#inthedayglo

[aslanscompass]

Doctor Who s11 analysis: (2/11) Companions

The choice to give Thirteen three companions is also a departure from most of the show’s history. The original TARDIS team consisted of the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and teachers Ian and Barbara. This pattern continued into series 2, with future traveler Vicki replacing Susan after the former’s departure.

The second Doctor also had three companions in his first season, with Ben and Polly joined by Scottish highlander Jamie. The next three-companion team wasn’t until series 18, when Adric was joined by Nyssa and Tegan for the Fourth Doctor’s swansong.

Five inherited this crew and kept a three-person team for most of his tenure, replacing Adric with Turlough.  After Nyssa’s departure in Terminus (s20), the rest of the Classic series had only one or two companions at a time.  

The use of reoccurring characters in the revival era complicates definitions; Jack joined Rose and Mickey; River frequently met Amy and Rory. But neither of those characters were full-time TARDIS traveler in the way we have in season 11.

The number of companions can also overshadow the backgrounds. Both Ian and Barbara and Ben and Polly joined as a unit, with identical historical backgrounds and at the same time. In both cases, however, the third companion was alien (Susan) or historical (Jamie.)  The Fifth Doctor’s crew was even more varied, with two aliens (from different planets) and one contemporary human.  The show has never had three companions from the same era at once.*

Graham, Ryan, and Yaz differ in age, ethnicity, gender, and marital status. But their common origins remove the potential for many differences of opinion. For example, in one of the Second Doctor’s episodes, Victoria (originally from 1866) wonders if her dress is too short. 

“I shouldn’t think so. Look at Jamie’s,” the Doctor says, pointing to the Scottsman’s (from 1746) kilt. 

This ties into my larger complaint that “audience identification figure” has been taken too literally in the revival series, but that’s another, longer story. Different perspectives are one of the benefits to having companions, whether it’s knowledge of alien life, use of violence, or skills. 

On an individual level,  each of Thirteen’s companions reminds me of other revival characters. That’s hardly surprising, but it also proves distracting. Graham has superficial similarities to Wilf; both are older gentlemen, widowed, with a grandchild traveling with the Doctor.  Yaz and Ryan are typical RTD-era companions: nineteen years old with starter jobs, living at home. While that’s a perfectly serviceable way to start the season, I never really saw any additional traits develop.  

The narrative does provide a rational for including all three in the Doctor’s first adventure--Graham is Ryan’s step-granddad, while Yaz and Ryan were in school together. And with Yaz as low man on the totem pole at work, it makes sense that she’d be sent out to deal with weird incidents.  Even all of them joining the Doctor (initially) makes sense; it was an accident. It’s not the first time the Doctor’s had stowaways or kidnapped people; not even the first time in the revival era. 

But even kidnap victims eventually need to make a choice. Given comments at the beginning of Rosa and Arachnids in the UK,  it’s likely that Arachnids marked the first landing in contemporary England since the season premiere. Even their statements at the end of the episode are a bit....flat....

DOCTOR: Proper goodbye this time. RYAN: About that. GRAHAM: Do we have to? You see, Doc, the thing about grief is it needs time. I don't want to sit around my house waiting for it to go away, cos that house is full of Grace and it makes it so much harder. But, er, being with you and seeing all these things out there, it really helps. DOCTOR: What about you? RYAN: Do you really think I want to go back to working in that warehouse? No way. DOCTOR: Yaz, you wanted to come home. YASMIN: I know. I love my family, but they also drive me completely insane. I want more. More of the universe. More time with you. You're like the best person I've ever met.

Compare that to Rose’s decision 

DOCTOR: What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere. ROSE: Is it always this dangerous? DOCTOR: Yeah. ROSE: Yeah, I can't. I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so...  DOCTOR leaves and re-materializes seconds later: By the way, did I mention it also travels in time? ROSE: Thanks. MICKEY: Thanks for what? ROSE: Exactly.  

Donna:

(Runaway Bride):

DOCTOR: Come with me DONNA: No. DOCTOR: Okay. DONNA: I can't. DOCTOR: No, that's fine. DONNA: No, but really. Everything we did today. Do you live your life like that? DOCTOR: Not all the time. DONNA: I think you do. And I couldn't. DOCTOR: But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful. DONNA: And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning and they were dying, and you were stood there like, I don't know, a stranger. And then you made it snow. I mean, you scare me to death.

vs 

(Partners in Crime)

DONNA: That's my car! That is like destiny. And I've been ready for this. I packed ages ago, just in case. Because I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather. He goes anywhere. I've gotta be prepared. DOCTOR: You've got a, a hatbox. DONNA: Planet of the Hats, I'm ready. I don't need injections, do I? You know, like when you go to Cambodia. Is there any of that? Because my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and she.... You're not saying much. DOCTOR: No, it's just. It's a funny old life, in the Tardis.

and a few from Moffat’s era

Amy (Eleventh Hour)

AMY: Why me? DOCTOR: Why not? AMY: No, seriously. You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why me? DOCTOR: I don't know. Fun. Do I have to have a reason? AMY: People always have a reason.

Clara (Bells of St. John)

DOCTOR: You know, the thing about a time machine, you can run away all you like and still be home in time for tea, so what do you say? Anywhere. All of time and space, right outside those doors. CLARA: Does this work? DOCTOR: Eh? CLARA: Is this actually what you do? Do you just crook your finger and people just jump in your snog box and fly away? DOCTOR: It is not a snog box. CLARA: I'll be the judge of that. DOCTOR: Starting when? CLARA: Come back tomorrow. Ask me again. DOCTOR: Why?

CLARA: Because tomorrow, I might say yes.

Bill (The Pilot)

BILL: Yeah, because I think you're going to wipe my memory. I'm not stupid, you know. That's the trouble with you. You don't think anyone's ever seen a movie. I know what a mind-wipe looks like! 

DOCTOR: I have no choice. I'm here for a reason. I am in disguise. I have promises to keep. No one can know about me. BILL: This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my life. The only exciting thing! DOCTOR: I'm sorry. BILL: Okay, let me remember just for a week. Just a week. Okay, well, just for tonight. Just one night. Come on, let me have some good dreams for once. Okay. Do what you've got to do. But imagine, just imagine how it would feel if someone did this to you. DOCTOR: Get out. BILL: What? DOCTOR: You can keep your memories. Now get out before I change my mind! Don't speak, don't start, just run! Now. Go!  (later...) BILL: What changed your mind? DOCTOR: Time.

Some of those situations involve the companions actively setting terms--Clara, Bill. Even Rose’s decision is active, not passive. Graham, Ryan, and Yaz seem to slid into time travel. It’s fine to have an associate be less enthusiastic-- Mickey, Rory-- but it works best if played off an energetic companion.  If Graham had died, for example, Grace would eagerly join the team; Ryan would feel obligated to come and look after her.  

And with only ten episodes in the season, setting the “decision” moment in episode 4 leaves very little time to establish reactions. That’s only one component in a larger trend across the series. 

*Yes, you could argue that the UNIT era qualifies, depending on one’s definition of companion, but the whole point of that era was that the Doctor was stranded on Earth. 

other posts in this series

[anexperimentallife]

inthedayglo

replied to your post:

“What y’all need to understand about the American “Religious Right”...”

:

A dozen years ago I found this piece to be a useful primer on the fundagelcal mindset, including the whole "end of the world" thing. http://www.pauldavidtuff.com/PDF%20Files/Feeling%20the%20Hate.pdf

I encourage everyone to read this PDF! Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

This is EXACTLY the kind of freaky, scary shit I’ve been talking about. Even includes an example of how the very same evangelical fundies who love to talk about how much they support Israel are anti-Semitic as all hell.

[prydon]

ikolism replied to your post: i can’t get over the fact that, like, the entire...

Well, funny you say that, because a later OrmanBlum book (i.e. Unnatural History—which is, for the record, amazing) deals with the “half-human” thing… and probably clears up some of these inconsistencies. Different EDA writers generally have different opinions on the subject, and sometimes you can tell… but I think, after a point, they come to a similar sort of conclusion, and it’s probably my favourite approach to the whole thing by far.

loll every time i make a post about the edas i get the feeling like “this is probably gonna come up in that unnatural history book that everyone keeps mentioning isn’t it” haha.  i’m definitely looking forward to reading so i can finally Understand

inthedayglo replied to your post: i can’t get over the fact that, like, the entire...

Wow. I was working my way through all of them and had to stop about 10 years ago. Now I want to pick them up again!

you should!!  there’s a lot of great gems in there.  this one (seeing i) is probably my favorite so far.

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Meme:

Tagged by @inthedayglo:

5 things you will find in my bag:

I don’t carry a bag.

5 things you will find in my room (I’m interpreting this as “house” because really):

Bookshelves filled with books from both my and my aide’s lives -- a lot of folklore and history books. My collection includes Shakespeare, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Mother Goose, collections of fairy tales.

homemade plush animals, including a corduroy Winnie the Pooh and a red floral print Kanga and Roo that my aunt’s friend made for her when my eldest cousins were born, and which she (my aunt) passed on to me when I moved into this house.

A handmade wooden bench made by my Great Uncle Don (Who died before I was born), made from a single log.

A Hoyer lift so my aide can get me in and out of bed.

A lazy Susan by the microwave, with my daily snacking/breakfast staples: Potato rolls, peanut butter, cocoa powder, instant coffee, powdered milk, sugar, etc.

5 of my favourite things:

Shakespeare

fairy tales

watching crafting/cooking videos

Making art

writing

5 things I’m currently into:

See Above.

5 things on my to-do list:

Finally finishing my edit of the short story that came out of last year’s NaNoWriMo

Disability History calendar for March

Reinflate my wheelchair cushion

Haircut

shower

If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged.

[stoplookingup]

I was tagged by @inthedayglo, so here goes.

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

a Batz Maru pencil case; prescription sunglasses; a warm hat; a mini Leatherman multi-tool; a retractable tape measure

5 things you will find in my room:

a back scratcher; boxes of old family documents; a few volumes of Valerian and Laureline; a doctor’s office-type scale; a Mylar Spock poster from the 70s

5 of my favorite things:

a foot massage; warm caramel popcorn on the boardwalk; my wedding ring (which is a replacement I had custom made by a friend after I lost the original); my 40-plus-year-old autographed Star Trek convention program; an antique Italian cassone that belonged to my parents.

5 things I’m currently into:

political activism; parenting; snuggling my cat; collecting masks; good Scotch and Irish whisky

5 things on my to-do list:

Read The Farthest Shore (the 3rd Earthsea book); sort through the mountains of papers my parents left behind; a mammogram; learn to blow glass; visit Japan

Tagging @incenseandcookies @caressyouintodarkness @angelfireeast @bluecityrose @sudata7

[pers-books]

I was tagged by @becketted

5 things you will find in my bag:

a book/my Kindle painkillers (ibuprofen & paracetamol) asthma inhaler a bottle of tap water a packet of extra strong mints

5 things you will find in my room:

1 Daisy Johnson Funko POP figure 1 Phil Coulson Funko POP figure a tiny model red Corvette a shelf of Shakespeare books (plays and books about him/the plays) a TARDIS money box

5 of my favourite things:

Cousy reading writing classical music chocolate

5 things I’m currently into:

Cousy Non-fiction books about nature (currently reading Miriam Darlington's Owl Sense) Big Finish audios (especially any that star Nicola Walker) Writing book reviews again (at https://themondayreview.wordpress.com/) Sonequa Martin-Green

5 things on my to-do list:

Finish a book review for tomorrow (it's about half written so far) Finish at least one of the 3 (THREE!) Cousy RomCom Challenge fics I have ongoing My ironing (ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Read some more of (or finish!) The Underwater Ballroom Society anthology for review Stay warm (not easy thanks to the Beast From the East v2. Can't believe this is the third time we've had snow this winter!)

Tagging @lostspook2, @brilliantlyhorrid, @inthedayglo, @jinxedwood and @tayryn

[beccaland]

answer with 5 things u like about yourself then send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers💖💞✨🌸💫💓💕

Thank you for sending this to me, @inthedayglo! What a kind gesture. 5 things I like about myself:1. I try hard to be kind, and often succeed2. I love learning all sorts of things3. I keep promises and confidences4. I'm a good cook5. I'm pretty happy with myself physically. Like, I have chronic health problems that are frustrating sometimes, but to the degree I'm able, I practice healthy habits. I focus on being/becoming able to do the things I want to do physically, rather than on reaching external ideals that I think are generally sort of arbitrary anyway.

[inthedayglo]

New name, and all that

nancynorbeck -> inthedayglo. :)

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

@inthedayglo asked #who is the guy?

John Mulaney...

I’m looking for more of his stuff, now. ‘cause I need a laugh or 13.

this whole thing is way too good to be giffed you need to experience it 

[prydon]

inthedayglo replied to your post: ikolism replied to your post: ...

I think Dreamstone Moon must be the last one I finished… if I can even remember what happened (how important is that, do you think?).

haha if you read it that long ago i can’t blame you; i remember next to nothing from the audios i listened to just 4-5 years ago...there is a bit of a plotline running through longest day-legacy of the daleks-dreamstone moon-seeing i, but to be honest i reckon you could read seeing i without rereading those.  it does a good job of filling you in on what you need to know.

basically all that matters is that you know sam ran away from the doctor to an alien planet because she feels awkward about her feelings for him, and he doesn’t know where she is or why she left and is looking for her :’)

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Pondering: “How did we (the U.S.) get here?”

[Putting the conclusion first, for TL;DR reasons (repeated, in proper prose, below):

The Republican Party is symbiotically bonded with Evangelical Christianity, and, through the vehicle of the GOP, Evangelical Christians are trying to impose Christian religious law across the board;

Evangelical Christianity started its mass infiltration of government during Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign.

Ronald Reagan was the first Republican elected to the presidency since Richard Nixon resigned under threat of impeachment.

The Impeachment proceedings against Nixon, in the Senate and the House, were proof that the checks and balances put in place by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, can actually work.

And (personal opinion, here) I fear the Republicans are trying to make sure the Constitution never works again.]

And I’ll also put this above the line (copied from below):

Therefore: if the Republicans retain control of all branches of government -- especially the House and Senate -- after November 6, this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if 45 tries to revoke presidential term limits. After all, he’s already praised Xi Jinping for doing the same thing. And I don’t have any faith that fellow Republicans would try to stop him.

Vote!!!

(Links to sources and Wikipedia articles on the history embedded in the post below the cut)

As I was getting up, yesterday morning (28 June, 2018), listening to NPR’s reporting on Anthony Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court, I was thinking about the comment I made to @inthedayglo, in this thread:

I haven’t felt this pessimistic about the future since Reagan – and back then, I high key believed the world – or at least, the majority of human civilization – would end in a global thermonuclear war.

…So that’s saying something.

And realizing that, no -- that’s not hyperbole.

Now, when Reagan was first elected, I was sixteen, going on seventeen -- just like the archetypal (if not the actual majority) blogger of Tumblr, today. And just like today’s teens, I was full of angst and passion.  I thought it very likely I, and much of my cohort, would die before we reached the age of our parents.

So, here I was, listening to the news, and puzzling through why the dread I’m feeling now is worse than the dread I was feeling almost 40 years ago. And then, it dawned on me:

Back in the day, our greatest fear was someone starting a nuclear war by accident.

But ever since 45th’s ascension to the White House, I’ve been increasingly convinced the Oligarchs are pushing us to catastrophe on purpose: Denying Climate Change, starting trade wars, alienating our allies, trying to repeal healthcare, repealing Net Neutrality (And passing Article 13 -- it’s all part of the same trend).

What I couldn’t understand is why. Why would you lock yourself inside your house, and then set it on fire?  Undoing Obama’s legacy out of spite could be a mighty motivation. But you can’t exactly enjoy your gloat if you’re dead. What about all the potential grand-babies the old, white, surviving Baby Boomers are wringing their hands over?

And then, two weeks ago, @ok2befat said this in her video response to Jeff Sessions’ and Sarah Sanders’ claim that stealing children from their parents at the border is the Christian thing to do:

"[Evangelical Christians are] in a literal Death Cult. Like, they want the world to end, and everyone to die -- including themselves -- so that Jesus can come back. [. . .] They don't care if the whole thing goes off a cliff.  [. . .] If we were headed for a metaphor cliff, they would be the ones stomping on the gas, 'cause they want to go off the cliff sooner!" (Source: cued to 16:11 in a roughly 18 min. video; cw for swear words)

As she points out, there are more Evangelical Christians in 45′s cabinet than any previous administration.

So... yeah: it’s not just my imagination. They’re doing this on purpose.

But it didn’t start with 45. Evangelical Christians made their first mass entries into politics, through the so-called “Moral Majority,” in Ronald Reagan’s first campaign (and we come back, full circle, to the start of this post). And they’ve been bonded with the Republican Party, and growing in power, ever since. 

...The demise of the Carter administration, and the way Reagan came into power, is an effin�� trip, and probably deserves at least two posts of their own, just for ranting. ...

And Carter was the only Democrat president between Nixon’s demise via the Watergate Hearings and Reagan’s election. 

Jimmy Carter was far from a perfect president, but among the things he did right, were:

Pardoning all Vietnam War draft dodgers

Presiding over the establishment of the Departments of Energy and Education

(And promoting green, renewable, energy -- we got our solar panels for hot water in those years, with a tax break to help pay for them)

And, even though he, himself, is an Evangelical Christian, he respected the separation of Church and State, because he knew he was President to everyone, not just those in his branch of his faith.

And part of me daydreams about an alternative history, and where we would be today, if he’d gotten elected to a second term, and gotten credit for the freeing of the Iran Hostages.

Maybe we’d still have ended up with Nuclear War... ‘Cause he did escalate things with the Soviets in Afghanistan, and started the gears turning that linked Oil and Capitalism with “national security.” But also maybe his policies to encourage solar and wind energy would have taken root, and the Doomsday Clock would still only be counting down to nuclear war, and not nuclear war plus global warming.

But ever since Nixon’s resignation in shame, Republicans had been saying that the Impeachment Hearings ruined our country, and destroyed our democracy, and I’m convinced that they were so willing to link up with the Moral Majority because allies in the churches would help them make sure the Constitution, which brought down one of their own, wouldn’t ever bring down another.

(In other words, if the Republicans retain control of all branches of government -- especially the House and Senate -- after November 6, this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if 45 tries to revoke presidential term limits. After all, he’s already praised Xi Jinping for doing the same thing. And I don’t have any faith that fellow Republicans would try to stop him.)

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Regarding “Southern Democrats“:

@inthedayglo replied to my post:

I could just be excessively tired, but: I follow all this until the very end; not sure what the old Southern Democrats have to do with the rest? Even as a footnote to "20 years ago"?

Well, when the Democratic Party was founded, back in 1820, it was founded as the White Supremacy Party, fully in favor of slavery, and exterminating Native Americans. So Democrats, then, were like Republicans, now. 

That started to change at the start of the 1900s, and the parties pretty much flipped their polarities with F.D.R. and the Great Depression -- except in the South, where even politicians for the Democratic Party continued to run on racist and sexist, and pro-business platforms, up through the 1970s.

So even though the Democrats were the majority party by numbers of seats in the Virginia legislature up until 1998, politically, the Government of Virginia has always been more aligned with right-wing policies all along.

...As the national-level Democratic party moved further left, more Virginia politicians switched their party affiliations, and ever since then, Republicans have been in control.

The party names may have changed, but the same people have been in power -- until this election -- that’s why Danica Roem’s election is such a big deal. And why the Virginia State Board of Elections tried (and failed) to pull this last-minute save to keep Republicans in the majority.

[inthedayglo]

Just so you know

Around this time tomorrow I’m going to be changing the name of this blog to “InTheDayglo.” So, you know... don’t be alarmed, disappointed, confused, or otherwise perplexed. :)

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Thanks for sharing that video -- it’s lovely.

The story of the ugly duckling always bothered me, because the focus was always put on that he was ugly and later became beautiful. 

Same.

And then, I found the original (or at least, an English translation by H. P. Paull [1872]). And the Queer subtext is even deeper and more complex than I twigged, at first. And I realized that everything I thought I knew about the story came from the highly stripped-down, simplified versions retold for really young kids.

And now that I know the complete story, I’m even more disheartened by how few people (@wordswithkittywitch and @inthedayglo excepted) know the subtext is even there, until it’s pointed out.

“The Ugly Duckling” as a Queer/Cripple-Punk metaphor.

(I’d been planning to write this post as a subject for Pride Month since last December, and just now realized how close I am to running out of time.)

“The Ugly Duckling,” by Hans Christian Andersen, is most often interpreted / discussed in popular culture using the Medical Model of Disability.

By that, I mean: the ‘duckling’ is understood to actually be ugly, as a factual, physical, attribute of himself, until he, himself, grows out of that state.  This is almost the exact parallel to the Medical Model of Disability, which frames any disability as being a pure function of the disabled individual’s broken body and/or malfunctioning mind, and therefore the only acceptable response is cure or mitigation of symptoms.

This interpretation of the story is further underlined in Frank Loesser’s musical about H. C. Andersen’s life, where he frames the song “The Ugly Duckling” by having Andersen sing it to a child recovering from illness (someday, this illness will be far behind you, and you’ll be handsome, etc.).

Well, I believe that interpretation is wrong. So I’d like to flip that it around, and point out:

The so-called “ugly” so-called “duckling”earns his happy ending by finding the courage to run away from his abusive community, and by having the endurance to survive a cold winter of isolation until his TRUE community can find him, and affirm his inherent worth.

The hero of the story was never a “duckling” to begin with (he was a cygnet), and his only “ugliness” came from the judgment of authority figures around him.

I bet that if he had “stuck it out” and “remained loyal” to the adult birds around him in the farm yard (because they’re family, and they sacrificed so much to raise him, etc.), it would not (as the famous anti-bullying campaign insists) have simply “Gotten Better.” He would have just been abused as an adult for being an “Ugly Drake”:

“His neck is too long!”

“His feathers have no color!”

“He doesn’t quack right!”

“He’s a Freakish Giant!”

Etc.

Because concepts of ugliness (like concepts of race, gender, and disability) are social constructs, and are neither fixed nor universal.

So if you’re stuck in a place right now that’s making you feel ugly – whether that’s because you’re being misgendered, or it’s unsafe for you to admit who you love, or are stuck in an inaccessible living/learning environment – take heart.

Know that there people in the world who can see you as beautiful as you truly are. And I hope a pathway opens for you to find them, someday. Someday soon.

<3

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

if they make her more motherly than the other incarnations were fatherly, I think I shall scream. Especially if the disabled character is the one who gets most of it.

Absolutely! Part of my anxiety is over the question of

“Which is worse: No representation, or bad representation?”

I actually liked this video that Vox uploaded, yesterday, about another first about having a woman Doctor -- a woman lead superhero who’s allowed to have a sense of humor -- assuming, that is, that the writers continue to play with that trait of the Doctors. It’s a video that assumes a good portion of viewers are not actually fans, and don’t know much about the show, and I liked the way it pulled out quotes from the very beginning (though the fact that a full third of the thumb icon clicks were “dislikes” got me down):

Also: please see the correction to this post (pointed out by @geeneelee and @inthedayglo), here. I’m embarrassed that I forgot about Martha and Bill when talking about previous companions of color in my original post.

Do any of you people realize how DESPERATELY I need “Doctor Who,” Series 11 to be Brilliant?

Okay, so all the promotional energy leading up to the series premiere has been pumped into the fact that Jodie Whittaker will be the first woman to play the Doctor.

But not only that, this is the first time the Doctor will have full time traveling companions who aren’t White (Russell T. Davies introduced Micky, and Stephen Moffat introduced Danny Pink, but, as vital as they were, they were supporting characters, not part of the main cast).

And not only that, but one of those traveling companions (Ryan Sinclair) will have a physical disability – another first, I believe, for a regular character, where disability isn’t used as a motive for villainy, or cured as soon as it’s not needed for the plot (See also: DisabilityTooWhite).

And Not Only That, This is the first time “Doctor Who” will have writers of color. Those of us fighting for good representation know how important it is to have diversity behind the camera, as well as in front of it.

From what I’ve seen of Chibnall’s work so far, it seems to be …uneven. And I will miss Stephen Moffat, and especially Peter Capaldi, terribly. And the show I love may all go pear-shaped, eventually.

But I need, in my gut, and in my heart, for this first year under his direction to be absolutely fantastic. Because, if it’s not – if it falters and sputters – I’m terrified that all failures will be blamed on Jodie Whittaker, and Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gill, and Sharon D. Clarke, and Malorie Blackman, and Vinay Patel.

And the misogynist and racist fanboys will gloat, and the show I love now will be pushed back into being a bastion of White male authority, and screaming damsels in distress, with weak ankles.

But if Series 11 is Brilliant, then even if it falters later, those failings can’t (as easily) be blamed on “Too Much Diversity.”

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

@geeneelee, and @inthedayglo: *Forehead slap*

Martha keeps slipping my mind because I found David Tennant’s tenure grating. So when I try not to think about him, I lose her in the process.

For Bill, I have no excuse.

Do any of you people realize how DESPERATELY I need “Doctor Who,” Series 11 to be Brilliant?

Okay, so all the promotional energy leading up to the series premiere has been pumped into the fact that Jodie Whittaker will be the first woman to play the Doctor.

But not only that, this is the first time the Doctor will have full time traveling companions who aren’t White (Russell T. Davies introduced Micky, and Stephen Moffat introduced Danny Pink, but, as vital as they were, they were supporting characters, not part of the main cast).

And not only that, but one of those traveling companions (Ryan Sinclair) will have a physical disability – another first, I believe, for a regular character, where disability isn’t used as a motive for villainy, or cured as soon as it’s not needed for the plot (See also: DisabilityTooWhite).

And Not Only That, This is the first time “Doctor Who” will have writers of color. Those of us fighting for good representation know how important it is to have diversity behind the camera, as well as in front of it.

From what I’ve seen of Chibnall’s work so far, it seems to be …uneven. And I will miss Stephen Moffat, and especially Peter Capaldi, terribly. And the show I love may all go pear-shaped, eventually.

But I need, in my gut, and in my heart, for this first year under his direction to be absolutely fantastic. Because, if it’s not – if it falters and sputters – I’m terrified that all failures will be blamed on Jodie Whittaker, and Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gill, and Sharon D. Clarke, and Malorie Blackman, and Vinay Patel.

And the misogynist and racist fanboys will gloat, and the show I love now will be pushed back into being a bastion of White male authority, and screaming damsels in distress, with weak ankles.

But if Series 11 is Brilliant, then even if it falters later, those failings can’t (as easily) be blamed on “Too Much Diversity.”