The New Doctor Who (Naturally, Spoilers)

Doctor Who is a series that is based on a steady rotation of main cast members including the lead.

The Doctor is usually replaced every 3 years, inheriting the companion their predecessor was last traveling with for a season or two. So in a four year/season period there will usually be two Doctors and at least three main companions.

While this was not the original intention of the series, the recasting and regeneration coming around due to William Hartnell becoming too ill to continue with the role. Since then the actor who goes on to play the Doctor is usually advised by the earlier actors to only stick around for three seasons or so. (Tom Baker is, of course the notable exception and David Tennant did four seasons, the last of which was a series of specials).

As I noted above Doctor Who, at least in its modern form, is also an unusual case of actually being rather 'gender neutral' when it comes to the lead character and having a very enlightened attitude towards sexuality. (Shakespeare flirts with the Doctor and his then companion Martha Jones, Madam Vestra is married to Jenny, and Captain Jack from the start 'dances' with anyone)
If you look at these newer episodes the Doctors gender doesn't actually matter or effect the plot or interactions to the point that you'd have to significantly alter the scripts used in episodes. Beyond changing references to the Doctors appearance and any gender specific terms used. The only exception I can think of would be a Matt Smith Episode called 'The Lodger', where he ends up staying in a house with James Cordon and trying to understand what being 'one of the boys' actually means; That episode wouldn't work with a female Doctor as written, it would require the switching of characters around to make it work.

In this context there is no reason why Who is going to stop working, nor any reason for them to significantly alter the stories beyond having characters maybe being surprised that the legendary Doctor is actually a woman; Especially if that character happens to have crossed paths with the Doctor in a previous regeneration.

I'd actually love them to have the guts to bring back two fan favorites to interact with the new Doctor; Captain Jack and Madam Vestra.

Imagine it;

Captain Jack on seeing the Doctor for the first time.

Jack; "Why, Hello"
Doctor; "Stop it Jack"
J; "I was jus...wait how do you know my name?"
D; "Because I'm the Doctor"
J; "Your who?"
*Doctor takes out sonic screwdriver*
"Exactly"
J; "Oh"

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Vestra, Jenny and Strax meet the new Doctor;

Strax; "Doctor? You've changed..." {proudly} "...You've changed your hair!"
D; "Yes I'm the Doctor, yes I'm a woman, yes that can happen and yes I wish people would stop asking about it"
Vestra, while clearly checking the Doctor out; "Oh, well I have to say you look MUCH better in this body Doctor"
Jenny; "OI! Married"
*Vestra hisses and turns away. Jenny checks the Doctor out herself*

the next time she crosses paths with River Song could be interesting, too.

"spoilers, swee-tie"

Bill will not be returning.

From what I can tell they intend to give the series a new start in the same way they did when Matt Smith took over the role. This means starting with just the new Doctor and no existing companion. The reason for this isn't actually a 'reboot' but because Stephen Moffet will leave with Peter Capaldi, and it makes his successors job a lot easier if he doesn't have to reuse any former characters; Especially if, as seems to be the case, he has a different take on what kind of stories should be told.

In regards past characters it is unlikely that they will make an appearence, unless they have been gone from the show for quite sometime AND their story hasn't ended. So;

River Song; Unlikely since last years Christmas special seems to have been intended to close her story by bringing her full circle. It's possible, given that she is a time traveller, that she could make an appearence. But I actually doubt enough time has past for them to consider bringing her back anytime soon.

Bill; Without Spoliers it seems clear that Bill's story is over and she will not appear on the series again.

Clara; Technically possible as her story is ongoing, just without the Doctor. I wouldn't be too surprised if they consider bringing her back to more fully close her story, or at least give her more character. But I also wouldn't be surprised if we never see her again either.

Vestra, Jenny and Strax; Big fan favourates who, while created by Moffet during Matt Smiths run, have not been seen since Capaldi's first episode. They are already interesting characters, and their own group independent of the Doctor, with scope to allow us to see more of them. They also live in Victorian England, which might act as a better backdrop for a 'world ending' threat in the Tennant style than the modern day. If they want to have the Doctor running into characters we've seen on screen before, as a way to deal with the Doctors gender change, these three would seem to be very high on the list.

Captain Jack; THE fan favourate, and the one a large number of fans would dealy love to bring back. His story has not been told in its entirety, even on Torchwood, and he is (or can be) a time traveller. Jack has not been seen on Who since David Tennants last episode, and then in a cameo. (Which is ironic as the Episode in which he was introduced was written by Stephen Moffet)
There have been repeated calls for Torchwood to be brought back, so having Jack return to Who might act as a good way to see how much interest there still is in the character.
Even 12 months ago it would have been unlikely that they would have considered bringing the character back as John Barrowman was a cast regular on Arrow. However he will not be in the sixth season of the series (or the other shows) so should be available for a few episodes of Who, and potentually a full time companion* or for a new Torchwood series IF they get a move on.
(*Probably not a full time companion, as John Barrowman has stated in pannels that he feels Jack works best with Gwen Cooper (Eve Miles) from Torchwood.)

Other companions; Technically of course the Doctor could run into any of her past companions. However other than Captain Jack the stories of those past companions are done.

Two characters they might want to consider bringing back, but probably won't, who were not actually companions but could have been are;

Jenny, The Doctors Daughter (David Tennants run); Created from a sample of the Doctors DNA the character was 'programed' to be a soldier. The Doctor belived she had been killed at the end of this episode but the audience discovered that she could actually regenerate.
It would be interesting to bring her back, having to deal with the fact that her 'dad' is now her 'mum', as well as understandably asking questions about the Time Lords.
Jenny was played by Georgina Moffet, daughter of Peter Davidson and wife to David Tennant (David actually met her filming the episode). They could always recast the character, since she can regenerate, if they wanted to bring her back. In fact they could bring the character back with a new actress and name and only reveal who she really is much later on.

Female Soldier "Into the Darlek" (I forget the name); This was one of Capaldi's first episodes where he runs into a group of human resistance fighters battling Darleks, and ends up going inside a Darlek to repair it. One of the lead guest characters was a female soldier who at the end of the episode asks to leave with the Doctor, being sick of all the fighting and death. The Doctor turns her down simply because she is a soldier. (Which kind of misses the point that its not exactly like she had any choice but be a soldier)
It might be interesting to see this character (or one like her) become a companion and having to try and overcome their military training. As well as the Doctor having to deal with the fact that 'soldier' doesn't automatically mean 'mindless kiling machine'.
It might also lead to a somewhat different dynamic between Doctor and Companion, since initially this companion is likely to treat the Doctor like a senior officer, much to her annoyance, but later would become more independent and possibly have less of the hero-worship and more of an actual friendship than we've usually got from companions*

(*Donna was possibly the last companion who didn't run around treating the Doctor as some kind of god, 'wise-man' or potential boyfriend. Even Captain Jack tended to do this in his later appearences even though he was the lead on Torchwood at the time.)

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Multi-episode stories were there because the old series had episodes that were 20-30 minutes in length and ran for around 20+ episodes per season. The new series has episodes that are an hour in length and around 12 episodes per season.

The change in format means that they can tell more complete stories within a single episode, something the old series couldn't actually do. They do have season arcs and double length episodes, which with the smaller number of episodes allows them to be more focused on the larger story than they could have been on the original series. That is probably as close to the 'old style' multi-episode stories as we will get. Excluding anything they might decide to make for the internet.

I'm still early in Capaldi's run. once I catch up to now, I plan to see a few of the older episodes.

The two big allegations I'm seeing so far are that:

1. They're bringing back a behind-the-scenes creative talent associated with some less popular episodes to back the new Doctor

2. The actress is being paid the same as the previous Doctor despite a less impressive resume

If the latter is true, then it could mean that they're simply fixing the rate of pay based on the character, not the talent. But the former, if true, rather gives the impression of a perfect storm on the horizon.

{Moved this and the post above it to this thread rather than derail the original thread - CM}

This actress has come from the series "Broadchurch", which has received some good reviews, ...
And they also have the writer from that series with her, if I am to believe what I hear?.

Dr Who is a revived series that has been doing rather well recently.
I doubt they will allow it to be used as anything other than what it is.
From what I am hearing elsewhere, the fact they didnt have a female doctor before was one of rather not being able to find someone who could carry the series onwards without it becoming a farce.
However...
This Actress is keen to keep things completely different from the other doctors as far as a regeneration can be, as is the history of the new doctors, but after that, wants to carry on the same as all the last doctors, with the only difference being some light humour and sarcasm "Well isnt it about time you had a Woman about the place?.." and "Does it matter that much?.." "Oh do you know I handnt noticed until you told me that I am a Woman...."

As I say, this is what I am hearing from those that matter that have put her in the role.

For me?.. I go back to what I have said elsewhere, "The right person for the job", and being that one Katie Hopkins got her backside handed top her on Twitter over the matter with a reply "Whatever she does she has two more hearts than you have" from someone who didnt like what she said on the subject, as long as it isnt someone like her doing the job?..

As for this actress in question... I think my prediction may be "Interesting".
And that is the start of intrigue.
She certainly wont be boring... well, I hope... but from what she has done in the past, I think she is well within the remit of the right person for the job here, and that for me is enough to have me awaiting the first show.

Heck I may even start watching the show again. Regularly.

Capaldi is similar to,some of the older Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were a bit prickly as was Colon Baker.

It's a real labour of over to watch some of the serials with missing episodes, some of which have had the gaps filled in with animation where the audio exists but not video.
There are still entire stories that are lost and are unlikely very to be found, due to the BBC policy of wiping and reusing video tape masters which was expensive back then.

It's mostly the Hartnell and Troughton era that suffers for this, I think from then on once the BBC moved to colour and Pertwee became the Doctor the archive is complete.