#honestly loving ncuti’s doctor more and more

[ghostlyboiii]

THE DOCTOR CAN SING

[aenslem]

I was thinking about the entire new new who season and the final to understand what Im feeling about it, but the conclusion is I felt nothing, and it's disappointing, not the show, I mean I watched it and it was fine, but the fact that it did not make me feel things it supposed to make me feel, like you're killing kate stewart

and Im thinking about what I should make myself for a dinner, Im supposed to hold onto chair and stop breathing the moment she dies, I love her, and yet... Im making myself mac and cheese

[abumblebeeat221b]

okay, i'm sorry, but Boom was easily the best episode we've had in a long time. loved the interlocking logic, loved the AI stuff, the jabs against capitalism and war, the love of a father saving the day.

it's just a really compelling story. especially with the world looking the way it does. imho sci-fi is best when it is commenting on society and Boom absolutely delivered.

[tuttle-did-it]

Doctor Who The Star Beast initial thoughts (spoilers)

what are they all reaching for? Can someone explain this to me?

I need to chew on this episode a little more because I don't know how I feel about some of it.

I haven't properly watched Doctor Who since Catherine Tate left. I've seen a bit of things in between, but frankly hated most of what I saw. The only reason I'm watching now is because I LOVE Catherine Tate and David Tennant together. They're my favourite pair, and I couldn't not watch if they were finally going to resolve the horrific ending for Catherine Tate.

The good:

Catherine Tate and David Tennant still have electrifying chemistry. Catherine Tate was an absolute delight, as she always was on this show.

Yasmin Finney, as in Heartstoppers, is adorable and charming and fun to watch.

Shaun was a good character, and I liked the Noble-Temple family (except her mum, still hate her mum)

I loved the trans acceptance and I LOVVVED how much Rose's parents treasured and truly loved her. I LOVE ally-Donna, and I wish every queer child out there had parents who were that amazing.

The conversations regarding queerness- it's okay for cis-hets to be uncomfortable and awkward with how to deal with us, it's good for them to talk about it and learn, as long as they still show us respect. It was fine to show that this was new to the cis-hets and they loved Rose so much, they were learning to adapt. That's nice, and it's okay to show that this is hard for cis-hets at first, sometimes.

The conversations regarding pronouns treated as a normal consideration.

Related to this, in this anti-queer era, where trans children can now be taken away from their parents (in America), and the anti-queer/anti-trans attitudes all over (especially US and Britain), I admire that RTD was like 'I'm going to have a beautiful Black trans girl on Doctor Who and I'm going to give her loving and supportive parents, and fuck you if you disagree.' He knew this would get him a lot of backlash, and still did it anyway. And I appreciate and admire that.

The new Tardis interior is a nice kiss to previous iterations whilst a nice spin on things

Donna's horrific ending with Ten was one of the things I have always disliked about NuWho. I HATED what they did to her. It would have been better to kill her than mind-rape her, I hated that ending. It was so cruel. Although I didn't like the way they did it, I'm so happy that's finally resolved and she can go back to being the absolutely brilliant character she became at the end of her run.

The reference to the Tom Baker era with the barrister's wig in Tennant's jacket. It was silly but fun.

Rose's cute little stuffed toys were fun, but the moment I saw the one that looked like an Adipose, I knew the energy had been passed down to her and that would be enough for Donna to survive. Not so much sign-posting as it was sign-blockading- just announcing the entire plot immediately.

The character of Rose, even if I don't like her name, was still an interesting, intelligent, creative and thoughtful young Black trans woman, and that is always a delight to see. After 60 years, there is finally a queer Black person in the Who universe and I really love that. Regardless of whether I think this is a good episode or not, RTD intentionally and knowingly bringing a Black trans woman into the world was really, really lovely.

I also loved seeing a Black father who was loving, supportive and kind- Black fathers are very often shown in entertainment to be harsh, abusive, distant, etc to their families, so I like that we got to see a great Black father who clearly loved his kid and his wife.

The bad:

The annoying monologue beginning- show, don't tell. That was just silly to watch. Especially with just HOW dramatic they were trying to make it.

The Marvel-looking opening, I'm cool with the big budget, but it did feel disconcerting and took away some of the charm of the shoe-string budget DW.

Why, WHY does every story with a trans youth have to show bullying? No, let's talk about this. Because it feels like every story that does include a trans/non-binary/queer character, there is inevitably the scenes that show us suffering and being mistreated. What if, just once, there was a trans youth who was happy, and all their friends were cool with it, and they weren't mistreated because they were different? What if we didn't have monsters tormenting a queer child? We are more than our suffering. And we are story-worthy despite the many scenes of torment. It's almost 2024. Let's try to have at least one queer character in something that is not mistreated because of their identity. Just for fun, let's try it.

The deadnaming of Rose. That added nothing, it was unnecessary, her name is Rose, and no one needed to acknowledge any name that she was previously known by. Please, writers out there: if you're going to have a non-binary or trans character who has found their new identity, understand that we do NOT need to know what their previous name is. Especially if it is going to be used to hurt that character through abuse.

The plot was very, very basic. I know it's a children's show, I know it's trying to reset some things, I know it's going to be very 1-2-3 but does it have to be SO 1-2-3? Couldn't we throw in a spin? 1-1.75-2.35-3? Just a little less basic? I knew everything that was going to happen within just the few minutes.

RTD has an obsession with linking everything back to everything. I never really cared for Billy Piper's Rose, and never really cared for the obsession Ten in particular had for Rose. So I don't see the need for the name, it just feels unnecessary and an attempt to link things back to previous people and events. It's not necessary. We can love Donna's daughter without her being called Rose. I know that's RTD's thing, but I don't really love it.

Donna's mum. She's exhausting. I know that's the point, but I just don't really care for her. The story would have moved faster and been more enjoyable without her, for me.

The pacing of the entire episode was a mess. Everything was drawn out and over-explained until the third act, which was put into hyperspeed with nonsense explanations.

The weird creation of bullet-proof shields from the sonic screwdriver? I know it's a trope that is just used to get out of every scenario, but it just felt a bit silly. I preferred when the sonic screwdriver is used for practical things like 'resonating concrete,' but not absurd things like creating a shield. If he can create bullet-proof shields with that sonic screwdriver, then there's never any danger for him if he has enemies near- just draw a shield. It's stupid, and immediately takes away all drama and energy.

The Doctor just randomly telling this UNIT stranger all of his woes and secrets and thoughts and worries- again, show, don't tell. None of this needs to be said. And it certainly doesn't need to be said in a hyper-dramatised way. To a random stranger he doesn't know. Even someone like me, who hasn't seen the show in many, many years, will catch up without the monologues.

Because the pacing was a mess, the third act was a mess-- they had to fly through the whole 'Donna will die' stuff, and the 'but she and Rose still have the energy inside them and need to get rid of it' and that was definitely a weak part of the story.

Just 'let it go.' What? 'It's a shame you're not a woman anymore, 'cos she would have understood.' What? What does this even mean? This whole resolution made absolutely no sense.

I'm struggling to understand why the meta-crisis energy was never activated in Rose previously? Why she didn't get a letter home from school when she was glowing? Why when the kids were tormenting her on a playground she didn't accidentally nuke them all with all that power? Why did Donna have to be activated before it activated Rose? That didn't make any sense. Again, not integral, but just another little annoyance.

Rose's cute little stuffed toys were fun, but the moment I saw the one that looked like an Adipose, I knew the energy had been passed down to Rose and that would be enough for Donna to survive.

Also, how did Donna know that he'd regenerated back into Tennant? He never tells her. He also doesn't tell her he was a woman before. Arguably, it could be the energy telling her, but that energy hasn't come in contact with him for 15 years so why would it read him and his past and instantly tell Donna everything? And if that had been the case, Rose should have known who The Doctor was when she met him. Again, not crucial, just another annoyance that wasn't cleared up.

the second we see the cup of coffee, we all know exactly what's going to happen. Couldn't they have thought of a better way to keep Donna in the Tardis?

Donna finally gets to re-evolve, and the first thing you have her do, the first thing? Is to destroy his new console. Seriously?

Tennant's energy was a bit off. Not sure why, yet- I felt he was playing it just a little too much. It felt performative. The first moment it didn't feel that way was when he and Donna were in the Tardis for the first time.

RIP Bernard Cribbins. 🥺 You would have made this episode much better.

Things I'm chewing on

I appreciate that RTD tried to show a beautiful, strong, intelligent Black trans woman with a supportive and loving Black father (Black fathers are very often shown as abusive or absent, so that's really lovely, thanks RTD). So I'm thinking a lot about that, how Rose was represented both on her own and with her family, etc. That's beautiful, and lovely. And all too rare.

I might be struggling with how Rose's gender identity was part of the plot. Particularly, Rose's comment, 'I'm finally me.' I'm trying to work out what that meant. If she wasn't aware that the meta-crisis energy was in her, what, exactly, was stopping her from being her? She was already recognised by her friends and her family as Rose, as 'she.' So... what was that energy doing to her inside to make her say that? Is that why she was feeling lonely and different? Because that's not really made clear.

It also felt a bit like they were saying that Rose was nonbinary and trans because of the meta-crisis energy that had been passed down from Donna. That the energy had changed her somehow, and made her different. So, are they saying she was only trans and non-binary because of the energy inside her? If that's the case, are they inadvertently saying that Rose is not actually trans, and that now that the energy is gone, she knows her true identity? Are they saying trans and non-binary isn't something she was born with? That it's something that can be done to someone, without their knowledge or consent? And that she suffered unnecessarily because this energy made her believe she's trans and non-binary? Would she have been trans and non-binary had the energy never been passed down to her? I'm not really clear on what their message here with all of that was. I think it was poorly written, and thus not very clear. I need time to think on it to try to understand what they were trying to say with all of this.

I am looking forward to Ncuti Gatwa joining-- having two queer Black actors in the tardis would be really lovely (if Rose ends up on the Tardis), and I hope they do that just to piss off the cis-het anti-'woke' crowd.

That said, I wonder if it was fair to Gatwa to bring arguably the most popular NuWho Doctor back just before him. The racist 'fans' are already complaining because you dared to have a transgender and non-binary Black woman on the show. They're probably not too happy about having a queer Black actor stepping into the Tardis, either. By bringing the fan-favourite Tennant back for the 60th anniversary and then taking him away again, I wonder if those 'anti-woke' fans might rally even more against Gatwa, complaining that 'we could have had Tennant again.' Obviously those idiots will find anything to complain about, so fuck them. I hope that people embrace Gatwa with open arms. I haven't enjoyed DW for a very long time, but I'm certainly willing to give him a shot, as I do like him. I'm looking forward to seeing at least the first few episodes with him before deciding whether to continue with it or not.

[captaincleverusernamehere]

Just started watching Sex Education as like An Event with some friends so that we could watch Ncuti Gatwa in action before his dw season starts but like omg I love this show. Turns out I’m much more immune to secondhand embarrassment than I used to be so I’m about to watch just. All of it. Right now.

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

I think I did it again

I made you believe we're more than just friends

Oh baby

It might seem like a crush

But it doesn’t mean that I’m serious

Sooooo here are my other thoughts about who Rogue is because I think about him a normal amount. Again, I haven’t read a lot of theories, it’s probably nothing new, just want to get it out of my head. I had this on my very popular three follower ig account before, but overworked it a bit. [Warning: even more meandering, I can’t keep up a straight thought to save my life, I’m sorry]

I know we all love our honest baby blue eyes not a lying bone in his body Rogue, but:

He is a bounty hunter after all, and kind of ruthless (using an incinerator when he has a big cool dangerous gun? Really?) and he could be much older than he looks to a human, and I don’t think you can have a long life of that kind if you don’t lie and cheat and use all kinds of tricks. I do think he’s generally honest (saves him the trouble of remembering lies anyway), and he’s emotionally open, but that’s not all he is. He kills people. If he was serious about pushing the button on his ship, maybe even with a smile. He’s not - that - innocent.

It’s been bugging me that the Doctor's saving throw of the psychic paper wasn't that convincing actually. So he had a proud little Timelord speech and scanned a few faces more, but Rogue was already dealing with cosplayers who went through several faces in one evening. Why does it still work?

The "new boss" Rogue mentions is for sure the same one the Meep was talking about. The Meep already said they were going to be interested in a two-hearted individual, so by now there's a bounty out for the Doctor, and it would be a big one. Which is of course what Rogue keeps an eye out for.

But Rogue doesn’t know that the man he trapped has two hearts, and the Doctor has got a brand new face (the same one the deep scan showed despite him being shapeshifter, but without the wig - shouldn’t it show a bird? Does Rogue already know that whatever he is, at least he’s not a Chuldur? Does he just enjoy making him scramble for something to save himself after the stunt with Kylie? Does he want to see if the Doctor has another cute little note for him? In any case, he has a certain glee… which is on the other hand pretty dark if he still thought he had a Chuldur and fully intended to incinerate him alive). So what makes him take the finger off the trigger?

David Tennant's face, of course.

Which is the face the Meep knew, and therefore the face every bounty hunter is looking for. And if there's one thing the Doctor can't do, then it's to stop talking, so he keeps confirming: Lord of Time. Gallifrey. Rogue remembers that name correctly later, maybe that’s a thing people with a working brain do, maybe he already knew it. In any case, instead of a lame old Chuldur, Rogue accidentally caught the biggest price of his professional life.

“Wow.”

Of course he immediately goes along with the Doctor. He's not happy about letting the Chuldur live, but he's got something bigger in front of him, so he lets it slide.

The connection they have over their loss is real for sure, I don’t think he’s pretending here. The Doctor did his best to stir up the pain earlier. Rogue isn't opposed to a kiss, but it's also hard to believe he's completely smitten already just like that. Yes, I know it’s Ncuti I’m talking about. He would also realise that the TARDIS is the perfect vessel to have a quick escape with. So what does he give the Doctor at the next opportune moment? A tracking device.

[that part is maybe a bit weak, because him wearing the ring on his right ring finger seems like a sentimental thing, which could mean he either improvised drama in the ballroom with whatever he had, or he was honestly showing his feelings. But if you give someone a tracker hidden in plain sight, your target might feel more of an obligation to wear it if you romantically pulled it off your own finger, and it’s the obvious place to keep it until useful? Third possibility, it’s a tracker and sentimental, because he and his partner used those to be able to find each other in a crisis…]

It just doesn’t look much like an ornamental ring to me. Sure it has a caduceus sort of shape, but it looks so technical. More like the kind of thing a bounty hunter creates while tinkering in his messy spaceship to help him catch his targets.

I also think he gets caught up in the adventure and he’s genuinely excited to have someone again to do all the planning and running and hiding with. He’s grinning like a kid when they both storm out of the house, and he doesn’t seem to worry too much about the trap holding only one. That would be the kind of improvising he loves and he’s got someone clever to do it with him. He’s enjoying himself. That and the dance must be tugging on him in favour of the Doctor.

All in all though he hasn't fully decided what to do. He could run away with the Doctor, have a new person to travel with, a new life, go on adventures, and have fun. Or he could convince the Doctor to get back into his ship later. Because he likes what he does: delivering targets and collecting the money. He’s suspiciously good at using a passionate kiss to steal a trigger, why should we believe he didn’t use flirting as a strategy before?

He's got the tracker on the Doctor, they are about to catch the Chuldur too, but now the gut punch happens, and the Doctor loses another friend - or is about to, at least.

I think it’s only then, when he sees that the Doctor will rather put the whole world in danger than sacrifice his friend (as Rogue might do too, if he had the chance again) that he makes his decision - that the Doctor is worth it, that the brave friend he travels with is worth it (and he already confessed to the Doctor earlier that he does not see much sense in his own life, I need to hug him). That's the deciding factor he's looking for when he asks the Doctor, because it's ultimately the Doctor deciding for him (look at the intensity in his face when he waits for the answer). Maybe he used kissing as a trick before, but he’s tearing up here for a moment. He can relate completely to the Doctor’s pain. And he keeps looking at the Doctor’s lips for two seconds before he holds up the stolen trigger. That connection is real even though he was tricking the Doctor, and nothing will change my mind.

And maybe there's a chance this madman in his ‘dimensionally transcendental’ machine can still save him after all. I’m certain Rogue got that line very intentionally, to show he understands that the TARDIS is perfectly capable of picking him up in a different dimension, as long as she knows where to look. The ring will end up being the solution. So it’s not a complete sacrifice, but a high stakes gamble whether the Doctor is clever enough to figure it out, whether he can really move the TARDIS to his dimension, and whether he cares enough to try [getting emotional thinking that he might not have seen it as gambling on something of high value, somebody hug him please].

In short: Rogue was attaching himself to the Doctor because there’s a lot of money to be made, but gets freight trained by the full force of Ncuti’s charisma and reconsiders important life choices. Would happen to any of us.

“But I thought the bounty hunter dropped into the void in the end”

“Well baby, I went down and got him for you”

[spongek-squidge]

Top 5 emo characters (in my opinion)

Not in any order & not serious at all, all emo in the sense they wear dark clothes and have issues

1. Batman - the og emo no one has quite reached the same levels as ‘I work alone’ father of 7 and bestie to at least 4 people (also he’s a furry but that’s unrelated)

2. Sebastian SDV - He’s so emo, he sits outside in the rain lighting up a cigarette and staring off over the lake, that’s peak goth right there but I’m gonna call it emo for the purposes of this silly chart. Daddy issues? He has more than most, bio daddy issues AND step daddy issues

3. The Doctor - They are so emo after the time war don’t event try me. Especially Peter, he gives so many speeches about war and how ‘no one can ever know what I’ve gone through’ he’s so emo. Ncuti’s doctors the first non-emo one we’ve had since the reboot and even then. Honestly might be the least emo overall the first doctor was such an edgelord for no reason, he’s literally a baby by his races standards xD

4. Asriel Dreemurr - Alright hear me out! Asriel Dreemurr himself was like a baby so he wasn’t very emo… but his boss battle form? Asriel Dreemurr the god of dreams or whatever the fuck he said??? God it’s so emo is such a 10 year old way, I love it. He came back from the dead for a whole 5 minutes and spent it being edgy about Chara it’s so emo in the only way a child knows how to be. I love it.

Ok i was gonna only stick to one person per fandom, but…

5. Jason Todd - god was he raised by Batman. He’s so edgy and emo about his death. I mean it’s justified he literally died but he bring it up SO OFTEN it’s so silly. Went from the perfect golden child of the family who could do no wrong to the delinquent who’s hardened by the world and doesn’t feel anyhting but rage!!! It’s so emo in the teenager way hahahah, he’s so batmans son

[penny-anna]

ok some actual thoughts on The Giggle now i've had a few days to digest it:

STUFF I LIKED:

'spice up your life' dance sequence absolutely mesmerising. could not look away from the screen. incredible.

melanie bush!! ahhh this was so sweet. the reunion scene was pitch perfect. after Power of the Doctor (which was also pitch perfect just in a different way) really nice to see an old companion w a more upbeat relationship w the Doctor. also liked that they explained how she got back to earth that was fun.

into all the creepy puppet stuff. esp into the guy who straight up got turned into a puppet that was fucked.

liked the new persona for the Toymaker!! was a little :S at the german accent in the trailers but in context it was like OH he's doing this on purpose. okay. should've given RTD more credit that was a smart move.

DELIGHTED to see so much Ncuti Gatwa. honestly that was where the episode really picked up for me. loved seeing him run around his his underwear. love that he's got a jukebox in his TARDIS.

in isolation loved the idea of the incoming & outgoing doctors getting to meet face to face and hug it out i thought that was a really nice new spin on a regen scene <3

also in isolation, have long been of the opionion that Tennant's exit was needlessly bleak so i was looking forward to seeing him get a more upbeat regen and it did deliver on that for sure ljdlkghfdlskg

STUFF I LIKED LESS:

i already talked about & reblogged various posts about the bigen so i will not belabour the point too much dfjkghdflk. mixed feelings suffice to say.

i THINK this regen was like. kind of Sensitive as there was always going to be a demographic of people who'd be consciously or unconsciously unwilling to accept Gatwa as the new Doctor and as a result i think in this specific instance that ending was a. bad way to go. it leaves wriggle room for people who don't want to accept Gatwa for racist reasons. I'm 100% down for Gatwa and as i was watching it i could feel myself struggling to connect w him bcos Tennant was still there. iunno reserving full judgement on this for now bcos hopefully the christmas special will smooth things over a bit.

much as i loved seeing her not sure why Mel was there? like this is barely a complaint bcos im down to just have classic companions show up but. why was Mel there

other people have already said this but honestly it did not fully deliver on the Toymaker. feel like he's a character w a HUGE amount of potential and he didn't uh. do all that much.

also this is VERY PETTY but given that the Toymaker has appeared a bunch in the EU it would have been nice to like leave it more ambiguous how many times they've met previously? if that makes sense? i wouldn't expect the show to canonise any EU content but they didn't have to go out of their way to say that the Doctor and the Toymaker have only met once previously.

as i have implied previously not a fan of how UNIT is being portrayed. would like to see them treated more ambivalently tbph.

in conclusion:

had a good time!!

all in all think this was the weakest of the 3 specials but it did have a hard job to do wrapping everything up. however did provide a lot of fun stuff to Chew on. ah well.

[bluemink5822]

Doctor Who's 15th Doctor (16th? 14th...? I'm counting Jo Martin but not David Tennant twice so 15th.) in brown-tinted pencil on mixed media paper.

Another request from my sibling of a fandom I'm not in but know much about anyways.

Daily portrait #8 and only BIPOC portrait #2, which is rather a shame, honestly. I do love the white/white-passing characters that I've drawn, but to me at least, drawing and painting people of darker skin tones is way more fun, and there's an actual reason for this. The highlights on people's skin will always be the same light shade, regardless of skin tone, simply due to how reflection works, but with people of darker skin tones, the middle values and shadows are allowed to be a little darker and a little richer, and you don't have to dance around putting actual value into the skin. BBC Sherlock, for example, is a great character, but absolutely pasty, and trying to get his skin an accurate shade was absolute hell. More importantly, I just love diversifying my artwork since every field, including art, seems lacking in representation, and it seems Doctor Who also picked up on this sentiment with Ncuti Gatwa, their first BIPOC Doctor here to stay.

Taking free requests for any live-action character you want to see in a monochromatic medium.

Other Doctors:

15

Fugitive

13

[soapywankenopy]

Ok so I'm not really sure how to put it into words but have the past few episodes of Doctor Who actually felt like doctor who to you guys? Because I've liked them, but they haven't really felt like Doctor Who to me. I don't even know like what I'm referring to and idk. It could just be that the visuals look so crisp and the effects are good? Idk like it feels like watching a marvel movie visually. But I think I also had this problem with most of 13's run too. Like the last time that I really felt Doctor Who was Doctor Whoing was with 12. Wild Blue Yonder felt more Doctor Whoey but it still wasn't 100%.

Do not misunderstand me, I really like the new episodes (most of them, i didn't care for the devil's chord) and I am starting to come around on Ruby and I've been behind Ncuti all the way.

The aesthetics have been great, and especially Dot and Bubble had that fun pastel aesthetic (which i loved how it contrasted with the darker elements). It reminded me vaguely of Smile from 2016 in 12's run, which is one of my favorite episodes.

The Church on Ruby Road was good and silly, but it was not my favorite.

Space Babies I enjoyed quite a lot.

The Devil's Chord is easily my least favorite so far. Mostly because I was a big Beatles fan growing up, and it was historically inaccurate in annoying ways, and I didn't like the actors they got for Paul and John (mostly Paul bc I honestly couldn't care less about John, although it did bug me so much that they gave him the stereotypical round glasses when he would've been wearing the square, Buddy Holly-esque glasses that he wore in the beginning of their careers). The villain was tiresome and annoying to me and felt like they should've been a bigger deal than a random villain in the third episode (i get that they're leading to something).

Boom felt the most Doctor Who to me. Idk what in particular about it. Liked it.

I really really liked 73 Yards. It's probably my favorite of 15's run so far.

Dot and Bubble was a very intriguing episode, and I generally enjoyed it, and it made me root for the bugs at the end (the fact that Miss Girl betrayed Ricky September was devastating to me and then when the racism rug was pulled out from under us I was like UGH OF COURSE). Glad they all died this time ♡♡ xx

I'm really excited for what comes next and I think most of the episodes have been good. I think eventually I'll get over the "this doesn't feel like Doctor Who to me" feeling. I love Ncuti and I like Millie.

I miss the 12th doctor every day of my life tho

[starleska]

OKAY NOW IT'S AIRED I CAN SHARE SOME INCOHERENT FIFTEEN-CENTRIC RAMBLINGS ABOUT THE NEW EPISODE

spoilers for the Doctor Who episode Boom! 👀🔥

Ncuti Gatwa you absolute LEGEND oh my godddd????? can we TALK about the range of emotion this man managed to show while standing in one place for almost an entire episode?! the tears running down his cheeks, the trembling, the determination, the self-soothing to keep his adrenaline down...it was all so amazingly acted. honestly Fifteen has quickly jumped up to one of my favourite Doctor incarnations but ohhhh this cemented it 😳😳😳 i think most intriguing were those little pockets of rage, the clenched-jaw, 'i could say something much worse but i am holding myself back' moments. that is what i love in a Doctor (looking at my favourites - Six and Eleven - it's no surprise 🙈) and i am delighted to see it in Fifteen, who so far has been deliriously sweet and charming and fluffy. yesssss let's give our favourite Time Lord a touch of that trademark anger 😉 just, oooooh. every Doctor has some level of cockiness, arrogance, superiority, but the ways in which each incarnation shows it makes for hugely differing personalities...and these little moments of nastiness (the 'do you get-get-get it?' and 'faith gyal' to Mundy) have killed me dead. after The Church on Ruby Road, Space Babies and The Devil's Chord i would never have expected that Fifteen could be a scathing incarnation...but i'm loving it. more please 😳💖

[carcharodontosaurus-enthusiast]

Assorted thoughts on Doctor Who's re(?)

revival

love that even with Disney Money™, Doctor Who's CGI is still janky as fuck - one of the few things keeping the vibe of "seven people in a shed with a shakey camera and a boom mic" together for me in the new series. The increase in Disney Money™ still feels a bit wrong for me. I liked the more low-budget episodes focused that forced the team to use what little resources were available to them creatively.

I'm still incredibly annoyed about the fact that the show airs first at midnight in the UK. It feels wrong. They still show it on BBC One during its normal Saturday time slot, but it's not the same

I think that there have been more queer people than straight people in the new series which is honestly fucking iconic.

Ncuti Gatwa is a very good fit for the doctor, and it's very interesting to see his depth and range.

Some of the writing in the new series feels... janky? is not quite the right word for it. But it's a marked improvement over the Chibnall Era. That being said... RTD still does NOT know how to write endings. Both of the new series' stories thus far have been set up very well, have progressed very well, and then have fallen a little flat towards the end.

This season is clearly meant to be weird and fourth-wall-break-y, so I'm curious to see exactly what RTD does with the mess of lore that is the Timeless Child.

Ruby Sunday is northern representation with a proper manc accent we love to see it. One of the few good parts of Jodie's tenure in the role was the northern companions imo, but I am biased. On the topic of Ruby, we all know something is up with her, but she's easily the strangest character that has not made a fourth-wall break so far. Everyone else who has something weird going on is clearly in the know.

Speaking of, this series is clearly trying to do something with all the fourth-wall breaks and the S-TRIAD stuff, but we'll see as to if it pays off or not. I really hope it does.

Looking forward to watching the doctor get obliterated by a landmine, that's a great concept for an episode actually.

[ploppythespaceship]

Doctor Who Series 14 / Season 1 Review

Man, it feels good to be enjoying Doctor Who again. I haven't been keeping up with the show in years, but I caught up to see Tennant's return leading into Ncuti's run and I am so glad I did. This season is far from perfect, but it gets a lot of little things right and is consistently fun to watch, even if a lot of the details fall apart.

What I Liked

Ncuti Gatwa is simply phenomenal. He settles into the role so quickly and so easily, bringing such a fresh energy to the character. I love how distinct he feels, too -- when you're playing the fifteenth iteration of a character, it can be hard to find a new spin on things, but he's done it. He's also a fantastic actor, getting to show an incredibly wide range in just a few short episodes. I truly think he'll be remembered as one of the best Doctors.

Millie Gibson is also very good as Ruby, and her dynamic with the Doctor is a lot of fun. I appreciate having another Doctor/companion relationship that isn't romantic. They're just best friends, and it's very cute.

The show looks great. It's very clear that they've had a budget increase -- the costumes, effects, etc. are noticeably improved since RTD's first run.

Murray Gold's return as the composer is extremely welcome. His stuff isn't quite as bombastic as before (or maybe the episodes just have better sound mixing), but keeps a lot of the same leitmotifs. The result is a more subtle score that perfectly suits each scene.

Mel is so cool now. She was one of my least favorite classic companions, so seeing her worked into these storylines and feel more compelling is an unexpected delight.

What I Didn't Like

Ultimately, I think the season is just too short. Council of Geeks has an excellent YouTube video on this -- because there are only eight episodes, and a lot of them are going for bigger ideas and weirder premises, it feels like we don't really settle into a status quo.

The Doctor and Ruby's relationship also isn't as developed as much as I would like. If you pay close attention to the dialogue, there's actually a six month gap between "Space Babies" and "The Devil's Chord" -- we could have used another episode or two in that time period to really flesh out the beginnings of their friendship better. Instead the show jumps straight to them being best friends, without really showing us why that is.

I don't think the mystery box format of this season really worked. The mysteries were built up to such an extent that no answer could really be satisfying, and the finale really almost entirely on the big reveals that ultimately didn't amount to much. Ruby in particular feels like an underbaked companion, and I hope she gets more time to get properly developed.

Individual Episode Thoughts

Space Babies — This is easily the weakest episode of the season. It's not bad by any means, but it does remind me of some of the sillier episodes of RTD's first run. It felt like we were speedrunning the companion introduction, when things could have been slowed down and spread across a few episodes to feel more natural. The baby VFX also do not work and fall very firmly into uncanny valley territory.

The Devil's Chord — This one makes very little sense, but is entirely saved by Jinkx Monsoon being so iconic as Maestro. If you just go along for the ride, it's a ton of fun.

Boom — This episode is proof that Steven Moffat truly is at his best when he's writing self-contained stories under someone else's guidance. I don't think it's as iconic as Moffat's previous stories, and I felt like Ncuti was getting a lot of dialogue that better suited Matt Smith, but the entire concept was interesting and the execution was solid. Also, Ncuti acted his ass off without even being able to move.

73 Yards — Honestly, I'm mixed on this one. The setup is fantastic and eerie, and I enjoy the exploration of Ruby's character, solo from the Doctor. I like her experiencing this inexplicable thing, and deciding to find purpose in it to help others. But the story does fall apart for me at the end when it doesn't explain anything. I don't need every single thing handed to me, I understand the value of leaving things to the imagination, but the fact that the episode's last impression is "wait what?" does leave a bit of a sour taste. That being said, I do respect how weird and different this episode is, and how much discussion it prompted afterward.

Dot and Bubble — The trailers looked like a Black Mirror ripoff, and I was prepared for a shallow "social media bad" episode. Instead, we got something far more nuanced about the dangers of trapping yourself in a bubble of like-minded people and refusing to ever look beyond it. And the ending reveal that it's a society of white supremacists is so, so well-handled, because all the clues were there for you. If you're like me and didn't piece it together until the very end, it really challenges you to ask yourself why you didn't notice sooner. Also, another episode where Ncuti acts his ass off. My personal favorite episode of the season.

Rogue — Another with mixed feelings. Rogue himself is tons of fun, and I enjoy his dynamic with the Doctor, even if parts of it are pretty rushed. I really hope he comes back. The episode plot itself is serviceable but nothing special. My main complaint is the severe lack of Ruby. Her relationship with the Doctor doesn't feel sufficiently established, so the emotional beats don't really land.

The Legend of Ruby Sunday — This was an underwhelming finale, unfortunately. The first part barely even qualifies as an episode. It launches right into starting to answer the season's mysteries, but does so in an uncompelling and heavy-handed way. The Sutekh reveal is pretty epic in isolation, but...

Empire of Death — The Sutekh reveal doesn't really lead to anything satisfying. He doesn't have the presence of Toymaker or Maestro, he's just a CGI dog monster. This second part finally answers some questions, some of which are vaguely interesting, but it's happening in a plot so dull and so dry that I just can't bring myself to care. The episode is also just confusing? The plot points don't seem to flow naturally together, like multiple stories were smashed together with little rhyme or reason. The resolution is some of the most nonsensical nonsense that Doctor Who has ever come up with. Then we get to the reveal of Ruby's mother, which is so forced and it becomes clear in retrospect that things were added to seem more mysterious than they really were. And capping it all off is the Doctor's farewell to Ruby, which falls flat because, as I've said, their relationship is rather undercooked. It really does end the season on a downer, which is a shame because so many of the preceding episodes were pretty good.

[sol1loqu1st]

idk like. i am the eighties who guy, i'm no stranger to the most unserious bullshit known to man and honestly? i HAVE had fun with this season. i have genuinely enjoyed myself. i love fifteen, i love ruby, we've had some really entertaining concepts and villains and despite my complaining i AM interested to see where all of this is headed

AND i think it's bullshit. i think the tennant specials--while I didn't personally like them--had a lot more thought and effort put into them by the writing team, while so far (boom excepted) all of gatwa's episodes have felt like they're being lazily cranked out to fill a quota. i think, intentional or not, gatwa was set up to fail the second rtd decided to bring back fan favorite david tennant for no goddamn reason, and the fact that he started gatwa's first season with THREE mediocre stories in a row, whose better moments were just worse versions of what he already wrote, is another nail in the coffin. it happened to jodie whittaker and now it's happening to ncuti gatwa and it is NOT a coincidence that they are the first woman to play the doctor and the first black man to play the doctor respectively.

i genuinely expect the writing to pick up after a season or two but i suspect the fandom will not stick around to see it happen. gatwa deserves better than this.

[clockworkouroboros]

Now that the 60th anniversary specials are all out, I guess I'm gonna share my thoughts about them all, because it's the internet or whatever. Overall, I do think there's a lot of good in these specials. The fan service is absolutely there, but it's been done in a different way than some of the past special episodes, and it really acknowledges I think the many different kinds of Doctor Who fans, from the people who just watch the revived series (or even just bits and pieces of the revived series) to fans of Classic Who and even those of us crazy enough to get into the extended universe. I mean, featuring Beep the Meep and the Toymaker as your two Big Villains is both ridiculous and speaks to the nature of Doctor Who fans that we were all so excited for them. So. A lot of really nice things about these specials all around.

In The Star Beast, we got a really nice blend of nostalgia for the original Tennant era with new, interesting characters and a healthy amount of fan service towards Beep the Meep's half a dozen fans. Between those three things and RTD's obvious love letter to and heartfelt (if perhaps a little clunky) support of queer (and especially trans) people, it's easy to look past the episode's flaws; namely, that it's very light on the plot, and the handwavey bullshit that retcons Donna losing her memories completely undercuts the emotional heavy hitting of Donna losing her memories. You mean it was *always* that easy? Fuck right off.

Wild Blue Yonder really brought in, for me, more than a hint of Wilderness Years Who. The bottle episode slightly claustrophobic feel, the terrifying unexplainable Not-Things, the goddamn salt—I thought this story was the strongest in the set. I think RTD, like many writers, has a tendency to try and make things bigger and bigger and bigger, when really, his best stories tend to be like this. Consider Midnight as another example—brilliant, terrifying, and also very similar to some of the more experimental stories of the wilderness years. If I had a complaint about this story, it's that I would want it to play into more of the sense of sensory deprivation that stories like Midnight and Scherzo did. But honestly, that's a nitpick. It infuriates me a little bit—RTD likes to go in for some spectacle, as seen in The Star Beast and especially in The Giggle (and also the s3 and s4 finales, and also DT's regeneration story, and also and also and also)—but some of his best work is done when he doesn't allow himself the spectacle and instead really pares everything down to the barest of bare bones.

And, honestly? The Giggle was a bit of a letdown. There are so many ways you could bring the Toymaker into Who again, and he ended up sort of being an afterthought. Neil Patrick Harris was obviously having a grand old time in the role, which is great—so why not give him a little more to chew on? I thought there was a lot that was great—Donna and the Doctor in the Toymaker's domain, as an example. I think, building off of Wild Blue Yonder, coming back again and again to just how much the Doctor has been through and how that has affected them, was also a really nice thing to include, and something that I wish had been brought up more during Thirteen's run, because she really went through it.

But that also brings me to my biggest issue with The Giggle, and that is the way David Tennant's Doctor (Fourteen? TenThree? TenTeen?) has been written in a way that still is overshadowing Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor. This was honestly one of my biggest concerns as soon as Tennant's return was announced, and one of RTD's past issues in Who has been his chronic overshadowing of characters of color in favor of a white fan favorite. (Martha and Mickey both get this treatment.) The regeneration scene pissed me off in a way that I didn't think Doctor Who could piss me off—generally speaking, I'm pretty level-headed about most Doctor Who things because this show is ridiculous enough that you sort of have to just roll with it. I already adore Ncuti's Doctor (from his extremely limited amount of screentime), but I can't help but feel that he's been cheated out of a proper introduction because he had to share his limited screentime with David Tennant, the most popular Doctor to ever exist in the show's 60-year history. Likewise, because of this ridiculous Journey's End 2: This Time It's Stupider nonsense, I'm genuinely concerned RTD will randomly bring DT back for some fun multi-Doctor fanwanks, and sort of write all over the first Doctor of color's era with David Tennant. Not that that will happen (I certainly hope not, anyway), but the fact that he's leaving it open as an option already has me worried.

So. Yeah. Maybe I'm being harsher on RTD than I would otherwise be, because the nostalgia for having him back is so ridiculously high that it's driving me a little insane, or maybe these are genuine issues. I'm not upset that he's back, but these specials—and especially The Giggle—left me extremely wary that we're going to get the same exact issues that he brought to Who in his first run. Overall it'll be fine, and again, I did get a lot of enjoyment out of these specials! There's a lot about RTD's writing that is objectively both good and consistent. That doesn't mean I'm not holding my breath going forward.

[orionsangel86]

I find it so infinitely funny that the Doctor Who creators were like "well its inevitable that David Tennant will return again at some point so lets just make it easy for him" and wrote it so that 14 gets to go on and live a happy ending but still keep his own Tardis and have adventures if he wants to whilst knowing that The Doctor is still out there saving the universe like... part of me is so mad about it for being such an obvious way to keep David Tennant around because they know he's the golden nugget that boosts the ratings everytime (sorry but he is) but the other part of me is that David Tennant obsessed bitch who squeels with joy everytime he is on my screen and the thought that he may just come back to Doctor Who every now and again fills me with so much joy and has healed some of my trauma from having to say goodbye to him 15 years ago.

At the same time this is ridiculous and as wonderful as Ncuti was (he was seriously brilliant) there will be a subsection of Who fans just itching to see what David Tennant is up to and that makes me feel a bit sad for Ncuti and his Doctor.

I also feel a bit robbed of the emotional moment I was fully anticipating throughout the specials. I was fully expecting to have to watch DT regenerate again and relive some of the pain and sadness I felt saying goodbye to him 15 years ago, and honestly I was sort of looking forward to that because its rare that a show makes me feel that way about a character and DTs Doctor is one of very few that I do feel that way about. Part of me really WANTED to see that regeneration and feel those feelings again.

Also funny that there are now TWO former Doctors with David Tennants face out in the universe somewhere separate from The Doctor. The one with Donna, and the one with Rose. I always figured if DT returned he would play TenTwo. I was hoping at some point to see what became of them but this new canon makes that seem less likely idk.

So I am very split on my feelings over the 60th specials. I love them and am annoyed at the same time. I have already seen grumblings about David Tennant favouritism and well, yeah, I agree, its super blatant, but I also totally am on the side of David Tennant as he's the only Doctor I've ever loved and will continue to love so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I dunno. It was joyful. It was so joyful. I shouldnt complain. It means we could potentially see more of DT in DW again in the future and I will never complain about that. But I can recognise that this is an attempt to revise the popularity of a show that had long since passed its golden age by bringing back its golden boy and there is something a bit cheap and disengenuous about that if you pick at it too much.

So I'll leave it there. I loved it regardless. I am looking forward to 15s era and hope it can recapture my attention the way 11, 12, and 13 never could. But we shall see.