Or where the Doctor has COMMITTED genocide on an interstellar scale.
Yeah. I don’t know, maybe in the long run it’s a good thing, but so far Jodie feels too… relatable? There was always a sense that The Doctor was on a different level, kind of viewing companions as beloved pets he likes to “show off” to? Maybe not always an outright jerk, but almost never without a hint of arrogance? 13 is almost self deprecating. Maybe they want 13 to be above that on purpose? Maybe it will pay off, but it does feel off.
Missy would be interesting. A small run in with Clara would be amusing
+1
I think it’s pretty deliberate on the part of the writers: for all their occasional self-doubt {or perhaps because of it}, previous Doctors have been ostentatiously the smartest person in the room, the guy who exults in knowing more than everyone else. Whittaker’s Doctor seems more comfortable admitting that she doesn’t always know what’s going on, but is going to make it her job to find out.
That, coupled with the fact that these companions are extremely capable and self-assured - sometimes too much so: Ryan and Graham being able to figure out the boat engine by themselves was a little unconvincing - means that these stories seem to more about a collaboration of equals. A newish dynamic for the show, but I could get to like it.
Also, for people who think that the Senior White Male is being done down by all of these minorities and women, when was the last time you saw one being depicted as sympathetically as Bradley Walsh’s portrayal of Graham? Graham is just cool: smart, tough, brave, and immensely empathetic. So far he’s the stand-out companion for me: Yaz hasn’t had much to do, and Ryan is too pouty.
Also: Venusian aikido! Not as flashy as the Pertwee variant, but extremely effective.
And when was the last time you saw the Doctor admit that s/he had screwed up and endangered everyone, frankly take responsibility for it and apologise to them, and go on to acknowledge that they were being gracious in not complaining about being thrown into weirdness and danger? I’m starting to like this side of the Doctor, and full credit to Jodie Whittaker for selling such a character transition.
Each showrunner that’s come on board has tried to fix what they perceive as broken or has holes in their logic, and also to expand on the things that they like about the show and character.
Russell T Davies had the hardest job in trying to restart in with an entirely new aesthetic, but he did so by having much more rounded and complex character dynamics, influenced heavily by his love of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, with series-long story arcs and epic concepts with impressive special effects.
Steven Moffatt loves mystery box ideas, and wanted some of the original series inconsistencies papered over. He also had a great love for classic series villains. He reintroduced the rest of the big ten that Davies never got around to.
Chris Chibnall is reacting to both of them and pulling back on those big ideas this time, I think. His contribution, aside from a female Doctor, looks to be more empathy and smaller stakes. At least for a first series where everything is new from the ground up, that’s the right approach in my opinion.
My point exactly. Although frequently the female companion would knock The Doctor down a peg.
Just caught up - I don’t think I like the new arrangement of the theme music, but it may grow on me.
Seems like Smith in particular often referred to ‘stupid, stupid Doctor’, and she did announce that “I’m very smart”.
I don’t think that Ryan and Graham repaired the engine - Graham admitted he had no idea how it worked. Ryan did figure out it was some form of solar electric, but at that point the Doctor showed up, congratulated them on being clever, and presumably used her sonic to do the actual repairs.
I was afraid “Rosa” was going to be a very special episode but they did a great job addressing the institutional racism of the south without being preachy about it. Segregation was(is) horrible and dehumanizing but that was the way things were and I think the cast did a great job showing how uncomfortable any of us would be if dropped back to that time period where racism was a casual thing.
The week’s big-bad left something to be desired. I can’t even remember his name, such was the impression he made. Had no clue as to his motivation beyond somehow Mrs Parks not being asked to give up her seat would have somehow made the entire civil rights movement not happen. Sadly, since we didn’t get a scene of him being eaten by a dinosaur, I think he will be back.
Overall though, I think it was a great episode. The tension as The Doctor and her companions had to let history happen and that Graham, a gentleman out of time, had to be the one, essentially, to instigate it, was palpable.
I wasn’t sure about having a female Doctor, kind of felt like a stunt, but Jodi Whittaker is growing on me. It is still about The Doctor, not about “look, the Doctor is a girl!”
…he was an alt-right white supremacist. He can’t kill any more so he decided to meddle with history instead. I personally didn’t think they needed to say any more than that.
I really like Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor. I hope the show doesn’t try to make the character too miserable.
I liked Matt Smith’s Doctor, but he seemed to get more defeated and despondent over time, and when the Ponds were written out, I quit watching. I gave up on the show until this season.
Wow, an alt-right racist? Are you sure about that? Is it the tattoo?
I’m pretty sure that racism can exist outside of our contemporary political context, especially in a character supposedly from some 6000 years in the future.
…yep.
It was the witty personality and the sparkling demeanour.
Welcome to science fiction. Science fiction often uses it futuristic premise to tell stories with contemporary political context.
Krasko. His motivation appears to be racism, which I found strangely refreshing in a sci-fi medium where prejudice is usually transferred into some “humans vs aliens” context (that one Star Trek episode notwithstanding). The idea that humans will eventually transcend petty bigotry is very Roddenberry but not very realistic. Krasko was just your basic racist asshole (although I suppose the fact that he never specifically articulated this means that we could get some alternative interpretation of what he meant by “your kind”, but one hopes they won’t do that). And yes, he will undoubtedly be back.
As predicted, it got preachy although it mostly held off until the end where the volume got turned up to 11 (“LET’S LOOK AT THIS TERRIBLE TARDIS MONITOR WHILE THE DOCTOR GIVES THE AUDIENCE A LECTURE ON WHY ROSA PARKS IS IMPORTANT. ALSO, SHE GOT A ROCK.” I thought the idea of trying to alter history through little things was a clever one, but the creepy stalking of Rosa by the Doctor and crew was more likely to mess things up than most of Krasko’s meddling. And the liberal angst at the climax was a tad overblown (“OH NO - TO SAVE THE WORLD WE HAVE TO SIT ON A BUS AND APPEAR TO BE MILDLY RACIST”).
Some good points - we got to meet Mr Parks without it being a big thing (hands up who knew she’d married a white guy?), and Ryan’s meeting with MLK was an excellent moment. Also, we keep getting little hints dropped here and there to show how Graham and Ryan are missing Grace (who, from their timeline standpoint, died very recently). So a mixed bag as usual.
Was it? I’d feel equally as horrible if I had to do something like that.
He’s a middle aged white man from England who was married to a black woman. We never had any form of segregation here and whilst racisim was and still can be an issue not on that scale. So it’s not overblown that he was awkward and felt terrible. I actually thought they were going to make him drive the bus…
I admit I thought that for a moment too. And your point is taken. On the other hand, what else could they do but sit there?
I liked that the plot resolution was basically making sure that a bus ran on time and that it had a lot off passengers aboard.
Not so rare, I think you’ll find. I liked her too.
They avoided some major pitfalls. Kept the story more along the lines of letting history unfold (not undoing what they inadvertently caused but similar enough). Didn’t pretend that the U.K. is free of racism itself. And her Doctor is now getting some of her swagger.
Still Krasko (they couldn’t fit one more K, eh?) couldn’t kill Parks but couldn’t he still could have temporally displaced her at any time?
Also I expected The Doctor to be a bit more upset and concerned that Krasko was sent back as far as possible.
I for one do not expect him to be back. He’s no Big Bad, just a weak one week one off needed for the story.