Changing Doctor Who's Davros is officially the STUPIDEST thing I've seen all year

The Doctor - the titular hero of the long-running BBC series Doctor Who - has had many, many enemies in his sixty years of saving the universe.  Everyone from Cybermen to The Master to the Weeping Angels to... well just about anything you can come up with has been a potential threat.

But there is one foe who is above and beyond the rest: Davros.  The insane creator of The Doctor's oldest nemesis, the Daleks.

From his first appearance in the 1975 Tom Baker-era story "Genesis Of The Daleks", Davros has gripped viewers as few Who characters did.  Bound to a life-support vehicle, only one usable arm, his natural eyes blinded necessitating a cybernetic replacement... Davros is someone who sought to perpetuate himself through his creations.  And he never cared who got in the way.  That one mechanical hand of his is stained with the blood of trillions of sentient beings across the span of thousands of years.  It could be readily argued that Davros is the greatest villain in fictional history, in terms of people killed and civilizations destroyed.

And now, returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davis has gone and ruined Davros in the name of leftist insanity.

Davros returned the other night for a Doctor Who "Children in Need" special.  And though it was billed as a comedy sketch, Davies has been most forthcoming in declaring that this is the Davros we are going to be seeing from now on (or at least as long as Davies is in the big chair).

Behold "Davros" on the left, compared to classic original Davros on the right:

Yup.  Davros is now just a regular Joe Shmoe, without ANY of the accoutrements that obviously inspired him to create the Daleks in his image.

As for WHY Davies is doing this to such a classic and iconic character, his reasons are... well, ridiculous.  From the story at the Radio Times website:

Speaking on new BBC Three companion series Doctor Who Unleashed, Davies said: "We had long conversations about bringing Davros back, because he's a fantastic character, [but] time and society and culture and taste has moved on. And there's a problem with the Davros of old in that he's a wheelchair user, who is evil. And I had problems with that. And a lot of us on the production team had problems with that, of associating disability with evil. And trust me, there's a very long tradition of this.

"I'm not blaming people in the past at all, but the world changes and when the world changes, Doctor Who has to change as well.

"So we made the choice to bring back Davros without the facial scarring and without the wheelchair – or his support unit, which functions as a wheelchair.

"I say, this is how we see Davros now, this is what he looks like. This is 2023. This is our lens. This is our eye. Things used to be black and white, they're not in black and white anymore, and Davros used to look like that and he looks like this now, and that we are absolutely standing by."

This ranks right up there with how the show fired Colin Baker back in the day.  It's even right up there with the reason American network ABC cancelled Police Squad! forty years ago (ostensibly because people actually had to WATCH the show in order to "get" it).

Where does this stop?  Will Cybermen now be referred to as "Cyberpeople"?

Hey, I know: Disney is the American distributor of Doctor Who now.  Let's go all out and get rid of Darth Vader's trademark breathing, since it's obviously unfair to asthmatics!

I say not for the first time: leftism corrupts and destroys everything that it touches.  There is nothing progressive about "progressivism".

Look dammit, that is NOT a "wheelchair".  That is a mobile life-support system, that gives Davros a range of movement after he was direly wounded in an attack by the Kaleds' mortal enemies the Thalls.  Davros can't live without it.  That it gives him lower body mobility is beside the point... or not.  After all it did inspire the look of the Daleks.

I honestly cannot believe the BBC is letting Davies eviscerate such a renowned character.  It is beyond crazy.

Well, if this is the way they want to go, let 'em.  I don't have to watch Doctor Who and neither does anyone else.  But the beautiful thing about this series is that there's no real consistency.  Perhaps someday a more sane showrunner will bring back Davros as he is most known and feared.  Just as I look forward to the "Timeless Child" being retconned out eventually.

Until then, Who has lost me.  And I imagine it will have lost a lot of older and more dedicated fans as well.

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This is the kind of people that Americans used to be

It was 1983, forty whole years ago.  At the White House.  "Santa Claus" came that year in the form of Mr. T.  Here he is with beloved First Lady Nancy Reagan sitting on his lap:

Damn it.  What the hell has become of us, since then?

We aren't like that anymore.  Our culture and society has become so degenerated that something so playful like that photo would be practically impossible in today's environment.

But once, in seemingly a better time and a different reality, we honestly were like that.

I like to believe that we could be again.

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An offer to Russell T. Davies, about Doctor Who

Dear Mr. Davies,

Greetings good sir!  I know this is a very exciting time for you, so I thank you for taking the time (I hope) to read this proposal.  Please know that I have been a fan of your helming of Doctor Who since that very first episode with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor.  I am looking forward to where you are taking the series next, especially with the return of The Toymaker and the debut of Ncuti Gatwa as the next Doctor.

However, Mr, Davies, I am somewhat dismayed that you are apparently not turning some attention toward addressing the matter of "the Timeless Child": by far THE most controversial thing that has happened to the franchise in its entire history.

Kindest sir, I am not alone in the belief that the Timeless Child subtracted from and even destroyed the mystique that The Doctor has had since the very beginning.  We are NOT supposed to know The Doctor's origins.  The Doctor is a cipher, for all that is best within us.  The Doctor is our surrogate in a magnificent universe and he belongs to ALL the ages, whoever or whatever he is supposed to be.  Your predecessor brought that to a grinding halt.  And indeed, I know a few who have stopped being fans of Doctor Who entirely, they were so disappointed by the development.

It's an issue I have devoted maybe too much time toward pondering about.  How does Doctor Who regain its sense of original mystery again?

So let me cut to the heart meat of the matter, my good fellow:

I have come up with a solution to the problem of the Timeless Child.

It is simple.  It is elegant.  It makes The Doctor an entity shrouded in mystery once again.

Here's the kicker: it does NOT invalidate or repudiate the work of your predecessor, Chris Chibnall.  It actually BUILDS upon that, in a pretty cool way.

I am presently living in South Carolina, in the United States.  Currently I am an aide to students with special learning needs.  I have also been a mental health worker, a filmmaker, and technical writer among many other professions.  I would not want monetary compensation or even any acclaim, if you might permit me to come to the United Kingdom and offer my assistance.  All I want is a chance to bring The Doctor back to his/her/their place of enigma.

Okay, there is ONE thing I would ask for, if you happen to have a spare one around.  I would like a full-size Dalek.  The classic design from the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker eras.  Because that's the style that most sent me hiding behind the sofa when I first discovered Doctor Who as a child in the 1980s.  That would be a very nice conversation piece in my living room.

Well, that is my proposal.  If you believe this is something you would be interested in, please feel free to contact me at theknightshift@gmail.com and we can discuss moving forward from there.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  And again, I am most eager to see what you have cooked up for Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary!

Most sincerely yours,

Christopher Knight

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I have watched the teaser trailer for GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE at least ten times so far...

 ...and, well, I'm stoked about this movie.  It looks like it could be even better than Ghostbuster: Afterlife.  And I loved that movie a lot.

Here's the teaser for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire that dropped yesterday:

I will definitely be wearing my Ghostbusters uniform to the theater to see this.  All the more reason to upgrade my boots for it :-)

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The legend of Popcorn Sutton lives on! Family is (legally) brewing famed 'shiner's likker

Yowza!!  And I've thought that many times over the past several years or so, in regard to the memory of Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton.  Longtime readers will remember when I was posting about Popcorn with machine gun-regularity.  I'd always wanted to meet the man.  Unfortunately that never happened.  In March of 2009, a few days before he was supposed to have turned himself in at the prison to begin serving a term for illegally making his moonshine, Popcorn ended his own life.  And that was the end of my hope of getting to know the man.

 

If you weren't around this blog then, here's the "Popcorn Sutton" label that lets you look back across all the posts I made about him.  Especially the "Popcorn Sutton: Dead By Government Bastards!" post that broke some personal rules about writing, but I didn't care.  A good man had been driven by the government to commit suicide.  If the death of an innocent person wasn't enough to break bad over, I don't know what is.

That was in 2009.  And in the decade and a half since then it is absolutely amazing how Popcorn Sutton has become a bona fide legend.  There is a yearly music festival in his memory held every summer in the North Carolina mountains.  Popcorn Sutton's face adorns clothing (I spotted a guy in the kitchen of a nearby restaurant wearing a Popcorn Sutton shirt a few weeks ago, and we got to talking about how popular he's become).  Look around the Internet the past few years, and you're sure to find Sutton staring back at you from many a meme (he seemed especially ubiquitous during the COVID panic).  That's not to mention things like filmmaker Neal Hutcheson's much beloved documentary about Popcorn and his art.  There was even a commercial airliner that had Popcorn depicted in wrap around its fuselage.

We should all want to be like Popcorn Sutton, in a way.  Live so that when you are stricken down, your life will be remembered for all the good and uniqueness that it possessed.

Well folks, it's happened before already but there were some issues that came up.  Those have been resolved apparently.  And now, once again, Popcorn Sutton's original recipe "likker" is going on sale for the public to buy!  Popcorn's widow Pam Sutton has gotten the stills running full-bore and later this month two beverages bearing Popcorn's name and likeness will go on sale, according to Knox News in a story published today.

I'm still not much of a drinker, but I have had real moonshine before and can attest that I've something of a taste for the legitiamte stuff.  I'm definitely looking forward to having a bottle of Popcorn Sutton's recipe-brewed likke, if only for display in my living room.

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Tammy: Feelin' Fine

Have had some scary time lately with Tammy, my miniature dachshund.  Two weeks ago she hurt her back around her hind quarters area.  I took her to the vet and sure enough, she probably injured herself jumping onto and off from the sofa and bed all this time.  The vet gave her three medications and I've been sleeping in the living room since then, close to where she's made a nest of her blankets on the floor.  Just making her take it easy.

Fourteen days later and Tammy is much better!  She's still not allowed to try to jump onto furniture, so I've been carefully picking her up and putting her on the sofa so she can be near me while I work.  She seems to be satisfied with the arrangement.  Here she is from this afternoon:

A very dear friend is in the process of making Tammy a set of ramps that she can use to get on the bed and sofa without risk of injury.  Which maybe I should have done a long time ago already.

But for the time being, she is recovered and spunky as ever.  She's happy, and that makes me happy too :-)

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Play that Mariah Carey song and it'll be THREE kittens...

Yes, at  12:01 this morning a lot of radio stations began their playing two entire months of Christmas music.  Something which I have never liked.

Good friend of this blog Lee Shelton made this graphic several years ago.  He said that it's time to bring it back out and I agree wholeheartedly...

Wow.  The original pic is from 2004.  A few months before I began this blog.  I weigh about 30 pounds more now.  A lot of that I gained in a very short period of time beginning in late 2008, after going on some medication for treatment mostly of depression.  I lost most of that but some of it still lingers.  I think that twenty years later I'm looking pretty healthy.

That's my father you see behind me.  I remember exactly which cap it is that he's wearing.

Okay well anyhoo, you have all been duly notified.  Look, I don't mind Christmas music for a few days after Christmas.  But before Thanksgiving is WAY too early.  It's making the year seem to go by much faster than it should.  There is no rational reason for it.  So, why the %@$& do radio stations DO it?

If radio stations still had human disk jockies I could probably call them and ask.  I guess we'll just never know.

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