Doctor Who!!~

[X-SOLDIER]

Matt Smith just announced that Eleven is regenerating on the Christmas special: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Matt-Smith-to-leave-Doctor-Who



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[Tennyo]

On my phone right now. I saw all the posts on Facebook about Matt leaving. It's rather sad, he really blossomed in the second half of season seven, and he was great with Jenna.

My feelings are conflicted.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

It feels like it's gonna be a Nine leaving Rose moment all over again. They've got such great chemistry, but we won't get to see it blossom enough. I can only hope that Eleven has a happy sendoff…


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[Ⓐaron]

I can only hope that Eleven has a happy sendoff…

It's Moffat. Do you really expect anything to be happy? He's probably as bad as Whedon about this shit.

This news sucks, especially since apparently there won't be any DW for most of 2014.

 

[Mantichorus]

My feelings are conflicted.

Ditto. Matt Smith's been a good Doctor in quite a few episodes, but too many of the stories have him essentially go "I'm the Doctor, I'm zany". I know that's not Matt's fault (if anything, it's probably mostly the Moff's), but if the only way they can get out of that slump is to regenerate the Doctor, unfortunately that's the measures that have to be taken.

Spoiler: Lighter stuff, Discworld in-joke

 

[Tennyo]

You make it sound like the BBC is booting Matt out because of the ratings declining toward the end of the season. It couldn't have been THAT bad.

Matt has a lot of fans, I can't imagine it has anything to do with him leaving.

It's Moffat. Do you really expect anything to be happy? He's probably as bad as Whedon about this shit.

This news sucks, especially since apparently there won't be any DW for most of 2014.

Can it at least be slightly happier than Ten's sendoff? That was just plain emotionally devastating. My heart can't handle this...

 

[Ⓐaron]

Well, yeah, it's hard to see how they could top Ten's sendoff for sheer misery. But, again, this is Moffat we're talking about, so if anyone can, he can.

 

[Tennyo]

I hope he doesn't. I think the fact that an actor is leaving the show is sad enough all on its own. They should at least try to make regenerations be somewhat hopeful. Make it more about being a rebirth instead of a death. I mean, Nine went out like a boss, and he ended on a somewhat uplifting, hopeful, happy note, and I still had to take a break from the show before I moved on to Ten.

Speaking of happy, the story of how Moffat came up with the name of River song is actually quite hilarious.

Spoiler

 

[Ⓐaron]

That's pretty great, but now I want to read the rest of the article. Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere

 

[X-SOLDIER]

So, the internet is alight with "Make The Next Doctor, Black" "Make The Next Doctor A Woman" etc. threads, and I'm not opposed on the premise, but I'm opposed on the REASONING in all of the threads.


There're so many people shouting to do it for equality, or to do it because they CAN, but I've yet to see any good reason why they SHOULD from a storytelling perspective. It's (potentially) the Doctor's last regeneration before he becomes The Valeyard. Why on Earth would you want to make THAT regeneration the one that's a minority/woman/whatever? It would make it seem like this is what happens when he starts losing himself before he goes full on terrible, and that's just a GREAT message to send out when doing something radical for equality.

I just... I really, truly do not see the point.


Does anyone here have any opinions on the matter?



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[The Twilight Mexican]

Mine is the same as yours. Having his last regeneration before he "degenerates" so to speak be a woman or Black guy is hardly going to score one for a positive message.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I ranted about it a little more on tumblr, when reblogging this excellent video on the matter.

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[Ⓐaron]

Well, I think it depends how the transition into

Spoiler

the Valeyard

is handled. Obviously if they handle it wrong then it'll have unfortunate implications. Presumably there could be some tactful ways to do it, though.

That said I also wouldn't mind seeing a ginger Doctor.

 

[Tennyo]

So, the internet is alight with "Make The Next Doctor, Black" "Make The Next Doctor A Woman" etc. threads, and I'm not opposed on the premise, but I'm opposed on the REASONING in all of the threads.


There're so many people shouting to do it for equality, or to do it because they CAN, but I've yet to see any good reason why they SHOULD from a storytelling perspective. It's (potentially) the Doctor's last regeneration before he becomes The Valeyard. Why on Earth would you want to make THAT regeneration the one that's a minority/woman/whatever? It would make it seem like this is what happens when he starts losing himself before he goes full on terrible, and that's just a GREAT message to send out when doing something radical for equality.

I just... I really, truly do not see the point.


Does anyone here have any opinions on the matter?



X

I have no opinion on race/skin color/etc. I don't think it's a stretch to suppose that a Time Lord's skin color can change from incarnation to incarnation. It's just extra pigmentation and what not. If the twelfth Doctor is not white, it really wouldn't matter to me so long as the actor does a good job. I just hope they don't make Twelve black just to be black, or make race the only deciding factor during auditions. Find an actor who can embody the "Mad man in a box" persona, that's all I ask.

As for GENDER, however, I really do not want the Doctor to be a woman. Or at least, I don't want it to just be random. I've never liked the idea that it just happens at random. I think it is very plausible that Time Lords could switch gender on PURPOSE, but only if they actually want to. I think it would get to the point of making it too possible for just ANYTHING to happen at all. Such as, why do Time Lords always have two hearts? Why don't they ever pop out with just one heart? Or three hearts? Or more? Not that it would make sense but in Doctor Who something like that probably wouldn't really need to. It's all about consistency, really. SOMETHING needs to stay the same.

I'll copy paste a post I made on another forum on the matter:

Am I the only one who does not want a female Doctor? I've never liked the idea that Time Lords can change gender at random. What if they don't want to? It makes sense that they could do it on purpose if they want to, but I don't like it just being random. The Doctor has always been presented as being a heterosexual male. I don't understand how this is becoming something bad.

Mainly, I don't think a female Doctor would be done right. I've seen people mention how now we can have proper male companions instead of the men just playing second fiddle to the main female companion. But honestly, why do we have to wait for a female Doctor for this to happen? Also, The Doctor has always seemed to enjoy (maybe even prefer?) the presence of a woman on the TARDIS, so why would this have to change? Why can't a female Doctor just carry on having female companions? Putting a heterosexual male into the body of a woman should not automatically make him a heterosexual woman. I think the Doctor should always be inherently male regardless of the plumbing.

I also feel like it would be done for the wrong reasons. It would be done to be shocking, as a gimmick to bring in more fans. I also don't see how it does anything for feminism since you are essentially having a woman piggy back off a character that was made famous as being male. I'd rather they just create a brand new female character who is strong enough to stand on her own two feet. Perhaps there are some Time Lords who survived the war hiding out. Bring in a Time Lady and have her kick some butt (and have her NOT fall in love with The Doctor like NuWho seems to be wanting to do so much of).

[/unpopular opinion]

To further expand on the companion part since I don't feel that post really expressed my point that well:

Why can't the main companion be male with a male Doctor? Why is it that when the Doctor travels with only one companion, that one companion can't be a male? Why do we have to wait for the Doctor to be a woman for this to happen? Why does this HAVE to happen if the Doctor does become a woman?

People may claim gender equality but I really don't buy it. I don't think they're all being as open-minded as they like to pretend they are being.

I'm just afraid the show will sacrifice characterization for a gimmick.

 

[Ⓐaron]

I don't think it's a stretch to suppose that a Time Lord's skin color can change from incarnation to incarnation.

This has already been shown, actually.

Spoiler: series six spoiler

River Song's "Mels" incarnation was black.

I do agree that if they change the Doctor's gender there should be a good explanation for it beyond "regenerated into a woman".

 

[Tennyo]

This has already been shown, actually.

Spoiler: series six spoiler

River Song's "Mels" incarnation was black.

Blah, I knew that. I really didn't word my post right. But yes, you see, we already have evidence. The main thing, though, is that she remained a woman.

I do agree that if they change the Doctor's gender there should be a good explanation for it beyond "regenerated into a woman".

This exactly. If some outside factor came into play that actually caused it to happen, then I would be more willing to accept it. But if it just happens at random, then no.

 

[Mantichorus]

Such as, why do Time Lords always have two hearts? Why don't they ever pop out with just one heart? Or three hearts? Or more? Not that it would make sense but in Doctor Who something like that probably wouldn't really need to.

There's a fan theory been doing the rounds for decades that the second heart either starts working or even grows after the first regeneration. The main reason for the theory being formulated was that the Doctor had been examined by human physicians before the Third Doctor, but no-one had ever mentioned anything odd about the heartbeat.

While I'm neither for or against them changing the Doctor's sex or apparent ethnicity (although the Doctor must either explain their choice, or be infuriatingly obtuse about it), I'm still of the mind Paterson Joseph would make a great Doctor (I was hoping he was going to be cast before they announced Matt Smith). His character in Neverwhere, the Marquis de Carabas, has been described by Neil Gaiman (creator) as a tribute to the Doctor when "he was dangerous and strange".

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Just throwing it out there, since I hadn't seen it mentioned here - The Doctor being a racial minority would present shenanigans for him when time-travelling into times and places in Earth's history where rights weren't equal for those of color.



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[Ⓐaron]

DW has already explored those themes, of course - see "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" for one example. It would be interesting if the Doctor were the one facing them, though.

Anyway, apparently the Twelfth Doctor has already been chosen. No announcement of who it is yet though.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

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[Tennyo]

DW has already explored those themes, of course - see "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" for one example. It would be interesting if the Doctor were the one facing them, though.

Anyway, apparently the Twelfth Doctor has already been chosen. No announcement of who it is yet though.

This article is throwing three names out that that seem to be rumored to be the top contenders.

I'm really not sure who any of them are, however, Daniel Kaluuya is only 24. Let's not go for another super young Doctor.

I also don't want The Doctor to be younger than I am. Not yet!

 

[Tennyo]

So apparently the casting announcement rumors are false.

Freaking cock tease, man.

 

[Ⓐaron]

That's too bad, I was hoping we'd see a ginger or black Doctor and this may have just greatly decreased the odds

 

[Ⓐaron]

The Telegraph is reporting that Rory Kinnear, who played Q in Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, will be the Twelfth Doctor. This apparently remains to be officially confirmed by the BBC, however. More here.

 

[Dana Scully]

Upon discovering that I had actual quality internet while in Venice I caved and downloaded the three eps I missed. The plan was to save them for a rainy day. Naturally I had watched all of them by the end of the next day. XD

As per usual, I will now vomit out my tl;dr thoughts:

Spoiler: The Crimson Horror

- Any episode with Vastra, Jenny, and Strax immediately gains about 12381 brownie points. I would adore a spinoff with those three.
- Felt Clara was rather underused in this, which is a shame, because Clara is great.
- The parasitic leech reminded me of the mutant leader in Total Recall.

Spoiler: Nightmare of Silver

- Didn't at all care for the new Cybermen - they seemed overpowered and as someone mentioned earlier in the thread they had a tendency to use an 'upgrade' once and then never use it ever again. Also - and this is entirely subjective - I simply prefer the clunkier design of the old models, felt much more robotic. Plus what happened to the sass? DALEKS HAVE NO NEED OF ELEGANCE. THAT IS OBVIOUS.
- MATT FUCKING SMITH FUCKING ROCKED THIS FUCKING EPISODE I just found he was leaving a day or two before I watched it and it gives me all the sads because he's really grown as an actor since he started and in S7 I think he's really found his groove. Also his chemistry with Clara is so adorb aoiwdjaiowdjaiwd cuties <3
- Speaking of Clara, she kicked ass in this one, which was especially nice given her very small presence in Crimson Horror.
- I thought that it was the Doctor who blew up the star system, and then I thought it was the midget, but then he turned out to be the Emperor and it was never revealed exactly who pressed the button and WELL DONE FOR NOT DOING THE OBVIOUS.
- Also abandoned themeparks ftw.
- Echoing others in that I really hope Neil Gaiman continues to write for the show.

Spoiler: Name of the Doctor

- OH MAN THIS EPISODE WAS SUPER INTENSE and while I very much enjoyed it and loved certain parts I largely agree with everything Tenny said earlier.
- Where the fuck was the Singing Towers scene, seriously. Someone said it was mentioned in a minisode (which I haven't seen? If someone could send me a link I'd be much obliged) but no you don't leave out something as critical as that scene from the main show. That's just bad storytelling, and hurts the man.
- That said I loved the goodbye scene and am genuinely grateful they ended it the way they did (trapped for eternity in a virtual reality is, imo, a fate worse than death, so I'm glad River got to die properly even though I really liked her character. Plus, you know, the general character/plot closure it provides). Also Matt Smith crying on the couch made me almost cry on the couch. ;_;
- I adore how they CGId Clara into all the old clips. I also adored her story, it actually made more sense and was more straightforward than I expected (I am with Tenny's in regards to my opinion on Moffat's ability to handle season-long arcs).
- I love love LOVE the idea of the TARDIS getting bigger on the outside when it dies/is horribly damaged. Canon fucking accepted.
- Super excited to see who John Hurt turns out to be. Personally am hoping for the Valeyard.

Other random shit:
- that clip of matt and david aowijaoijdaoiwd
- NO LONGER HAVE TO AVOID SPOILERS YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A RELIEF THIS IS
- casting a non-white/female doctor purely for the purpose of casting a non-white/female doctor is fucking stupid. i'd much prefer the doctor remain male (regardless of race) just because his character is firmly entrenched in my mind as a heterosexual man which is sOOooOOooO TERRIBLE WHERE'S THE EQUALITY matt smith why don't you just sign on for another year and solve all our problems yes good
- SO FUCKING PUMPED FOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY LIKE HOLY SHIT CAN'T EXPRESS USING WORDS MUST SMASH FACE ON KEYBOARD EJGKHJAGHEGUAHUIHUIGIAG