#rtd critical

[headcanonsandmore]

I will never not be angry about this.

#doctor who #meme #the giggle #rtd critical #yasmin khan #yaz #yaz not being mentioned is still a crime by the way #thasmin

[leikeliscomet]

“But We Love Martha Jones!” - The Doctor Who Fandom’s Selective Memory of Racism

Be aware that this article contains explicit examples of anti-black racism and misogynoir.

**Contents** Intro 1. Everybody Hates Martha 2. Utopia-ish 3. Martha vs Bill 4. Martha Triumphant?

Intro

To say being a Martha Jones fan from 2007-2017 was hard would be an understatement. The fandom claimed she was too clingy. Too jealous of Rose. Too bitter. Too bad a companion. For as long as I can remember, Martha Jones wasn’t just an unpopular companion - she was THE unpopular companion. So this recent increase in “my issues with [insert companion of colour here] isn’t about race. Everybody loved Martha Jones!” has me raising an eyebrow. Freema Agyeman as part of Ofcom’s Diversity In Broadcasting Event answered a question on her time as Doctor Who’s first Black companion. She describes her time as “good and bad”. She handled the criticism of Martha as a character “but the racism… yeah, yeah couldn’t rationalise that” as she pauses in the video. In the silence we get a clear answer - Freema Agyeman did not have an easy time as Doctor Who’s first Black companion. So when I see comments about how much she was loved, or how no one knew what Freema was going through when speaking out about the racism she experienced, or “My sus posts about Ryan & Yaz aren’t racist! I loved Martha!” I, and many other Black/mixed Black fans and other fans of colour have bad tastes in our mouths. We remember the real history of how Martha Jones was treated - and her history wasn’t a kind one.

Chapter 1 ->

#martha jones #freema agyeman #doctor who #new who #doctor who fandom #doctor who analysis #dr who fandom #dw fandom #fandom racism #rtd era #rtd critical #fandom analysis #fandom history #fandom colourism #black representation #rtd #rtd1 #fandom antiblackness #antiblackness #colourism

[lariskapargitay]

Rose- Something a male presenting Timelord wouldn’t understand *smirks in Gen Alpha*

14- … For the last thousand or so years I constantly had to assert myself when people said the Doctor couldn’t be a woman, I had to kneel in front of a man in public and call him Master, I had my personal space violated WAY more than I ever had as a man, I was tied to a goddam post in a very sexual way to maximize my gendered humiliation, I got talked about how my form is ‘amusing’, I got hit on when I was trying to figure out ghosts, and oh yeah, little thing, hardly worth mentioning, but they TRIED ME AS A FUCKING WITCH AND TRIED TO MURDER ME JUST BC I WAS A WOMAN WHO WAS INTELLIGENT!!! But yeah no, I definitely don’t understand the pains of being a woman, you got me.

#did he even watch her seasons??? #like I get it ‘oh all the kids talk like this nowadays girl power!’ #but he was a woman for over a THOUSAND YEARS #and was literally almost murdered solely bc she was a woman #but sure a ‘male presenting Timelord’ wouldn’t understand the difficulties of being a woman #Rose Noble can stfu #doctor who #thirteenth doctor #the thirteenth doctor #rtd critical #anti rtd #fourteenth doctor

[sometimesraven]

RTD SAID HE WROTE THE DEADNAMING SCENE SO THAT PEOPLE WOULD KNOW ROSE WAS ORIGINALLY NAMED SUBCONSCIOUSLY AFTER THE DOCTOR?????

AS IF THE AVERAGE PERSON IS GONNA HEAR HER DEADNAME AND GOOGLE THE MEANING OF IT????

BRO JUST WENT "WE HAVE TO KNOW HER DEADNAME BC IT'S SUPER IMPORTANT IT'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT NAME" AS IF THAT'S NOT 90% OF PARENTS' REASONING FOR CONSTANTLY DEADNAMING THEIR CHILDREN

#HE'S SO CIS OH MY GODS #dw spoilers #dw #doctor who #rtd critical #the star beast

[khruschevshoe]

Thasmin & How the Changing of Showrunners Handicapped Their Story

You know what? I'm going to rant about it. I've been thinking about Doctor Who from a Watsonian versus Doylist point of view on a constant basis, especially when it comes to showrunners and how the doctor is handed over from showrunner to showrunner and how the exit of Yaz from the show is it possibly the clearest example in the world of this feeling of a showrunner being switched. I'm not talking writing differences, I'm not talking stylistic differences, I'm talking the way that she left the show. Because I would put all of my life savings on the fact that if Thirteen and fourteen had the same show runner, Yaz would have been able to stay around for 13's regeneration. You can feel the writing of the show STRAINING to justify why Thirteen would dump her/leave her behind. It feels abrupt because it IS. Rose got to continue her story with 10 until its organic end. Same with Clara. Hell, even River, though her circumstances were slightly different. There is literally no reason why Fourteen wouldn't go after her the moment the 60th specials end except for the fact that for some absolutely weird reason RTD didn't mention Yaz ONCE despite 14 being more "emotionally open" than the Doctors before him.

Like, I'm going to be honest. I'm mostly ambivalent on Thasmin. I think they're sweet and had potential and got screwed in the build up in seasons 11 and 12 (up until Revolution, even). But if I was y'all I would be PISSED. Because that kind of treatment of Yaz and Thasmin as a love story sucked from both the Power of the Doctor AND the 60th anniversary specials. No closure. No real explanation. No acknowledgement of the main love story of the last showrunner. (Even Steven Moffat name-dropped Bad Wolf/Rose in the 50th special, though he did also have the whole 10th Doctor running around with Elizabeth I thing so maybe that cancels itself out.) The mechanics of the show and how it's run screwed you over. And I'm sorry. I hope y'all get some acknowledgement in 15's Era. I'll be pleasantly and happily surprised if we get a cameo (or some miraculous wrap-up of the storyline ala Husbands of River Song), but seeing how the most logical place for a mention (the toymaker) came and went without a peep I'm not hedging my bets.

(Going to go check out some fanfic, though- and imagine that fourteen took off towards Sheffield the moment the 60th anniversary wrapped!)

#yasmin khan #thirteenth doctor #yaz khan #anti rtd #first time using tjat tag but if the shoe fits #chibnall critical #anti chibnall #rtd crit #rtd critical #y'all deserved better #thasmin #doctor who #meta

[twelfthdoctorwho]

I’m still really sad about the 60th anniversary specials being more of a celebration of rtd’s era than of the overall show. the 50th was so fun bc it brought together rtd’s and moffat’s eras along with the fandom’s beloved eighth doctor (the minisode!!) and introduced the war doctor all to help us understand why the doctor has become what he has in nuwho. the glimpses of all the classic doctors! a peek at the twelfth doctor! the return of the zygons from classic who in their first nuwho appearance! the 60th specials just felt like regular rtd episodes. tennant as the doctor, donna and her family, and unit. I guess we got mel but not very much screen time. the episodes aren’t terrible or anything and ncuti’s doctor is delightful!! but the specials just don’t feel like an appreciation of what came before them :(

#doctor who #rtd critical #rtd salt #edited to remove kate bc I forgot she was a moffat era character

[serpercival]

There are lots of things to criticize about the RTD era of Doctor Who but let me offer a different criticism than normal: RTD dresses his Doctors in normal people clothes.

That's normal clothes! Leather jacket, suit, other suit (admittedly with a splash of color). If whoever you were talking to knew nothing about Doctor Who, you could get away with wearing that to a job interview! Nine's a little grungy but it's not that out there.

Compared to the other Doctors...

Like, that's all bonkers. Eleven's approaches normal but I think is offset by the fact that Matt Smith was super young and wearing clothes for the oldest man ever (yeah, it's the Doctor, I know). But, like, look at all the velvet! The insane color choices! Whatever the hell Five and Seven have going on! If I wore any of these things, people would know immediately that I have an unhealthy relationship with this show! That is what I think costuming for the Doctor should be all about, and RTD doesn't manage it.

(Edit to add: Don't get me wrong, I do love RTD's version of the show. I have a lot of criticisms about every era <3)

#never mind the fact that I own a four scarf #and most of my wardrobe is six-style bright hawaiian shirts #i may be learning how to sew just to make the six coat #doctor who #classic doctor who #rtd critical

[bingqiv]

can't wait to pirate the new season of dw

#me + my personal vendetta against rtd #i am just feeling really eh with the show after the 60th specials #it has been five(ish) months and i still hate what rtd did with biregeneration that i can't bring myself to care about it #why would i when it isn't technically the doctor and the tardis anymore? it's just a copy #yes i'm autistic how could you tell? #also the whole millie stuff? like rtd just seems crappy to his actors #anti rtd #dw #rtd critical

[flammenkobold]

"Who'd have thought? I ended up with a family."

YOU HAD A FAMILY, YOU HAD YOUR FAM, YOU WERE MARRIED BEFORE AND ALSO WHAT ABOUT

SUSAN?

YOU KNOW THE GRANDDAUGHTER YOU ABANDONED ON A DALEK INFESTED EARTH BECAUSE SHE HAD A CRUSH

#doctor who #these were just the moments i could think off at the top of my head in this moment #spoilers #dw spoilers #yells into the void #negativity #rtd critical

[sol1loqu1st]

like. i enjoyed the plot of this episode more than the last two, but aside from the OBVIOUS bullshit let's talk for a minute about

-shirley's literal entire character being "wheelchair user who faces constant microaggressions and just sort of begrudgingly accepts it all." like yeah it's cool that there's a wheelchair user onscreen but do you guys remember when moffat and chibnall included, like, disabled characters who had actual character traits.

-donna's comment about the doctor "coming in different colors" like sure it's nice to actually acknowledge that the doctor is black now instead of the whole colorblindness thing but girl that is NOT how you do it

-i just fucking think it's a cop-out. just like TenTwo getting to spend his life with rose was a cop-out, fourteen getting to spend his life with donna is a cop-out. and it's worse because fifteen has to move on and carry all of the trauma thirteen never got to deal with (because she regenerated into david tennant instead of having an actually satisfying conclusion) and given the way rtd has written all of this so far, i do not have high hopes for any of this resolving in a cohesive manner

-every single one of these specials is a direct rehashing of something moffat or chibnall wrote better, but this time, it has fandom faves ten and donna in it so i guess it's good this time. if these episodes were exactly the same but with moffat's name on the title card, you'd all be complaining about hokey, tokenizing representation, nonsense plots, and the rehashing of nostalgic plotlines instead of moving forward

#rtd critical #dw spoilers #sorry im trying to get better about tagging these

[mysticaltora8276]

Finally got around to seeing the star beast. It felt like an episode from series 4 from Russell’s era. And maybe it’s just me but Donna speech about you know having a normal life and a family etc. kind of felt a little insulting because all I could think was “excuse me? Doctor are you not gonna mention the fact that you had dinner and a family life with the Ponds and what about the Fam?” it just felt heavy-handed at the end. And I get that Donna doesn’t know but the Doctor does and he should’ve said something. And can I just say this I know it was in Russell’s era, but they really hammered at home here. What is up with Russell trying to make the Doctor mundane? Seriously. Why would he take an extraordinary character who literally one of the reasons he ran away from his home planet was he was bored and basically the “do you know what he needs? A 9 to 5 job doing next to nothing and being happy with that.“ Tell that to 11 who went stir-crazy after an hour… or 12 who had to stay in the university for 70 years and was going nuts, and was literally looking for an excuse to get out… all I’m saying is is that if you want a domestic AU that’s fine that’s what fanfiction is for or he can create a character from the Doctor Who universe that is doing that but don’t take the Doctor whose main stick is they travels and they love traveling and trying to ground them permanently.

#doctor who #rtd critical #fourteenth doctor #star beast

[headcanonsandmore]

You ever get the sense that RTD didn't actually watch Thirteen's era?

#doctor who #meme #rtd critical #yasmin khan #yaz #thasmin #thirteenth doctor

[leikeliscomet]

“But We Love Martha Jones!” - The Doctor Who Fandom’s Selective Memory of Racism

Be aware that this article contains explicit examples of anti-black racism and misogynoir.

Chapter 2 - Utopia-ish

The constant nitpicking of Martha Jones for reasons white female companions could get away with was blatant anti-black racism. Let’s get that bit clear first and foremost. As a Black person in fandom, watching Black characters get torn apart while never being given the grace of their non-Black castmates is an experience that’s too common. Microaggressions are more subtle so the easiest way to shut down any mentions of racism is to accuse Black fans of making things up or telling us “Well it’s not like REAL racism”. Luckily Doctor Who Tumblr birthed the Martha Jones affirmative action and Aunt Jemima “memes” so I can cross both covert and overt racism off the list. As mentioned in extensive detail in the previous chapter, plus the various Martha Jones articles written before me, the treatment Martha experienced was racist. I don’t care if you personally didn’t like her. I don’t care that you missed Rose. I don’t care that Ten is your smol bean. Martha’s treatment was racist. Freema Agyeman’s treatment was racist. It might not have been everyone. It might not have been you personally. But it was there. The fandom can never be a safe space for POC, specifically Black people if this elephant in the room can’t be addressed over a decade after it arrived.

On paper, you’d assume Martha’s rep was good because “at least she wasn’t a Black stereotype”. Some fans praised her for having a present father, not speaking MLE and not being from the ends. This goes into respectability politics but the fandom’s weirdness about Black Brits and class is not the point of this article. The point is the revisionist history of how Martha was really treated and to do that it helps to know what Black tropes are. The Mammy trope is a Black woman whose main purpose is to serve her white counterparts and during slavery, she mainly cared for the slave owners' children. She is usually fat, dark skin and asexual, not as a representation of those things but as a statement of how if she isn’t used for sexual exploitation like the Jezebel (the promiscuous, reckless, sexualised Black woman), she has no sexual value at all. Her value is serving the needs of others only. Martha doesn’t fit this trope in theory but in practice, she fulfils the sub-categories of this trope both in show and fandom: the disposable Black (girl)friend trope. She is used as Ten’s emotional punching bag before he’s ready for Donna and then Rose again. She had to endure edgy moody S3 Ten so no one else had to. She’s the excuse people use to deflect any critical analysis of how race was handled in RTD1. She’s the fandom’s excuse to deflect from their own racial biases. Racism? No way! Everybody loves Martha Jones! What do you mean?

Some parts of the fandom have tried to mend things by suggesting Martha be paired with other doctors or romantically shipping her with other characters a bit better than Mickey Smith. But does this hold up? As much as I’m a big fan NineMartha as a concept and as someone who honestly saw one-off characters like Riley Vashtee from 42 or Tallulah from Daleks in Manhattan having way more romantic chemistry with Martha than Mickey ever did, simply re-shipping Martha isn’t enough. Doctor Who’s racism isn't exclusive to one doctor, one series or one era and new Martha pairings suggest the issue was “right person, wrong doctor” instead of what the issue actually was: racism. Moffat and Chibnall’s eras weren’t full of golden Black representation either so I doubt the Martha issue would’ve magically disappeared under those two. From Nine’s hostility to Mickey, to Twelve’s hostility to Danny Pink to Thirteen handing a South Asian Spymaster to the Nazis and Eleven only travelling with POC in comics most fans haven’t heard of and being besties with Churchill, simply putting Martha with another Doctor isn’t the serve fans think it is. Even RoseMartha seems like putting a bandaid on a bullet hole. If it's not enough for Martha to be compared to Rose, put down in favour of Rose, told she isn’t Rose and told she's worse than Rose in fandom and in show over and over and over, she has to be shipped with Rose too. Martha’s a great character… as long as you can tie her to Rose… again. Even in my own article I have to talk about Rose because Rose is centred in what was supposed to be Martha’s story. A doctor-to-be Black girl from London with a hectic family meets a Time Lord and gets abducted by space rhino police at work in one day. Her main conflict isn’t balancing work and time traveller life, or fighting to get her family back together, or seeing what’s out there in the universe - it's that she isn’t “Rose” enough. The Mammy and her sons’ main thing in common is simple; how well they serve and centre the white characters. In attempts to mend Martha’s treatment she is still only valued in relation to white characters. She should’ve been with Eleven because he would’ve fucked a Black woman. Or maybe Dilfy Twelve. Or a sapphic romance with another female companion who she saw twice or doesn’t actually know. Or maybe Ten in an alternate universe where he supports #nubianqueens. None of this is done to explore sexuality or romance with Black women and is definitely not to centre Black lesbianism and bisexuality. It’s Mammy with a dash of Jezebel. It's adding romantic and sexual value on top of physical and emotional value like a crappy meal deal.

I’m tired of Black women being treated as extensions of white women both in media and in real life. I’m tired of our value being determined by how well we serve white people emotionally, physically, platonically and sexually. And I'm even more tired of white feminism especially in this fandom. It would be so easy to label this article as anti-Rose, anti-Ten or anti-Tenrose to invalidate my whole racial analysis because it's the easy way out. I’ll admit I like both characters individually but not the ship but this isn’t something I decided on since birth - it's my conclusion as a Black fan in a predominantly white fandom, watching a predominantly white show, watching the first companion of my race be told she isn’t good enough compared to the white characters, and that the hatred of her is justified for the greater good of its popular white ship. Black fans can never have this conversation without being told we’re “pitting women against each other” and that Martha and Rose hugged once in S4 so everything's hunky dory. Martha’s happy that Ten found Rose again so what’s the problem? It sends a clear message that Black women’s pain will never matter a much as white women’s feelings. “Rose is amazing! Martha’s amazing! Stop pitting women against women!” but who was pit against who in the first place? These faux girl power posts fail to acknowledge the overlap of race and gender which separates the treatment of Black and white women. It fails to acknowledge Martha’s hate was rooted in anti-black racism. It fails to acknowledge the anti-Rose pushback was in response to how the show and fandom convinced us Rose was the untouchable bar this Black woman failed to meet. It fails to acknowledge Freema Agyeman the actress was targeted not just her character. It fails because the female empowerment rhetoric that leaves the Black ones at the bottom of the pile only “empowers” women of a certain demographic.

The harassment Martha experienced was swept under the rug of “stan wars” but it was so much deeper than that. I’m not saying Martha stans are angels but there was no “Great Stan War” because the sides were never even. At the end of the day no amount of “Martha’s better than Rose” tweets will ever compare to the fact that Martha hate was rooted in misogynoir. Rose was and still is considered the greatest companion of nuwho, whilst Martha is constantly erased and undervalued. Rose’s video views and hashtags have always been bigger than Martha’s. Amy and Clara came after Martha but still surpassed her in popularity and got plenty of fan edits of “The Girl Who Waited” and “The Impossible Girl” whilst Martha was conveniently skipped in the companion lineup. The fandom’s bias still shines clearly in favour of Rose over Martha. Rose’s jealousy towards other women is justifiable and just the ups and downs of a 19-year-old whilst Martha’s is entitled bitterness. Rose’s flaws are compelling character moments and depth, Martha’s are “holding her back from being a good companion”. Hell, even Donna calling out Ten’s BS was entertaining accountability whilst Martha was just the angry Black woman. Fans will weaponise Rose’s working-class roots to imply a pro-Martha bias, failing to acknowledge the working-class to poor background of the average Black Brit, the anti-blackness middle-class Black people are not spared from, the many working-class Black characters of the show like Mickey, Bill, Rigsy and Ryan or how most fans don’t consider Martha middle class because she doesn’t fit the white British cultural stereotypes. You can't be the most loved and hated at the same time. The hard truth is Billie Piper wasn’t racially abused by Martha stans but Freema was absolutely racially abused by Rose’s and the effects of this are still around. Go into Martha Jones tags today and you’ll see snarky posts of how Ten could never love another companion like Rose. Even when Freema bravely shared her experiences of literal racism, fans were quick to yell “But I wanted Ten and Rose though” as a justification for years of misogynoir. Again, we need to address the elephant in the room instead of covering our eyes and ears to act like it’s not there. A Black character and actress was collateral damage in order for a popular white ship to rise and whilst I’m not an anti, I as a Black Doctor Who fan, I’ll never be a supporter. At the end of the day, only one of these actresses is still carrying the burden of misogynoir over 10 years since RTD1 ended. A lonely walk across the Earth yet again.

<- Chapter 1 Chapter 3 ->

#martha jones #freema agyeman #doctor who fandom #doctor who #dw fandom #fandom racism #antiblackness #fandom antiblackness #fandom analysis #rose tyler #tenrose #tenmartha #rosemartha #ninemartha #eleven x martha #twelve x martha #marthadonna #thirteenmartha #rtd era #rtd critical #moffat critical #chibnall critical #black representation #new who #dr who fandom #doctor who analysis #rtd #rtd1 #fandom history

[imsparky2002]

Also now that I think of it, why tf did they make that Donna say that joke about the Doctor "coming in different colors"? Felt kinda racist imo.

#doctor who #donna noble #rtd critical #the giggle #doctor who critical

[sometimesraven]

not to be a Chibnall defender or anything but if Jodie's Doctor had left the Sundays alone with that huge enormous wind-tunnel crack in their home while a vulnerable old lady and a newborn baby are living there it would have been another point on the list of "Thirteen is callous and cruel and Chibnall doesn't understand the Doctor"

also if Moffat had released an entire episode about child-eating goblins I wouldn't be able to scroll for five seconds without tripping over vicious accusations of antisemitism sprinkled with a dust of "if you like this writer you're an objectively bad person"

#dw spoilers #doctor who #doctor who spoilers #the church on ruby road #chibnall era #rtd critical #not saying i disagree with the 'chibs' Doctor was unnecessarily cruel without repercussions' point #i heartily agree #but i told y'all i'd be keeping a close eye on RTD fans #and would call out when y'all are hypocrites about it #and so I am #also don't tell people they're bad people for liking something (unless it's actually written by n*zis) and don't bully chibnall fans

[deep-space-elf]

Let me get this straight... (because I can't fucking believe it)

Though there are tons of already existing alien species, and it would be just as easy to make up a new one, they choose Goblins for the Christmas special.

To be precise, they choose children-eating Goblins. On Christmas. With lyrics about "blood" and "bones" in their song celebrating the fact that they're going to eat a Christian baby.

In 2023. This shit is really happening in 2023?! And barely anyone talks about it or worse, talks about it like yeah, might be antisemitic, but it doesn't matter. 👀

#anti rtd #rtd critical #doctor who #antisemitism #racism