Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner

[jaime]

This was always gonna be an issue once Tennant didn't regenerate into Ncuti. I appreciate you could always have the Doctor regenerate into a past incarnation now you've done it once, but having 14 lying around off camera just makes it easier.

Christ it's a terrible article, wonder if journos gets paid a bonus for each time they shoehorn the word woke into an article? Plus you'd like they'd like that the drag queen was a deranged villain?

I totally understand why RTD and the BBC brought Tennant back but the bi-generation really has created a rod for every future Doctor's back.

And not only that, but they did it coming off the back of the first woman Doctor — back to so literally the status quo, that it’s an ‘old face’ — and didn’t have Tennant wear Jodie’s costume, when it was ok for Sacha Dewan *in the same episode* (and yes, they could have made one to fit ten at for one scene, it’s what they usually do) whilst the first black Doctor gets to prance around like he forgot his kit *three episodes later* (shades of Alzarius, IYKYK) whilst ‘safe’ Doctor seems to have been kept in the back pocket in case it doesn’t work.
And now it hasn’t worked (and *not* because the Doctor is now black, but because the writing and frankly casting was bad — as probably one of half a dozen who liked Bonekickers enough to buy it on home media *twice* I have long been pro an Adrián Lester Doctor. He would have been an excellent lead for Who) and what are we gonna do? Wheel out Doctor What?! What?! Because it has to be dealt with.

Such a mess.

 

[JD]

Why are you so desperate for it to end? Do you really hate it that much?

 

[Starkers]

I think sadly some people do.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Its bizarre. If we had just seen any of Chibnall's seasons, I'd understand, but still not want it to end. But RTD2 is, at its worst, lukewarm but highly promising.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

And not only that, but they did it coming off the back of the first woman Doctor — back to so literally the status quo, that it’s an ‘old face’ — and didn’t have Tennant wear Jodie’s costume, when it was ok for Sacha Dewan *in the same episode* (and yes, they could have made one to fit ten at for one scene, it’s what they usually do)

I never really understood why Tennant wasn't wearing Whittaker's costume. I do struggle picturing him wearing it, though. I can picture Matt Smith in Jodie's costume; I think he'd have rocked it, and he'd have been wildly enthusiastic about wearing it. Capaldi, too. And Gatwa would have rocked it as well.

Note: I am not saying that Tennant would not have worn the costume if asked, because he absolutely would have, only that I struggle to imagine him in it.

The fact that the costume changed along with the body was the primary reason I thought she didn't really regenerate into Tennant, only that the Doctor looked like Tennant after the regeneration due to Toymaker shenanigans (which harkened back to the original plans with Hartnell--the Toymaker would change the Doctor's appearance). I expected the reveal would be that the Doctor had been Gatwa all along, not "bigeneration," which opened a can of worms, imho, because of the "out" it gave the BBC.

 

[Marc]

Even the scummy Murdoch papers in Australia are jumping on the cancelled bandwagon reporting and pushing the “wokeness” as a the cause.

Not sure where they’re been for the 60 odd years.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Not sure which is funnier, the claim that Star Trek has suddenly gone woke and political or the same claim being made about Doctor Who.

 

[Starkers]

I never really understood why Tennant wasn't wearing Whittaker's costume. I do struggle picturing him wearing it, though. I can picture Matt Smith in Jodie's costume; I think he'd have rocked it, and he'd have been wildly enthusiastic about wearing it. Capaldi, too. And Gatwa would have rocked it as well.

Note: I am not saying that Tennant would not have worn the costume if asked, because he absolutely would have, only that I struggle to imagine him in it.

The fact that the costume changed along with the body was the primary reason I thought she didn't really regenerate into Tennant, only that the Doctor looked like Tennant after the regeneration due to Toymaker shenanigans (which harkened back to the original plans with Hartnell--the Toymaker would change the Doctor's appearance). I expected the reveal would be that the Doctor had been Gatwa all along, not "bigeneration," which opened a can of worms, imho, because of the "out" it gave the BBC.

It's an odd one given Tennant has worn far more feminine clothes in the past, heck he was wearing a kilt at the BAFTAs the other night. RTD's comment about making a mockery of drag culture is a curious one. As pointed out the Master wore it and it's hardly the most outlandishly feminine outfit is it.

It was an easy fix anyway, you don't need to show Tennant wearing the full outfit, you could just show him from the shoulders up. Next time we see him he's changed outfits.

Of course we could always blame Chibnall, maybe he should have had Whittaker wear something more gender neutral for her regeneration?

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Michael Sheen as the new Doctor?!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Pure speculation and wishful thinking. Next.

 

[Tosk]

It was an easy fix anyway, you don't need to show Tennant wearing the full outfit, you could just show him from the shoulders up. Next time we see him he's changed outfits.

Or if they really wanted to, they could have had Jodie change outfits for story reasons in her final ep, making the costume something that would suit both of them.

 

[jaime]

Or if they really wanted to, they could have had Jodie change outfits for story reasons in her final ep, making the costume something that would suit both of them.

They didn’t have enough lead in time. And if russel thinks the Jodie outfit would somehow look like drag, he’s a very confused man. Which would explain a *lot*. That and the sonic suddenly looking like a gun, as he is alleged to have said whilst giving Gatwa some kind of frutiger aero massage device for a sonic (but no trousers for his opening scenes) makes me wonder what he’s drinking and/or smoking.

 

[Starkers]

Or if they really wanted to, they could have had Jodie change outfits for story reasons in her final ep, making the costume something that would suit both of them.

as I said in my post, does seem a bit unfair, Capaldi didn't have to change into anything after all. Doesn't help that her outfit was, IMO, a bit shit. Imagine Tennant in that compared to Tennant in Jo Martin's outfit?

 

[Starkers]

Pure speculation and wishful thinking. Next.

Agreed, I wouldn't be unhappy with him though (although I love Ncuti so kinda hoping he sticks around at least another year)

 

[StarMan]

I never really understood why Tennant wasn't wearing Whittaker's costume.

Similar logic to RTD's decision to un-disable Davros - a hugely popular decision among able-bodied virtue signalers; much less so among actual Whovians in wheelchairs.

 

[jaime]

Similar logic to RTD's decision to un-disable Davros - a hugely popular decision among able-bodied virtue signalers; much less so among actual Whovians in wheelchairs.

Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans! They’re still in the nursery… I mean, they’re all problematic now from the RTD Extreme approach. Apart from maybe the Sontarans.

What about Dortmun ey? Very early example of a wheelchair user in Who. It’s not all doom and gloom.

I think too many afternoon soap operas has addled the chaps thinking organ.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I will concede that the Davros retcon is...frankly, idiotic. I get the intention with it, but it actually makes a problem out of nowhere, is virtue signalling with no purpose (I don't know many disable who look at Doctor Who, of all things, and think how disgustingly anti-disabled people it is because of Davros) and in offering a solution compounds the said problem.

 

[Starkers]

I totally see RTD's point re disabled villains (see also the way a god 50% of Bond villains--if not Moore-- are disfigured in some way) and making a decision going forward to no longer have villains in wheelchairs is absolutely ok with me, but Davros is an established character with a very established look, so either leave him as he is or just choose not to use him.

 

[The Wormhole]

As far as the whole Davros thing is concerned, I'm just willing to ignore RTD's comments and assume what we saw in that minisode was simply Davros before he was injured. Indeed, that is what I assumed when I first watched it before seeing RTD's comments afterwards, which was also supported by a chapter in The Writer's Tale in which RTD shows the script from The Stolen Earth/Journey's End of a flashback scene in which the intent was to show Julian Bleach without prosthetics as a pre-injury Davros (the scene was never filmed). Unless and until we see a post Dalek creation Davros walking around, I'll continue to believe this.

Not sure which is funnier, the claim that Star Trek has suddenly gone woke and political or the same claim being made about Doctor Who.

Oh it's definitely funnier with Star Trek, given not only has Star Trek been "woke" from the very beginning, it has also always pridefully boasted its wokeness as its finest attribute.

RTD's comment about making a mockery of drag culture is a curious one. As pointed out the Master wore it and it's hardly the most outlandishly feminine outfit is it.

What made me scratch my head about that comment was that RTD mentioned in The Writer's Tale that one of the things that thrilled him the most about "the Master race" in TEOT was getting to see John Simm in drag.

 

[Starkers]

As far as the whole Davros thing is concerned, I'm just willing to ignore RTD's comments and assume what we saw in that minisode was simply Davros before he was injured. Indeed, that is what I assumed when I first watched it before seeing RTD's comments afterwards, which was also supported by a chapter in The Writer's Tale in which RTD shows the script from The Stolen Earth/Journey's End of a flashback scene in which the intent was to show Julian Bleach without prosthetics as a pre-injury Davros (the scene was never filmed). Unless and until we see a post Dalek creation Davros walking around, I'll continue to believe this.

Oh it's definitely funnier with Star Trek, given not only has Star Trek been "woke" from the very beginning, it has also always pridefully boasted its wokeness as its finest attribute.

What made me scratch my head about that comment was that RTD mentioned in The Writer's Tale that one of the things that thrilled him the most about "the Master race" in TEOT was getting to see John Simm in drag.

It does seem like RTD has changed his tune about a lot of things in the intervening time, which is fine, most people will change their views as they grow older I guess. Back in the day Little Brittain made me howl, now a lot of it makes me wince