New Doctor Alert

I was fully expecting to be disappointed when they inevitably cast a man as the next Doctor, because I expect the Thirteenth Doctor to become to Doctor Who what Catwoman became to superhero movies, i.e. 'we tried it with a woman once, *everyone hated it, and we plan to take entirely the wrong lessons from this.'

Approximately thirty seconds after they announced Ncuti Gatwa my opinions had hardened into a rock solid: WHAT A GOOD AND HANDSOME AND SCOTTISH CHOICE.

I'm still sceptical about the return of RTD, only because bringing back someone who had their finger on the pulse of making DW cool and relevant fifteen whole years ago reeks of desperation. And the fact that they, like, just announced this with no fanfare or real speculation says a lot about the mountain DW has to climb, but this casting is a good start, I feel.

*By 'everyone' I mean loud weirdos on the internet (and that one Tory MP, apparently), who are surely currently soiling themselves over this latest announcement too. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. I wanted to love it. I had wanted a female Doctor since I was three. I cried when Jodi Whittaker was cast. And yet it was like the episodes fell out of my head like sand even as I was watching them. There was just...no there there.