*NO PLOT SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4*
(cryptic allusions amongst the cognoscenti are encouraged, but take care!)
Image Source: BBC
Who else is becoming impatient for Auntie ABC to show us more of the scrumptious David Tennant and his charmingly ruthless ways? They haven’t even shown us the last Christmas special yet!
I know that some people are impatient enough to have found ways to view episodes already, and of course some LP commentors actually do live in the UK so are already nearly up to Episode 8 as I write. I’m assiduously avoiding detailed spoilers online, but I already know enough about S4Ep06 to know that I am very keen to evaluate whether I agree that the character below is the “Mary Sue-est of Mary Sues evah!” as I have seen claimed.
Torchwood’s looking pretty hot too. What have others really liked or hated about the revived Whoverse series so far? Is the ninth Doctor or the tenth Doctor your particular cup of tea, or have you lost your heart to Captain Jack? Or is one of the earlier Doctors still your all time favourite?
Tangent: I’m rather liking the concept of WhoMacros recapping various episodes (in this case, S1Ep06). I hope to see more unexpected n**** D****s around the internets.
I’m of the opinion that David Tennant is the finest Doctor since Baker (The scarved Baker, of course)
And I’m rapidly becoming convinced that Captain Jack is the most delightful character on TV I’ve seen so far.
I’m still partial to Tom Baker (although those episodes were prevalent in my formative years), the doctors that followed seemed to get unbearable until the new series. The christmas special is entertaining (arrgh me hearties) but unless you’ve got a device that can show divx files on your TV (like me), watching on a PC is painful.
That episode with the new-new doctor and the drawn squiggles on the screen make me groan a bit, but overall it’s an enjoyable show in rebooted form.
The last season felt like a bit of a disappointment, until ‘Human Nature’ came along, and then it suddenly got very interesting to me, and stayed that way to the end. So yes, I am impatient.
On any reasonable criteria, most of the revived Doctor Who is better than all but the most memorable 1970s stories (maybe Genesis of the Daleks and The Ark in Space and a few others). I believe it a shame that Christopher Ecclestone left so soon, but have long since gotten over it.
The ABC doesn’t seem to get around to Doctor Who until late June, based on the last couple of years. You’ll know about it cause they’ll run promos with David Tennant’s face in them for about a month and a half before anything happens. And they won’t tell you the date until about a week prior.
Yea, what gives? Seems like an eternity.
I’m a fan of Patrick Troughton & Jon Pertwee…& days of peering out from behind sofas w/ one eye closed to watch evil daleks & cybermen & yetis in tunnels & other creepy places do their dreadful things…& eventually get their arses kicked by the brainy Doc & his team…including the young gal assistant or trapped sweet thing that melted little boys hearts. The theme song (in all its variations) & eerie & exciting sound of the coming & going box still gives me goosebumps.
I enjoyed the performance of the last 2 docs. Christopher Eccleston is magnificent(great in Heroes too)…& David Tennant has turned out to be a much better, thoughtful, Dr. Who than I expected. Don’t quite know why I thought he would be a damp squid…perhaps I read a book by its cover & thought he’d be an overly dramatic bore like the singer in Pulp (I saw him live…groan…mebbe he was having an off day?)
How about a female Doc? T
he Daleks still give me the creeps. I luv it!
Not too worried about the Titanic episode…can’t abide the wee one from Australia who never seems to stop self-promoting or being pumped up by certain media groups since she left the neighborhood. Reckon her acting is generally sh*te….& the songs…yuck! Manufactured goods that should be sold in the plastic section. But some of my gay friends luv her. We often agree to disagree & move on.
I’m a bit ambivalent about the new Who. I really liked Christopher Eccleston’s doctor, and some of the stories from his season were just brilliant (”The Empty Child”/”The Doctor Dances”). I had high hopes for Tennant’s turn at the wheel but by the end of his first season was losing interest. Mainly because I got sick to death of every second story having to revolve around Rose and her boring family — it was all getting far too sudsy for mine. Was very glad to see the back of her! I liked what I saw of season 3 — the new companion was great compared with Rose — but ironically missed most of it because I was in London for a couple of months! Catherine Tate is in season 4 as a companion and that can’t be a good thing, her character gave me the irrits in that Christmas special she was in.
Hmmm. Seems it all revolves around the choice of companions for me (I don’t mind Tennant’s Timelord, but I found Eccleston’s more interesting). Probably why I’m looking forward to the Sarah Jane Adventures spin-off — now THERE’S a companion! Has anyone here seen that yet? I quite liked what I saw of Torchwood but for some reason I’ve seen the first 4 or 5 episodes twice and none of the rest …
In other Who news Russell T. Davies will be moving on from Who next year, to be replaced by Steven Moffat, who wrote the aforementioned “The Empty Child”/”The Doctor Dances” (and is writing the new Tintin movies). This could be a good thing.
All in all … Tom Baker is still the best Doctor, followed by Peter Davison and Jon Pertwee. From which opinion a pretty fair estimate of my age could probably be deduced!
Love David Tennant; loved Christopher Eccleston as well. I had never previously watched Dr Who as I’ve never been into sci-fi, but it was hearing that Russell T Davies was involved that got me interested.
Whilst I love the new Dr Who, I actually prefer Torchwood. Any show that combines the totally HOT John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) with frequent boy-kissing will get my vote any day
I loved Rose, and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by Catherine Tate, Brett. The first episode is quite humorous in keeping with her comedy reputation, but in later episodes she reminds us that as well as a history in stand-up and sketch comedy she has also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Er, so I’m told.
having just watched season 1 again on ABC2, I was surprised to find that I thought Ecclestone was such a good Doctor. Best ever, IMHO.
My wife & I stopped watching Cap’n Jack’s show. He was fine in Dr. Who.
Torchwood provides some interesting ideas, objects, lighting, settings/mis-en-scene & music…& the occasional worthwhile glimpse into the workings of tech stuff & certain sciences…but we found it got too dark, gruesome and a
somewhat enjoyment eroding. We ended up having crappy nightmares & felt the residue the next day or so.
A sense of hopelessness was fairly pervasive after each episode. I needed to detox. Particularly after that bunch of Texas Chainsaw Massacre types protecting the wee village episode. I barely found the premise in Hot Fuzz amusing. I wasn’t going to dig it in a version that lacked humour.
Thinking back on Britain’s DESCENT into the maelstrom I wonder if the perception & SELL of PROSPERITY has led to ugly naval gazing & distractions of the loopy imagination kind. Give me the struggle & Ken Loach and a cup of tea and i’ll feel compelled to watch.
There are superb TV & filmmakers at work here…but it’s too often depressing, feverish, savage & futile. I’m no Santa adorer…but he is more appealing than a Grinch that fails to grow & make amends.
I prefer the idiosyncratic, eccentric, deep frowned, sh*t-eatin’ grin, quick thinking, HOPE prevails, “never say never”, “If at once you don’t succeed…”, “i’ll sacrifice myself for the many if I have to”, pulling on the deep well of knowledge behaviour of the Doc…even tho he can be mighty callous at times…he doesn’t drip w/ self-pity or use the cutthroat approach of the business exec.
I guess Jack is just a younger version of the Doc, less experienced, introspective but pretending to be otherwise, somewhat brash & cocky, had his arse-kicked a few times outa bad judgement but just managed to make it thru, ruthless, traumatised (a bit like America) survivalist…
yet also somewhat like a long suffering, contemplative, sorrowful, keeping a certain distance, often unable to find love & “failure to express the inexpressible” E.M. Forster character…or perhaps the dude in Wuthering Heights…Jack seems filled w/ envy & bitterness, lacking compassion…and dominated by the survival gene.
And the dominating message is: “he can’t afford to be kind or show love, it’s a dangerous game…a scary universe…& he’s HIGHLANDER…Guardian of Earth who has watched his lovers age into unbearable ugliness & eventually death…good ole shallow, alien fighting, survivor of all survivors bar a couple of others, Jack…but he’s also a good lookin’ brooder who needs to be mothered & cherished & nurtured…but mind his temper”. Bit Social Darwinistic in tone.
Yes, an innocent child, mutated by harsh experiences, transformed into brooding, rugged, all-weather, snap their neck in an instant” type…looking for a Terminator w/ a map of London on his brain anyone? Damn, I almost feel sorry for this guy. But would Huckabee use him as a threat? Or is he too tainted by Britishness.
The other characters are complex enough. At least Gwen Cooper & Toshiko Sato are higher cognitive thinkers…but Gwen is far too dopey & impetuous at times for my liking (but I guess it drives the narrative…sigh).
I find Toshiko quite intriguing, trying to burst out of her culturally-imposed cage…there’s something more REAL about her…vulnerable, naïve, highly intelligent, gullible…but determined & ever-adapting to circumstances…gaining in confidence.
I detest Gwen sometimes because she goes behind her lover’s back & hasn’t the guts to own up (at least in the episodes we watched)…like I detested myself for almost travelling down that road many a year ago…& some in my family for such callous, selfish behaviour that proved to have negative consequences for too many. Tho, I’ll try to forgive Gwen as I have myself & others. Her character needs to earn TRUST. As do governments.
Love & relationships are complex, as the show seems to demonstrate…particularly when people are stressed, overly-fatigued, under too much pressure, widening their horizons as their world wobbles…& time to chat & cry & cuddle falls to the wayside in the panic, DEMANDS & RUSH of it all…but honesty is often the bedrock, the sense of security bringer…regardless of what the fearful & spinners tell you. I’m curious now as to where this show goes…dammit!
As for plot development…sometimes the kissing & sex scenes seemed forced & redundant… broke the flow…I have no probs w/ sex or demonstrations of affection on TV provided it doesn’t stuff up the flow…or serves to be a hidden ad for something…it’s like some of the scenes were meant to attract & cater to Uni students who like to play up the bi-sexuality bit and wear it like a lonely, needy rich lady does her new pair of shoes.
Still, perhaps Jack’s evolved over time…& the mood of the show has become at least a wee bit more uplifting…we stopped watching after 8 episodes.
I reckon I’ll handle the show at a later date…but it just seemed to wear me down w/ so much REAL LIFE negativity…& all that tech diversion & prosperity promotion in the greed for gain, “get yer leg over whoever as long as it helps to ease the suffering” World…where love and pursuit of harmony & peace & compassion & goodwill took a vacation…whilst so many callous killings occurred, keep HAPPENING under BUSHWATCH 2000-2008.
Torchwood…intriguing…but too dark. For now.
P.S. The temporary awakening of the dead as witnesses but slipping back into stillness thing became over-whelming. I reckon it brought back memories of an accident in my teenage years. Might be the major reason I stopped watching.
I love Christopher Eccleston generally, wilful. Cracker, Elizabeth, Our Friends in the North, Shallow Grave, Second Coming and all the rest. Damn that man looks good in black - I would have loved to see his 2002 Hamlet on stage.
As a old scfi and Dr Who fan from day one and forgetting all the cardboard sets over the years my favorite will always be Jon Pertwee
Yes, liked Rose…& thought Martha Jones was wonderful. Fairly rounded female characters these days. But still problematics. That yearning for & cat fighting over the Doc thing & such. Still, all part of the formula & fun I guess. They were far less passive than some characters on TV. It’s good to see angry young women who get wiser & learn to compromise w/out giving away their uniqueness.
Bilko - NEVER forget the cardboard sets! Wash your mouth out and repeat after me:
A dude in a latex suit beats a jumpy pile of pixels every time.
A dude in a latex suit beats a jumpy pile of pixels every time.
A dude in a latex suit beats a jumpy pile of pixels every time.
I’m with Bilko - none of them are as interesting (eccentric?) as john Pertwee. Mind you I can see how you might prefer some others (especially David Tennant) if you were female or a male gay.
But in recent incarnations the doctor seems to have lost the knack of rescuing truly scrumptious (and suitably underclad) female assistants. Though judging by the photo Series 4 shows some promise on this front.
With the exception of Pertwee, they’ve all been pretty hawt IMHO. Peter Davidson used to send my mother’s knees weak, with the cricket whites and the blonde mop and the insouciant smile. Phwor!
I love the contrasts too - Ecclestone to Tennant is aesthetic chalk and cheese. Such a handly plot device for the casting folks!
My favourite story was Pirate Planet though, in Tom Baker days. Written by Douglas Adams, chock-full of vaudeville bellowing and camp.
nasking:
Naoko Mori is amazing. Remember her as Saffy’s friend in Absolutely Fabulous? She’s also a singer - at the same time as she started in AbFab she was debuting on the West End in the lead role of Miss Saigon, opposite…John Barrowman.
Perhaps British actors should start having Barrowman numbers like Hollywood actors have Bacon numbers.
I haven’t even read it yet, but this is already the best LP post ever made.
The rumour mill is working overtime on the news that Neil Gaiman is NOT DENYING being approached by Steven Moffat to write for Doctor Who’s 2010 season.
BTW for all you trivia freaks - the actress pictured in the post is the daughter of Peter Davison, who played the fifth Doctor.
How awesome was Blink? And John Simms as The Master? Season Three was awesome.
And based on her last appearance, MY FRIEND (the one who’s remarkably like me in all respects except he lives overseas and is up to date with Dr Who) thought HE’D hate Catherine Tate, but actually HE’S really enjoying her episodes.
Word. Blink is deffo my fave ep ever.
I’ve been a fan of Catherine Tate since her days in Big Train, which I don’t think was ever broadcast here other than on cable. The whole cast of that show was brilliant.
Big Train series two did air on the ABC here. Though in the absence of Graham Lineham’s writing, it wasn’t a patch on the first series.
Here’s one for britcom/Doctor Who trivia nuts: name every actor who appeared in both Season 2, Episode one of “Spaced” and in the 2007 season of Doctor Who.
I was a Tom Baker fan but Christopher Eccleston is now my favourite. I think The Empty Child was perhaps the best Who episode ever. I hated John Simms as the master and found that season a really big disappointment.
Tom Baker was just brilliant. I do like David Tennant though.
Nick:
Well, I’d have to go with Mark Gatiss, obviously, but who else? Simon Pegg was in Who but that was earlier wasn’t it?
tigtog and others:
Hope you’re right about Catherine Tate! Happy to have my pessimism confounded on this one.
Brett, you’re on the right track. Pegg appeared in 2005 but not 2007.
Mark Heap hasn’t appeared in Doctor Who yet, which is a sad omission. I suspect it’s because he’s quite keen to take on the lead role himself.
Oh, when Tennant hangs up the red daps I would be absolutely thrilled if Mark Heap was the eleventh Doctor.
Although of course, going by Heap’s Tyrant character in Big Train, perhaps he’d make a better Master, complete with the iconic beard?
I was soldiering on through the first couple of seasons of the revamped Dr Who until I couldn’t take the emoting and the tears and the saccharine love of humanity stuff any more. Then I discovered the reimagined Battlestar Galactica and saw what good sci-fi was really like.
Jessica Hynes! I cheated of course and looked her up on IMDB. Loved Daisy in Spaced.
Really MH? I switched off Battlestar Galactica because it was so *flat*. Cheerless, monotone, so devoid of emotion that I found it hard to tell the Cylons from the humans. To each his own.
I’m one of the old pharts who’ve been watching the show since the _very_ early days (it started screening in Austalia in January 1965, and I was watching witin a couple of months), and I’m a hopeless tragic -I even have the audio recordings and fan reconstructions of the lost adventures! My personal favourites are Doctors Two and One, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell.
Having said that, I _love_the new version of the show. Sure, they’ve got a lot of money to play with in comparison with the original, but that doesn’t guarantee a good show-they’ve accompished that with excellent writing, great acting and direction, and an appreciation and understanding of the spirit of the original.
I’ve also been amazed at how they’ve managed to make something that can appeal to both old and new fans; you don’t have to know 40 years of Who history to follow and enjoy the show, but they keep throwing in these lovely little references that have special meaning for we oldies.
Season 4 is pretty good so far - or so I’m reliably informed….
Not just Jessica Hynes! This is actually a little more subtle, as I believe it was an uncredited cameo in the Spaced episode. Hmm. The drums are loud tonight.
Mark Heap would be brilliant, but I suspect — though he’s clearly very physically fit — that he’s a bit old for the role in these modern times. Too much running about in every single scene. Davies has as much as admitted that he couldn’t cast his first choice before Eccleston (David Warner) because he didn’t want to kill him with the pace.
Tennant’s replacement is very much the perennial question, isn’t it? I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more ethnic diversity! Patterson Joseph has been suggested, thanks to his (deliberately) Doctorish turn as the Maquis de Carabas in Neverwhere. Adrian Lester (from Hustle) is apparently actively campaigning for the part.
Or they could cast Julian Rhind-Tutt from Green Wing and finally give the role to a ginger.
I hesitate to link to this article for the following reasons:
a. it’s slightly spoilerific for Series 4.
b. the author - an ex-doctor-who-book writer is a somewhat controversial figure in fandom
3, or c. he tends to delete each post after a week
but it contains an interestingly critical take on the new series’ reliance on relatively unimaginative CGI over genuine aesthetic novelty.
I’ll risk an extensive quote:
OK, well if we’re cheating then … the third person would be John Simm! It probably would have helped if I’d seen more than 3 episodes of the relevant season of Doctor Who
Well, he’s not terribly recognisable in that episode of “Spaced”, either.
I didn’t think the John Simm episodes of Doctor Who last year made a lot of sense, but I’m grateful for the way RTD orchestrated some moments of real grandeur from Doctor Who’s mythology: the flashback depiction of old Gallifrey, the Time Lords in their authentic, James Acheson-designed robes and collars. Iconography that became a bit tattered in the show’s original run, but reinvested with meaning and resonance. I think fans will be pleased with more than a few moments in the new season that harken back as far as the William Hartnell days.
More Cap’n Jack everywhere!
I must say I was tiring a bit of Gwen by the end of Torchwood 1. A lot of what I’ve read on the net suggests series 2 is tighter in story arc and writing - I loved Torchwood 1 but I think the writing was a bit uneven.
“Naoko Mori is amazing. Remember her as Saffy’s friend in Absolutely Fabulous? She’s also a singer - at the same time as she started in AbFab she was debuting on the West End in the lead role of Miss Saigon, opposite…John Barrowman.”
Didn’t realise that…helped jog a memory or two. Had plenty of deep laughs & chuckles over AB FAB…gets better the more you watch it.
“Second Coming”…yes, thought Eccleston had that part down pat…brill. Also a big Cracker fan.
Great use of quote Nick…gawd i luv The Mighty Boosh. And the “bludgeoning” description is so spot on. The appropriation of the appropriator eh? Bloody ads. Can’t anyone have an interesting idea these days that understandably smells like someone else’s good idea w/out some bast*rd mangling it & using it to sell some gas guzzling piece of cr*p? It’s so crass…so little real creativity w/out the begging for the meatiest bone…a lack of artistic spurt w/out some crud rippin’ ya & yer genetic memories & late night reading/viewing habits off… no dignity anymore…still, I guess the b*ggers create jobs…and there’s no dignity in poverty. Or is there? No or little choice perhaps? Oh to hell w/ it…i guess we can just turn off the ads & watch The Mighty Boosh free of the darn things…can’t we? Can our taxes provide that kind of CHOICE?
Is that the same fella in the IT Crowd that acts in The Mighty Boosh? He’s wonderful. In fact the IT Crowd has gone way beyond our expectations. It’s hilarious. And the lass who is also in Doc Martin is obviously a talented, versatile actress.
Speaking of Ads…isn’t the Gruen Transfer on tonite? Oh crikey, my wife reckons it’s on now. Thank goodness old Moidoch is useful for somethin’…we’ve got that IQ box recording…a worthwhile unit…if it didn’t keep collapsing on us at the most inconvenient of times. Will the Gruen Transfer play all the way thru? Mebbe Rupert wants us to get the HDTV version?…:)
Now I’m really looking forward to the new season of Dr. Who. Good thread tigtog.
[fangirl]
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Thanks, Nasking. I think the essay is one of those ‘read the whole thing’ experiences, particularly as it won’t be online much longer. Lawrence Miles is best when he’s analysing the visual culture of British television texts, much less so than when he’s picking fights with better writers (claiming he could piss a better script than Moffat’s “Blink”, for instance).
I would love to see some greater participation from a wider pool of UK conceptual artists — the first season benefited greatly from the designs of acclaimed comic artist Bryan Hitch, who established the new TARDIS interior. And, if there is a god, he will encourage Steven Moffat to hire Rian Hughes to design a decent logo.
The writing on Torchwood never really stops being uneven, but series two is better than the first. The problem seems to be that they’ve got a likeable and charismatic cast, great standing sets and locations, good production values (TW is shot on HD, unlike Doctor Who), but no real idea what to make of these assets.
On the other hand, there was no limit to the awesomeness when James Marsters guest starred.
James Marsters!!! That’s - well - Awesome! I hope he hooks up with Cap’n Jack!
Kim, I couldn’t possibly comment!
@Nick Caldwell “I hesitate to link to this article…”
Ooh! He’s very sharp, that Lawrence Miles chap. Thanks for pointing him out.
@MH “I discovered the reimagined Battlestar Galactica and saw what good sci-fi was really like”
You may or may not be right about the relationship between BSG and ‘good’ SF, but that’s not the point of DW. It’s a kid’s show. Seriously, last year bbc.co.uk/doctorwho had advance ratings of the episodes available. I think the oldest reviewer was eleven. I love watching it with my kids and I enjoy it myself. (I long ago surrendered to the warm and sticky embrace of nostalgia and I’ve reached the age where all the hard work I put into cultivating low expectations is really starting to pay off.)
Blink scared the willies out of my kids and is the only show they’ve made me erase from the Tivo. They slept in my bed for a week and if I said, in an urgent tone, “Don’t < whatever>. Just don’t < whatever>” they’d burst into tears. It was wonderful and they refuse to even talk about watching it again.
They are looking forward to the return of the Runaway Bride. They like it when she shouts at the Doctor.
Torchwood is a mess and awfully annoying. I agree with Nick about it’s assets but the producers can’t make up their minds about what sort of show it’s supposed to be and the characters are underdone to the point I started looking forward to the bits between Gwen and her boyfriend “oh good, a character moment!” And if this team is Earth’s last defence against the aliens, we should have been conquered by tribbles long ago.
d
I like BSG and all, but I do chuckle at the idea that it’s better Science Fiction than Doctor Who. The show has as many dodgy psuedo-scientific premises as any other, but it cloaks them in a gritty, macho aesthetic. For instance, if Cylons and humans can interbreed, and they’re anatomically indistinguishable from humans, they almost certainly are the same species. “Blink” had more cool SF concepts than an entire season of BSG.
I still like Torchwood, for all its many faults. There’s something to be said for a show that gives the writer of Sapphire and Steel another chance to scare people with bafflingly vague ghost stories.
Darryl, your story of the lasting psychological damage that “Blink” did to your children will warm Steven Moffat’s heart.
If they do ever decide to do a female Doctor, my vote is for Tamsin Greig.
Or Meera Syal.
Brett, agree 100% on favourite Doctors and also loathed Rose. I couldn’t understand why the Doctor didn’t tell her to pull herself together like Tom Baker would have or just kick the silly bint out of the Tardis!
I must admit I haven’t watched the Doctor for ages, so must start again. Obviously haven’t seen the new Master, but he’d have to go a long way to beat the old one (can’t think of the actor’s name).
I wonder how much some of these sharp divisions on who likes whom in the Whoverse come down to familiarity, or not, with certain actors playing the parts.
My hypothesis: for those of us who watch a lot of Brit TV, John Simms as the Master was YAY! For those who’d never seen him in anything before, quite possibly not so much. And perhaps the same with some of the other actors who appear. (Harriet Jones? Margaret Blaine? Lady Cassandra? The Editor? Dr Constantine? Thomas Kincade Brannigan? Joan Redfern? Professor Yana?) They may be veteran British thespians and very familiar and well beloved to some of us, but to others they don’t have all that cred propping them up. Does that matter or not?
Rose seems rather polarising as well. Obviously this part was Billie Piper’s big return to the public consciousness after spending quite a few years partying with the much older DJ husband she married at age 19 (since divorced), but Britain seems to still love her. Are those who loathe Rose familiar with Billie or not? I knew of her through gossip mags only until she was cast as Rose. I happen to think that she’s fabulous, and the other parts she’s taken on and the technique and talent she displays will, I predict, make her an acknowledged star of the Brit dramatic Establishment in fairly short order. She’s now married into the Fox clan, which can’t hurt.
P.S. To Nick regarding whether Mark Heap is too old to play the Doctor - as he showed us all in the finale Xmas special of Green Wing, he has serious runner’s legs. They look like they do half-marathons regularly along with his acrobatic workouts. I don’t think fitness would be a problem.
P.P.S. I did notice the Neil Gaiman speculation as well. I do have a few reservations about them both solo, but as part of a team approach I can imagine it working very well indeed.
My favourite episode of the new series could very easily be Season Two’s “Love and Monsters” (the one with Elton Pope, the Abzorbaloff and the music of ELO and without much of the Doctor and Rose). So I’m loving Lawrence Miles’ piece, which starts off about the forgettable “42″ but quickly veers off into a very fertile reflection on Doctor Who as “the Morecambe and Wise Show with Monsters”. I might just have a new favourite TV critic.
PS “it cloaks them in a gritty, macho aesthetic” Ah! Where can I download some of that for meself? And why am I suddenly stuck with images of a gritty, macho re-imagining of “Happy Days”, replete with Korean war vets, valium addicts, beats, junkies, knife fights and abstract expressionism? And Richie and Ralph get On the Bus with Ken Kesey instead of joining the Army and going to Greenland. Clearly, it is late and I should go to bed.
d
SUBSCRIBE!!!1!1!!
I don’t think it’s that for me … I liked Catherine Tate from her sketch show before she was on Who, and I didn’t mind Billie Piper at all for the first year she was on, even though (or because) I was only vaguely aware that she was already very well known in the UK. It was more the way the stories eventually seemed to revolve almost entirely around her and her mum or her dad or her boyfriend or all of them in some way. Even that was ok to begin with but the show turned into Eastenders with a TARDIS! Not what I signed up for.
Having said that, it does often work the other way … I’d let out a very manly SQUEEEEEE!!!!11 if Mark Heap became the new Doctor, for example!
“for those of us who watch a lot of Brit TV, John Simms as the Master was YAY! For those who’d never seen him in anything before, quite possibly not so much.”
I don’t think I’ve heard of any of those ’stars’, except for Father Dougal and Jacobi, who I know only by reputation and for his voice. It’s never occurred to me that they are ‘guest stars’ and suddenly that Miles piece, ‘Bring me sunshine monsters’ in comment 50 makes even more sense. And I just this moment got the pun with ’sunshine’ and ‘42′. Yes, I definitely have a new favourite TV critic.
So no, it doesn’t matter for me. But generally, in the battle of ‘good actor’ v ‘crap episode’, crap episode wins almost every time.
d
Tigtog@46: Michelle Gomez apparently is pretty keen to play the Doctor, but we’re probably more likely at this stage to get her husband Jack Davenport.
Ah, just a day or so until the new Moffat episode. In a scary library. With scary shadow monsters. And Alex Kingston. In a space suit. Mmmm.
That’s as it should be I’m sure. I merely suggest that a familiarity with a particular actor’s mannerisms etc can sometimes elicit a sense of fondness as well, which tends to improve one’s perception of the narrative/effects/maguffin/resolution.
Tangent: Derek Jacobi these days is actually a monument to the skill of the makeup team on I, CLAVDIVS all those years ago, who aged him for that part - it was pretty accurate except that Sir Derek has better hair than CLAVDIVS did.
Oh yes, the trailers for that one look marvellous.
This thread looks like a okay place to ask this question. Could someone tell me (new Australian) - will we be getting the 4th series of Battlestar Galactic on free-to-air? And if so where? And when?
tigtog: regarding Rose, I’ve generally been rather ‘eh’ about companions at a conceptual level, though Rose was okay in her first season, but into the second season it just got ridiculous. Though I will admit that a chunk of my resentment ended up being a result of nasty fandom spats (the Rose-cultishness among new fans is … interesting) and really creepy racist readings of Martha (who I thought was quite awesome) that made me want to throw shit.
I miss Ace and Romana.
I liked Martha a lot as well. I’m glad to see that she’s still popping up in the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood.
Ace was fantastic! and Romana was awesomely cool.
I think John Pertwee and Tom Baker were the best Doctors, and that’s party because of the quality of the scripts they had. The crap special effects didn’t matter. The best stories took a few solid sci-fi/horror/fantasy ideas and spun them out beautifully over 100 or 150 minutes (which was 4 or 6 episodes).
The revamped Doctor Who occasionally really works for me - both Ecclestone and Tennant are good actors and the Cybermen and Dalek episodes generally rocked - but about half of the shows I end up switching off or tuning out before the end.
Why?
1) Too many ideas too fast: the average story now lasts 50 minutes. Proper exposition is a good thing in sci-fi and you might have noticed that many of the best stories in the new format have been the two-parters. Perhaps executive producer Russell T Davies is under the impression that modern TV audiences suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder whereas audiences of 30 years ago did not. That’s an urban myth in my opinion.
2) The soaking-wet sentimental bombast of it all: overblown music and characters constantly shedding tears does not a genuine emotion make. Does the producer not trust his writers? Does the producer not trust himself? (Davis is also lead writer).
I grew up with Baker and Pertwee so perhaps I’m just old fashioned. Yet other modern sci-fi shows like Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek Voyager have impressed me greatly.
My two cents worth.