Grumpy Australasian: JOHN HURT HAS BEEN AIRBRUSHED FROM DOCTOR WHO HISTORY!
Me and several others: No he hasn’t.
GA: No one talks about him.
Me: They really do.
GA: No, check the mass media.
Me: I have. I’m afraid I just don’t see what you see.
GA: Oh, I’m sorry, Scully. This all a bit Loch Ness Monster, is it?
Me: Um.
Third party: That episode ought to have featured McGann or Eccleston.
GA: They wouldn’t fit.
Me: McGann would have fit. They were building to that in the Dark Eyes series. They just didn’t do it. Hurt fits the War Doctor narrative, but only because it was written around him.
GA: He’s still airbrushed from the media.
Me: I still can’t understand why you think that when there’s been so much coverage.
GA: I’m finding you an example.
Me: You’re finding me an example of where someone doesn’t talk about something, when I could just as easily find you several where the reverse applies?
GA: [Hits block button]
—
And not long after the trailer for ‘Twice Upon A Time’ had landed:
Fan: Is that the Brigadier???
Me: No.
Fan: But it might be.
Me: No, because they probably wouldn’t recast like that.
Fan: But he has a moustache.
Me: …
Fan: I’m just saying, it could be him.
Me: It’s completely the wrong characterisation. And the story is set during the First World War.
Fan: Yes, but…wibbly wobbly timey wimey…
Me: [smashes monitor]
—
I swear. Fandom.
This makes me rather glad I don’t use social media.
For me it’s become a necessary evil. It’s useful for generating web traffic and for self promotion. But you have to put in a bit as well, which carries its own risks.