GPR Episode 110: Dark Water
miss me?
"Is this all that life is?"
A simple question that has driven humankind's curiosity, scientific research, and religious fervor since the dawn of time. And yet there is still no definitive answer. So what might happen when -- just for a hypothetical case -- your partner confesses their deepest love to you on the phone, which catches you so off guard that you wander into the street and, let's say, get hit by a car?
In the Series 8 penultimate episode, Clara is an emotional mess as the Doctor searches for her lost love only to come face-to-face with the mysterious 'Missy' who had been lurking in the shadows. Her true nature (and identity) are finally revealed, shocking us all and erupting into a Moffat-sized basket of resulting questions. The story execution is flawless, thanks in no small part to the deft directorial hand of Rachel Talalay.
Oh, and a bullet point for next week's agenda: the Cybermen are invading London. Cheers!
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I’m perfectly fine with Missy being The Master. He (the generic “he,” not the masculine) has shown so many times that it takes more than death to kill The Master. But, I want to take the contrarian opinion about The Doctor being a woman. I don’t think it’s within the rules of Time Lords. Something, somewhere — and I’ll find it — was said that indicated that a sex change wasn’t a part of regeneration. At least, through the normal, natural regeneration process.
The Sisterhood of Karn woman from The Night of the Doctor said their technology was able to make the regeneration process customizable (“… fat or thin, man or woman. ..”), so it can be done, but not as part of a normal regeneration.
Now, with that, how did The Master change sex? Well, either with access to Karn technology, or, in what I think is a much easier manner, taking over a woman’s body, much like he took over the bodies of Tremas (episode “The Keeper of Traken”) and Bruce (movie “Doctor Who”).
But, am I opposed to a female Doctor? Nope, not if it’s done well. But, if it’s done just to do it, that’s plain nuts. We don’t need an Affirmative Action Doctor. We need, plain and simple, The Doctor. Whether The Doctor be male or female, black or white (or any other color or shade of color), tall or short, Scottish or English … or American (blasphemy!), none of that matters. What matters is that The Doctor be .. The Doctor.
I thought that Neil Gaiman episode where the Doctor met the Tardis as a woman, indicated that Time Lords could become Time Ladies, but I may be wrong, I haven’t seen it for a while.
I was six years old back in 1971 when the Master turned up in The Terror of The Autons ( a story that did what it said on the tin,and terrified me ) and ever since then I have always loved Master stories.
I imagine that one day there will be a female Doctor, but why would there be an American Doctor when 90% of alien invasion take place in the United Kingdom? Aliens don’t land in large countries such as China, Russia, or the United States, they head for small heavily populated islands off the coast of northern Europe.
I’ll have to accept your explanation on the regeneration. But as Shaun pointed out, the Corsair mentioned in Gaiman’s “The Doctor’s Wife” was referred to as being a woman a few times, implying that he (they) went back and forth between man and woman.
But this is getting pedantic. I agree that I don’t want a female Doctor for the sake of having one, and I think that is why it hasn’t happened yet. Smith was right for the Doctor he played, just as Capaldi is perfect for the story as it stands now. When the right person for the role happens to be a woman, that’s when we will finally get the female Doctor. Until then, cast him correctly and I will be fine. (I am very anxious for a female Doctor, but I want the character served first, not the gender. I don’t want a female Doctor who is mis-cast)