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ncuti gatwa i’m so so sorry, first your entrance was overshadowed by david tennant and now your exit was overshadowed by billie piper

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wish world being like "its bad to force women into being nothing but mothers" and then the finale of her own season literally shoves belinda in a closet with a baby during all the action like okayyy

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The real vindicator was this episode vindicating everyone who has been calling out RTD on his bullshit this whole time

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Fascinated by the reticence for people to associate the word "racist" with Patti LuPone. You cannot truly unlearn racism if you are afraid of the word "racist".

I think some people see the world as split into the classifications of "racist" and "not racist" people and that's just not how it works. Everyone is capable of racist behaviour, and no that doesn't mean you're "a racist", in the noun sense or "a bad person".

Obviously people are capable of being "racists", but thinking of anyone, INCLUDING YOURSELF, as "not racist", especially if you are white, is dangerous because it will make it harder for you to identify racist behaviours. "Not racist" cannot be the default in a world where racism is so deeply imbedded.

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I genuinely don't think that Patti LuPone intended her comments to be racially charged. When she said Hell's Kitchen was "too loud", she was not thinking about the Black cast, creative team or story that it tells. When she called Kecia Lewis a bitch in the New Yorker, and disparaged Audra McDonald in the next breath, she was not thinking about the fact that both these actresses she was putting down were Black women.

That's exactly what micro-aggressions are. It's not the blatant, intentional racism that we're used to seeing being called out. The "micro" does not reduce the scale of harm caused, but rather refers to the subtlety of the comments, how easily they can be skimmed over and normalised. It's the comments that without context, can pass by as rude, or entitled, but not racist.

Of course, calling a show "loud" in isolation doesn't raise any alarm bells. But once you add in the context that Black people are consistently stereotyped and minimised for being loud, then it becomes racially charged. We may not know how Patti would've responded to a show of the same volume with a predominantly white cast, but that doesn't matter because the reality is her choice to publicly criticise HK for being "loud" was made in the context of these stereotypes existing. You can perpetuate racial stereotypes without intention, without mean-spirit, without knowledge of them even existing.

All Patti needed to do was listen to the Black people who volunteered their time to explain why her comments were harmful, acknowledge them and apologise. IMO, the real harm she has caused isn't in the comments themselves. It's in the way she has refused to take accountability, and used her immense privilege and influence in the theatre world to put Black women down and minimise their accomplishments rather than take this opportunity to learn, educate others and uplift members of her community.

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recording audio bootlegs of musicals was a stressful pastime for teenage me, an otherwise law-abiding citizen, but it was so worth it to end up with this moment that I delightfully rediscovered today, which was that I caught on recording the exact second that the 24-year-old man sitting next to me at Les Mis, who had just spent the last 10 minutes trying to hit on me by bragging about how he went to Oxford, realised that I was 16

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tbh, i think i would enjoy the finale a lot more if the rani turns out to actually be the master pretending to be the rani. literally nothing about how the rani has behaved so far seems like they are the rani. and it would be fucking hilarious if rtd gaslit everyone into thinking it was finally the rani and it just wasn't.

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A lot of the recent doctor who episodes have felt to me like theyre trying to make a hard-hitting, intelligently presented policitical point. and they're just...not. And especially today, jesus christ.

There's a planet who's population has been decimated by corporate greed, the residents of which are treated with distrust and discrimination. This is very obviously and undeniably a bad thing. You meet only three of the planet's residents (despite it being a central plot point): two of them are terrorists. None of them are well fleshed-out characters with actual backstory or personality or even basic character traits beside "good" and "bad". The terrorists are cartoonishly evil: they want to kill 3 trillion people, with their only goal being "revenge". The doctor tortures one of them with no major criticism from any of the characters, or the show's narrative.

The fact that an entire planet was stripped for profits is never addressed. There is no further action. The doctor doesn't care. One of the residents sings a song about it on space eurovision and that makes everything OK again. We don't learn anything more about the planet, of its past or its future.

Even if you completely ignore the broader context of eurovision (specifically the "political neutrality" and boycott of it due to isr@el's participation), its still a horrific episode in terms of its messaging. It's just so horrifically bleak. And when you consider that broader context... fucking hell.

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strongly agree with this, belinda's reaction to the doctor at the end was so infuriating, it felt like an [insert generic companion reaction] rather than the belinda we were introduced to in episode 1. was expecting so much more from her on calling out the torture.

and yeah "passenger" is a good way to put it, even in the story and the engine (which i loved and understand why it was a more doctor centric episode), i felt like she was way too in line with the doctor on everything (like the bursting out into laughter at the storyteller with him) considering how short a time they've travelled together for.

she has definitely suffered from the short seasons (you can't have a companionless, doctorless episode like lucky day in an 8 episoder) but really disappointed nonetheless with how they've dropped the ball on her characterisation.

also like, what is up with Belinda's characterization? she had such a promising start this season, being the companion who doesn't get dazzled by the Doctor's charm, the one who's gonna challenge him and question him and keep him in check. but now? now she's just the one who wants to go home but sticks around with the Doctor anyway and doesn't really do much in the meantime. I mean last night's episode really showed that, she's gone from "Doctor, you're dangerous, get me home" to "you scared me a little back there but you're still wonderful and I don't have aaaanything bad to say about you teehee :3" like babes, what happened?

not to be all "remember the good old days" but like, remember when 9 pulled a gun on a Dalek and Rose was appalled at his actions? remember when there was conflict between the Doctor and their companions? it's like the writers are terrified of actually putting any conflict between them. everything has to be quickly, neatly resolved, so even our designated Doctor-critical character can't say a word.

I feel like the writers have forgotten how to write characters. not just conflict, either. Belinda feels incredibly bland to me. 6 episodes in and what characterization has she got? she's not the Doctor's companion, she's their passenger. remember how Rose had a vivid, messy home life that affected her relationship with the Doctor? remember how Martha was in a constant push-and-pull with the Doctor's arrogance, so her characteristics could shine outwards in any scene written for her? remember how Donna became basically a detective on her own time to try and find the Doctor? remember how they all had lives beyond the Doctor, too?

ugh. RTD returning as showrunner should've been a massive red flag from the start. the show's clearly stagnating. we need someone new to run the show. NOT another white guy this time, please and thanks

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"Oh the episode only came across the way it did because it was written in 2022!" I don't know how to explain to some of you that the genocide of Palestinians started in 1948, Israel first competed in Eurovision in 1978, and Moroccanoil became an official sponsor in 2020 and that none of that happened secretly or without widespread protest. I grew up going to pro-Palestinian protests. My parents grew up going to pro-Palestinian protests.

But even if Juno Dawson did live in a bubble until 2023, as a surprising number of people seem to have, the episode wasn't written in 2022. Juno Dawson worked on Doctor Who: Redacted in 2022, but wasn't asked to write an episode until 2023, and the episode filmed March-May 2024. When the UN's death toll was 35,000. There was time for rewrites, there was time for reflection and critical thinking. So no, it wasn't "like that" because of when it was written. It was "like that" because the team responsible were ignorant and tone deaf.

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I don’t think I have much to add that I haven’t already reblogged but between Lucky Day’s depiction of childhood abuse as one source of Conrad’s evil (plus it’s weird UNIT politics) and this latest episode where they use one of my least favourite tropes- resistance fighter with a point goes too far and is stopped but the system is left unchallenged- I don’t think I’ve ever felt less excited about Doctor Who.

The Story and the Engine was magnificent, we desperately need more stories that are personal to their writers, and just a greater amount of diversity in the room full stop. How did Lucky Day and The Interstellar Song Contest (and last year’s Dot and Bubble, if you pay attention to the criticism that got from Black people) make it to screen in the way they did?!

I was really hoping Juno Dawson would write a good episode- I didn’t get along with her podcast Doctor Who: Redacted because it invoked too many real-world conspiracy theories without challenging them, but I can see why its trans rep meant so much to people as a fellow trans person.

This post doesn’t really have a point and probably won’t go very far, but I’m just tired of RTD’s Doctor Who. He’ll happily ‘rehabilitate’ characters from racist stories, like Sutekh and the Toymaker and encourage people to watch them, and won’t put the bare minimum amount of effort into getting his politics right. I gave him lots of benefit of the doubt for some of the issues with the disability and trans representation (might make other rant posts about those) but it’s just clear to me that he, and in this case Juno Dawson or Pete McTighe, are not engaging enough with the people or groups they want to write about.

I’m probably expecting too much from the a production originating with the bigoted companies that are Disney and the BBC- I highly recommend not giving any money to them- but I used to think Doctor Who was capable of more, and now, I’m just not sure.

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about that scene with the Doctor...(spoilers for The Interstellar Song Contest)

i agree with everyone that the Eurovision allegory was dreadfully handled, and the character of Kid was done a tremendous disservice. the messaging of making your genocide-survivor character hell-bent on murdering countless others to make a point is dreadful, especially in the context of the Israeli-Palestininian conflict. what we end up with is a weak, gross message that one should comply with their persecutors in order to deliver 'acceptable' protest (e.g., Cora with her Hellian song). of all the messaging in these recent episodes of Doctor Who, this has been the nastiest, whether intentional or otherwise. however: i don't think the Doctor snapped because his morals suddenly went out the window and he decided to torture a genocide survivor. he snapped because he saw himself reflected in Kid.

Kid was about to murder three trillion people. by the skin of his teeth, the Doctor managed to stop Kid from murdering the thousands on board that space station, and he still thought they were casualties because he had no idea to get them back. to him, not only was Belinda dead, but every memory of Earth was also dead, all in an instant, with another atrocity coming. i think the poorly-communicated message of this episode which attempted to flesh out the Fifteenth Doctor's character is to do with the cycle of trauma and violence. i think we can all agree that the Doctor's reaction was horrific, and it's clear we are supposed to be horrified by his actions. we've seen in previous incarnations (Seven, Ten, etc.) that the Doctor is capable of a tremendous amount of cruelty in response to horrendous acts. for the past two seasons the Doctor, a war veteran who has witnessed unimaginable horrors across countless lifetimes, has been on the edge of a complete nervous breakdown, and we've been seeing signs of that since Boom and Joy to the World. in Kid, the Doctor saw reflected back a version of himself he despises: a person willing to harm others to exact vengeance and make up for heinous acts. and he lost. his. mind. the gigantic misstep in this episode was making Kid the villain. the writers attempted to fix this by having the Fifteenth Doctor assess Kid as having a "cold, filthy heart" that "just likes to kill", and because the episode has such awful, muddled messaging, we can't even begin to untangle whether or not that's true. either way it doesn't look good: the most generous interpretation is that Kid was just a "bad egg" who wanted to hurt people in the first place, but what kind of awful writing is that? we end up with Kid being the bad one for lashing out, and Cora being the good one for complying, and that...ugh. that puts a sour taste in my mouth. this episode was not the right time or place for the Doctor to have his Time Lord Victorious moment. it is important to note that this episode aired directly before the actual Eurovision Song Contest, on the BBC. i'm honestly astonished that they let this air at all, as even a confusing, politically murky reference to the ESC being funded by Israel could've easily been tanked. the episode makes an attempt at a pro-Palestinian allegory, but it drowns itself in its own contradictions and ends up making our main character torture someone who is both a Palestinian stand-in and a would-be mass murderer. my confusing feelings on the episode are:

i understand what the writers were trying to do, and i think they missed the mark enormously

i appreciate that they were trying to make an episode which addresses the controversy around the Eurovision Song Contest, but it came off as offensive and honestly a bit horrifying

i was glad to see the Doctor finally have an episode of sincere, uncontrolled rage, but unnerved by who that rage was directed at (even if it makes sense given the Doctor's history)

it's impossible to divorce this episode from its real-life context, and that makes examining the Doctor's actions very difficult.

does Kid's attempted mass-murder justify the Doctor torturing him? of course not. does Kid's status as a genocide survivor preclude him from committing horrendous acts? no, but that particular messaging with this context feels deeply gross. did both Kid and the Doctor act in horrendous ways partly due to the trauma they've both experienced, as well as their own propensity for violence and harm? yes, i think that was the idea, even if it was handled very, very poorly. tldr; writers tried to do something clever and flesh out Fifteen's capacity for anger and harm, but did it in a way which demonises a suffering group of people. i don't think deliberate harm was intended, but there's a reason why myself and so many others watched this episode and came away feeling disturbed. the episode is ostensibly critical of Israel's funding of Eurovision, but the allegory falls flat in the face of the Doctor's rage.

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one of my favourite theories as to why the rani is waging war against the doctor is because she’s pissed the universe is now being ran by magic and superstition instead of reason, science and logic.

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new england trumpies confuse me bc like bro he called himself a king. what happened to hating those. bring back the boston tea party. where is my boy nathan hale. where is life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. what happened to one if by land two if by sea. what happened to dunkin donuts fueled rage at kings. what happened to supporting nothin but grinders, pizza, weed, paul revere, and fluffernutters. babes, the time to celebrate our forefathers is now, go get rid of that dishtowel in charge

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They should do an immersive Orpheus and Eurydice stage play where the whole audience has to turn their back on the stage though the actors still have choreography and if a single person looks back to try to view the performance then Eurydice dies and everyone has to go home

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Australian musical theatre is just so bloody good, as someone who has been privileged enough to see shows in New York and London, I am always blown away by Australian casts and productions and honestly often prefer them. Also idk if this is controversial but I freaking love when actors sing in Australian accents, it sounds so good and feels a lot more authentic.

Also the three shows I have seen this year have all had amazing Australian touches - in Hadestown it's just the accents really but there's something so special about a Torres Strait Islander Hermes being the storyteller. The incorporation of didgeridoos with the Ents in the LOTR musical was also a really cool First Nations nod. And Ghost Quartet in Australian accents with Australian references thrown in was extra special.

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Okay a couple weeks ago I started this post trying to keep track of all the stuff going on in order to help remind us of everything that’s happened when the next election comes around. Well, because there’s just so much going on, I’ve realized trying to cram it all into one post isn’t going to work. So I’m going to do a new post every month and include links to the previous ones.

So here goes…

January 2025

February 2025

Donald Trump has enforced his tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. [x]

Donald Trump has put Mexico tariffs on hold for one month. [x]

Donald Trump allowed Elon Musk to begin dismantling USAID. [x]

Congress is voluntarily giving up its power and allowing Trump to make unilateral decisions. [x]

Darren Beattie has been made Under Secretary of State. [x]

Everything that Donald Trump has done so far lines up with Project 2025 [x]

The White House is drafting an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education [x]

Elon Musk, who nobody voted for or elected, has, essentially, hacked the government. [x]

El Salvador has agreed to take US deportees of any nationality. [x]

US Representative Andy Biggs is proposing a bill to abolish OSHA. [x]

Pam Bondi has been confirmed as Attorney General [x]

Donald Trump doesn’t think Palestinians should return to Gaza. [x]

Donald Trump says he’ll use US troops to “take over” the Gaza Strip. [x]

A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship. [x]

Donald Trump has banned trans women from women’s sports [x]

Donald Trump sanctions the International Criminsl Court. [x]

A judge has paused the federal “buyouts” [x]

DOGE: Member of DOGE resigns [x]

DOGE has been given access to the Department of Energy. [x]

Miscellaneous news about Elon Musk [x]

DOGE is using AI to infiltrate the Department of Education [x]

Russell Vought, author of Project 2025, has been confirmed as Director of OMB [x]

Democrats in Congress have introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act [x]

Donald Trump has flagged the words “women” “diverse” and “historically” from studies done by the National Science Foundation. [x]

New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansbury has introduced the Nobody Elected Elon Musk Act [x]

Democratic Congressional leaders have introduced the Stop the Steal Act [x]

Donald Trump has called for a review of funding for the United Nations [x]

Federal agencies are barred from celebrating Black History Month [x]

Donald Trump has frozen aid to South Africa and accused the South African government of racism against white South Africans [x]

Donald Trump wants to use Leavenworth Prison as a migrant detention facility and have it run by a for-profit company known for its numerous human rights violations. [x] [x]

Trump has told the Treasury to stop making pennies. [x]

Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) proposes the E.L.O.N. M.U.S.K. Act (which stands for Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy) [x]

Employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were told to stop all work and are now being told to stay home. [x]

Trump will impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum. [x]

Trump says Palestinians won’t be allowed back in Gaza if the US takes it over [x]

Tulsi Gabbard has been confirmed as director of national intelligence. [x]

Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA) has proposed a bill to change the name of Greenland to Red, White & Blue Land [x]

The DOJ has dropped the corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams. [x]

An AP News reporter has been banned from the White House for using Gulf of Mexico instead of Gulf of America in its reporting. [x][x]

Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Angus King (I-ME) are pushing for a tax credit that would encourage businesses to offer paid family leave. [x]

Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA) has introduced the Protect US National Security Act [x]

Here’s a link to the Project 2025 Policy Agenda that Donald Trump claimed he didn’t know anything about.*

*He only claimed he didn’t know anything about it after it proved to be deeply unpopular with the general public.

I’m also including directories for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That way, if you’re so inclined, you can also track the individual actions of every Senator and Representative.

Miscellaneous News

Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) repeatedly uses a transphobic slur on the Congressional floor. [x]

Clarence Thomas is…being Clarence Thomas *sigh* [x]

Donald Trump fired the Chair of the Kennedy Center and named himself as the new Chair [x]

Trump said that no group of people in the history of America has been treated worse than the way the January 6th insurrectionists have been treated. [x]

Once again, please feel free to let me know about anything I’ve missed. With this era of constant news we live in, it can be easy to forget so let’s give our future selves a little help!