We have a NAUSEATINGLY long time to wait until the next season of Doctor Who. Rumours say they're starting filming this week, and we even have photographic evidence to prove it, but that's all we know. We know a few guest stars, and a few hinted guest stars. And we know Capaldi--which puts us way ahead of where we were the last time I wrote an article like this, so bravo! We've got lots of time, and nothing to do but speculate. And we're Whovians, who are facing roughly 11 months where we get less than 3 hours of footage. So we're going to speculate like mad. We're going to yell at each other. We're going to come up with convoluted theories, and then when our ideas fail to turn up on screen we're going to poke holes in the plots. And most of us are going to love it. No matter what else happens, no matter how the show changes, it will still be Doctor Who. And a new Doctor has been born. We may go back to Smith or Tennant for our comfort food, but we're going to buckle in for this ride with Capaldi. So, without further ado, I offer these predictions, and invite everyone to throw predictions back at me.
8. The First Few Episodes Will Be Uneven
Look, new Doctors are really tough. No one actually has any idea what's going on. The writers all wrote before seeing the Doctor on screen, so they had to make it up in their heads. The actor is trying to both incorporate a lineage of other actors while throwing in a ton of new stuff. There are also significant tonal shifts with each Doctor. Nine was war-torn. Ten was joyful. Eleven was whimsical. So far, Twelve seems spooked. Look at the first few Tennant episodes. Tennant is my Doctor, but those are not his great episodes. Davies wrote the first few, then it was a pile of other writers. It was a while before the character felt stable, before Tennant and Piper had figured out what their relationship was about, before the Doctor had settled into his skin and Tennant into his role. That gives us some great moments--and some really cruddy ones. Then there's the first few Smith episodes. Sure, the first angels episode, the first half of "Beast Below," and all of "Eleventh Hour" are great. But the Doctor you see there is completely different from the Doctor you see at the end of the season. He's rough, he's often kind of mean, he's not yet discovered that he's a ridiculously touchy and flirty fellow. It seems like two thirds of the internet is speculating about what Capaldi will be like, but the truth is Capaldi doesn't know yet what Capaldi will be like. So a bit of unevenness is to be expected.