#and i think the series took a turn for the worse with chibnall because even though we had a female doctor

[overthemoonwithme]

Wild to me how aggressive people were wrt Moffat and misogyny when a lot of it was already present in the series prior to him but ignored because of the deification of RTD, and s8-10 paved the way for a female doctor by testing the waters with characters like River, Missy, Clara and the General

[lord-radish]

I think the most disappointing aspect of Chibnall's run was how Ryan was handled, paired with how it felt like a competition between Yaz and Ryan as to who would receive character development from episode to episode. Graham too, but he tended to be a more "well-fed" character-wise than either Ryan or Yaz up to a certain point.

Like, Ryan had an arc with Graham in the first series. I thought it was very cliche and hokey, I didn't wholly buy in, but it was a story arc. Yaz's character suffered significantly in that series, even getting overshadowed by her own mother making a one-off guest appearance. Her, Ryan and Graham basically took turns having nothing to do while the other two characters had more exchanges and story relevance.

In that first series, Yaz arguably suffered the most. Her character evolved a lot that season, and I think her fanbase grew because of a very natural evolution in her characterisation, but she would often be relegated to a flat role and paired with the Doctor simply for the sake of Ryan and Graham advancing their "granddad" arc. However, that really turned around in the second series, because once Ryan and Graham had that moment in series 11? He really wasn't given that much to do.

The most egregious part of series 12 is that Graham seems to mourn Grace more than Ryan??? Like I get that he loves her dearly and her death still weighs heavily on him, but she was basically the only family Ryan had for years. His mum's dead and his dad was absent - Grace was all that Ryan had for a long time. And yet Graham seems to get the most scenes about mourning her.

And aside from hitting on ladies in episodes like Orphan 57 and being a good friend in the Halloween episode of series 12, Ryan just sort of... blends into the background. And then he leaves the TARDIS and Yaz is still on a high about being with the Doctor, only to tear up when Graham decides to leave with him. The show seriously devalues Ryan as a character, and he goes out with a total whimper.

He gets one scene that's meant to be him overcoming his dyspraxia to take out some Cybermen, and then he leaves unceremoniously. And then he doesn't even show up in the Centenary Special.

I was bothered when Yaz got the short end of the stick in series 11, but after this run has run its course, I feel a lot worse for Ryan. Chibnall absolutely shafted him in his run, and he deserved better.

[nounpolycule]

What is Esther Most Correct About? Tournament Round 1, Matches 1-16 Recap:

"The Eleventh Doctor is a stone top" didn't stand a chance against "twelveriverrose stone butchfemme autism4autism4autism telepathy sex", but really, does anything? With 20 out of 25 votes, dyke autism polycule telepathy sex won 80/20

Coming in at 72.5% with 29 out of 40 votes, it's clear the people think Jack and Rose's karaoke nights are more notable than their movie nights

There's much to love about the concept of Ten's coat being lined with fabric that looks like old bowling alley carpet, but 55 out of 76 voters, Jewish Donna Noble won with 72.4% of the votes! This poll had nearly twice the voter turn out of the second most voted in poll (which had 40 votes)

In the very first poll to go against my predictions for this bracket, tentooriverrose beat eleventooriverrose with by three votes with 13 out of 23, or 56.5%!

In what has been described as pitting two "equally a lot right" opinions against each other, "Rose regularly took naps in the jumpseat in the TARDIS" beat "Ganger!Eleven survived and reformed at the end of The Almost People" with 59.1% (13/22) of the votes!

Winning by just one vote (12/23), "The concept of Jack and Rose having a scrapbook in series 1" beat "AUs where Turn Left is the same but Rose isn't in the s4 finale" with 52.2% of the results!

With 26 out of 33 (78.8%) votes, "Many River fans are wrong about River" beat "River Song has futuristic tattoos" in a landslide, the second closest poll so far! As we know, only three people in the world are entirely correct about River Song - Me, Alex Kingston, and the girl reading this.

"River Song has poor self perception" beat "River Song jumping off of buildings is hot" with 15 out of 28 (53.6%) of the votes. The race was close, and no one's to blame. River is a character that manages to look hot jumping off buildings while being oh so wrong about whether or not she's a good person.

Coming in with just under 3/4 of the votes, "The concept of Bad Wolf as disability" beat "Were she telepathic, Rose Tyler would have telepathy synesthesia" with 23 out of 32 votes - because, as we all know, one of the most common outcomes of briefly becoming a goddess is developing a connective tissue disorder that also gives you timegraines (time migraines).

With 20/29 votes, "Rose Tyler is autistic" beat" AUs where River is not the Ponds' daughter" - leaving my roommate appalled that the former only had 69% of the votes, as they felt it was an obvious fact about the show.

While I will forever stand by "Even without frequent hugs, twelverose would be just as intimate as ever", "Eleven and Rose would be so much Worse (affectionate) than tenrose" won with 57.6% (19/33) of the votes! I mean, do we really think these two would be capable of not being obnoxious?

With just 14/27 votes, "Immortal Rose would hold onto all of the Doctor's jackets post-regeneration" beat "Tentoo and Rose are so very not normal about their relationship" with 51.9% of the votes - and made me wonder what exactly my plan would be for a tie.

"The Doctor and Clara are actually a not-romantic-not-platonic secret third thing" beat "Clara Oswald sucks, and that's what makes her fun, actually" nearly 2:1. Perhaps there is some bias as the tournament runner's blog has repeatedly mentioned being team "The Doctor and Clara aren't romantic"? Or maybe I'm just correct 😌

In a race that was neck-and-neck for a while, "Rose Tyler and Clara Oswald are exes" beat "Rose Tyler and Clara Oswald are exes" at 63:37 with 17 out of 27 votes.

While I doubt anyone voting disagreed too firmly with "outing Yaz was bad", 21 out of 34 voters, or 61.8%, thought having Grace as a companion instead of Graham would be the bigger improvement.

And last but not least - while 13 out of 34 voters felt Ace flirting with Graham was a bigger issue, 61.8% of voters felt that "one of Chibnall era's biggest problems is there's not enough hanging out" was more correct.

[allhallowstiel]

so, it's no secret that i'm not the biggest fan of chibnall's era. i hated the timeless child twist because i felt like it went against everything that i loved about the doctor and doctor who in general.

i felt like the tardis was a bit over-crowded with 4 people. graham and ryan felt under-developed and poor yaz was even worse- i feel like she didn't get her moments to shine until series 12 and even those were few and far between. even the doctor didn't get much focus- which is fine bc the doctor doesn't always need to be the center of attention, but for a while i really struggled to connect with 13 and i couldn't really tell what kind of doctor she was and how she stood out from the rest apart from being the opposite sex.

(a lot of people criticized her for standing there and explaining the plot, but i think people forget that standing there and explaining things is literally what the doctor does and they've been doing it for years- i feel like people only started getting upset because, well. we all know why)

the new villains didn't really stick with me and frankly they didn't feel very intimidating- they were all underwhelming and didn't feel fit to go up against the doctor.

but then flux happened. a single story arc stretched over six episodes featuring new and old villains alike- and a new, very likeable companion. i originally wanted flux to be just yaz and the doctor- and not just bc of thasmin. i felt like it would be good for their individual characters as well. so i wasn't too happy about them introducing dan, but after episode one i changed my mind bc he's actually pretty damn loveable and he's been a genuine delight. flux took the time to introduce us to dan, start building his relationship with yaz and the doctor, and also build on the mystery of who the doctor is (and also laying on the thasmin subtext pretty thick, which ended up leading to the big reveal in eotd).

it wasn't perfect- swarm and azure didn't really do it for me as villains and i think the story could've worked without them, and i think that all of the extra characters made it a little crowded at times, but for the first time in a long time, while watching flux, i felt like i was really watching doctor who.

i hate that it took me so long to connect to jodie's doctor, and now that i finally have, i have to watch her leave. but i trust russel t davies to do something great with the series. he won't retcon the timeless child, but if there's anyone who can turn it into something good, it's him.

that being said, i'm going to miss 13 a lot and im probably going to end up rewatching flux + the three specials a lot after she's gone.

[webbcrawler]

I think one of the main reasons why the writing in series 11 of Doctor Who felt lacking was because, of all things, Chris Chibnall doesn’t deconstruct Doctor Who.

Classic Doctor Who ran from 1963 to 1989, and in those years, the show inadvertently created its own tropes. And as the show progressed over the decades, the writers sometimes came to rely on those tropes.

When Russell T. Davies brought the TV series back in 2005, one notable thing about the writing was how deconstructionist it was. The episodes made you question all of the things you took for granted about the show.

The Doctor swoops in, defeats the bad guy, leaves in the TARDIS, and everything turns out okay, right? Well, let’s explore what happens after the Doctor leaves. Maybe he leaves the world in shambles, and things are far worse a century later. Maybe he creates a power vacuum in the British government that allows the Master to step in and take over the country.

And how about those companions? They love traveling in the TARDIS, right? Well, what if the companions question their decision to travel with a complete stranger? What if they frequently want to be taken home to rest? What if their loved ones become collateral damage? What if their experiences make them reckless and dangerous?

Granted, Davies didn’t start this. It happened from time to time in the classic TV series, happened much more frequently in the VNA & EDA novels, occurred regularly in the Big Finish audios, and Moffat continued it in the TV series. Hell, Moffat wrote an entire series about the Doctor questioning whether he’s even a good man because of his morally gray past and abrasive personality.

And then there’s series 11.

While Davies and Moffat took Doctor Who apart and put it back together again to tell stories, Chibnall just... tells typical Doctor Who stories. Nothing about series 11 questions the show’s many tropes, the Doctor’s character, or the franchise’s history. It’s just a series of Very Typically Doctor Who Adventures.

I mean, there’s nothing wrong with those kinds of episodes. It’s just that the deconstructive episodes make you look at the more typical episodes surrounding them through a different lens. And that lens was missing for a full 10 episodes.

[purest-love-deepest-pain]

aight so I have a lot of (mostly non-positive) thoughts on the new episodes of Doctor Who so lemme rant for a bit because I’ve been wanting to do this for ages.

(if you enjoyed the new episodes and liked the storyline/execution/whatever or you just don’t want to get into The Discourse TM, I wouldn’t recommend reading this post, but do what you want):

This rant is mostly for myself to rant a bit, but also to see if anyone else feels the same way, which, is kind of the point of Tumblr anyway but akshjajsa 

this isn’t an attack on Jodie as the Doctor or a “Chibnall ruined Doctor Who!!!!1″ type of post, but a measured critique on the aspects of the premiere of Series 12 that I really didn’t like.

This is only discourse on Spyfall Part 1 and Part 2, as I haven’t watched Orphan 55 yet.

Here we go.

First things first, the things I actually did like:

I actually only watched a few episodes of Series 11, so I’d just like to note I love Team TARDIS with my whole ass heart ahsjahsja they are great companions and have a great dynamic

I liked the concept of the mission they had to deal with it, even if I didn’t like the execution

Sasha Dhawan was EXCELLENT in this. The way his demeanor changes completely when he stops pretending to be O, his portrayal of the Master, everything about him here was great

The plot twist scene was great. The Doctor’s reaction, the Master’s child-like attitude and excitement, Team Tardis being confused af, it was really good from start to finish and Jodie and Sasha’s acting truly made it click. 

Jodie was also really excellent here btw. The way she portrayed the Doctor’s feeling of being frozen during the reveal scene perfectly, her finally getting to show off the Doctor’s darkness, her dynamics with the Master, her seeing Gallifrey in shambles, etc. She killed it

Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan were GREAT additions and I kinda wish they were full-time companions lmao. Also I ship Thirteen and Ada a lot tbh

The whole scene with the back-and-forth between the Doctor’s message and Graham and Graham landing the plane was hilarious. Graham used to be my least favorite new companion but I think he’s one of my faves now

Part 2 was overall much more fun than Part 1, and the characters were more entertaining as well

I mentioned this before when talking about Jodie’s acting, but seeing Thirteen finally go dark is great. I’m excited to see where this is heading towards, and from what I’ve seen, it’s gonna cause Team TARDIS some conflict, which was kind of overdue. I just really hope Chibnall can lower his ego and allow other writers to execute these concepts in ways he can’t throughout the series

I was also left genuinely intrigued by the whole Timeless Child thing and am looking forward to that so. Yeah.

Now, what I didn’t like:

First of all, it’s written by Chibnall himself and he’s the only writer. ‘Nuff said

The episode seems to take a bit too long to introduce the characters once more and show their daily lives before we get to the point or even first see the Doctor. Maybe that’s just me but idk

Like I mentioned, I like the potential of this mission. A CSI-esque episode but make it sci-fi/Doctor Who. My problem lies with the execution. It wasn’t a fun storyline, and after the Master reveal, it just feels like it’s sidelined and simply there as “oh look Doctor, you looked away and the Master started using ANOTHER alien race to get your attention AGAIN”. It didn’t feel fun either, since there was just. So much info-dumping and not enough answers. The problem isn’t that it was unoriginal, it’s that it was uninspired and boring

Not to mention the Kasaavin ended up being sidelined so much that everyone was just ??? kind of confused about them. Also I’ve seen some people say they are literally just the Cybermen 2.0 and I kind of agree

I got the vibe that “O” and Yaz were flirting and just. Ew. I do not fuck with that

Part 1 in general just felt completely boring and the storyline was so generic you could replace the conflict with literally anything else and keep the twist and it wouldn’t change a thing lol

Also, as happy as I am that we have a POC incarnation of the Master, I’m...conflicted. I am going to miss Missy a whole lot, and the Master going back to being a man is...kind of boring, but that’s not my issue. I understand that, after what happened with her, Missy might’ve given up on redemption and decided to go back to her old Master-y ways, specially with the whole Timeless Child thing, that was so traumatizing the Master felt obligated to destroy Gallifrey, BUT it feels like it just inutilizes Missy’s entire character arc during Capaldi’s run and introduces a new plot element just to make the Master go back to their old villanous ways. It’s sorta cheap

Speaking of cheap plot elements just introduced to retconn things Moffat did, we’ll get back to Gallifrey later

The scene with the Master telling the Doctor to kneel made me uncomfortable. Having Thirteen be the first female Doctor (and arguably the gayest Doctor at that) and then have the Master, her antagonist, be a man...meh. But then have him tell her to kneel and to essentially humiliate her by telling her to call him “Master”, that had my stomach a bit uneasy. Like, yeah, Simm!Doctor did much worse to Tenth, but the implications are much, much, different in this context. Idk, I personally was left uncomfortable by that scene

The Doctor turning the Master over to the N*zi officers was so, so fcking shitty like. I’m not mad at the Doctor, I’m mad at Chibnall for putting that in the fcking script. WHY DID HE THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?????

The Doctor wiping Ada and Noor’s memories just felt so...unnecesary. Like, the Doctor has interacted with historical figures in the past and kept their memories intact (Agatha Christie comes to mind as an exception, though that was accidental). And besides, what for? Ada and Noor having memory of what happened interfered with nothing (I might be wrong on this as I kind of erased anything the Doctor said in that scene from my mind involuntarily lmfao but even so, I can’t come up with any good excuses that could be used there anyways, but if I am missing something notify me in the notes) and they don’t seem like the type to tattle about it or smth

Ah, and now we get to Gallifrey, or what I like to call, both the best and the worst example of what a retconn is. Listen, it doesn’t matter whether you liked Moffat and/or his decision to bring back Gallifrey, but you have to agree this is ridiculous. Chibnall didn’t want to have to deal with what Moffat left him with (a restored Gallifrey and the implications of that) so he had The Master just destroy Gallifrey by himself and discarded it like a chess piece, like. Am I the only one legit dumbfounded by this???? First of all, it took the Daleks an entire war to attempt to destroy Gallifrey, and they actually failed in the end, and yet the Master destroys it by himself, no stress. I legit don’t get it. Listen, I have mixed thoughts on Moffat’s decision to do so and I hate Hell Bent as much as the next person, but this is Chibnall discarding yet ANOTHER arc. That’s two arcs in one premiere. Wow. It legit sealed the deal for me that this premiere was a hot mess.

That’s it (that’s it, she says, after writing a whole essay). Again, this is not an attack on Chibnall’s Doctor Who, Jodie as the Doctor or me telling you how to feel about this episode. My opinion seems like an unpopular one from what I’ve seen but I stand by it lol. 

As a closing statement, fingers crossed that Chibnall lets other people write too this series lmfao.

(This is my first indepth critique of anything here so, hum, if you disagree, please be kind akhjahsjahs I doubt this will get much notes anyways but)

[smokeybrandreviews]

Heartless

I’ve seen some of the new Doctor Who and it’s kind of terrible. Once, when i was younger, I’d be on the edge of my seat whenever i tuned into this smart, snarky, surprisingly well executed indie-like show. I adored the first few series of the revival run. Eccelston was a decent Doctor but the show took off once David Tennant got the role. 10 is my favorite Doc of all time, no disrespect to Matt Smith or Tom Baker but, for me, it’s 10 all the way. He had the best stories, the best development, the best pathos. He was written brilliantly and i adored every second of it. And that’s the rub; 10 was WRITTEN beautifully. There was creativity and passion and love in his stories. All of that was driven by Russell T. Davies, a brilliant creator in his own right. This cat was the driving force behind shows like Queer As Folk and The Grand. He had a way to ground his storied in reality by focusing on the characters and their motivation. For Davies, the devil was in the detail and his almost auteur sense of showrunning made sure of that. I understand why Eccelston left after one series. Davies wasn’t budging on his vision and Eccelston, being the same way in front of the screen, woulld, invariably, do nothing but clash. It was sad to see him go but we got Tennant in tow, so it wasn’t all bad. I was born in the 80s so, until the revival started, my Doctor Who was Paul McGann. It’s a shame he didn’t get a fair shake. I think he could have been incredibly special in the role. Unfortunate. Eventually, Tennant left, like Eccelestson, but on different terms. Cats had to pry David off the set, he loved the character so much. In comes Matt Smith, all young and gang, instantly warming our hearts to his cool ass bow ties. Matt Smith brought Steven Moffat with him as showrunner and this is where things took a turn, I think.

Steven Moffat is a huge television person in Britain. He’s produced fantastic shows like the BBC Sherlock, Jekyll, and the current Netflix Dracula run. He is not Russell T. Davies. The difference in their writing is wildly apparent. I’m not saying it’s bad but it’s definitely less. Or so it was after Davies left. See, Davies had a cache of writers on his staff while he ran his portion of Who. Moffat was one of those cats. Davies says he never changed a single script submitted by Moffat, and I’m inclined to agree. When you have strict parents, you know to stay inline and put your best foot forward. When Davies bowed out and Moffat got the big chair? That’s when sh*t started to slide. Don’t get me wrong, the show was still entertaining. Moffat hit the jackpot with Smith and Karen Gillan. Their chemistry was amazing. I, personally, enjoyed the episodes with Rover Song as well, although, that seems to be a point of contention among the fandom. However, You can see cracks begin to form when Gillan left. Now, i absolutely adore Clara Oswin Oswald. The idea of her character was great. The execution, not so great. That becomes a theme in Moffat run. By the time Peter Capaldi got to throw on his sonic shades, Moffat was phoning sh*t in left and right, which is absurd because Capaldi is an excellent actor. How do yo outright waste such talent? There were a few sparks of amazing, a few brilliant episode, and f*cking Missy, ultimately though, Moffat went out with a fart instead of a bang. I think, toward the end there, Moffat was tired of the vehicle that made him a star. This brings my to current Who. The BBC installed one of the worse creatives in their social conscious to helm what could arguably be the biggest shift n Who since the first hiatus; A female Doctor.

Now, i was never one of these cats who cared if the Doctor had a Johnson or a Virginia, they’re immortal interdenominational aliens who regenerate their bodies after death. They can be whatever the f*ck they want to be at that point, except ginger, apparently. o be so butt-hurt that their precious Doctor now has boobies is ridiculous. Be upset about who they cast, bro. We’ve had excellent actors portraying the good Doctor for decades. Is this new one, female or not, going to carry that torch? Do they have the ability to do this legacy justice? That’s what should have been the focus, but it wasn’t, so the BBC was able to slide Chris Chibnall into the big chair. That is the problem with this show. A lot of Chibnall’s catalog seems to be crime serials. I’m intimately familiar with Broadchurch and i can make pretty accurate assumptions about Law and Order: UK. He was head writer fir Torchwood, but that ain’t Doctor Who. That’s a different show with a different feel. He’s actually written some of the worst episodes of Doctor Who in the new run, itself. Who’s favorite episode is f*cking “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship?” And the BBC put THIS guy in charge? No wonder the ratings are in the sh*tter, dude can’t write outside of crime dramas! There is a distinct lack of imagination there and it shows in his filmography. Just because you have a tenuous connection to Doctor Who, doesn’t mean you should be in charge of the entire goddamn show! Which is a shame because Jodie Whittaker is an amazing actor!

Jodie is the saving grace of this terrible run and it’s hard to see that with how drab her scripts have been. This feels a lot like how McGann got burned in the 90s but in a different way. Whittaker’s pedigrees is unassailable. Ma can act. She was great in attack the Block and the best goddamn thing about Broadchurch so stepping into the role of the Doctor; a role historically chock full of freedom for the actor to craft any sort of personality for the character, should have been a dream come true. it wasn’t. Whittaker was almost immediately boxed in by the BBC and Chibnall, forcing this weird, focus grouped, visage all over her. She was immediately expected to impersonate a cross between Smith and Tennant, something that sound awesome on paper but is absolutely impossible to pull off once you have a deep understanding about those two characters. 10 was a Doctor who had to live with the knowledge that he committed genocide on his own people. While he was able to smile and interact with others on a personable level, he kept people at an arms length. He abandoned the woman he loved in another dimension because of this fact. Because he feels he doesn’t deserve to be happy. 11 is the opposite. He forgot the number. He stopped counting. He allows himself to love again, both platonic and romantic. He doesn’t care about the Time War and it’s casualties, not anymore. This juxtaposition is impossible to reconcile and it makes for a sh*tty character with no tone, no agency, and no heart. And that’s the problem with this run of Doctor Who so far; There’s no heart.

It seems Chibnall has a rather short leash with this run of the Doctor. Not that he minds it, dude comes across has kind of an executive bootlicker from what I’ve seen. He’s a creative who isn’t all that creative; a writer who has good ideas and not a lick of understanding about how to execute them properly. I could be wrong, I’m not British, but i am observant and it appears to me that Chibnall is at his best when he’s adapting some sh*t or has a framework to build upon. Crime serials have that.They have a structure to their narrative. It you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all that’s why they’re called “serials”. Even with Torchwood, there was a world to build upon and cats to edit his scripts. Being the showrunner for Doctor Who has none of that. There is no structure. There is no framework. There is just pure possibility, awash in the fantastic. You have to have imagination to be in charge of Who and, as far as i can tell, Chibnall is lacking that aspect. He’s lacking heart. Doctor Who feels like Broadchurch, in more ways than one, and that i absolutely a sin. Who should feel like Who. It would be whimsical and tragic and uplifting and heartfelt and genuine. What Chibnall has created in these two series so far, feels like a product. This sh*t was pressed out, manufactured, with not even an ounce of love and that sucks. How can he be so jaded and he just got the job?

[smokeybrand]

Heartless

I’ve seen some of the new Doctor Who and it’s kind of terrible. Once, when i was younger, I’d be on the edge of my seat whenever i tuned into this smart, snarky, surprisingly well executed indie-like show. I adored the first few series of the revival run. Eccelston was a decent Doctor but the show took off once David Tennant got the role. 10 is my favorite Doc of all time, no disrespect to Matt Smith or Tom Baker but, for me, it’s 10 all the way. He had the best stories, the best development, the best pathos. He was written brilliantly and i adored every second of it. And that’s the rub; 10 was WRITTEN beautifully. There was creativity and passion and love in his stories. All of that was driven by Russell T. Davies, a brilliant creator in his own right. This cat was the driving force behind shows like Queer As Folk and The Grand. He had a way to ground his storied in reality by focusing on the characters and their motivation. For Davies, the devil was in the detail and his almost auteur sense of showrunning made sure of that. I understand why Eccelston left after one series. Davies wasn’t budging on his vision and Eccelston, being the same way in front of the screen, woulld, invariably, do nothing but clash. It was sad to see him go but we got Tennant in tow, so it wasn’t all bad. I was born in the 80s so, until the revival started, my Doctor Who was Paul McGann. It’s a shame he didn’t get a fair shake. I think he could have been incredibly special in the role. Unfortunate. Eventually, Tennant left, like Eccelestson, but on different terms. Cats had to pry David off the set, he loved the character so much. In comes Matt Smith, all young and gang, instantly warming our hearts to his cool ass bow ties. Matt Smith brought Steven Moffat with him as showrunner and this is where things took a turn, I think.

Steven Moffat is a huge television person in Britain. He’s produced fantastic shows like the BBC Sherlock, Jekyll, and the current Netflix Dracula run. He is not Russell T. Davies. The difference in their writing is wildly apparent. I’m not saying it’s bad but it’s definitely less. Or so it was after Davies left. See, Davies had a cache of writers on his staff while he ran his portion of Who. Moffat was one of those cats. Davies says he never changed a single script submitted by Moffat, and I’m inclined to agree. When you have strict parents, you know to stay inline and put your best foot forward. When Davies bowed out and Moffat got the big chair? That’s when sh*t started to slide. Don’t get me wrong, the show was still entertaining. Moffat hit the jackpot with Smith and Karen Gillan. Their chemistry was amazing. I, personally, enjoyed the episodes with Rover Song as well, although, that seems to be a point of contention among the fandom. However, You can see cracks begin to form when Gillan left. Now, i absolutely adore Clara Oswin Oswald. The idea of her character was great. The execution, not so great. That becomes a theme in Moffat run. By the time Peter Capaldi got to throw on his sonic shades, Moffat was phoning sh*t in left and right, which is absurd because Capaldi is an excellent actor. How do yo outright waste such talent? There were a few sparks of amazing, a few brilliant episode, and f*cking Missy, ultimately though, Moffat went out with a fart instead of a bang. I think, toward the end there, Moffat was tired of the vehicle that made him a star. This brings my to current Who. The BBC installed one of the worse creatives in their social conscious to helm what could arguably be the biggest shift n Who since the first hiatus; A female Doctor.

Now, i was never one of these cats who cared if the Doctor had a Johnson or a Virginia, they’re immortal interdenominational aliens who regenerate their bodies after death. They can be whatever the f*ck they want to be at that point, except ginger, apparently. o be so butt-hurt that their precious Doctor now has boobies is ridiculous. Be upset about who they cast, bro. We’ve had excellent actors portraying the good Doctor for decades. Is this new one, female or not, going to carry that torch? Do they have the ability to do this legacy justice? That’s what should have been the focus, but it wasn’t, so the BBC was able to slide Chris Chibnall into the big chair. That is the problem with this show. A lot of Chibnall’s catalog seems to be crime serials. I’m intimately familiar with Broadchurch and i can make pretty accurate assumptions about Law and Order: UK. He was head writer fir Torchwood, but that ain’t Doctor Who. That’s a different show with a different feel. He’s actually written some of the worst episodes of Doctor Who in the new run, itself. Who’s favorite episode is f*cking “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship?” And the BBC put THIS guy in charge? No wonder the ratings are in the sh*tter, dude can’t write outside of crime dramas! There is a distinct lack of imagination there and it shows in his filmography. Just because you have a tenuous connection to Doctor Who, doesn’t mean you should be in charge of the entire goddamn show! Which is a shame because Jodie Whittaker is an amazing actor!

Jodie is the saving grace of this terrible run and it’s hard to see that with how drab her scripts have been. This feels a lot like how McGann got burned in the 90s but in a different way. Whittaker’s pedigrees is unassailable. Ma can act. She was great in attack the Block and the best goddamn thing about Broadchurch so stepping into the role of the Doctor; a role historically chock full of freedom for the actor to craft any sort of personality for the character, should have been a dream come true. it wasn’t. Whittaker was almost immediately boxed in by the BBC and Chibnall, forcing this weird, focus grouped, visage all over her. She was immediately expected to impersonate a cross between Smith and Tennant, something that sound awesome on paper but is absolutely impossible to pull off once you have a deep understanding about those two characters. 10 was a Doctor who had to live with the knowledge that he committed genocide on his own people. While he was able to smile and interact with others on a personable level, he kept people at an arms length. He abandoned the woman he loved in another dimension because of this fact. Because he feels he doesn’t deserve to be happy. 11 is the opposite. He forgot the number. He stopped counting. He allows himself to love again, both platonic and romantic. He doesn’t care about the Time War and it’s casualties, not anymore. This juxtaposition is impossible to reconcile and it makes for a sh*tty character with no tone, no agency, and no heart. And that’s the problem with this run of Doctor Who so far; There’s no heart.

It seems Chibnall has a rather short leash with this run of the Doctor. Not that he minds it, dude comes across has kind of an executive bootlicker from what I’ve seen. He’s a creative who isn’t all that creative; a writer who has good ideas and not a lick of understanding about how to execute them properly. I could be wrong, I’m not British, but i am observant and it appears to me that Chibnall is at his best when he’s adapting some sh*t or has a framework to build upon. Crime serials have that.They have a structure to their narrative. It you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all that’s why they’re called “serials”. Even with Torchwood, there was a world to build upon and cats to edit his scripts. Being the showrunner for Doctor Who has none of that. There is no structure. There is no framework. There is just pure possibility, awash in the fantastic. You have to have imagination to be in charge of Who and, as far as i can tell, Chibnall is lacking that aspect. He’s lacking heart. Doctor Who feels like Broadchurch, in more ways than one, and that i absolutely a sin. Who should feel like Who. It would be whimsical and tragic and uplifting and heartfelt and genuine. What Chibnall has created in these two series so far, feels like a product. This sh*t was pressed out, manufactured, with not even an ounce of love and that sucks. How can he be so jaded and he just got the job?

[tenscupcake]

my first, and possibly only, official statement on the new doctor.

i've honestly been truly and thoroughly baffled, and rather disappointed, by the lack of discussion occurring around this polarizing issue. in fact, in my brief experience on various social media platforms, discussion is rarely, if ever, allowed. the tiniest expression of discontent with the new doctor immediately elicits a slew of insults and accusations of misogyny. i have yet to have an actual conversation with anyone about this, aside from close personal friends who share my views, because those who don't share them will not even engage them. they instead immediately resort to name calling and shut down any attempts at conversation i make. honestly, it has driven a wedge between me and doctor who and its fandom like i've never experienced, not even in all my suffering through the moffat era.

i hesitated for a while about coming back on here at all. but i figured it would be wrong of me to not give my friends and acquaintances here a chance to really hear me out, since before i took a hiatus i hadn't really properly articulated my reasoning (for the aforementioned reasons). so to anyone interested in my thoughts on the matter (and let me explicitly mention here that i am referring only to rational people who are willing to either read silently and go about their day or else engage in a polite discussion with me, not people who are just going to send me vicious anonymous asks), here they are.

i’m sure it’s no surprise to any of my followers that i haven’t been actively watching the show for some time now. in fact, i stepped away indefinitely sometime early season 8, not because i had any issue with capaldi, but because i didn’t feel moffat’s writing had improved any since the last season.

so, it may have come as a surprise to many of you that i even had a strong reaction of any kind, be it positive or negative. and i can certainly see where you’re coming from, if that’s the case.

when it was announced early last year that moffat would finally be leaving, i threw a party. i literally did. i got together with my one other real-life friend who watches the show, watched rtd episodes, and made blue cupcakes (that were supposed to be TARDIS colored but turned out more of a pale teal and baby blue combo). i can’t even explain how happy i was at the mere suggestion of him leaving. because in my eyes, he took my favorite show and turned it into something i resented. it was such a slow and painful process to come to terms with the fact that a show i once loved was causing me so much grief, and finally part ways with it (at least in the sense of following along with the new episodes; i’ve obviously remained active in the rtd sect and continue to devote a significant chunk of my life to the doctor and rose *blush*). but i just couldn’t deal with the constant disappointment and rage anymore. i knew it was for the best.

i liked broadchurch well enough, with the exception of the second season, and i thought there was no way chibnall could be worse than moffat. and best case scenario, he could potentially resurrect the show into something i’d enjoy again. maybe it was foolish to hope for such a thing, but i owe far too much to this show after all it’s done for me to not give it a second chance under new leadership. so when, a few weeks ago, they told us the date they’d be announcing the new doctor, i got properly excited again. to put a face to my renewed hope in the series? it was hard not to get excited. the sound of the tardis still makes my heart swell with joy and gratitude. i’m still invested. just look at my room or my wardrobe. i’m a self-proclaimed doctor who geek through and through. if i wasn’t, i don’t think it would be possible for me to be genuinely upset about anything that happened to the show. the things we love are the things that can hurt us the most.

so, without prolonging the inevitable any longer, i’ll try to explain why i was/am upset by the casting announcement.

i really have three main reasons.

1. the issue of representation.

let me start out by saying i am a passionate advocate for better (i won't say more, because i don't think that's the issue at hand) female representation in media. especially film. i desperately want more intelligent, strong, powerful women in fiction. but what i absolutely do not want is to recycle traditionally male characters into female ones. doesn't this seem counterproductive to anyone else? its almost as though a man always has to pave the way, and only once he's established a character can a woman potentially take over. it’s trite and more than a little insulting.

give me more original female characters who kick ass. give me more natasha romanoffs, more reys, more elle woods, more leslie knopes.

don’t give me more batgirls or supergirls. don’t take a character as prominent and culturally significant as the doctor and morph him into a woman after 50+ years (or 2000+, depending on your perspective).

and you know, i've actually seen people say (addressing people who are upset about the casting): ‘a character’s gender doesn't have to match yours to be a good role model for you.’ you know what? to an extent, i actually agree. as a matter of fact, i strongly identify with and take inspiration from the doctor, even though he's a man. does nobody hear how hypocritical it sounds to say you want a woman to play the doctor purely so girls can have another role model, and then turn around and in the next sentence say gender is irrelevant to role models? yeah, this one really floored me.

but though i do think that one’s role models don’t have to match one’s gender 100% of the time, it is important to have some that do. and i do think there is an imbalance in the number of strong male leads in tv and film versus the number of strong female leads. keyword: strong. i’m tired of sexist stereotyping and failed bechdel tests, too. probably more than most, actually. but i think taking existing male characters and gender bending them is the absolute worst way to go about rectifying this imbalance.

2. the issue of the nature of gender.

i want to preface this by saying that, until fairly recently, i was something of a fundamentalist when it came to gender. but over the years, i’ve realized how problematic such views are. i’ve invested hours upon hours of my free time scouring reddit threads and watching documentaries about trans issues to understand this crucial part of the LGBT community. to learn. and what i’ve gathered from my thorough research, and heard from the many personal experiences of transgender individuals i’ve read, is that gender is something distinct from biological sex that is immutable. the gender you’re born with is the gender you are for life. (and yes, as i understand it this does also apply to genderfluid individuals - they’ve always been genderfluid even if it was not always expressed.) and changes made to physical appearance are merely affirming one’s gender, not changing it.

changing the doctor into a woman flies directly in the face of this very concept. and to me, it really, truly feels like an insult to the trans community.

it’s going back to the regressive fundamentalist view that sex = gender. that because the doctor has a woman’s body now, he must therefore identify as a woman. though this hasn’t been explicitly confirmed in so many words, given the widespread use of feminine pronouns and the term ‘woman’, i think it’s safe to conclude this is the case for the show. and this is so contrary to the whole message the LGBT community is trying to put out.

now. i’ve heard several potential counterarguments to this, so bear with me as i go through them.

first, people say ‘but the doctor is an alien, not a human. our gender expectations don’t apply.’ true. yes. he is an alien. but is the show really about his alienness? i think you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that it is. the truth is, though it’s told through tales of distant planets and creepy aliens, it’s really a show about humanity, and always has been. doctor who has always espoused a meaningful kind of secular humanism. it’s explored what it means to be human in so many impactful ways. and it’s because the doctor looks and acts human much of the time, succumbs to human emotions and has such human flaws, that he is so relatable. yes, it’s a sci-fi show about time travel and regeneration and spaceships, but if the doctor were completely alien and had no human qualities, it wouldn’t have become such a hit. don’t try to deny that. trying to distance the doctor from humanity is a detriment, not a benefit, to the show.

and though some may argue we ought to hope for and potentially work towards a future where gender is irrelevant, the fact is in today’s society gender is exceedingly relevant. and important. transgender people and feminist movements wouldn’t exist - wouldn’t need to exist - if it weren’t.

second, i see people say ‘the doctor has no gender.’ this one admittedly really throws me. no gender? where is the evidence for that?

for one thing, what point would there be to differentiating between time lords and time ladies if gender was not of import on gallifrey?

there is also a plethora of evidence to the contrary: the doctor has in fact consistently identified as a man. starting JUST with ten:

in ‘the christmas invasion’: he says ‘same man, new face. well, new everything.’

also in tci: ‘oh, that's rude. that's the sort of man i am now, am i?

also in tci: ‘no second chances. i’m that sort of man.’

in ‘fear her’: ‘look at my manly hairy hand’

in ‘evolution of the daleks’: ‘the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion’

in ‘utopia’: ‘i was a different man back then.’

in ‘voyage of the damned’: ‘i’m the man who’s going to save your lives’

in ‘the end of time’: ‘even if i change, it feels like dying. everything i am dies. some new man goes sauntering away.’

a couple of these quotes actually indicate that he has an innate sense of being a man that transcends regeneration. depending on his current level of angst, it seems, he sees himself as a different man or the same man, but the ‘man’ part remains the same. he doesn’t say ‘person’ or ‘character’ or anything to that effect. he says ‘man.’

not to mention, the doctor consistently objects to being called a human (or martian), and corrects those who mislabel him as such, but never once objects to being called a man (which is quite often).

and just so that no one accuses me of singling out one doctor too much, here’s a quote from the first doctor from the pilot, an unearthly child: ‘i’m an old man. how can an old man like me harm any of you?’

right off the bat. the doctor has been identifying as a man for literally thousands of years.

sorry for lingering on that sub-point for a while. it’s just so mind-boggling to me because there’s so much freely available evidence to the contrary.

third, i’ve noticed there seems to be some level of collective amnesia of the backlash from when the master made a comeback as missy. given what i’ve observed of people praising the decision retroactively, no one seems to remember the fandom’s response from that revelatory episode anymore. but i remember it vividly. a number of people were furious, the trans community and its allies in particular. and this outrage returned with a vengeance when missy kissed the doctor (12) later on. though i had already given up on watching the show by then (at least as long as moffat’s hellish reign continued), the anger and frustration i was seeing really resonated with me. 

i have never forgotten that, and it is undoubtedly a big part of the reason i’m so angry and frustrated now. i am at least consistent, if nothing else. but conversely, there seems to be a lack of consistency among much of the fandom, as i sense none of the widespread ire from the past making a resurgence now, and it’s unclear why. the same issues regarding gender are at play. it’s leading me to assume that many people are embracing this decision purely for perceived representation, while disregarding potential cultural issues it may raise, which i think is dangerously selfish and shallow.

3. the choice of actress.

i’m not going to pull any punches here, since i’m already putting my blog’s reputation in jeopardy by making this post at all. i don’t like jodie whittaker, specifically. i think she’s a terrible actress.

this is based purely off of watching broadchurch, because it’s the only thing i’ve seen her in. but her performance paled miserably next to david’s and olivia’s, and even some minor characters’. i mean, beth’s life thoroughly sucked, and everything in it went from bad to worse for a while, but i didn’t really care. she didn’t make me care. i think that’s a huge red flag for any actor. because, i mean, compare that to olivia’s performance. i mean, SHIT. miller made me feel things every episode. intense things. and beth didn’t. at all. ever.

so, even IF the other two issues were somehow resolved, i still wouldn’t be happy with the casting choice, because i am not at all impressed with this person’s acting ability. the doctor is a huge role. a critical one. and i’m honestly not sure what she did to earn it.

so, that’s it. it’s not every nook and cranny of my position, but it’s the gist of it.

as my final thought, i’ll reiterate what i said at the beginning, to anyone considering responding to this: hostile ad hominem responses will be resolutely ignored, but (time and volume of responses permitting) polite intellectual debate will likely be engaged. but let it be said that though i’m willing to listen to reason, it’s highly unlikely anyone will change my mind.

i don’t want this to widen the chasm between me and the fandom. i already feel so distant from it already, like i’m hanging on by a thread. in all likelihood, i won’t discuss the subject at all any more after this post, save for when responding to others’ comments or questions about it. and even then, i will do so privately whenever i can. because i really don’t want to dwell on it anymore. i’ve finally sunk myself back into ep after an extended hiatus due to surgery and work, and that’s what i’d really like to dedicate my free time to from here on out. that and my other d/r fics. that’s what makes me happy; not bickering with people who don’t agree with me.

so please! feel free not to respond to this at all. it is completely optional and even somewhat discouraged, because i am tired of thinking about it and being yelled at and insulted for it. i’d love to forget about it and move on, at least until i’m forced to confront it again this christmas. i want to get back to what my blog is all about - nine and ten’s era. david. the fun smattering of friends and parks gifs. but above all else, the doctor and rose. the couple i’ve dedicated the past four years of my life to.

no matter what happens, i’m going to stay with them. whether or not i stick around on tumblr, i’ll continue posting my fics on ao3. they’re my happy place. these characters mean the world to me. and doctor who will always be very dear to my heart, regardless of how the future of the show pans out. i hope my followers never doubt that.

[cwalshuk]

Doctor Who review - Can You Hear Me?

Spoilers! Obviously.

If you haven’t watched the seventh episode of the 2020 series, then go watch it now. Seriously.

This episode is a nightmare. Or, rather, it is about nightmares, fears, anxieties and other mental health issues.

Episode seven of a ten episode series is the equivalent of episode ten of a thirteen episode one. By that I mean that minds start to wonder towards the finale, particularly when the marketing is already building up to it. There's a two-part finale this time, which inevitably takes some of the impetus out of this episode and the next one, relegating them to ‘filler’ stories.

But that doesn't mean that Can You Hear Me? is a dud. Indeed, it is one of the more imaginative and ambitious episodes of Jodie's tenure as The Doctor. It demonstrates that show runner Chris Chibnall has chosen a great writer. Here, he shares credit, billed second to Charlene James. A playwright by trade, James has a couple of TV credits to her name, including for A Discovery Of Witches, increasing that show’s links to Who even more. James’ Wikipedia entry, at time of writing, notes that she is only the second black writer for televised Who, following Malorie Blackman last series. Given the topics her plays have been about so far, it is clear that James was the best choice for this episode.

So, what happens? The Doctor brings the fam back to Sheffield, giving us a chance to see each of them interact with friends and family for the first time since Spyfall.

When the show returned in 2005, then show runner Russell T Davies decided that companions would want to call home, having The Doctor turn their mobiles into super phones, so they could do so wherever, and whenever, the Tardis took them. The problem, as the technology in our phones grew ever more sophisticated, is that they ran the risk of ruining plots. If a character gets lost, why don't they just call The Doctor? If they think they've seen a monster, why not film it on their phone?, etc. As far as I can recall, in the Chibnall era, it has mostly been The Doctor who uses a mobile during episodes not set on contemporary Earth, allowing for lovely little sequences such as the one which brings the fam back together later on in Can You Hear Me?.

Not giving the fam super phones has, however, rather isolated them from their pre-Doctor lives though. They don't have superphones do they? Perhaps they do but they've exercised great self control in not using them?. This episode suggests that they don't, since Yaz is furious that they are 77 minutes late, and asks her sister Sonya a bunch of questions she wouldn't need to if they’d been in constant contact during her Tardis trips. Yaz and Sonia are marking an anniversary with a meal, without their parents. It clearly means a lot to Yaz, but we're kept in the dark as to why, for the moment. I wonder if the choice of Whitby for the parents trip is a nod to Dracula, which would have been in production at the same time, and shared a premiere date with Who? But that's not important. What is important, is that we're given more Yaz backstory!

So, Yaz is back home. Graham is with friends, playing cards. The jury's out on whether these friends pre-date him meeting Grace, but whether they are bus-driving mates or not, they are well aware of both Graham’s cancer status, and the fact he is a widower. Graham himself is cheerful though. I didn't pick up whether this scene takes place at Graham and Grace’s home or not, but it would be interesting to know if not, since Ryan doesn't return there. Instead, he is following up face-to-face with Tibo (Buom Tihngang) his friend, last seen attempting to keep track of Ryan’s long list of reasons why he hadn't been playing basketball, in Spyfall. Tibo has not been doing well, to say the least. He has sent Ryan lots of messages, which Ryan seems only recently to have received. He is alarmingly security conscious, and scared to sleep alone in his flat. He asks Ryan to stay over. Yaz spends the night at home. Graham keeps playing cards.

That covers the humans of Team Tardis, so let's circle back to The Doctor. Somewhat at a loose end, she jumps at the chance to follow a mysterious something which affects the Tardis temporarily. We see a creepy old man, played exquisitely by Ian Gelder, but she doesn't. She tracks the mysterious something to Aleppo, Syria, in 1380, the setting of our cold open.

The Tardis materialises in the same place, just after the attack. The Doctor notes, to no one in particular, that it is a mental health hospital, and that Islamic medicine at that time is well-respected. Surveying the damage, The Doctor finds a terrified Tahira (Aruhan Galieva), but nobody else. Then one of the monsters appears and roars in The Doctor’s face, but leaves after Tahira shouts at it, leaving no sonic-detectable trace.

Now, I’ve heard that some fans don't see why we visit Syria, arguing that Tahira’s role in the plot could be added to Tibo’s. But the point of delving back to 1380, and to an Islamic country too, is to show that humanity, as a whole, has been facing up to the challenges of poor mental health for a long time.

The people of the UK have been more open, and less ashamed about, our mental health challenges in recent years, with awareness campaigns all over the media. Presumably the need for such campaigns was properly identified and measured. What might we be ashamed about? Being thought mad? Being locked up?

I’m suddenly reminded of a scene from The Shakespeare Code, a Tenth Doctor story, where, for plot reasons, we visit an architect locked up in Bedlam, having been bewitched by the Carrionites (?). That would have been 2007 or 2008, right? That can’t have been the last time that Who has visited a mental health hospital, of any kind, can it? In any case, it serves as a useful comparison to the humane treatment in the Aleppo hospital Thirteen talks about in this episode. Would have been useful to have seen how the hospital actually treats patients though.

Anyway, back to Can You Hear Me?. The fam’s in modern day Sheffield, The Doctor’s in 1380 Aleppo. The creepy old guy starts appearing to Ryan and Yaz, and it turns out Tibo’s seen him before. Graham, meanwhile, sees visions of a mysterious woman asking him for help. Worried, the fam each call The Doctor, who, still in ancient Syria, has to merge the calls together to get any sense out of them. Tahira does remarkably well to understand what's going on, and is rewarded by being welcomed onto the Tardis.

Deciding to concentrate on Graham’s vision of the trapped woman, The Doctor hooks him up to the Tardis’ telepathic circuits, leading them to a space station. Stepping out to explore, Yaz does a great job of explaining to Tahira where they now are, and of praising The Doctor’s skill in getting them there. I’d have liked to have seen more fam-Tahira interaction, and perhaps we will in the two-part finale, since she leaves the episode entirely unmindwiped.

Whilst uncovering a little more about the mysterious trapped woman's prison, team Tardis fail to notice that Tahira has wandered off. After The Doctor frees the mysterious woman, she learns that the creepy old man, aka Zellin, has captured Tibo, Tahira, her friend/mental healthcare worker, and the others. We get a nice confrontation/villain exposition sequence, including a charming animation which explains that the mysterious woman, called Rakaya, was supposed to stay trapped. Now back together, Zellin and Rakaya (a fantastic Clare-Hope Ashitey), decide to terrorise Earth by infiltrating humans’ dreams and feeding on their fears. They lock up The Doctor too, before they leave.

On Earth, Zellin and Rakaya waste no time. He appears in a little girl’s bedroom, as she waits in the street to feast. But wait! The Doctor shakes herself out of a dream (?) about the Timeless Child, and out of her shackles too. She appears in Aleppo just after Zellin and Rakaya have arrived, the pair having decided to visit to marvel at the monsters he created to terrorise the hospital. The Doctor isn't alone though, she's freed everyone else who was locked up on the space station, bringing them to Aleppo in the Tardis. The Doctor, her fam, Tahira and Tibo confront Zellin and Rakaya, telling the pair that humanity isn't pathetic because it has fears, but strong because we overcome them everyday. Then Tahira commands one of the monsters to attack Zellin and Rakaya, which she can do since they were born of her nightmares, and The Doctor traps the pair with the monster, so it is they who will feel fear instead. A taste of their own medicine, perhaps?

The day saved, we see that the events he’s witnessed have helped convince Tibo to seek some talking therapy, which Ryan is pleased about.

Yasmin sits and thinks back to the events she and her sister were marking with an anniversary meal at the start of the episode. Three years ago, she ran away from home, due to not-quite-explained issues which might have been bullying at school but could have also been something much worse. I can't decide if there was more in these scenes which was cut, or if they want to keep it vague to reveal more later, but what we are shown is that a police officer convinces Yaz to return home, having been alerted by Sonya that she might be about to do something stupid, and she visits her later to say thanks and catch up.

With the fam back in the Tardis, Graham tries to talk with The Doctor about his fears about his cancer, but she's no help. What Graham really needs is human help, like Tibo got. Ryan wonders with Yaz if this is their life now, on a diverging path from their loved ones, but they are interrupted by The Doctor, who is thinking about Frankenstein…

All in all, this was a good episode. It took different sorts of villains to engage with the issues the writers wanted to raise, and they were well written. It left me wanting to know more about ancient Aleppo, and exactly what happened to Yaz, and it got me intrigued for the next episode, so job done on lots of counts.

The next episode, the last before the big two-part finale, is set during the famous holiday which led Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein, and looks to be a cracker.

I can't wait! And luckily, I don't have to wait much longer!

[willidleaway]

Doctor Who, series 12, mid-series thoughts

In short: series 12 right now is looking like a real mess, but I’m honestly not sure if in a good way or a bad way. Chibnall has been bringing back a big chunk of RTD-era elements (and seemingly destroying a few Moffat-era ones), after the decidedly continuity-nod-averse series 11. It was fun at first but is now starting to look like Chibnall could end up amplifying the worst excesses of RTD and Moffat’s tenures.

In the span of a single episode, we have gone from ‘god I hope Chibnall doesn’t mess up the space rhino police’ to ‘god I hope Chibnall doesn’t mess up the entire show forever and ever’, because the arcs that he’s set up ... well ...

Moffat may have implicitly threatened to reveal the name of the Doctor in The Name of the Doctor, but to his credit he knew not to actually show that card. Chibnall, I suspect, feels too clever to show such restraint. What he’s getting up to may well permanently ruin the character of the Doctor for me, and I don’t think I’d be alone.

Spoiler-filled further thoughts behind the Read More break.

Overall thoughts on where series 12 is going: Boy do I not know where it’s going, but I know where it needs to not go.

OK, so thinking about where series 12 is going basically requires thinking about Fugitive of the Judoon. We get two major mystery points set up:

Captain Jack (who I am not entirely sure I’m glad to see back) has this warning about the Lone Cyberman.

Jo Martin plays an incarnation of the Doctor that cannot possibly exist.

I say I’m not entirely sure I’m glad to see Captain Jack back not because I don’t think his character is delightful or because John Barrowman is older, but because of the way he seems to solely exist to pull the companions out of the interesting story and set up this mystery point.

One of my problems with Moffat-era Who was all of the Doctor worship—and perhaps in retrospect it’s really unfair when it was RTD with his series 3 finale (a key example of RTD’s mixed legacy in terms of the direction RTD took new!Who in his later years, and the ways in which I genuinely think it encouraged a lot of trait that Moffat gets so much flack for in the fandom) and all the Oncoming Storm-type stuff that really started the show on that train. But in my defence, Moffat treated Clara as a living MacGuffin for much of her tenure—with a central plot point being innumerable split existences that revolve entirely around the Doctor—in a way that RTD never treated any of his era’s companions.

With Chibnall at the helm, I had hope that perhaps we’d return to compelling, active companions—especially after Moffat gave us series 10 with Bill and Nardole—and the series 11 premiere looked quite promising in this respect. But series 11 ultimately had at best mixed success on this front, partly because Bradley Walsh is in such a different class from the other two that it doesn’t even make sense. And series 12 so far has simply reverted to a group dynamic where the Doctor has all the answers, Graham has all the quips, Ryan has none of the dyspraxia, and Yas (Yaz? never sure about that one) has nothing.

And when it feels like the companions are doing nothing or even getting in the way of the narrative rather than actively driving it—to the point where you have Captain Jack literally scooping them away from the main thrust of the story—then something’s not right with this show. Why even have a companion, then, let alone three?

All that aside, let’s talk about Ruth!Doctor, who I’m going to assume is actually an incarnation of the Doctor, rather than the Master or the Rani or the Meddling Monk or some other Time Lord simply disguised as the Doctor. Having ‘Introducing Jo Martin as the Doctor’ in the closing credits sure seems to dispel that alternate notion—but certain past show runners have definitely taken part in circulating falsities!

First off, no matter what happens: Ruth!Doctor needs her own EU material. Books. Radio plays. Overpriced cheaply-made replica props. Yes. All of it. We’ve only gotten a couple dozen minutes of this Doctor so far and yet I am already utterly convinced.

Second: has post-RTD Who just completely forgotten about parallel universes? I mean, pocket universes, sure—Gallifrey was in one for a good while. But the Turn Left-style parallel worlds? The kind of parallel world seen in Rise of the Cybermen? Sure, the latter ep sets up the fact that the Time War fallout made it impossible to travel freely between parallel worlds, but with Gallifrey returned (well, before Chibnall burned it all down again), you’d think that would have changed. It doesn’t even seem to occur to 13 that Ruth!Doctor might be a parallel existence, which strikes me as astonishingly odd.

Third: if Ruth!Doctor is an actual incarnation of the Doctor in the prime timeline, then where does she fit? Pre-1 is the actual worst idea, because the TARDIS is already shaped like a police box and only like a police box, and Moffat already showed the TARDIS being stolen by 1 in capsule form. Granted, maybe the Doctor was captured by the Time Lords at some point, regenerated into 1, and stole another TARDIS that also had its chameleon circuit fried, but it seems needlessly complex.

I like the Season 6B idea a little better—the 2/3 interregnum—and maybe Ruth!Doctor is an extra regeneration granted by the Time Lords as reward for 2′s services to the CIA or whatever. One other possibility is simply that Ruth!Doctor had her memory altered—but this is possibly the least interesting idea and thus the least likely, because Chibnall clearly wants to provoke rather than catch a breath and be actually thoughtful with all of his twists this series.

Whether Ruth!Doctor fits in before Hartnell or after Troughton, it will represent a major shift in lore. Moffat was competent enough to make 8.5 work, arguably making better use of RTD’s Time War than even RTD ever did. But we are on shakier territory where Chibnall isn’t really building on anything. And if Ruth!Doctor is the Zeroth Doctor, and Chibnall really wants to provoke, well ...

Part of the fun of the Doctor, at least for me, is that at the end of the day, the Doctor really is a mad man in a box, an idiot that wants to be kind and help out along the way. They’re a Time Lord, sure, but amongst Time Lords they don’t have some overriding power that does not arise from their own initiative. For all of Moffat’s faults, I think he knew this to be at the core of the character. If he didn’t always show it, he at least always tried to tell it, even alongside all of the most egregious Doctor-worship.

And the Doctor’s origins are vague, even mysterious, but only because the Time Lords as a whole are rather mysterious. Their social psychology is eccentric, to be sure. Their control of time and space is unparalleled. But we’re not sure whence they arose and that’s fine. It’s not necessary, because the show was never about the Doctor, but about how the Doctor affects those around him. Much of Moffat-era Who had maybe a more Doctor-centric tilt to this, but nonetheless it was never quite all about the Doctor!

Meanwhile, in the Chibnall era, now we’ve got the Master talking about the Timeless Child and lies about the history of the Time Lords, and Captain Jack scooping the companions out of the way so that we can get all this new Doctor lore set up. And, well ... forget RTD’s Oncoming Storm. Forget Moffat’s literal origin of the word ‘doctor’. I think we’re about to see Chibnall elevate the Doctor to being literally the Genesis of the Time Lords, and it makes me very, very uncomfortable.

Hmm, I do wonder if we will get an episode actually titled Genesis of the Time Lords, only I want it to be about Gallifreyan prog pop-rock.

Additional thoughts, episode by episode:

OK, so I already said my bit on Spyfall and the latest ep. So that leaves two.

—Orphan 55: I think everyone’s had their curb-stomp on this one. I’d just like to say that it was particularly disappointing because Ed Hime’s previous contribution to Doctor Who was ‘It Takes You Away’, by far one of the most brilliant episodes of Series 11. It was ambitious and witty, and the characters were interesting and compelling, and basically it succeeded so well at everything that Orphan 55 fails at so badly.

Orphan 55 is like Midnight except the villain all along was man. It just feels like Ed Hime was playing a bunch of Metro games and then Chibnall told him to write a Very Special Episode about climate change, and everything suddenly clicked together. At least someone thought it did.

Was it really that bad? I’d say it was no less messier than Fugitive of the Judoon, honestly. I think with time, people will either look more kindly on it or completely forget about it, because frankly its reputation can’t get worse. The fact that Orphan 55 did not have the blockbuster Who-lore reveals and twists of Fugitive of the Judoon will be either the reason it becomes forgotten or the reason it becomes more favourably looked upon.

—Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror: My main qualm with this story is the over-romanticisation of Tesla. The show acts as if Wardenclyffe was this amazing proto-Wi-Fi apparatus that would have worked if only JP Morgan hadn’t pulled his funding, when in fact it was the epitome of this big wireless tech bubble and a folly in the most literal sense of that word. They mention the Gilded Age right near the start of the episode and somehow view Tesla as this pure-minded inventor and almost a human Doctor for the 20th century, rather than someone who basically lived off of Gilded Age capitalist money, and a shrewd man knew how to game the press and public opinion in his time.

Don’t get me wrong. Tesla was legitimately wronged very badly, both by Edison and by Marconi, and he seems to have had a real intuition for electrical engineering in ways that few in his time did. But intuition is not the same as scientific enquiry, and that seems to me to be no small part of why Tesla after Wardenclyffe never enjoyed the success and admiration that he did before, and why he was rather badly forgotten for so long.

And then Edison seemed a bit too softened??? Caring for his workers at some level, sure, but surely he would absolutely never be the sort of person to offer Tesla a job with him ... ?

That said, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better actor to cast in the role of Tesla, and generally I found the episode pretty good. I believe others have sufficiently pointed out the mild hypocrisy of the Doctor’s criticising the scorpion!Racnoss for stealing technology (still can’t be bothered to remember what they actually were, sorry), but I generally found it more amusing than problematic.