Oooo, I hope so! (Doctor Who speculations)

[neadods]

Said I'd get back to discussing Who soon! I'm going to try to dance around a very spoileriffic conversation without actually spoiling anything that hasn't been aired long since. Basically, the latest DWM (out tomorrow) has a preview of "Smith and Jones," the first episode of New Who S3 (out March 31). Outpost Gallifrey has a conversation about the concepts raised in the little bit they know, but I can't link directly since I'm not on OG, having my hands full just keeping up with LJ. So I'm going to link to Dadrynka's post on the subject, if you want spoilers and explicit speculation.

What we have seen in shows aired:
- Harriet Jones was meant to be Prime Minister for three consecutive terms, ushering in England's new Golden Age (World War III)
- Harriet Jones was indeed elected Prime Minister, but her first term was cut short when the Doctor threw a hissfit over her deployment of a weapon (Christmas Invasion)
- Harriet has apparently been replaced in power by someone called Saxon (The Runaway Bride). Amusingly, there are both Saxon and Bad Wolf references in Torchwood, especially in the background of "Captain Jack Harkness."
- The Doctor inadvertently created Torchwood and furthermore made himself a prime target of it by disrespecting Queen Victoria (Tooth and Claw, Army of Ghosts)
- Torchwood was instrumental in the exit of Rose (Doomsday, trying to dance around the specifics for the few who haven't actually seen it yet)
- The Doctor acknowledges that he occasionally needs someone to whack him upside the head with a cluebat (Dalek, School Reunion, Runaway Bride)
- He wasn't getting that from S2 Rose (School Reunion)

What we haven't seen: The Doctor accepting any sort of personal responsibility for anything on that list. This is huge: The man who couldn't change history even knowing the death and terror the Daleks would spread changed history in a heartsbeat because he got a bug up his ass about Harriet Jones. He's so unrepentant that he carries the grudge about Harriet into an alternate universe (Rise of the Cybermen), nor has he even acknowledged that Rose is gone because of his attitude and the attitude he let her show.

Now:
What we know from interviews: Rusty is a big fan of Joss Whedon.

What I'm hoping for: Is that Rusty, having already accomplished a Brit version of Joss' way of telling seasonal arcs in vaguely stand-alone episodes, is also using Joss' way of slowly building an uber-story over several seasons.

In short, my dearest hope is that after the giddy first Tennant season, the Doctor is going to have to deal with a coopful of chickens coming home to roost. We know that Martha won't be written as worshipful as Rose had become; maybe the whole whoniverse is about to give him the good swift kick that he spent 13 episodes and two Christmas specials practically begging for!

(And this, dear readers, is why the "Morality in the Whoniverse" was the panel I put at the top of my Media*West request reply, with an offer to moderate.)

Comments

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

I've been hoping to see Harriet's Revenge for over two seasons now, so I deeply hope at least some of this is true. :-D

[neadods.livejournal.com]

From the spoilers, I have high hopes that it may be true indeed. At which point I will have to admit that Rusty is far deeper and a longer-term planner than I gave him credit for.

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

At which point I will have to admit that Rusty is far deeper and a longer-term planner than I gave him credit for.

*nods* I would dearly love to be wrong about that.

[hildy.livejournal.com]

Given the Doctor's references to Rickey and Harriet Jones & the Golden Age, I've often wondered if he had been to that alternate universe before and with the regeneration lost that memory somewhere. Just a randomy thought.

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

I've wondered if the alternate universe was supposed to have been the "real" one and somehow, perhaps in the resolution of the Time War, something happened that shifted things, or if the Doctor swapped universes without realizing it, or if something bigger than he realized warped along the space-time continuum.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I like this theory!

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

Nice little bullet points there. As much as I love him I really want him to get a proper kicking from off the universe. I think he really needs it now and again.

[paleologa.livejournal.com]

Nice summary. I agree that the Doctor has set himself up for a VERY big smackdown, and can only hope that RTD does not disappoint.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

The three-line bit quoted between Martha and the Doctor makes me really, really hopeful that neither of us will be disappointed.

[bentleywg.livejournal.com]

I just hope we don't end up with a whole 13 episodes of the-doctor-is-depressed moan-moan-moan o woe is me ad nauseam like we did with Buffy.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. The bits and clips we've seen are pretty upbeat, and they're not going to have loads of depression in what is still somewhat a children's show.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Rusty may well think he's emulating Joss (or the fabby JMS) with his story arcs - but I fear that the BBC ethos may well mean that he ends up emulating Vanessa Whitburn - whose incessant jumping on of bandwaggons and leaving story lines with more loose ends than the 4th Dr's scarf has driven listeners away from The Archers in droves.

Still, one can hope...

[neadods.livejournal.com]

So far, he's avoided "Lost syndrome" fairly well. Unlike Lost, X-Files (and Heroes, although they're doing it right) I don't feel that Rusty is throwing wierd at the scripts just to see what sticks.

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

WORD, SISTER!

I've been describing giddy-first-season-Ten as "dangerous" and as willing to manipulate time and continuity on a whim without regard for repercussions...and I too have been hoping that there will be consequences.

Thanks for the link. I hope I hope I hope I hope...