#we need him to chew the furniture as an evil victorian scientist

[the--highlanders]

ok some thoughts on RTD coming back

- first of all I really hope he’s changed/improved some of his attitudes since he last wrote for dr who. stuff like his treatment of his black characters, the transphobia in Cassandra’s character. the child slavery joke in Children of Earth. even despite being a gay showrunner, some of his queer material I find questionable (e.g. Jack’s sexuality meaning he MUST be very sexual, or the old lesbians in Gridlock being referred to as sisters). if he’s learnt and grown since then, good for him! but I’m approaching it with a bit of trepidation honestly

- some of his approaches to the show just aren’t for me. especially his view that the show needs romance (particularly between the Doctor and a companion). or the Master being evil because he’s ~ crazy ~.

- I think my biggest issue here is his approach to the Doctor’s gender, in that in writing Doctors played by male actors, he seemed quite set on the Doctor being a Man (e.g. his comment about the Doctor and Rose inevitably being romantic because they represented a bunch of opposites, one of those being ‘man’ and ‘woman’, or the scene where Cassandra possesses Ten). personally I don’t think I ever vibed with the idea of a Female Doctor (distinct from the idea of an actress playing the Doctor, I’ve no problem with that! more of the sense that the Doctor is Different Now They Look Like A Woman). chances are we’re getting either another woman playing Fourteen, or a man playing Fourteen - I’d love a nb actor portraying the Doctor, but unfortunately it feels unlikely. and I’m nervous about RTD’s take on either a Female Doctor or a Doctor Who Is Now A Man Again. this might be a very personal take tho!

- other people have said this far better than I could but going for another older white male writer (and one that’s already written for the show!) feels regressive. was there really nobody willing to take on the show who could have brought a different voice. we’ve seen RTD’s take on the show before, now let’s see someone else’s. especially given his record with Torchwood - watching s1, s2, and s3 in succession feels super janky to me, as if RTD picked up the characterisation where he left off in s1, not where s2 was left off for him.

- honestly I have mixed feelings on him coming back in general, just as like. a business decision for the show almost. on the one hand it really feels like the BBC could see that people weren’t happy with the way Chibnall was running it (did he even have input into this decision?) and are trying to re-engage people and refresh the show. and given the lack of effort that’s come from the BBC recently (lack of merch/promotion since Twelve really, the way they haven’t made as big a deal out of announcements as in the past) I’m hoping this means they want to reinstate dr who as their flagship show. on the other hand so many of the calls to bring back RTD have come from people who blame “””wokeness””” for Chibnall’s faults, as if he was particularly progressive, and I really hope they’re not looking to pander to those people.

I really want it to be good! I care about this show so much and I want to see it do well. but I’m reserving judgement. and I hope that people don’t get too hyped and get let down.