Things Who and Torchwood

[selenak]

Sitting in a train the whole day can be strangely exhausting. Briefly:

As the Christmas Special for Doctor Who and Torchwood s2 comes closer, it occurs to me that my attitude towards TW has changed. Personally, I blame writing that TW/DW/DS9 crossover for this year's Multiverse, but I feel now oddly protective about the Cardiff team and its flawed shaky series when last year there were times when I probably would not have continued watching if not for the fact I couldn't be sure it wouldn't have had impact on DW s3/29. Now I'm looking forward to seeing the gang again, and not just because my beloved Martha Jones will join them for a few episodes before getting back to DW.

(Speaking of Martha, this post sums up beautifully what has been irritating me about certain reactions in fandom ever since the finale of the last season aired.)

And while we're talking DW. So. There are photos. Casting spoilers. Want to know what I think?



...it's fabulous that UNIT will be back. On Torchwood, and if those uniforms are anything to go by, on DW as well, given that Martha seems to be working for them. Which, you know, is squee-worthy enough anyway. Start writing that Martha-meets-the-Brigadier fanfic NOW, people. londonkds was wondering what element of Old Who would be brought back this time on New Who - s1 had the Daleks, s2 had Sarah Jane and the Cybermen, s3 had the Master - not that there aren't plenty of aliens, but they're not as recognizable to layfen as these earlier examplels. My bet was on UNIT, especially since they name-checked it in both the s3 finale and over at Torchwood, and there is a name-checking tradition for announcing the next season's big thing. (See also: Torchwood name-checked in "The Christmas Invasion", Mr. Saxon/The Master name-checked in "The Runaway Bride" and over at Torchwood.)

So, UNIT. They might just give us the organization but not some of the old UNIT personnel, depending on the availability of the actors. Still, one can hope. It would be so lovely. What I'm pretty sure will happen: a Doctor/Bessie reunion. Come on, if they brought back K9, they're so going to bring back Bessie. Donna and Martha will mock the hell out of the Doctor going gaga about his yellow car, and the TARDIS will be ravingly jealous.

...

What? Someone else is coming back, too?

***

Switching over to Heroes:

Get Over It is a great Angela Petrelli vid. As director Greg Beeman put it in his blog, she's the Queen. Love her, hate her, but you have to admit it. She just is.

Comments

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Great link! I, too, do not need the Doctor to worship Martha as long as I worship her. (Though I do reserve the right to think of him as something of a dunderhead for his failure to worship The Martha.)

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

(Speaking of Martha, this post sums up beautifully what has been irritating me about certain reactions in fandom ever since the finale of the last season aired.)

*reads post*

*feels a bit less alone*

Honestly, it is something of a relief to hear someone else saying the things that I've been thinking but haven't really managed to articulate (mainly, I think, because long before intelligent words start forming I get too upset and want to stop thinking about it, but perhaps also because somewhere in the back of my brain is the irrational but distressingly firm belief that if say that on the whole I liked the portrayal of Martha, fandom will label me a racist and then no one will ever like me again).

I really think that this is a primo example of the Black Hole of Shippiness massively warping everything around it, because I really don't see how one can get to these kinds of conclusions unless one accepts the idea that it's All About the Shippiness. And I reject that firmly, categorically, and with extreme prejudice.

And I'm really hoping that everyone's assumptions are right and that Martha really does show up as part of UNIT, because that would be the coolest thing ever. She so belongs in UNIT! And that would eliminate my one real worry, which is that she's far too good for Torchwood, and that her presence on the team would either result in her not fitting in at all, or else would drag her down to their levels of incompetence. If she's UNIT, though, she can continue being awesome with impunity, and the interaction could be great.

And I still do not have a Martha icon! This is seven shades of wrong. *uses Jack instead*

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Look! I has Martha icon now! *rejoices in the TOTAL AWESOMENESS that is Martha Jones*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Beautiful icon! And "black hole of shippiness" is the perfect expression for that unholy phenomenon, you know. Bah. Humbug.

I expect Martha will show up in Cardiff BECAUSE she's UNIT, probably to sort out messes. And it means there is no problem with her leaving again after her three guest episodes, because it's clear from the get go she's not coming to join the team. UNIT might also provide the reason for her and the Doctor's reunion?

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

The icon is by laura_lavage. Is it not lovely?

I'm rather fond of that phrase, actually, because I think it gets at what bothers me most about an overemphasis on shipping. I tend to use it every chance I can. :)

And that all does seem like it would fit together very, very well. *keeps fingers crossed, anyway*

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

(Speaking of Martha, this post sums up beautifully what has been irritating me about certain reactions in fandom ever since the finale of the last season aired.)

It also illustrates perfectly why I never more than dabbled in New Who fandom. Lords of Kobol.

Resurrecting UNIT is a splendid idea. Nicholas Courtney would be a bit too frail for a guest appearance now, wouldn't he? *has a completely ridiculous Brigadier crush*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Well, he still does audios, but tv work is more gruelling. Still, it would be too wonderful to have the Brig back!

[honorh.livejournal.com]

That's a great post, and it sums up why it bothered me so much that people on both sides were complaining/gloating that because the Doctor didn't return Martha's feelings, she was somehow a lesser character than Rose. What century are we in, people? Martha is Martha; what the Doctor thinks about her makes no difference to that.

I'm looking forward to seeing UNIT and how they'll change things. That Martha's working for them makes perfect sense, as they'd be fools not to have her and she's no doubt got a yen for more adventure than a resident's shift at Royal Hope. BTW, Torchwood was also name-checked in "Bad Wolf"; it was the answer to a The Weakest Link question.

As for a Doctor/Bessie reunion, the TARDIS will have much to say in her 2008 diary should that happen. I'll be reserving the LJ space.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

That Martha's working for them makes perfect sense, as they'd be fools not to have her and she's no doubt got a yen for more adventure than a resident's shift at Royal Hope.

The great thing is that she can work for UNIT and still be around to help her family with the post-Valiant trauma, and also that the work is a combination of her chosen profession - UNIT always needs doctors of the medical type, too! - and the adventure she had with the Doctor.

I'm sure the TARDIS will have, and promise to write a Bessie pov should this be the case.*g*

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Entirely with you and the referred poster on Martha. Do we need VALIDATION by men? (okay, aliens? loved the "emo alien" quip there, too.)

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

In terms of recurring Who villains - there are some explicit dialogue callbacks to the Black Guardian hidden in the "Trickster's" dialogue in Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane, causing a lot of fans' ears to prick up. This led to speculation about the circumstances whereby Rose and other returning companions might appear in a climactic Doctor Who arc without necessarily being the versions of the characters we know.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Since Whatever happened ot Sarah Jane, I've been wondering whether this season's "Doctor-lite" episode will be one where the Trickster has carried out his threat of removing the Doctor and we see the various Companions as they would have been if he hadn't existed, they meet each other for some reason (maybe Martha and Jack who already have memories of a year that didn't happen for most other people have some residual immunity?) and team up to restore the timeline...

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

That's the speculation I've seen on what this big rumoured multi-companion finale will be. Although if so they'd better be ready for the screaming of disappointed shippers that it isn't the "real" Rose returning from the alternate universe to marry the Doctor.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I think they're ready, because according to David Tennant, as mentioned here:

http://shaggydogstail.livejournal.com/288927.html

he hasn't done a single scene with Billie Piper ("which will make sense once you see the story", he said). Which definitely makes it look like the speculation that Rose's appearance will be about all the Companions working together, not about a Rose/Doctor reunion, are correct.