#Andy Pryor

[denimbex1986]

'The casting director for Doctor Who responds to the recent backlash surrounding one casting decision in the show’s “Wild Blue Yonder” special. As Doctor Who awaits the release of season 14, the show is currently airing its 60th anniversary specials. The final anniversary special, titled “The Giggle” is set for release on December 9.

After “Wild Blue Yonder” received backlash about its Isaac Newton casting, the Doctor Who casting director reacts to the online response. Speaking with Digital Spy, casting director Andy Pryor says that “it’s sad that we’re in a time where people villainise minorities.” Pryor went on to express the importance of giving “people a voice” on screen, saying that seeing one’s identity reflected on screen “can be a huge lifeline for some people.” Check out the full quote from Pryor below:

It's sad that we're in a time where people villainise minorities, This sort of chatter, I'm very good at kind of tuning it out. And I'm also very, very happy to block people on Twitter. I don't really have any time for bigotry at all.

It then becomes even more important to give people a voice and for people to be represented, especially for young people growing up who might be trans or from any minority. If they can see themselves on screen, then that can be a huge lifeline for some people. That can make them feel part of the world, which indeed they are.

Social media is a bit of a dangerous place because I think people get sucked into saying things that I don't know that they truly believe? It just becomes a game for them. Unfortunately, real life isn't a game, and I think it's important to stand up for for people who are marginalised.

Growing up as a gay man, I'm as aware as any anybody else of how this stuff makes you feel when you see it. How that negativity can affect you. I don't really think anyone should have to go through that.

Doctor Who’s Isaac Newton Casting Backlash Explained

In “Wild Blue Yonder,” the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble are sent back in time and end up meeting physicist Isaac Newton. In the Doctor Who episode, Isaac Newton is played by Nathaniel Curtis, who is a person of color. Some people on social media were upset about this decision, pointing out that the real-life Isaac Newton was a white, English man.

The Doctor Who casting backlash comes during a time when similar race-related casting decisions have been highly criticized. This backlash has included recent vitriol surrounding the casting of Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid and Rachel Zegler in Snow White, both of whom are actresses of color who portray historically white Disney princesses. After “Wild Blue Yonder,” Doctor Who became the most recent piece of mainstream media to be under fire after making a concerted effort towards inclusion.

Within this criticism, it is great to see a show like Doctor Who hold firm in its ground about inclusive casting. Throughout the Doctor Who anniversary specials, the show’s effort towards inclusion is clear. “The Star Beast” character Rose Noble is a trans character played by Yasmin Finney, who is a transgender woman herself. “The Star Beast” also features actress Ruth Madeley, who is a wheelchair user, marking another step towards inclusion. Isaac Newton’s casting is just another step that Doctor Who is making to create a diverse cast, and it is luckily one that it will stand by despite the hate.'

[yestolerancepro]

Tolerance blog extra Have wheels will travel in time and space

Introduction

Hello there I am writing this in the run up to Christmas 2023 if you’re a Doctor who fan like me there has been a lot to enjoy this year. With it being the Doctors 60th birthday the return of David Tennant playing the 14th Doctor, and the birth of the 15th Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa who made his full début as the Doctor last Christmas.

This blog is not about that though this blog is about the debut of UNITs 54th scientific adviser Shirley Bingham played by Ruth Madeley who featured in both the Star Beast and The Giggle

Welcome to the newest member of UNITs finest

Ruth has quite rightly been given alot of praise for her performance as Shirley Bingham but she has also been helped by a wonderful script by Russell T Davis I love the fact that her wheelchair is armed to the teeth with missiles and Tranquilliser darts what disabled child what not love that.

In the last ten minutes of the 3rd 60th Anniversary story The Giggle The Doctor David Tennant revealed something new to his TARDIS.A ramp making the time and space machine fully accessible to everybody which means we could see Shirley Bingham jet off into time and Space I for one would love to see that.

 Ruth Madeley has said the new accessible ramp on the TARDIS “for every disabled kid”.

On X, formerly Twitter, Madeley,  who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, posted a photo of herself next to a ramp leading into the TARDIS which is shaped like a traditional blue police phone box and is usually raised slightly from the ground.

Madeley, who stars as scientific advisor Shirley Anne Bingham on the show, says to Tennant’s Doctor: “At last, you’ve finally caught up with the 21st century.”  

Having a disabled character in Doctor who appeared earlier than you think

This is not the first time that the programme has dealt with the issue of disability the series first featured a disabled character as early as 1965 in the story Dalek invasion of Earth. Where actor Alan Judd played wheelchair user Dortman its not explained in the story weather his use of a wheelchair is a result of a disability or injuries he received from the Daleks regardless he gives strong performance.

The first disabled actor to appear in Doctor who was  actor Graham Leeman who suffered with MS he appeared in 17 episodes of Doctor who playing various parts between 1967-1973.

Casting on Doctor who with Andy Pryor

Ruth Madeley’s appearance in Doctor who is still a game changer it has been coming in an interview with Entertainment website Digital spy Andy Pryor Doctor who casting director was looking to hire more disabled actors

Andy Pryor has worked with every Doctor Who showrunner since Davies initially rebooted Doctor Who in 2005, the show is gearing up for its biggest shake-up in a decade with the 60th anniversary.

Speaking to The Radio Times, Pryor mentioned that Doctor Who should be leading the way on disability representation because its stories aren't limited to one place, one planet or even one universe.

"I like to cast as inclusively as possible," he said. "It's more interesting. Also, if you can't cast diversely on Doctor Who, what show can you do it on?"

The casting director went on: "It goes everywhere, on this planet and others, and you don't want to see the same kind of people all the time. You don't want it to be exclusively middle-class white people speaking with RP accents."

Pryor acknowledged that "there's always more we can do", especially in terms of presenting disabled actors in roles where disability doesn't define their character.

"Certainly, there's absolutely no excuse to not cast a disabled actor in a disabled role nowadays," he said. "Also, we're trying to cast disabled people in roles that aren't necessarily written as disabled.

"We don't always want disabled casting to be 'issue' casting. So our horizons are widening. I want to see more disabled people on screen."

The most recent casting of a disabled actor in the series has been Nadia Albina, playing Dan Lewis's friend Diane throughout the Flux miniseries and the recent specials.

So Ruth’s casting as Shirley would seem to be the full flowering of this process to get more disabled people on television

To learn why Ruth Madeley casting is so exciting this article from the Radio times says it all .

Ruth Madeley The Actor

Madeley’s performances throughout her career reveal a simple truth: being disabled is not a shorthand for pitiable. Whether a disabled mother fighting to keep her newborn child or a pioneering disability rights campaigner, her characters all have one tie that connects them – they are ordinary, 3D disabled women.They're the sort of women seldom seen on screen who remain ever-present in our communities, our vibrant histories and our culture.We are the generation with the vision to want progress, who knew things could be better but didn’t see it in the media growing up. Now we are witnessing disabled people in the media whose voices are ringing loud and clear for change – who keep pushing on.We didn’t see disability representation as children or teenagers, but the next generation will.

They're the sort of women seldom seen on screen who remain ever-present in our communities, our vibrant histories and our culture.We are the generation with the vision to want progress, who knew things could be better but didn’t see it in the media growing up. Now we are witnessing disabled people in the media whose voices are ringing loud and clear for change – who keep pushing on.We didn’t see disability representation as children or teenagers, but the next generation will.There’s a refusal to be confined by the stereotypes that have littered our history. A refusal to accept discrimination or received wisdom about what it means to be disabled and the way they are fighting to replace limiting notions with something so much more humanly compelling, relatable, and authentic.We don’t know anything yet about Shirley Anne Bingham – but a generation of disabled viewers know how she should be handled

Ruth Madeley The Actor What Dr who fans think Ruth will bring to the show

.As Dr Kirsty Liddiard from the University of Sheffield states: “It’s brilliant to see the wonderful Ruth Madeley join Doctor Who – a disabled woman actor in a primetime role is, sadly, still a rarity.

"She brings her own lived experience to the role, which is crucial towards countering tokenism and offering audiences accurate portrayals of disability.”

It is important to channel lived experiences and the unique hopes and fears of a disabled person. Their motivations and methods are undoubtedly too nuanced and complex to learn or teach.

“Cripping up” – the term commonly used to describe actors without a disability mimicking the characteristics of specific conditions to play disabled characters – is unjust and negates the impact of the disabled experience: being ostracised, othered and maligned.

This sentiment is echoed by Rachel Charlton-Dailey, a disabled Doctor Who fan, who believes that Madeley’s passion for telling meaningful stories will be reflected in her new role as she hopes to give new generations a role model who has an insight into their reality.

“Ruth is such a fierce advocate for disability rights and the portrayal in film and TV, I think this is going to be done exceptionally well," she says. "The authenticity and importance of having people from all walks of life shines through when it’s done well."

As Shalida A Askanazi, another disabled Whovian, observes, we still want to be portrayed respectfully: “It’s so important to have a disabled character on a popular show. Because there remains so much stigma around what it is to be disabled.

She points to statements she often receives: “I don’t think of you as being disabled.” It’s a limited view of what it is to be disabled. A mainstream disabled character has the potential to dispel harmful myths which continue to linger.

“It’ll show that disabled people aren’t just tucked away. We’re real people doing real things." Concluding thoughtfully, Shalida adds there needs to be a balance of quiet acknowledgement “without turning each episode into an ableism fest”.

These small interactions have been the danger of harmful disability representation for generations: the made-up bits passing into the public consciousness as fact.

Growing up and living within ableist cultures categorising disability as a defect can mean that disabled people internalise negative messages about disability. Much of the disability imagery society consumes is wrong or oppressive.

After the news of Madeley's casting was made public, the joy and outpouring of affection demonstrated how deeply rooted the problem has been.

It shouldn’t be so revolutionary, but it is. Disabled people have waited for this for generations. A disabled actress in a prime-time role is perhaps still a rarity, but once it was fantastical.

I have been a wheelchair user all my life, and as a child, playing make-believe was an outlet to scrub my disability. I didn’t understand what it was to be disabled. I had to unlearn a great deal as I internalised many negative messages about disability.

I was seven the first time I saw a disabled person on screen. I remember instinctively thinking that it was exceptional as a child of the '90s. There were no disabled cover girls in fashion magazines or the sci-fi or children’s programming I devoured. How do we expect disabled children of any era to accept themselves when we don’t see ourselves anywhere?

As a teen, I was obsessed with Doctor Who. Our lives became entangled. I would consume content endlessly. Inspired by Christopher Eccleston, I had my leather jacket and some iconic throwaway lines. There are images of me in my wheelchair next to an inflatable TARDIS, reminiscent of the photos of Madeley’s debut.

Fiction, like life, has historically told disabled people that their lives have less significance. Still, the next generation might not have to unlearn negative messages, might not be shaped by stereotypes and have their lived experience minimised – we can pass on better to the next generation.

We don’t know anything about Madeley's Doctor Who character – disabled people have various personalities, after all – or how she will be handled. But disabled voices insist it should be about telling human stories reflecting our experiences – undercutting the trite.

So, whoever Shirley Anne Bingham is, she should reflect us.

Spoilers as River song would say

Update Warning this bit contains spoilers you have been warned !!

Unit returns to Doctor who in the final 2 part finale of Season 14 Episode titles the Legend of Ruby Sunday and The Empire of Death Broadcast on the 15th and 22nd June.

Shirley Bingham played by Ruth Madeley. Is taking care of things in Geneva on another case, but don’t worry she will be back next season until then UNIT has a new Scientific Adviser Number 55 who name is Morris Gibbons who just so happens to be a child Genius Morris is played by 15 year old actor Lenny Rush an actor who also has a disability Rush has a medical condition called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita which affects his growth, resulting in dwarfism.

I look forward to see what Morris Gibbions brings to Doctor who and the UNIT orgarnisation I am sure with Russell T Davis in Charge it will be very good excellant even    

Pictures

1 Dortman from 1965 as played by Alan Judd in the original 6 part Doctor who serial The Dalek invasion of Earth starring William Hartnell

2  Graham Leeman Playing a Timelord in the 3 Doctors in 1973

3and 4 Ruth Madeley. Outside the TARDIS and Ruth as UNITs 54th scientific adviser Shirley Bingham

5 Lenny Rush as Morris

Notes This blog has been put together from various sources mainly a couple of articles from the Radio times and The Evening Standard so thank you to them also Thank you to Google images for the pictures

[burntlikethesun]

For Russell, writing a trans regular character into Doctor Who highlights the show’s commitment to telling diverse, inclusive stories. “You know me, I’m going to make my stuff as modern and as progressive as it can be,” he says, “and I thought it was joyous, to get a trans character in there. I thought that’d be a lovely 2023 thing to do. A blast of 2023! It makes you better, makes life richer, and makes the viewing experience better. And we were so lucky, because that was a tough piece of casting: a trans person of mixed race, who can play 15 and is from London. But that’s where Andy Pryor is a genius, because all of this was before Heartstopper had even aired.” Importantly for Yaz, Russell’s scripts “definitely, definitely don’t sugarcoat” what the trans experience is like. “Rose gets some stick from kids at school – when she and Donna are walking home, boys shout some stuff – and that’s a part of being trans, especially in high school,” says Yaz. “Well, not just in high school. It’s the stick we get from everybody. People see an opportunity and take it and love to degrade and embarrass us. But Donna’s having none of it, and neither is Rose. I’m proud of that. That’s such great writing. And I love the fact that, with both Rose and Elle, it’s not like being trans is all there is. There’s so much more to Rose than being trans. It’s more about family – in Heartstopper, it’s more chosen family – and, in Doctor Who, survival. And saving the world!

[gillianhatesmyphone]

IG 📷 Andy Pryor

[crystalromana]

The Writers Tale: The Final Chapter

Also, Penny is northern. It's my love of northern, and my ability to write that speech pattern. I actually miss it. But we've told Andy Pryor, 'Don't limit your thinking to northern.' That would be stupid. We've just got to get the best. Andy lives in his great Catherine Tate played would-be-companion Donna Noble in 3.X. big Casting Maybe all the time. He's already thinking. Sheridan Smith? Someone like a younger Sarah Parish? That ability to really banter with the Doctor, to match him. And to love him, actually. Under all this is my need to write The Doctor In Love again. I think we've handled it exactly right for Series Three: he'd never fall in love with Martha, because he can't just love the next woman to walk through the door, after Rose. That would cheapen the whole thing. Martha's unrequited love for the Doctor is beautiful. She deserves to grow out of that, so leaves, giving us a nice year-long bridge. Penny is walking into the Doctor's life at just the right time. (It fills me with horror, actor's lives and wages and destinies being decided on my whims, sitting here, looking for the right story. The Maybe isn't just ethereal; it actually employs people. Still, the show is the most important thing.) The first time that the Doctor sees Penny, it should be like — wham! Both hearts.

Emphasis added by me

Just imagine if they had pulled Sheridan Smith from big finish (she was already playing Lucie) to play the new companion in Love with ten for series four. That would have been, something.

How fondly would the RTD era even be remembered without series four with Donna

[cameronwritt]

The Comedy Store - The Cradle of Stand Up Comedy

Located at 8433 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, The Comedy Store has a rich history as the first dedicated stand-up comedy club in the United States. The original club opened on April 7, 1972. Comedian Sammy Shore and his wife Mitzi opened the club along with Rudy DeLuca, a comedy writer. They started the club to give Sammy a place to work when he was not touring with Elvis Presley.

When Sammy was touring, Mitzi managed the club, selecting and scheduling performers. The club opened at a time when many comedians had moved West, following Johnny Carson’s relocation of the Tonight Show from New York to Los Angeles. This meant Mitzi had many comedians to choose from. The club also benefited from appearances and acts by famous comedians such as Red Foxx, Buddy Hackett, Tim Conway, and Jonathan Winters, who were Sammy and Mitzi’s friends. Richard Pryor also performed at the club to refine material for his live show.

Mitzi’s talent for spotting and nurturing good comedians played a big role in building the success of the club. She supervised future stars such as David Letterman, Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Paul Mooney, Andy Kaufman, and Gary Shandling. The Comedy Store quickly became the top club in West Hollywood, and Mitzi expanded it to locations in Westwood, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla.

In the 1980s and 1990s, more future stars rocked The Comedy Store’s stage including Jim Carrey, Louie Anderson, Arsenio Hall, Sandra Bernhard, Sam Kinison, and Bill Hicks. Even today, The Comedy Store is revered as a launching pad for up and coming comedians.

[lboogie1906]

Timmie Rogers (born Timothy Louis Ancrum (July 4, 1915 – December 17, 2006) was a popular comedian and entertainer. He was one of the first African American entertainers who refused to wear blackface or dress in dirty tattered clothing while performing. He was one of the first entertainers to speak directly to the audience in his voice. Previous Black performers beginning in the Jim Crow era had always affected some variation of the Sambo and Coon type characters up to the mid-20th Century routine of Amos and Andy.

He was born in Detroit. His father ran away from home at the age of 12, finding a job as a dishwasher in a kitchen on an Ohio River steamboat. His mother ran a boarding house in Detroit where she sold liquor during Prohibition.

He began dancing and performing on the street corners in Detroit for change and took a job cleaning ashtrays at a ballroom where he was allowed to perform his acts before the main entertainment. By the 1940s he was performing one of his first, which incorporated an anti-segregation theme titled, I’ve Got a Passport from Georgia. He wrote a song for Nat King Cole called If You Can’t Smile and Say Yes.

He was one of the featured performers on the first all-Black TV variety show that began as Uptown Jubilee and became Sugar Hill Times. He made appearances on several variety shows, including The Jackie Gleason Show and The Melba Moore-Clifton Davis Show. He was called the Jackie Robinson of Comedy.

He worked relentlessly to challenge the racial status quo and he succeeded in breaking through racist barriers, paving the way for the next generation of Black comedians, such as Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby.

He performed at the Apollo, often using his catchphrase, “Oh yeah!” He won the first gold album for a Black comedian. He was inducted into the National Comedy Hall of Fame.

He continued performing into the 1990s, usually in nightclubs near his home in Los Angeles. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[antonia-gergely]

Artist Research - Martin Wong

Retrospective in the Stedelijk, Amsterdam.

Exhibition description: Wong’s multi-layered universe as seen through his early paintings, poems and sculptures made in the euphoric 1960s and early 1970s environments of San Francisco and Eureka, California, where he grew up as the only son of American-born Chinese parents; his iconic 1980s and 1990s paintings of a dilapidated New York City, made during his time on the Lower East Side; as well as his reminiscences on the imagery of the East and West Coast Chinatowns, made prior to his premature death from an HIV/AIDS-related illness.

an essay on wong's later work in the exhibition

sewer goddess 1967

tibetan porky

divine, 1979

clear example of his connection with the counterculture movement of the 1960s, with divine being a well-known drag queen at the time.

eureka theatre, 1974-5

slightly surrealist sensibility, futuristic dystopian colourful

lower east side valentine, 1983

began to incorporate american sign language as typography, similar in my mind to the alphabets of khmer or sanskrit.

everything must go, 1983

Nocture at Ridge Street and Stanton, 1987

and here was an example of poetry or text as art, very simple and legible, but still really evocative in its contents

wong's work presented to me a new perspective and intimate look at the counterculture movement of the 1960s. his work is visually easy to digest and pleasant to look at, there's a poignancy in the closed shop fronts he painted, marking a decline in inner city prosperity. his paintings don't shy away from the AIDS epidemic, by which he was heavily affected.

the 1960s movement was massive, creatively. it saw the emergence of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the Beat generation like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady (who drove the merry pranksters bus for a time), the Acid Tests, free jazz, festivals, blues and rock, Frisbee for some reason, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, the Situationists International, Fluxus, Guy Debord, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Michel Foucault, Janis Joplin, Richard Pryor, Andy Warhol and countless other visionaries that changed my outlook, and that of many others, on the world.

side note: so upset i didn't get to see nan goldin when i was at the stedelijk. time slots were sold out, i didn't even know the show was on 🥲

[msclaritea]

Doctor Who's Casting Director Responds To Isaac Newton Casting Backlash In Wild Blue Yonder Episode

"...After “Wild Blue Yonder” received backlash about its Isaac Newton casting, the Doctor Who casting director reacts to the online response. Speaking with Digital Spy, casting director Andy Pryor says that “it’s sad that we’re in a time where people villainise minorities.” Pryor went on to express the importance of giving “people a voice” on screen, saying that seeing one’s identity reflected on screen “can be a huge lifeline for some people.” Check out the full quote from Pryor below:..."

These fuckers really do think people are stupid and I hope they lose more funding. The Richard III series using Sophie Okinado was an example of good diversity. Okinado was talented enough to pull it off and it was refreshing. What the BBC is doing with diversity is throwing darts at a Queer-themed dart board, blindfolded.

Let's have a woman! Ok, but code her Queer.

We need a young black man. Cool, but put him in a dress.

It's time for some Indian representation. Great! We'll make him Gay.

Just like Hollywood, the BBC is actually insulting diversity in the way they're using it.

[denimbex1986]

'It should come as no surprise that Russell T Davies, the man behind Queer As Folk, the one who first made Doctor Who tangibly gay, has returned to the franchise with what might be its queerest outing yet. But even we were surprised by quite how integral LGBTQ+ themes would be to the story this time around.

Much has been made of David Tennant and Catherine Tate's return, yet it's Yasmin Finney's brand-new character Rose who's at the heart of this Star Beast special.

Donna's daughter befriends The Meep first, and she's also the one who saves London when The Meep reveals itself to be evil. What's special about this is that it's Rose's trans identity specifically that proves key to her victory.

When we last saw her mother, Donna had absorbed some of the Doctor's energy, creating a 'metacrisis' that would have killed her if the Doctor had not erased her memories. But when she's reminded again of the Time Lord's existence in this latest episode, Donna survives intact, and that's because when she gave birth to Rose, she unknowingly split that energy between them, halving their potentially devastating impact.

As Donna's memories return, Rose's innate Timelord energy is then activated too, enabling her to stop Meep with newfound knowledge and abilities from her position on the ground.

Rose's non-binary identity stems from The Doctor's. (The show finally acknowledges them to be gender-fluid after they presented as both male and female over the course of the franchise). That means the source of Rose's power comes directly from her nature as a non-binary individual, positioning her as a hero because of her gender identity and not despite of it.

That's not to say Doctor Who shies away from the difficulties trans people face in real life. Earlier on in the same episode, bullies deadname Rose in the street and soon after, Donna's own mother, Sylvia, accidentally misgenders Rose as well, despite her good intentions.

Donna's response to all this? "I would burn down the world for you, darling," and honestly, that's how we feel after seeing some of the negative feedback these scenes have received online.

Despite scoring strong reviews from critics and the majority of fans, it seems not everyone is celebrating Doctor Who's much-lauded return.

On Rotten Tomatoes, trolls are review-bombing the episode, bringing the audience score down to 41%, which is a huge contrast from the critics rating of 89%. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and the episode won't be to everyone's tastes, but when comments suggest the show 'needs to stop pushing talk of pronouns onto kids', it's safe to say most of these opinions are grounded in hate and ignorance.

Imagine being shocked that a show about an alien who regularly changes their body and gender would dare acknowledge such concepts?

In the days following the special, a hashtag named #RIPDoctorWho continued this backlash on X/Twitter, to which Doctor Who casting director Andy Pryor said the following:

"Just stopped by to say that on @bbcdoctor who (or any of our work) we don't work hard to cast inclusively for publicity. We do it because we like stories. & stories should speak to all of us & include all of us. And if one person feels a little less alone, then."

With more queer cast members on the way, including Neil Patrick Harris as the villainous Toymaker and Ncuti Gatwa as the new face of The Doctor himself, the future of Doctor Who is looking queerer by the day.

But it's not just the future that's queer.

To those who baulk at more inclusivity in future seasons, we can't help but wonder: What show have you been watching this whole time? Because Doctor Who is super queer — and it always has been.

Yes, even before Jack Harkness slapped a guy's arse or Bill Potts fell for a puddle named Heather, the Classic era channeled queerness with how it defied the establishment and stood up for those who need it most. It's hard to exaggerate how much stories like this resonated with LGBTQ+ people at a time when positive representation was almost non-existent on screen.

It's no wonder then that a sizeable chunk of Doctor Who's fandom identifies as queer, even if the show wasn't able to address LGBTQ+ fans directly until (queer lifelong fan) Russell T Davies regenerated the franchise in 2005.

But now, all these years later, The Star Beast ushers in a new chapter for Doctor Who where the show can finally live up to the inclusive ethos it's always striven for.

That's not to diminish the positive steps other showrunners have taken in the interim. 2015's 'Sleep No More' featured Doctor Who's first trans actress, Bethany Black, and season twelve's 'Praxeus' successfully flipped the 'Bury Your Gays' trope, although the less said about how season 13 handled #Thasmin the better.

And it's not like everything is suddenly perfect now. Rose's metacrisis abilities could feed into sci-fi tropes around trans/non-binary identities being considered "alien", plus the inclusion of Rose's deadname has garnered a mixed response from the trans community online.

While some argue this has given trolls the opportunity to use that name venomously against her character, others point out that transphobia is a reality the show shouldn't shy away from.

The moment when Rose calls the Doctor out for assuming Meep's pronouns might feel a bit-on-the-nose for some too, although if this kind of talk immediately heralds the end of the franchise for you, you might want to cast your mind back a few decades to 1972's 'The Curse of Peladon' where the Doctor and Jo discussed Alpha Centauri's pronouns at length.

But still, seeing trans and non-binary identities celebrated to this degree is very much welcome regardless, especially in a family show with such a huge fanbase like Doctor Who. This is the kind of storytelling that saves lives, trolls be damned.

And now, with the impending arrival of more trans actors and characters in Yasmin Finney's wake — including Jinkx Monsoon, Mary Malone and Pete MacHale — Doctor Who's next season promises to be more inclusive than ever before.

If you have a problem with that, remember that your hero, the good Doctor, would never discriminate against trans people, or any other marginalised group for that matter either. So why would you?'

[kaileeplayspokemon]

Resident Evil Survivor remake fancast

Someone thinks Resident Evil Survivor is getting the remake treatment next. So,I made a mock-up cast.

Jesse Pimentel-Ark Thompson Nick Apostolides-Vincent Goldman Aaron LaPlante-Andy Holland Paula Rhodes-Lott Klein Eliza Pryor or Nicole Tompkins-Lily Klein

My reasoning for picking Paula as Lott is that she has shown that she can do a little girl voice,so I have faith she can do a 13 year old boy voice quite well. As for Eliza Pryor as Lily,maybe she can replicate her Sherry voice,but with an accent even though she is in her mid/late teens.

[transfemgeorgecostanza]

Seeing Andy Pryors name in the opening credits of Mrs Harris goes to Paris 🥰

[ncutigatwafans]

Nicola Coughlan & Ncuti Gatwa presenting the 'Its A Sin' team Andy Pryor, Ri McDaid-Wren and Ray Böhm with the CDG Award for 'Best Casting in a Limited Series' at the CDG Casting Awards 2022.

[radiofreeskaro]

Radio Free Skaro #871 - One Louder

Radio Free Skaro #871 - One Louder - @2minutetimelord joins us for news and the current state of #DoctorWho - Part One of our Miniscope on Doctor Who director James Hawes!

http://traffic.libsyn.com/freyburg/rfs871.mp3 Download MP3 A monumental episode as there are now more Radio Free Skaro episodes in the wild than there are Doctor Who episodes! And to celebrate this, Chip from Two-minute Time Lord joins us to give us a temperature check on the current state of Doctor Who. Also, we present the first half of our Miniscope on Doctor Who director James Hawes, who…

[samosevie]

The day Jodie Whittaker shot her very first scene as The Doctor. (source)