Sunday, July 16, 2017

Spoilers Ahead for 13th Doctor Announcement

As you all know, the actor playing the next Doctor was announced today. I'm going to talk about my reaction to the choice after the fold.

I would love to avoid spoilers for the handful of people who truly believe they are going to make it more than five months without hearing the news, which is why I'm trying to allow for a little spoiler space for anyone who might be reading this in a newsreader, which ignores the "after the fold" stuff and just gives you the entire post.

So I'm going to blather on for a short bit about other things. For instance, I installed an add-on called "Distill" that tells me when a change has been made to a page. I'm mostly using it to follow the comment threads on File 770 (since it allows me to pick just a section of a page to follow) and to keep up with a handful of webcomics I'd fallen behind in paying attention to.

Have I blathered enough? I don't know. Here's what I'll do. I'll post a graphic about the fan cycle regarding new Doctors, then the official "reveal" trailer from the BBC next, then talk about it...




Ever since Barbara Benedetti played the Doctor in Ryan K. Johnson's Doctor Who fan videos, I knew it was possible. I just never thought it would happen in my lifetime. Until the last couple of years, in which the hints ran stronger and stronger for it - including the introduction of Missy and culminating in the Doctor's comments about gender (with Bill's Time "Lord" comeback).

So, I know almost nothing about Jodie Whittaker. I have no idea if she'll be able to handle the job. But I said the same about Tennant and Smith and Capaldi... and I'll say it about whoever comes after Whittaker too. The only thing I am really hoping for is good stories that are NOT based around her gender. Oh, her gender can certainly play a role in how people react to her, but if the entire freaking story is about how she's a woman and yet she's still good enough, I will be angry.

I haven't loved every single episode or era of Doctor Who. I still am not a huge fan of Matt Smith's Doctor (he was ok, just not my cuppa) and the whole Impossible Girl storyline went on far too long. But even the stuff I don't like as much is better than the vast majority of television available to me, so I'm not going to complain.

I reserve the right to dislike this era of Doctor Who as much as I dislike any other era of Doctor Who. By the same token, I reserve the right to love it beyond all reason if I find it deserves my love.

Here are some Twitter reactions:











































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