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hmpfHow do I love the Doctor? Let me count the ways...
I love his stick-out ears. I love his lived-in face. I love his lanky frame. I love his frankly magnificent (*g*) hands. I love the way he moves – the way he almost seems to *drop down* stairs instead of walking down. I love his grins – warm or manic. I love his dangerous calm. I love his rage. I love the almost imperceptible shiver he gives when Jabe tells him it's a miracle he even exists. I love that single tear that drops when she says she's sorry. I love that single muscle that twitches when the Dalek says 'So are you.' I love his taunting, his mocking, his hatred, his guilt. His obscene satisfaction. I love his energy. I love his mania. I love his sadness. I love his loneliness. I love his desperate need to be with Rose. I love his jealousy. I love his manipulativeness. I love his caring.
I could go on.
The effect of all this is magnified rather by the fact that you find it where you least expect it, on a family programme ostensibly produced 'for the kids', and in a character who has, in his long history, seen a fair number of ups and downs, displayed a lot of mania and a little bit of darkness, but has never been this damaged, this dark, this seriously screwed up. 'Oh,' says my internal naysayer, 'but it's so cliché nowadays to make things 'dark'!' Well, maybe it is – but the beauty of the new Who is that it pulls off the very difficult feat of striking a balance. It's actually a lot of *fun* to watch, and the darkness only creeps in slowly, subtly. Much of the time it's a fun romp through science fiction clichés, and then suddenly, when you don't expect anything of the sort, it gets serious, and gives you a truly disturbing or truly touching character moment. And one by one, you put together the pieces, and see the bigger picture...
If you're a well-trained fangirl, it's not that difficult to see, really, and I suppose you even *could* say it is a bit cliché. Some of the old-time Doctor Who fans complained, after the first episode or two, about Christopher Eccleston's manic performance, his too-wide, mask-like grin. This fangirl here saw immediately that this was not the actor hitting a wrong note accidentally, but a deliberate decision to play the Doctor like that – with a half-faked enthusiasm bordering on the insane; basically, to play the Doctor as if the Doctor himself is trying to play the Doctor. The angst fangirl in me couldn't help but wonder about the reasons. I haven't seen a lot of the old Doctor Who but I've seen enough, I think, to know that the Doctor didn't use to be that manic, didn't use to appear quite that unhinged. Eccentric, yes, but not crazy. So, wonders the angst fangirl, what unhinged him so badly? And then the big revelation comes in ep two, and it's like straight out of a fanfic... but in a good way.
And that is largely thanks to Christopher Eccleston. The writing on the new show, while certainly way above average, and often a lot of fun, is occasionally anything but subtle. Christopher Eccleston, however, is nothing *but* subtle. All the emotion that the writing paints in very broad strokes, he plays out in a million intricate facets on his face, in his entire body and his voice. He layers in dimensions that probably weren't even scripted. It's amazing to watch.
(I should probably say something about Billie Piper here, too, because she honestly is very, very good as well, but I think I've gushed enough for one day. *g*)
I love his stick-out ears. I love his lived-in face. I love his lanky frame. I love his frankly magnificent (*g*) hands. I love the way he moves – the way he almost seems to *drop down* stairs instead of walking down. I love his grins – warm or manic. I love his dangerous calm. I love his rage. I love the almost imperceptible shiver he gives when Jabe tells him it's a miracle he even exists. I love that single tear that drops when she says she's sorry. I love that single muscle that twitches when the Dalek says 'So are you.' I love his taunting, his mocking, his hatred, his guilt. His obscene satisfaction. I love his energy. I love his mania. I love his sadness. I love his loneliness. I love his desperate need to be with Rose. I love his jealousy. I love his manipulativeness. I love his caring.
I could go on.
The effect of all this is magnified rather by the fact that you find it where you least expect it, on a family programme ostensibly produced 'for the kids', and in a character who has, in his long history, seen a fair number of ups and downs, displayed a lot of mania and a little bit of darkness, but has never been this damaged, this dark, this seriously screwed up. 'Oh,' says my internal naysayer, 'but it's so cliché nowadays to make things 'dark'!' Well, maybe it is – but the beauty of the new Who is that it pulls off the very difficult feat of striking a balance. It's actually a lot of *fun* to watch, and the darkness only creeps in slowly, subtly. Much of the time it's a fun romp through science fiction clichés, and then suddenly, when you don't expect anything of the sort, it gets serious, and gives you a truly disturbing or truly touching character moment. And one by one, you put together the pieces, and see the bigger picture...
If you're a well-trained fangirl, it's not that difficult to see, really, and I suppose you even *could* say it is a bit cliché. Some of the old-time Doctor Who fans complained, after the first episode or two, about Christopher Eccleston's manic performance, his too-wide, mask-like grin. This fangirl here saw immediately that this was not the actor hitting a wrong note accidentally, but a deliberate decision to play the Doctor like that – with a half-faked enthusiasm bordering on the insane; basically, to play the Doctor as if the Doctor himself is trying to play the Doctor. The angst fangirl in me couldn't help but wonder about the reasons. I haven't seen a lot of the old Doctor Who but I've seen enough, I think, to know that the Doctor didn't use to be that manic, didn't use to appear quite that unhinged. Eccentric, yes, but not crazy. So, wonders the angst fangirl, what unhinged him so badly? And then the big revelation comes in ep two, and it's like straight out of a fanfic... but in a good way.
And that is largely thanks to Christopher Eccleston. The writing on the new show, while certainly way above average, and often a lot of fun, is occasionally anything but subtle. Christopher Eccleston, however, is nothing *but* subtle. All the emotion that the writing paints in very broad strokes, he plays out in a million intricate facets on his face, in his entire body and his voice. He layers in dimensions that probably weren't even scripted. It's amazing to watch.
(I should probably say something about Billie Piper here, too, because she honestly is very, very good as well, but I think I've gushed enough for one day. *g*)
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The Doctor
Date: 2005-05-10 05:23 pm (UTC)Yup, I know. Done my homework. ;-)
>The movie with Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor was '96, still less than a decade ago.
Yeah, I know - but it *is* long ago if you've only seen it once, and only half of it, and while being distracted, and not really knowing what you were watching. So, for me, that half-watching of the movie doesn't really count, as I don't remember a thing, except for a vague idea of the Tardis (TARDIS *g*).
Only very little of Doctor Who has been on German television btw, and what there was was only transmitted once, long before I was watching TV on my own, so I never saw it here. I saw that bit of the movie when I was visiting Jemstone in 1999, and the rest of the eps I know I've only seen thanks to friends who provided me with episodes, and in some cases thanks to the internet.
I've done a tally of my Doctor Who eps now, btw. If I didn't miscount, I have 64 eps (14 complete stories) of the old series, with Doctors 1 through 4. Most of the eps I have feature Tom Baker, and a fair number Jon Pertwee. I've so far seen 16 eps, all of them featuring the 4. Doctor.
>My K-9 pin, and the life sized stuffed K-9 in my bedroom are hardly all I've got for memorabilia. Heck, one of the few times I ever dressed up as a TV character it was as Romana's first incarnation on the series in "The Stones of Blood."
Wow. You *are* a fan! :-)
What does it say about me, btw, that I could tell you the names of at least three of the actors (Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee and Peter Davison, for some unfathomable reason) who've played the Doctor at one time or another, and knew what 'TARDIS' stood for, long before I ever watched a single ep? And that now, even though I've only seen a handful of stories, my head is stuffed with trivia like Romana's full name (Romanadvortrelundar, isn't it? I may have got a letter or two wrong somewhere in there...)?
Probably explains why I score high on every geek test. ;-)
>*Shrugs.* I wouldn't call the old BSG great sci fi, but I don't think the new BSG is an improvement. I'm happy for you that you enjoy it Hmpf.
Hmm... how much of it have you seen, if I may ask? Far be it from me to force my opinion on you or anything, but maybe you just caught a less than stellar ep? There are those, you know... ;-)
If you've seen a fair bit of it, though, I'll just have to accept that our ideas of what is good writing and good acting simply differ a lot.
>1. Tom Baker
2. Colin Baker
3. Paul McGann
4. Peter Davidson
5. John Pertwee
6. Sylvester McCoy
7. Patrick Troughton
8. William Hartnell
The ones I'm most curious about - among those that I haven't seen yet, that is - are Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Patrick Troughton. Mainly because they seem to be mentioned more than Hartnell and Pertwee or even McGann in discussions of the ninth Doctor. Unfortunately I don't have any way of getting any Colin Baker or Peter Davison eps. I may be able to get some McCoy from a friend, though.
>That's not having seen the 9th to rank him.
Obviously. But not for long, dear BABE, not if I can help it! ;-)
>Eh, I remember people being appalled that the 8th Doctor got to kiss a girl.
Okay. If you don't object to that kind of thing too much, there's a chance you won't be too put off by one new element of the series: there's a bit of will-they, won't-they with Rose, the new companion. It's not all that blatant, though - but nevertheless lots of old-time fans are complaining quite a bit. (No sex please, we're Gallifreyans! ;-))
>"Does the TARDIS look and sound right?
Look: depends on your definition of 'right'. Sound: yes.
>Are there Daleks?
Uhm... you really want to know? ;-)
Re: The Doctor
Date: 2005-05-10 07:54 pm (UTC)Yeah, when you put it like that. ;)
Only very little of Doctor Who has been on German television...
Oh, it ran on our local PBS station all through my childhood, and for some time after the series went out of production.
I've done a tally of my Doctor Who eps...
I'd have to check how many eps a given story was told in to say how many we have. The main stories I know we have are the Key to Time ones. We also have some Peter, Colin, and Sylvester. I liked Peter and Colin, my brother liked Sylvester so we made sure to tape them.
Wow. You *are* a fan! :-)
*Nods.* The stuffed K-9 is one of a kind. My aunt Myra made him. I've got a number of issues of the Doctor Who Magazine. My brother won a Doctor Who mug at the costume contest we participated in. It's got a heat sensitive TARDIS, get it hot and the TARDIS dematerializes.
What does it say about me, btw, that I could tell you the names of at least three of the actors who've played the Doctor...
I'm not sure. I know we knew Peter before he became the 5th Doctor from the series All Creatures Great and Small.
Romanadvortrelundar, isn't it?
Well done! I doubt I could've gotten that much of it. You only lost an "a". I looked it up in The Doctor Who Programme Guide by Jean-Marc Lofficier, Copyright 1981. The "a" goes, Romanadvor"a"trelundar.
If you've seen a fair bit of it, though, I'll just have to accept that our ideas of what is good writing and good acting simply differ a lot.
I watched the original miniseries, and regretted contributing to its becoming an ongoing series. I tuned in to a "making of" special, and some of the regular series out of morbid curiosity. It's the writing I don't like. The acting... *shrugs* ...is by the script.
The ones I'm most curious about... are Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Patrick Troughton.
*Nods.* I like Colin and Peter. I know my brother likes Sylvester, but I'm not sure how he feels about Patrick.
Mainly because they seem to be mentioned more than Hartnell and Pertwee or even McGann in discussions of the 9th Doctor.
Well, Pertwee's and McGann's Doctors dressed like dandies, whatever Paul's character might have proven to be with a longer run. I'm surprised Davison's gets mentioned. He was a younger Doctor, and a "good boy." I told kijikun what my favorite Doctors were like to me, "the 4th was a father figure, the 5th an older brother, and the 6th a crazy uncle." From what you've said and the images you've shared the 9th seems like sort of the "Bad Boy" older brother to Peter's good one. Hartnell's was an old man. I think he regenerated simply out of old age. Pertwee's I might call the sane uncle to Colin's crazy one. McGann's Doctor I had romantic feelings for. *Blushes.*
Unfortunately I don't have any way of getting any Colin Baker or Peter Davison eps.
Aww, (((((Hmpf))))). If I had a way to get some of our episodes into a format you can watch I would.
Obviously. But not for long, dear BABE, not if I can help it! ;-)
Thanks BABE!
If you don't object to that kind of thing too much, there's a chance you won't be too put off by one new element of the series...
*Giggles.* It certainly fits with my impression of the 9th Doctor being a bad boy older brother. I mean considering sleeping with a Companion? *Makes a mock gasp of shock.* I thought it was great Paul McGann's Doctor got to kiss the girl. *eg*
Look: depends on your definition of 'right'.
The inside of the TARDIS can change, it has at various times in the series run. I'd expect the New Doctor would have a new design for the control room. The outside however should be stuck in the form of the old blue police call box.
Uhm... you really want to know? ;-)
Well, I've heard there was some uncertainty about whether they'd be able to get the rights to all of the Old Doctor's foes. I just can't remember if I heard there was a positive resolution. I suppose if I really want to know if it got worked out I can always go find the official website. There is an official website isn't there?
Re: The Doctor
Date: 2005-05-10 08:59 pm (UTC)That's... kinda cool.
>I'm not sure. I know we knew Peter before he became the 5th Doctor from the series All Creatures Great and Small.
Well, but I knew their names although the show had not been on the air in Germany in my time of conscious TV watching, was not part of our culture at all (nobody knows even the title of the show here unless they're hardcore Britscifi geeks), and I never saw any of them in *anything*.
I'm just a walking encyclopedia of geek culture, I guess. I remember loads and loads of useless stuff about shows and books and comics and movies I've never seen/read. I don't really know why.
>Well done! I doubt I could've gotten that much of it. You only lost an "a".
Yeah, it does sound better with that 'a' inserted.
>I watched the original miniseries, and regretted contributing to its becoming an ongoing series. I tuned in to a "making of" special, and some of the regular series out of morbid curiosity. It's the writing I don't like. The acting... *shrugs* ...is by the script.
Forgive me for not being able to let this go yet, but... my mind just kind of boggles a bit at the differences of our perceptions here. I think the writing on the new BSG is way, way above average - very mature, very subtle, very intelligent - and the acting has blown me away on various occasions (in particular Commander Adama, President Roslin, and, unexpectedly, Starbuck and Six - they both do great things with their faces; much like Christopher Eccleston in the new Who they add layers and layers to their characters - quite possibly far beyond what's been scripted.) What exactly did you feel was missing from or wrong with the writing? And the acting, I take it, you felt was a bit lifeless and bland? Or is that a misinterpretation of your 'by the script'?
And my favourite part of the new series so far has been the miniseries. I've watched it at least five times. I'm not obsessed with it as I am with Farscape and now Doctor Who, but I do love it a great deal.
>From what you've said and the images you've shared the 9th seems like sort of the "Bad Boy" older brother to Peter's good one.
I think part of the reason for the Peter Davison comparison may be that CE's Doctor gives off a very youthful vibe, even if CE actually isn't *that* young. He certainly doesn't always seem very mature.
>McGann's Doctor I had romantic feelings for. *Blushes.*
Nothing wrong with having romantic feelings for the Doctor! I'm all for having romantic feelings for the Doctor! *g*
>The outside however should be stuck in the form of the old blue police call box.
It is. There's a fun moment in the first ep when Rose doesn't even recognise what it's supposed to be as those police boxes have gone out of use for decades in Britain...
> suppose if I really want to know if it got worked out I can always go find the official website. There is an official website isn't there?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho
Bring some time - loads of great stuff there!