There be big spoilers ahead. You have been warned.
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The news broke today that Matt Smith will be exiting the role of the Doctor in this year's Christmas special. I'm sorry to hear he's going, I've really enjoyed his take on the character.
Let the rampant speculation as to his successor begin!
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
How is this a spoiler?
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: How is this a spoiler?
I'm sure there are some people out there don't want to know that the Doctor is going to regenerate in the Christmas special.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Not if they read any newspaper/website I'm afraid. For example:
"Matt Smith to quit Doctor Who after Christmas special" at Telegraph.com
If only the media would respect spoilers, eh.
I will miss him. Certainly more than David Tennant. Smith has really dine well with the role - my major gripes have been with the production side of things.
Be interesting to see who the media latches onto as their favourite etc.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Why is it that just when I get used to a Doctor they swap him out? Sigh. Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Smith has been ok, but the entire first season I thought he was rubbish in the drama side of things, whenever there was a very dramatic or teary-eyed "We survived..." or "You rescued my daughter..." and a weepy girl wanting to hug him, he always shrugged the tension off uncomfortably with a "Hahaa...!?", Tennant was better in both flamboyance and drama imo. I do agree that Smith got better in the second half of his run, and the last seven eps were really good.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I have liked both Tennant and Smith, but I think by this point in Tennant's run I was ready for him to leave, even though I didn't realise it at the time. Whereas I still think we have more to see of Smith, especially now he's finally swapped companions.
Someone at work was suggested he had his eye towards Hollywood, which is also what drew Tennant's eye. It didn't work out for David, but he's had quite a good career on British TV in a variety of roles, plus Russel T Davies was successful in his attempt to make him a "national treasure". Not sure the same can be said for Matt Smith. I used to think Smith was a better actor, but having seen Tennant in other things... we'll see.
And the speculation at this point will be full of people we've heard of, despite the fact that with only two real exceptions (Peter Davison and Christopher Eccleston), the role normally goes to someone relatively unknown.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Well, that is a slight exageration.
Paul McGann was hardly unknown, although that may have been part of the BBC and Fox hoping to make an international seller.
Troughton was well known, as he'd been in just about everything on BBC TV and stage. Pertwee was well known from the radio, stage and film and they really wanted Ron Moody for the 3rd Doctor - hardly an unknown.
Really the only the thing we can say for sure is that Colin Baker isn't going to make a return - he's said no apparently.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Fair enough, "unknown" is a bit harsh. Maybe "not well known". When Davison was cast everyone was "oh, the vet from All Creatures, sure, I know him". Paul McGann would have been "y'know, the brother of that guy. He's been in stuff". And wasn't the Doctor the first role Pertwee had ever taken where he wasn't in make-up of some kind?
I'm just saying that I don't think anyone is going to guess who will play the 12th (13th?) Doctor. The role itself is big enough that they don't need a big name for it, and a big name would possibly be a negative at this point.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
The role is being filled by Jack Black. God help you all.
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
Isn't it time to revisit the 4th Doctor's brush with the White Guardian and have the Doctor assume that role so he can regenerate forever? I mean, there's that whole "dozen and done" barrier that has to be worked around somehow, right?
Posted by Zipacna (Member # 1881) on :
The thing is with the "12 regenerations" limit is was it a physical limit peculiar to Galifreyan physiology, or was it an artificial barrier put in by the High Council of the Time Lords? If it's a forced limitation, then now they're all time-locked it wouldn't matter.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
Not that I think the new show will address this at all, but the 12 regeneration thing went out the window the moment Borusa offered the Master a new set of regenerations in "The Five Doctors," with absolutely no information whatsoever about how they would do that. Obviously it was news to the Master as well, since he would have taken advantage of it previously if he'd known about it before.
So that line seems to verify that the Time Lords (or at least the High Council) were able to impose at least a second set of regenerations at will.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I was always a bit confused by RTD's attitude to the whole thing. He said that the fans were obsessed with that, whereas, say, the Third Doctor mentioning that he was thousands of years old is sometihng that everyone ignores quite happily. The thing he didn't seem to understand is that the Doctor having 13 lives was an important fact in at least 3 stories (the Deadly Assassin, the Davison one I can't remember the name of, and the TV movie). But, more relevantly, the Doctor having 13 lives is Very Important Information. It ultimatly doesn't matter how old the Doctor is, but how many times he can regerative matters a great deal, which is why is has stuck in the audiences head. That said, there are a million and one ways out of it, including not mentioning it at all.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
And the Twelfth Doctor is... Peter Capaldi!
I don't really know much about the guy, other than he was previously on Doctor Who as Caecillius in "The Fires of Pompeii" and was John Frobisher in Torchwood's "Children of Earth".
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
It's only Malcolm effing Tucker!
He's been in quite a bit other than those two, and neither of those really are a reflection of his range. He's often playing a baddie or an arsehole. But he does both so well! If you want to learn some interesting insults watch him in The Thick Of It, which DR no. 12 will invariably compared with. Incidentally he's going to be Cardinal Richelieu in the beebs vesion of The Three Musketeers next year, so he might be in two biggies next year.
I am lookimg foreward to see where they take the role with him. It should be interesting. Its also nice to see an older chap again. Hopefully this will encourage the writers to make it less kiddy (and as I always stress, there is a big difference between family friendly and a kids show). As long as they don't dress him like Colin Baker. Or cast another Mellanie Bush.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
An old Doctor. Finally. Maybe now I'll start watching the show again, or at least not have to watch with the damn captions on.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
In fact, the only actor who was older upon starting the role was William Hartnell, and that was only by a few months. And, actually, Jon Pertwee was the previous second-oldest Doctor, and he quit before he was as old as Capaldi is now.
I wonder if he's going to stick with his Scottish accent, or do what Tennant did.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: An old Doctor. Finally. Maybe now I'll start watching the show again, or at least not have to watch with the damn captions on.
Why does the age of the actor affect whether you have to use captions? Matt Smith has a fairly mild "posh-bloke" accent, but that's surely easier to understand than most British accents?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: In fact, the only actor who was older upon starting the role was William Hartnell, and that was only by a few months. And, actually, Jon Pertwee was the previous second-oldest Doctor, and he quit before he was as old as Capaldi is now.
Although Hartnell played the Doctor as older. And not just in a "he's several hundred years old" sort of way, but in a "he's more 60/70ish than 50ish".
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam:
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: An old Doctor. Finally. Maybe now I'll start watching the show again, or at least not have to watch with the damn captions on.
Why does the age of the actor affect whether you have to use captions? Matt Smith has a fairly mild "posh-bloke" accent, but that's surely easier to understand than most British accents?
I wouldn't know about Smith, since I've never watched him. I stopped watching the show halfway through the third series, since a) I couldn't get used to Tennant, and b) I couldn't understand what people were saying because they were talking so damn fast.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Liam : That's certainly true. My point was simply that he's going to be older than anyone else who's played the part since 1966. Not counting John Hurt, obviously.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
He is. Although I guess there's also the argument that 50ish in 2013 is very different to 50ish in 1964, or even 1970. Not that Pertwee played him as "old", really. More "distinguished".
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: I wouldn't know about Smith, since I've never watched him. I stopped watching the show halfway through the third series, since a) I couldn't get used to Tennant, and b) I couldn't understand what people were saying because they were talking so damn fast.
I don't think having an older Doctor is going to make much of a difference there, I'm afraid. That's just the speed people talk at on TV these days. I guess it would be tricky if English is a second language.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
The only difference I can see with having an older looking Doctor is that writers will be less likely to try the romance route with the young lady companions. Not that I had a huge problem with it, but to me it always felt a little...off.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I don't mind that they've done it, and episodes like "Doomsday" are amoungst my favourites. On the other hand, bits like "a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a skirt that's just a little...too...tight" made my skin crawl. I'm hoping that going with an older Doctor will allow the female companions to be a bit less awestruck and a bit more independent.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
![[Frown]](frown.gif)