My tweets

[scarfman]

• Sun, 13:07: Going home. To finish the last little.bb but of moving.
• Sun, 21:51: #AKOTAS update: culture shock. http://t.co/fkVIR1tu0U #webcomics #kingarthur
• Mon, 07:14: On my Twitter feed for the first time in five days!! Did I miss anything important? #doctorwho #mattsmith
• Mon, 07:37: #doctorwho #year50 http://t.co/3DO9ta3Ck1
• Mon, 08:04: This is going to have far-ranging consequences on my spreadsheet. #mattsmith
• Mon, 10:30: And let's not hear anything about regeneration limits this time, okay? Fixing that's easy, I've done it several times. #doctorwho

Comments

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

On my Twitter feed for the first time in five days!! Did I miss anything important?

HA! (Any thoughts on casting of the next Doctor? I like the idea of Anthony Head, myself.)

[scarfman]

None, at least none specific; but I'm thinking that the ideas of the Doctor being cast female or POC have been circulating long enough now that something might actually happen this time. Well, one specific idea: Helen Mirren. Who has expressed interest in the past.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

There are a couple of discussion posts at doctorwho about the issues surrounding the Doctor possibly being cast as a woman and/or POC. I think the biggest obstacle to something like that is, where do the writers then take it? Do they jump head first into the effects of that transformation on the Doctor and his adventures, ignore some or all of them, try to balance them, or what? (For starters, will all the historical episodes on Earth have to take the Doctor's new sexual/racial identity into account?)

I'm not saying that tackling those issues is a bad idea -- far from it -- but it would be a major, MAJOR change for this show, and probably more than the writers would be able to handle, given that the Doctor and his interactions with the people he meets are central to the show. That's before taking fan responses into account. Look at how long it's taken to get regular characters of color, gays and lesbians on the show in any capacity at all.

I think what it comes down to is that Doctor Who is not likely to take this kind of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't risk. The stakes are just too high to push the show through such radical changes. (Honestly, the writers have enough trouble with the issues they've already got.)

(I hope this is making some kind of sense, 'cause I'm really tired.)

Anyway, this comment expresses it much more succinctly than I did: I don't see a series which is celebrating it's fiftieth anniversary this year being the sort of programme to touch transgender issues with a barge pole.

I wouldn't mind being wrong, though.