#thank you marley and im sorry about the long writeup don't feel obligated

[majorbaby]

And now I'm curious whether you're planning to check out RTD's second run on Doctor Who, or if you're wary and waiting to see how it goes, or if you're uninterested entirely. I admit I'm curious, but for me it probably depends a lot on how much it leans into Moffat and Chibnall's style of playing around with the show's established canon, vs how much it does its own thing and moves on from that. Plus RTD def has his own flaws too lol, though I've pretty much only heard good things about his post-DW dramas so I've got hope.

i'm gonna try this new thing where i actually answer the question being asked up front and then i put all my optional "and also" thoughts under a cut: i'm famously bad at watching things on my watchlist but what matters is i want to watch it. this has more to do with my love and trust of RTD's writing than it does with me wanting to go back to the whoniverse.

and also...

very very important disclaimer that it's been years since i watched doctor who but i've been meaning to recently for nine-hawkeye parallel reasons (cowardly hero, bad god) so some of this might be off: i'm so appreciative of my doctor who years because i really fell completely in love with that world and my love for the doctor is surpassed only by my love for a select few of the companions. i also learned from DW that you can definitely love parts of a thing without loving the whole and that's fine - in fact, i think that is what we are meant to do with DW specifically. there are themes to the character of the doctor and recurring motifs but they're all nodded to and i don't really think it's possible for such a long running show/character with so many writers involved to even have a singular arc for its protagonist.

i view it as being similar to comic books. what is the overall "arc" of batman? it's just the same guy in a billion situations, and your different 'actors' are your different writers who write him. i think you can say new things about the world with the doctor or say something about the doctor in a new way but i'm skeptical if you can say new things about the doctor with the doctor and i don't think he should be used that way and RTD seemed to understand that.

i also just generally prefer 'monster of the week' style to 'story arcs' and i found RTD did that more often. i'd go even further and say it's a better way to do doctor who because when i zoom out i find that dw's seasons are episodic, because of how much there is. the episodes are the seasons and the seasons belonging to an actor are the arcs because they're all playing the doctor their own way and what we refer to as 'eras' are moreso eras of main writer/showrunner to me than they are eras of actors playing the doctor. and i think RTD understood this too.

i'm not saying let's throw out story arcs all together, RTD pulled off the arc of all time with 'i am the bad wolf' so it can be done well i just found moffat in contrast to be very 'this is an ARC', let me show you what an ARC is you sheeple'. anyway not to make this a steven moffat hatepost - but it is always correct to make a steven moffat hatepost is it not? this immortal post sums up my feelings about his writing pretty well and an obligatory: well if steven moffat writes so badly with such confidence then why can't i????

so no need for me to return to that world just because i've loved previous iterations. i'd go back because i really i like RTD a lot and it's also nice to be genuinely excited for who. i was excited for there to be a woman doctor because i remember a time when i genuinely believed there could never be a woman doctor but i was out of it for so many years by the time 13 came around and i was so disillusioned by the moffat years. so i sort of waved at the fandom when that happened, good for them!! about time!! i also like 12 a lot and i think peter capaldi is brilliant but when i watched it it wasn't the same for me as before. so actor appeal and world appeal don't really do it for me. it does come down to the writing.

all that said, i am a guy who loves when a story ends. i think nostalgia is overrated and bad and right now it's grip on cinema and audiences is very very bad. so i was kind of meh about david tennant returning. i like ten but he's not my favourite and he had a very good run and got his due, i don't personally need more of him. i would've liked more of nine because i felt he did not get his due, even though they still wrapped on nine very well. but it's clear to me that eccleston has moved on so i also would not want him back either.

donna, well, if there must be a returning companion from the ten years than yeah i'm happy it's donna because their dynamic is truly chef's kiss and catherine tate is brilliant and i'm not married to her tragic ending, i do think she deserved better than that. but i would still prefer someone new because i always lean towards 'new stories'.

if 'a returning character named rose' turns out to be anything other than a character who shares the same name as rose and the parallels are all projected on by the fans, then i will riot lol. rose's ending was perfect and i don't want it to change and just like you, i'm not interested in her being immortal or even coming back to help the doctor save the world again. if it were not for RTD i would not even consider watching more of "rose". it's true that some past companions have returned (my sarah jane <3) but i think if it's not kept to a minimum then that's bad for the doctor who ecosystem. new stories! new opportunities for other actors and writers!

other reasons i like RTD: he clearly still has a passion for doctor who, he's usually doesn't miss with his companions, he knows how to do tragedy and romance while having respect for his audience, he's smart writer and he's an overall strong writer.

tbh i should check out his other stuff because i like him so much and since i'm saying i'm coming back for his writing and not for the world as much. but also i'm really excited for ncuti gatwa's 15th doctor and i hope RTD stays on to write him, so maybe this is how i find my way back to doctor who.