It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled; it’s also been a while since I wrote a piece of pure speculation based on no insight or knowledge. As it’s Friday and almost a week since the climax of the fans’ year I thought I would mull over how the next fifty years of Doctor Who might play out. I’d be very interested in your views as well – let’s have a discussion!

I have decided to focus fist on the TV show, then the recent demise of AudioGO before moving onto my favourite topic – Big Finish. I also touch on the Missing Episodes. That’s seems like plenty for one post so here goes (fast return switch is available for those of a nervous disposition).

The TV show

Enjoy this while it lasts; Peter Davison frequently says in interviews that as the show rises so it will, one day, fall back. At some stage this intensity will fade and the show may even fall back into the hands of the fans. This will be a social / web-enabled set of fans unlike the last gap in transmission where we had Audio Visuals and various ranges of books; a future period of no TV shows might lead to fragmentation and a plethora fan videos, animations, fiction and no central vision. In many ways we already have a lot of that even today. Hopefully the BBC will keep this in mind and maybe consider Big Finish as the holders of the flame of canon. After The Night of the Doctor anything is possible (see my review The Night of the Eighth Doctor and the post Who are the Five Companions…).

As to Steven Moffat I predict he will get Peter Capaldi established then move on having re-launched the show and shuffled the mythology. My sense is that many fans have now realised that Steven is himself a fan (just watch any interview from the anniversary weekend) and will greatly reduce the amount of criticism directed his way. Having set the Capaldi Doctor in motion I predict he will want to sit back and enjoy it as a fan rather than stay on the show for years to come.

AudioGO

Sadly AudioGo are no more and not seeming likely to re-emerge in anything similar to their current form. The BBC isn’t stupid and won’t turn away the chance to make money. This will, I believe (and hope) mean good news for Big Finish. I do though hope that the staff affected by the AudioGO end up with new jobs and preferably before Christmas. It was announced that Amazon have done a deal for the back catalogue and we await details.

Big Finish

I suspect that Big Finish will boom for a while. Not only did they get a lot of press over the anniversary (including Colin Baker on Radio 2 and Steven Moffatt) but they must ride on the success of the show. With the AudioGO situation they have the chance to move firmly into the modern Who era and I would dearly like a Ninth Doctor series on the back of The Night of the Whisper. The whole Destiny of the Doctor series will have brought new exposures, new writers and new actors, including Catherine Tate and Jenna Coleman, into orbit as well.

Anyone watching the after show party will have spotted Jackie Lane – who fancies a Dodo boxset next year?

The company will grow and therefore change but hopefully Jason and Nick will keep it true to its principles.

Missing Episodes

The story that keeps on giving. With nine episodes recovered the rumour that Marco Polo has also been found will not go away. The laws of entropy say that one day any lost tapes still out their will decay / get damaged / be destroyed in ignorance. It can not be possible, statistically, for them all to get found and yet, as the past couple of years demonstrates, there is plenty of reason to hope. Dalek Masterplan  anyone?

 

How do you think the show will change and grow in the future – do let me know!