#Catherine Tregenna

[nerds-yearbook]

Decades after he had left it, Jack Harkness slipped through time and found himself once more back in 1941 where he encountered the REAL Captain Jack Harkness whose identity “Jack Harkness” had stolen after the real Jack Harkness’ death in World War 2. ("Captain Jack Harkness", Torchwood, TV)

[helmstone]

Bergerac reimagined for a new generation

Bergerac reimagined for a new generation

UKTV has announced a ‘reimaging’ of BBC detective drama Bergerac. The six-part series will be written by Toby Whithouse, alongside Brian Fillis, Catherine Tregenna and Polly Buckle. Filming will begin this summer, with locations including the Channel Island of Jersey. Casting to be announced in the coming months. The announcement tells us: Bergerac will be based on the original series created…

[scriptscribbles]

Quick Doctor Who women fact check

I know I replied to this shit a while back but I'm gonna make my own post to avoid giving it more notes.

It is factually true that Doctor Who did not have any women write between 2008 and 2015. It sucks.

This is not, however, solely a Moffat problem. It's an industry problem where women are underrepresented in genre media, including across Doctor Who.

So, numbers. In Russell T Davies' era, ONLY ONE WOMAN wrote for Doctor Who, Helen Raynor (lately a TERF who stands with Rowling and campaigns against trans kids going to the bathroom, too, before you decide to stan). She wrote four episodes, two part stories for the third and fourth series.

Moffat went around asking for women to write the show but has talked about having a hard time finding people who he wanted and were interested. When he did finally get Catherine Tregenna and Sarah Dollard in for the ninth series, he even mentioned Tregenna had been asked before, having "turned us down in the past, but I talked her into it with an idea she really liked." Dollard for her part ended up contributing two episodes for the ninth and tenth series, and was joined in the latter by Rona Munro, who became the only person to write both the classic and new series.

Chris Chibnall’s era of Doctor Who foregrounded giving a break to new talent unlike RTD and Moffat who tended to get established writers. That meant getting the first poc to write Who as well as seven women in Malorie Blackman, Joy Wilkinson, Nina Metivier, Charlene James, Maxine Alderton, and Ella Road. That said unlike Davies and Moffat he cowrote with most of them, with only three episodes in his run credited solely to women.

Directors fare better, with series 1 and 2 under Davies and series 6 and 7 under Moffat being the only series of Doctor Who not having episodes directed by women. Rachel Talalay of course deserves a special shout-out for being the definitive Moffat/Capaldi director and being the only woman to direct finales (for series 8, 9, and 10!) or Christmas specials for the series!

Hiring people from marginalized groups is always a struggle we can all do better on, especially in industries that are overwhelmingly dominated by white dudes. To put it on the shoulders of one man for failing when he put work in to fix that because Tumblr has a hate boner is deeply silly.

[thefiresofpompeii]

catherine tregenna appreciation… out of time, captain jack harkness, meat and adam. banger banger banger banger. totally understand why she decided to write the woman who lived (the episode that explores the inherent tragedy of immortality/temporal displacement and even mentions jack by name) talk about a pet trope

[wizardysseus]

anyone who says only one era of dr who is misogynistic is selling something: by the numbers

series 1: 0 female writers or directors

series 2: 0 female writers or directors

series 3: 1 female writer (helen raynor, "daleks in manhattan/evolution of the daleks"), 1 female director (hettie macdonald, "blink")

series 4: 1 female writer (helen raynor again, "the sontaran stratagem/the poison sky"), 1 female director (alice troughton, "the doctor's daughter," "midnight")

no specials written or directed by women.

total: 1 female writer across 4 episodes, 2 female directors across 3 episodes, out of 4 seasons (60 episodes and specials)

series 5: 0 female writers, 1 female director (catherine morshead, "amy's choice," "the lodger")

series 6: 0 female writers or directors

series 7: 0 female writers or directors

series 8: 0 female writers, 2 female directors (sheree folkson, "in the forests of the night"; rachel talalay, "dark water/death in heaven")

series 9: 2 female writers (catherine tregenna, "the woman who lived"; sarah dollard, "face the raven"), 2 female directors (hettie macdonald, "the magician's apprentice/the witch's familiar", rachel talalay again, "heaven sent/hell bent")

series 10: 2 female writers (sarah dollard again, "thin ice"; rona munro, "eaters of light"), 1 female director (rachel talalay back at it again, "world enough and time/the doctor falls")

1 special directed by a woman ("twice upon a time," rachel talalay again).

total: 3 female writers across 4 episodes, 4 female directors across 12 episodes, out of 6 seasons (84 episodes and specials)

series 11: 2 female writers (malorie blackman, co-writing with chris chibnall on "rosa"; joy wilkinson, "the witchfinders"), 2 female directors (sallie aprahamian, "arachnids in the uk," "the witchfinders"; jennifer perrott, "the tsuranga conundrum," "kerblam!")

series 12: 3 female writers (nina metivier, "nikola tesla's night of terror"; charlene james, co-writing with chris chibnall on "can you hear me?"; maxine alderton, "the haunting of villa diodati"), 2 female directors (nida manzoor, "nikola tesla's night of terror," "fugitive of the judoon"; emma sullivan ("can you hear me?" "the haunting of villa diodati")

series 13: 1 female writer (maxine alderton again, co-writing with chris chibnall on "village of the angels"), 0 female directors

1 special co-written by a woman ("legend of the sea devils," ella road with chris chibnall). 2 specials directed by women ("eve of the daleks," annetta laufer; "legend of the sea devils," haolu wang).

total: 6 female writers or co-writers across 7 episodes, 6 female directors across 10 episodes, out of 3 seasons (31 episodes and specials)

i did all this basic math just so that i would know, for my own personal databanks, but since it's done i may as well post it. just some food for thought. chibnall's era is the only one where the numbers or percentages increase anything like significantly, and even so, i don't think anyone wins here.

if you were to run this for writers and directors of color, it would also very quickly become depressing.

[tiberelechat]

In the category "the Moffat era of Doctor Who is really good at visual storytelling y'all", consider The Woman who Lived freaming Me and the  Doctor constantly separated by a burning candle, a symbol of ephemere mortality.

[themadmanwithablog]

Out of Time

O brave new Cardiff, That has such people, and such Heartbreak within it.

[higheldertala]

Diversity of Writers in Doctor Who Revival (2005-2021)

So here’s a list compiling the total number of the women writers and writers of colour in doctor who of each era (spoiler alert: it’s bad)

RTD Era

In the RTD era there’s only 1 woman writer out of the total 16 writers, working out at 5%. In terms of episodes this works out at 4 out of 60 episodes, working out at 7%. There are no women writers in series 1 and series 2, (2005 - 2006) nor the specials in 2009.

Helen Raynor (4); daleks in manhattan, evolution of the daleks, the sontaran stratagem, poison sky

Moffat Era

In the Moffat era there is a slightly higher percentage of women writers as there are 3 women writers out the total 20 writers, working out at 15%. However in terms of episodes this only works out at 4 out of 84 working out at a slightly lower percentage of 5%. There are no women writers in series 5, series 6, series 7 and series 8 (2010 - 2014).

Catherine Tregenna (1); the woman who lived

Sarah Dollard (2); face the raven, thin ice

Rona Munro (1); the eaters of light

(Rona Munro also wrote the 1989 classic doctor who serial survival - 3 parts, the last televised serial of classic doctor who. she is the only writer so far to have written for both the classic and revived series.)

Chibnall Era

In the Chibnall era there is an increase again with a total of 5 women writers out of the total 9 writers, working out at a significantly higher percentage of 55%. However in terms of episodes this works out at 6 episodes (with 3 of these episodes being co-written, all with Chris Chibnall) working out at 21%, although still being an increase from the previous two eras.

Malorie Blackman (1); rosa (co-written with Chris Chibnall)

Joy Wilkinson (1); the witchfinders

Nina Metivier (1); nikola tesla’s night of terror

Charlene James (1); can you hear me? (co-written with Chris Chibnall)

Maxine Alderton (2); the haunting of villa diodati, flux episode 4 (co-written with Chris Chibnall)

Gender

The number of women writers in the doctor who revival make up a total of 9 writers out of 36 writers, working out at 25%. The total number of episodes in the doctor who revival written (including co-written) by women is 14 episodes out of 172 episodes, working out at 8%.

Race

In regard to race, people of colour who have written for the doctor who revival make up a total of 3 writers out of 36 writers, working out at 8%. These are all from the Chibnall era, the first person of colour to write for doctor who (in its entire history) was Malorie Blackman in series 11 (2018).

Malorie Blackman (1); rosa (co-written with Chris Chibnall)

Vinay Patel (2); demons of the punjab, fugitive of the judoon (co-written with Chris Chibnall)

Charlene James (1); can you hear me? (co-written with Chris Chibnall)

The total number of episodes in the doctor who revival written (including co-written) by people of colour is 4 episodes out 172 episodes, working out at 2%.

(all percentages are rounded figures)

[reverse-the-jellybaby]

thoughts on Adam, Reset and Dead Man Walking

oh yeah the time has finally come, I can openly talk about Owen’s death and resurrection with my bestie. Still can’t tell her about exit wounds tho 😭

Adam

- holy mother of wow, I didn’t actually sit down to watch this last time but good god this episode went hard on emotionally tormenting everyone in the team. I nearly cried watching the Boeshane flashbacks and seeing Jack being driven to tears by Adam manipulating his last memories of Gray.

- Catherine Tregenna knew what we wanted and it was hot dirty seeeeexxxxxxxx (in reference to the scene with Tosh and Adam and to a lesser extent Rhys and Gwen good lord). She gave us the good shit with Out of Time and she provided once more.

- this show has a hard-on for emotionally tormenting all the characters but especially Tosh and Ianto for some reason. I feel like every time something good happens to Tosh she gets screwed over. And poor Ianto, Jesus Christ. As if he hasn’t got enough to deal with. Knowing the extended universe canon about ianto makes this even more harrowing.

Reset

- owen finally saying yes to tosh’s date was the cutest scene, especially because they’re talking about how hot Martha is which is quite frankly a mood. Loved that Tosh had to clarify if he was being sarcastic when he said yes but he was actually trying very hard to keep a lid on how happy he was to be having this date with Tosh but downplaying it. I could see it in his little expressions. We see it again when Tosh asks him to Gwen’s wedding in Something Borrowed later. It’s just too cute.

- my best friend recognised that Martha was arriving with Jack’s pre-emptive speech about her and when she arrived we were both like YAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!!!!!

- in a more just world Martha would’ve dumped her boyfriend and gotten with Owen but alas. They’re just! Such! A good! Pair!

- but it leads into an interesting thought about how Owen doesn’t take a relationship with Martha seriously vs how he handles tosh. He’s flagrantly flirting with Martha from the off, whereas he’s more cautious and afraid to fuck things up with Tosh. Like I’ve said this before, but this really says to me that he cares so much about getting things right with tosh that he doesn’t take a risk with her like he would with any other fling. He treats that relationship with respect but hides it under his usual snark.

- my besties reaction to Owen’s death was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. She wasn’t even upset or visibly reacting much at first. We had to pause between that and the next episode so she could process it for a sec and scream WHAT THE FUCK?!?!!?!? it was a sight to behold. She was shook when they pulled out the second risen mitten and brought him back though.

Dead Man Walking

- I’ve said it on countless occasions but the Owen and Gwen hug before he volunteers to inject himself with the formaldehyde solution is the greatest moment for their relationship in general. It’s such a tender little moment and shows how far they’ve come from how badly their fling ended, and how naturally their friendship has developed on and off screen. There’s so little said between them but it speaks volumes. In those few words you can tell that Gwen understands his language. They speak so quietly and tenderly with each other rather than yelling and snarking which is what I can assume made up most of their conversations when they were involved. She knows him well enough to know his snark is code for him hiding his pain, and I think in this moment it finally hits her that he could be gone permanently with this decision. Their little nod between each other, that acceptance of his decision, the way she follows him into the autopsy room, and he looks back before he walks in, knowing she’s right by his side, AGH!!

- I absolutely loved this episode taking the opportunity for Jack and Owen to have some bonding time in the prison cell. I feel like until this point we saw them butting heads a lot and we didn’t see how much Jack genuinely cared for Owen. But that little shove Jack gives him after their meaningful talk had big “Love you, you jerk” energy. very brotherly love.

- I thought it was quite cute that Tosh didn’t really know how to talk to a kid while Owen took it by the reins and knew right away. Definitely would’ve been a great uncle, or hell, even a dad who’d be hell bent on being a better parent than his own parents.

- they placed his age as 27, Jesus Christ that’ll be how old I am next month.

[icewarrior2000]

Meat

(Series 2, Episode 4)

Summary: A lorry driver from Rhys’ firm dies whilst transporting alien meat so Rhys finally finds out what Gwen does for a living and helps Torchwood try to save a giant space whale.  Jack turns into a jealous creep, Ianto goes badass, Tosh makes Owen cheese and pickle sandwiches and he fails to notice she’s asking him on a date.

Snog Count: 42 (4 for Gwen and Rhys, one whilst eyeballing Jack).

Original Air Date: 6 Febru] 2008.

Starring: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Burn Gorman (Dr. Owen Harper), Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato) & Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones).

Writer: Catherine Tregenna.

Director: Colin Teague.

Producer: Richard Stokes & Chris Chibnall.

Executive Producer: Russell T. Davies & Julie Gardner.

[theroseandcrown]

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[isagrimorie]

I finally got around to watching ‘(BBC) Sherlock is Garbage’ video and wow, is it a scorcher. I’ve made my peace with Moffat but I think now the large part of this was because I dropped BBC Sherlock in its first season. 

Honestly, I think the really big problem with BBC!Sherlock is that it’s Moffat and Gatiss’ Doctor Who Human AU fic. It seemed like the relationship dynamics and characters on BBC!Sherlock were prototypes for Doctor Who stories, most importantly, the Capaldi era.

Also, Moriarty is definitely Simm!Master. 

I mean, c’mon that’s Simm!Master with almost indifferent!Ten (or more accurately Twelve with Simm!Master). 

The main difference is, the superhuman intellect foisted on to Sherlock didn’t fit him. Sherlock’s a genius but the way the show presented it, it’s as if he has supernatural vision, and senses. He has genius beyond superhuman that type of superhuman genius fits a lot better on the Doctor who is not Human. A Time Lord. We know Time Lords for their preternatural genius and intelligence.  

 (Also, BBC!Sherlock does this thing where he pushes the imaginary text out of the way like he has an AR interface in front of him ala Tom Cruise in Minority Report. This just tells me Moffat or Gatiss watched  Minority Report way too much.)

I am also thankful I didn’t get to watch Moffat’s crime against Irene Adler. This is the part where I’m really glad I dropped BBC!Sherlock. I’m really glad I was spoiled for the way Moffat utterly undermined Irene so I could completely drop the show. 

(The Irene Adler of it all is where I can’t help but compare it to Elementary. IMO Elementary used Irene so much better). 

I also really underestimated how much Moffat’s!Irene was a prototype of Missy. Brunette dominatrix antagonists seem to be a type Moffat kept coming back to. 

But the lightning in the bottle element that made Missy work and Irene flounder is because of Michelle Gomez. Gomez sold the sense of shared history between Missy and Twelve really well. 

Missy is believable and terrifying and also because she is (like in Elementary) both Irene and Moriarty. 

Capaldi is the other lightning in the bottle element. 

I don’t know what happened between Smith and Capaldi hiatus but something about casting Capaldi as Twelve seemed to reinvigorate Moffat’s writing. It also seemed like he also listened to feedback, bringing in more women on staff. (Rachel Talalay, Catherine Tregenna, and Sarah Dollard). 

IMO, Moffat and Gatiss shouldn’t have been producing two shows at the same time. It’s a recipe for burnout and sometimes writing quirks bleeds from one show to the other. 

This works more on Doctor Who’s favor although there were shaky moments in Doctor Who too because Moffat was playing double duty. (Just look at series 7B). 

Moffat and Gatiss love Doctor Who more, it’s a show they loved longer and more fervently so any stumbles they make in Sherlock, they can finesse by the time he uses the concept for Doctor Who. 

In a clip of a panel interview, Moffat mentioned that Sherlock’s past should never be unlocked because it’s terrifying and it’s a sacred cow — this is the same reason he gave Neil Gaiman when Gaiman proposed to do more about the Doctor’s past. 

This reason works for the Doctor because the Doctor’s past is purposefully unknowable.  

This is moot since by season 4 of BBC Sherlock Moffat lifted the moratorium and suddenly Sherlock has a secret sister. This kind of canon retconning, again, fits a lot better on Doctor Who where it famously doesn’t have a set canon. 

Other points of the video:

I really wish the video didn’t remind me Jekyll existed. I try very much to forget it existed. 

Oh, and the season 4 thing with the villain and antagonist, I would have guessed in the first act mostly because Moffat already used the actor as the villain for an episode of series 5 of Doctor Who.  

[xserpx]

BBC Article about The Watch series

(Because this article actually makes me feel a lot better and everyone needs to read it):

Adam Hugill, Jo Eaton-Kent, Marama Corlette, Lara Rossi and Sam Adewunmi join cast ahead of start of production on September 30

Critically acclaimed actor and playwright Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones, Fortitude) is to lead the cast of the new BBC Studios drama for BBC AMERICA, The Watch.

Set in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, where crime has been legalised, The Watch is a uniquely anarchic and thrillingly entertaining police procedural. The character-driven comedy centres on a group of misfit cops as they rise up from decades of helplessness to save their corrupt city from catastrophe. The Watch is inspired by the legendary ‘City Watch’ subset of Sir Terry Pratchett’s bestselling “Discworld” novels and its many iconic characters.

Joining the unorthodox company of atypical heroes in this fantasy-thriller are Adam Hugill (1917, World on Fire), Jo Eaton-Kent (Don’t Forget The Driver), Marama Corlett (Blood Drive, Sick Note) and Lara Rossi (Crossing Lines, Cheat) together with Sam Adewunmi (The Last Tree, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man.)

The eight-part comedy-drama,that gleefully rips up the genre rulebook, follows several of Terry Pratchett’s best-loved creations on a riotous and emotional odyssey. Richard Dormer will star as Sam Vimes, Captain of The Watch, disempowered by a broken society that’s reduced his department’s jurisdiction to almost nothing. Jo Eaton-Kent will play the ingenious non-binary forensics expert Constable Cheery, ostracised by their kin and finding a new home and identity within The Watch. Adam Hugill will play Constable Carrot, the idealistic new recruit, raised by dwarfs, but really a human abandoned at birth. Marama Corlett will play the mysterious Corporal Angua who is tasked with Carrot’s training and keeping the rookie alive. Lara Rossi will play the formidable Lady Sybil Ramkin, last scion of Ankh-Morpork’s nobility who’s trying to fix the city’s wrongs with her chaotic vigilantism. Sam Adewunmi will play the wounded, wronged Carcer Dun, out to hijack destiny itself, take control of the city and exact a terrible revenge on an unjust reality.

The Watch will be brought to screen by highly acclaimed Director Craig Viveiros, whose credits include the BBC’s 2015 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, BBC Studios’ serial killer drama Rillington Place, and Mammoth Screen’s adaptation of The War of The Worlds.

Produced by BBC Studios and Narrativia the show’s Lead Writer is Simon Allen (The Musketeers, Das Boot). Joining Allen is a team of high-calibre writers, Joy Wilkinson (Nick Nickleby, Doctor Who), Catherine Tregenna (Torchwood, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man), Amrou Al-Kadhi (Hollyoaks, Little America) and Ed Hime (Skins, Doctor Who).

Richard Dormer says: “I’m so thrilled to be part of this brilliant madness and mayhem! I was immediately drawn to the multitude of layers to Sam Vimes, and I find the dynamic between him and his band of disenfranchised comrades very compelling.”

Director and Executive Producer, Craig Viveiros says: “The script for The Watch is like nothing I have ever read before. It’s anarchic, it’s noisy and raspy, and I am really looking forward to bringing it to life on screen. With such a talented line up of cast and crew together we can make something ground-breaking.”

Lead Writer and Executive Producer, Simon Allen says: “Sir Terry Pratchett is in the bloodstream of popular culture. He has a distinctly British kind of literary heart and humour but his ideas are defiantly human and universal. It’s been such a privilege to work with our world class director, producers and writers on building a television show that honours his legacy while striking out on its own in his name and spirit. Like the man whose genius inspired it, The Watch is a hopeful show that believes it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness. I can't wait for everybody to see our joyously brilliant cast light candles and, of course, flamethrowers.”

[thedoctorwhocompanion]

Five One-off "NuWho" Writers We'd Like to See Return to Doctor Who

Five One-off "NuWho" Writers We'd Like to See Return to #DoctorWho

Every once in a while, a new name pens an episode of Doctor Who. If things work out, they’re invited back. Others, like the names below, are never seen again for whatever reason.

For an example where somebody returned and improved on their previous work, we need look no further than Tom MacRae, who wrote the Series 2 two-parter Rise Of The Cybermen/ The Age of Steel. When he came back for…

[multiprises]

5.The Sins of the Father, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, 3.05

Philip John (D), Catherine Tregenna (S), 17/08/18

[disasterlesbianamelia]

So you're mocking Claudia saying boner jokes are sexist when there have been... how many period jokes in DW to match it? It's obviously a gratutous pattern that shows what a boys' club Moffat and is ilk are.

…….I’m not going to do the full argument against boner or dick jokes being sexist right now (there’s a better time for it) but regarding the boys club stuff - Catherine Tregenna has written probably the most obvious dick joke in the Moffat era and has shown considerable delight in that fact.

But. But. Your comparison is ridiculous - why the fuck would writing period jokes, typically associated with misogyny be in any way an improvement. I’m not saying it’s not possible to write a period joke that isn’t misogynistic (hey Killing Eve), but it’s quite hard to just slip into any existing episode of a show like Doctor Who and not come off as misogynistic regardless of intention.