#this is about 13's master from doctor who

[copper-dragon-in-disguise]

why are all the pretty men always evil? this is unfair

[rystiel]

he killed herself then she killed himself ❤️

[oreo102]

Yaz is cool as fuck and people don’t appreciate her enough, a very long ramble

TLDR because this is so long: yaz is really cool and a compelling character and not enough people talk about how good of a character she is, both with and without the doctor, enough

In the first episode we learn as soon as we meet her that yaz wants to help people. She is tired of getting parking disputes and wants something more serious, and after meeting the doctor immediately starts helping her even if she isn’t supposed to be, and later it’s implied (I don’t think it was ever confirmed?) that she originally became a cop because one helped her when she had ran away/was suicidal, maybe?

Throughout season 11 we see her be the most empathetic/caring (episode 3 with the racism Ryan specially was facing, episode 6 with her grandma’s first husband, episode 7 with dan from kerblam, 8 with the kid who’s grandma was killed for “being a witch”, 9 with the blind kid), and is also very loyal almost immediately (“more of the universe.. more time with you!” “No. I’m with you, whatever happens” and more I’m forgetting)

She also has a very similar sense of justice to the doctor, practically immediately and comes to share her view on a lot of topics (she was hesitant to take the gun in TPOTD, she wrote wwtdd(which is adorable btw) on her palm, she defended Tesla, stands up to the master, once again more I’m forgetting probably)- hell, when seperated from the doctor without instructions/for a long time she takes 13s place as leader

Circling back to loyalty: she spent 10 months obsessively trying to find the doctor, she slept in the second tardis, she probably (I think it’s implied?) neglected her own health, social life, and job (if she still had one at this point) just to obsessively try and figure out how that tardis worked, to figure out how to get back to the doctor

And that was after she walked into a portal to an alien planet, not caring about danger because it’s what the doctor would do if it were one of them (she was already half way there by the time Graham finished asking who was going first, walking quickly and had a very determined look on her face. I really do believe if it had come down to facing the master or cybermen she would’ve to ensure 13s safety), which btw, is one of my favorite scenes in the show

And then s13. Gods I think I could talk about yaz in season 13 and those last 3 specials for days. A) Dan is more her companion than docs, let’s be very clear- they spent 3 years trapped in an unfamiliar time together with yaz acting as the leader (see above about her taking on the Doctor’s role when the doctor isn’t there to)

She handles 13’s outbursts and venom astonishingly well through the whole series but esp in s13, when she is double guessing her identity and even more unwilling to share than before, like it’s downright elegant that yaz is able to ignore 13s jabs sometimes, cuz personally I would’ve thrown hands. Although she doesn’t let the doctor walk over her, she doesn’t just accept the bullshit, she argues with the doctor quite a bit (telling her she is fully at fault for the situation at the beginning of s13 ep 1, telling her to stop leaving them all the time, shoving her when she shows back up after the 10 months)

As mentioned before the “what would the doctor do” being written on her hand is a really good touch and it does well to show just how much yaz looks up to 13 and how much she loves her (a very much amount, like infinitely)

This is getting very long so I’ll try to wrap it up somewhat quickly. Anyway, I really love yaz’s coming out scene (although I detest Dan outing her), it feels very natural and is filled with a lot of great emotions that we don’t see her have very much- like, she cries! Yaz, while shown having emotions, isn’t shown sad very often (which considering she was depressed as a younger teen and might still be, could just be her repressing those emotions) and is shown as scared much less, it’s nice to see those emotions on display

Speaking of emotions on display: “stop leaving us” is one of my favorite scenes/lines. Getting to see just how anxious yaz gets when the doc leaves, just how much she hates being separated from her, is a really nice insight to how she thinks- the doctor has already left her twice before (neither times were her fault, though) so who’s to say it won’t happen again? Easier to stay by 13 than to be crushed by her disappearing without warning

(Also side note but after that the two don’t separate much/if at all, showing that the doc did genuinely listen to her)

I’ve heard people say that they didn’t enjoy Legend of the sea devils that much but personally I love it- both because holy shit they’re so gay, but also because it again demonstrates that yaz is genuinely so smart and capable and there’s really no wonder 13 fell for her so hard (because she did. 13 fell so hard) I also like that this episode shows that the two play off each other and trust each other a lot, even if they aren’t always in sync

And finally onto the power of the doctor! Yaz’s best episode by far and my favorite of the entire series!

Yaz. Is. So. Fucking. Amazing. In this episode. She really shines so much which is saying a lot because she usually shines anyway. She looks so ready to punch the master if only he’d give her a reason, ready to shoot him (maybe not fatally… maybe) if he threatens the doctors or her own safety

She openly defies him, she leaves him stranded on a planet and if not for the plan she might’ve never came back for him, she flies the tardis! All on her own! We can assume that the doctor helped teach her but how much of that knowledge is from those 10 months? (I like to think that the first time yaz helped fly it was completely by accident)

Do the doctor holograms share knowledge? Cuz if not, that implies that she figured out it can change interface on her own and used it in their/her plan.

She saves the doctor! Multiple times! Runs out towards a fucking laser to make sure she’s safe (another favorite scene), she flies everyone home while the doc rests and recovers, she is just so cool in this episode!!

And honestly, I hate her ending. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic that she survived, really truly fantastic, if they had killed yaz I’d have balled my eyes out and sworn doctor who off for a second time, but her ending? No.

I do not think she should’ve stayed with the doc, I believe she loved (romantically, she’d love every doctor platonically but) 13 only, she’d be traveling the stars with 14 or 15 but I think over time she would’ve slid into that grief, that the doctor is still there but hers isn’t. But just having to go back to normal life? Go back to her family and job and life? That’s bullshit

Graham and Ryan got the psychic papers, yaz could’ve too (which btw that’d make a fun spin off I think), or she could’ve gotten the doctors coat (which would’ve been the cutest thing ever), or even her sonic! (Least likely) but- nothing? Nothing? No!!

She and 13 should be allowed to be immortal space wives together (with river, maybe) and nothing bad should ever happen to them

[lariskapargitay]

So I have two Ruby theories. I think, no matter if theory one or two is true, 13 is ABSOLUTELY connected either way

She has the same hair color, the same hair length

They both wear jewelry with chains on them

The mother is not only wearing boots, but she has her ankles showing

Also look at a closeup of their faces. Their jaws jut out the same. Exact. Way.

Like it’s very clear that no matter what, 13 will play a part in this mystery.

So my theories are;

1) Thirteen is Ruby’s mother. She told Yaz, ‘I don’t want to get involved with you bc I’ve lost too many people’. She wouldn’t want that for her own child, she wouldn’t want her child to be a Time Lord, so she takes away Ruby’s regeneration and immortality abilities somehow. Thirteen then wiped her own memory bc she doesn’t want to remember a child who’ll eventually die which is why 15 doesn’t know who she is but felt drawn to protect her

As for who the father is? I mean…

And then the hand we see picking up the tooth is Ruby’s. She has to go back and save her father in sort of a terminator type plot. They can even say it wasn’t Thirteen and the Master but Thirteen and ‘O’ if they didn’t want to cross that boundary. They were friends and she did spend the night in his house for a bit. She even signed her text ‘kisses’ so O and the Doctor were close.

2) Thirteen isn’t her mother, but Ruby is the Doctor herself. After finding out about the Timeless Child, Thirteen goes back to Gallifrey somehow, or whatever original planet the Doctor is from, and she saves the child from all the torture and experiments and all the horrors the Time Lords inflicted on baby Doctor. She takes the child, does the memory wipe for her, regeneration wipe from Ruby, and leaves her on the steps of the church. And we think it’s gonna be revealed that Ruby is 13’s daughter after we get the inevitable cliffhanger of Ruby ripping back the hood and 13 is standing there shocked, and we spend an entire episode of Ruby thinking 13 is her mom only to reveal that no, Ruby is ALSO the Doctor.

[13thdoctorposts]

What are you thoughts on the relationship that 13 and the Master have?

(asking because your thoughts on everything are so insanely interesting to read)

Thank you for reading my thoughts because they are verbose. lol. so I appreciate you taking the time. 🙏

Complex would be putting it mildly. 😂

First, for me, SpyMaster comes after Missy. The way 13/SpyMaster plays out is a continuation of the 12/Missy dynamic.

At the end of 12's run, when Missy and the Master kill Bill, this sets in motion the way we see 13 engage with SpyMaster. 12 wanted to help bring Missy to the good side. 13 could not care if the Master lives or dies, let alone if he joins the good side. She doesn’t consider their friendship worth anything anymore. Any second chances he has are well in the rearview. In her mind, their relationship is past any point of fixing. But, at the end of Spyfall, when he delivers that message, she still does not care about him or their relationship. But, she wants to know what he knows.

From the SpyMaster view, there is a constant undertone of something more than what he’s saying. He wants to be seen by the Doctor, for example, on top of the Eiffel Tower. When she asks why he’s doing all this, he responds: “To get your attention.” He also hates who he is. It’s because he knows they were so close to being the friends they used to be. But, he destroyed that with the knowledge he found and the actions he took in destroying Gallifrey. Between that and Bill. He knows he'll never get back to where 12 and Missy were. That's what he likely wanted at the start of his new life.

It feels like he loves her so much he hates her and hates her so much because he loves her, super toxic. lol.

My headcanon goes like this: Spy regenerates from Missy. He isn’t the evil villain we see now. But, early in his new journeys, he finds out about the timeless child. It breaks his brain. To Missy, she and the Doctor were equals. This is a key part of Missy's identity. The companions were pets, nothing more. Missy is his only true companion and everyone else pales in comparison. Spy would have thought the same. Then, he finds out about the timeless child. It turns out they aren’t equals at all. What makes him special, the ability to regenerate, comes from her. In his anger, and having his core belief ripped from him, he relapses on being an evil dude. He then nukes Gallifrey.

To him, being evil is like a drug. He wanted to be good. But, getting this information about the timeless child shattered his self-image. It also shattered the way he saw the Doctor and their relationship. It broke his brain and his spirit. Everything he thought he knew about himself and her was a lie. He thought he knew her better than anyone in the universe. But, that isn’t even nearly true. There is so much shattering in his self-image and their relationship. It's the thing he holds most dear, even if he never says it. The pain makes him default to his worst parts.

He was mad at the elites of Gallifrey for what they did to him. But, he was also mad for what they did to the Doctor, even if that was at a deeper level. It's one thing for him to hurt or exploit the Doctor, but another for someone else to do it. After he destroyed Gallifrey for what they did to him and the Doctor, he found that it didn’t satisfy him. It didn't ease his pain. So, the next step was to go after the Doctor, to make her feel as small, used, confused, and beaten as he was. To make her like him, to try and make them equals again. That's why he wanted her to push that button in TTC. It would take them all out. Then, they would have both nuked Gallifrey. They would be equal in that.

He thought he would kill her or they would both die. Then maybe the pain and rage and self-hate he felt would end. It wouldn't, of course. But, he was looking for a fix.

He’s mad at her because she made him who he is. He can't stand that a part of her is why he exists, as he says in the episode. It's why he feels pain. At this point, he’s convinced himself it’s her fault. But, deep down he knows that they used her. He doesn't have anyone else to direct his anger at, so he directs it at her. He’s probably convinced himself that she always knew something was different about her. His pain is fueling so much toxicity. He can't break out of the cycle.

13 is feeling her own trauma and pain from their last interaction. And from the knowledge he gave her and how he delivered it. By the time we get to the Power of the Doctor, she couldn’t be more over him. At this point, he's killed Bill and nuked Gallifrey. He's been a jerk about telling her about her past in the most painful way possible. None of it was her fault, but he had to inflict more pain on her. She can't be bothered with him, but she has no choice. He's continuing to play games. Then he does the most violating heinous thing possible. He regenerates her out of existence and takes over.

13 has had to deal with unmatched violation. In her mind, it could have been her and the SpyMaster (or her and Missy) against the universe. But, the SpyMaster chose violence. 

She's done with him. But, the relationship still holds some meaning to her. She knows it's toxic and wants out so much. But, he just keeps coming back.

13 can be toxic by herself. She deals with trauma in the worst ways. If she just let Yaz in, things could have been so different. However, her toxicity doesn't help their situation. She can be petty too, but it's nothing compared to what he does to her.

They have loved each other their whole lives. But, the Master in all forms struggled each time to choose the Doctor over being evil. A couple of times the Master has. But, by 13/SpyMaster, those have been rare, and the pain too raw. Although she may still love him somewhere deep down, she knows he is bad for her. He is even worse for her companions. That's why she wants nothing more to do with him. I don't think he wants anything more to do with himself. That's why we see him say "don’t let me go back to being me" during the degeneration. But, when he does, he still has to end her like it's a compulsion. Because of his need to make them equals and if it's his time to go then it has to be her time too.

I'm quite long-winded and I'm not 100% sure I've answered what you've asked. Essentially, they are in the universe's most toxic relationship, and she wants out but he won't let her go. Pain, hurt, rage, and love fuel their relationship in the worst ways imaginable.

If I haven't made sense, feel free to ask more questions. I adore how complex, broken, and deep in emotion their relationship is, so I could talk about it for days... obviously 👆🤣

[youngpettyqueen]

elaborating on some theories a bit

theory 1: I believe that the Doctor is of the same species that the Toymaker and Maestro are

my evidence:

the fourth wall breaks. the Toymaker and Maestro are both able to break the fourth wall, and the Doctor does this as well towards the end of The Devil's Chord. side note- who else do we see do this? Mrs Flood (the working theory in my household is that Mrs Flood is Susan)

the Doctor can hear the music of the show. this was implied with 12, when he played the intro on the guitar, but 15 has now confirmed that he can hear the show's music. we know that Maestro can also hear it, as they play the intro on the piano

this does raise questions. if the Toymaker is play and games personified, and Maestro is music, then what is the Doctor? what does the Doctor personify?

I would like to propose theory 2: the Doctor is memory

my evidence:

when 13 regenerated into 14, and took on that same old face (Tennant's), it's said this happened so that he could come home and rest. he comes home to Donna, and her family, and a crucial part of this process is restoring Donna's memories- which he himself had taken away

the Doctor can share their memories, read memories, and erase memories of other beings. "but Queen," you say, "all Timelords can do that!" well, we know that many Timelord traits come directly from the Doctor- see regeneration cycles. it could stand to reason that these are abilities that the Timelords inherited FROM the Doctor

memories are CRUCIAL to the Doctor's identity. so much of 13's arc revolved around this- she had that fob watch, her missing memories and lifetimes, and no memory of who or what she was before she came through that portal. 15 is still dealing with the fallout of the Timeless Child revelation, directly continuing everything 13 struggled with

the memory with Ruby's biological mother at the church changed

speaking of Ruby's memory. I want to propose that it isnt just Ruby's memory that causes the snow- it's also the Doctor's

Ruby shouldn't be able to remember anything from the night she was left at the church. she was an infant. the Doctor, however, was there the night she was left. he was there and saw it snowing. he was there and heard the music. it's his memory that summons the snow

"but Queen," you say, again, "what about Ruby singing Carol of the Bells?"

yes, that would certainly throw a wrench in my theory. Maestro does say the song is hidden within Ruby. but, hear me out, what if Ruby and the Doctor aren't separate beings?

theory 3: what if Ruby is, in fact, an incarnation of the Doctor?

Ruby's DNA scan read as homo sapien. well, we know that the Doctor can rewrite their DNA to be biologically human, and rewrite their own memories to fit a human life- see 10 in Human Nature/Family of Blood, and also see the Fugitive Doctor. Ruby could very easily be an incarnation of the Doctor, who's memories were wiped, and who's grown up a human- much like the Master did when he took on the name Yana. and we know, from how 10 filled a journal with his dreams of his life as the Doctor, and from the Master's still remembering the drumbeat, that these memories do still bleed through in some way

thats how Ruby could remember being left at the church. she could be remembering it from experiencing it, or she could be remembering it as she saw it through 15's eyes. I think shes a future incarnation of the Doctor, one who became aware of her identity and her powers, and who had her memory wiped- either by force or by her own hand. I dont have a theory as to why that would be, at least not yet, but I do think that its at least a plausible theory at this point

Ruby and the Doctor are established to be the same, in one big way: theyre both abandoned, both adopted, and both seeking who they are. thats a pretty big coincidence when we know how important coincidence has been so far with 15. they're screaming at us that everything is connected, that the Doctor and Ruby are connected, and I think that connection is that they are one in the same- same software, different case, and they are the key to each other's questions

[genderqueerpond]

you know, I actually really don't think that 14 is a new/distinct incarnation of the doctor. like. I think he's 10. 10 with a couple thousand years of character growth, and perspective gains which were only possible through Being Someone Else; but 10 at the end of the day.

"but the Doctor IS always the same character, just changed on the outside, so what you're saying and describing them as the next new incarnation are the same thing" nah. like. I look at this - and i think it's very strongly supported by the show - from essentially a multiplicity perspective. they share a soul and a continuity yes but they don't quite share a personhood. or yes they do but no they don't. anyway.

the doctor never wants to regenerate and sees it as a form of leaving. (relevant sidenote: 10 was possibly the least willing to leave of all of them). past doctors continue to exist in the present doctor's subconscious, as seen when 13 was regenerated out by the master.

and when she was pulled back, it was a kind of rewinding. possible because *handwaves*, lalala she hadn't REALLY regenerated away yet.... but I mean, she kinda had. no one new had regenerated in, but 13 was pretty solidly finished off. so. Yaz sets a rewind effect in motion in the doctor's subconscious, where all past doctors still remain.

Now. Who was, at least most recently, least okay with regenerating out? Who wanted to "do more", who had unfinished business? 10. and who comes out when the door is so soon opened again? 10, of course. And what's he immediately thinking about? 10's unfinished business and biggest regret, of course. Donna Noble.

This would make no sense if he was only looking forward, as the Doctor usually does. But someone who has been relegated to the deep subconscious getting a second chance? It makes perfect sense. (seeing other past companions may have been a factor as well, at least for this much and probably for allowing any of this to happen)

So yeah. It's 10. None other.

[companion-showdown]

Hottest Companion Nominations are Now Open!

You can nominate any character in the Whoniverse, human, alien, robot, it does not matter, the only rule is that they should pass the Harkness test (human intelligence or greater, able to communicate using language, sexually mature for their species)

Current Nominations:

Masters:

Missy

Delgado!Master

Simm!Master

Dhawan!Master

Crispy!Master

Shalka!Master

Jacobi!Master

Ainley!Master

Roberts!Master from MASTER!

Roberts!Master

Classic Who Characters:

Erato (The Creature from the Pit)

Duggan

Meglos!4

Allison Williams (Remembrance of the Daleks)

Rachel Jensen (Remembrance of the Daleks)

Sara Kingdom

Alternate Universe!Liz

Ramón Salamander

Osgood (no this isn't the new who one)

The Rani

Queen Thalira (The Curse of Pleadon)

Andred

Carol (the Sensorites)

Penley (the Ice Warriors)

Isobel (the Invasion)

Kelly (Seeds of Death)

New Who Characters:

Dalek Sec

Tasha Lem

Idris!TARDIS

2000s Sarah-Jane (70s Sarah-Jane will be the automatically qualifying Sarah)

Kate Stewart

Jenny Flint

Vastra

Jabe

Chantho

Shakespeare (this is the most recognisable place he appears in Doctor Who)

Ruth!Doctor

Osgood

Handles

Danny Pink

Bel

Vinder

Jake (Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel)

Jenny (The Doctor's Daughter)

Jethro (Midnight)

Lady Christina de Souza (Planet of the Dead)

Gwen Cooper

Tallulah (Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks)

Lynda (Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways)

Liz 10 (The Beast Below)

Frank (Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks)

Heather (The Pilot)

Sally Sparrow (Blink)

Madam de Pompadour

Miss Evangelista (Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)

Ada Lovelace

Billy Shipton (Blink)

Lorna Bucket

Tosh

Stacy Campbell (Partners in Crime)

Anita (Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)

Girl who was the sex gas

Frobisher (Torchwood)

EU Characters:

Fey Truscott-Sade

Hebe Harrison

Tom Campbell (Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150AD)

Valarie Lockwood

Compassion

Zagreus!TARDIS

Irving Braxiatel

Trey!Romana

War Queen!Romana

Narvin

Sibling Different

Chris Cwej (first incarnation)

Father Kreiner

Chris Cwej (second incarnation)

Chris Cwej (third incarnation)

Chris Cwej (V Cwej)

Dalek Prime Strategist (Time Lord Victorious)

The Graak (Destiny of the Doctors)

Sheila (Señor 105's companion)

Carmen Yeh (Companion of the Sixth Doctor in a charity anthology and latter companion of Compassion in Book of the War. Also implied to be a companion of the Eighth Doctor as well)

Scarlette (eight doctors wife)

Nivet (Compassions first companion)

Cousin Eliza (Cousin Justine's companion aka the Grandfather Paradox (who has a slim chance of being the Doctor so that backs it up)

Sally Armstrong (the Master’s companion (the master might also part of the Doctor depending on the source, or at the very least a reincarnation of the same person)

Patience (the Others wife or the first doctors wife or the infinity doctors wife, depends on source)

Daisy Weston the companion of the Robert Banks Stewart Doctor

Alison Cheney

The City of the Saved

Laura Tobin

The War King

Marie

Ulysses

Penelope Gate

Homunculette

Lolita

Marnal

Captain Scarlet

Doctor Fawn

The Mysterons

Colonel White

Steve Zodiac

Venus (Fireball XL5)

Captain Black

Jane Fonda!Iris Wildthyme

Claudia Marwood

Lauren Anderson

Other polls about the running of this tournament:

splitting up men and women for as long as numbers allow

including or excluding companions it is very difficult or impossible to read as adults (all their actors are adults)

Nominations will be open for 24 hours, closing around 13:30 BST (UTC + 1), 03/09

[quantumshade]

okay actually i rewatched potd the other day and. i have so many gripes with that episode. so many. but what really got me is how like. inconsequential 13's death feels, and not inconsequential in the right way.

honestly 13's regeneration feels a LOT like 10's, but missing all of the beats that made 10's work. let me explain:

(under a cut because HOLY SHIT this got long. don't let classicists write dr who meta)

both 10's and 13's regenerations are prophesied to them. ten gets the woman in planet of the dead, carmen, who says "he will knock four times." thirteen gets the Literal Incarnation Of Time telling her, "beware of the forces that mass against you. and their master."

both their regenerations happen after a short-ish period of time, at least for a time lord. 10 regenerates after only a handful of years, a decade at most, and 13 spends the majority of her life in prison for decades. that's nothing!! 11 and 12 both had centuries.

ten cheating regeneration with tentoo and then regenerating a few episodes later anyway 🤝 thirteen cheating regeneration after being forced into being the master and then back again and then dying almost immediately after anyway

they both almost make it out!! but they don't, and it's heartbreaking!

what's different between them, to me, is their reactions to their deaths. a lot of people who don't like rtd era/ten complain about the scene where he has a breakdown before saving wilf, complaining that he's being whiny or whatever, but in my mind, he has every right to be whiny and upset. regeneration is a death, as established earlier in the episode. it's hard, starting over again and again and again, becoming someone new, especially when he's only had this body for a couple of years AND he believes his next body is his last.

yknow why he's upset in that scene? because he could just walk away. he could just let wilf take the fall, let one, inconsequential old man die, and go off and have adventures forever. but it's not a choice for him. because he's the doctor, and the doctor would never, ever take the other choice. he was always going to save wilf. there's no world in which he didn't.

but he's scared of dying. he's scared of change. he's lost everyone he's ever loved in this body, often in horrible, unchangeable ways. and it's a sad story. but it's an incredibly narratively satisfying one, because it's a culmination of ten's entire arc. he lost his way, broke all his own rules, and was punished heavily for it, but in the end, he still does the right thing, because at their core, the doctor is a good person.

there's a running theme in just about pretty much all of doctor who from 1963 onwards that every single person is important and every life matters. 9 dies to save rose, but is also prepared to die permanently to save the human race. 10 dies to save wilf. 11, after centuries of running away from responsibilities and problems, settles down to protect one town on one planet, accepting he will die for good there. 12 dies to save a handful of people on a ship--"maybe not many, maybe not for long"--accepting all of this might be for nothing, but he does it because it's the right thing to do. because it's kind. the doctor does these things, lays down their lives one right after another because they are fundamentally a kind person.

13 lets people sacrifice themselves for her. multiple times. like. four different people she BARELY knows sacrifice themselves for her (i.e. the derry girls grandpa in "the timeless children" and the one pirate guy in "legend of the sea devils"). and she LETS them. i'm not saying this as a gripe against her, but rather, the writing that doesn't consider those lives important.

people sacrifice themselves for other doctors, of course, it happens all the time. to keep using ten as an example, river is one, and that prickish kid from the sontaran episodes, but he doesn't LET them. they don't give him that choice. and when he IS given that choice, to let someone "inconsequential" die in his place, he doesn't take it.

and then the way 13 does die just feels so... nothing. the master's angry at her, so he aims a large and slow moving Beam at her, and she basically stands there while it hits her. and that's it. honestly i would have been much happier with it if they said it was a product of the forced regeneration from earlier. that would have made a lot more sense. but the whole thing with the qorunx (is that what it's called??) just feels so... last minute. like they forgot that she needed to die at the end of the episode so they just shoved something in. it feels like an afterthought.

yaz's exit feels the same way. you're telling me she fought for four years in the past to get back to the doctor, and now she's just leaving because the doctor is regenerating? it feels like yaz and the doctor both had endings because the narrative said they needed endings, not because their character arcs had come to a satisfying close.

they deserved better. yaz deserved an exit that was fair to her as a character. the doctor deserved a death that mattered. and she deserved to be more upset about her death.

she gets a little bit, just a taste, of an emotional moment: "No. No. That's not right. I need more time. I want more time!", before immediately accepting her death and coming to terms with it. "And I have loved being me," she says. but me, as a viewer who cares about characterization and storytelling, asks, "have you?"

because 13 spent more time of this life IN PRISON than out of it. her life outside was never easy, either, she rarely got moments of true happiness. hell, in this regeneration, she found out her entire life was a lie!

...but she loved being her?

i think 13 should have gotten to be angry and upset that she wasn't given those moments of peace or happiness. she didn't get a lot of time being her, and the time she did get was fraught and difficult and painful. she should have gotten to be upset about not having more time for more than 0.2 seconds. she should have been allowed to be afraid of dying. or at least upset about dying.

i don't know. i don't know if this post is at all coherent but i'm just really disappointed in potd and my rewatch really cemented that. it didn't have the emotional resonance that i wish it did. it felt rushed, overstuffed, and, much like the rest of chibnall era, not well thought out.

[roxannepolice]

16,1,13 simm mas ?

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

First off, he's an emoji freak. He canonically does 😀and 😠 emojis in UK cabinet. He probably pioneered emoji poetry. He uses all of them all the time. And his unronic fave is 😈. He also obviously keeps spamming Ten with 🍆s and 🍑s

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

Not sure if least favourite ship is the best name here, but I do get a bit ruffled by the selfcest thing with Missy? Like, not so much not enjoying it, Simm and Gomez have wonderful chemistry, and I couldn't care less about the ethical iffiness, but it's more the case that once you dig beneath the campy fun, it's glaring that the point being made is Saxon being a detestable narcissistic devil on Missy's shoulder to be put down in favour of pure, compassionate, good love of the Doctor. I see what's been done there, it was done well, I don't like it.

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

K, I left that for the last, because the answer may get longish, and will probably be more of a character analysis than a “why I like this guy” thing. The point is, I was obsessed with hero and shadow, two sides of the same coin, equals who understand each other like no one else yet stand on opposite sides, marriage of heaven and hell dynamic long before I ran into thoschei. Like, looong. So when I watched Terror of the Autons for the first time, it was a matter of Three’s and Delgado’s dynamic falling into a slot that was already waiting for them, and I loved it immediately! I’ll add that I’m fairly sure BBC knew exactly what archetype they are going for, because they were toying with it throughout season 6, and made an excellent choice of casting Delgado (who was real life friends with Pertwee!) when they finally decided to go for it fully. And while I adore all of classic who versions of thoschei, I still think the writing that happened with Simm and tensimm is just absolute peak (I sometimes get the impression I’m very much in the minority here, most tensimm praise I see comes from people for whom they were the first taste, please let me know if that’s not the case)! Like a lot of RTD’s decisions for the revival, I feel he really scratched down to the bottom of the dynamic and characters and retold it in a new way. To start, there’s the perfect timing for reintroduction of the Master: what if, after all the moping over the Doctor being the last of the Time Lords, and then losing Rose, it turned out there was in fact another Time Lord who survived, and it was the exact one that’s both worst for the universe, and guiltily best for the Doctor? Honestly, just this bit is too delicious! Then there’s all the little design choices done with the Master. Casting John Simm, apart from the basic level of his acting skills, was just excellent: there’s all the fun you can have with his physical similarity to Tony Blair, the way his features are somehow both sharp and soft, the way between brown hair and eyes he and Tennant might just pass for siblings, thus visually going for the “evil twin” vibe, his mesmerizingly pleasant voice… I think it’s really telling that they thought long and hard on whether or not to give the Master the signature beard, and finally decided not to: again, just showing the focus was not on the superficial nostalgic recollections, only actually thinking “what would the Master make themselves look like if they were an early 21st century politician?” and deciding they’d go for a more fresh-faced explicitly young looking attractive man people would enjoy seeing on the news (sth sth postpolitics). Then there are all the little ways in which Saxon is the shadow to Ten specifically: his violence towards women being the flip side to the explicitly romantic relationships the Doctor’s had in the revival (I think RTD explicitly said “and he’s even got a blonde!”), his torture of Jack being the extreme of Ten’s gut disgust, his grotesque survival as an electroskeleton being the parody of Ten’s “I don’t want to go”… I sometimes say that tensimm is a symphony, and this is what I mean: it’s a the recurring melodies, and the counterpoints!

Generally, again, I’m not sure if this is what “what do you like about a character” means, but I just think Simm!Master was done with just the perfect balance of introspection without navel gazing, tragedy without angst, message without moralising, depth without turning to the audience to explain what the depth is… I’ve noticed John Simm keeps celebrating DW day on IG with Metallica’s Master of Puppets, which is just. Yeah, if that was the mindset with which he was approaching the character, then it was the perfect choice. Are the lyrics much more than very well spoken “I am very evil”? No. But the music. The music, the guitar solo conveying longing and uncertainty, and sorrow, and determination in a way language just can’t.

TLDR: the archetype work done with Simm!Master is something I have been waiting for since I was a teenager, and the wait was soooo worth it!

[lucky-clover-gazette]

(hi, this is a negative rant about the thirteenth doctor's era. it's not about jodie's acting, it's about the writing and overall production. just putting that here since i am tagging. your thoughts are appreciated bc honestly i'm shocked it's like this and want to hear others' takes)

okay not to be a hypocrite considering the amount of shit i've given moffat but oh my god 13's era so far is one of the least exciting bodies of media i've ever seen. like there's nothing here. it's so incredibly unfun and i have no idea who the fuck it's for. if you're pandering to straight people and 2014 tumblr teenagers you do a moffat, if you're pandering to fucked up gay people and overly philosophical emotional masochists you do a rtd. this is pandering to a 2017 cancel-happy twitter user who likes hamilton the musical at its prime and really really wants to be progressive but also is super repressed, uneducated, and shallow about it, and i don't even think that hypothetical person would ENJOY this?? we have a woman doctor, but she lacks any kind of maturity or sexual agency that every male doctor was given, because the male show runner clearly thought that was the only way she'd be taken seriously. and holy shit, the tokenism is absolutely insane. or at least, it feels that way to me. i'm curious to know how fans of color have felt about it. and besides the tokenism stuff, the companions have no personalities whatsoever, like it's mind-numbing how interchangeable and weak they are. the dialogue all-around is noticeably bad, and it's not even in a fun way. attempted Reveals feel cheap and make me roll my eyes. everything is so deeply unimaginative and boring and basic and it really is just so insane to me that we went from rtd having weird horny gay aliens dying to britney spears' toxic while simultaneously delivering absolutely gut wrenching and breathtaking story and character moments... to this. what a damn shame that the first woman doctor is associated with this mediocrity.

i'm at the end of spyfall part one (the master reveal was my final straw, hence making this post) so maybe my mind will change from here on. but holy fuck, dude. i thought people exaggerated about chib's era but it really is just like white noise, that only gets more unpleasant the more you actually think about it. passively unobtrusive at absolute best, infuriating for its emptiness one step down from that. i would take moffat's worst doctor who over anything of this era i've seen so far, with the exception of instances of unambiguous misogyny and sexual assault in a few of his episodes.

i am conflicted whether i should tag this as chibnall and 13 because it's negative. i want to hear other thoughts so i think i will, but i apologize if this is something you've connected with. you do not need to engage in a conversation defending it unless you want to share your thoughts, which are more than welcome.

[wordsinhaled]

strap in for thirteenth doctor feelings!

so i'm only halfway through series 12 which means i haven't finished 13's run so obviously there almost certainly are things i'm missing so far. but i have to say... like... while thirteen's run may NOT benefit from strong writing it absolutely DOES benefit from jodie's acting because there is something very much of the doctor to her, she's got a lovely steeliness that she brings out at the right moments, and she really brings something very specific to this role that captures who the doctor is at this moment in the timeline. and i'm thinking about it narratively as well, and the thirteenth doctor makes sort of really heartbreaking sense.

this is a doctor who had already lived too long several regenerations ago yet is still chasing more because she can never stop running. this is a doctor who has known the pain of losing countless companions and is terrified to lose even more, so she holds them at arm's length; and yet, still, she craves closeness, love, and companionship, even family (they're her "fam"—it's a chipper, offbeat way to downplay their importance to her—if it can be just a turn of phrase, just gen Z slang, she doesn't have to think of what comes from family: loss, pain, guilt, fire, destruction, goodbyes, loneliness). and we all remember ten sitting on that rooftop with donna, talking about the christmas he'd spent with the tylers, calling them his family, the closest he'd come to having one since gallifrey.

before the doctor opened up to rose he'd been war-hardened and rough around the edges, until he was worn down, softened by the things he craves. because it's always those thing the doctor craves, belonging, connection, hope; it's why there's always someone in the TARDIS; it's why donna said the doctor needs someone. but loneliness feels like the doctor's cosmic punishment, the only outcome that makes sense, and the only way to prevent further collateral damage. so, little wonder thirteen's committed to doing everything on her own, looking for the master on her own, visiting her home on her own; trying to be unknowable. seesawing between the defensive need to push away and the doctor's fundamental desire to love others and to be loved.

there are three people on board her TARDIS and she couldn't be farther from them. she's feeling unknowable because she's carrying every one of her years, every one of her past acts, every drop of blood on her hands, every mistake she's ever made. there's this sense that she could, somehow, be unknown even to herself. and - "something's coming for me" - there's this deep sense of huntedness, of wanting to outrun the inevitable (pain; punishment) and not being able to because reminders of it are around every corner. there's even captain jack, her fixed point, come back to haunt her; an anomaly, one that shouldn't exist. just like the doctor shouldn't exist.

and yet she keeps not being ready to go. nine was ready because he'd shed some of his burden and experienced being unconditionally witnessed. ten had only just started to live in that peace and he wanted longer, wanted more. eleven already carried the knowledge that he'd overstepped the universe but he still had an innocence to him, a sort of double edge. twelve was gruffness layered over so much care and kindness. and thirteen is. just. coming at the universe with bright open-heartedness to fight her own fear of what she knows is coming, is always, has always been coming for her.

everywhere, in everything, there's a reminder of the home she lost and barely believes she deserves to find again. everywhere, in everything, a reminder that she has to keep going, go faster, go farther, keep up the distractions, keep up the façade because otherwise the only other option is to face it down. and the doctor's a coward, any day. and actually, it's heartwrenching because it's brilliant.

[ssaalexblake]

And that people disregard 13′s snaps because they’re not always verbal is absolutely absurd. 

If Ten lost his shit and straight up shoved somebody who was taunting him to the ground in spontaneous and utter fury, i’d Still be reading essays into the descent of his mental state that led him to physical violence Today. 

13, Ms ‘i only use this pacifist martial art that causes No harm to the other person’ straight up wipes out the master in fury/distress and a bunch of people are still out here annoyed she never snapped or showed high emotion? He sure looked scared before he rearranged his face to hide it. 

Hate to break it, but 13 was Inherently physical as a Doctor. She growls, and she sneers, she bares her teeth and gets in peoples faces in physically threatening ways. This body language is Not subtle. If somebody did that to you I assure you you’d notice, because it is actually quite threatening. 

She doesn’t Need to yell. Sometime she yells. It’s not necessary. 

Phrasing another way, the era often Shows you that 13 is loosing control (violence, body language, visible distress) rather than having her tell you by yelling at somebody/something/the universe. This is generally lauded as good storytelling in pretty much every other context. 

I’ve literally seen meta posts on ten’s eyelashes (really. I am not being facetious), there is No reason for people who’ve watched it to miss that the one who talks big about being anti physical violence doing actual physical violence is a narrative indication of her mental state.  

there’s nothing wrong with the doctor losing their temper and yelling out a speech (13 does also do this), but this is so far from the only way to portray a character snapping that the insinuation that 13 didn’t portray passion or forcefulness in her time is actively in face palm territory. 

(It’s also probably relevant that she’s exceptionally socially awkward and it’s hard to yell out a convincing and impassioned speech when your social skills are sub-par. It’d kind of ruin the effect if you didn’t say it right. She has problems with this stuff when she has time to pre-prepare, let alone any time when she’d be upset and angry and talking on the fly.)  

[oreo102]

Please I'm so so curious to hear your thoughts on 10/14

Ok so my thoughts on 10 are less than 14 so let’s start with him lol. I have not watched 10, so my hatred of him is more hatred by proxy of how the fandom treats him and proxy of 14, but I still do have a few specific thoughts and this will be long and definitely rambly

A) when talking about him I usually refer to him as Fandom’s Favorite White Boy or Pathetic Wet Cat/Twink mostly because it’s funny but for now I’ll use 10. The most I know about 10 is that he is angsty and in love with rose and besties with Donna… also that he’s pathetic but that’s more vibes

So- my hate of 10 is less tangible than 14 but i still have a few points, the main one being the way i see ppl talk about how he treated Martha and how obsessed with rose he was. I don’t think it’s ever compelling to have someone’s main personality trait be loving someone a whole lot which also honestly is my problem with rose (don’t hate her but don’t care about her)

From what I have seen and heard of 10 it’s rather… boring, honestly? Like it’s mostly clips out of context but for 13 and 15 I saw clips out of context and was like “ok wth is happening? /pos” with 10 it’s more like “wtf?” Also pretty sure his episodes were some of the ones I saw when my parents had the show on that played a part in me swearing the show off so

Ok onto the more tangible hatred of 14. A lot of this, admittedly, is more about the writing and showrunner decisions than 14 but those things by proxy makes me hate him

So- I have a lot of feelings on him quite literally starting from his first appearance in power of the doctor. I am SO PETTY that he doesn’t wear 13’s silly little outfit. Like I have gone on full rants about that fact to my friends and family

I’ve seen something claim that rtd didn’t want 14 to wear her outfit because people might be transphobic and derogatory towards him (even tho Dhawan!master wore it, and it’s pretty gender neutral) but then did nothing about the shit ppl said about ruby’s actor or about ppl who would be a bitch about rose the second being nonbinary(also i remember seeing a post about their deadname being mentioned in an episode? Not totally sure that’s true tho)

The 60th anniversary specials themselves don’t really celebrate Dr who as a whole as much as 10’s run with a few old villains but that’s not really my main issue with that. My main issue with the specials is that the Doctor gets their happy ending. With Donna. And her family. When fucking 3-4 episodes prior, their happy ending would’ve been yaz. It would’ve been staying with yaz. But nope! Donna! Because that’s what 10 would’ve wanted.

And I don’t want 14 to be with yaz, btw, I mean I want them to meet and for yaz to hit him, but I don’t want them to be a thing or like be together because I believe yaz is a lesbian but that’s not the point of this so moving on

I also have very much big issues with the scene where 15 and 14 are (presumably, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the full scene) talking about women they love and mention who I assume to be River and rose but not yaz, who again, they wanted to spend forever with 3-4 episodes prior. It makes the doctor seem like a douchebag even if it’s a writing issue and not a character issue

Also 14 being David tenant overshadows 13’s departure and 15’s arrival and since he is most likely going to show up at least a little bit in s14 he’ll overshadow 15 in his own series. It’s icky at the very least.

There’s something inherently bad about having the fandoms Favorite White Boy be with a contentious casting decision (because I have no faith in the Dr who fandom not to be bigoted) and even if no one has an issue with 15 being black and maybe gay (is he gay? He gives gay vibes) it’s still setting him up for failure by pairing him with 14

Also bigeneration is so fucking dumb and I hate it

Also also stop giving the Dr 19 year old companions it’s getting kinda weird now

[intuitive-revelations]

Doctor Who Thoughts! (Ep 1 and 2)

Since the spoiler situation is so risky this year, I'll keep my usual episode notes below a read more for now. Took these non-chronologically while watching and rewatching (becuase even though I'm ridiculously busy rn with thesis and work stuff, of course I'm doing that), so it's less of a reaction and more of a moment-to-moment breakdown.

Ep 1: Space Babies

"I was adopted and the planet that took me in... they were kinda posh. They'd use titles like the Doctor, or the Bishop, or the Rani, or the conquistador. Say Doctor for a thousand years and it becomes my name." So we're right in with the recap. Good. Also still leaning on the Timeless Child thing, which I have mixed feelings about. I love it not being ignored... but I would still rather it not become THE origin for the Doctor. At least not without acknowledging some of the ambiguity on how exactly the Timeless Child is linked to the Doctor. (Personal favourite explanation: they're just the Other. They're not a previous 'incarnation' of the Doctor, but a previous 'REincarnation', something which we know existed on Gallifrey even prior to regeneration, and opens up its own questions about Gallifrey.)

A little odd emphasis on the titles, given it's such a renegade thing. Makes me think of entry-level fans who assume all Time Lords use such titles.

Love the Rani name drop though, of course. A bit odd to get one now, considering there was JUST almost one in The Giggle. Russell what are you up to...?

"You're the Doctor, but you're… the police?" "Police box, no! No, no, no, no, that's a disguise." "Oh." Ruby takes a deep breath realising she didn't just join a cop.

You CAN'T just spring This is Gallifrey on me like that Murray Gold. Not this early.

"I am the last of the Time Lords"... ugh again. Thanks Chibbs.

Also still a bit interesting that all Time Lords are assumed to be gone, given there's nothing as catostrophic as the Time War that caused it, just the Master raging out. There's still plenty of room for surviving renegades and such. (cough!Rassiloncough!) Pretty sure the Division agents in Flux were Time Lords too, though who knows if they're from the 'present' era. More on this in Ep 2.

"And I am so, so glad to be alive." Wow, you can tell 14 went through his break. Quite a turn around from 12 hesitating to regenerate and 13's hidden struggles.

The Doctor healing the butterfly... on one hand, it's not unprecedented with stuff like 10 and the TARDIS crystal, 11 healing River's hand or 12 and Davros, but compared to those cases it's a little odd seeing it done so easily for something with no tech or inate regenerative ability.

I find it interesting that Lizard!Ruby looks almost Silurian, but clearly isn't given her hair and antennae.

The TARDIS trip gags of this and 'mavity' are a fun stylistic switch for the show, but I do hope we don't get too many of them.

"Is that a matter transporter like in Star Trek?" "We've got to visit them one day." Assimilation^2 canon?! /s (but seriously, love stuff acknowledging the 'everything is canon' nature of the DW uni-/multiverse).

So much emphasis on the coincidence with Ruby. RTD loves that trope doesn't he?

"Baby farms boost the population. Sometimes a world goes sterile or... I don't know, goes mad and bans kissing." Or in the case of Gallifrey... maybe both, depending on how you follow Platt or Parkin's lore for the looms.

Don't think I didn't spot that Mavity easter egg on the overlay.

The phone call is a nice moment... even if entirely RTD ripping himself off.

So... the space babies! It's charming, it's campy, it's fun... it doesn't really work... I'm still glad for it, because what is Doctor Who if not being exceedingly ambitious with a dumb idea (if anything I'm glad that even with Disney money, DW's production value shines through!), but the babies expressions always match so poorly to the dialogue that it's pretty distracting. I hope kids will like it though.

I kinda wish these were just child actors, instead of cgi, babies, and voice acting. It would have made a lot more sense in the story, and probably been cuter tbh. (Side note: didn't Disney ask RTD to propose a more ambitious first episode? I wonder if that had some part in this.)

"I made this for you. It's a little flower." Some of Eric's expressions with the dialogue do make me crack up a bit though.

Also glad to see more "[blank] in space" formula episodes, since that was one thing the RTD era always really shined with.

The waiting for Mummy and Daddy thing is very charming too. As is the Doctor and Ruby taking time to give them all hugs.

The multi-pronged satellite design weirdly evokes the Division's timeship design. Definitely just a funny coincidence though. It's cool seeing less 'one-way-up' station designs though.

"Did we grow up wrong?" 😥 (Also with looms on mind, this weirdly feels like a reverse 'childe' situation.)

"Oh 'Nanomatrix electroform'." With the revelation that 'Nan-E' is a person, I like to think this is the Doctor just bullshitting his way through.

The snow and the memory changing is... interesting. More later.

"Oh, I thought my birth was crazy!" Let's not get into it Snail.

The shutting down of the baby station, yet it being illegal to actually stop birthing them even though the station has a limited lifespan feels VERY topical to me, in a weird way. It evokes the post-Roe abortion bans in America, and how pro-life people only care about the fetus, regardless of viability or post-birth care.

"That's the fate of every refugee in the universe. You physically have to turn up on someone else's shore." Again politics, quite explicitly with the use of 'shore' rather than orbit or a similar term that makes sense in an interplanetary context.

"Children will return to the upper levels, or have no /expletive/ dinner. Let Nan-E say fuck!

I love all the actual info in the screen art. If I was an active wiki editor I'd love to take the time to break down all the system info.

At first I thought the bogeyman would be a more 'fantasy' creature a la the Goblins, between it's storybook nature and scaring the Doctor, so it being an artificial creature designed to be scary down to its sounds was a cool twist. Also being made out of bogies?

The fact the story also firmly decides that it's worth saving too? That it's "one of the children"? Muah! 👌 No notes.

The way the airlock works with the 'oxygen field' is a little counter-intuitive and confusing, but I'll allow it. I take it as a safeguard force field gradually powering down, hence the slow depressurisation.

"A great pile of sh-" Let the Doctor say shit"

I buy the methane working to get them to Mondo Caroon a bit less. Hopefully planetary orbit is close enough for refugee status.

Again, Eric's face cracks me up.

TARDIS key! I like this tradition.

A bit cruel to not take Ruby to Ruby Road after bringing up the mystery during the episode, even if it makes sense. Clearly also a bit of a callback to Father's Day.

The emphasis on Ruby's adoptive mum vs bio mum is good.

This arc with Ruby feels weirdly like RTD giving his own take on a Series 6/7 story arc, even down to the ambiguous TARDIS bioscan like with Amy.

When the Doctor mentioned Time Lords and titles again, I was bracing myself to see something related in the scan, so didn't even realise it was snowing until the wide shot. But it said her species was human, so nevermind...

"My name was..." Such a tease! I doubt he's actually giving his birthname, even though it's not unprecedented for the Doctor to tell people. Probably either just explaining the title or something.

Ep 2: The Devils Chord

Maestro emerging from anything playing music is so Wordlord-core.

"Henry get away from him." "Them." Woo!

I could have sworn 'Timothy Drake' would be a real person (at first I assumed he was somehow linked to the Beatles), but a quick google doesn't seem to find anything? All I found was a modern-day composer, who seems to have done an album based on Voyager data. Weird choice to go with just a random person sharing the name of a DC character.

Henry Arbinger is neat. If he's actually a seperate character, I guess he's technically the Toymaker's grandson? He does seem to pre-exist Maesto's imprisonment.

Maestro is so good throughout the whole episode.

The fourth wall breaking with the theme! Transition into the main theme could have been smoother though. I kinda wish they just kept a full piano version all the way through, like Capaldi's guitar.

Speaking of the theme, it somehow appearing in universe on the jukebox?! Really funnily lines up with a later joke in retrospect.

"My mum she had a girlfriend: Claire." Between this, the "heartbroken lesbian song" later and Maestro, this episode really starts to showcase the queerness of this era.

Ruby's first plaid dress is so Clara-ish. As for 15… while I don't mind the Doctor being a bit more casual, seeing him wandering the TARDIS in jeans and trainers is kinda meh. The period costumes are great though. Always happy to see those.

Speaking of 15 and Ruby. They continue to be a delight.

Not gonna lie, as someone who's never really listened to the Beatles but knows their songs only vaguely, it took me a moment to realise there was something wrong with their 'dog' song.

Wasn't expecting the Cilla Black cameo!

Very weird doing a historical with living people. Particularly Paul McCartney, given he has a fairly prominent role, along with John Lennon.

Probably a bunch of easter eggs I'm missing because I don't know the Beatles. I only just discovered while writing that the "Mr Epstein" the Doctor mentioned was their manager.

Weird that we've had two mentions of the First Doctor and Susan in 1963 in two episodes. With it being Feb 11th here… cue more fan debate about when exactly they arrived in London, especially if you account for the "bad smog" in December 1962 line.

"You've got children?" "I did have. I will have." Now he could just be referring to the First Doctor's future, but I can't help but imagine this as a Miranda Dawkins reference! In fairness, he does say that "Time Lords get a bit complicated" which doesn't really match that interpretation. Could also connect it to the future!Other + Other'sGranddaughter!Susan interpretation of things I suppose.

"Where is she?" "I don't know. The Time Lords were murdered. The genocide rolled across time and space, like a great big cellular explosion. Maybe it killed her too." Uhhhhhhhhhh, WTF does that mean? It doesn't sound like the Master's actions, unless he went on a killing spree beyond Gallifrey? My best guess is it's referring to the Time War (in general, rather than just its ending - which tbf does at least match our current knowledge about Susan's fate). If it does refer to it, it kinda seems to ignore both the Moffat and Chibnall arcs with Gallifrey, both its return and its destruction again, by referring to the Time Lords as being 'murdered' in that genocide. Sounds more like The Ancestor Cell than anything tbh. The wiki connects it to the Death particle, but I doubt that.

Maestro giving the Giggle, already connected to music, and the Doctor immediately grabbing Ruby's hand and running running?!

The Doctor removing the sound with the sonic sure is... another sonic power. I've never been one to complain about the sonic use, but between this, plugging in the sonic last episode and the holograms and force field in the anniversary specials, this is getting a bit much. I'll allow it in this case though, as I assume it's working through the TARDIS translation circuit.

The sound design is great this episode.

Also again, the fourth wall breaks rule.

"That thing must be part of the pantheon" Wait... it's obviously linked to the Toymaker but... the pantheon as in the Pantheon of Discord? Like the Trickster's part of?

"One trick once: that's all you get with gods."

June 2024. Woah, so it's been a big time skip! 6 months from Ruby's perspective, and she has been travelling at least some of that time. The Doctor might know what's up with Ruby by this point?

Kinda crazy how much emphasis we've gotten ever since Flux on time's malleability, with the time tracks shifting so easily. Really supports my idea that the Ravagers' attempt to undo the Anchoring of the Thread has had an ongoing effect.

The ash turning to confetti when Maestro appears!

"Lord Temporal" ooh, how Obverse Books of you Maestro!

"Child of the Toymaker" Huh. That works surprisingly well with the version of the Toymaker's origin that has a sister (Hecuba from "The Queen of Time"). Interesting, considering The Giggle seemed to lean more in the Crystal Guardian direction.

"The Music of the Spheres" I know it's an actual term, but you can't say that without me thinking of the Prom minisode.

"You might be bright, and hot, and... *dun du-dun* timey-wimey." Heck yeah. Only contention is it could have been slightly more perfect if Maestro played the four-beat baseline, since 'heartbeat of a Time Lord' and all that. I guess that's kinda synonymous with the Master though, which might have been misleading.

Though they do then play four beats when attacking the TARDIS (also awesome), so I guess they could have gone with it in the first place.

"The only thing I can do is take us back to 1963!" Fast return switch time?

Him kissing the TARDIS better!

Weird emphasis on the TARDIS groan once they exit. Seemed disconnected from Maestro, but didn't come back again.

"I thought that was non-digetic" Perfect! So should we take this to mean that the Doctor can hear the show's soundtrack?!

The music while Ruby is dragged away. At first I thought it was "The Sun's Gone Wibbly", but listening closely it sounds closer to the music from the climax of Waters of Mars, itself very similar.

"Playing lovesick songs for heartbroken lesbians." I mentioned the queerness of the episode already, but can I also point out I think this is the first time we've actually used LGBT terminology in the show? We've certainly used the descriptors before and plenty of people have explicitly had partners of the same gender etc., but for example, Bill never called herself a lesbian, nor did Clara ever identify as bi. Only exception is 'gay', and even then it's mostly only been jokes (eg. the thin fat gay Anglican marines, Rose calling Nine gay as an insult etc.).

"How can a song have so much power, and power like him? The Oldest One. The night of her birth, he can't have been there. What for?!" Oooh, so the One Who Waits is connected to Ruby. Interesting... also another connection to the Guardians and/or 'pantheon'. Is the One Who Waits one of either of those? If a Guardian, then the only candidate is the Red Guardian (who was technically there that night being the Doctor), but that would be ridiculous to be the answer. If connected to the latter, then... the Trickster? Or more likely someone completely new, of course.

Ngl, at first a little part of me thought the 'reverse devil's chord' would end up being part of the theme song.

The Beatles were surprisingly underused through the episode, but them finding the chord is a decent use of them, even if it could be seen from miles away.

The wink launching into a song and dance number, less so! I was wondering when the musical scenes from the trailer were coming...

Shout out also to the Murray Gold cameo on the piano, somehow playing himself according to the credits, despite this being in the 60s.

I'm not familar with them so not 100%, but I think the two dancing with the Doctor and Ruby here are cameos from Strictly Come Dancing too? Specifically Shirley Ballas and Johannes Radebe.

Speaking of "the twist in the end" pretty cool that "Harbinger" survives. It's unlikely, but I'd love to see Maestro return, maybe for a full-on musical episode?

The piano dancing was cute. Very 'Big'!

Overall thoughts in a few words?

Space Babies was kind of meh, even if I appreciate the campiness of it and the ending is pretty good. Pretty standard decent, if not great, episode.

The Devil's Chord however might actually be one of my favourites? Maybe even my favourite RTD episode, though I'd have to think through them all. And that's without being a Beatles fan and probably missing all sorts of flourishes.

Looking forward very much to next episode too, with Moffat back! I saw the episode was about the Doctor stepping on a landmine, but I thought that was a joke before the Next Time teaser. 😅 Apparently it's Ncuti's favourite episode of the season, which is a good sign!

[jsuysbriefyb]

𝟶𝟶𝟷.   𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚃𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙲𝚂   ...

⋯⋯⋯   GENERAL DETAILS.

FULL NAME:   killian wang. NICKNAME(S):   kill / killer (mostly jokingly, reserved for his adoptive siblings), ian (reserved for his mother), k / kay (if one must use a nickname, this is what he prefers). AGE:   twenty7. DATE OF BIRTH:   june 13. PLACE OF BIRTH:   shanghai, china. CURRENT LOCATION:   tokyo, japan. GENDER:   trans man. PRONOUNS:   he/him. ORIENTATION:   gay. RESIDENCY LENGTH:   one month. EDUCATION LEVEL: master's degree in nursing, currently working on doctorate in nursing. OCCUPATION: nurse practitioner, trauma specialty. LANGUAGES: mandarin, english (fluent), japanese (fluent), spanish (conversational), french (conversational).  

⋯⋯⋯   PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, ETC.

HEIGHT:   5'11. TATTOOS:   none. PIERCINGS:   none. SCARS: top surgery. STYLE:   comfortable, usually seen in scrubs. big jacket or death. blood stained more often than not. always carries stethescope.   DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:   highly freckled complexion, especially on face, chest, shoulders, arms. wears corrective glasses (approximately -7.00 in both eyes + an aggressive astigmatism) and refuses to get it surgically fixed. FACE: emile woon.

⋯⋯⋯   HEALTH.

ALLERGIES:   none. SLEEPING HABITS:   extremely poor, most of the sleep he gets is in on-call rooms or on the subway between the hospital and his apartment. is used to falling asleep quickly and waking up faster. light sleeper, doesn't set an alarm as he tends to wake up naturally when he needs to.   EATING HABITS:   whenever he remembers.  is a good cook though. SOCIABILITY:   5/10.  was raised to not speak unless spoken to, but is naturally incredibly curious and will ask questions relentlessly especially if he determines his line of questioning will help someone else. DRINKING / SMOKING / DRUGS:   sometimes   /   yes   /   no. OTHER:   debilitating night terrors.

⋯⋯⋯   PERSONALITY.

LABELS / TROPES:   the medic, technical pacifist, child prodigy, properly paranoid, beware the quiet ones. INSPIRATIONS:   emery anden, nic nevin, spencer reid, leo fitz. TRAITS:   pragmatic,  analytical,  logical,  perceptive,  evasive,  cautious,  paranoid,  contemplative,  prying, scrupulous. LIKES:   rain,  feeling like he's helping people, talking to family. DISLIKES:   talking about himself,  talking to family,  people questioning him / his decisions. HABITS:   cracking knuckles,  keeping hands in pockets or otherwise fiddling with lighter,  clicking pen. HOBBIES:   sleeping... whenever he can... so not often.

⋯⋯⋯   FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.

MOTHER:   xiaoling wang,  deceased. FATHER:   unknown. ADOPTIVE FAMILY: the zhaos. SIGNIFICANT OTHER:   n/a.   BEST FRIEND:   in this economy?   SIBLING(S):   adoptive, but considers them more akin to cousins than siblings.  CHILDREN:   none.  PET(S):   none.

𝟶𝟶𝟸.   𝙱𝙸𝙾𝙶𝚁𝙰𝙿𝙷𝚈 / 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽𝚂   … 

[drug use, overdose, parental death] born in shanghai to a single mother. never learned about his biological father as xiaoling wasn't interested in talking about the man much for obvious reasons (deadbeat foreigner). xiaoling had a close bond with one of the members of the zhao family who are very high ranking in a crime organization there. when xiaoling passed due to an overdose (which killian, age ten, found her dying from), the zhaos took killian in as their own child.

killian was offered full adoption by the zhaos, which he respectfully denied. it was still assumed that killian would join the ranks of the organization, though it didn't seem he had any inclination to do so.

labeled a child prodigy and generally a very smart kid who devoured any and all information he had access to. affinity for medicine, science, and language. additionally excelled in any and all martial arts he was placed in, as was expected of him.

eldest members of the zhao family were assassinated in almost broad daylight, at which killian (eighteen) was recruited by his 'older brother' to help enact revenge. resulted in killian responsible for the death of several people, and while he doesn't regret killing them, he feels fear for the exhilaration he got out of doing so.

literally immediately after this he was like hmmmmmmm no thank you! i want no part of this!!!! press esc to escape!! unfortunately despite it all he is a zhao, whether he has the name or not. this was not taken well by his remaining adoptive siblings and he was more or less exiled / told to figure life out by himself.

got a bachelor's + master's in nursing in an attempt at 'making up' for the death he caused... has it worked? not really. but by the time he received his masters and started work as an NP, he earned his siblings' respect back and was more or less accepted back by the family, though he's still considered an outsider by a large margin.

honestly Hated feeling like an outsider within his own family and when his friend in tokyo mentioned that there was a NP position open in the tokyo trauma team... well.... an escape is an escape!

while killian won't kill, he is unopposed to violence and has a strict moral compass.... what type of morals? good luck figuring that out. his violence shows more in the way he speaks sometimes, rather than actions, though he is just as likely to break your arm as he is to fix it depending on how you act. misses his family dearly. is extremely paranoid.

doesn't live in a particularly great area so he'll offer free medical services to those who need it.

not a fan of new technology unless it is specifically 'good' medical technology (whatever that means).

if you want to contact him you have to corner him as he'll avoid someone for years if needed.

if he's not working he's sleeping and he's rarely not working. he came here for a change but it's probably worse here if we're being honest.

ummm near photographic memory? will repeat back to you something you said a year ago word-for-word.

wants no involvement in anything ever please leave the man alone.

𝟶𝟶𝟹.    𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂   ...

the friend who was like heyyyyy bestie come here <3 everything is fine and dandy <3

coworkers...? killian is extremely diligent and a very good nurse even if he looks a little babyfaced... shouldn't have much of a problem there.

'dude just come to the trauma center it is so much easier to treat you there' 'no i prefer bleeding out on your couch for some insane reason' 'okay well cant do much about that i guess do you want some alcohol to numb the pain before we get into it'

someone who knows the zhaos? affiliated w them or otherwise?

???? he's been here for a solid 30 days and 4 hours maybe. idk. pokes him. do something. he sticks his nose where it doesn't belong too much for his own good if that helps. will take any and all connections. shakes tin can.