Star-Crossed

[robertmapril]

Or: The Perils of an Interracial Relationship in the Russel T. Davies Universe.

Seriously. I wasn't going to say anything after Mickey, or Martha, or even Evil Lance, but this Officially. Has got. To stop.

Let's do the numbers!

Torchwood: Sleeper: Tonight's so-bad-it-passed-good-and-went-back-to-bad again episode of Torchwood manages to fit

Comments

[manekikoneko]

I think part of the problem is a combination of 'red-shirt syndrome' with an effort to portray diversity. Because, frankly, being the guest character on an episode of Doctor Who or Torchwood is extremely bad for one's health, regardless of race. One of the really good things about Martha was that she was a regular cast member, and thus could be both a minority and survive. I can only think of one companion who has died, I may be wrong, but either way there haven't been many.

Casanova's Loyal Black Servant may have died a long protracted death, but it wasn't on camera, it was more like "Years passed..." and Davies' Casanova does have a rather spectacular marriage to black castrato-impersonating opera singer (the lady who was the mom in "Fear Her") that breaks up, as I recall, for the sake of her career. Later things get weird and there's incest and volcanos relating back to her character...it made me want to read the book to see just what they were making up, it got so weird.

[robertmapril]

Okay, so Cathica? Lives. That little girl and her aforementioned Mom in "Fear Her?" Live. Granny Smith won't stay dead. Zachary Cross-Flane from "Impossible Planet?" One of three people to make it out. The only black character to die or get inconvenienced who didn't have the audacity to get romantic with a white character was Solomon in 3's Dalek 2-parter.

No, I do get it. It likely is that. But all this stuff piles up and it just irks me. One interracial couple in all of Dr Who does survive intact and in love, and that's the two kids from "Gridlock." And I can see these two things bouncing around, "we need more diversity" plus "we need to cast someone for the Romantic Opposite here." Sure. I'll buy that. They could cast the net a bit wider, though. There have been one, maybe two South Asian characters in the whole new series?

Also: I miss Martha already. I'm sure Donna will be fine, but I miss Martha. Martha was stalwart. Martha ruled.

Adric died, and Katarina died, and that's it for people who died while they were with him.

[math_avenger]

I'm all in favor of increasing diversity on TV. I mean, heaven forbid, TV shows reflect reality somewhat. While things have gotten better (e.g. Heroes and Lost), writers (usually white men) fall back onto stereotypes to depict minority characters. So things are getting better, but there's still a lot of work to do

[robertmapril]

No, you're right. I just rewatched the Christmas special today and it wasn't as bad as I remember. Not an improvement, mind you, but more of a going sideways than a down turn. You know us sci fi fans, we hate change.

As to Donna, the thing that I do like about her as a companion is it seems like they'll avoid the Unrequited Lurve route so well-trod these last few years. At least they avoided it in the Christmas Special with her. I think that's the main thing that handicapped Martha: they went from the romantic attraction which was a logical progression of the Doctor/Companion dynamic to this crush/love thing, which in itself was also a logical progression of what it must be like to meet someone like this who can do and show so many wonders. But ultimately I think they wrote her into a corner and they needed to have her character progress. I hope when she comes back she's got someone and can move on because she's awesome.