First, a
note. Since the show is moving to Sunday
evenings this season, I’m going to temporarily move the Sunday Who Review to
Mondays, just so I’ll have a bit more time to digest each episode before my
write-ups. I’ll still use the Sunday Who
Review tag, though – don’t want to make them hard to find!
Now, if
there’s anyone who still doesn’t know the identity of the Thirteenth Doctor and
is somehow holding out, leave now.
She’s
almost here! Not gonna lie, I squeed hard at the most recent trailer. I’m nervous about what’s coming, but I’m also
reaching peak excitement. Here are my
last thoughts/wishes/whatever before we see Thirteen in all her Doctory-ness.
I’m a
little worried about the rumblings on how the season’s going to be so different
this year, from no classic monsters (pros and cons) to suppositions that the
Doctor may be without the TARDIS for part, or even all, of the season (I don’t
see how that could possibly be true, and I call blasphemy.) I get that a new showrunner is going to want
to put his own stamp on the proceedings, but this concerns me for two
reasons. 1) I know that Jodie Whittaker
is likely to get the blame for any dissatisfaction, and I don’t want her
shouldering the load for things that have nothing to do with her (goodness
knows she has enough of that to deal with already.) And 2) I want Thirteen to have the full
Doctor experience, because she deserves it.
I hope the rumors we’ve heard are largely overblown.
I don’t
know how much I want the show to address the Doctor’s gender. I’ve said before that I don’t want it ignored
but I don’t want it hammered on either, and I’m not sure what exactly that
sweet spot would look like. While I
certainly don’t want her dealing with sexism constantly, it wouldn’t feel right
to have it be a non-factor. Maybe
something where it’s there, but the Doctor being her astonishing Doctory self
pulls people along anyway such that they don’t realize that they’re taking orders
from her until they’re already doing it?
I know I’d like her companions to take note of how she moves through the
world(s) and how people respond to that.
That said,
if we’re going to look at sexism, I don’t want it to only be addressed in adventures that take place in the past. Regardless of everything else happening in
the world right now, some of the online reactions to Whittaker’s casting are
proof enough that it’s just as relevant today.
If you’re gonna say it, then say it.
My
personal preference is to stick with a mostly-asexual Doctor with varying
levels of romantic attraction, hopefully tending more toward the aromantic
side. It would be interesting if we got confirmation on how Time Lord
orientation works – whether the Doctor, no matter the gender, is primarily
heteroromantic or primarily attracted to women – but I’m pretty apprehensive as
to how the show would handle Thirteen in even a romantish situation. Besides, I have my doubts that the show would
really go there with Thirteen and a female character (other than possibly very mildly in reference to
River,) previous characters notwithstanding.
Of course, I also suspected that we’d never get an LGBTQ full-time
companion right before we got Bill, so maybe they’ll surprise me?
I just
want it to be amazing. I want it to be
so good, it hurts. I don’t know if
that’s something fair to put on it, but I just want everything good for
it. I want fun plots, I want awesome
dialogue, I want adventure and hope and excitement and impossible choices and
heroism and joy. I want little kids to
see and love the Thirteenth Doctor, I want a new crop of fans coming to the
show and having her be “their” Doctor, and I want her to take her place among
all who came before her and all who’ll come after her.
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