Doctor Who [8]

were are you getting all this info from? it seems like it fits in with the mythos that women just dont get sci-fi. Its not to do with lack of talent or numbers, its to do with territorial geeks not letting women in to their clubhouse. Women dont write about nerdgastic fangirls drooling over the Doctor, they dont think bow-ties are cool, maybe the MALE directors dont like the style of female Writers, maybe it doesnt fit in with their cozy world view of how things should be done. Maybe women Writers dont like fawning older women with creepy catchphrases. Maybe women Writers would knock over the applecart. Until Moffat the king of Geeks Leaves, women will be on the outside looking in.

Talk of sexism and racism always reminds me of something Reginald D Hunter said somewhere;

Discrimination is bad, even against racists.

Generally I would say let peoples opinions lampoon themselves if they are of that variety.  

As for Doctor Who writers a lot of them were part of a group of Doctor Who fans who got into television writing in the 90s. I have no problems finding that group a little to close knit and matey without dragging in the gender perspective.

So what again as the reason RTD was just as sexist and hated women Mrs Figg? Cause he had only one female writer and he got shot of her after she turned in two poor stories.

It seems much more likely to me rather than everyone involved in Doctor Who from producers and directors to Moffat is a rampant sexist, that for some other reason there is simply not a large enough pool of quality female sci fi writers out there for them to draw on.

But if you prefer to just believe everyone involved hates women feel free to, but I doubt that will do much to hep resolve the situation.

I think Blue he general question of why so few quality female scifi writer in mainstream tv is an interesting one.

Oh, I agree.

I was only talking in general terms.

I think the close knit community of male Who fans who knew each others and got into television at the same time explains it a bit as far as Who is concerned. Still, science fiction was a male dominated genre. There's no getting away from that. I would probably say there are more competent men that could do that job. And that's without putting any sort of value in that statement, it just seems to be that way.

That's not to say there aren't possibly and probably competent female science fiction writers. And maybe there hasn't been made a good enough job of searching them out.    But I don't know that, so it would be pure speculation on my part.

I found an interesting piece collating some stats- you can find it here-

http://culturallydisoriented.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/female-creators-in-science-fiction-and-fantasytelevision-the-stats/

Among the stats dug up I found these most interesting-

'On average, 68.2% of writers for SF/F shows were men, while 31.5% of them were women.
The highest percentage of female writers on a show is 57%. The highest percentage of male writers is 100%
The lowest percentage of male writers is 43%. The lowest percentage of female writers is 0%. In other words, while there are shows with no female writers, there are no shows that do not have male writers.
Out of twenty six shows, absolutely NONE had 50% or more female directors.
Ten of the twenty six shows – Thirty eight percent – had ZERO female directors. A whooping 96% of the shows had 75% or more male directors.'

"Doctor Who's regeneration was the most-watched Christmas Day television moment with 10.2 million viewers seeing the five-minute sequence on BBC One.
An average of 8.3 million watched Matt Smith bow out as the Doctor while ITV's Coronation Street averaged 7.9 million."- BBC


What I find most interesting about this is that 2 million people tuned in just to see the regen. Why would you bother if you had no other interest in the show? It wouldnt mean anything?   

Ever since Rose left NuWho there has been a trend for companion arrivals and exits to be greeted with a similar fervour and press interest as when the Doctor regens.
Modern Who when a companion leaves its very much a case of a big build up and a whole episode or two devoted to it.

Back in classic Who companions came and went in a much more unexpected manner- in that vein here is one of my favourite unexpected departures (and all the more powerful for being unexpected)- Tegan leaving the 5th Doctor at the end of Resurrection of the Daleks (prior to this male companion Adric had sacrificed his life to save everyone and her aunt had died, and in this episode a lot of people died, and Tegan had simply taken enough.
In some ways some of what she says reminds me of Amy, particularly the line about it not being fun any more is echoed by Amy's "the travelling is starting to feel like running away."
And the Doctors "Do you think I wanted it this way?" reminds me of 11 saying to River "You think I wanted this?" at the death and carnage in a Good Man Goes to War.
And like Amy she is one of the few companions who choose to stop travelling with him (and for the geeky 11th called Canton in Impossible Astronaut 'Braveheart Canton' and Clara, 'Braveheart Clara in Crimson Horror)-

Was thinking about series 8 and it occurred to me that this will be different from previous NuWho in that the template is not there NuWo has used for a new Doctor.
So far in NUwho the format has been introduce companion, followed by companions first adventure.

With 9 we got Rose as the first episode and then End of the World- 10 was a bit diffrent as Rose stayed on and there was no new companion but it still stuck close to the formula- the xmas Invasion was mainly a Rose episode with 10 only appearing at the end and it was followed by New Earth.

With 11 we got introduced to Amy and then we got The Beast Below, Amy's first adventure in the TARDIS.

With Capaldi there isnt any reason for that and of all the companions Clara should be most prepared to deal with the change than any other, she has met them all after all. So there shouldn't be much need for adjustment, they could just jump right in with no more fuss (I rather hope they do)

Some press round up for Time of the Doctor-

'The most powerful moments in The Time Of The Doctor didn't involve a stand-off against intergalactic bullies and mad despots - they involved the Doctor reflecting on his time, and slowly giving in to the ravages of age. In this vein, Smith managed to wring genuine emotion out of his final on-screen appearance, but also nailed the quieter moments.
While there is comfort in the fact that the story goes on, the Eleventh Doctor's time is over. It might have been silly sometimes, and the time-travel shenanigans often got overly complicated, but it was another fine chapter in the lives and times of Doctor Who. The next one is about to begin, but there is plenty of fun and emotion in the Eleventh's chapter that is worth celebrating.- New Zealand Herald

I shed a tear in the knowledge that possibly the best Doctor the show has seen in its half century is no more. Smith had the ability to persuade his audience that he was, indeed, a millennium old man in a very young man's body. Well, on Boxing Day night on Prime, he discarded that body like a favourite suit too worn and raggedy to patch anymore. RIP 11. We are already missing you.
Smith is at his glorious best in this special, with plenty of reminders of why he might just be the best Doctor yet. Scrub that, he is the best yet and I'm going to miss his portrayal terribly. - Chris Gardner, Stuff

This is a pensive finish, but not gut-wrenching in the way that Davies wrote previous Doctor David Tennant's farewell. This is gentler, with only a cameo from his beloved Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) who says goodbye to her "raggedy man".
Beginning a new chapter of life for the universe's most beloved Time Lord. And the comfortable assurance that his hope, his strength and, best of all, his eccentric madness, remains a light which will never be extinguished. - Michael Idato, Sydney Morning Herald

Even though the date of Smith's leaving and the identity of his successor, Peter Capaldi, had been known for some time, watching the episode knowing it was Smith's last kept at least one American viewer anxious and sad, with a finger on the pause button for when things got too heavy. Possibly there are still viewers, avid viewers even, who have never quite cottoned to him — Tennant continues to cast a long shadow — but I have loved his work. Elegant and heartfelt, authoritative and playful, swashbuckling and intimate, alien and familiar, Smith's acting has accommodated and, as it were, humanized every oddball, paradoxical, high-concept, low-humor passage Moffat has thrown at him. - Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times

The Time Of The Doctor, then, brought the curtain down on what has to be classed as a successful 50th anniversary year for Doctor Who, that's had its bumps, but also given us some absolute treats. The Time Of The Doctor in itself is unlikely to go down as one of the Who highlights of 2013 in truth. We quite enjoyed it, but it still felt a bit underwhelming. Still, Smith's performance as the Doctor is undoubtedly one of the year's highlights, and it's very clear that the show is going to miss him a lot. What's also clear is that there are further exciting times ahead. -Simon Brew, Den of Geek

this was Matt Smith's episode to shine, and oh, did he. Even as the Doctor grew old, lost his "companion" Cyberman head "Handles" after all those years after he sent Clara away (reminiscent of the way the Ninth Doctor had sent Rose away), and became the man who made toys and fought the monsters in the town of Christmas, Smith still projected that same quality that has made him so good as the Doctor and so capable of winning over millions of fans after the loss of David Tennant's Doctor. He will be missed, and it will be hard to move on from his Doctor, just like it was to move on from Tennant's.- Meridith Jacobs Examiner

If you saw “The Day of the Doctor” and thought that nothing could top that episode, you guessed wrong: Steven Moffat just continues to outdo himself with every episode, and “The Time of the Doctor” was nothing less. A fitting conclusion to Matt Smith’s tenure at the Eleventh Doctor, it was also a fantastic start to Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor. In addition, the episode brings an end to the various disconnected but incomplete storylines that have been part of every season of Matt Smith’s Doctor -epoch times

for the most part “The Time Of The Doctor” is entertaining, reliably funny (the explanation for Matt Smith’s filming wig is a stroke of meta genius) and, in its best moments, moving. Clara’s family scenes are a lovely throwback to when this show would regularly touch base with ordinary people instead of Silurians. Handles has the potential to be the new K-9 (seriously guys, nip back and grab him, he’s great) and, of course, there’s the Eleventh Doctor…

Matt Smith has been rarely less than magnificent in the part. Following up David Tennant must have been a nerve-shredding (and potentially career-ending) undertaking, but he had us at fish custard. Funny and sad and sinister and heart-breakingly sweet, he’s captured everything that makes this character great including – madly, given that he’s the youngest actor to have filled the Doctor’s shoes – age. He didn’t need to be made up like old Bilbo to sell the idea that this is an old man. He could do that with just a furrow of his brow and those big, sad eyes. His regeneration scene is, thankfully, a beauty. The flashes and bangs are taken care of outside – handily despatching the Dalek ships in the process – leaving a final, reflective moment with Clara and a spectral Amy. We’ll miss you fella. Don’t be a stranger.With no trailer after the episode, it’s going to be a long wait to see how our new Time Lord turns out. He looks magnificent, though, giving us his best Baker-boggle. One thing’s for sure, we’re going to be watching a very different show in a few months time. And that’s good. Like the Doctor himself, this show thrives on change. So Doctor… what have you got for us this time?- SFX

Interesting points Petty. (All of them)

It will certainly be interesting to see how Cipaldi turns out.

This messing up with the schedual ing has certainly made Matt Smiths era go by faster than it really did. 4 years is certainly a respectable amount of time in the role.

By my reckoning (it depends if you include minisodes like Time and the Doctor in 11 era and Time Crash with 10) Smith did 50 episodes and Tennant 49.

Weirdly enough because of the odd nature to series 7 it ended up the longest of any series of NuWho - it has 16 episodes and 5 minisodes.

So he's actually done more than Tennant? That is interesting.

I'm guessing people will still think that Tennant did most and that his era was of more consequense because of the amount of mainstream popularity the show had at the time.

because of the amount of mainstream popularity the show had at the time- Blue


Thats one of those weird persistent myths about the Tennant years- it gained mainstream popularity yes, but the viewing figures (particularly worldwide) show its become considerably more popular since Smith took over than it ever was with Tennant.

adding amy pond to the list of people returning before sherlock did.
(among them is monty fukcing python!)

True true.   

It's certainly strange having nothing for a year and then 3 episodes in 12 days.

Maybe Who fans should complain less about the scheduling issues.

Halfy I was pondering on how to make you see the light on Daleks- and I was thinking of posting a bunch of youtube vids charting their best moments, but it turns out I couldn't be arsed.

So I figured it was easier and would save more time for drinking just to put an enjoyable Dalek romp from the modern era, so here you go (it might also help understand their unpleasantness to us Brits if you can put yourself in the position of someone whose imagination was first introduced to a Dalek about age 3-4 when the rest of your tv viewing was made up of happy puppets and wholesome humans teaching you to count and cartoons.)-

The Daleks are pansies nowadays. They were practically indestructible back in Pertwee's day. (Sort of). And whatever happened to suspense? The last episode was a bit of a yawn... though Clara is always fetching.

I'm looking forward to having an older Doctor again. And Leela could come back. Older Doctor. Young half naked wild woman. I like that kind of thing for some reason. Call me old fashioned.   

Oh yes... enough with all the kissing. The old Doctors never kissed anyone. It's a bit like watching an alien kissing a human...  

Actually, it's exactly like that, in fact!   

Would you kiss your pussy, Petty?  

They were practically indestructible back in Pertwee's day. (Sort of). - Orwell

Very sort of - in classic Who Daleks have died from being pushed off anything high, shoved down corridors spinning, were thwarted by four hanging his hat over ones eyestalk, and Ace killed one with a charged up baseball bat. They hadn't learnt to navigate stairs until the 7th Doctor.


"And whatever happened to suspense?"

Its a weird thing about regen episodes that everyone goes into it, characters and viewers knowing its the regen episode- so the episode always, every regen including most classic, ends up with everyone just waiting for it to get to the inevitable.
The suspense in this one was about it being the Doctors last life, and him facing growing old and dying in a defence of a town he already knows he loses, if you are already suitably invested with the character thats where the emotion in this comes from.


"The old Doctors never kissed anyone."

-10 gets snogged by Queen Elizabeth the First-

War Doctor (disapprovingly)- Is there a lot of this in the future?

11 (apologetically)- It does start to happen, yeah.

"Would you kiss your pussy, Petty?"

Only on special occasions.

"The Time of the Doctor averaged 686,000 viewers in the five major Australian capital cities. It won its timeslot (beating the T20 Big Bash Cricket), was the highest rating drama of the day"- Gallifrey Base

Saw the christmas episode, I think I liked it!

 

It was weird though... And i sady was kinda glad matt smiths time is over. Although capaldi was scary as fuck!!

I found his delivery of "I dont like the colour" very funny, and his initial stare reminded me of Tom Baker.