Bzuh?

[eve11]

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58682472

RTD is back! Um, I don't know what to think about this, actually. I hope he can take the show in a cool new direction. I don't want to see Rose again. And probably not Jack; I feel like his character is kind of done. OTOH It would be absolutely lovely to have characters I actually care about (the Doctor included). But does this ever actually happen? I feel like maybe the Beeb is squirrelly about all of this, or just generally uncomfortable, to ask someone back who left.

Then again, we will be able to see if RTD can ignite the same level of ratings he did at the show's start.

I'm curious, anyhow. First big question is will he stick with a female doctor or go back to tried and true? (And *that* might be something the Beeb would weigh in on, IDK. Especially if they are feeling vulnerable and squirrely).

Comments

[nostalgia]

Surely we'll have another female Doctor? SURELY?!

[dbskyler]

Finally a female Doctor with good writing!

[nostalgia]

Thank feck!

[eve11]

IDEK. Maybe? I feel like the woke crowd will revolt if not. And possibly be taken more seriously than the crowd that lost their minds when Jodie was announced.

I would love to see like, Annie Lennox as the Doctor. Maybe Tilda Swinton. Like an older, more sedate and weirdly androgynous Doctor.

[nostalgia]

But RTD fears and despises older women!

[profrobert]

That is absolutely true -- just look at the DW mothers he created: Jackie Tyler, slag; Francine Jones, traitor; Sylvia Noble, heinous bitch. RTD has serious mommy issues.

[nostalgia]

WE DONT SLAGSHAME JACKIE HERE

[profrobert]

I'm not shaming Jackie -- heck, horny women in their 40s were once my target audience; I adored them. I'm shaming RTD for lazy writing lazy of stereotypical mother-in-law characters to be laughed at or condemned.

[nostalgia]

I always wondered why he hated mothers, it was a noticable trend.

[eve11]

Continuing in the trend of fairy tales with evil stepmothers.

I think everyone's characterization at the very start of the series was a bit one-dimensional (remember Mickey too?). Jackie included, but I think she evolved as a character. There was the Father's Day episode, she was actually very funny in the Christmas episode, and she actually got to travel in the TARDIS (mistakenly, but still!) in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday.

Also I think that seeing the Ten and Jackie dynamic might also have informed them that Donna would do well as a companion too, perhaps.

[nostalgia]

I don't think it was that I think he just... doesnt like older women for some weird reason? Older meaning "above about 30" :(

Jackie was amazing

[eve11]

Right, "older" is not *actually* that old. Like, Jackie was 40 in Army of Ghosts!

Reminds me of Evelyn Smythe. I love her in the audios, but she is supposed to be 55 and the actress' mannerisms and the like are more like someone 75. My mom was about 55 the same time I was first listening to her audios (10-odd years ago), and I kept thinking that the character was way more like my grandmother than my mom.

[nostalgia]

No way am I the same age as my hero Jackie Tyler!

[eve11]

Indeed! Though I'm going by her own self-report ("I'm forty!") so she might be a tinch older.

God, Season 1 is so old though, that Rose was a teenager when it started but she was born in the 80s.

[nostalgia]

Rose must be over 30 by now D:

[eve11]

Well in that case, RTD won't want to bring her back! She's too old now!

[nostalgia]

alas for her!

[elisi]

Slowly catching up on the discourse and (having read his book) in his head they are 'Funny Mums'. Whether he has moved on from that (or had someone point it out to him since) remains to be seen.

Although it's nice to see people who remember what it was like back in the day, and what the issues were. (I saw a youtube video called 'Return of the King' about the announcement, I kid you not.)

I mean, I look forward to what he'll do (at least it won't be boring), but it's with reservations, shall we say. ;)

[eve11]

Don't forget Harriet Jones.

And Donna. Well, at the start, and (sadly) the end, she was kind of shallow.

Maybe nowadays he is older and wiser and able to push his boundaries/comfort area. An older female doctor would definitely do that.

[profrobert]

Neither Harriet nor Donna were mothers, though. Donna was a fully developed character, who had a difficult side to her, but who was also revealed to be brave and loyal. Likewise, Harriet was a complex character redeemed in The Stolen Earth. I have no complaint about three-dimensional characters with flaws -- that's Good Storytelling 101. I also don't have a big problem with, for example, the Racnoss Empress, a genocidal mother, because a lot of the baddies are just supposed to be two-dimensional, though of course multi-layered baddies like the Master or Davros are much more interesting. But I remember thinking as I made my way through the RTD back catalog (I started on DW just before the Moffat era), can't you write *one* decent, kind, smart, loving mom?

[eve11]

I suppose if the offspring characters had better relationships with their moms, it would make it harder for them to swan off with the Doctor.