DanaK

I haven’t seen that episode yet. She was a clone of the Doctor, right? But did they ever consider themselves family or have a real relationship?

FYI More on remaking this lost episode https://doctorwhowatch.com/2019/02/20/doctor-who-mission-unknown-remake/

According to reports from people seeing the show filming in Cardiff, it appears actor Stephen Fry will be making a guest appearance in an episode of Series 12. Update: More about his appearance and who he is http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/stephen-fry-reportedly-starring-in-doctor-who-series-12-90558.htm

I can understand not wanting it to take over the show; I wouldn’t want that either. But if it could be small parts of episodes or every few episodes, I wouldn’t mind that. I just want the Doctor to be happy and not alone and maybe start another family. But I guess there would also be the fear it would take away from the Doctor’s adventuring or have people wondering if the Doctor should be spending more time with family and not putting their life in danger so much

I don’t particularly like the Doctor being romantically involved with a human who is pretty young, like in their early 20s at best, so I wasn’t really thrilled with the Doctor/Rose relationship (or the Doctor/Clara relationship but that was a weird case). It would be the same reason I wouldn’t be for a 13/Yaz relationship, given Yaz is 19/20 at this point, along with barely knowing this 2000+ year alien. Which is why I would prefer an older, more experienced partner for the Doctor, like River was (but she also was a special case) For me, I don’t see it any different than the New Who male doctors who had romances (long or short), except I don’t want to see 13 with a young Companion I’ve seen some fans say they don’t want to see the Doctor (any incarnation) in any kind of romance or relationship. My question is why? I can see not wanting it to be with a Companion, especially a young one, but why not a relationship in general? The Doctor is clearly lonely and is clearly capable of love. Just because they are a powerful alien doesn’t mean they don’t deserve or shouldn’t have fun or have a long term partner. Is it the fear it would take over the show and be too soapy or something else?

Personally, because of the power angle and because it's his/her ship, I wouldn't want the Doctor to be involved with a companion if the person didn't start out as a boyfriend/girlfriend. I wouldn't mind if 13 got a girlfriend who might later become a wife (and didn't go along on the adventures) as long as it remained a small part of the show (as the show is about the Doctor and his/her adventures). Being a new viewer, I wasn't around with Classic Who treating the Doctor as if he was asexual and was his companion's Uncle-like mentor. At the same time, with new Who, I don't particularly like the Doctor having a thing with companions who are mesmerized by the Doctor and fall in love with him without really knowing what he's about. It's like they can't separate adventuring with the Doctor and having feelings towards him/her At the same time, I don't understand classic Who wanting to keep the Doctor mysterious and thus ignoring a lot of the Doctor's inner life. Part of that may have been about keeping things "proper" in those earlier times. New Who has the Doctor more front and center and we get to know him/her better, including romances. Of course, one could argue that the Doctor Classic Who didn't want to get involved with anyone after losing his family, but then things changed with New Who

FYI on the Series 11 Blu Ray/DVD release for the UK https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/tv-on-video-chart/20190120/30/ I’m not sure if the DVD and Blu Ray figures are combined or seen separately. I’ll keep an eye out on the Series 11 soundtrack numbers

Just to clarify, you think the sexuality of a Time Lord is comparable to a human, like human sexual labels can be used properly to refer to them? Or you don't think that? Or in other words, can you restate that without a double negative lol?

Just a note on famous Dr. Who fans. Stacey Abrams, who ran as the first black female for governor of Alabama (and lost), indicated she was a Who fan in a recent interview https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/brilliant-stacey-abrams-doctor-who-fan-and-twitter-aflutter/BDlv3p9ESDJbbFI8wVvemL/ Producer/showrunner Shonda Rhimes is also a Who fan https://www.shondaland.com/live/a26328702/shonda-rhimes-talks-doctor-who/

Hetero so far, but of course if 13 has a relationship with a woman, she’ll be gay (which she likely won’t care about)

I have a question about the Doctor’s sexual orientation. An article I read the other day about whether the Doctor can ethically have a relationship with a companion stated at the end that the Doctor was pansexual, which didn’t make sense to me. In all the stuff I’ve read about the show’s history on Wikipedia and seen onscreen so far, all the relationships the Doctor has had (since New Who at least; most previous Doctors seemed to be mostly treated as asexual) have been with women (though obviously different alien species, particularly humans). I know Captain Jack had a thing for the Doctor, but it wasn’t reciprocated. So has the Doctor been shown having any real interest in anything other than women (I think the assumption is that his late family included a wife)? I’ve seen many fans wanting to see 13 in a relationship and many assume it would be with a woman, which makes sense to me assuming the Doctor’s interest has been only or primarily towards women

Why should the show address this as any big thing? Time Lords are, you know, Time Lords. They regularly change bodies and it was established since the show’s revival that they can regenerate into a man or woman without any indication of a problem, some or most being able to choose their next form (the latter possibly addressed in classic Who as well). So they are gender fluid and not hung up on labels like humans are. Other than having to get used to a new body and new personality, why should gender be an ongoing negative issue? I think the Doctor indicated a blasé attitude about it in the Series 10 two part finale in a conversation with Bill Potts, noting said human hangup on labels. In the Series 11 premiere, she was briefly surprised when told she was a woman but then seemed to accept it pretty easily, though in Episode 3’s Rosa, when addressed as Madam, she commented to herself that she still hadn’t quite gotten used to that. In general, the Doctor as a woman just acts her usual past self, like bulling her way into taking charge, and she only has an issue with it when others make it an issue. She in fact delights in participating in women things in Demons of the Punjab. The Master had some fits about it when he met his future female self Missy in the same Series 10 finale, but he was a jerk and a psychopath anyway. So like the honey badger, a Time Lord don’t care 🙂 I suppose a particular Time Lord could have a major issue with it, but that would likely be rare

Doctor Who virtual reality special announced for this year http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/doctor-who-the-runaway-vr-special-featuring-animated-jodie-whittaker-coming-2019-90545.htm

It’s time for a Series 12 spoilers and news topic with occasional production news coming in http://cultbox.co.uk/news/doctor-who-series-12-jamie-stone-directs-the-first-filming-block The director of the first filming block, partially done in South Africa and the rest in Cardiff currently, is reportedly Jamie Stone. Stone directed a Who short The Last Day

Anyone who likes Tennant and/or Whittaker should try to listen to the podcast interview. It’s a lot of fun. One thing that surprised me was that they set the show in Sheffield because Chibnall having a connection, not because of Whittaker

Doctor #10 David Tennant's podcast interview with current incumbent Jodie Whittaker https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jodie-whittaker/id1450005207?i=1000429677359&mt=2 Jodie comes across really well like I thought from previous interviews. She tends to have some panic about some things though, like trying not to overthink things and working to get into the character of the Doctor in the audition phases. If it were me, I would have probably stressed far too much about it

https://twitter.com/malorieblackman/status/1094012556463747072?s=21 Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall won a Visionary Honours award at BAFTA the other night for the episode "Rosa" ETA: More info on this award https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-02-09/doctor-who-picks-up-special-award-for-malorie-blackman-episode-rosa/

I think one of the few things I would have changed would be to have Ryan and Graham escort Umbreen and her mother as they escaped to Pakistan and just have The Doctor and Yaz watch as Prem confronts his brother and the others and walk away as he’s shot. Ryan and Graham weren’t really needed in that scene

After rewatching this multiple times, sometimes just parts of it, this remains my favorite episode of the season. The look, the feel, the music, the emotion of it, just continues to move me, especially the last 10 minutes. I really appreciate the composer making a real effort to make the score with South Asian musicians and multiple instruments Also, according to a BTS feature on the Blu Ray, they (possibly the BBC?) juggled episodes a bit to make sure this was shown on Remembrance Day

It wasn’t just that Rosa worked for the NAACP; she was also seen as older, employed, reliable, married and more mature. Not really fair to Colvin, but stuff happens

I have to say I’m impressed by the show making the effort to get small and less well known details right for this episode. Things like: the bus driver’s name and his confrontation with Rosa years before, black passengers paying at the front but having to get off and enter at the back, Rosa actually being in the black section when she was told to move (many mistakenly think she was in the white section), all the black passengers in a row having to move back when one or more white passengers needed a seat, and possibly other things I didn’t notice or forgot. As said in a BTS video though, they did have to fudge on where Yaz would sit because their research didn’t give them a definitive answer

Rosa did not stage the incident according to the official sources and Rosa herself. It was not planned and Rosa had not realized that was the same bus driver who forced her off years before. Another bus driver might not have bothered to have her arrested. What was planned was figuring out which case to take to court. The NAACP decided Rosa was a better case as opposed to a pregnant unwed teenager who refused to move 6 months before I think the show’s conceit is that certain points in history are sensitive and needed all the right conditions to happen the way it happened. That was certainly the belief the Doctor was working under. There are certain events that are fixed points in time and can’t be changed without bad stuff happening and then there are points in time where things can be nudged to change the events, which Krasko was doing I’ll concede that Krasko was a weak villain who was easily defeated, but the bigger villain was the racist system at the time

I think the article author meant actually filming in China as opposed to it being a story setting

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/01/30/doctorwho-bbc-china-posters/?utm_content=buffer72f2a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer More info on the show’s upcoming debut in China including some very pretty posters. The article’s writer makes an interesting suggestion to not be surprised to see a future episode set in China

Having a female lead and 2 minority companions seems to be one major difference. Chibnall focused more on man’s inhumanity to man instead of Moffat’s twisty tales but different showrunners focus on different things Also to point out, progressive views change with the times so the show may be more understanding of certain views than the past, but I don’t see how that can be seen as wrong