#white british writer's room that doesn't get that racism isn't just some episodic villain martha has to face this one time

[aq2003]

so john smith is a character that ten "made up" (ie. the tardis generated him to fit the time period it picked). a fundamentally empty person that he can't control will do. someone that is missing the inherent parts of what makes ten himself, like not just his two hearts but things that truly deeply matter to him. things like not hurting anyone or not abandoning a companion or not being someone that teaches children how to shoot a weapon and fight in a war. human ten might show echoes of normal ten here or there like the art or the intelligence but their differences are rly kinda the point of the arc. multiple times human ten is given the opportunity to give himself up and sacrifice himself for those around him and it's only until the very, very last minute that he makes the decision that normal ten would've done in an instant. this isn't your normal amnesia storyline; ten temporarily erased himself from existence to give the family of blood a chance of dying peacefully, and replaced himself with someone else who wouldn't do that same thing; who is so ordinary and complacent and cishet and probably even likes the texture of pears

#obligatory asterisk on the not hurting anyone bit but like. ten IS a pacifist i think this is one of his defining character traits #and one of the main things he carries over from the growth that nine did over his season #tenth doctor #dr who #sorry i needed to get out my thoughts on the human ten arc it's still haunting me #BECAUSE. ten's humanity while being a time lord is such a constant theme with him #i don't think john smith embodies humanity more than ten does. just a different aspect of it. #you could def argue a more uglier side of it. bc like. [gestures vaguely] lmao #for a second i thought it was a normal amnesia storyline tho and i thought it was cute that human ten was a teacher. #bc im of the opinion if ten existed in a modern au he'd be a high school teacher. undeniably #opinion redacted as i actually found out what was actually happening tho. lmao. #nobody gets this stupid arc like i do i have grievances with it but it Says So Much About Ten #while he isn't there at all. this is the point. he isn't there and martha has to take on everything by herself #skimming the confidential eps for that arc and the show making martha go through all that. was probably them trying to show that martha #is like strong and capable and has grown to such a position of trust for ten across the season. However. [gestures vaguely] #white british writer's room that doesn't get that racism isn't just some episodic villain martha has to face this one time #10 era