#I also really don't like Tennant for reasons I don't feel like explaining here even if he's a very attractive Phileas Fogg.

[t0rschlusspan1k]

I certainly wasn't looking for and endless sequence of pictures, gifs and fanart of David Tennant browsing the tag Around the World in 80 Days. Do I have to specify it's a novel? This is... so irritating.

[thelittlecoughsomewhere]

I intend no harm to the original poster but I disagree fundamentally.

That's one of the main reason why I hated the bigeneration so much. Not a single actor who portrayed the Doctor deserves special treatment! NOT EVER! Tennant is not the Doctor. No one is. Tennant is not the best actor to ever play the doctor nor is he the biggest fan to ever play the doctor.  (These things can't be objectively measured, for crying out loud.) And also if there was someone to exist who was the best Doctor (again they can't), no they shouldn't receive special treatment that sets successors up to fail.

Also, if I see one more person say it was a childhood dream of Tennant to play the doctor and that makes him special: Peter Capaldi was also a Doctor who fan since his childhood, and Peter was older than David when he got the role, so he was longer a fan than David and therefore a bigger fan! (This is meant sarcastically, in case you can't tell)

You can have your favourite Doctor. You can say this one is my Doctor. But no one is the Doctor.

Tennant doesn't deserve special treatment. Fourteen (or as I like to call him TenThree) should have regenerated with his friends on his side this time, and finally accepted regeneration: "It's time. Here we go again. Allons-y". That would have been beautiful. That would have given closure to the loneliness and grief of Ten. And on a Doylian level Tennant would have passed on the torch to Gatwa.

But no, the Tennant doctor doesn't cease to exist and Gatwa becomes another version of the Doctor. Gatwa isn't allowed to be a classical regeneration of the Doctor and I am so so so bitter about it.

I say this and I am a fan of Ten. He's probably my favourite Doctor. (I always say Ten is my favourite Doctor and Nine is my Doctor (don't ask me to explain the difference)). I'm also a massive fan of the RTD era(which is my favourite era). I haven't even watched all of Moffat's era. I only skimmed through the Chibnall episodes. I haven't watched Classic Who.

So imagine, just for a moment, what this special treatment RTD grants Tennant must feel like for Doctor Who fans who prefer the other eras of the show. I am angry on their behalf.

I like Tennant, he is a good actor and probably a nice dude but come on man. I must admit I have lost a little bit of respect for him for allowing the bigeneration to happen. He could have said "No, I don't deserve this special treatment and I won't come back for it, Russel. Give me a normal regeneration and let me pass on the torch."

And omg RTD, I really can't stand this man any more. He also comes across so smug when he talks about the bigeneration, it's infuriating.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Doctor Who: The Giggle (2023 Special 3)

Well... I'm having some feelings!

 Cons:

Last week's special was about as perfect an episode as I could have imagined, so some of my complaints about this one are just in how it compares with the last one. I thought the tension and threat to Donna and the Doctor was so expertly portrayed in the last episode, that in this one, when once again there's a beat where the bad guy separates them to subject them to separate psychological tortures, it felt like a less-good retread of what we saw last time.

In general, I think this episode might have been served better with an entirely original bad guy instead of a callback to old-school Doctor Who. Maybe that's not very in keeping with the spirit of things, I know this is a show with a long history and it's fun to do callbacks, but the episode had to sit there and explain why we should be afraid of the Toymaker, and that felt like it undercut the threat. I shouldn't need to have exposition explain to me that this bad guy is super bad, more bad than most of the badness we have to face. I should just be able to feel that. And I did, with the concept of the creepy doll with the arpeggio laugh. It's almost like the episode would have worked without a puppet master behind it at all?

The moment where I was especially like... "huh" was when the Doctor, fairly early on in the episode, is like "what am I without all the gadgets and confidence..." it felt so unearned, since we don't have this longstanding history with him and the Toymaker to understand why he's so shaken by this.

I liked the little recap that the Toymaker did of the things that the Doctor has been through since the last time he was with Donna, but I was also pretty irritated by it for a couple reasons. One, you can't just cut Rory out and only mention Amy, that's fuckin' rude. And two, the emphasis of the pattern here, that the Doctor meets a young woman and then something tragic happens to her and he's forced to move on, just made me angry at Moffat all over again? It felt pointed and strange that the Thirteenth Doctor's companions, all of whom went on to live full and happy lives after knowing her, don't get mentioned. I get why the Toymaker wouldn't mention them, because he's making a point about all the loss the Doctor has suffered. But why don't they get a mention later on? Why doesn't the Doctor tell Donna: not every goodbye has been an abjectly miserable one, some of them have been a gentler sort of sadness? It felt strange not to give everyone their due, if you're going to mention so many of the companions in a row like that.

I don't mind the bi-generation thing, I have a lot of positive things to say about our new Doctor and his first moments on screen, but I think being able to duplicate the TARDIS felt a little... cheap to me. Kind of a "have your cake and eat it too" situation. I know it would have been repetitive to have a David Tennant Doctor retire with a companion after losing all his Doctor-ness, like what happened with TenToo, but something a little more similar to that would have made more sense? Like, maybe he's still the Doctor but he doesn't have his time machine, and that's sad, but there's the potential that future Doctors might come by and visit. As it is, even in the little epilogue moment we see that he's romping around having adventures again, and it undercuts the retirement idea just a lil bit.

I don't know where to put this so I guess it's going in "cons", but Mel being in the story didn't really seem to add anything? I liked the one moment where Donna was like "you never talk about her, is that what you do, you just keep moving on and on and on and never talking about the past?" but it felt like it could have been accomplished without bringing in an old companion. Again, this is just a modern-Who-watcher's perspective, I'm sure it was a lot of fun for people who had familiarity with that character. I didn't have a problem with her being there precisely, it just didn't really add a ton!

Pros:

I really liked the basic conceit of the threat in this one. Basically an ear worm that gets into all of humanity that makes them belligerent, makes them believe that their opinions are the truth and that nobody else's input matters. This is a little on the nose, not the most complex of messages, but this is a family show, and I think the lesson is an apt one. The internet allows people to be anonymous, and also allows for immediate, reactive connection all across the world. There are huge gifts that this offers, but also huge problems. I really liked the moment when Kate Stewart is taken over by the effect briefly and ends up being really ableist to Shirley, basically accusing her of faking her disability because "I've seen her stand up before!!" It's so important and so rare to see a character on TV who is using a mobility aid but isn't fully paralyzed; that's true of most people using mobility aids, actually, and there's a fundamental misunderstanding about this. When under the effects of the giggle, Kate's mind takes her to the most uncharitable possible explanation, turning something that she probably just doesn't understand or hasn't been taught, into fear and mistrust. That's a really important thing for people to be on the lookout for!

On that note, it was fun to see Shirley again, and Kate, and just be there with the UNIT team. I love any time that the Doctor has to grapple with his... organizational authority, if that makes sense? When he's on Earth, he has this position of command with UNIT that he would never truly choose for himself but that he is in fact very good at, in a way that's almost sinister. That beat where he gives them permission to take down a foreign satellite is chilling, because the Doctor is in fact a literal alien from another planet who has authority over a group of humans who have the capacity to cause international incidents if they want or need to. I felt like this episode did a lot with a little, in honoring the gravity of that.

I would also be remiss not to point out that Neil Patrick Harris did seem to be having a TON of fun as the Toymaker and despite my problems thematically with this character's inclusion, I still had a blast watching him. The imagery of him with the marionette strings, the creepy puppets that Donna had to fight, the repeated echo of "oh, well that's alright then," when the Doctor insisted that his companions were not technically dead, or that their deaths were bearable for some reason... I loved all of that. Also the petulance of the ending, his insistence on trying to wiggle around his own rules... all very fun and over the top. The creepy puppets in general just added a ton to this episode.

So... here's the thing. I've seen the bi-generation aspect, the fact that Ncuti Gatwa's regeneration went down the way it did, getting a lot of negative feedback from people. I want to leave room for that very legitimate negative feedback. I totally see the argument. This regeneration into the Fifteenth Doctor breaks the pattern in all sorts of ways. He has to share the screen with the Doctor he's supposed to be taking over from, he has to spend his first few minutes as the character not as the sole focus. He doesn't get the traditional alone-on-screen celebration/freak-out as he tries to figure out who he's going to be next. I could definitely see someone feeling really irritated that this new Doctor's first major character beat is comforting the other Doctor on screen, instead of getting to take the stage on his own, so to speak.

I get it, I do. I even said above that I wish the two Doctors thing had been a little less of a copout, with Fourteen getting to keep the TARDIS and all that. But, that being said... I want to offer a counterargument. Yes, Gatwa's first scenes as the Doctor break the tradition of other regenerations, but they break the traditions in such a way that we actually get to know him a little bit at the end of the previous Doctor's goodbye? This is smart for two reasons. One, we already did the big sad sendoff of David Tennant's Doctor and I can still hear his sad little "I don't wanna go" echoing in my heart when I go to sleep at night, thank you so much. So we don't actually need to watch this man's face turn into someone else's again. Breaking the pattern was a welcome idea. And two...

This man is about to be the Doctor for hopefully a fair few seasons of television, and let me tell you, I'm already SO excited about it. I love his energy, I love the way he calls people pet names, I love his confidence and I love his compassion. This episode isn't for him, it's for the Fourteenth Doctor. Same way every other regeneration episode has been about saying goodbye to the current iteration and giving a teasing cameo of the new. Right? So the fact that we get to see what we do of Fifteen, and the one big character moment we're given for him is him turning to Fourteen, turning to himself, and pulling him into a big, comforting hug?

Do you understand what a sigh of relief I let out? After Capaldi and Whittaker and then Tennant (Round 2), we've had a lot of very angry and/or traumatized Doctors on our screen. This character has been through the wringer lately, and I know that will always be a part of his journey, absolutely. But this exuberance, this joy, and most importantly, this compassion for the self, is such a glorious, much-needed element in the story right now. We have this neat trick where because the Doctor is going to retire with Donna now, his grieving and processing will get to happen. We honor the need for this person to get some rest and try and figure out next steps. And at the same time, we now know that we have a Doctor who is not filled with self-loathing, who can honor his grief but also continue on and have adventures and meet new people and continue on the legacy of this show. It's a wonderful introduction to Gatwa's version of the Doctor. It gives me so much more to go on than the typical one minute long cameo we get at the end of a regeneration episode.

So like, I get the complaint, I understand that maybe it feels like it's undercutting Ncuti Gatwa's big introductory moment. But honestly, I think in breaking the mold and doing something totally different, I'm going to be remembering his first few minutes as the Doctor WAY more than I remember anybody else's. I don't remember the first things that Matt Smith's or Peter Capaldi's Doctors got up to, honestly. But here, we have our new Doctor immediately connecting with/playing off of characters we're already emotionally invested in. It works remarkably well and felt like a much more solid bridge between the current iteration and the next! I get sad when one version of the Doctor leaves and a new one shows up, because even if I like the new iteration, it feels like a show has ended and a new one has started. That's both a good and a bad thing when it comes to the legacy and longevity of this show. This felt more like the Eccleston to Tennant regeneration, where the show's continuity carried straight on in a seamless line. And I for one was a fan of it!

It's objectively very funny that Russell T. Davies is so in love with his own characters that he gets too sad about separating them and therefore hands out David Tennants to them just to make it all okay... like, Rose has TenToo and now Donna gets to keep the Doctor, ostensibly for the rest of her life? She gets the thing that no companion before her has ever gotten, to stay the dear and constant friend of the Doctor and not have to look back wistfully on the years of adventure that are now over? Donna, Donna, the companion who got THE most tragic ending of any companion in all of contemporary Doctor Who, and she gets to have this? I don't care if it's cheesy, and despite my earlier complaints that maybe it's a little too neat and tidy, I'm honestly floating on cloud nine about it over here. What a beautiful story.

That final scene of the Doctor surrounded by family, getting to be a part of Donna's family, getting to rest, sneaking his niece off on fun (safe) adventures, it's so healing. This is a fun show, about wacky adventures, but the trauma of the Doctor's nature, his immortality, the constant fluctuations in his identity and personality while his memory carries on, it adds a dark element that can never be totally erased. So to give us the continuation of the fun adventures with our brand new Doctor, who we'll all be excited to meet more fully in the Christmas Special, while also saying: hey, some heavy stuff has gone down. It's okay to rest. To process. And to show the Doctor, not bored or restless or dissatisfied with a quieter life, but happy? Genuinely, no holds barred, happy, with his best friend in the whole world?

Anyway I'm getting weepy just thinking about it.

This wasn't my favorite of the three specials, that has to be last week's astonishing outing. But as a farewell for David Tennant and Donna, and an intro for our Fifteenth Doctor, I'm honestly overwhelmingly pleased! Sometimes it's okay to give the characters on your family sci-fi adventure show a soft epilogue. They've suffered so much, and they deserve it.

8/10

[itsjustlux]

50% Crowley theory 50% Crowley Angst

Let's talk Crowley and religious trauma because I just got done rewatching s2, this time with the company of my mother (the absolute icon that she is).

Side note, this is 50% theory and 50% character speculation, so enjoy this behemoth of a post.

After we finished e6, my mom and I had a lovely little discussion about the roles of both the Metronome (yes, she actually called him this) and God. Much of the discussion revolved around wether or not God was a malicious/cruel force in the Good Omens universe. While my mom had made the argument that yes, God in this universe is not a sympathetic character, I ended up arguing the opposite.

And I can easily see how she would come to that conclusion. Heaven, after all, has been shown to be pretty morally dubious. But that's just the thing. Heaven and God are two completely separate entities. And that's a really, really, really important distinction (especially for Crowley's character). Crowley hates Heaven, yeah, but does he hate God? I would make the case that he doesn't. In fact, I think he might actually still love Her.

In s1 he literally talks to God about his fall. Obviously, he doesn't get any sort of reply, but he doesn't seem angry here in the slightest. He's just sad. Sad and literally begging God not to destroy humanity. That does not seem like hate to me. And if he resented God for his Fall, why would he still be talking with Her? Why would he be trying to reason with Her? But let's keep going. In season 2 when he sees God talking to Job, I don't get any anger here either. Unlike the scene in s1, I don't get sadness either. I get wonder, and just a hint of envy. He wants to be able to ask these big questions, to speak with God even if he doesn't get a proper answer. That means something to him.

But why would he still love God if She cast him out? Well, I actually don't think She was the one to do it. I think it was the Metronome (yes, I'm calling him that until the end of time). I mean, Crowley recognizes him immediately and Metronome over here recognizes him right back. And even more that that, the Metronome was the one at Gabriel's trial, not God herself. If the trial of the Supreme Archangel Gabriel doesn't warrant the appearance of God, why would Crowley's Fall? Crowley got in trouble for asking God too many questions. And what happened when Aziraphale tried asking questions in s1? He spoke with the Metronome. It's pretty reasonable to assume the same thing happened to Crowley.

So what does this do for his character? Well, it gives some additional context to his conversation with Aziraphale, especially that second "tell me you didn't". Because I get some genuine fear from David Tennant's performance in that moment, and this would definitely explain why. It also gives him some delicious internal conflict and adds to his whole wanting-to-be-a-good-person-but-that-puts-him-in-immortal-danger thing. Because loving God would be like, the ultimate demon no-no. Loving in general is pretty unacceptable, but loving God???? And that would just make his isolation among the demons that much more significant. Of course he became so set on helping Aziraphale. Aziraphale was (is?) all he had (has?) in so many ways, this is just another one of them. And adding onto all of that, knowing that a God, his God, would sit there and allow him to feel all these immensely painful feelings and then not even finding it in himself to be hateful or angry at Her...Just hateful of the systems build around Her 'ineffable plan'...There's something deeply compelling and deeply human about that, which I find very relatable.

[grimsshelves]

Doctor Who, but I've only seen edits and gifts of the show

The protagonist is the Doctor. They are a Time Lord, an alien specie with the coolest name ever

They have time abilities.

There is a time travelling machine called the Tardis. It is a blue British phone box for some reason.

It is bigger on the inside.

The Doctor doesn't die they just become another person. They keep their previous memories even if it is not obvious.

Ninth has anger issues

Apparently, there was a trouple going on with Rose, Jack Harness, and Ninth

The Doctor joinks young woman to be their- emotional support human? Their morality compass? Angst inducer?

Tenth would like to be ginger

He isnt. He is very much David Tennant coded

Tenth falls in love with Rose. Platonic or romantic I don't know.

Rose dies, not really, but in practice, it's like she died. Cause she is prisoner of an alternate dimension forever

The Doctor goes silly girl and genocidal goose

Insert Time Lord Victorious Memory Reboot edits

The Doctor meets Donna

Instant Platonic soul mates for life

Space man and Earth girl forever

The Waters of Mars are a masterpiece (I've never watched it)

Midnight is super scary

Don't blink

Oh yeah, the Daleks, looser robots

There is a trampoline woman

The Master clearly has feelings for the Doctor

I'm starting to think those are not unrequited

They have something going on okay?

The Master tries to be the British Prime Minister. I wish he would.

There is a family with an insufferable boy with dark hair. The Doctor punishes them severely, including a little girl, but I was told it was completely deserved.

The doctor goes on a little Farewell tour which is not something worrying concerning their mental health nonono.

Regeneration Feels like dying, why is this show so angsty Rusell T Davis

The Doctor regenerates alone after crying out "I don't wanna go". Drinks your angst juice everyone.

Eleventh is here, and I know nothing of him

He is silly goofy goose but in a non-genocidal way this time

He must die cause Pierre Capaldi arrives and rocks

He has cool sunglasses and plays guitar.

Twelth spends a million years in solitary confinement. All so that Clara doesn't die. This seems excessive.

How the doctor is even slightly sane is a mystery to me

Twelth delivers heartwretching lines like "Did you think I care so little that betraying me would make a difference?"

The Master is back. They have Tension. Mostly sexual

Thirteen goes to space jail. I know nothing of their season but I love them.

There is a Childless story line that the majority of the fandom hates. I think it explains their regeneration ability. It also severs the identification the Doctor has with the Time Lords as his people. Cause he got tortured to give the Time Lords immortality or something.

Fourteenth is Tennant the Return.

He can articulates his feelings now.

Donna has her curse lifted

TRANS RIGHTS

There is a lot of jumping around and crying

Donna melts on the floor, but it's fine cause it's not the real one

The Toy Maker is a bad silly goose, but he sure can dance.

Fourteenth has an happy-ever-after ending, thanks for your mercy russel

Fifteen is hot and wonderful.

Spoiler alert Fifteen is actually not okay

[johannesviii]

So uh

The Power of the Doctor surely was one of the episodes of all time

Where do I even fucking start

Let's cut to the chase, narratively it was all over the place in a "let's throw everything at the wall to see what sticks" kind of way. The thing is, it was fun. It made no sense but it was still enjoyable. Why was the Master cosplaying Rasputin? Why 1916? What was the point of the Dalek traitor? Why the paintings? Who cares, I'm having the time of my life watching all this shit 7,5/10

Why Tegan and Ace, for that matter? Because it's fun to see them again, that's why. I'll take it. Tegan was especially great. Also Ace wasn't a CEO so bonus points for that

Why was Graham even here

Why the train

Why the Qurunx

Why the uh everything about the Daleks and the Cybermen and no-one getting betrayed or in-fighting in the process

Why do I care

Dan's arc started with him having no money and ends with him having no house. That's kinda bleak for a comic relief companion

I don't know how to feel about Tennant being the Doctor again? It's weird and interesting and I can't wait to see what they do with this, and I find it supremely ironic that the Doctor who was the most terrified of death is the one who will get to die THREE TIMES in this series - but at the same time, I really wanted to see Ncuti Gatwa and I feel like he's been robbed of his thunder, kind of? I don't know, it feels weird

Considering Chibnall's focus isn't usually on character arcs I wasn't expecting Thirteen's ending to have any kind of dramatic irony, but having very low expectations for this specific era was a blessing, because one of the things I desesperately wanted to see was this control freak of a Doctor, who never explains anything to her friends, being forced to rely entirely on her friends, and also completely losing control. And that's exactly what I got here. Yes. Very good

The Qurunx assuming the form of a child because it wants to be protected. The parallels with the Timeless Child. Exquisite

And that bit where she's hit by a deadly energy blast and she's carried back to the TARDIS like this?? Complete inversion of the trope of the Doctor carrying a companion and I loved it

Oh god look at Yaz. Yeah that's right, you can only hold her while she's literally dying! That's the only time she'll be in your arms! And she's DYING!! And then you have to say goodbye!! I'm feeling normal about this

I've already seen quite a few Thasmin fans screaming bloody murder and to be honest I get it but like. I'm also digging how tragic this is

I wasn't asking for a kiss but like. When they were on the TARDIS' roof. I wanted one of them to put her head on the other's shoulder. Was that too much to ask

Pretty fitting that Yaz joins the circle of Recovering Doctor Addicts at the end after that and oh god don't get me started

The empty chair for Sarah Jane?? Don't talk to me

Is Ian even aware that regeneration exists or was he just like "wait so the Doctor is trans? Good for her"

WHAT WAS THE "POWER" OF THE DOCTOR WAS IS TO LEAVE A SHIT TON OF TRAUMATISED PEOPLE IN THEIR WAKE BECAUSE IF THAT'S WHAT THAT MEANT I'M HOWLING

Here's the Doctor's power! You all need therapy now!!

"How many Doctors are there" GOOD QUESTION NOBODY KNOWS

SPEAKING OF WHICH

FIVE SIX SEVEN AND EIGHT ON SCREEN. I FUCKING SCREAMED

BANTER BETWEEN SEVEN AND EIGHT ABOUT CLOTHES?? HELLO??? THE SURREAL LANDSCAPE?? ADRIC'S DEATH BEING MENTIONED IN NEW WHO?? HELLO????

Why is Ace apologizing to Seven when he should be apologizing to HER and why am I even asking. Who cares that was so cool

Eight on screen EIGHT ON S C R E E N how am I supposed to feel NORMAL ABOUT THIS I WANT TO SCREAM I WANT TO CRY

OH SPEAKING OF WANTING TO CRY

TIME TO GET EMOTIONAL AND CRINGE ON MAIN ABOUT A FUCKING IDIOT WHO SPENT HALF THE EPISODE COSPLAYING RASPUTIN FOR NO REASON AT ALL AND MENTIONING HE USED TO BE A FURRY IN THE EIGHTIES

I turned off Anon asks so if any of you want to send me a new round of hate regarding the fact I love that Master which apparently makes me a fake fan or a Missy hater or something, you'll have to use your actual usernames, cowards. You know who you are

"Johannes shut up about that Master's supposed self-loathing that's not in the text that's just your headcanon to make him more interesting" OH YEAH YEAH CLEARLY I'M MAKING THINGS UP UH CLEARLY THIS IS NOT IN THE TEXT UH

THIS MF'S ENTIRE BULLSHIT PLAN WAS JUST AN EXCUSE TO STOP BEING HIMSELF FOR A MINUTE AND BECOME THE DOCTOR HI HELLO YES I'M FEELING NORMAL ABOUT THIS

"DON'T LET ME GO BACK TO BEING ME"

"DON'T LET ME GO BACK TO BEING ME"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCK FUCK FUCK

I'm not making sense right now I'm sorry

"IF I CAN'T BE THE DOCTOR NEITHER CAN YOU" I want to scream I want to punch a fucking wall why are you like this why. are you. like THIS

The feelings are indescribable and I can't put them into words right now and I will have to make some art to make them go away, I don't make the rules I don't even have a choice at this point

TLDR this episode was a badly written narrative mess and full of fanwank and Doctor Who is terrible and I love Doctor Who with all my heart and I feel more alive than ever right now