Doctor Who’s Disappearing Companions

Keep track of the recurring companions the Doctor has in the paragraphs below.

So Nine didn’t have anyone coming to visit him from previous seasons because the show had just been rebooted and the entire show needed to be established. In addition, Captain Jack, Mickey, and Rose’s mom Jackie were introduced. Nine had four people in his crew.

Then came Ten, who started with this same crew. Throughout Ten’s tenure (see what I did there?), companions cycled in, cycled out, and cycled back in again. Sarah Jane came for a visit, Rose came back for a visit, Mickey and Martha too. Ten had Rose, Donna, Martha, Jackie, Mickey, Captain Jack, and Donna’s grandfather as major recurring members of his crew. That’s seven people.

None of these no old companions have come back to visit Eleven, and that is my biggest beef.

Oh, My Pop-Culture Jesus: Jesus and the Twelfth Doctor

It’s that time again—when the Doctor Who fandom explodes with theories and arguments over who will be the next actor to play Doctor Who‘s titular role. Many people, including our own Lady Saika, have called for an injection of diversity into the role. I tend to agree; I’ve thrown my hat into the Idris Elba fangirl ring. One of the more contentious issues in the fandom is whether or not to cast a woman for the role. BBC has stated that they aren’t ruling out the possibility of a female Doctor. Some argue that the show needs to cast a woman as proof that we’ve moved beyond sexist stereotypes, that the Doctor’s reference to the multi-gendered regenerations of the Corsair (another Time Lord, long dead) in The Doctor’s Wife is proof enough that Time Lords can regenerate into Time Ladies. Some argue that the question is moot, that it shouldn’t matter whether a man or woman is cast, it should go to the actor with the best audition. I’m going to argue that the Doctor should remain a man.

Wait! Don’t go! Most of the arguments for why the Doctor should remain a man are pretty weak, if not sexist. They usually boil down to “It’s always been that way!” or “The Doctor IS a man!” or “Women are companions, why do they need to be the Doctor too?” But I think I’ve stumbled upon an argument for why the Doctor should retain his maleness, rooted in feminist theology.

Nerd News: Matt Smith to Leave Doctor Who

According to the BBC, 2013 is the last time we’ll see Matt Smith as the Doctor. His last appearance will be in this year’s Christmas special, which means we’ve only got two more episodes of Eleven ever before Twelve becomes a thing.

In his official statement, Smith said:

“I’m incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day to realise all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.”

Alongside the obvious sads that come with the changing of the Time Lord guard, this raises several issues. First of all, I feel like the show is sort of rocketing itself toward completion—it took forty-odd years to get through the first eight Doctors and we’ve been through three in the last eight years. I know the actors may want to move on with their careers but it’s depressing that there can’t be some casting stability.

I’m also sad that we never got to see Smith’s Doctor under a showrunner who isn’t Steven Moffat. I’ve never been quiet about all my issues with Moffat from both a storytelling and feminist perspective, and I would have liked to see Eleven flourish under a less problematic writer.

Looking forward, though, I can only hope for the best for the show. I doubt that anyone but a white dude (probably ginger) will get the Twelve role—Moffat isn’t exactly known for his interest in thoughtful, diverse casting, whatever the BBC’s official colorblind policy may say—but I hold out hope that maybe this will be the regeneration that brings some diversity, whether in race or gender, to a role that has so far always been played by a Caucasian male.

Everyone’s pulling for Idris Elba, but I think Richard Ayoade could kill it.

How do you feel about the news, dear readers? And who would you like to see play the Twelfth Doctor?

In Brightest Day: “The Name of the Doctor” and Its Implications

By now, I hope you’ve caught up with Series 7.2 of Doctor Who. The last episode of the season, called “The Name of the Doctor,” concluded with an amazing scene that needs to be seen to understand what I’m going to be talking about. Obviously, everything after the jump is spoiler-filled. So don’t read/watch unless you want any part of this brave new world we’re entering.

Doctor Who Series 7.2: Who Cares?

Hi, all. So you might have noticed that I left off my Doctor Who episode reviews after “The Bells of St. John”. Never fear, though: I’m here to make up for it with a review of all the remaining episodes in one post. Buckle up for mediocre plots, tired tropes, and characters with no character after the jump!

Sexualized Saturdays: On Shipping Questions and Questionable Ships

How many of you here are in the Supernatural fandom? Yes, all of you? Then you probably know about NJWank2013: one of Supernatural‘s many chances to gank us all with angry feelings before the season finale. Let’s recap the events: At a Supernatural convention in New Jersey (“Salute to Supernatural 2013″), there was a panel with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, otherwise known as Sam and Dean. The first questioner at this panel was a young lady who started her question with “I’ve loved seeing Dean’s character become more comfortable with himself this season. I’m bisexual and I’ve noticed some possible subtext…” She was immediately drowned out by a chorus of booo’s. While a bodyguard confronted her, Jensen said that he couldn’t hear the question, and that he planned to move on. “I meant no disrespect,” said the girl, and that was the end of that story.

Psych.

Sexualized Saturdays: River Song

Oh, Steven Moffat, why do you so often introduce ladies that you claim are bisexual only to never give any hint or evidence in the actual show that they are? River Song is not the first character to be outed outside of her TV show, but is there any evidence in the actual show that River Song is bisexual? And does it matter if there isn’t?

River Song is one of those characters that I find extremely confusing. Don’t get me wrong, she’s extremely interesting, but she’s a time traveler, we meet her out of order, she ends up being Rory and Amy’s daughter, as well as the Doctor’s wife and murderer. Everything with River was very confusing. Add to that a confusing representation of River’s sexuality and suddenly you need some damn strong headache medicine.

Sexualized Saturdays: The Doctor and His Many Companions

I think I need to take a break from Doctor Who, at least in terms of article writing. As it stands right now, there is only one thing I have not done yet, and that’s to look which of the Doctor’s companions are in love with him and which aren’t.

The interesting thing about the companions is that they spread along the scope of sexual preference. Yes, most of the Doctor’s main companions are females that usually have deep seated crushes on the Doctor. But that’s not the entire makeup of the alumni.

In Brightest Day: the Eleventh Doctor

(WARNING: there will be some minor spoilers from Series 7, so if you still plan on catching up in the series, catch up and come back.)

So, I’ve already tackled how the Ninth Doctor was born into anger and depression stemming from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I also discussed how, while some progress had been made, the Tenth Doctor was still horribly depressed because of how the Last Great Time War went and how he lost Rose Tyler and Martha Jones and Donna Noble. I covered how Ten tried to be the Time Lord Victorious but ended up falling into a deeper depression which ultimately led to an immense hesitation when Ten begun his regeneration.

But we’ve moved past that. And here comes the Eleventh Doctor. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, actor Matt Smith is the youngest actor to ever play the Doctor (Smith was 27 when he took up the sonic screwdriver, second to David Tennant at 34). And his Doctor shows that young bravado. Heck, one of his first actions post-regeneration is to drive a big red fire truck. What a punk kid. Surely, the Doctor is finally recovering from all the bad things that have happened to him since the end of the Last Great Time War?

Nope. And don’t call me Shirley.

An Unearthly Journey: “Tomb of the Cybermen”

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any Classic Who here, but seeing as Neil Gaiman’s upcoming episode “Nightmare in Silver” is supposed to feature the return of the Classic show’s Cybermen, now seems like the perfect time to talk about the Second Doctor serial “Tomb of the Cybermen”. (You’ll notice I’ve skipped Hartnell’s third and fourth seasons—I’ll get to them eventually, don’t worry; I never promised these reviews would come in chronological order!)

“Tomb of the Cybermen” is the only Two serial in Troughton’s first two seasons that’s still in one piece; the serials bookending are all lost episodes, and what I have of them is pieced together from audio and grainy stills. There’s a lot I’d do for Doctor Who, but after half an hour of “The Highlanders” I had to call it quits and move to something with existing video footage.

Let me just say that I’m glad I did; this serial alone has put Two on the map as one of my favorite Doctors and features some great storytelling.