Doctor Who: The Caretaker (spoilers, rants)

[mme_hardy]

So. We have:

• A paternal figure and a boyfriend fighting over a woman, with the men's conflict as the center of the plot.
• An older man trying to direct a younger woman's love toward a proxy for himself.
• A black man being demoted by an authority figure from an intellectual role to a physical role.
• Repeatedly.
• THE MILITARY IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT THIS SEASON. REALLY.
• The Doctor going way beyond the line in being an asshole. Way beyond.
• Goddamned Paradise.
• Again.

On the plus side we have:

• Several good laugh lines.
• Chris Addison being evil.

To summarize, in my household we kept shouting "This is really badly written!" at the screen.

Shape up, show.
 

Comments

[muccamukk]

I know that continuity isn't really a thing on this show, but if they're going to pretend that UNIT, the Brig and Martha and all the other soldier-scientists that the Doctor genuinely loved (for sixty years and across generations in one case) never existed, I'd like some kind of memo before hand.

Also, the whole soldier plot is UNBELIEVABLY STUPID.

[mme_hardy]

I would be REALLY HAPPY if the whole season arc thing were kicked to the curb. Doctor Who did fine for years and years and years without season arcs, and some of the classic arc-based seasons are less than loved. ("Trial of a Time Lord", for instance.)

But, yeah. There's "doctor is an alien who doesn't get human emotions" and "doctor feels free to pretend he doesn't get human emotions because they get in the way of saying what he thinks" and then there's "doctor feels free to insult humans and claim it's because of who they inherently are".

If he did this to the Brig (now dead in-canon) I would slap him silly.

[muccamukk]

I remember enjoying arc plots before. I liked Bad Wolf, and the first Torchwood one wasn't completely awful. Even the crack in the wall one was okay, though then the total lack of payoff next series ruined it.

I'd be pretty happy with episodic stuff with maybe some gentle character development in there as well. I don't really need this Big Mystery Plot every year. Besides, what happened to Looking for Gallifrey? I was looking forward to that one, as it was something I actually cared about happening. It's like show has totally forgotten last series existed. And that all the other series since the '60s existed as well.

"She cares so I don't have to," is my least favourite thing about this Doctor. That's never been what companions were about. And even Pertwee!Doctor, who had more reason to be grudgy about being stuck with humans wasn't this consistently and needlessly rude to them.

If he did this to the Brig (now dead in-canon) I would slap him silly.

I'm still sad about Nick Courtney, but I expect you wouldn't have to slap him, the Brig would do it for you.

[mme_hardy]

I'm very sad about Nick Courtney, and there is NO EXCUSE that they gave him a cameo in SJA but couldn't find time for him on the show.

Frankly, the New Era of Who just doesn't trust us with long-season arcs; they feel they have to highlight each clue in neon. See! See! That was a season arc bit! Did you notice?!??! I felt that way about Bad Wolf a few episodes in. Okay, okay, right, Bad Wolf.

Contrast (for all his flaws) Joss Whedon, who trusted the audience to be observant, and who often planted clues that you didn't realize had been clues for several episodes.

"She cares so I don't have to" -- that is bullshit. But it is, at least, a lie the Doctor tells himself. The whole elaborate Teller plot proves that the Doctor does care, very much. He just doesn't want to be bothered with manners (or indeed kindness) while he cares.

[recessional]

Hmm. This is mostly telling me they have kept the characteristics I like least about the Doctor and made me want to shout at him to grow the hell up the most, and then tossed out the bits that made Amy's Eleven appealing to me at all.

I believe I shall pass.

[mme_hardy]

But Capaldi!

Given what you want from the Doctor, I think you'd dislike this one. You might try the Robin Hood episode and see if you enjoy that. I can flag up other ones that are mostly funny.

[muccamukk]

-wanders off to listen to Big Finish and sulk about no Nick Courtney-

I probably have a higher tolerance for screamingly obvious arc plots (though they've gotten to the point where they're testing even my patience.)

He just doesn't want to be bothered with manners (or indeed kindness) while he cares.

Meh, I don't like it more if it isn't true. Then he's just looking for excuses to be rude, and my patience for that is pretty thin. Asshole with a heart of gold (especially white male and posh asshole) is one of my less favourite characters. The Doctor's skated that line before, but he's really pushing it here.

[mme_hardy]

He's pushing my buttons (in a bad way). And the Doctor-versus-Danny plot feels horribly The Red Shoes.

[batwrangler]

I figure that he's still got the memory problems they lampshaded in "Deep Breath" and that his outrageous antagonism to soldiers is redirected self-loathing from his War Doctor incarnation, but that's no excuse for his abominable, creepy behavior which manages to be both deeply offensive and dead boring. (Ask me how I really feel.)

[mme_hardy]

Yeah. Frankly, more and more I'm going "Project your self-loathing on yourself, already, you're the one who needs it!"

Also, we were reminded that he has Childhood Gallifreyan Issues from not being good enough to be a Time Lord and only good enough to be a soldier -- specifically, not good enough at mathematics IIRC?

[ironed_orchid]

I watched seasons 1-4 of nu-who during the break between current seasons, and 10 also has problems with soldiers, which are evident in the Jenny episode, and in Donna asking him if he turns companions into soldiers, and the Daleks telling him he has created soldiers to do the fighting for him... plus there was the whole A Good Man Goes to War thing... so there are some precedents, but they were not as abrasive or writing in 30 foot high neon as in this season.

[muccamukk]

And he used to have horrendous fights with the Brig, Bambrera et al back in the day, but 30-FOOT-HIGH NEON!

Plus, as snarky as he'd get, it was never as bad as almost refusing to speak to Journey Blue, and calling Danny stupid what fifteen times in a row?

As mentioned above, if he's pissed at himself, I'd rather THAT was the point made abundantly clear, and the rudeness to random people who have nothing to do with the topic could go die.

[bostorus.livejournal.com]

> A black man being demoted by an authority figure from an intellectual role to a physical role.

This. Ugh. I wonder if it plays better in the UK?