Doctor Who (Matt Smith)

[Cloud]

why are they changing Doctors so often, do you know? Is it just a horrible job and the actors don't want to do it any longer?

I really liked the last two incarnations and wished they "served" longer.

[Happy Monkey]

It's a high-profile job that increases the other available opportunities for the actor in the short term, while carrying the risk of typecasting in the long term. Actors who don't want to be the Doctor for the rest of their life may feel the need to get out during that short term.

[DanaC]

It also takes over the actor's life, pretty much, whilst they're in the role. One of the reasons Tennant's last year as the Doctor had some specials rather than a full series, was so that he could go and play Hamlet at the RSC, along with another play and a tv drama.

Most of the Doctors only did a few years. Tom Baker was very much the exception to that. Pertwee ( I think ... might have been Troughton) gave Davison the advice not to do more than three series; and then Davison passed that advice on to Tennant :P Any longer than that and there's a serious risk of screwing up your future career, I suspect. Tom Baker spent seven years (iirc) in the role and had huge difficulty finding a place for himself afterwards.

Eccleston was a slightly different situation. he wasn't particularly familiar with the programme (heard of it, obviously, but don't think he'd every really watched it) and they knew when they were making the series that he would only do one run. He was just treating it as an intriguing role with good scripts. They had no idea at that stage if the nu-Who would even succeed.

I'm kind of pleased by the length of Tennant's run as the Doctor. RTD put his Doc through the mill and then some. We saw him cope with loss, then love, then loss again. With the memory of his people's destruction, and his own role in that. Being alone, then finding the Master, his one time childhood friend and arch enemy; try to help him, then have him die in his arms. He's lost every person he's ever got close to, up to and including his best friend, who will never remember he exists.

Kind of hard to see, dramatically, where they could take him now. He's run the emotional gamut.


Add to that the fact that RTD and a couple of other key peeps all left at the end of the specials, and it seemed right (according to interviews I've seen) that he leave at the same time. Tennant was tempted briefly to change his mind and stay on for Moffat; but as he said, if he hadn;t left now, he;d have ended up staying until people made him leave :P Better to leave when people still love you.

It's the right time for a change

[Cloud]

thank you; your response tells me what I wanted to know.

[Sundae]

I wasn't sure about the second ep. I mean I loved the Doctor and Amy, but I had issues with the plot.
I had to watch it again before I worked it out. Truth is, I was texting my Mum AND bro (one in Benidorm, one in Tokyo!) so I'm pretty sure my lack of attention contributed to my unease.

I enjoyed it in the end though.
As JB said to the Bishop.

A non-specific SPOILER: I think I was just bugged that the creepiest part of the show was a symptom and not the cause. More specific SPOILER: the Smilers TERRIFIED me!)

I liked Amy's involvement.
I do want her hair.

[LovelyMaria]

I still can't break away from the fact that David Tennant is no longer the Doctor. This new guy is pretty good, but when you grow attached to someone, it's hard to break away from the image of that character.

It's like changing one character from a brawny guy in the @$$-kicking business to a refrigerator filter salesman. At least, that's how I view the change. O___o

[DanaC]

I had an argument with j about this episode :p

He hated it. Didn't like the Doc in it and didn't think he carried off the gravitas.

Me? I liked it. Very fairytale; very quirky (British quirky) and I thought Matt did a fine job. The bit where he got angry was momentarily shocking, as it should be.

Looking forward to the rest

[monster]

Saw a preview of the newb. OMFG. yes it can be worse. You can get a Tennant wannabe... ouch

Gotta say though, that the couple of Episodes wih tennant I watched recently, were actually OK -I enjoyed the script and the plot ---and I'm not a DW fan--- but I cringed everytime that asshole had a line.

[DanaC]

I don't get the whole tennant hating thing. I love him, he's a brilliant actor. His Hamlet was awesome. He was brilliant in Secret Smile (playing a really creepy stalker guy). Casanova rocked. He's a complete sweetheart in interview.

[DanaC]

I also don't see that the new guy's like Tennant. His portrayal is, if anything, more like Troughton's Doctor (2nd Doc - 1960s).

[Sundae]

That's why she had to leave the country, Dani!
Anti-Tennant is anti-British and we won't stand for that.

[DanaC]

hahahaha. That made me chortle.

[wolf]

Watched the first two episodes last night. What I delight to find out that I needn't have been worried.

Good humor, extra bravado, but more smug grandiosity than I've been used to in a Doctor, but quite well done overall. Except the bowtie. Can't abide bowties. Can't wait for the Daleks!

[DanaC]

So far episode 4 (1st of a two parter) has been the best, I think.

The Daleks episode i really enjoyed; but it came in for a lot of stick :P It's basically a Boys Own adventure meets classic British war movie ... with Daleks. It's the most ... umm..camp of the series, I think. Good fun for it, though.

Ep 4 is the return of the Weeping Angels: in a word, gorgeous.

[ZenGum]

Dana, you're doing post-grad history research.
Once you've done your masters - what is it, 19th century military and social interactions, or some such - do your PhD on something you are really passionate about.
Dr Who studies.
Seriously. It has been a pillar of British culture for 50 years, reflecting social conventions, ethnicity, budget situation, societal fears, etc etc. Far less worthy things have been studied. Heck you could probably end up teaching a course in Dr-Whology.