Five thoughts after watching "The Doctor's Wife"
1) Neil Gaiman should write all the episodes. It's no surprise to anyone, least of all me, that I feel that way. That said, I was truly steeling myself to be as disappointed in this episode as I have been in the rest of the series to date* - the reason I didn't watch it last night was that, after four hours in the kitchen preparing food for a pot luck at work, I was not in the proper emotional state to risk losing faith in Gaiman - so it's not like I declared it an all-time favourite upon seeing the byline, episode contents be damned. The episode earned it on the strength of being cerebral and emotional, humourous and creepy, a dark tragedy that celebrates life and the world and love and adventure and all of those other scary, terrifying, beautiful things.
2) I would have approved of the title 100% if this episode had happened about five years ago. As it happens now, it's a nice bit of reality check and something of a gentle "clear off" to certain fandom sects, but it also stinks of capitalising on the speculation of This (That?) Moment in Who History, and I don't appreciate that.
3) It's all lovely and riverfruit-ish that Neverwhere was at least superficially influenced very heavily by Who and "The Doctor's Wife" was, in turn, superficially quite Neverwhere-esque.
(Hey, PTB, know how you can finish off that bowl of riverfruit-y goodness? Cast Patterson Joseph as Twelve.)
4) I was so caught up in the story and how nicely it fit in the continuity stretching from Hartnell onward (it's been a long while since an episode has felt this Who-y, like it's unashamed of its history. "Fires of Pompeii" I think was the last one that came close) that I honestly thought they might pop out in the spare control room from the Baker T Era. Of course, as they actually had the set for the Davies Era console room, that's what they inevitably headed for. I will be mourning its loss for quite some time to come, but I also recognise it as a bit of bittersweet finality with a significant noble sacrifice element for good measure.
4a) I have GOT to get this eyelid thing sorted. I haven't really had opportunity to be reminded of how uncomfortable the rash is when I have a proper cry lately, but I definitely proved tonight that there's still a problem.
5) So, I've stuck to my "No transexual regeneration" position all this time, but always with the qualifier that I base my argument on known facts because they're what make sense to me, and I am more than willing to amend my position should further evidence be presented to support the opposite argument. This episode seems to have made transexual regeneration canon, so I will now conceed that Time Lord biology is more enigmatic than I had previously postulated. Of course, I still wonder if this isn't, in fact, a case of trans*gender* regeneration. Wouldn't necessarily be the same thing, and the latter has always been accounted for in my argument.
* Or rather, more disappointed, as an uninspiring showing from one of my two favourite living writers writing my favourite show would have been a bit devastating, particularly given the, like, three years of anticipation.
2) I would have approved of the title 100% if this episode had happened about five years ago. As it happens now, it's a nice bit of reality check and something of a gentle "clear off" to certain fandom sects, but it also stinks of capitalising on the speculation of This (That?) Moment in Who History, and I don't appreciate that.
3) It's all lovely and riverfruit-ish that Neverwhere was at least superficially influenced very heavily by Who and "The Doctor's Wife" was, in turn, superficially quite Neverwhere-esque.
(Hey, PTB, know how you can finish off that bowl of riverfruit-y goodness? Cast Patterson Joseph as Twelve.)
4) I was so caught up in the story and how nicely it fit in the continuity stretching from Hartnell onward (it's been a long while since an episode has felt this Who-y, like it's unashamed of its history. "Fires of Pompeii" I think was the last one that came close) that I honestly thought they might pop out in the spare control room from the Baker T Era. Of course, as they actually had the set for the Davies Era console room, that's what they inevitably headed for. I will be mourning its loss for quite some time to come, but I also recognise it as a bit of bittersweet finality with a significant noble sacrifice element for good measure.
4a) I have GOT to get this eyelid thing sorted. I haven't really had opportunity to be reminded of how uncomfortable the rash is when I have a proper cry lately, but I definitely proved tonight that there's still a problem.
5) So, I've stuck to my "No transexual regeneration" position all this time, but always with the qualifier that I base my argument on known facts because they're what make sense to me, and I am more than willing to amend my position should further evidence be presented to support the opposite argument. This episode seems to have made transexual regeneration canon, so I will now conceed that Time Lord biology is more enigmatic than I had previously postulated. Of course, I still wonder if this isn't, in fact, a case of trans*gender* regeneration. Wouldn't necessarily be the same thing, and the latter has always been accounted for in my argument.
* Or rather, more disappointed, as an uninspiring showing from one of my two favourite living writers writing my favourite show would have been a bit devastating, particularly given the, like, three years of anticipation.