Did Steven Moffat Just Pull off a Two-Decade-Long Prank?
When it was revealed that Jodie Whittaker would be the thirteenth Doctor, I was thrilled — I’ve been waiting for this ever since 1981, when Tom Baker wished good luck to his successor, “whoever he — or she — may be.”
But of course, being something of an old-school Whovian, I recalled that this is hardly the first time we’ve seen the Doctor become a woman. That happened in the brilliantly funny 1999 charity telethon special Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death. To refresh my memory, I went back to YouTube to watch it again.
As I did, a chill came over me. I suddenly realized: The rebooted series has basically been Curse of Fatal Death unfolding in real time.
See, Steven Moffat, the showrunner who is departing the show with the arrival of the new Doctor, was the writer of Curse of Fatal Death. It was, in fact, the first Who story he ever wrote.
The thing is, Curse of Fatal Death appears to map out his entire involvement with the relaunched series, first as a writer and then as producer — almost twenty years before it had even begun. Consider:
| Curse of Fatal Death | Doctor Who | |
|---|---|---|
| The Doctor’s Getting Married to: | Emma (Julie Sawalha) | River Song (Alex Kingston, et al.) |
| Four Male Doctors… | Rowan Atkinson, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant | Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi |
| …Followed by a Female Doctor | Joanna Lumley | Jodie Whittaker |
| The Master | Gets “Dalek bump” breast implants | Becomes a woman (Michelle Gomez) |
I’m betting that there’s probably a bunch of other little Easter eggs in there that I’m missing just because I’m not a regular watcher of the new show. If anyone can contribute to the list, please leave a comment below and I’ll add it to the table. (If you’re reading this after the comment period has expired, leave me a comment on one of the standing pages, like the “About” page.)
(*Slow clap*) Well played, Mister Moffat. Well played.
Categorised as: Life the Universe and Everything
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