Doctor Who 12th Doctor Rant

Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi

This is not a blog on who Peter Capaldi is since there is already a bunch of news about that.

The 12th Doctor news

I know this post is a bit late, well 15 days late after the news broke out that the next Doctor was going to be Peter Capaldi but I've been thinking a lot about this, mostly because I'll have to wait until December 25 to watch probably 5 seconds of Capaldi being onscreen as the Doctor. Reading news after news, hoping to glean more information about Capaldi, I finally had to accept that after a few days after the hyped announcement, there wouldn't be any more new, interesting information about the guy. Lifetime fan, punk band, Doctor who/Tucker mashups. Ok, I get it. Same news over and over again.

Tennant and Smith Eras

Frankly, I'm glad he was picked as the 12th Doctor. I'm just glad that Moffat finally picked an older doctor. Nationality, ethnicity and race aside- I'm not upset over it. Of course, a black or hispanic Doctor would've been really cool but I'm just appeased that it's not another skinny actor between his 20-30s with dark brown hair. Nothing against Matt Smith, in fact I was overjoyed that David Tennant was leaving but I like to see more variety in my post 2005 Doctor Who show.

[Tennant's death kind of annoyed me because all this time, ever since Martha Smith (not Jones anymore) became his companion, he became this mopey, depressed character that kept complaining about being too old due to the curse of the Time Lords (and Rose... mostly Rose. When his time finally came he complained about having to switch places with Wilf and I couldn't help think "Enough already. Why can't you die with dignity like the 9th Doctor?") Don't get me wrong. I liked that the 10th Doctor was very dark and emotional but sometimes his woe is me attitude wore thin. His attitude in Water of Mars was refreshing and I wished the writers explored with the idea of a Doctor misusing the rules of time, even cooler if this idea becomes a season arch in future seasons]. Rant over Tennant's Doctor now over-- The only remarkable difference between Tennant and Smith was the chin, the eye color and the length of the Doctor's mopey attitude over a dead companion. Hopefully, the 12th Doctor will be more intense than the 11th and less mopey than the 10th. Unlike some fans who languish about their favorite Doctor I always looked forward to the portrayal of the next doctor- maybe that's because my first Doctor was Eccleston and his run was concise and bittersweet.

Diversity in Doctor Who and futuristic sci-fi shows

The reason why I'm not overally upset over the lack of diversity in the Doctor, is that I know that the writers will expand on the 12 regenerations rule. Eventually, the Doctor will have to be a minority, right? Until then, similar to Tennant's run, I look forward to seeing a more diverse set of companions. As a person who is black and Hispanic, I like seeing diversity in television program. It doesn't matter if the companion is of Asian descent. The writers just need to break away from the same stale white formula and put more likeable, relatable main characters (the Van Balaan brothers were horrible). I also look forward to seeing a black Bond (Elba) before a black Doctor but I digress.The lack of diversity in Who reminds me that instead of complaining about the Doctor not being black, aspiring writers need to preservere and create their own science fiction shows with well rounded leading characters of color. Essentially, I need to stop talking and start writing.