Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Not liking these odds
It's not necessarily one of the huge problems facing us today, but bookmakers accepting bets on TV castings seems ethically suspect to me. Two things to keep in mind here, on different levels. Theoretically, any actor still living could be the next Doctor. (Those not living would need some strong motivation.) In reality, however, the final choice will come down to whoever auditions the best and/or says yes when the producer calls. And assuming auditions are going on/have happened, the general public doesn't know who was involved. Plus in fantasy casting almost everyone goes for big stars, whereas Doctor Who has generally gravitated to non-stars. (Tom Baker would have been huge if Nicholas and Alexandra had been the world-conquering epic it was supposed to be. It wasn't.) So all this bookmaking seems to be like betting that the next heavyweight champion will be a big guy you saw on the street who may or may not be a prizefighter, but probably isn't.
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2 comments:
It appears British bookmakers will make odds on anything but I think you're right that the person who will get the job of being Who is whomever it is who's being considered. What would make the show more interesting would be if they hired someone other than a white male.
A woman or a nonwhite person could work, certainly. Again, I think usually when people make guesses like that they're off-base in which particular people to fill in.
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