I've been very critical of the idea of changing Doctor Who, a character played for the last five decades by men, into a woman. So how was it, now that the time has come, we finally have a female Doctor, and the season is upon us?
Warning, this is likely to be a massive thread.
Actually, it was okay. Jody Whittaker was fine - she wasnt great, she didnt blow me away, but as a first outing in such an iconic role she did perfectly acceptably. I have no doubt that as the series progresses, she will grow into the role and make it her own.
I've been criticised for being sexist for not wanting to see a female Doctor, but as I said at the time, it's not about it being a woman, its about the role being a traditionally male one and the change being made for overtly political reasons.
People often respond "Yes, but Time Lords changing gender is part of canon - this isnt the first time we've seen it so why not?", and they're right, it is part of canon, but only so because Steven Moffat made it so for purely progressive political reasons.
My objection is that shoe-horning far left progressive politics into entertainment, especially entertainment aimed at children, is unacceptable and divisive. You're deliberately alienating 50% of your audience - one that has in many cases been with the franchise for decades.
Not only this, but its generally so crass and poorly done that as well as being politically divisive, its also jarring and guaranteed to snap you out of your suspension of disbelief. Take for example Capaldi's soliloquy criticising capitalism in S10E05 "Oxygen".
Does radical socialist economic theory really have a place in a childrens sci-fi series? Of course not. And that was my criticism of the gender swap - it was done purely to "challenge the Patriarchy" and traditional gender roles. Get it... THE FUCK... out of our kids TV.
This is the basis of all the *.gate protests - they're not hate movements, they dont hate women or gays or POC or little fluffy ducklings, they just dont want to see progressive political propaganda in the mediums they use for escape.
Its not the place for it, especially if you expect people to pay for the privilege.
All that being said, lets go back to the show. As I said, Jody was perfectly fine in the role. She was a little wooden in places, but as she defines the role more I'm sure she will become more fluid and natural - there's no doubting her acting chops.
She seems to be playing up the quirkiness of the Doctor, which I'm fine with. There is a long tradition of quirky Doctors, going right back to Patrick Troughton. Its also nice to hear a Sheffield accent, being a northerner myself.
I hope to see Jody bring more gravitas to the role in places. There are certainly resemblances between her portrayal and that of Christopher Ecclestone, which go beyond merely the northern accent. I hope that she too will bring in his seriousness in additional to the quirkiness.
The episode itself was... well... pretty dull. A cookie cutter monster with (IMO) questionable prosthetics, hardly the most threatening or scary of enemies the Doctor has faced. It served its purpose. It was a non-threatening introduction to the new Doctor.
What struck me most was the callouts to the audience. Now, its far from unknown for the writers to put in these callouts when the Doctor changes, famously starting with Colin Baker's 6th Doctor. Capaldi even managed to get a phone call from Matt Smith, to reassure Clara.
What made it different this time was that there wasnt just one callout from the writers. There were THREE. They are so aware of the divisive nature of their change that they had to reassure the audience THREE TIMES that it was still the Doctor. I'll show you them, here.
(Oops, lost this one. Had to go quickly grab it again.)
Maybe a little bit of overkill? There has been a lot of cynicism about it, but then its a very cynical change to the show. But if they are making a change that they KNOW is going to be so MASSIVELY controversial that they have to make THREE reassurances to the audience...
...do they not at any time stop and wonder if they're doing the right thing? Apparently not. There was however room for hope. Chibnall seems intent on stepping away from the overt politics of Moffats time, even going so far as to destroy the symbol of Capaldi's Doctor, the spoon.
If this really is a break from the in your face politics of Moffat's time at the helm, it will be a welcome change. But more on that later. This episode was for all intents and purposes free of highly biased politics. Yes, obviously there is the diversity quotient of the cast.
But I dont see that as being problematic in the slightest. Sheffield is a highly diverse place, so this reflects reality and isnt as jarring as it could be when you know its due to progressive politics at the BBC rather than a nod to realism.
The companions were... well, fine. There werent any standout performances, although Bradley Walsh was predictably very good. There was one scene where the writers did mess up, and pulled me straight out of the story - where Walsh for some reason snapped at his stepson.
This was out of character, as we had seen Walsh going out of his way to be supportive and caring towards Tosin Cole's character, so suddenly turning on him for his dispraxia felt unnatural and forced. Perhaps it was a nod to "ableism"? I'm sure we'll see more of it to come.
There was a somewhat touching scene at the end where they are discussing people they've lost. The writers used this opportunity to give Jodie a nice speech about how she will incorporate aspects of the previous Doctors in her performance.
You can actually see this reflected in her performance, as I said earlier. There are definite similarities between how Jody plays the Doctor and how Ecclestone played him before her. See here:
So overall, I should be pleased, right? My fears were unsubstantiated, and the Doctor will continue being the Doctor and all's well with the world. Based on this episode, yes. But this episode is only one step on the journey and I cant help but feel its a bait and switch.
It was so VERY inoffensive, so VERY safe and even bland, that it feels like we're being set at ease before the trap is fired. "Oh come on, now you're being paranoid" I hear you say. Maybe. I really really fucking hope so, as I love this show dearly and WANT it to succeed.
But then I read the interviews. Then I watch the panels.
Then I remember the utterly on the nose imagery of the promo, where the Doctor literally breaks through a glass ceiling. The politics is coming, make no mistake.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Tonights episode could be the making or the breaking of not just the season, not just Whittaker's Doctor, but of the program as a whole. Get woke, go broke. I truly hope they can reign themselves in enough to not destroy the show.
If you made it this far, well done. Go have a lie down, you've earned it. I'm done.
...for now.
...for now.
@threadreaderapp Unroll please.
