Mostly I don’t like the Disney Season 1 thing because it messes up season for classic and series for revival… I think we need a new word altogether for New New Who
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The Star beast was the third Doctor Who episode I remember fully watching (after Rose and End of the world). I think the recap did a good enough job at making me understand some basic things, even without spoiling the end of series 4, but tbf I had read a thousand wikipedia pages and watched a million YT clips by then so maybe I didn’t actually go in blind. (Thought it was just ok on first watch)
I rewatched it very recently after having actually seen series 4, and it did all make a lot more sense suddenly. It was not like I had a hard time understanding it the first time around, but I was still watching a pay off to something from which I hadn’t seen the buildup. Because it is very much a continuation of RTD 1. I think starting with Church on Ruby road would make more sense for most new viewers.
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Searching for new things to buy 
I just happened to discover a blu ray edition “Doctor Who: Jon Pertwee: Complete Season Two” on amazon.
Gotta say, I prefer keeping the numbering straight for the classic series, and the same goes for the new run starting with the ninth Doctor.
At the same time, as a comic fan, it’s pretty normal for me to see a series kick off again with a fresh number one
Looking at the ‘Uncanny X-Men’ lineup – you’ve got the original from 1963-2011, then the sequels from 2011-2012, 2013-2015, and so on. So , it does not bother me if, post the 13 epic seasons of 2005’s ‘Doctor Who’, we jump into the 2024 ‘Doctor Who’ seasons—let’s call them the Disney Years and hope there are many more to come —with a brand new number 1.
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I want to call it series 14, but I’m actually calling it Season 1 given like other people have said, it’s what they’re calling it
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I call it Season 1 as well, that’s the official designation after all 
And this topic was never a call for a change of the name or number of this season
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I think there is a danger that could happen. I love seeing previous companions and monsters come back, but it’s a very strange approach when your aim is to bring in new viewers.
Mel at least makes some sense as she’s a household name in the UK, so her fame will entice new national viewers. On a worldwide scale, Bonnie Langford isn’t likely to mean much though. I think her appearances have been handled well, in a way that makes sense to both new and old viewers. Catherine Tate is incredible as Donna Noble, and is both a household name worldwide and nationally, but her return relies more heavily on old continuity. They may have the fourth wall breaking at the beginning of The Star Beast to catch new viewers up to speed, but her reintroduction does feel more geared towards fans than new viewers overall.
Then you have the Toymaker and Sutekh. The Toymaker is so niche that he has only appeared in one largely missing 60s story. Sutekh is less obscure but still only appeared in one story. The latter is bizarre in that the cliffhanger assumes you have heard of Sutekh already. I know it confused my parents, who whilst my Mum had seen the Pertwee and Tom Baker eras, doesn’t know enough to be aware of Sutekh. I do think his return could possibly put off some viewers, who are confused as to who he is.
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Actually, Sutekh might be slightly more well-known than you’d think. Back for the 50th, BBC America did a series called The Doctor Revisited which was a half hour documentary about a given incarnation followed by a omnibus serial. Tom’s was Pyramids of Mars.
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What would they then do with the “shared” seasons, 4 and 21?
Peter Davison: Season 3 and a bit of Colin Baker?
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I mean currently I just call it the new season or like ncuti gatwa’s first season, but that’s mostly because the numbering is always going to be more confusing to me than referring to it by doctor or time, that just helps me place it more easily. I always mostly talk to people who have no idea what the show even is, so it’s just easier to not mention numbers or stuff like that anyway.
I do actually think that church on Ruby road is a pretty good jumping in point if you’re a casual viewer of tv (which usually aren’t the type of people you hear talking about it, so it can be hard to tell). It’s also harder if you know that there is a lot of lore I think, because you might think you don’t get stuff because of that, instead of it just not being explained yet, so I think the renaming helps with that. For example, my mother, who may have watched like five episodes of classic who back when she lived in England for a bit, watched boom with me and told me she didn’t get the beginning because she was missing background information before I told her that I actually had no idea who these people were either.
And honestly, the first episode I watched was Christmas invasion and I was very confused but it still got me hooked and like by the next episode I was fine.
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Go on, I DARE them to do that. What would season 4 be though?
William Hartnell’s Last Hurrah and Patrick Troughton Season 1? 
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I agree that it’s easier to refer to it by Doctor number, especially when talking to people who don’t know the show all that well
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If they really want to secure new viewers tune in to Doctor Who on Disney+, perhaps it was an idea to do a bit of “stunt-casting” alá Kylie Minogue in Voyage of the Damned.
Have Ncuti call up his fellow Ken, perhaps?
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Another Toymaker? The evil Mah Tel.
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I don’t know whether to groan mightily or applaud you for that one 
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I would be surprised if Ryan Gosling never appears. He’ll be a guest star in a future Christmas Special, no doubt.
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Rankings and ratings stress me a bit so here’s my quickfire thoughts on each episode of New New Who, including the specials because why not:
The Star Beast - A fun romp! I love that RTD has no truck with subtlety. Queer kids, you are welcome in all of time and space 
Wild Blue Yonder - not sure I found it quite as scary as they were going for but I loved the concept and the captain
The Giggle - Take a flipping bow NPH! From some the TV stuff would feel patronising but for some reason I trust RTD
The Church on Ruby Road - Goblins!! Would have liked more goblins. Terrified of singing that song somewhere inappropriate by accident
Space Babies - See problem, fix problem, be kind. Absolutely loved this. Also cool stuff about stories and identity!
The Devil’s Chord - Bit messy but this episode just had such high charisma. Loved the song again and freaking Johannes Radebe cameo!
Boom - Tense as hell. Still find Moffat a wee bit Edgy but he made some great points about the military industrial complex and the Doctor was stuck on a landmine when he was a bit simplistic about faith so I’ll let him off with that
73 Yards - Also super tense! Maybe doesn’t quite hold up to logical scrutiny but in the moment I was so in it and am confident I would be again
Dot and Bubble - I feel kind of grateful for being shown how many racial microaggressions I can miss as a white person, was also very funny
Rogue - I’ve never enjoyed Doctor romance so much in my entire life. Rogue rediscovered life and purpose and became a flipping hero 
The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death - aww RTD you big softie you 
Plot threads trailing all over the place but I am so here for where he went with it
Can’t wait for Christmas!
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On a partially related side note. I’m considering creating a Cross-Media Discussions thread for this season that focuses on the expanded media set here and its relation to the TV stories. Should that be a separate thread, or should they be combined and this thread moved to that category? Or, is it too soon for such a thread?
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I feel that would make sense as a seperate thread, and there may not be too much now, but it’d get more and more use as time goes on
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Sounds like a separate thread to me 
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Sounds good. Probably make it tonight then.
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