Who News
So, I suspect most people who are interested have already heard, but it's been announced that both Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker are leaving Doctor Who after next season. I greet this announcement with a mixture of relief, sadness, and trepidation.
Relief: I haven't made any secret of my deep dissatisfaction with Chibnall as a showrunner. Not that he hasn't done some stuff I've approved of (if often more in theory than in practice), because he certainly has. But his weaknesses as a storyteller have been real issues for me and my overall level of enjoyment. And he somehow managed to find the one continuity change in 50+ years that I not only couldn't embrace, but could neither shrug and roll with nor just grumble about and then mostly ignore. Honestly, that's almost an impressive feat, although certainly not a welcome one. (Note: That's no shade on anyone who's really liked Chibnall's run so far, or any of the stuff he's done, of course. We've just all got different buttons, y'know, when it comes to how we respond to things, and he's managed to find some of mine and hit them in not-good ways. Your mileage may vary.)
Sadness: One of the things Chibnall did that I was happy with was casting Jodie Whittaker, and I'm slightly but genuinely mourning the fact that we won't get to see her Doctor under a different showrunner. I can't help feeling that she deserves better, and I wish she were getting it. Also, I think she's really growing into the role, and I want to see more of her. Plus, I know it's more an artifact of my advancing age than anything else, but it feels like we go through Doctors more and more swiftly these days, and I just want them to stay. And I do not enjoy the chaos and argument that always surrounds the casting of a new Doctor. It's exhausting.
Trepidation: Of course, we have no idea yet who's going to take over, and what they're going to be like, and how they're going to handle things. I especially wonder about how the next person might or might not address the stuff Chibnall introduced. Well, I suppose we will just have to wait and see. This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1010346.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.
Relief: I haven't made any secret of my deep dissatisfaction with Chibnall as a showrunner. Not that he hasn't done some stuff I've approved of (if often more in theory than in practice), because he certainly has. But his weaknesses as a storyteller have been real issues for me and my overall level of enjoyment. And he somehow managed to find the one continuity change in 50+ years that I not only couldn't embrace, but could neither shrug and roll with nor just grumble about and then mostly ignore. Honestly, that's almost an impressive feat, although certainly not a welcome one. (Note: That's no shade on anyone who's really liked Chibnall's run so far, or any of the stuff he's done, of course. We've just all got different buttons, y'know, when it comes to how we respond to things, and he's managed to find some of mine and hit them in not-good ways. Your mileage may vary.)
Sadness: One of the things Chibnall did that I was happy with was casting Jodie Whittaker, and I'm slightly but genuinely mourning the fact that we won't get to see her Doctor under a different showrunner. I can't help feeling that she deserves better, and I wish she were getting it. Also, I think she's really growing into the role, and I want to see more of her. Plus, I know it's more an artifact of my advancing age than anything else, but it feels like we go through Doctors more and more swiftly these days, and I just want them to stay. And I do not enjoy the chaos and argument that always surrounds the casting of a new Doctor. It's exhausting.
Trepidation: Of course, we have no idea yet who's going to take over, and what they're going to be like, and how they're going to handle things. I especially wonder about how the next person might or might not address the stuff Chibnall introduced. Well, I suppose we will just have to wait and see. This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1010346.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.