The Doctor Has Landed

14 October 2018

It's a week now since Jodie Whittaker made her proper debut as the Thirteenth-ish Doctor.  I was ready, with my edible ball bearing cakes, for a teatime treat.

Overall, I enjoyed the episode, though I was sad about Ryan's Nan.  I would have liked to see more of her.  The new style seemed to fit into Sunday evening viewing so well, that at one point I did wonder whether I was still watching The Bodyguard.

I do have a few queries though:

1. The Doctor fell out of her TARDIS in flight, through the roof of a train and was all right afterwards?  The Fourth Doctor regenerated after falling of a radar array which was nowhere near as high.  The Tenth Doctor fell through a roof in The End of Time Part Two and sort of survived for a bit, (at least until Wilf accidentally irradiated him), but at least he looked damaged.  OK - I know she was still in her regeneration cycle, when minor injuries such as losing a hand or being gunned down by the Gestapo aren't fatal, but even so.

2. If Ryan gave 'consent' for the hunting ritual when he touched the shape in the air, how come the quarry had already been lined up with enough time for 'Tim Shaw' to rig up his cheating device?  He came through almost immediately afterwards.

3. Why was Ryan trying to learn to ride a bike on uneven, muddy ground? Wouldn't an empty car park have been easier - and have they never heard of stabilisers?

4. Is it just me, or did the new Doctor's sonic screwdriver look like it might have another function?

Looking forward to finding out how the new crew cope on a different planet.

Still not Ginger!

Monday 17 July 2017

So the new Doctor is going  to be Jodie Whittaker, with whom the incoming showrunner has worked extensively on Broadchurch.  She is white, thirty-something and not ginger.  I may have been just a tiny bit wrong about the gender*, but apart from being female the casting seems completely in the usual pattern and therefore unremarkable.

So, leaving aside the competing and equally blinkered views of 'finally, a woman!' and 'it's ruined and I'm never watching again', what are we to make of the casting?

Firstly, Jodie Whittaker is an excellent actor. Her role in Broadchurch mainly involved a lot of emotional angst as a grieving mother, so it will be interesting to see how she deals with the more quirky aspects of the Doctor's personality.

Secondly, the publicity photos remind me quite a lot of Romana 2. (I mentioned this to my German colleague at work, but he had never heard of the Time Lady in question.  I am disappointed in him.) Will the Thirteenth Doctor actually turn out to be rather like Romana?   And if so, can we have a K9 substitute?  An electric parrot or a talking cabbage would be good.

Thirdly, will we now get a new male companion?  The last two series have ended with a female companion of the Doctor flying off to explore the universe along with another female character (Clara and Ashildr/Me last year and Bill and Heather this year), so two women flying around the space time continuum has been done. Perhaps Chris Chibnall could find a way of reintroducing Rory? It is important to have some sort of gender balance in the TARDIS.  If all else fails, Captain Jack will do nicely.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Christmas.

*I'm open-minded about this.  I don't see any need for the Doctor to change gender, but don't mind as  long as it has been done in order to take the series in new directions and explore new stories, rather than as a gimmick or to appease the feminist lobby. 

At last ....

Saturday 15 July 2017

There is a popular conception that ladies of a certain age are glued to their TV sets at this time of year, guzzling strawberries and champagne.  Well, I'm sorry, but whilst I don't mind strawberries(though raspberries are much nicer), I HATE TENNIS IN GENERAL, and WIMBLEDON IN PARTICULAR. It's even worse than netball.

This leaves me in something of a difficulty given that the casting of the new Doctor is supposed to be announced after the Men's Final.  How can I be poised and ready for that, without having to watch the beastly tennis?

I may just have to hide until it's all over.  Meanwhile, here are my thoughts on the casting:

People I would quite like to see as the Thirteenth Doctor:

• David Tennant (still hoping for that waking up in the TARDIS shower moment)
• Richard Coyle
• Kris Marshall
• Alex Hassell
• Edward Bennett

People I would not like to see as the Thirteenth Doctor:

• Wee Jimmie Krankie
• Olivia Colman
• James Corden
• Noel Fielding
• Mary Berry

I still think it will be a 30-40ish male actor who is just beginning to get known on TV (so none of the above, really.)

All will be revealed tomorrow.