The Doctor loves JKR

[ImaginaryCat]

Anyone else get a daft warm fuzzy feeling when Doctor Who was telling herself a bedtime story in prison, and began with the opening line of Harry Potter? Not sure when this episode was written, but I choose to find significance in the fact the first female Doctor is a fan of JKR!

He was in the remake of Survivors around the time. It only lasted one series, which was nothing to do with him, but his character was quite Doctorish, IIRC, he had that clever, brave adventurer vibe with just a touch of ambiguity (as in, I like you, but the jury is out about your motives right now).

This is what pisses me off about the lists of possible Doctors - it's so bloody superficial. You need someone who can do steely authority and has a light enough touch to be funny at times. You need someone whom the baddies underestimate, yes, but who can convince when the tables turn and they are thwarted.

There's no reason a woman couldn't do that. Olivia Colman could do it in her sleep. Whittaker might be able to, but Chibnall has never written her that way, so I'm afraid there's not enough evidence to convince me.

Michaela Coel would undoubtedly be the greatest Doctor ever - if she got to write and direct the script. (I have just said this on the other Who thread.)

But she must be way too expensive now.

I think this from the Torygraph (of all places) nails it:

"“Whopremo” Chibnall was to be applauded for accepting one of the most challenging jobs in British television at a time when ratings were in decline and budgets were shrinking. He boldly took the plunge by casting the first female Doctor - 55 years since the time-travelling institution launched, a move seen by many as long overdue. Since then, sadly, Chibnall simply hasn’t done his Doctor justice.

"Whittaker, 38, is a gifted, in-demand and award-winning actress. Consider her grieving mother in hit whodunit Broadchurch, her kickass nurse in cult sci-fi flick Attack The Block, her cheating wife in Black Mirror favourite The Entire History Of You or her imposter doctor in medical thriller in Trust Me. She’s trod the boards at Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre. She’s starred in film comedies, Russian tragedies and period dramas.

"In short, she has sharp wit, emotional intelligence and huge range. Yet in Doctor Who, Whittaker hasn’t been given a chance to flex her talents in the way that Eccleston, Smith, Capaldi and especially Tennant were."

www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/bbc-has-failed-doctor-jodie-whittaker-no-wonder-quitting/ - apologies, pay-walled.

We were talking about "Karens" earlier. Taking it as read that we know it's a misogynistic put-down on here, have Chibnall and co been scared of having an authoritative in-charge, certain of herself female doctor in case she was too Karenesque?

I've only ever seen her in Broadchurch and a short depicting a destructive lesbian romance. She didn't stun me with her range, tbh, I thought she was effective but not stellar. I've seen nothing in Who to change that impression, really. Even when the material is a bit shit, as it was at times for Tennant, Smith and Capaldi, a decent actor should be able to elevate it a little bit. She's not done that at all, though, as I've said with the lockdown clips posted earlier, there's a glimmer of something that might change my mind.

Other Doctors have - I was devastated when they cast Matt Smith, as I thought they were just going to replicate the younger sexy romantic hero thing Tennant had become which would have changed the character, and Smith blew me away with the Troughtonesque alien-clown-who-is-actually-17-steps-ahead-of-everyone-else thing.

Ultimately you can change the actor but it won't fix the issue - which is Chibnall. In our house, he's shorthand for something being really quite substandard, in the way I suspect some people use 2020 as shorthand for awful. If my son tells you something has 'gone a bit Chibnall', it's not compliment.

Yes, I think Whittaker could have pulled it off, with the right scripts.

Michaela Coel would undoubtedly be the greatest Doctor ever

I think she would be fantastic as the Master, I can't quite explain why, but I think it's that I find her too serene, too in control, vs the more jumpy/manic/unpredictable genius I associate with the Doctor.

It's very possible I've thought about this much more than is sensible for a 42 year old woman.

@BuntingEllacott

Frankly, I've long wanted them to change the melanin content of the Doctor before the sex. Waaaay back before Smith was cast, I wanted Paterson Joseph.

Johnson as the Doctor

I've only ever seen her in Broadchurch and a short depicting a destructive lesbian romance. She didn't stun me with her range, tbh, I thought she was effective but not stellar

I only saw Broadchurch for the first time over the holidays. She was , as you say, effective but not stellar. She was outacted by the actor playing her husband and even, although they were much smaller roles, the actor playing her sulky and initially unlikeable teenage daughter and the actor playing the daughter's potentially dodgy boyfriend.

I dont associate michaela coel with serenity after chewing gum!?!

I dont associate michaela coel with serenity after chewing gum!?!

I don't mean quiet, calm serenity - perhaps serenity isn't the word, but like her thoughts go through more filters and consideration before they pop out - in Chewing Gum, Aliens etc. it's always there. vs. the more front and centre, thoughts as they come characters that Susan Wokoma plays in Chewing Gum and Crazyhead