Doctor Who

[howard male]

Hey, who watched Who? Come on, own up!

http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?op ... &Itemid=27

[Des]

Been there done that etc.
viewtopic.php?f=62&t=14202

[howard male]

Well, excuse me! (as Steve Martin used to say.)

To be honest I didn't check to see if it had been discussed already because it's so rare for anything mainstream to be discussed here. Next you'll all be talking about Battlestar Galactica!

[Dayna]

I've liked it best when Christopher Eccleston was in it, & Tom Baker. They both had personalities I loved. Tom Baker was funny sometimes & interesting. Christopher Eccleston was good looking, but I never got to see most of his series.

[Des]

Tennant was by far the best ever Doctor. Contrary to the Artsdesk review, he created some epic performances which went far deeper than any previous incarnation, revealing a painfully believable vulnerability and convincing sense of the utter loneliness that comes with being the last of the Time Lords.

[howard male]

Yes, but he also hammed it up something rotten, particulary in more recent episodes. I mean – did he really have to get so upset about regenerating? He’s done it countless times before, he remains essentially the same man, yet he behaved as if he was actually dieing.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed him much of the time as the Doctor, but he really was a bit too chirpy and user-friendly in the end (like a kind of adult Harry Potter.)

The Doctor should be played by someone who you can’t take your eyes off, because you don't know what they're going to do next, not someone who you end up having to look away from because they’re doing the same old wide eyes and bared teeth routine yet again.

[Martin Owen]

The pair have already established that they will be good Dr/Companions - even in the hard-to-script-because-we-are-establishing episode.

Anyway I am only posting to agree with Dayna and cite my favourite Dr Who/companion exchange from Chris Ecclestone's era:

Rose: Aren't you a bit northern for an alien
Dr: Other planets have a North too.

[Des]

Yes, but he also hammed it up something rotten,

What, and Tom Baker didn't?!

[howard male]

Fair point, but Tom Baker belongs to a different era. His over the top style was part of the general atmosphere of naffness and cheapness which it would have been pointless to fight against – his approach to the character was an appropriate one.

Tennant, on the other hand, inhabits a Doctor Who universe where suspension of belief (at least as far as the visuals is concerned) is no longer a problem. But my problem was that, at times, the least believable aspect of Doctor Who had become the Doctor himself.

[Dayna]

Tom Baker's character was known to be an eccentric, & his costume & personality were just percfect.

[Des]

Tennant, on the other hand, inhabits a Doctor Who universe where suspension of belief (at least as far as the visuals is concerned) is no longer a problem. But my problem was that, at times, the least believable aspect of Doctor Who had become the Doctor himself.

David (for we are on first name terms) also inhabits a Doctor Who universe which is more emotionally and philosphically sophisticated and where concepts of mortality, love and loss are explored in more depth than previous series and incarnations. I found David's (for we are still on first name terms despite a minor 'domestic' a few minutes ago) character the perfect vehicle for such exploration while achieving the right balance between seriousness and humour.

[Dayna]

I like characters that remind you of old eccentric professors. That's why I love Tom Baker so much. The special effects weren't very good then, but he was great.

[howard male]

You're not wrong there either, Des.

[Martin Owen]

On the subject of eccentric professors. My all time favourite is Richard Feynman - who - in a world music context - hated being introduced as "the bongo-playing physicist".... because in music performances he was never introduced as " the physics-researching bongo player".

Anyway here is the good man in action on the skins:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKTSaezB4p8

and as a brilliant eccentric prof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjHJ7FmV ... re=related

btw - "young man in bow tie" is the cheapest clichéed form of making Matt Smith an eccentric professor - Stephen Moffatt D- (see me)

[Dayna]

On the subject of eccentric professors. My all time favourite is Richard Feynman - who - in a world music context - hated being introduced as "the bongo-playing physicist".... because in music performances he was never introduced as " the physics-researching bongo player".
btw - "young man in bow tie" is the cheapest clichéed form of making Matt Smith an eccentric professor - Stephen Moffatt D- (see me)

Thanks Martin. I like him.