hmpf

if Sam and Gene ever argue about the relative merits of the various Doctors. Gene, of course, predates Doctor Who, he had a Wholess childhood (my god, he's prehistoric!), but if he did start to watch the show at some point, his allegiance probably lies with Hartnell or Troughton. For Sam, on the other hand, the One True Doctor must be either Pertwee (though he may be just a tad too young for that) or Tom Baker. Baker, probably, simply because that must have been the predominant Doctor of his childhood.

Hmm...

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From:

simplyjaye.livejournal.com

Not an expert on Life on Mars, so I maybe wrong here basing this on Simm rather than Sam (as I don't know when he was born), but working from John Simm's age (3 years younger than me), I would say that his Doctor would be Davidson.

While I remember watching Pertwee, the original viewings are very fuzzy of those. Baker was certainly far clearly, and he is the most memorable Doctor, IMO. Still, from friends my age and a little younger (including one also born in 1970), we really seem to think of Davidson as 'our' Doctor. Perhaps because of our age (it was at this period I began developing fannish interests, although I certainly had no name for it then), or even because of his being younger than previous Doctors and therefore more relatable to us then.

Of course, just my own personal theory, judging my own experience and that of similar age friends. :)

Edited Date: 2010-01-06 06:26 am (UTC)

From:

m31andy.livejournal.com

Sam was born in 1969 (as he was four in 1973) - which puts him squarely as having Four as his predominant childhood Doctor - from the age of five to twelve.

Being born in 1975, I should look on Five as "my doctor", but I think I was rather too enamoured of Four. (And, I'm a pervy!Six-fancier as well. *hangs head in shame*)

From:

simplyjaye.livejournal.com

I'd still disagree and hold with what I said above. I was born in 1967 and Five is definitely 'my' Doctor always has been, and from my friends who were born in the three years after, all who were casual viewers to fans, Five is also their favourite Doctor.

In going by that, seeing as this is all supposition anyway, as Sam falls into me and my friends' age range, I just went with personal experience for my theory. Not that I don't have a big soft spot for Four, I do (and yeah, I also have a guilty pleasure for Six *g*) but Five is the Doctor I'm drawn to/think of as the prominent Doctor of my childhood.

Or perhaps age has little to do with it, and it's purely a matter of different Doctors for different folks.

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

Because I'm not sure how many people keep/kept watching Doctor Who beyond childhood, and Sam was very focused on his career from a fairly early age (I think he joined the police at 17), so I can see him as the kind of person who'd kind of 'leave behind' Doctor Who in his teens. Probably to watch more cop shows on TV. *g*

From:

simplyjaye.livejournal.com

One thing to remember is back then, even into the early 80s, most families only had one TV set, and there were only 3-4 channels, so people would watch as a family even out of childhood (and DW was not considered a children's show, but a family show). More people watched the same shows back then, and it was more of a family activity than it is now. Also it was broadcast early Saturday evening...so it would be about teatime, so people would watch together...and before teenagers would head out for the evening...to a pub, club, or just hang out.

There were the cop shows, but they would have been on later in the evening...The Sweeney and The Professionals, for example were definitely post-watershed shows...not so sure on the US cop shows (Starsky & Hutch, etc) but probably 8-9pm.

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

Hmm. I come from a one-tv household myself (born 1976 - in Germany, multiple tv sets per home were not common even well into the eighties), but, with me not having younger siblings, we didn't watch programming that was mainly aimed at children anymore when I became a teenager.

Granted, Doctor Who is a 'family show', but was it really being watched by the whole family even in families where there are no children present? A lot of teenagers are very anxious to leave behind anything that seems like it's aimed at children... (Sam doesn't have siblings, and his family only consists of his mother and him, so he would have had some considerable influence on the choice of what to watch, I imagine.)

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

Sam has daddy issues. He may be more attached to older male characters than to younger ones, on TV. Though I'm not sure how good a father figure Tom Baker makes... possibly Sam's Doctor would be Three, after all.

From:

selenak.livejournal.com

OT, since it has absolutely nothing to do with Sam or Gene, but we actually have a very recent statement by John Simm in an interview on the Doctor question. Both for his childhood and now. You might say he developed a work-related crush.

"...he is, I think, the greatest Doctor Who ever. Hands down. It's just brilliant to be his Master..." On the question of whether he'd want to come back with another Doctor: "But I don't want to be a traitor. I'm David's Master, that's my era. I can't really see myself...look, it's a funny thing, because everybody's got their own Doctor, haven't they? My Doctor was Jon Pertwee into Tom Baker...but now my Doctor is David. Nobody can change their Doctor, but I can." He's getting excited. "I am his Master!" Maybe even a little carried away. "Um...what was the question again?"

"...when we had the meeting about it, the first meeting, there were a few conditions -- because Russel was open, as he always is, to ideas. I said,'What I think we needed last time was more tete-a-tetes with the Doctor and the Master.' We didn't have enough scenes together. I had a lot of scenes with the little man in the cage, but that wasn't really him." "That's what people want,' enthuses John. " The Master and the Doctor together. Because they're two sides of the same coin. It's heads talking to tails. I enjoy bouncing off David, so more of that tempted me back. I think we have really good chemistry..."

"David rang me while I was doing The Devil's Whore to say thanks for saying 'yes.' I was moved by that. I was really touched...And David Tennant I really respect. Make no mistake about it, if it wasn't him playing the Doctor, I wouldn't be doing it."

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

*Sam* probably barely knows Eleven. He was unconscious for some significant part of 2006, and died either in late 2006 or early 2007... and I don't see him watching much DW during his suicidally depressed convalescent time between waking up and dying.

So the one Doctor we can be fairly certain is not 'Sam's Doctor' is the 11th Doctor.

I know your comment was about Simm, but this realisation about the posthumous nature of the Tennant Doctor with regards to Sam Tyler just hit me under the shower and gave me one of those odd moments of "huh... the present we live in is not Sam's present anymore". Which still feels weird.

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

vaguely necrophiliac. *g*

From:

selenak.livejournal.com

Err, Tennant's Doctor is the Tenth, not the Eleventh. The Eleventh has only just started his tenure last week. *g* But yes, Sam wouldn't be aware of either of them.