Love and Liberty

Yay! Karen Gillan has been announced this afternoon as the new Doctor’s new companion! We don’t have a name or background for her character yet, but we’ve already seen the actress in the series – last year*, she was the Sibylline Sister who saw the TARDIS materialise in Pompeii. Presumably she thought, ‘I’m ginger and following the Doctor around, too – I could get used to this’. That makes two companions now who’ve previously played minor roles in the previous season’s best story. Though why it couldn’t be the pretty young man in the very short toga, I don’t know. And I’m still holding out, one day, for a talking cabbage…

Anyway, she was very good in The Fires of Pompeii, and though we’ll have to wait until next year to see her travelling in the TARDIS, she’s in a photo opp in front of it across all good (and many dreadful) news outlets, including the BBC press release, the Newsround site (with Sister picture), the main BBC news site, The Guardian – again (I’m not on a retainer), and of course the BBC’s special Doctor Who site, which has a different angle with more exciting hair. Coo. Liberal Democrats should not confuse her with Karen Gillard, whom I met in her previous incarnation and got on with jolly well, but for whose autograph I wouldn’t queue.

Unfortunately, Some Doctor Who Fans Can Still Be Gits

I’ve not gone to see what fans are making of this announcement on the Doctor Who Forum, the husk of what was once the go-to site for fans, “Outpost Gallifrey”; not just because it’ll probably be melting, not just because people will have nothing to say except (no doubt) abuse, but because – although my fellow Doctor Who fans are responsible for much that is wonderful in my life, such as many of our friends, our very entertaining night out last night, and above all the one I’m in love with – there are the odd one or two that are intolerant, intolerable and complete pains. I was reminded of this when I caught up with Stuart Douglas’ blog, one I read from time to time, and saw what an utter git the owner of the Doctor Who Forum is being. Good grief. And you thought there was abuse, idiocy, pettiness and a lack of free speech in politics…

Update: Since all this happened, the owner has decided to close the Doctor Who Forum altogether. He’s gradually been stripping it down from the huge site it was a few years ago, so this isn’t a huge surprise, and I suspect it partially explains – though not in any way excuses – his behaviour. If I had decided I was fed up with something and wanted to stop doing it, I might well ignore my in-tray of nasty stuff to deal with on something that I can’t actually be arsed doing any more (er, thinking about it, I may well have done just that in the past). It’s not a big step from that to try and press a magic button to make the whole thing go away. The trouble is, you just can’t do that when your being fed up gives booster rockets for people to be libelled. Yes, responsibility’s a pain, but if you volunteer for it, you have to take it.


*Actually 1930 years ago, if you’re being picky

Labels: Doctor Who, Fandom, Matt Smith