honestly i really didn't like the 14 doctor david tenant reveal (not in terms of story, i did like the reasons he came back as that doctor and the stories and transition to the new show and his retirement arc, i don't think it would have worked as well with any other doctor) but in terms of saying goodbye to 13. the first female (Well. simplifying 13 as female here for cohesion because imo 13 is very Not Female) Doctor, who already had a ton of controversy (some plain sexism, some judging on the writing/acting quality, lots thinking they're judging the writing/acting quality while actually just being sexist, etc.) around her and her seasons, and instead of having her regeneration honor her whole run as a character (what all the past nuwho regens (haven't seen classic yet so 🤷♂️) have done) and be a bittersweet goodbye to her and an introduction to a completely new, completely original version of The Doctor...
...it was immediately all overshadowed by The Doctor with arguably the largest and most passionate fanbase, who had 3 seasons with 3 different companions, an assload of specials, and Keeps Showing Back Up in the main show.
and i don't think it was intended that way. i try to see the best in people and their intentions, and i don't think rtd intended the 14 doctor reveal to completely overshadow 13's goodbye. i think he was just as excited for 14 as the tennant fangirls were, and they were the main ones he was aiming for when writing it. i don't think he intended to be disrespectful to 13 or jodie in any way, but that honestly doesn't help the situation.
it doesn't change the fact that 13's goodbye was completely overshadowed by everyone's favorite male (well. simplifying again) Doctor. it didn't bring about the sadness of a goodbye into the uncertainty of who this new Doctor is and if you'll like them or not. it's just the 10th doctor. i know the 10th doctor. you know the 10th doctor. everyone knows the 10th doctor. wasn't the 10th doctor's ending sad? doesn't he deserve another go? oh, and what about donna, you love donna! here's donna again, she's happy too, here's the second black woman i've named rose, you like that reference right? she's trans because we're woke now. here we'll tell you her deadname even though we literally don't need to at all. hey look at that it's david tennant! david tennant! hooray! oh, don't worry, david tennant won't die this time, now there are two Doctors so we can make david tennant come back whenever. we. want.
it's not that i don't like david. i think he's a good actor and i don't have any problems with him showing up anywhere. unfortunately he's becoming the chris pratt/jack black of doctor who. the point of regeneration is that it's an ending for that character, not in terms of audios/books but in the main story, unless they come back for a single special/later episode.
the 10th doctor is just always here. the tragedy of his original regeneration is lost in the fact that the writers like him so much that he could make him show up at literally any time with very little backlash.
and it's not just the fact that it's david tenant that bothers me (it would have bothered me if it had been any of the past doctors, but the fact that it's the most popular one is like they just kicked 13 to the curb), it's mostly how 13's regeneration goes. partially because there's no slow lead up to the face reveal, it's just. there. it's david tennant. the instant one worked with 11-12, but we didn't know what capaldi's Doctor was going to be like yet. with david, it's just Ten But He Can Talk About Feelings Now.
mostly it's because of the clothes. he doesn't stay in 13's clothes. we don't get to see him explore himself through picking an outfit we don't say a final goodbye to 13's seasons through an outfit change we don't get an introduction though fashion. it's just instant. and i think the intention was to make it even more david tennanty to drive up hype, and since 15 gets some of 14's clothes, i think it shows that 14 is a temporary, transitional Doctor.
let's segway for a moment.
i heard about the 13th doctor being played by a woman from my mom, and i think we were in the middle of 11's era at the time. i (female at the time) was super excited, because it opened a whole realm of possibilities— young girls would get to see someone like them being amazing on screen, and my mom and i both agreed that it was awesome that 13 was going to be a woman and that the people freaking out over it were being dumb and sexist, because of course the Doctor can be a woman, the Doctor can be whatever they want. when we finally watched 13, we both loved that her outfit wasn't something like a dress— it wasn't a suit (though we did get that thank god) but it wasn't anything "girly" either. the shirt was almost a rainbow but nothing about it was explicitly feminine. and she didn't change out of 12's suit because it was too boyish, she changed because A: that's what the Doctor does when they regenerate, and B: she fell from the sky through the roof of a train and it was a bit destroyed after that. while 13's outfit isn't super masculine, it also isn't very girly either. it looks more like she went for physical comfort than anything else.
the fourteenth doctor does not get to wear 13's clothes. his clothes regenerate with him. he is immediately wearing clothes that are much more reminiscent of the 10 doctors. this was intended to just add to the surprise and sudden joy of the 14 doctor being tennant, but to me?
it reads so much more like the 14th doctor wasn't allowed to wear 13's clothes, because the 13th doctor was a girl, and boys can't wear girls clothes.
it's just. disrespectful. changing clothes post-regeneration is a vitally important moment for all of the Doctors, and making 14's clothes regenerate with him really makes it feel like they didn't care about 13 at all after she regenerated. they don't even come up with a fucking explanation as to why he isn't wearing 13's clothes. he just isn't. because the 10th doctor is back, and he absolutely didn't wear girl clothes like 13 did, so instead of wasting time having a final goodbye to her, let's just put him in the "right" clothes for him to wear automatically. 13's not important anymore, not at all. the Doctor is david tennant now, and we all love david tennant. we're starting a new doctor who show after this, so we HAVE to use david tennant as a transitional doctor. the new series is going to be more diverse, so here's the 10th 14th doctor getting corrected on pronouns. look, he likes men now! look, the next doctor is black! don't worry, david tennant is still here. david tennant will always be here. david tennant was the last canonical doctor of the first reboot and we need you to remember that. david tennant is the doctor. david tennant is the doctor. david tennant is the doctor. 13 who?
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