

We don't know.

Disney usually wait until 1-3 months after a show has finished airing before confirming a renewal. They have renewed a few shows earlier - when they've been a massive hit, or in order to start production early to get a special ready for Christmas - but 1-3 months is the norm.

Were Disney happy with the Gatwa episodes?

We don't know.

We don't even know their metric for success. Number of viewers? Number of new subscribers? Critical acclaim?

Disney didn't renew Andor beyond its second season, even though the show's been hugely acclaimed. Indeed, Disney have pulled the plug on several shows - the streaming landscape has changed a lot since the original Doctor Who deal, with most streamers tightening their belts.

Did Ncuti Gatwa quit because of uncertainty about the show's future?

We don't know.

People quit their jobs for all sorts of reasons. Usually, there's more than one reason.

Would Ncuti Gatwa have stayed if Disney had renewed early?

We don't know.

It is possible. Gatwa's contract was with Bad Wolf, not Disney. The contract might have been for three years, as with other modern Doctors - in which case he'd have still been under contract if they'd started filming a third series in time.

But this is speculation, since we don't know what was in the contract.

Did Ncuti Gatwa fall out with Russell T Davies?

We don't know.

It's interesting to me that Davies was present on set for Gatwa's final shoot. He wasn't present for Eccleston's. But this may mean nothing. It's also - of course - none of our fucking business.

Did the final episode originally have a drastically different ending?

We don't know.

We do know a week of additional shooting was added in February.

This isn't unusual. Extra shooting also occurred for The Church on Ruby Road (the scene where the Doctor saves a baby from an inflatable snowman) and The Robot Revolution (the scene where we meet Belinda's housemates).

One possibility is that, counter-intuitively, filming more material might actually save money. There are tax breaks in the UK for episodes of television that cost a certain amount - so spending a little extra to meet the threshold might save a larger sum in tax.

We don't know what was in the final episode. Behind-the-scenes show Doctor Who Unleashed featured a scene that wasn't in the final episode - a party at UNIT HQ - but it's limited data.

Has the BBC cancelled Doctor Who?

No.

British TV has never worked like American network TV, so "cancellation" isn't the right word. The BBC haven't yet commissioned new Doctor Who - and can't do until Disney decide whether to co-produce. Whether it's a yes or no from Disney, nothing further can be commissioned until the answer comes.

Will a different streaming service co-fund Doctor Who?

We don't know.

If Disney turn it down, though, it seems like a safe bet. Disney Plus is a massive platform - Doctor Who is a drop in the ocean of their shows. A smaller streamer might see more value in Doctor Who.

If X people will subscribe to a service just for Doctor Who, it's a question of how much each service cares about the number X. Disney's one of the services that needs X subscribers the least.

Doctor Who has two advantages in 2025 that it didn't have in 2022, when the last deal was made:

Firstly, the rights to stream the Eccleston to Whittaker eras in the US are about to revert to the BBC from HBO Max. Streamers love catalogue shows (i.e. shows with loads of episodes, like Friends and Star Trek), so that's a great package to sweeten the deal of a co-production. Pay for 26 episodes, get 175 free.

Secondly, the BBC are developing a children's cartoon version of Doctor Who aimed at -year-olds - with exactly the same format as Bluey, one of the biggest ever successes on streaming. Bearing in mind the BBC co-produced Bluey, this seems like a very attractive show to offer any streaming service willing to fund the main show.

Indeed, this seems so good to me that even if Disney weren't originally going to renew, this might tempt them to change their minds.

Is Billie Piper playing the new Doctor?

We don't know.

It looks like she is! That's usually what it means when one Doctor regenerates into a different actor. But unlike with Tennant in 2022, Piper isn't credited as the Doctor, and neither has there been a press release confirming her as the Sixteenth Doctor.

Why hasn't the BBC confirmed Billie Piper's role?

We don't know.

Maybe they don't want the news to be overshadowed by negative press attention to the future of the show. Maybe production company Bad Wolf wants an air of mystery and intrigue around Piper's role. Maybe she isn't playing the Doctor in some way. Maybe there's a reason we haven't considered.

Will Russell T Davies be showrunner for the next series of Doctor Who?

We don't know.

We don't know anything - and it's possible nobody does. Davies has said that Bad Wolf has plans ("it's our job to have plans").

I do think it's likely the BBC will keep Bad Wolf and Davies if possible. If nothing else, there isn't a long list of companies who can make this show, or showrunners of Davies's experience and acclaim who want to make this show.

Why are people behaving as though they know all the answers to all these questions if we don't actually know them?

I don't know.

[bruinhilda]

A dragon sticks with his hoard no matter what! Not that Swordfish isn’t enjoying this. He’s having the time of his life there!

~~~

Also, his and Hopper’s enamel pins are still here for 6 days, after which they will disappear permanently.

Here, if you’d like to check them out!

[bruinhilda]

Always a good time to burn down yet another village!

Patreon

[bruinhilda]

Happy Land of Hanna Barbera

[bruinhilda]

Dopey Royal Lindwyrm whelps.

One day, they will grow up MAGNIFICENT and wise. For now, they're a little stress inducing, hides in dumbest places, uses the smelly pile of hay in the stables, instead of the silk canopy bed to sleep in!

[bruinhilda]

[bruinhilda]

I can’t explain why this image is so funny to me but it is.

[bruinhilda]

Tourists are fucking up the Giants Causeway in Ireland by wedging coins between the rocks which are then eroding and staining everything and in some cases causing the rocks to crack. For any Americans on here planning to visit Ireland: There is a mystical and ancient Irish tradition says that when you visit any of our places of natural beauty you should speak at a normal volume, leave no trace you were there and fuck off home. Tell your friends and family.

Stop ruining fucking everything.

[bruinhilda]

[bruinhilda]

Mulder fart pocket

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That's one savage sculpt!

I've been less than restrained with my love of Zuru's toy output, particularly the fun 90s-Playmates-esq sculpt-details. A friend of mine recommended some acrylic markers to me, and I've been using 'em to touch up various Zuru beasties.

Today I'm showing off two, the blue triceratops from the "Dino Island T-Rex Battles" (red t-rex head) and the "Ice Age Mini Surprise Egg" Sabertooth (yellow hand)

In both cases I suggest checking your local Ross or similar store before hitting Amazon, as they often have the larger sets greatly slashed in price. The Amazon prices bounce a lot but when they hit a really good deal they hit a great one (more at the end of the post about that).

Toothy The Smilodon:

He doesn't have a ton of extra detail compared to some of the others in the same set, but what he does have is charming. I got a bad angle on it, but he's also got stitches in his side. I brought out the claws and mouth details as well.

He's clearly had a bad time of things, with a bandage wrapped forelimb and a band-aid on his muzzle, and claw slashes in one flank.

There are a lot of fun trademarks of the Zuru smashers sculpt style. almost all of them have a line of snot/slime running out of a nostril and are covered in 'splats', which represent slime, snow, or gore, depending the specific smashers series or the customizer's mood.

Painting in the details like the froth at Toothy's mouth shows a bit of sculptural storytelling, with the froth/frost from the mouth flying back to splat on the shoulder.

The Blue Triceratops

I didn't save his instructions so I don't know his official name.

This guy is COVERED in sculpture gags, and I'm leading with the strongest. On his frill, unpainted, is a treasure map, made of a pair of crossed bandages, a fly, and a dotted line, a very fun nod at the pirate theme. We again see the snot/slime from the nostril, and he's got slime (or in this case, t-rex gore) on his horn. All sweet touches.

Coming around the side we've got the typical battle-damage slashes, a stitched wound in the hind limb, and coolest of all, an arrow embedded under the frill.

I left his back spikes unpainted since that's where his armor snaps on (his armor is a future project)

Speaking of, there's slime with maggots on the tail.

His left side is less messed up (he must favor it on account of the broken horn) but he's still got a tic-tac-toe slash in his thigh.

And we've got more splat-and-maggots on the frill, and a cool scar-across-the-eye and some jaw-damage. Almost all of which was unpainted, along with the claws and frill-spikes.

In the in-progress pile I've got touchups on tons, as well as a full repaint on a Horror House Zombosaur

Which, as I've mentioned before, is basically an undead Extreme Dinosaurs figure. He's currently $6.71 on Amazon (and his fellow case-mates Slasher (reaper) and Head Scar (zombie) are also cheap right now). Or you can get his foot-tall Zombie Rex variant for $8.49.

I don't get paid by Zuru to post this stuff, honest, I just think they make awesome stuff. If you want to say thanks, grab me something else off my list for me to customize/customize with.

[bruinhilda]

[bruinhilda]

whenever i see people say “i’m watching (insert show name here) for the first time. which episodes should i skip?” i get so annoyed. NONE OF THEM. YOU ARE WATCHING THE SHOW FOR THE FIRST TIME. WHY ARE YOU SKIPPING EPISODES

[bruinhilda]

STEVE over Copper Harbor

Credits: MaryBeth Kiczenski

[bruinhilda]

WARNING 18+

19

[bruinhilda]

help me they are putting my cats in situations

[bruinhilda]

the worse climate disaster gets, the more you’ll see closet eugenicists start to advocate for letting people die. you need to be prepared to combat the ideology wherever you see it, because it’s only going to get worse and worse Read everything having to do with climate disaster critically. If the central argument underlying what’s being said is that the death of disabled and/or racialized people is inevitable, natural, or desirable– that’s a fascist.

they might be appear to be a garden variety republican or liberal or even a leftist at first, but know that if that argument is being made, their underlying ideology is one of supremacism, and given additional climate stress, they will become more blatant about it.