Could you explain what the issue with 'this is what future looks like' cover was? I wasn't really much in the fandom by that point and I'm curious, you always have interesting takes
Anyway, memory foibles, the exact quote was
"THIS IS THE FUTURE" with a huge shot of tennant on the front page.
Background as to why this bothered me so much is required to set the scene.
Ncuit Gatwa got seven days after being announced as the next doctor in a sad disrespectful throwaway announcement by the beeb, long enough to get them some nice flowers for their diversity casting for the next doctor, before it was announced that wait??? DT is back!!!! I know this was actually seven days, for the record, I counted because I thought it was typical RTD behaviour towards black men even at the time. Tennant, btw, got fireworks and a shitton of press. Tate was also there, in the interest of clarity, but these were tennant's hours. Whittaker overshadowed, Gatwa overshadowed. Status quo to the white man returned post haste before the door even hit jodie on the way out.
Regardless of this press issue, what exactly is happening around DT's return is not ever spoken about. It was a total surprise that Tennant was reinserted into the regeneration line and it did not occur to me it could happen till the day tpotd aired (at least i only worried about it for a day I guess). They did not clarify that Tennant would be the Next doctor at any point, they told us it'd be Ncuti Gatwa, not a recycled white man. They acted like it was Gatwa between announcement and TPOTD airing. I don't remember what kind of time period that was exactly, but it was months. The fandom did its thing, you know. Art of him in Jodie's costume. The fun stuff the fandom does when there's a new doctor. We didn't know.
(Before Gatwa's teeny tiny casting announcement with a headshot attached I thought Whittaker's tiny film intro was a bit of an insult considering Capaldi got a whole prime time TV show episode, but hey! Proof we can always treat people worse.)
Anyway, the reason I am still disgusted by the THIS IS THE FUTURE line is that a week after TPOTD aired I was strolling through a supermarket and walking past the magazine racks. It was a big one, and was actually the only place i could reliably get the DW magazine if i wanted it. I wasn't looking, because i was mad at the last 30 seconds of TPOTD and didn't want to read about it. But Tennant across the page caught my eye anyway. Against my better judgement, I got a closer look only to find THIS IS THE FUTURE splashed there under his nose.
You'd just spent Months acting like the next doctor is a black man only to rip the rug out from people's feet and SURPRISE it's not only a white guy, but a white guy who's already done it before... And you're celebrating That sentiment being the future of the show? A white guy fucking over the black man's parade? That's what you're going for? You're openly saying that your future is just a rehash of 20 years ago? It was infuriating, but considering S1-4 anti black racism, it was just. Yeah okay, nothing's changed. I was resolved to give RTD a chance (because, frankly, i'm not a fan of the majority of chibnall's earlier stuff and He got better) but rtd practically opened with the exact type of behaviour I was worried he'd not grown out of.
Picture me, tumblr user ssaalexblake in the supermarket magazine aisle gawping with fury at the fucking Nerve of the BBC to say they'd hired a black man for a job for Months only to say PSYCH and replace him with a white guy who's already had his bite of the apple.
And to say that This, This is what the future is! It was one of those 'if people tell you who they are believe them moments' frankly. I did believe them at the time, and I have not been proven wrong in the four years since. Gatwa Never got to have those moments.
Side note; I have this vivid memory of watching an episode of Mastermind (prestigious quiz show, idk how widespread it is worldwide) that had filmed Before TPOTD aired but was aired after TPOTD had aired, and one of the questions was asking who'd been hired to be the fourteenth doctor who. The answer was Ncuti Gatwa. Another BBC property's quiz setters read the same things I did I guess. By the time the episode aired the answer was wrong.
It was just so wildly and openly clear that Nobody in that staff RTD had cooked up spared a second's thought over what the optics of this looked like. Which was an omen, I took it as an omen. I've been informed I was not wrong to do this by people who watched the show after this point, but cannot confirm with my own eyes.
For the record, I also know Gatwa was not available for the anniversary special. This, frankly, makes it worse and it baffles me when it's used as an excuse for RTD. Why on earth did RTD hire a man for a job when the man wasn't available for the job??? That'd be like me hiring some help from another carer and deliberately picking one who was on holiday the week I needed their help. I have never understood this argument to absolve RTD of all the problems and BS from the 60th special, because??? he could have hired somebody actually able to do the job????? Don't get me wrong, I wanted Gatwa to be the doctor, he has the inherent vibes, but nobody would be out there hiring me for a time sensitive job if i wasn't able to do it till After the deadline.
He could have done a few episodes with Ten! They could have filmed 13 regenerating into gatwa quickly and then said the anniversary specials were like, lost tales. It's doctor who, weirder stuff than that happened every second tuesday. It's not even Specifically that they brought tennant back (though i dearly wish they hadn't). It's the way they basically designed the whole affair to be as disrespectful to Gatwa as humanly possible.
Frankly, the BBC could have just said 'filming is behind due to covid restrictions and we will be celebrating the anniversary at a slightly later date due to safety concerns. But we have to be married to an anniversary date most watchers wouldn't have a hope in hell of naming, apparently.
(I am also cynical and think they made a big old noise about ten being fourteen and not ten because big finish can only work with doctors who Aren't currently on the show. If it was ten, they would have had to pause the ten audios. It's my personal favourite dw conspiracy theory).
That they knew all along that Gatwa couldn't do it makes that they weren't open about it and took pats on the back for their casting diversity all those months even more awful. They could have just said upfront. It wouldn't have necessarily been better (another white man is Not revolutionary), no, but it wouldn't have the bad smell of a cheap con to it that way.
In the end, with all that's gone down, I do think the ominous 'This is the future' showed itself to be prophetic is the worst ways. Can't move forward by going backwards.
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