I don't believe Ford is actually described in any particular manner, physically at least, in the books. If memory serves, the descriptions are about what he's doing, wearing, or carrying -- not about his actual looks. He's just supposed to be cool, and (surprisingly at first) from Betelgeuse. So there's no particular reason why he should have any particular racial characteristics.
On the flip side, I find myself strangely uneasy about the portrayal of the Doctor as someone decidedly of a different sex, or race, than we've seen before. This is odd, because I was thrilled when we saw a black Vulcan and a black Time Lord. I don't object to alien races resembling the different ethnic stocks on earth, because I would imagine that a similar ecosystem would produce similar body types based on climate and so forth. Assuming regeneration works by re-assembling the basic genetic matter in a new combination, it seems unlikely that we'd get such a drastic change -- though of course I also realize that silly ideas don't get less silly because you've got Science Words in.
At very least, I feel it would have to be explained somehow in-story. Otherwise it'd smack of stunt casting.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-11-26 03:40 pm (UTC)On the flip side, I find myself strangely uneasy about the portrayal of the Doctor as someone decidedly of a different sex, or race, than we've seen before. This is odd, because I was thrilled when we saw a black Vulcan and a black Time Lord. I don't object to alien races resembling the different ethnic stocks on earth, because I would imagine that a similar ecosystem would produce similar body types based on climate and so forth. Assuming regeneration works by re-assembling the basic genetic matter in a new combination, it seems unlikely that we'd get such a drastic change -- though of course I also realize that silly ideas don't get less silly because you've got Science Words in.
At very least, I feel it would have to be explained somehow in-story. Otherwise it'd smack of stunt casting.