And Now My Fears, They Come to Me in Three

Just read a few things about the end of the current series of Who that have got me slightly worried. They are as follows:

1) Billie's leaving. Bugger. It's bad enough that for the new series the audience has to adjust to someone new playing the Doctor, but it seems as though they've then gotta adjust to losing their only other reference point in the series very quickly as well. In short it seems as though after a glorious rebirth, people are then left back at square one, not knowing who any of the main characters are, and that's not good at all. Personally speaking, I'll really miss Billie as I think she's done a fantastic job as Rose, bringing a real warmth and endearingness to the role. It makes me worry how they're gonna introduce a new companion and how they will relate to the Doctor, as I don't think they'll try and redo the whole love/friends thing again.

2) The audience figures dropped for 'The Empty Child'. It's times like this I really wish ITV would roll over and die. They've realised that they can't win viewers by providing softcore porn for the chav population, and so play the sneakiest card possible by placing the Star Wars films against the current series. Why, oh good god why, can't they realise that there's an audience for sci-fi fans at that time, but there's also an audience for different types of DECENT entertainment as well and that both audiences can be satisfied if they make an effort, rather than having to resort to simple 'stealing viewers' tactics. 6.5 Million viewers isn't great for Who, and what with the upheaval going on behind the scenes, and a feeling of being less than impressed with some of the new writers for the second series, I'm not feeling positive at present.

3) The cast for the series finale. I've recently learned that Davina McCall and Trinny and Susanna are in the last two episodes. Oh hell. There I was hoping for this epic, bleak, Androzani-esque story involving the Doctor and the regeneration and instead it looks as though we've got a line of annoying tv 'celebrities' turning up. Hardly Sharaz Jek is it? I don't wanna admit defeat before it's even taken place, as that would be hypocritical against what I previously said about RTD, but little things like that make me worry. Couple that with the other two reasons identified and it's no suprise I'm feeling discouraged. I can only hope that the thoughts of a Man Much Greater Than I are correct, and it's a Revelation style story where the Daleks are secretly controling everything. If it's a media satire like the (in my opinion) excellent Long Game then we could well be ok.

Suppose I should try and be positive.