Doctor Who: Turn Left

[butterfly]

Oh! Important character note: did we just get confirmation that Gwen did not change her name when she married Rhys? The Sontaran episode would be set after her wedding episode (I believe -- though I suppose you could speculate as to whether or not she'd still have married... though they might have gotten married sooner. That happens sometimes.) and Rose said, "Gwen Cooper." Did I finally get a TV show where it was not assumed that the woman should change her name after marriage?

This is the assumption that I've been making about her character (she's still credited as 'Gwen Cooper' in post-wedding episodes) but I can't think of it being confirmed 'on camera' before now and I've seen people make the 'Gwen Williams' assumption.

Comments

[freeze883.livejournal.com]

It's funny because I never even considered that Gwen might have changed her name, but I agree this pretty much is confirmation.

Given that it was just Ianto, Gwen and Jack I assumed that most of the other stuff that happened in Torchwood still happened (without Martha of course) and given Rose seemed to know both timelines really well I'd say it's a fair opinion to have.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I didn't think that she had changed it until I saw people writing "Gwen Williams" or "Gwen Cooper-Williams" around. And then I started wondering if I'd missed something in the show. So, this episode was reassuring on that count.

[freeze883.livejournal.com]

It just didn't seem very much like Gwen to me, she unlike Jack only works for Torchwood rather than is Torchwood. She has spent two years making sure that she kept her own identity while being both with Torchwood and Rhys, yes she has make sacrifices for both but she won't just be the mother/housewife for Rhys or the solider for Jack.

It's always seemed to me that no matter what Gwen Cooper will be Gwen Cooper much like Rose Tyler will always be Rose Tyler no matter what happens to either of them.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

It's certainly now the norm here for women to keep their own names, and I think it is for Britain as well (out off all my married female friends who married in the last fifteen years, only one changed her name. In a couple of cases, both partners took on a double-barrelled name, in my case the ex took a double-barrelled name and my name was unchanged). You should probably assume the name is unchanged in most British or Irish dramas set in the present.

(Also remember how incredibly easy it is to change names in Britain and Ireland - you simply start using the new name. As long as it's not for criminal purposes, it's that easy and totally legal, and your new name can be put on tax records, the census, bank records, etc. I and mandragora1 - who is an English lawyer - tried to convince a US poster of that once on hp britglish, but she refused to believe us. All I can say is, it seemed good enough for the Revenue Commissioners and the courts in my own experience!)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

That's quite lovely to hear! Over in the States, there's a distressing assumption among the majority of people that a woman will, of course, change her name. It's very annoying.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

I only make the assumption if the woman has been using an ex-husband's name previous to the new marriage, and then I'm very careful to pound the new name into my brain, otherwise I continue to refer to her by her own name, although this is as much laziness as feminism -- I'm not terribly good with names.

[starsprinkles.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty ridiculous. I'm not planning on changing mine.

[teskafuture.livejournal.com]

Wow... I must be out of the loop, 'cause nowadays, I'd never make the assumption. People change names and not change names all the time. I've got a couple of coworkers getting married soon who are discussing that (they are changing) and even another coworker who's mother got divorced a second time and decided to change her name to her first married name instead of her maiden name (much to the chagrin of her first ex-husband *grin*).

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Dunno, I'd rather be in your loop. It's a rather annoying assumption.

[teskafuture.livejournal.com]

*shrugs* Maybe it's just the northeast. I know I plan on changing my name if and when I get married 'cause I plan on having kids and like the idea of the family all having one name... but it definitely seems like what used to be a given that a name was change is now a discussion on whether or not one wants to. And it's a not a huge deal either way.

[shinyopals.livejournal.com]

Hehe, it never even crossed my mind that Gwen would change her name. I mean, she *is* Gwen Cooper. It's nice to have, apparently, some confirmation. I hope they keep it like that!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Me, too! She sounds right as Gwen Cooper.

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

She called herself Gwen Cooper after getting married in one episode. I forget which tough.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

The next time that I watch S2, I will keep an extra close eye out (oh, maybe she did in "Adrift" -- she'd have needed to introduce herself in that one).

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it was!

[demeter918.livejournal.com]

I always got the feeling that Gwen would think it a spot of bother to change her name... or maybe she never got around to doing it. Either way, I actually didn't think about that. Really should have considered it. But since I didn't think that they'd actually BE IN THE LAST TWO EPISODES... I was blown away when they were mentioned and then trampled upon when they were featured in the trailer for the last two episodes. GLEE.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I was all! Dude! Gwen and Ianto! Very thrilling moment.

(and Luke! Dude!)

[starlightmoonla.livejournal.com]

You know I never considered that she would change her name and don't think she did because I'm sure we probably would have noticed eventually.

[settiai]

I'm almost 100% certain that, at one point, she called herself either "Gwen Williams" or "Mrs. Williams." But I think she was talking to Rhys so that might make a difference. At the same time, I'm also fairly certain that she called herself Gwen Cooper several times after the wedding as well, so... um, yeah. I could see plausible reasoning for both.