raggedydocs

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It's infuriating when people bring up the fact that the show has a history of casting actors who have previously been in the show as The Doctor, when all of those times those actors played minor roles.

Like, you do see how casting a previous Doctor and previous companion as new incarnations is very different to brief appearances, right?

Especially when those two actors are so integral to the early years of the revival and to the cultural perception of Doctor Who as a show. And even more so when those two actors were central to what many view was the golden age of the current showrunner's time helming the show.

I have no doubt Billie will be amazing, and I'm not saying this as a way to hate on her, but I do think the concerns that many of us have are valid, and exist precisely because this is a direction the show hasn't been in before, and one we don't particularly like.

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i absolutely love billie piper guys but i just fucking need them to cast someone who hasnt been in the fucking show before in a main role

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they truly can't let ruby be angry once?? she can't have a MOMENT of rage at conrad? she has to be all bittersweet forgiveness?? WRITE WOMEN BETTER RUSSELL

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Can I just say I absolutely despise what they did to Belinda, using her as a vessel for the Doctor’s sudden child fixation when her character has never expressed any interest in children, then rewriting her whole timeline to accommodate afterward.

It feels especially infuriating when the previous episode *nailed* the misogyny and compulsory heterosexuality of Conrad’s World, only to see so much of it replicated at Belinda’s expense in the ‘restored’ world.

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Me, two weeks ago: omg you guys Doctor Who might be kinda good again?????? what is this??? Me now: actually i take it back, Doctor Who exists to disappoint me specifically. how fucking hard is it to write halfway decent television???? I'm not even asking for GOOD television, just DECENT television would be fine

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Made a side blog so I can yap and reblog endlessly about Robron without drowning out any posts about the blue box show on my main blog.

I have far too many thoughts about those two but still want to keep this main blog primarily for Doctor Who.

Feel free to follow @robrondingles if you fancy ☺️

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It’s so funny seeing discourse already happening around Aaron betraying Robert by sending him back to prison and Robert betraying Aaron by telling John about the kiss.

Did the six years away make people forget what Aaron and Robert’s relationship has always been? Or are people still viewing them through the healthier, domesticated lens of 2018-2019 that’s now long gone?

Aaron and Robert hurt each other to protect themselves. It’s a consistent pattern in their relationship. Aaron hurt Robert because he knows if he doesn’t do everything he can to keep him away he’ll eventually just end up running straight back into his arms and undo six years of trying to rebuild his life without him. And he’ll keep doing it until he can’t take it anymore. And Robert hurt Aaron because he truly believes their relationship might be over and he’s got nothing left to lose.

And yet it’s just not that deep because this is them. This has always been them. They’re messy and chaotic and at times toxic but they’re also soulmates and exactly what the other needs. And I fear unless some people remember that, we’re just going to keep going through this again and again when Aaron inevitably acts cold and shuts Robert out when he needs him, or when Robert acts out and does something destructive and impulsive because he’s hurt.

Of course I’m looking forward to them getting back to a healthier place where they don’t hurt each other and they get better at communicating again. But we’ve got a long and at times probably very difficult road to travel down before we get to that point.

We’ve been here before and we know it ends in their eventual reunion. Everyone just needs to sit tight.

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Despite both series being let down by incredibly weak finales, that doesn’t take away from the fact that RTD2 has had some genuinely brilliant episodes. In fact, episodes 1-5 of season 2 was one of the strongest runs the show has had in a long time.

That being said, I can’t help but feel like Doctor Who is in desperate need of new voices and a new direction.

Curious to know what everyone else wants to see moving forward…

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Guess I’m going to be the one with unpopular opinions when it comes to Aaron and how he’s very evidently repressing his feelings for Robert to protect himself, but I don’t really understand why people are getting upset at him for claiming he doesn’t care about Robert getting hurt when we know he’s going to change his mind and visit him next week.

It’s a front. And as frustrating as it is to watch and as much as it hurts right now we’ll see in their conversation next week (even though it ends with Aaron rejecting Robert) the reality of their feelings when Aaron has to be in the same room as him again.

It’s easier for Aaron to act like he doesn’t want Robert anymore when he’s not around. That’s the whole point. And that’s going to become a whole lot more complicated for him when he’s back in the village.

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I can’t even find it within me to be angry at Aaron for dismissing the visitation letter and claiming that Robert isn’t relevant to his future when we know he’s going to entirely contradict that by visiting Robert knowing how much that would upset John.

Even if his excuse is that he’s ending things with Robert once and for all, words are just words and his actions will speak much louder. If he was truly in Aaron’s past, and if Aaron truly loved John the way he claims he does, he wouldn’t be setting foot anywhere near that prison.

All roads lead to Robert. It’s why none of his relationships since have been truly fulfilling. It’s why he’s rushed into this marriage while ignoring 1000 glaring red flags (aside from plot purposes ofc), and why he went ahead with the wedding even when Robert came back into his life. It’s why he kissed Robert barely moments after seeing him again despite the years of hurt, and why he’s going to visit him anyway. It’s why the moment he arrives in the village, their reunion is imminent.

Aaron and John aren’t a relationship built out of love; they’re a relationship built out of necessity. And for Aaron, that necessity is going for what he believes to be the safe option, because if he can build a life with John, that proves he doesn’t need Robert as much as we all know he does.

Also, I’ve got to show my appreciation for Danny’s performance when Aaron reads the letter and realises that for the first time in 6 years, Robert is asking for him to visit. For just a moment you can see the mask slip, Aaron’s voice breaking and him wavering for a second before he regains his composure. You can always rely on Danny to deliver a scene truthfully, even if Aaron is desperately putting up a front right now.

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It was always kinda obvious that Robert was going to be John’s weak spot, the one person to send him over the edge and get him to start showing his true colours – after all, he is the one true threat to everything that John has and the person whose life John has essentially stepped into. And I do think, no matter what anyone says about Robert, John knows deep down he has the power to take what belongs to him right back.

But I think the funniest part is that Robert simply views John as an imposter, not as a murderer. John could have kept his jealousy at bay, letting his husband shut the door on that relationship and then moving on with neither Aaron or Robert any the wiser to what he’s actually capable of. But because he can already feel everything slipping from his grasp, he’s going to be his own worst enemy.

Ultimately, it won’t be Robert reaching out that will get Aaron back, it will be John pushing Aaron right into his arms without realising it.

Aaron is going to return home from a difficult and heartbreaking visit with his ex-husband, but one where Robert ultimately does the one thing Aaron wouldn’t expect and respects his wishes, only to return home to find his actual husband acting up from his jealousy – the first sign of danger. Robert is going to feel like he really has lost, only for his brother to turn up and hand him a lottery ticket by letting the cracks begin to show.

He’s going to give Robert the reason he needs to fight and that’s where his downfall truly begins.

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It’s genuinely hilarious to me that Aaron “nothing can happen between us” Dingle has decided to go all the way to the prison just to tell Robert that. Surely not going would have been the most effective way of giving that message? But sure Aaron, whatever works for you.

It doesn’t matter what words come out of Aaron’s mouth to convince himself John is the one he is meant to spend the rest of his life with; he really can’t stay away from Robert and I couldn’t be more excited to see the sheer levels of tension and chemistry and pining that Danny and Ryan are about to deliver.

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someone pointed out to me yesterday that the time between ncuti's announcement and the giggle is longer than his actual tenure

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What if, for a while, Robert pursues Aaron, tells him they should be together, tells him to be wary of John because there's something not quite right about him but all Aaron sees is jealousy and he doesn't take it seriously. Robert tries to talk to Aaron, to remind him of the times they had and despite being able to see how he feels in his eyes, those blue eyes that always held so much love for him still shimmering with the ghost of that feeling, he doesn't choose him. And his time in prison catches up with Robert and he's tired. He can't do this anymore.

Robert pulls it back, per Aaron's request. He's a lot more casual with him, tries to leave their immense history out of every brief interaction they have, and Aaron feels the lack of Robert's attention like an itch under his skin. He can feel himself staring at the side of Robert's head for too long in the Woolpack and he can feel John's gaze on himself in return but he can't bring himself to look away.

Aaron can't take it anymore, and turns something that could've been a ten second interaction with Robert into something longer, keeping him there, a hand on his arm. Robert's eyes flicker, and Aaron sways into his space and tries to kiss him. Robert gently pushes him away, a a hand to his chest, a pained expression on his face. Aaron sniffs and looks down at the ground before looking back up at him again, biting his lip, eyes shining wet. When he speaks his voice is hoarse and raspy. "Do you not want me anymore?" It's what they've always had, even when it wasn't allowed and they had to hide it, when they had other people they were committed to, when their families didn't approve, when it wasn't good for them. None of it mattered; they always wanted each other.

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Relying on nostalgia bait is bad enough, but when it's nostalgia bait for your own era, it becomes even more egregious.

What happened to centring the show on compelling new characters and gripping new stories? Why aren't they out here investing in its future rather than propping it up with a past that they'll never truly be able to recreate?

I love Doctor Who. I will always love Doctor Who. For better or worse I will be here for however long the show continues. But I can't remember the last time it truly made me this angry and disappointed.

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As someone who has been in the Buddie trenches for the last year, Robron's return means even more knowing that this is a slowburn that is guaranteed to end in them getting (back) together, and that Robert would only return to the show for that very purpose. That whatever the hell they're going to put us and the characters through in the coming weeks and months, there is only one way this ends. I can't wait to see how we get there.

And considering how unpredictable soaps are, you ironically couldn't have a more stable couple than Robron (despite the chronic disfunction of them as individuals and as a couple). I love this for us.

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It makes me so mad how excited I was for Belinda. To see a companion who didn't buy into the hype and the mystique that often surrounds The Doctor, who didn't see him as this infallible hero but as this flawed and potentially dangerous man, who never fell in line or at his feet but stood in front and asserted herself as an equal, who isn't in the TARDIS by choice and has a life of her own as a single woman in a high-pressured job that she still wants to get back to despite the time travel and the adventure, because she too gets to save lives every day even back on Earth and she doesn't need a Time Lord to do that - it was so incredibly refreshing.

And the issue is, while Belinda continued to call the shots for at least the first five episodes of the series, they dropped the ball with her characterisation as early as the second episode. For her to be so critical of The Doctor at the end of episode one, and so immediately perceptive of his ability to endanger those around him for the sake of his own pursuit of adventure, and yet for her to already abandon that notion and trust him entirely by the end of the next episode, to the extent that by the end of the series she is completely unfazed when on several occasions her instincts were proven to be correct, is not only a massive change in characterisation, but also a colossal waste of such a compelling premise.

And then for her character to be reduced not only to being the mother of The Doctor's child, but ultimately completely rewritten so that they were brought together so that she could be Poppy's mother - and choose to leave on that premise also - is so unbelievably insulting and disappointing. Varada is wonderful. Belinda is wonderful. The dynamic between the actors and the characters is one of my favourites in a long time.

Belinda and Varada aren't the only ones who deserve better after this series (I could write entire essays about Ruby and Fifteen), but I really thought we were onto something and while Belinda will always have a place in my heart, I'm just gutted the series and the character ended on this note.