News
Doctor Who Makes a House Call to Lady Gaga
Shannon Hassett :: Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 12:30 pm
“Doctor Who” is one of those sacred little television shows, the kind that allows for its main star to change actors every few years without losing fans and employs campy special effects in place of the available advancements. It embraces its inherent geekiness and has maintained its integrity because of it, including the use of international pop stars without scaring away a highly devoted fanbase. Kylie Minogue’s appearance on the Christmas special in 2007 brought in 13.31 million viewers, the most the show’s seen since 1979; instead of rejecting this nod to pop culture — remembering, of course, that this is scifi and what that says of its audience — fans embraced the star, evidence of “Who”’s unusual ability to combine what are normally two separate worlds.
The latest gossip is that the services of Lady Gaga are being requested for the new season, with a role all written and waiting for the fame monster to acquiesce. The problem with “Who” writer Gareth Roberts’ new muse is this: authenticity. It may seem absurd to imply that a star as famous as Kylie Minogue — especially in Britain and abroad, where “Who” is based and has its strongest foothold — has anything on the Lady Ga, but such is the case. Where as Minogue has captured her fame in a natural progression, Gaga’s is all rise and fall. She has made outlandish statements, used sex and stylists to demand attention and is unapologetic in her quest for world domination via product placement. To put it simply, Lady Gaga is not cool enough for “Doctor Who.”
“Who”’s is an innocent success. It is built on witty writing and goofy plotlines, and it creates its own stars in the process. It has never relied on the shameless use of guest stars to aid its ratings — if they appear, it is merely a compliment to the episode’s characters and homage to the career of the guest in its own right — which until now has always been one of discerning taste. Gaga is a serious misstep, however, too literal to cast her as a villain effectively and an insult to fans in the implication that her brand of integrity is on par with that of the show’s: it’s not. She may be monstrous, but she is far from misunderstood; her goal is fame through the exploitation of the very same people that “Who” claims as fans through its intelligence. Let’s hope she considers herself a cut above the good ship Tardis and stays in the sad reality from which she has sprung.
as a loyal Doctor Who fan, I was shocked/kind of grossed out by this.
BUT FEAR NOT:
the first commenter on the io9 article that provided this source material provided the EXACT quote from Gareth Roberts:
“When I saw [Steven Moffat] for a proper meeting, he’d forgotten that, and we went off on a completely different track. After I’d done another script - which might end up on screen one day, or as an audio play in 2030, guest starring Lady Gaga, who will have fallen on hard times! - I suggested ‘The Lodger’ again, to give the execs more options.”
it was a joke, popularly misinterpreted as some zoned in on STARRING LADY GAGA and totally ignored the part about it being totally tongue in cheek.
we can all sleep soundly tonight, friends.
Posted by: here to dispel the rumor. June 8th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Well thank God for further research; my source actually wasn’t io9, so I’m happy to hear the good news. Thank you, fellow fan.
Posted by: Shannon Hassett June 8th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
it was a joke. hooray! viva shannon hassett.
Posted by: mike sheffield likes dispelled rumors June 8th, 2010 at 3:45 pm