NickW
And we now who our next Doctor is.
Ncuti Gatwa is the new Doctor Who:
https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/ncuti-gatwa-is-the-doctor
In the event no one's seen the news before coming here...
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-next-doctor-ncuti-gatwa-newsupdate/
The lack of message from our moderator speaks volumes as to her thoughts…..
DOESN'T it just.
I was gonna keep my gob shut for a while longer, with unusual consideration, to allow everyone to rejoice before being a downer, but it doesn't look like there's any rejoicing, so...
Yeah. Whatever.
I suspect I'd be thrilled if this was our first black Doctor but as it happens we have Ruth and I adore her (despite hating all this Timeless Children nonsense, that's forty years of screaming THE MORBIUS FACES ARE MORBIUS'S FACES! at people that I'll never get back) so I'm just...really really disappointed that we get another man, it makes JODIE! look like even more of a failed experiment than her viewing figures do.
And lines like 'Russell T Davies is almost as iconic as the Doctor himself' are...heartbreaking. I honestly got a thrill out of referring to the Doctor as 'she' and 'her' and 'herself' every single time.
Still, I'm (fairly) sure I'll fall madly in love with whatshisname two-thirds of the way through his first episode, as per usual. So it's not like MY LIFE IS IN RUINS or anything.
Or to the fact that it was just announced.
Granted three of us rushed here
I should have known better. I thought I could be first with the news here, but I see I've been beaten. lol
I'm still waiting for the day when the next Doctor is only announced after they've gone through their regeneration sequence (ok, we kind of had that with John Hurt), but at least it wasn't the massively overhyped announcements of the last two changes.
I was assuming it would be someone from It's a Sin, given RTD's penchant for bringing in people he's already worked with, and that it would be a woman, otherwise it looks like Jodie was a failed experiment.
Anyway, give Ncuti some decent scripts that don't end with the set being carpet bombed by anvils and I'll be happy.
Yup and Lydia West could thus be Lily, the teenage transgirl mulatto companion that a casting call was leaked for. She's 1 year younger.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNRhrIQXwAAcx69.jpg
In Classic Who, it seems like that despite sharing the Gallifreyan ethnicity and native language, each Great House was a separate race\phenotype, including ones that don't exist on Earth.
So I thought Lungbarrows as white mostly blond and blue eyed British people, Oakdowns as Spaniards, Heartshavens as Estonians, and Miasimia Gorians as Hindustanis. Heck is'nt Millennia propably supposed to have blue hair? But of course we'd get someone from Africa eventually.
I’m not exactly surprised at this, as pre Jodie I was sure they’d change Doc’s race before they changed gender, if they changed Doc’s gender at all. But the same as the rest of you I thought they’d have another female Doc to avoid the last regeneration looking like a failed experiment.
Let’s be honest no matter who had played the 13th Doc it wouldn’t have made those episodes any better.
Let’s hope Gatwa has better scripts. I’ve not seen any of his shows but those who have say he’s great.
I'm sure China will be thrilled by this news. ;-)
Given how much various media companies bend over backwards to appeal to China's sensibilities, and China is not a fan of black people (just see Finn on the American poster for The Force Awakens and the Chinese poster) I was surprised by this.
So what has Ncuti appeared in before and how do you pronounce his first name?
how do you pronounce his first name?
Apparently "Shooty"
I'll admit I was hoping for another woman - some of the hype at Gallifrey Base had me excited for Rakhee Thakrar... Still, this isn't the first time I've had no idea who the new Doctor is, so no preconceptions.
Congratulations to RTD for managing to thoroughly confuse the right wing NMD bigots: It seems they can't agree whether to be happy 14 is a man (and so pretend Jodie wasn't really the Doctor) or annoyed he's not white - while being careful to phrase it in terms of "not born in the UK" (Neither was our Shalka Doctor) or "What accent will he use"
I don’t think they have ever cast a bad actor as the Doctor (yes, even CB). Like Crane, I’ve never seen a thing this gentleman has been in or even know what he sounds like. I am absolutely not going to prejudge him based on his skin colour or sexual preference. I have faith in RTD.
The worst thing is, apart from the October special where Jodie regenerates, we won’t see the new Doctor until November 2023! Blimey that’s seems like a long time even for modern Who….
The only time I've pre-judged a new Doctor (apart from the usual 'taking time to get used to them after the regeneration') was Peter Capaldi. I'd seen clips of him being sweary angry Malcom Tucker and I wasn't keen. (yes, I'd forgotten his previous appearances) Of course, he then turned out to be a wonderfully warm and funny guy who was a life-long Whovian. The perfect "looks old, feels young" contrast to Matt Smith's "Looks like a baby, feels ancient".
Still, that doesn't stop me feeling sad that Jodie's time is almost over.
I'm still waiting for the day when the next Doctor is only announced after they've gone through their regeneration sequence (ok, we kind of had that with John Hurt)
AND with Jo Martin. SURPRISE!
but at least it wasn't the massively overhyped announcements of the last two changes
Capaldi's programme was pretty embarrassing (though Matt having an episode devoted to his reveal worked JUST FINE (well, just fine aside from me literally recoiling in horror at the sight of him)) but the JODIE! reveal was perfect, well, aside from having to watch some sodding tennis to get to it...now I'm worried that a few emojis on Twitter means Who is no longer considered important...
Yup and Lydia West could thus be Lily, the teenage transgirl mulatto companion that a casting call was leaked for.
Good grief.
I believe it's frowned upon to have a non-trans person playing a trans person these days?
Also, she was in the running to BE THE DOCTOR, you wouldn''t settle for mere Companion after THAT.
In Classic Who, it seems like that despite sharing the Gallifreyan ethnicity and native language, each Great House was a separate race\phenotype, including ones that don't exist on Earth.
No it doesn't.
For a start, there weren't even any Great Houses in Classic Who. Just the novels. Well, mainly just that excruciatingly boring Lungbarrow.
Heck is'nt Millennia propably supposed to have blue hair?
I wouldn't remember, I'm putting off the Divided Loyalties reread for as long as possible. If she DID have blue hair she probably dyed it as a sign she was one of that craaaaazy Deca...
Let’s be honest no matter who had played the 13th Doc it wouldn’t have made those episodes any better.
There were only two or three stinkers, same as every other Doc's era (well, aside from Colin's obviously).
I'm sure China will be thrilled by this news. ;-)
Good.
They can keep their filthy totalitarian ways away from our Doctor, they can keep their money.
how do you pronounce his first name?
Apparently "Shooty"
That's ironic. For a Doctor.
It's sweet that Sylvester finally has some company, him aside all the Docs had the most ordinary, popular British names imaginable - John and Jo and Peter and William and Tom...
Congratulations to RTD for managing to thoroughly confuse the right wing NMD bigots: It seems they can't agree whether to be happy 14 is a man (and so pretend Jodie wasn't really the Doctor) or annoyed he's not white - while being careful to phrase it in terms of "not born in the UK"
Ha ha ha ha ha!
To be fair, I too found it weirdly significant he was born in Rwanda, it just cheered me up a bit for some reason. Always wanted a British Doctor, or at least one with a British accent, but a Scots-Rwandan one will do JUST FINE.
(Neither was our Shalka Doctor)
Well, to be fair, he was a cartoon...
I don’t think they have ever cast a bad actor as the Doctor (yes, even CB)
Even if that was true WHICH IS SO OBVIOUSLY ISN'T, it doesn't actually matter if you're a good ACTOR if you're a •••• Doctor.
I have faith in RTD.
Yeah, when it comes to casting Doctors He has an INSANELY good track record.
The worst thing is, apart from the October special where Jodie regenerates, we won’t see the new Doctor until November 2023! Blimey that’s seems like a long time even for modern Who….
Not fair not fair not fair dammit NEED MORE WHO...
Still, that doesn't stop me feeling sad that Jodie's time is almost over.
DON'T LEAVE ME JODIE!
Apparently "Shooty"
It's not easy, being a cop.
1: And technically there’s also the Dream Lord, Watcher, and Valeyard.
2: Oshi Marks are becoming popular. Also, there’s COVID around, propably a potential World War, and there’s lower ratings than before. Most people just watch MCYT and VTubers instead. If Lily’s actress is an Hololive reject or something, she could potentially get various other Companions and Doctor actors to be VTubers. Colin and Nicola did team up with Vic Mignogna for a Star Trek fan film, and through Vic they could get with Romi Park and Hiromu Arakawa. Now Romi propably knows Yagoo, and knows a lot of VTubers right?
3: Yeah in TV series canon it would be more of family lines, but same thing, each family seems to be a diff “race”\”genetic ethnicity” when we first meet them.
4: Sylvester’s name is Percy. He was in a juggling show playing a character named Sylveste McCoy, and that was also his stage name as a joke. Then he added the R.
Companion names also tend to be plain often.
Even if that was true WHICH IS SO OBVIOUSLY ISN'T
I reckon if you did a straw poll of the people on this board you’d find that you are in vast minority on this one.
DON’T LEAVE ME JODIE!
Well she is. Deal with it.
Deal with it? Deal with the impending loss of one of my favourite Doctor? The one who broke the mold, broke the glass ceiling and will break my heart? So different from the previous incarnations and yet still the same old Doctor. Still quirky, still funny, still with that icy stare...and still falling for the female companion.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
(Salt. Wounds. But my GODS nicely put. Though you forgot to mention the way she scrunches up her nose...)
Oh my goodness! I can't believe I forgot 'the scronch'! So adorable, even more than when she's making the same goofy-grin, dewy-eyed face at Yaz that 10 did at Rose.
She's not dying ya know. Doubtless in a few years she'll be doing Big Finish (or at least someone impersonating her). There's plenty of other work you can watch her on as well.
Perspective, people.
We're talking about THE THIRTEENTH DOCTOR, not some...actress. And she IS dying. 'Even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead.'
Yeah
There will be a Fourteenth Doctor and then propably a Fifteenth.
Actually if there's an hiatus it's possible that neural network becomes advanced enough that there's no need for any actual new 'Who.
Hmm...
'Even if they don’t want to say Gatwa is the Fourteenth Doctor, then why does the BBC avoid calling him the next Doctor as well? Why don’t they say he’s taking over from Jodie Whittaker? Why is it all so vague and evasive?'
It's going to be Boyhood/Merrily We Roll Along-style deal where they film all of Gatwa's scenes over a 20 year period so he can make his debut as the Doctor in time for the 80th anniversary.
It's going to be Boyhood/Merrily We Roll Along-style deal
A WHAT deal?!
where they film all of Gatwa's scenes over a 20 year period so he can make his debut as the Doctor in time for the 80th anniversary.
An EXCELLENT idea, dammit, why haven't they been filming Tennant at regular intervals for the past fifteen years...
She literally explained it in the second sentence and you STILL asked the question.
Seriously, how do you manage to put clothes on in the morning?
I was actually asking what Boyhood/Merrily We Roll Along is. Because it sounds WEIRD.
And she then literally explained what she meant by it……
She explained what it did, she didn't explain what it WAS.
Its a comedy musical about a composer
Some old man named Richard Linklater wants to adapt it to be filmed over 20 years.
A while ago he also made boyhood which was filmed over 14 years from 2000 to 2014, starring a kid born in 1994.
Anyways Gatwa might be a Timeless Child, or maybe he’s a retconned First Doctor?
If he’s a remade first doctor, then Lily could be a composite of Rose and Barbara, and her boyfriend a composite of Mickey and Ian.
I'm just gonna pop in and wish Ncuti Gatwa good luck.
He'll need it if he's competing with DAVID TENNANT for our attention...
...Though I have no doubt whatsoever he'll manage it or RTG wouldn't have cast him.
He should not HAVE to compete with David Tennant.
Ncuti is already going to have an uphill battle for fan acceptance, being black. And you can bet that the racists are out there, waiting to pounce, if they have not done so already. He does not need Tennant looming over his debut season.
I'm sorry, but Tennant had his time in the sun. He did it and moved on.
It's Ncuti's turn now.
Ncuti is already going to have an uphill battle for fan acceptance, being black. And you can bet that the racists are out there, waiting to pounce, if they have not done so already.
Sadly,they have - with the same cries of "woke", "lacks gravitas", "cancel the show now" or "the show is dead" that they had when Jodie was announced. This time with added "Not British", "I hope I can understand his accent", and snide (bad faith) suggestions like: "Will Doctor Who do an episode set in the Rwanda genocide?" - which, considering Ncuti's family fled said genocide, is mind-bogglingly insensitive.
He does not need Tennant looming over his debut season.
The more I think about it, the more I agree. Hopefully this RTD self-congratulatory, nostalgia-fest is limited to the 60th. Get the traditional multi-Doctor story out of the way so Ncuti can shine on his own. Hopefully what we're getting is a fitting swansong for Jodie where she can play the oldest-and-wisest regeneration against Tennant.
Sadly,they have - with the same cries of "woke", "lacks gravitas", "cancel the show now" or "the show is dead" that they had when Jodie was announced. This time with added "Not British", "I hope I can understand his accent", and snide (bad faith) suggestions like: "Will Doctor Who do an episode set in the Rwanda genocide?" - which, considering Ncuti's family fled said genocide, is mind-bogglingly insensitive.
Wow.
I actually naively expected him to have a slightly easier time than JODIE!, simply because sexism seems more acceptable in our current society than racism.
These people do realise that THE DOCTOR'S AN ALIEN, right...?
The more I think about it, the more I agree. Hopefully this RTD self-congratulatory, nostalgia-fest is limited to the 60th. Get the traditional multi-Doctor story out of the way so Ncuti can shine on his own. Hopefully what we're getting is a fitting swansong for Jodie where she can play the oldest-and-wisest regeneration against Tennant.
Rumour has it we're getting three Tennant specials after JODIE! regenerates into HIM...and THEN he gets to be Shooty...
No I think Tennant is playing metacrisis
Rumour has it we're getting three Tennant specials after JODIE! regenerates into HIM...and THEN he gets to be Shooty...
So the Doctor somehow regenerates into Tennant for a THIRD time? AND just happens to meet Donna??
Sheesh, if you need a previous actor back to fill in McGann is RIGHT THERE!
So the Doctor somehow regenerates into Tennant for a THIRD time? AND just happens to meet Donna??
It would be rather wonderful, wouldn't it.
Sheesh, if you need a previous actor back to fill in McGann is RIGHT THERE!
My sentiments PRECISELY when it came to the War Doctor but why would anyone choose McGann when they could have TENNANT!
The Timeless Tennant Children?
Edit in Tennant's face on every Doctor?
;-)
Yes to Wilf, VERY YES to Donna, and of course yes to almost-certainly-Donna's-daughter, but for the love of ...whatever... give someone other than Tennant the spotlight for five minutes.
He's even starting to take over in Ncuti's own thread!
what's this fourteenth or fifteenth bull$hit at the top of the page? C'mon Emily....
Well the spoiler pages on Gallifrey Base make a •••• good case for JODIE! regenerating into Tennant for three specials before we get ourselves a Shooty...(Though whether said latest-TennantDoc would be called Fourteen would be a whole new can of worms, of course.) Maybe I'm just being wildly optimistic - and who could blame me, in the circumstances - but and you've gotta admit, if Ten's just turning up for a multi-Doctor anniversary story, the phrasing of the BBC announcements about both him ('new scenes that will coincide with the show’s 60th anniversary celebrations') and Shooty (no mention whatsoever of him being the new, the next OR the Fourteenth Doctor) is...weird.
give someone other than Tennant the spotlight for five minutes.
He's even starting to take over in Ncuti's own thread!
Look, I'd LOVE to give him his own Fourteenth Doctor thread so Shooty could have the Fifteenth all to himself but that might be a little premature.
Now I've got this worry that Tennant will regenerate into Getwa and all the post-RTD stories we invested in will be some alternate reality...
Though we did see Matt Smith in The End of Time, so that's reassuring.
RTG is a Fan, he would NEVER ruin our lives like that.
If Tennant's appearance is limited to a one off story, like it was, back in 2013, then I have no issue here. However, it sounds like he's sticking around for a few episodes.
Classic Who did it right. Each Doctor did their run, before passing it on to the next. It worked right from William Hartnell through to Paul McGann. The only time a previous Doctor ever returned was for the aforementioned one off stories (Three, Five, and Two Doctors).
As I said, David Tennant had his time in the sun. There is no reason to him to come back now and usurp the role from Ncuti. This is Ncuti's turn at bat, and he should not be going into his debut season with Tennant stealing the spotlight.
As I said, David Tennant had his time in the sun. There is no reason to him to come back now
There is every reason for him to come back now, viz, that he NEVER SHOULD HAVE LEFT US.
This is Ncuti's turn at bat
You may be mistaken there. It might actually be Tennant's turn at bat - WOO HOO! - and THEN Shooty gets his, well, shot at it.
And there's no way Fans like RTG or Tennant would undermine a Doctor, let alone our first sort-of proper black Doctor. I'm rather hoping Tennant gets his three glorious specials (assuming they're not a product of someone's imagination) a lot sooner than 23/11/23 (they're filming ALREADY for heaven's sake!) and Shooty gets our sixtieth to GLORIOUSLY launch himself.
My post stands.
Your post can stand as much as it likes as long as I GET MY TENNANT BACK.
This is starting to drift into "Jodie and Ncuti don't matter because Tennant is back" territory.
Also, the deliberate misspelling of the first non-British-named Doctor is wearing a little thin.
This is starting to drift into "Jodie and Ncuti don't matter because Tennant is back" territory.
JODIE! will never not matter but she's BETRAYING AND ABANDONING US in ONE EPISODE'S TIME so I've GOT to start trying to look on the bright side to spare myself, not to mention the rest of you, months of weeping and wailing and gnashing my teeth.
Also, the deliberate misspelling of the first non-British-named Doctor is wearing a little thin.
I just gravitated towards that the way I gravitated towards capitalisation and exclamation marks for JODIE! I do think Shooty is a most amusing nickname for the man who never* shoots people. But I'll admit it did cross my mind that this might be seen as racist. But then getting over-excited over JODIE! could also be seen as sexist. If you're genuinely offended I guess I'll give it up. Of course, this would entail having to decide whether to refer to him as Ncuti or Gatwa or Fourteen or Fifteen...
*Well, hardly ever. Unless you're an Ogron.
Fun fact: the most common origin of Doctor actor forenames is Hebrew: Jon/John, Tom, David, Matt, Jodie!, but not Peter which is biblical but Greek.
Also, the deliberate misspelling of the first non-British-named Doctor is wearing a little thin.
You're absolutely right, of course and I have to wear some of the blame here as I was being extremely lazy and couldn't be bothered to look up the correct spelling- I honestly didn't expect others to follow suit. I will do better from now on.
As I said, David Tennant had his time in the sun. There is no reason to him to come back now and usurp the role from Ncuti. This is Ncuti's turn at bat, and he should not be going into his debut season with Tennant stealing the spotlight
Agree 100%. He's the fourteenth actor in the role (not counting War and Jo Martin Doctors) and therefore he is the Fourteenth Doctor. Anything else is complete fanwank on the part of our moderator who would still be leaping through the air with giddy joy if Tom Baker was still in the role despite pushing 90 and only being able to move with a walking frame.
Tennant was a great Doctor no doubt but yes, his time has been. Is he going tobe the standard solution when a programme is bombing in the ratings? "Ooooh Tipping Point is falling- quick get Tennant on!", "Oh no, Nitcentral's numbers are dropping- quick get an AMA happening with Tennant!!!!", "Oh no, Kim Jong-Un is about to bomb South Korea and Australia- send in Tennant for a photo op...."
our moderator who would still be leaping through the air with giddy joy if Tom Baker was still in the role despite pushing 90 and only being able to move with a walking frame.
Well, YEAH.
Why SHOULDN'T I?
He was the supremely wonderful Doctor, he was the highlight of our fiftieth and we were PROMISED our Curator back.
And what's wrong with needing a walking frame? (NB: I don't think he actually does but never mind.) It would make Who all the more exciting that the Doc couldn't just run away from the monsters. (Also, since we're being so politically-correct these days, you sound rather ageist and ableist.)
I think Big Finish has proven that near 90 Tom can still act the socks off most young-uns. How many (apart from you) do you think would tune in to see a geriatric Doctor who can barely walk?? (I know you're about to pull out "but Hartnell could barely walk"- well he could with the help of a cane- he was also only in his mid-50's....)
How many (apart from you) do you think would tune in to see a geriatric Doctor who can barely walk??
Anyone who a) loves Who, b) loves Tom, c) loves RTG, d) always tunes in to the first episode of a new Doctor even if they never watch till the next regeneration. That's an absolute minimum of ten million. And aren't you forgetting that having a woman in her sixties the main character of a kids' TV show was actually bat**** crazy but SJA worked so well that we never even REALISED this?
Emily, you need to face reality here. Tom Baker may be a terrific actor, but the fact remains is that he is now 88-years-old. The idea that he could still play the Doctor, like he did in the 1970's is ludicrous. Big Finish is the best you can hope for to have any further Fourth Doctor adventured involving Mr. Baker.
As far as Tennant goes, well, I've made my position quite clear. Ncuti is going to have a hard enough time at it is (as the racists are already going after him). Tennant's presence will be, IMO, a hindrance, not a help.
Tom Baker may be a terrific actor, but the fact remains is that he is now 88-years-old. The idea that he could still play the Doctor, like he did in the 1970's is ludicrous.
Of course it is! I'm not expecting him to be our beloved Fourth Doctor! I'm expecting him to be our beloved Curator!
Colin did a great job of that role. At least he wasn’t a creepy old man offering lollies to little kids…,
Colin did a great job of that role.
We can at least agree that it wasn't Colin's fault that his FAKE "Curator" was smug and incredibly stupid (boasting of what wonderful room-mates he'd selected for his past self when - hello! - one of them WIPED OUT THE HUMAN RACE).
At least he wasn't a creepy old man offering lollies to little kids
And neither was Tom. Admittedly any other person in his position in The Long Way Round absolutely would be but it's TOM BAKER for heaven's sake...
Well technically there were humans to the end of the universe, one of the very last beings was a copy of bernice summerfrield.
and only being able to move with a walking frame.
It's not like they haven't dealt with this before, like in the 10th anniversary.
Well technically there were humans to the end of the universe, one of the very last beings was a copy of bernice summerfrield.
Blimey, where does that come from?
and only being able to move with a walking frame.
It's not like they haven't dealt with this before, like in the 10th anniversary.
Also in The White Witch of Devil's End, aka Damaris Hayman Sits In A Chair...
But I'll admit it did cross my mind that this might be seen as racist.
I dunno - the idea that white Who people can cope with fans giving them affectionate shorthand nicknames like "Rusty", "the Moff" or "Twerpee" but a black Who person is assumed to be way too sensitive to cope with such a thing might itself be seen as lots more racist.
Also in The White Witch of Devil's End, aka Damaris Hayman Sits In A Chair...
And now she's dead. We need to keep Tom as far away from chairs as possible!
the idea that white Who people can cope with fans giving them affectionate shorthand nicknames like "Rusty", "the Moff" or "Twerpee" but a black Who person is assumed to be way too sensitive to cope with such a thing might itself be seen as lots more racist.
*Piteous sobbing noises* I CAN'T STAND THE CONFUSION IN MY MIND!
We need to keep Tom as far away from chairs as possible!
Rest assured that Tom and chairs are JUST FINE together...
Perhaps this thread should be returned to just Fourteenth Doctor, at least until we know more about the situation.
Nope, the Doctor is very much in flux at the moment and it won't do her/him any harm if Nitcentral reflects this.
The benny copy is from "A Bell Ringing in an Empty Sky".
*Checks TARDIS Wiki*
BLIMEY.
Yeah
Also apparently at one point the Doctor's lizard king imagtinary friend was inside Peri's mind alongside Sil.
Oh yeah, I remember THAT one...
Have you considered emptying your memory of Big Finish nonsense so you have more space for other things?
Luckily all such memories are pretty vague, what with me being practically SENILE these days.
And actually if I had such a superpower it would be New Who I'd empty my memory of. Could you IMAGINE the JOY of watching all thirteen glorious seasons AS IF FOR THE FIRST TIME every month? (Obviously I'd write myself a note suggesting I skip Orphan 55, Black Spot, Akhaten and That Abomination With the Trees...)
I actually wish I had forgotten more Classic Who stuff so I could actually, be a newbie to them, start watching from Rose onward without feeling like I'm way too familiar with the classic stuff.
There is no such thing as being too familiar with Classic Who!
Unless you’ve seen Timelash
OK, fair point.
I don't actually really care about Timelash in itself.
Or any specific episodes in general.
Usually it's just a general Fivey Era feel.
Well, you're in luck, Gaia. Timelash is a Sixth Doctor story, not a Five one.
Yes
Which is partly why I don't care about it, I don't care about any of the Sixth Doctor episodes.
It's all just a smush of "arrogant colorful Doctor and plucky plant-lover are tsundere for each other" to me.
Although I *did* at one point ship the two plucky plant-lovers together, in fact I'm propably the person who did the most PeriMel content, and I do often see them as less interchangeable than say, Benton and Yates or even Ben and Polly, this was also at an earlier time in which I was more nonlucid and careless. Nowadays I realize that propably the canon Peri and Mel are better to be shipped with side characters, and that I was mostly making stuff up about a show I did'nt really want to watch but which I was reading about to help myself obsess less over Susan Wainwright from Sims 3.
It's weird, I don't really like watching the actual show, I only like interacting on the forums. Then again, I never do stuff the normal way.
Well, Gaia, the Sixth Doctor is not too popular with Emily either. Tom Baker, David Tennant, and now JODIE seem to be her favourites.
As far as Ncuti goes, as I said, he's going to have it tougher than perhaps even JODIE did. The racists are already gathering their torches and pitchforks, before he's even had a chance to start his time on the show.
They call him "Not British". Well, he was born in Rwanda, but he and his family left there when he was two-years-old (because of the genocide that was going on their at the time) and settled in the U.K. He's a Naturalized U.K. Citizen, and that makes him British in my books.
They make comments like "I hope I can understand him." Again, he's lived in the U.K. since he was two and was educated there. He probably has a British accent as much as any of them.
Still, that won't stop those people from hating him.
Tom Baker, David Tennant, and now JODIE seem to be her favourites.
You forgot Ecclestraitor. Just because I spend my life threatening to confiscate his ears (the man who MURDERED my Ninth Doctor has NO RIGHT to his glorious ears!) doesn't mean he's not my all-time favourite, •••• HIM I BETRAYED TOM BAKER FOR THAT MAN WHY DID HE LEAVE ME...
The Sixth Doctor really is'nt popular with that many people. Tom and the NuWhos are much more popular.
Are you looking forward to Ncuti's take on the Doctor, Emily?
I'm still struggling with massive levels of gender disappointment, horror at the sight of his bleached hair, and the feeling of to-hell-with-whathisface-we're-getting-Tennant-back-we're-getting-Tennant-back-we're-getting-our-Tennant-baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!. Also, it's difficult to get excited about the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Doctor when you don't know whether he IS the Fourteenth or the Fifteenth Doctor.
Having said that, I am serenely sure I'll fall madly in love with him two-thirds of the way through his first episode, I always do with RTG Docs.
Actually it's likely that he won't have bleached hair in the role.
Maybe he wears a wig or hat?
Actually it's likely that he won't have bleached hair in the role.
I pray to Xoanon that you're right.
Maybe he wears a wig or hat?
Hats are seen as very old, well, hat. An essential part of an Old Who Doctor and an occasional gimmick for a New Who Doctor.
He will propably grow his hair instead of bleaching it. Since he'd be similair to the Twelfth Doctor.
Maybe hats will do a comeback this decade.
EXCLUSIVE FROM YOUR SUPER SOARAWAY SUN!
Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor is to wear wellington boots as part of his costume.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/19203943/ncuti-gatwa-boot-doctor-who/
I call major BS on that.
Unless they're special gold wellies with purple sequins?!
Nick W
Even I struggle to get excited about the Doctor's footwear, though like an idiot I clicked on the clickbait. I see the Sun is maintaining its usual standards of journalistic integrity by stealing Russell T God's quote about JODIE!'s last episode for Ncuti...
To say nothing of it calling Tom Baker 'the first Doctor Who'.
Well, who HASN'T just assumed he's the first, the best, the one and only...
More shizzle:
Ncuti Gatwa is rumoured to have already filmed scenes as the Doctor for the 60th anniversary.
Ncuti is said to have filmed scenes with David Tennant, Catherine Tate and potentially Bonnie Langford. In one particular scene, Ncuti is seen only wearing a shirt and trainers with no trousers and is carrying an oversize mallet that he hits the TARDIS with.
Nick W
Ncuti Gatwa is rumoured to have already filmed scenes as the Doctor for the 60th anniversary.
Ncuti is said to have filmed scenes with David Tennant, Catherine Tate and potentially Bonnie Langford
You just had to go and ruin it all didn't you.
Dont ncut the messenger
NickW
Curses, when you put it like THAT I'm gonna HAVE to make an exception to my usual rule on this issue...
Good reference to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s few months ago Kate.
My prediction is that as long as RTD realises he can’t just redo his era again and does something closer to classic Who then Gatwa will go down as the Tom Baker Tennant of the 2020s. Otherwise he’ll be in the ‘let down by the scripts’ club with Capaldi and Jodie.
Also I think Doc turning into Tennant again as the 14th Doc is a mistake if that really is what will happen. I’m hopeful they’ll make Ruth the 14th Doc to retcon the Timeless Child nonsense.
My prediction is that as long as RTD realises he can’t just redo his era again and does something closer to classic Who then Gatwa will go down as the Tom Baker Tennant of the 2020s
I'm very sure it won't just be a redo (despite considerable evidence to the contrary, viz, TennantDoc, Donna, Wilf...) but that won't necessarily make it closer to classic Who, there are hints the Gatwa Doctor (whatever number he is) will be very gay...
Otherwise he’ll be in the ‘let down by the scripts’ club with Capaldi and Jodie.
*Wince*
Also I think Doc turning into Tennant again as the 14th Doc is a mistake
I don't care WHAT he is as long as I GET MY TENNANT BACK.
RTG on casting Shooty
Awww! 'Your words are a constant blessing in my life it seems' is what ALL Doctors should say to their showrunners...
That’s not how you spell his name. I suggest you get used to spelling it correctly lest you get accused of racism…. Or something….
Already been there (18 & 20 May upthread) but as I've got a) a postgraduate diploma in African studies from an African university and b) a Synthetic Phonics publishing company, I'm fairly sure I can make a convincing case for it being about phonics rather than racism.
If someone wants to offer a certified-racism-free alternative nickname I'm all ears, though.
Why don’t you just spell his name correctly for no other reason than it’s how you spell it? It’s actually disrespectful to him to do otherwise.
I dunno, maybe I’m being silly- would love for others to weigh in on this.
You never said that misspelling Eccleston's name all these years was disrespectful.
Maybe I'll stick to perfectly-decodable 'Gatwa', it just seems unfriendly to go from being on first-name terms with JODIE! to a surname.
You never said that misspelling Eccleston's name all these years was disrespectful.
One is an accidental misspelling the other is a deliberate misspelling because you can't be arsed to spell it correctly. You are not dumb- you understand this point perfectly and it's rather churlish of you to try and make that comparison.
Maybe I'll stick to perfectly-decodable 'Gatwa'
As we rarely say William, Patrick, Jon, Peter, Sylvester, Paul, Chris, David, Matt or Peter (again) then this is far more acceptable.
it just seems unfriendly to go from being on first-name terms with JODIE! to a surname
So the only Doctors you are "friendly" with are Tom and Colin?
You never said that misspelling Eccleston's name all these years was disrespectful.
One is an accidental misspelling
I hate to break the news, but 'Ecclestraitor' was in no way an accidental misspelling.
the other is a deliberate misspelling because you can't be arsed to spell it correctly
It's not to do with not-being-arsed, I'm spelling it phonetically, mainly because 'Shooty' is such an adorable and amusingly inappropriate nickname for a Doctor.
Maybe I'll stick to perfectly-decodable 'Gatwa'
As we rarely say William, Patrick, Jon, Peter, Sylvester, Paul, Chris, David, Matt or Peter (again) then this is far more acceptable.
Yeah, but that's because almost all Doctors have such boring ordinary English names we'd do a double-take every time we had to associate 'em with our crazy Time Lord. Not to mention the repetition of Peters, Jo(h)ns and Jo(die)s...
it just seems unfriendly to go from being on first-name terms with JODIE! to a surname
So the only Doctors you are "friendly" with are Tom and Colin?
Well, we HAD to be on first-name terms with the Bakers for obvious reasons (though since the Day of the Doctor novelisation juggled fourteen Doctors without once attaching a number to any of 'em, I HAVE wondered if we should all just refer to Four/Six as 'Baker' and rely on the belief it should be PRETTY BLOODY OBVIOUS which one you're referring to...).
And we had to be on first-name terms with Matt cos 'Smith' is just too boring for words, not to mention confusing given the Doc's Human Nature identity. And of course 'Whittaker' would have made for similar confusion given our mercury-obsessed writer. Going from first-name to surname wasn't a problem for me between Eleven n'Twelve cos 'Capaldi' is so much more interesting than 'Peter' but this isn't an issue with 'Ncuti' and 'Gatwa'...
Anyway...since two people have now suggested Shooty is troubling I'll try to stick to Gatwa, at least until I fall madly in love with him two-thirds of the way through his first episode* and something a lot better occurs to me (or anyone else).
*Well I'm ASSUMING I will, it happens with all RTG's Doctors, WORSHIP HIM!
Maybe it will be the same wellies that Romana wore in Full Circle and that Fivey almost wore in Castrovalva?
Shooty is a common nickname. There are various people called Shooty.
And actually back then the Doctors were also sometimes known as BillDoc, PatDoc, JonDoc, TomDoc, PeteDoc, ColDoc, SylvDoc, PaulDoc.
Heck, I say Fivey and Sixie often to the point that sometimes those become in-universe nicknames.
CB refers to his character as “Old Sixie” frequently…..
CB refers to his character as “Old Sixie” frequently…..
Yeah, and I strive to do so sometimes as well, it's nice and friendly and maybe if I use it often enough I'll start feeling nice and friendly towards Old Sixie...
...Yeah, maybe gimme another couple of millennia on that...
David Tennant in the Sunday Times: 'Ncuti Gatwa will be the next Doctor Who and that's about as much as I am prepared to say.'
Thanks for nothing. If you'd just said 'Fourteen' instead of 'next' and 'Doctor' instead of 'Doctor Who'...
Yup maybe you can start by also calling the Fifth Doctor "Fivey". That's a nice nickname too! Fivey and the Space Teenagers!
Maybe they're referring to the era as a "Doctor Who". It's a Fourteenth Doctor Who with a Fourteenth Doctor. Not much different than how sometimes Trakenites are called Trakens.
Fivey and the Space Teenagers!
*Piteous sobbing noises*
Fivey is a nice name.
So is "Space Teenagers".
Anyways, I think Ncuti might be playing 14 in Tennant prostethics.
This way you can resurrect old actors and deage old ones, such as Leo Flanagan in John Woodnutt prostethics as there might be an universe where the Master took Seron's body.
Well, looks like he'll be wearing a shirt, which certainly soothes most of MY worries about our fifteenth (FIFTEENTH!!!!!!!!!!!!) Doctor.
Though he's also keeping that moustache, unfortunately.
Ncuti is going to have a hard enough time gaining acceptance without Tennant stealing the spotlight.
If you're scared of following in the footsteps of giants, DON'T BECOME THE DOCTOR.
Ncuti held his own in that trailer, moustache or not moustache, I'll give him that.
RTD says that Tennant is the Fourteenth Doctor and Gatwa the Fifteenth.
But Ncuti Gatwa is actually the Nineteenth Doctor!
All the way up to McGann, fine. One to eight. Then, Hurt. 'War Doctor' my ass, he's nine. Eccleston ten, Tennant eleven, metacrisis Doctor twelve. Smith thirteen, Capaldi fourteen, Whittaker fifteen. (Let's leave the Timeless and Jo Martin Doctors aside, for sanity's sake.)
Now, in The Power of the Doctor, Whittaker is force-regenerated into the Master, so he's sixteen. And then regenerated back again into Whittaker, who is seventeen. She then regenerates into Tennant - number eighteen.
Assuming that Tennant actually does regenerate into Gatwa and there is no more chicanery (which I fully expect but leaving that aside for the purposes of my theory), that makes Ncuti Gatwa the Nineteenth Doctor.
Q.E.D.
(Let's leave the Timeless and Jo Martin Doctors aside, for sanity's sake.)
Oooooh no. You don't get to open the can of worms and then just set SOME of the worms aside 'for sanity's sake'...
Yup Gatwa's the sixth of the new regen line.
I absolutely blame Moffatt for all this nonsense (and, by extension, Eccleston for refusing to come back for the 50th anniversary).
Yes, but Chibnallb would have messed it up anyway.
(Let's leave the Timeless and Jo Martin Doctors aside, for sanity's sake.)
Oooooh no. You don't get to open the can of worms and then just set SOME of the worms aside 'for sanity's sake'...
OK
RTD says that Tennant is the Fourteenth Doctor and Gatwa the Fifteenth.
But Ncuti Gatwa is actually the Nth Doctor, because, thanks to the Timeless Child retcon, we don't actually know how many Doctors there are.
Nick W
Photos of the Fifteenth Doctor's costume has leaked, I have uploaded to Imgur:
imgur.com/a/2V1LQcH
I think it looks great, throwbacks to Troughton, Pertwee and Baker there. A classic look with a modern twist.
Very smart - and yet strange!
He looks every inch the Doctor!
Nick W
Reported on DW News:
www.doctorwhonews.net/2022/12/the_look_of_the_fifteenth_doctor_and_ruby_sunday.html
"The BBC has released the first images of the Fifteenth Doctor and his companion Ruby Tuesday in costume.
The new Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will take control of the TARDIS next Christmas following three specials starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor.
The pictures show Gatwa in his new outfit as The Doctor. He is currently filming series fourteen at the Bad Wolf studios in Wales. He is joined by new companion Ruby Tuesday played by Millie Gibson."
There's a link to a really cute video too.
Nick W
Oh.
Well, at least he's wearing a shirt, I guess.
Pity it's so...orange.
I'm not sure about this one, but I think it'll grow on me. It just looks like an old man jacket (or is that an old man's bathrobe?) and old man pants, and then a young man's (bland) shirt and young man's necklace. Necklace? I guess it's there instead of a tie or cravat, but...I can see Ncuti going to a club wearing this outfit. I guess I'll have to see him wearing it and interacting with the Master and Daleks and the Ood for it to 'feel' like the Doctor's outfit.
As for Ruby's look-- she's been rummaging through Rose's closet by the looks of it. Nice look, though.
It's occurred to that I've never loved the the pre-debut press releases of the Doctor's costumes, and this is no exception--not saying I hate it, just that I certainly don't love it. Eccleston's was particularly worrisome.
(This doesn't apply to revised costumes, such as McCoy's and Smith's later darker palates, which I liked from the photos.)
It just looks like an old man jacket (or is that an old man's bathrobe?) and old man pants
Yup. And Fifteen is the LAST Doctor you'd imagine going round in old man stuff.
It's occurred to that I've never loved the the pre-debut press releases of the Doctor's costumes, and this is no exception--not saying I hate it, just that I certainly don't love it. Eccleston's was particularly worrisome.
Come to think of it, I felt exactly the same, but •••• that jacket - and even Tennant's pin-stripes - grew on me, no doubt due to what was inside 'em...
I have to say I don't like the costume for a couple of reasons. Firstly: it's bland - brown check with an orange top? It's 70's (and not in a Pertwee way), it's boring professor. After all the pictures of Ncuti in bold and/or African inspired block colours it's disappointing. Look at our Fugitive Doctor, look at the picture of Ncuti in that blue jacket with many colours. Heck, look at anything Ncuti wears on the red carpet. I think we were all expecting the 15th Doctor to be more of a Dandy.
Secondly: folks have already discovered the luxury brand of the suit and it is eye-wateringly expensive. That not only puts it out of reach of most cosplayers, but also means little chance of official reproductions. It was bad when it was 11's shirts, less so with 12's jumper (because you could cut holes in any old top). The Doctor should look like they picked up their clothes in a charity shop, or nicked 'em from fancy-dress. Ncuti is a clothes horse, anything would look good on him.
Also, did RTD have to make our new companion look like a Rose clone?
it's bland - brown check with an orange top? It's 70's
Yeah, I just kept thinking of About Time's comment on The Green Death: 'So tangled up in the dressings of the era that you can virtually smell the orange-and-brown curtains.'
After all the pictures of Ncuti in bold and/or African inspired block colours it's disappointing. Look at our Fugitive Doctor
*Pitiful sobbing noises* WANT OUR FUGITIVE DOCTOR BACK! WANT OUR FUGITIVE DOCTOR'S COSTUME BACK!
The Doctor should look like they picked up their clothes in a charity shop
Hear hear! (Even if I wish JODIE! hadn't taken this quite so literally...)
Also, did RTD have to make our new companion look like a Rose clone?
Didn't even NOTICE the latest Stray, tbh.
So there's this, but I note without orange.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmTpCWPN9yu/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=
Thing is, Tom looks like the Doctor in ANYTHING. The rest of 'em don't have this privilege.
Even here?
https://blackadderquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/redbeard.jpg
First reaction; HAHAHA!
Second impression; yikes!
CORRECTION: Tom looks like the Doctor in VERY NEARLY EVERYTHING...
His looks in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad & The Curse of King Tut's Tomb are also questionable as Doctor looks.
Here's the photos page on his IMDB entry for those who want to play "Doctor Look Or Not?' ;-)
It's funny, as I was flipping through those pictures one had me thinking, "There's Peter Capaldi, but where's Tom?" and another one where I thought it was Ian Marter. Funny how those shots taken before he had his full curly hair look almost don't look like him.
Tom Baker played Rasputin? o.O
Yep.
Call me 'crazy' or this is a stretch, but I just saw an episode of Family Feud, and host, Steve Harvey, wore a suit that reminded me of Ncuti's outfit.
Not an exact match, as he's wearing solid brown instead of chex, and brown shoes, with a yellowish or orangey shirt and tie.
See for yourself at the 36 and 50 second mark, and more times through the 2:49 long video;
https://youtu.be/CzzvRuH6NXs
There was a time when the creation of a Doctor Who title sequence was the work of just those working at the BBC on the actual program. Nowadays, anybody with a computer and imagination can create one, and believe me, there are ALOT of fan-made title openings out there.
And the ones for Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor are increasing by the week. Here's a good one that seems to latch onto his brown and orange costume scheme. I personally like the violins threaded throughout the theme;
https://youtu.be/BW4cn0p4xdI
Color me impressed.
That WAS a bit thrilling in spite of a) orange and brown being distinctly not my favourite colours and b) chocolate oranges being distinctly not my favourite flavour.
Some photos of Ncuti in action and in costume here and it's not the one we've already seen, in fact the coat is like the one Lenny Henry once wore in a comedy skit!
https://nybreaking.com/doctor-who-first-look-new-timelord-ncuti-gatwa-is-seen-on-set-for-the-first-time/
Looks brilliant though!
Nick W
The coat is weird.
The rest is definitely an improvement on the costume that was actually announced...
Holy shmenkies! You guys aren't going to believe this but I have something very very similar to that coat hanging up in my closet, weird, big lapels and the same colour! Over 10 years ago a retiring co-worker of my wife's gave her the coat because he didn't want it, and she thought I might like it. I never wore it, but always felt like it was a Doctor Who-ish coat. Never had the guts to wear it as a Doctor ciostume at a convention, so it's been gathering dust in the closet and now I see this?! Life is crazy!
Glad he ditched the blonde hair, but noticed that his moustache makes him the first Doctor with permanent facial hair (not including the temporary beard of Eleven).
What about the scruffy War Doctor?
Article - Gatwa is the first black actor to take on the lead role as The Doctor, after Whittaker made history as the first permanent female Time Lord in 2017.
1. How many times was the Doctor temporarily a female before Whitaker?
3. As she's no longer a Time Lord, permanent is definitely the wrong word. Perhaps they should have used 'official' instead?
3. Rodan? Romana? The Rani? I seem to recall several female Time Lords before Whitaker. Another poor word choice.
Gods, I forgot to READ the article, I was just...staring at the pictures.
Congrats on the miraculous Doctor-coat Steve!
Ncuti's the most powerful person in television, apparently...
He can't be more powerful than RUSSELL T GOD, surely, who can replace him with David Tennant with a snap of His fingers...
Maybe he can't. What if Rusty's Magic Fingers have finally failed on him?! It would explain 'Nolly'.
Has anyone actually...SEEN Nolly?
Although this seems to be for a particular story,I have no idea which one.
Probably showing my age here, but my first response is that they look so normal.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQSkk2qPe1/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Bit of a tangent here, but a black time traveller on Earth would encounter a lot of troubles a white one would not. For instance, a black man in the 1960s would probably risk his life being seen with a white woman like her. Then again, Jodie encountered nowhere near the level of sexism she should have, so maybe they'll just mostly ignore the racism angle too, after paying it some lip service, and move on?
Two-thirds of The Mod Squad.
I can just hear Emily now; "Who-what-where-when-why?! The Mod what?????"
Although, she could be forgiven if it was never imported to the U.K.
For instance, a black man in the 1960s would probably risk his life being seen with a white woman like her.
In some parts of the world, but probably not in the UK.
Jodie encountered nowhere near the level of sexism she should have
THEY TRIED TO DROWN HER AS A WITCH!
Once.
For instance, a black man in the 1960s would probably risk his life being seen with a white woman like her.
In some parts of the world, but probably not in the UK.
Yeah, we may have had rampant prejudice and institutionally racist police (had? still have) but at least we didn't have legalised segregation.
so maybe they'll just mostly ignore the racism angle too, after paying it some lip service, and move on?
It would make perfect sense for people in the Whoniverse to care a lot less about the melanin level of your skin when they're BEING INVADED BY ALIENS EVERY WEEK but sadly Rosa implies they're just as racist...
How strange to realise that today is the one-year anniversary of the casting of the 'next next' Doctor.
You're JOKING.
Would that I were. Look at the date on the first post above.
Is that our life, these days? ONE LINE per Doctor per year...?
Remember when we thought that Moffat was a bit slow?
Holy moley! What the frigg-???!!
If you had asked me one minute ago how long I'd known that Gatwa would be the future Doctor, I would have said no more than 7 or 8 months, but ONE FULL YEAR???!!!
AND STILL NOT A SINGLE EPISODE???!!!
And when is his first episode actually scheduled to air?
Well, I am HOPING RTG will bless us with our three episodes of Tennanty goodness in November, followed by the resurrection of our glorious Christmas Special for Gatwa's first episode but I'm probably being crazily over-optimistic, the way things have been going his first episode'll probably be Christmas 2024...
Okay, something weird is going on here.
We've seen Gatwa in publicity photos sporting his Doctor outfit, and he has very, very short hair.
On April 20 we saw him and Millie Gibson in 1970's clothing, and he's got an average-length afro.
Today, doctorwhonews.net has released an image of the Doctor and Millie in Victorian times (or earlier), and now he has curly hair but it's combed into a style (and sports a small pony tail).
What's going on here? Does this Doctor have a penchant for donning wigs to fit in, along with period clothing? Or will Gatwa hide his short hair under a wig (and the Doctor has thicker hair than Gatwa-- the way Paul McGann wore a wig for the TV movie)?
Here's a link to the image and article;
https://www.doctorwhonews.net/2023/05/new_picture_released.html
Wow.
It would be WRONG to complain that Gatwa is taking drezzzing-for-the-occasion WAY too seriously when I'm still bitter about JODIE! depriving us of period dress in, say, The Witchfinders, but who does he think he IS, the Roberts Master?
Oy. I should have said 'the Doctor and Ruby'.
Criss-crossing the Whoniverse and reality there.
Speaking from personal experience...NOTHING WHATSOEVER wrong with criss-crossing the Whoniverse with this totally-overrated 'reality' thing.
Plus, 'Ruby Sunday' is an INCREDIBLY stupid name.
Fifteen being rather adorable about the Doctor in general and Tennant in particular.
I especially love the way he casually refers to Our Hero as 'they'.
'They' refers to the previous 14 people that had the role. There's only one Brigidier. There's only one Ian Chesterton. There have been/will be 14 Doctors before Gatwa takes over, so 'they' is the correct grammatical reference. That's all it means.
Nah, I definitely took it as referring to the Doctor-as-a-singular-person in a gender-free manner and it made me happy.
We have Fifteen's Theme Tune!
Well. Certainly sounds like he won't be one of those plaintive, wistful, Gallifrey-mourning kinda Docs...
A couple of folks at Gallifrey Base seem to think it sounds like 'blaxpoitation' movie music. I have no experience to compare it, and I wouldn't want to suggest that Murray Gold is stereotyping Gatwa... but it IS a shame that Segun Akinola wasn't the one to compose for our first (ok, second counting Ruth) non-white Doctor.
Conversely, blaxploitation soundtracks are a special interest of mine. And I don't hear it at all. Sounds like people are projecting with that one.
So: I could really like Gatwa as the 15th Doctor. I love his enthusiasm & his laughter & bounce.
But...I wasn't a fan of getting lectured in the specials. Did The Giggle have to stop mid-episode to lecture us about the evils of the internet etc? And not so much of a fan of the whole "Now with a wheelchair ramp" demo of the TARDIS--presumably, she'd have generated one at any time it was needed anyway.
So, it doesn't thrill me to have Gatwa promise that the next series "will have " it will also feature an episode whose messaging explicitly leans into the actor’s “very leftist, liberal bubble."
https://boundingintocomics.com/2023/12/12/doctor-who-lead-ncuti-gatwa-says-series-will-definitely-address-protagonists-new-race-feature-episode-inspired-by-actors-very-leftist-liberal-bubble
RTD has never been even remotely subtle, but it sounds like they're dropping even the pretense of it overboard tied to an anchor.
And not so much of a fan of the whole "Now with a wheelchair ramp" demo of the TARDIS--presumably, she'd have generated one at any time it was needed anyway.
K9 certainly got around it.
Over it, whatever.
The Giggle:
He seems surprisingly upset about the Master-golden-tooth thing - worse than Tennant who broke down howling over the Master the last time (well, the last-time-but-three-or-four) s/he died...
That was GROSS irresponsibility to nearly get them both killed (dollified. Whatever.) trying to get Tennant to drop that ball...
'Come here. I've got you. Yeah? It's okay. I'm here' - Well until you swan off in five minutes' time anyway...(Sorry. He is REALLY SWEET.)
'Okay, kid. I love you. Get out!' - you two should really have considered doing the multi-Doctor thing a bit longer. You CLEARLY adored each other. It's a weird but quite the refreshing change from the 'Fancypants!' 'Scarecrow!' of - DEAR GODS - forty years ago...
The Church on Ruby Road:
Blimey *gawps at Doctor dancing in a nightclub in a kilt* is THAT what rehab does for you...?
'A pram? At midnight. Really?' - Stop self-righteously judging other people's parenting! I bet your own parenting wasn't that great...
Has he ALREADY worn more clothes than any other single Doctor has worn in their lifetime?
'91 percent of men wouldn't choose a diamond' - since when does any Doctor know THAT much about human...stuff? Matt thought that football was the one with the sticks...
'Cos I spend a lot of time hanging off things, I er...I invented these' - You couldn't have bloody well invented anti-mavity gloves SOONER? Like, when you were TOM BAKER?!
JANIS GOBLIN: (singing) We've got a baby, we can feast. We can dine three days at least. Baby blood and baby bones. Baby butter for the baby scones...Little baby feets, little baby toes...
DOCTOR: Amazing. - Ooh, bit ruthless, even for someone who used to be Capaldi...
Bowing to the Goblin King is just so PERTWEE. Sure, he's black and gay and singing and dancing and most un-traditionally-Doctorish of all he's got a MOUSTACHE but they really ARE all the same grovelling monarchist at heart, aren't they...
DOCTOR: Hmm. Cherry Sunday.
CHERRY: Like a tasty treat.
DOCTOR: Yes. I'll see you later, Cherry, okay? - Have I just watched a rerun of the Jackie-failing-to-seduce-Eccy scene...only with a MUCH more tactful Doctor?
'I've got no one' - you've got a TARDIS!
'Just wondering. Maybe I'm the bad luck' - I'm half-outraged that the Doctor could think such a thing of himself and half-outraged that it's taken him so many thousand (million. Whatever.) years for this VERY OBVIOUS thought to occur...
Imagining Emily going to the cinema just to watch Ncuti in “Barbie”…..
I feel like there's a better chance of me being attacked by a great white shark in my own living room.
A FLYING great white shark, a la A Christmas Carol.
Isn't he ADORABLE!
'Beloved and sacred' - yeah. This.
'I think we've all been sexy in our own way' - yeah...no.
Ncuti Gatwa's Message to the Fans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-t0KR4pi_k
Awww! He thinks we're good people!
I'm not so sure about the cowardly side this Doctor is exhibiting. He came right out and said that the Boogey Man scared him, and he was scared to face the Maestro because it was the offspring of the Toymaker and from the Pantheon.
He better develop a backbone, soon.
And stop dancing, and go save the universe!
Yeah, have recently been listening to the audios in which McCoy deliberately goes after every Elder God he can get his hands on, so the 'Aaaagghh, they're GODS!' panic did feel...jarring.
Have we HAD a Doctor so openly scared since Troughton (who was almost certainly only faking his panicked 'Oh my giddy aunt!'s to lull his enemies into a false sense of security before genociding them and any innocent people/crabs in the vicinity)? Are all the others frightened too and just better at hiding it, or do some Doctors regenerate virtually-incapable of such an emotion? It's an interesting contrast with Ncuti being so unnaturally happy, confident, charismatic...for a Doctor...