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Mendalla

Happy headbanging ape!!
Pronouns
He/Him/His
We had a really good Dr. Who thread on the old site but I think most of the Who fans from that thread are gone now. Anyhow, the Doctor is getting ready to regenerate again and the new star of the series, taking over from Peter Capaldi, is Jodie Whittaker. Jodie is the Thirteenth Doctor and the first female Doctor. For those not in the know, the Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and travels through time and space in a vehicle called a TARDIS. When a Time Lord's body is stressed or damaged, they can "regenerate", growing a new body with a new personality. This was originally written into the show as a way to handle the retirement of William Hartnell, the First Doctor, but quickly became an important feature of the show and one of the reasons it has lasted as long as it has (1963-1989 in the original run, 2005-present in the new series, plus a TV movie in 1996).

The casting of a woman in the part is causing some gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands among the same people who just finished bitching about the number of female and non-white characters in the new Star Trek series. However, there's been a lot of support for having a female Doctor in the Who fan community during the last couple casting decisions so I can't see the whimpering and shrieking of a bunch of sexist trolls stopping this from happening. In fact, the latest incarnation of the Doctor's arch-enemy and fellow Time Lord the Master is female, going by the name Missy (short, of course, for Mistress), setting the precedent that Time Lords can gender-flip when they regenerate.

Whittaker isn't that well-known here, but her biggest TV role that I know of is on the series Broadchurch, which is what got her the part of the Doctor. To whit: former Tenth Doctor David Tennant is one of the stars of Broadchurch and, more importantly from the standpoint of this decision, Chris Chibnall, the showrunner of Broadchurch, has just taken over the same role on Doctor Who.
 
My prediction was faulty

I was predicting Chiwetel Ejiofor

So now we have another Time Lady

Time to have a remeet with the original Time Lady
(I see both actresses are still alive)

Will the good Doctor's hair be Ginger? :)

(Tis bizarre that we give fictional character sexes and genders when they don't...they're fictional characters...no hormones...mua haha)

Still SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEÈEEEÈESS§SSEEEE
 
We had a really good Dr. Who thread on the old site but I think most of the Who fans from that thread are gone now. Anyhow, the Doctor is getting ready to regenerate again and the new star of the series, taking over from Peter Capaldi, is Jodie Whittaker. Jodie is the Thirteenth Doctor and the first female Doctor. For those not in the know, the Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and travels through time and space in a vehicle called a TARDIS. When a Time Lord's body is stressed or damaged, they can "regenerate", growing a new body with a new personality. This was originally written into the show as a way to handle the retirement of William Hartnell, the First Doctor, but quickly became an important feature of the show and one of the reasons it has lasted as long as it has (1963-1989 in the original run, 2005-present in the new series, plus a TV movie in 1996).

The casting of a woman in the part is causing some gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands among the same people who just finished bitching about the number of female and non-white characters in the new Star Trek series. However, there's been a lot of support for having a female Doctor in the Who fan community during the last couple casting decisions so I can't see the whimpering and shrieking of a bunch of sexist trolls stopping this from happening. In fact, the latest incarnation of the Doctor's arch-enemy and fellow Time Lord the Master is female, going by the name Missy (short, of course, for Mistress), setting the precedent that Time Lords can gender-flip when they regenerate.

Whittaker isn't that well-known here, but her biggest TV role that I know of is on the series Broadchurch, which is what got her the part of the Doctor. To whit: former Tenth Doctor David Tennant is one of the stars of Broadchurch and, more importantly from the standpoint of this decision, Chris Chibnall, the showrunner of Broadchurch, has just taken over the same role on Doctor Who.

I don't like it. Dr. Who's always been a male character. They should have kept Dr. Who a male character. If they had wanted to introduce a new female character on par with Dr. Who that would have been fine, but I'm not a fan of repurposing characters. I felt the same way when they up and made Sulu gay in the most recent Star Trek movie.
 
More Missy & Dr. Slash Fiction...

Joanna Lumley would've been a good choice as well


JESUS, PLEASE REBOOT SAPPHIRE & STEEL
yer will is done
 
Time to have a remeet with the original Time Lady
(I see both actresses are still alive)

Romana? No, Mary Tamm (First Romana) is, alas, no longer with us. Died of cancer five years ago.

Lalla Ward (2nd Romana) is, however, still with us though she quit acting after her marriage to Richard Dawkins. They separated last year, though, so who knows?
 
Broad cloth ... coarse Jute fabric as dressed up the mythical John ... Jo'n? That shift in the penned du Lem may cause flip ... reciprocation of stars that will place M'N back in a dark ole domain?

Dualities resume as divine way ... MOG Y's?
 
I wondered if "Missy" was testing the waters.

Have to admit that I thought Missy was a better antagonist than the Master and the relationship between these long-time frenemies blossomed lately. When Previous Master shot Missy in the back after she had knifed him and left him to die it was clear that something of the Master's character lived on into the Missy Regeneration.

I actually am sad that Capaldi is out so soon. He reminded me a lot of fourth (my first) Doctor Tom Baker.

As with all previous generations we will have to give Whittaker her chance to bring a new character into the life story of one specific Time Lord. Most of that will be the work of the writers who, I must say, are probably the unsung heroes of the whole series from start to finish.
 
Most of that will be the work of the writers who, I must say, are probably the unsung heroes of the whole series from start to finish.

Oh, indeed. In fact, my favorite portrayal of The Doctor remains Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor) but I'll happily concede that his successor Tom Baker got better writing for much of his run (Douglas Adams was even the script editor for a season during Baker's run and wrote the memorable City of Death).

I have enjoyed what I have seen of the new run (basically, the Ninth Doctor and about half the Tenth) but nothing that compares, for me, to the best stories from Baker's era.
 
Mendalla said:
I have enjoyed what I have seen of the new run (basically, the Ninth Doctor and about half the Tenth) but nothing that compares, for me, to the best stories from Baker's era.


Reflecting back on my life with the Doctor.

My appreciation of the Doctor as a late teen was always the new spot of trouble or the new dilemma that presented itself. K-9 was not a favoured addition.

My appreciation of the Doctor (being closer to Capaldi's age now than I was Baker's age then) and having lived more than twice as much life (nowhere near that of a Time Lord's) gives me, I believe, a more wholistic admiration of the character.

Indeed, a Doctor not constantly whipping out the sonic screwdriver is a Doctor who must constantly use the most powerful weapon at his/her disposal, the mind of a Time Lord.

I enjoyed Eccleston's brief run as the Doctor and very much enjoyed when the scriptwriters had him go face to face with the last surviving Dalek (or so that regeneration believed).
 
I enjoyed Eccleston's brief run as the Doctor and very much enjoyed when the scriptwriters had him go face to face with the last surviving Dalek (or so that regeneration believed).

I liked Eccleston, but I'm kind of glad he was short-lived. The Doctor with PTSD would have only carried them a certain distance before it got wearisome. There was still some of that in Tennant, but there also more of the classic humour and eccentricity that was the mark of guys like Tom Baker. Haven't seen enough of Smith and later to know if that evolution continued.
 
I haven't watched for quite some time. I don't think it's breaking with script that the Doctor's body can take on female form, although I may be missing something.
I've actually avoided seeing complaints in a direct way for the most part, I've seen more positive comments in response to the complaints. The complaints remind me a bit of
upload_2017-7-17_14-38-16.jpeg
 
I don't think it's breaking with script that the Doctor's body can take on female form, although I may be missing something.

As I mentioned, they established a precedent for Time Lords being able to gender flip during regeneration by having The Master do so a few seasons back. Fans have been calling for a female regeneration of the Doctor since even before that (Tilda Swinton has been an ongoing favorite) and The Master becoming Missy was probably a trial balloon.
 
As I mentioned, they established a precedent for Time Lords being able to gender flip during regeneration by having The Master do so a few seasons back. Fans have been calling for a female regeneration of the Doctor since even before that (Tilda Swinton has been an ongoing favorite) and The Master becoming Missy was probably a trial balloon.
Haha I should fully read the opening post at least.
 
I'm looking forward to it. Yes, having the Master be Missy was definitely a trial run as well as establishing as canon that Gallifreyans can change gender. I haven't seen the last season yet, our cable package is too cheap to include BBCA, but I heard it was good and that Bill was a standout character. If so it's a shame she's only got one season (so I've read). I do wish they'd let the actors last longer. Tom Baker had 7 years and most of the first 7 had at either 3 or 4.
 
most of the first 7 had at either 3 or 4

Well, and really, William Hartnell, the First Doctor, only left when he did because of ill health. They would have happily kept him on longer otherwise.

Tom Baker had 7 years

Tom was exceptional and I haven't read his memoirs to find out why he stuck around so long. They kept him so long because he was quite simply the most popular Doctor to that point and none of his successors really matched that success, though slipping writing was as much to blame for that as the actors themselves. There was even talk of having him star in a Doctor Who feature film back in the early eighties that eventually came to nought (and that's probably not a bad thing).

If so it's a shame she's only got one season (so I've read).

I'm not clear on Bill's fate at this point. I know what happened to her in the final two-parter (I don't worry about spoiling myself since I'm so far behind on new Who anyhow) but it sounds like something she could still maybe, possibly be saved from
(She's not dead, just ... changed, and not in a good way. To say more would be too spoilerish.)
If not, there could be repercussions. Gay and lesbian genre fans are getting a bit tired of how popular gay and lesbian characters always seem to come to a bad end.
 
Mendalla said:
I'm not clear on Bill's fate at this point.

An unusual, albeit happy ending for Bill. I was initially outraged at what appeared to be her fate. The writing did the character some justice.

Recently we have had some stellar companions take on some of the biggest bad guys the Doctor has and beat them in battles of wills. Clara vs the Dalek mind and Bill vs the Cyberman mind.
 
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