#NotMyDoctorWho’s view of Jo Martin’s casting as the Doctor and the threat to Canon
*This text is the reprinted from the 6th campaign update for the #NotMyDoctorWho petition
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https://www.change.org/p/bbc-director-general-bbc-fix-doctor-who-now-either-change-it-or-end-it-but-this-cant-go-on-add
Hello all.
Before Series 12 advances further and we have the conclusion to “Prisoner of the Judoon” we believe we would like to clearly state our position visa-vis Jo Martin’s casting, as a POC Actor.
We have addressed already that #NotMyDoctorWho is quite separate to “Not My Doctor”, does not target individual talent, is not angry with Actors, and our campaign is addressed at the BBC to recognise our grievances and concerns both about the show and the toxicity in the fanbase.
Last week, after episode 5 had aired, I tweeted Jo Martin, as the petition founder.
The grief I got for this tweet, being both smeared as a racist and racially abused for my own characteristic, was simply incredible
.
I represent #NotMyDoctorWho
We have some issues with the production atm
We have no issues at all with your acting skills
You are a truly great proffesional.
While we are alarmed by the agenda behind messing with our core Canon, our respect for your performance
https://twitter.com/JohnTheWhite1/status/1221587641872912385
- JohnTheWhite1
People I have shown this to, or who have contacted me, who have no particular connection to the Doctor Who fanbase or awareness of what's been going on, especially with the Cyber Bullying, are aghast when they see how people are treated if you are trying to engage in discussion in a quite genuine way, but don’t have the right set of opinions.
None of which is Jo Martin’s fault, of course.
Neither is Jo Martin responsible for the decisions, and the reasons for those decisions, being made in the Doctor Who production office. Even the Fem Front say Chibnall is the ultimate decision maker so it clearly is right that he is one of our petition recipients.
And yet, we cannot look at this situation as only being about an individual Actors performance of the Doctor, even as we loved it, certainly we SAW the Doctor in Jo Martin instantly in a way that Jodie’s wishy washy last 16 episodes all failed to do, but again we ask: WHY?
Clearly blanket “racist!!!” calling cyberattacks are a major chilling effect on free speech.
Who wants to risk their heads about the parapets for questioning where this direction is leading and the consequences for the CANON of the show, when the fact a POC not a White Actor has been cast as this new Doctor immediately invite the accusation “you have a problem with race!”
However it is our mission to create an environment for all views to be heard while series 12 is on and #NotMyDoctorWho will not be dissuaded from continuing until the completion of our campaign, even though certain Dr Who You-tube channels also got triggered by the Tweet to Jo Martin and decided to accuse, not just myself, but ALL petition signers as “racist” for not falling into line. That You-Tuber is now blocked.
We are made of better stuff than this.
The biggest problem we see with the production and the direction it is taking the show, is it clearly DOES have some need to alter the mythology of the shows basis, and we have to ask: WHY?
With Jodie so clearly being a weak piece of casting as the Doctor, was it to make the show dull so long term fans lost interest, before introducing the Doctor they really wanted to show? And why does this new Doctor have to be some mysterious past incarnation of the Doctor, possibly from an all-female lineage of Doctors from before William Hartnell’s first Doctor, usurping the whole timeline of the show? WHY?
Steven Moffat is on record about the casting of a female Doctor, as saying it should not be about ideology but the right person for the part.
With Jodie’s portrayal, we do believe ideology and the convenience of a known "Broadchurch" quantity got her the part, its been a chief fan complaint that her performance hasn’t hit the mark, now we see the “Ruth” Doctor of Jo Martin come in and blow Jodie away in their scenes together, and does this not show we were RIGHT?
Why abandon taking the show forward and having that Doctor earn their stripes with the fanbase like they always have?
If Jo Martin had been cast in the first place and it had simply been “This is who the Doctor is now, no agenda bashing, no BS, just good Doctor Who with a great actor” back in 2018, I do not believe either the ratings or the fanbase would be where they are today.
Some people say it does not matter if canon is re-written so a new female doctor predates Hartnells First Doctor, or perhaps sits between Troughten and Pertwee’s Second and Third Doctors.
I say this is a risky view to take. It will be seen and glorified as a scalp for 4th Wave Feminism regardless, and when those same feminists are in the writing room that’s not an accident. If this is the childishness we are reduced to, then what is supposed to happen the next time there is a male Doctor this all gets retconned back again?
But of course, there are those who intend there should NEVER be a male Doctor again…
We have drawn some heat for spotlighting the “Doctor Her” agenda that has been in full swing since a certain panel at Gally One, but we do believe we are right to do so. This is a minority using our franchise to satisfy their own needs that are nothing to do with what is good for a healthy growing franchise.
Even now, unknowing exactly how the narrative in screen is going to play out, fans are caught in a kind of mind game just formulating how to say anything but “I will go along with what is being done here no matter what (For a quiet life online?)”
That’s NOT what #NotMyDoctorWho is about
We will continue to question appropriately where we consider it appropriate, and we would welcome talking with Jo Martin. Perhaps together we might point a better way for all fans than how it has been the last 18 months?
We also would welcome communication from Rachel Talalay or a representative of Gally One to discuss what we laid out here:
https://twitter.com/JohnTheWhite1/status/1220497738061754375
- JohnTheWhite1
Also, to remind onlookers of the campaign from within the production that we DO have (its potentially multiple) one brave soul who is prepared to be the first volunteer and wants to go on record about the abuse they received within the fanbase. People have been through hell the last 18 months as a result of being on the wrong side of certain peoples vigour and determination over THEIR plans for the show the rest of us aren’t supposed to complain about…
We anticipate leaving our offer of communication with us over that issue open for another few days before we consider what further campaign action may be justified…
So we hope this update has again underlined we are neither racist nor sexist, but objecting to the poor running of the franchise, the contempt in which dissenting fans have been treated, the mind games being played on the audience, and the chronic toxic bullying in the fanbase, which we continue to maintain links to accounts clearly close in their relationship with the production.
^ And THAT is why we are #NotMyDoctorWho!
Whatever the future brings and whether Jo Martin will have the chance to play the Doctor for a full series of the show in the future, we thank her for her performance.
But the sad thing, from our POV, is how few people there are out there, not people in the fanbase but in what used to be the general audience, who have any much love left for the show. Doctor Who is not thought of with any kindness and fondness any more, which is VERY concerning for how that general audience is ever coming back. Internal arguments in the fanbase represent fiddling while Rome burns.
We at #NotMyDoctorWho are NOT the shows enemies. We probably represent the last stand of a lot of people who have found the show is no longer THEIR friend:
And we give this warning:
Up till now, Series 11 till midway Series 12, the core fanbase has actually held together in watching the show. While there has been an erosion, by and large the people who watched and cared during series 10 are still watching today. WE are some of them!
But if this production wrecks the core Canon, and does NOT bring the fanbase with it, does not deliver a compelling and justifying story line that has consensus support, and becomes seen as a cheap gimmick pulling feminist tricks…
Then come series 13, ANOTHER huge chunk of audience is going to walk away and the show really WILL be on the Edge of Destruction.
Best listen to #NotMyDoctorWho now, while still time…
John White aka @JohnTheWhite1
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