Pricking the bubble of fandom gossip...

[kaliha]

Sci Fi Pulse have apparently set fandom alight with their 'top story'

Once I stopped laughing I had a bit of a think about it and could see where they were coming from. Thus:


Let's start with all the Torchwood gossip.

Rumour:

First off on Torchwood things are going to change massively. Leaving the show are Burn Gorman [Owen Harper], Naoko Mori [Toshiko] and John Barrowman [Captain Jack Harkness], though it is likely that Barrowman will return now and then as Captain Jack in a recurring capacity.

Well Owen is currently suffering from a terrible case of death, so this is a possibility. After all the energy animating him won't last forever. And if Owen pops his clogs (again) it could prompt Tosh to leave, so it's plausible.
John Barrowman leaving sounds a lot less likely, especially when he's been yakking on about signing up for S3. Admittedly it's possible he could be doing less episodes - he's apparently doing something in the West End Next year, plus Robin Hood at Birmingham Dec-Jan and all his judging that he does, but I can't see him leaving altogether.

Rumour:

Joining the team as a full time member as of season 3 will be Freema Agyeman who will step in as Martha Jones and take over the day to day running of Torchwood from Captain Jack.

Awesome yes. And not outside the realms of possibility. Freema has been saying that Russell has more in store for Martha - this would seem a likely route.

Rumour:

Making Torchwood more kid-friendly. The [...] changes to Torchwoods format are so it can be shown in the Saturday evening slot that is usually occupied by Doctor Who

Well the kid-friendly repeats are already doing that job. And now they've got the series actually working I don't think they'd change the format so drastically. Not when it's currently the highest rated series on BBC2. Poor old Robin Hood's getting a shafting then. Shame. Again, think that's a bit unlikely.

Rumour:

A third season of Torchwood has indeed been commissioned, but thus far only for five episodes as apposed to the usual 13.

Gareth David-Lloyd and John Barrowman have both confirmed that they're signed up for Series 3. But what's the point in doing a five episode series, when it's more cost effective to do thirteen. Think that this one's a bit bollocks to be honest.

Doctor Who:
Rumour:

David Tennant will be leaving the series and will regenerate during the last few minutes of the 2009 Christmas Special.

Well, everyone and their dog's been saying that since David Tennant was announced as doing Hamlet. Currently this is the only part of this story I reckon is actually true.

Rumour:

Apparently for the last few months filming has been underway on the four Doctor Who specials.

Strange, they were only filming the finale trio of eps just after Christmas and I'm sure there's still at least one block of episodes left to film, unless I've been reading the news in DWM wrong.

Rumour:

Tennant will officially have left the series in two weeks time when he finishes filming the final moments of the 2009 Christmas Special.

Well I'm sure we'll have some leaked photos in the Sun when that happens then.

Rumour:

Tipped to take over from Tennant is Full Monty Actor Robert Carlyle

That's a bit out of the blue. It's been Nesbitt this and Nesbitt that over the last few months. I'm still holding out hope that David Tennant will turn into Stephen Fry. Because Fry for the Eleventh Doctor would be made of win and also awesome.

Rumour:

Though the big difference is Donna whom Tate plays in the series will turn out to be a pretty nasty piece of work.

The character assassination starts already. Poor old Donna. That would be breaking the New!Who Companion mould a little too much, so I'm calling shennanigans on it. (But it could the proven my the supposed conversation between the Doctor and Donna's granddad where it's implied that Donna's lost her memory. After all RTD loves his big reset buttons)

I'm on the side of the fence that is calling most of this "bollocks until proven otherwise in a leaked BBC press release"

Comments

[paleologa.livejournal.com]

Well Owen is currently suffering from a terrible case of death, so this is a possibility.

Hahahaha. This just amused the hell out of me. *wipes tears* Thank you. :-)

The whole article is a stitch, as you say.

[davidbrider.livejournal.com]

Because Fry for the Eleventh Doctor would be made of win and also awesome.

I'm getting excited just thinking about the possibility...

Although realistically, I'm not sure I can see it happening.

David.

[doylefan22.livejournal.com]

David's been rumoured to be leaving every moment since he got the job. I wonder if it's given him a bit of a complex?

Part of me wants them to do a fake regeneration at the end of the specials just to dig at people i.e. Doctor gets shot, everyone is like 'ah ha! I knew this was going to happen!' and then suddenly he gets up again saying it's alright, the bullet just hit his sonic screwdriver...

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

As much as I love Fry, DW is a youn(ger) man's game, due to the amount of running and jumping and willingness to work insane hours for 9 months out of the year. I can't see them hiring leads over the age of 45, for fear they'll burn out too quickly. I can actually see RC in the role, thanks to introducing my mum to the Hamish Macbeth series. But I always get a good laugh about DW casting rumours. Remember the uproar over the Robson Green rumours last year?

Also, I can totally see Martha taking over TW3 full-time. As much as I love Jack, Barrowman's not really a strong enough actor to carry episodes on his own. He works best as part of an ensemble. Whereas I can see Freema developing into a really strong lead capable of carrying episodes on her own. Especially paired with Eve.

[taperoo2k.livejournal.com]

They are still filming series 4's finale. As far as i know (via the doctor who forum) they will be filming into April so they can get the 2008 Christmas special in the can. It seems a bit of a tall order for them to film series 4 and the 2009 specials at the same time. Tennant's also said he reports back for the 2009 specials in January 2009. Series 5 is in the planning stages at the moment, i think RTD said that in his DWM production notes.

I'm guessing John Barrowman will more than likely appear in at least one of the 2009 specials.

[alawston.livejournal.com]

Hmm, not sure which way to jump on Tennant right now. Knowledge of the RSC (and I do mean proper knowledge here) suggests they tend not to cast people like Patrick Stewart and David Tennant in the same play unless they know they can extend the run beyond Stratford. Gut feeling says he can't possibly do anything more with the part after another season and three episodes.

But at the same time... the break between seasons seems to have been tailored to fit Tennant's schedule. It doesn't really make sense for the BBC to do that if he's just going to fuck off.

As for the Donna rumour - well, I think we're long past ready for another shady ginger companion. Mel might have turned out to be even more 1D than she seemed but I have lingering hopes that Donna will whip out a silly perspex cube and wiggle her eyebrows at it every episode...

[kaffy_r]

Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd be extremely disappointed if Burn Gorman leaves. I'd also like to see Tennant stay a bit longer (although the idea of a Carlyle Eleven intrigues me.)

[lm-jillybean.livejournal.com]

The thing is . . . I'm already totally shipping 11/Rose. Is that so wrong of me?

While I think Robert Carlyle would make a truly fantastic Doctor, I would be genuinely sad to see David Tennant go, because when he tones down the crazy, he is a fantastically dark and godly Doctor. However, he also obviously loves the role and I don't put much stock in all these rumours.

The Torchwood stuff just sounds a bit daft. I can well imagine Martha returning full time, but John Barrowman leaving? Again, like David Tennant, he adores the show. Freema Agyeman was on the radio a couple of weeks ago and struck me as being in the same mold as those two, so I can see her returning in another capacity (though I was hoping for another spin off show to be honest, less farce than Torchwood can be sometimes. But in saying that, last week's BBC3 Torchwood had me absolutely gripped from beginning to end. The show is really hitting it's stride)

I can see Tosh leaving, her character is woefully misused. Owen, on the other hand, I think has a lot more to give.

Gosh!

[thinkzinc.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, well, I'm really not sure I'd watch Torchwood without John Barrowman in it! I suppose it is plausible he will cut down on Captain Jack though :'(

I like Robert Carlyle, but can't see him as the Doctor! Swapping one skinny Scottish doctor for another doesn't seem very imaginative either, I'm really not convinced! So you've heard Nesbitt may be stepping in, as in Jimmy? I would like an Irish Doctor :-) But he's had his face in too many other shows lately. Oh well, plenty of time til Dec '09 to speculate!