Will this be the cursiest Doctor ever?

[james_davis_nicoll]

Don't know. In related news

Moffatt apparently getting annoyed by people who want a female doctor whereas Gaiman points out a woman would not have done because replacing Smith requires "someone harder and older and more dangerous" than Smith.

Comments

[azurelunatic]

There was a piece going around Tumblr recently -- http://zarhooie.tumblr.com/post/57381738860/alicelostinneverland-william-hartnell-first -- with the birth years and age at casting of all the Doctors.

Smith was born in 1982. That's the year my baby sister was born.

[zeborah]

Oh Gaiman no.

(I mean Moffat too obviously but I expect that of Mr Marty Stu.)

[sasha_feather]

Oh Gaiman! /o\

[bibliofile]

If it came to that, I bet that Helen Mirren could kick Neil Gaiman's ass. Silly Neil.

[vass]

What a pity there are no women harder and older and more dangerous than Matt Smith. Anywhere.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I know!

I don't know why but I am less and less interested in Gaiman's fiction the older I get.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Well, the actual quote was "someone harder and older and more dangerous and, yes, male feels right to me, as a storyteller"

Which sounds like harder, older, dangerous, and male, not harder, older, dangerous, therefore male.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

Dame Judy Dench is not available. (Although with the right writer she'd be a damn fine Doctor.)

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Two sets of two words: Helen Mirren, Gina Torres.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Like with some of the non white actors apparently asked, the trick is finding ones who will do it I suspect.

Try as I might I can't see Dame Helen being up for it,

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Judi Dench (who also swears a lot in real life).

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Isn't Torres, well, American?

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I think you're selectively quoting Gaiman, while Garcia quotes Gaiman then maliciously ignores what he said. Gaiman says outright he'd be looking to cast a woman in the *next* incarnation, but Garcia sneers "but having a woman at the wheel is too sci-fi"

I have no idea why Gaiman thinks as a storyteller the immediately post-Smith Doctor has to be male, but he's clearly not opposed to the idea of a female Doctor.

[seth ellis (from livejournal.com)]

I've forgotten who the commenter was, but someone pointed out that "not quite, not yet" is a very common thing for privileged people to say when the question of equal representation comes up. "Now" has a way of never showing up. At the very least "not yet" is a statement that requires considerable explanation, and "it just feels right to me as a storyteller" is just as weak a justification as the idea that women can't be hard.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I'm pleased to have a Doctor who isn't young, but dear gods. I loved Moffat's episodes under Davies, and I didn't agree with many of the complaints about Amy being overly sexualized (and quite liked many of the episodes with Amy), but the resolution of the season with Clara and the fact that she was largely an object in her entire season had already convinced me that Moffat was just as sexist as many people have claimed, and this statement definitely fits with that interpretation. At least we won't have the Doctor as Peter Pan anymore (which seemed 11's major schtick).

Meanwhile Gaiman doesn't come off as much sexist as just dull and unimaginative - it's been a while since I've liked anything by him.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

You've not watched Coupling then?

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

Noomi Rapace. That is all.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...interesting thought, that.

[pauldormer.livejournal.com]

And for those who haven't heard it yet (I've been mentioning it where I can), if you look up Peter Capaldi on the IMDb, you'll see he was in World War Z this year, playing a W.H.O. Doctor.

[bibliolicious.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks.

[mcbadger.livejournal.com]

I was surprised as well as disappointed by Moffat's snipe at Mirren because it implied he feels the Doctor can only be played by a man, which isn't consistent with things he's said and done in the past. That includes dialogue confirming that at least one Time Lord has switched genders on regeneration, and sounding out con audiences on how they'd feel about a female Doctor.

[seawasp]

The dialogue confirming that a Time Lord switched genders was deliberately put there by Gaiman, to allow for the possibility of a female regeneration. He explicitly says so in his article, and that for the NEXT regeneration he'd certainly be interested in seeing a female Doctor, so I think vilifying him for saying that he felt that for this regeneration "someone harder and older and more dangerous and, yes, male feels right to me, as a storyteller" is rather disingenuous at best and actively ignoring what he said at worst.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I heard they're doing a special science-fiction drama set in the future year of 1963, when Doctor Who is finally ready for a female showrunner.

[fengi.livejournal.com]

To use ancient internet shorthand: This. It's pathetic that Verity Lambert has become a one-off impossible fantasy figure.

In the new version, 2 episodes (a two part story) have been written by a woman and 6 episodes (two being part of the same story) have had female directors. Of course, this includes Blink.

As the final episode of the original series was written by a woman, so maybe they're worried about longevity cooties.

In a way I've come to believe that the Time War was primarily a device to prevent Ramona or Susan from ever popping up and pestering male writers with their ovarian independence.

[http://users.livejournal.com/krin_o_o_/]

I don't think the current writers/directors are up to the task of a female lead yet. Look what they've done to the strong female characters so far. Taken them from powerful and positive role models and reduced them to simpering charactures. Every. Single. One.

And I'll lay money on it being done to Her Lizardship and Girl Friday too. In time.

- Krin

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

If you can't punish your female leads for daring to be female, then what good are you? You might as well be Joss Whedon for heavens' sake.


Oh.

Wait...

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

A more reasonable objection might be "Think of how Amy was handled, and Clara and Song; do you really want the first female doctor to be written by Moffatt?"

[kiya]

Oh gods this.

[timgueguen.livejournal.com]

Reading all this talk of female Doctors made me think MIchelle Yeoh for the role.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Maybe Moffatt can get Stephen Thompson to write for her.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I can name at least one: Dame Helen Mirren.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

The more I think about this, the more I don't want Moffat picking a woman actor to play the Doctor.

He has a thing for picking Gina Bellman for roles and I just don't think she's that good. Sorry.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

My husband and I are calling the next stretch "Doctor Fucking Who" already.

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

We can only hope.

[erikagillian.livejournal.com]

I was going to go with Emma Thompson. Well, Maggie Smith would be great, but yes, a bit on the not running down lots of corridors side, but after seeing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-wDPoC6GM

I want Joanna Lumley :)