I'll keep this short and sweet. I BLOODY LIKE JODIE WHITTAKER. I think she will be a really great Doctor. Now what was I going to say, ah the raging fans. I really do wonder if they are actual fans of the show who have been around since the old series or just people looking for something to rage at for the sake of it. Some people just need to find something to yell at.
Adam Troy Castro posted on Facebook today something along the lines of ( and I paraphrase), "There are Harry Potter fans who are bullies, there are Star Trek fans who are against diversity, and there are Doctor Who fans who are against change. Were these people even paying attention?"
The idea that Science Fiction and Fantasy fans are forward thinking people is false. Time and time again, the conservatism (not the political kind) rears it's ugly head. Thankfully, not all science fiction fans are racists, sexists, and homophobes. But, those types do exist in fandom.
Other than quoting the Kurgan ( ), I would just say that I suspect that the number of non-fans criticizing the move for sexist reasons and the number of non-fans praising the move so that they can feel superior in their progressivism are probably about 50-50. All that really matters is what is best for the show. Personally, I consider myself a traditionalist but I also think that Capaldi so completely knocked it out of the park that there was nowhere else to go but to make a radical change. Now, I'm hoping that it doesn't too fundamentally change who the character is. Being a woman shouldn't define the 13th Doctor any moreso than being a man defined the first 12. But at the same time, I'm looking forward to whatever new flavor Whittaker brings to the part.
Of course the flipside is true as well. I'm a huge fan of Judge Dredd, that doesn't necessarily mean I'd want a judge/jury/executioner style police force on the streets! Ditto!
So two random guys OK don't agree Again I don't know what to make of all this. People are losing their shit over this and trying all sorts of mental gymnastics to settle on a POV. I wish they would just shut the fuck up and give the new Doctor a chance..
This should be Chibnall's number one priority at the moment. Actually, the irony is the current arrangement of the theme does have the Middle Eight, it's just left out of the version used on TV. Fuck knows why, it certainly sounds better than the repetitive "wee-ooh" the end credits are comprised of. Have a listen here, the Middle Eight is around the thirty second mark:
Holy shit. You said they were two random guys, but FUUUUCK did they sound and look the same. And so.... so whiney. I couldn't finish either one. I had to stop the first when he was stuck on "how does regeneration really work?" Dude, it doesn't. It doesn't really work. They make up the rules. So, if you are looking for a reason why not to cat a woman based on some in show set of (fictional rules), you seriously need to get out of the house more. Can't they just enjoy the show? EDITED TO ADD: The Middle Eight is the best part of the theme. IT should be back. Front and center. THIS is what nerds should be really worked up about.
It all comes down to "I'm not, but" arguments. That first guy basically said, we have our preconceived notions and a gender swap would put us out of our comfort zone because the Doctor won't act within expected stereotypes. Good! I didn't bother with the second guy.
There's Ian Levine. Without making a moral judgement on his character or sanity, I think it's fair to say he is definitely a fan of Doctor Who.
Ironically, regeneration is the retcon...I think Troughton called it 'rejeuvenation' and it was a property of the Tardis.
There's all little bits in dialogue scattered...for instance 'regeneration?' 'Fourth' 'my goodness, so there are five of me now' between the first and fifth doctors in The Five Doctors shows that there are no 'other' doctors between or before them, and that regeneration is the process, not the nomenclature for the different Doctors. Incarnations. Valeyard doesn't even have to exist, as he's explicitly referred to in dialogue as being an offshoot of the process, not an actual incarnation...a bit like the Meta-Crisis Doctor (grown from a hand that Jack kept handy throughout torchwood in a glass cage...he's gonna have one mess for a psychology.) Time Lord, Time Lady and Time Tot all turn up a lot...but the Shobogans refer to the Time Lords as something other than themselves I think (it seems to be a Shobogan family that own the barn that turns up on gallifrey a lot recently, and there's a bit of an implication the Doctor sees them as family.) From a legal standpoint, all Time Lords that left gallifrey without sanction are renegades...The Monk, The Master, The Rani, The Doctor, K'Anpo (The Hermit...think that's not entirely official) and the rather boringly named Drax. Then there is Braxiatel, from the novels, and there's nice Tarot card imagery used in those too...But those are nebulously canon at best. (The new show references them very subtly sometimes.) In short, neither 'side' in these little fights are gonna be able to do much in claiming a 'canon' set up, because between all the stuff on screen, retcons, and 'The Doctor Lies' there's always an onion skin layer to the argument. Which is in itself something from The Black Scrolls of Rassilon.