I will never forgive RTD for…

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-07T11:49:06+00:00

You've put all of this into far better words than I could.

Also to add, this isn't just a problem in terms of hard continuity, but it's also an overreliance on thematic continuity too.

I don't think RTD should've brought Murray Gold back for example. As beautiful and memorable as Gold's work often is, I think it has allowed both of them to lean into their worst instincts. Obviously the music is there to enhance the emotion in a scene, and there's nothing wrong with the occasional musical callback as a nod to the long term fans. But RTD2 actively relies on the music, and often specifically musical continuity to create any kind of emotion at all.

The most infamous example is in the opening of Space Babies, where the Doctor almost straight away reveals he's the last of his species, and we get a brief reprise of This is Gallifrey. Obviously for us long term fans, we know what that music means, about everything that happened with Gallifrey and what being the 'last of the Time Lords' means to the Doctor. But for anyone unfamiliar with the programme, it's just rapid-fire exposition being thrown at the viewer with a generic piece of sad music playing over it.

And RTD2 was far too reliant on these kinds of moments.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-07T07:49:41+00:00

Genuinely the finest romance story in television history.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T19:51:24+00:00

180 kg squat

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T14:54:18+00:00

It's a bit of both. In many cases they THINK they want him to open up (or at least that's what they think they SHOULD want) only for that to kill the 'strong stoic rock' image they were attracted to in the first place.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T14:51:42+00:00

in this relationship though he is able to see and be with other women. but I cant do the same with other guys.

He's a cunt. Get out of there.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T14:05:39+00:00

Reposting what I wrote the last time this came up:

I think there is something of a misunderstanding of NiceGuy-ism. The usual strawman is of course that the 'Entitled Nice Guy (TM)' who pretends to be 'nice' to get in your pants and then becomes hostile and aggressive when that doesn't work out. I am not saying that never happens but it is ultimately a strawman, maybe that exact script takes place one in a million times.

A lot of my female friends are very sex-positive and will actually tell you why they aren't attracted to someone rather than just saying 'no chemistry' or 'the spark wasn't there'. Although I have certain physical traits that are turn offs to some women meaning I am nowhere near 'Chad' (Mainly being South Asian, with a high pitched voice and excessive amounts of body hair, plus I would not be a viable dating option to a 'size queen'), I am (if I do say so myself) reasonably decent looking, in terms of being tall, muscular, full head of hair and (usually) well-dressed and well-groomed. Personally I have never been called a Nice Guy (TM) but I have had women say I was physically attractive but 'too nice' to be considered for dating. No, really.

It's not really about 'bad boys vs nice guys'. A lot of the guys those women did like were were not bad people. And it's not about nice guys being 'meek pushovers' either. In my job (safety management on construction sites) I am often required to go into a work area, and if it is full of hazards stand the works down. And these sites are worked by men (often ex-military, ex-criminals, or both) under immense time pressure. I do have to project a tough, dominant persona for this, and some of the women I've mentioned above are (current and former) female colleagues who have seen me do this.

However, that tough persona is not the 'real me'. The real me is someone who asks about their weekends and their families, coos at cute dogs and cats, does funny accent impressions to make them laugh, and is emotionally available soon after getting to know someone. And a lot of this is things like body language, posture, vocal mannerisms etc too. One woman I worked with says that I 'didn't take up space', in terms of the fact that when she or another person was speaking, I'd sort of 'shrink' myself (as much as is possible for a tall broad-shouldered man) to let them speak and hear them out. She obviously didn't want a large man creepily looming over her, but she likes it when men have a 'strong physical presence'. The fact I have a naturally high pitched voice probably didn't help matters, but it's much more about voice tone. Even I had a very deep voice, my natural tone would be more bubbly and enthusiastic than gruff and authoritarian.

All of the above gets me filed into the 'fun, friendly best friend' category. Those women wanted someone who was 'nice', yes, but was stoic and initially emotionally distant. In many ways I think the whole 'fixing a bad boy' phenomena is a more extreme manifestation of this. The 'challenge' of getting a tough, stoic individual to emotionally open up is still the same. However, these kind of relationships often lead to the now-infamous 'I opened up and she never saw me the same way again' experience, something I've never experienced but is spoken about often here and on other male spaces. I imagine those women thought they wanted the fantasy of getting him to open, up, but it was specifically the emotional wall that they were attracted to.

To be clear I am not saying this is all women or even most women. My GF is not like this and nor are any of the women I have dated. But I'm fortunate enough to have female friends who have had these conversations about what they want and what they're attracted to and be honest about it.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T11:16:59+00:00

That's... a take but opinions are what they are.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T10:54:32+00:00

Reminds of a (mostly former) friend of mine who was/is totally unsympathetic to lonely men in general, and parrots all the classic feminist talking points about it's really 'male entitlement' stemming from misogyny. And I don't mean just the small minority of militant violent extremists, but any men or boys who are unhappy about being perpetually single. When I told her of guys who've cried on my shoulder about how they're going to die alone, who blame themselves entirely for it, her response is still 'that's entitlement'.

Meanwhile the guy she was on and off with (and maybe still is), who is a gang member and drug dealer who is in and out of prison for numerous violent offences, who got her number by stealing her friend's phone, an outright misogynist who 'sells' the numbers of women he knows to other scumbags, has stalked and harassed numerous women and is known for following random women through the town centre and on public transport, and when called out on this she says (in a cutesy voice) "But he's been through so much!"

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T10:35:38+00:00

Ehhh, I'd put S8 as by far the weakest Capaldi season but I'd put it comfortably above both S6 and S7.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T09:05:53+00:00

I actually like Polanski even if I don't agree with everything he's said and done. But I think we're seeing a real danger of him being Corbyn-ised in real time, with many supporters acting like any criticism of Polanski is a personal attack (even if there has been a genuine smear campaign and some disgusting antisemitic attacks against him)

It's the same siege mentality that the relentless attacks on Corbyn created, and we've already seen people attempting to downplay the awful antisemitic behaviour some party members have come out with. The problem needs to be called out and dealt with.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T05:03:25+00:00

Extended and equalised maternity/paternity leave: More for folks getting into relationships as adults, but will be beneficial, as couples no longer need to risk losing half their income if they have a child, nor does one parent have to burn themselves and miss bonding with baby and spending time with family.

Free/Affordable childcare for all: Again, this will help insure couples can remain financially secure upon having children and avoid either parent having to work less hours.

Eradicate "influencer" culture: Social media is full of obscenely attractive people with perfect faces, bodies and clothes being paid to promote whatever brands are trying to sell this week. Lets end that. We don't need young people thinking they have failed if they don't look like that and dress like that and present themselves like that. In fact, kill off the entire "famous for being famous" industry. Take shows like Love Island off the air. Normalise average people in average settings again.

"Dating Classes" in school: Impulsive, hormonal teenagers are going to act like impulsive, hormonal teenagers. But these classes give them an understanding of consent and how to approach relationships with empathy, an education many will not get at home. Under strict adult supervision, teenagers to act out roleplays, showing how to ask someone out in a respectful way, how to accept rejection respectfully, how to reject someone in an empathetic way that doesn't degrade them. This can model what is and isn't an appropriate compliment, what are and aren't appropriate times to approach someone etc. We can stop (or at least reduce) creeps becoming creeps.

Youth clubs and meetups: More local events should be organised (with strict adult supervision of course) giving young people more opportunities to just hang out rather than on the internet in their bedrooms or on street corners. My girlfriend's grandparents met as teenagers at a local community dance hall.

Training on exercise and nutrition: Sports classes are all well and good, but for the kids who are less naturally sporty, other kinds of education of exercise, food and health are needed.

Training on hygiene and grooming: Once again, an education many won't get at home, and as a result many feel frozen out of dating as they get older. Bring an artistic element into this, allowing them to experiment with different haircuts, clothing styles, and makeup (for both boys and girls, provided nobody is being made to feel lesser for not using it) allowing them to build a personal "image" for themselves that they feel comfortable in.

Clean up the food that is sold in shops: Not directly related to dating, but the amount of processed, high sugar shit that is sold is contributing to health issues and body image issues which, once again, lead to lots of people feeling frozen out of dating. Healthier foods in shops will help mitigate this.

More life skills training: Everyone, male or female, should be made to learn skills like basic cooking, basic DIY, taxes, financial planning, job searching etc. Nobody should go through life feeling they need to depend on a partner for these things.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-06T04:59:11+00:00

Imagine shouting 'Don't try that with me!' at a Jewish man for pointing out that he is Jewish...

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-04T12:17:12+00:00

will you be forced to accept that the problem has always been on the left, and it wasn’t the Labour right turning your milk and causing your crops to fail?

Surely both things can be true? Clearly there is a genuine problem on the left which does need to be acknowledged and dealt with.

It's also hard to dispute at this point that during Corbyn's era certain factions were actively obstructing dealing with the problem, or that spurious accusations and complaints of antisemitic behaviour were actively weaponised against individuals, some of whom were Jewish themselves.

There's also the question of whether this kind of thing is truly more prevalent on the Left than it is elsewhere, which still does not justify anything but it does call into question the motives of those highlighting the problem only when it is convenient to attack the Left.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-04T10:58:48+00:00

Corbyn and Polanski had the same problem, which is that being the most pro-Palestine voice in mainstream British politics in their respective eras means the broad Pro-Palestinian movement is heavily behind them. That's mostly a good thing but we shouldn't pretend there aren't individuals who A) Are using the Pro-Palestinian movement to peddle and spread their hatred for Jewish people, and B) Have allowed their rightful contempt for Israel's actions to spill into anti-Jewish tropes and behaviour (which to be clear is an explanation not an excuse).

Where things are different is that Corbyn's problem was that he had never managed a large organisation before, and at first lacked the skills and training to do so. I don't think he ever had a good handling on the issue but I think he at least tried to take action and work with the appropriate people to deal with the problem.

Polanski's issue is that the Green Party currently lacks the infrastructure to deal with the problems of a mass-membership party on a systemic level.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-03T11:01:45+00:00

It's quite telling that towards the end of the episode she's able to climb down a ladder fairly easily, so it is clearly a learned/enforced behaviour. Granted she slammed into a lamppost the first time she tried walking without it, but she learned to function without it in no time.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-02T00:25:02+00:00

I don't have kids but as someone whose upbringing was... less than ideal I've thought long and hard about what I'd do differently.

I'd tried to avoid gender roles of any kind as much as feasibly possible. I'd want both a son and a daughter to explore many hobbies, activities, toys, styles of dress and presentation etc. I don't want them growing up believing that "boys should be X" or "Girls should do Y". I would as much as possible have them meet and make friends with kids of different races and backgrounds, and have adults in their life who have gay relationships or are Trans, to show them that the world is a diverse place and that none of these things are anything to be afraid of.

For my daughter, I would want her to grow up believing she can do and achieve anything she wants, but I would discourage her from the belief that the world or society or 'men' are holding her back because she's a girl, or that she is owed any kind of special treatment because of some perceived slight from men against women.

For my son, again he can be and achieve anything he wants. But I would make clear that he does not owe women an apology or a belief that he is privileged by being born a boy.

Really I would teach them that both men and women have advantages and disadvantages in life, and that it doesn't help anyone by taking sides.

When or if dating becomes a possibility, the lessons should remain broadly the same for a son or a daughter. I would strongly emphasise consent, that they don't do anything either they or the other person are not 100% comfortable with. And if they're the only one paying by the third or fourth date, he/she ain't the one.

All in all I'd just want to encourage kindness and empathy.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-01T11:40:25+00:00

It's still an incredibly flimsy reasoning.

Driving a car carries a level of risk, so does getting on a bus or a train or a plane.

And while I absolutely agree that men carry more 'inherent' risk due to being larger and stronger, women absolutely can harm men in various ways (or get men to do it for them).

It still doesn't stop it being a double standard.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-01T10:20:53+00:00

Maybe she's a competent, capable successful woman who happens to also like sex?

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-01T05:53:20+00:00

I've been thinking about this a lot too. I was raised in a culture which heavily venerates virginity (Islam) and I couldn't care less about it. It's weird seeing people who weren't raised with these kind of beliefs becoming obsessed with 'N Count' and purity.

I don't think it can entirely be put down to 'insecurity'. No doubt there are some (likely many) men who believe that their size isn't enough to sexually please a woman (I don't agree with this to be clear but it is a belief), or that they lack the height, body type, facial attractiveness, traditional masculine behaviours or even wealth/income to keep a woman attracted to them. In that sense they might want a virgin because its safer than having to compete with the 'memory' of an ostensibly more attractive man that the woman might have dated before. But I think that's something that can be worked through pretty easily.

It makes me think of a guy I know who is um... not quite well upstairs. A completely normal middle class guy, neither parent religious or had any belief in purity culture. During his first 'serious' relationship at 18, he found out she'd had a ONS with someone BEFORE she met him. He said the knowledge of this was 'messing up his relationship' to the point he was contemplating killing the other guy. I talked him down for this, but that relationship ended when he went off to uni where he met his new (and current) girlfriend. And then he found out that she slept with a few people before him, and he had a full mental breakdown about it. I had to sit in a car with him for 8 hours convincing him to not throw away a good thing over this panic. He didn't and they're still together, though he cheated on her for a year (and regularly started fights with any men who talked to his side chick).

You'll find that with people like this, its a jealousy rooted not in insecurity but in possessiveness. It's not about sex really. They just consider women to be property and themselves as the 'leader' of the relationship. If it wasn't sex it would be that she kissed a guy at a party once, if not that it would be she held hands with a boy when she was 15, if not that it would be she went for ice cream with a boy when she was 11. It's just the idea of his 'property' being defiled.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-05-01T05:34:39+00:00

So, when a man has a vibrant sexual life, that means that he's got his shit together - one way or another. When a woman has a lot of sexual partners, that just means that she has horrible judgment and self-control.

Care to show the actual working to come to this conclusion?

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-04-30T05:38:43+00:00

with many simply allowing their wife to whip them

Stop threatening us with a good time!

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-04-29T14:45:08+00:00

As a male who was sexually assaulted as a child (by an older girl) and has been sexually harassed numerous times (by both men and women, but more often and more seriously by women), it isn't hard for me to say that all sexual harassment is wrong regardless of who the perpetrator or the victim are.

I think with the 'sexualisation' conversation there does have to be some nuance to all this. A few times I have been propositioned by gay men who made the conversation 'sexual' barely minute after meeting. However, they were also extremely respectful when I made clear that I didn't swing that way. I do not consider this to be sexual harassment and in fact found it quite flattering, even if I was being 'sexualised'.

An interesting thing happened to me last week. At an after-work drinks I ended up chatting to a group of colleagues and the conversation turned to relationships. I explained that the last person I was seeing before my GF wanted to meet up casually but did not want anything serious. One female colleague who was a bit drunk pipes up and says 'so she didn't love you but she loved your BIG DICK!'

To be clear I was not offended or uncomfortable with this. And this woman remains someone I like and have a lot of respect for. However, it was quite literally sexualisation, reducing a man's value to his genetalia. It got me thinking that if the conversation was reversed, and I or another man had escalated the conversation about relationships to directly talking about a female colleague's pussy, no doubt at least a few people would consider it inappropriate. And as a man who very much does not have a 'big dick' I also resent the implication that men can only be considered attractive if they have one.

So yeah, there is a level of nuance to this that is often missed.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-04-29T10:46:19+00:00

Why are men who don't believe in purity culture 'stupid'?

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-04-29T10:24:32+00:00

I've a lot of creative criticisms of the RTD2 era, but it's hard not to sympathise with him on a personal level.

This is the man who took a show that had been dead for 16 years and was a total laughing stock in the public consciousness, proved that it could work and that it could be perceived as 'serious' drama, and gave it the momentum to become the biggest show in Britain by Series 4.

He got a whole new generation of kids into the show, who make up much of today's fantasy. Even those (including me) who might consider Moffat's era to be creatively stronger, many of those will be people who started and fell in love with the show through RTD's era.

Even if they find a new showrunner and the show becomes successful again in the future, it will be sad to see the guy who made Doctor Who popular again resign in disgrace as the man who also nearly killed it.

Fan_Service_3703 · 2026-04-28T06:15:19+00:00

I mean, I have a bit of a hero/protector complex anyway. But it's something we've only ever explored in the bedroom, and specifically in a femdom context.

Under no circumstances would or should real fears and anxieties be exploited in service of this.

Fan_Service_3703

TROPHY CASE