[Zeke]

Wait, are we talking about "Voyage of the Damned" or "Time Crash" in this thread? The latter is this year's Children in Need special -- a few minutes of pure fun, available on YouTube. Check it out.

As for RTD's joke, there's a pattern I've noticed about jokes and other public statements: the more serious and "risky" the material, the more its success depends on how you feel about the speaker and not whether the joke is any good. We'll put up with Hitler jokes from people we like -- you have in the past, for instance. I think it's because we assume our friends, being good people, are fully conscious of how bad Hitler was. Our enemies we're not so sure about.

Take South Park for another example. My dad has watched very little of it, and like many Catholics, he was disgusted with what he read about the recent episode "Bloody Mary". I'm Catholic too, but I defend the show and even that episode. Why? Not because I think the jokes at our expense were good -- they were gross and offensive. But Matt and Trey have given me too many laughs, and I've seen them go after too many worthy targets that no other show dares to touch. (In fact, the Catholic stuff in "Bloody Mary" was a smokescreen for that episode's real target -- Alcoholics Anonymous, a sacred cow if ever there was one.)

I'm not saying, Valium, that you're blinded by your dislike of RTD. But I do think that intensified your reaction. I have no great love for the man either, but I don't think it's fair to take his comment as more than a dumb joke answer to, let's face it, a pretty silly question. Also, even a real insult to the Doctor isn't automatically an insult to his fans.

Somehow, criticism of RNT never leaks out beyond the local level.

Somehow I find that hard to believe. We have too many counterexamples around here.