| Here Comes 12 |
[Aug. 5th, 2013|09:33 am]
Tony Grist
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The Smith years have been characterized by enormously complicated story-lines that mostly just sort of petered out. The romance with River Song- designed with David Tennant in mind- turned faintly embarrassing once the asexual Smith was the object of desire. She chased him and he ran away and it was as if Bertie Wooster were being lusted after by one of his aunts. And then there were the uxorious Ponds. Most of what was wrong with the era was Moffat's fault not Smith's. Smith was a comedy Doctor. Moffat's dark, twisty,neo- romantic vision calls for a Pertwee not a Troughton.
The new Doctor is still white and male but at least he's not a stripling- and the Doctor is no longer youthening with each incarnation. Peter Capaldi is a very fine actor- known for comedy, capable of considerable range and I'm hoping for surprises..You wouldn't think it to look at them side by side, but he's the same age Hartnell was when he first created the role. An middle-aged Doctor should mean rather less emotional incontinence than we've had from the last three models. Let's hope so, anyway. |
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Smith was a comedy Doctor. Moffat's dark, twisty,neo- romantic vision calls for a Pertwee not a Troughton.
I found Smith very effective when he was allowed to be alien, actually; his first few episodes impressed me strongly on that front. He was any age in his out-of-fashion tweeds, with that quirked face that kept missing handsome by an eyebrow and his screwball springiness of movement. He could be funny and you were never sure what it meant. He wasn't human, he just looked like it if you weren't paying attention. Then Moffat started falling into the pattern of the mysterious companion who is the puzzle the Doctor must solve and the whole focus of the series shifted weirdly—I am all for strong Doctor-companion relationships, and I did like that his with Amy Pond was not a romance, but I watched right up to the end of Series 7 and I still can't figure out the point of Clara. "Born to save the Doctor" isn't a personality, it's a job description. And if that's all the Doctor is thinking about, he's a lot less interesting.
Capaldi is a very fine actor- known for comedy, capable of considerable range and I'm hoping for surprises.
Yes. And better scripts.
Maybe the 50th anniversary extravaganza will make sense of Clara. Maybe not.
I don't know why Moffat is allowed to run two shows at once. I think his involvement with Sherlock- which is a brilliant show- have hurt Dr Who.
I'm still slogging through Season 5. (Just finished the one with the Venice vampire-like aliens.) I found Smith immediately credible in the role, probably because he channeled his inner David Tennant to ease the transition. And I find that he has a sort of balletic grace at times that I find very appealing. But Amy Pond and River Song and that whole rat's nest does not appeal and I'm looking forward to an end to that (please!).
"Emotional incontinence." Yeah, Eccleston had a bit of that and Tennant had a lot and I haven't seen enough Smith to be entirely sure where he's going to go.
Smith is less emo than either of his two predecessors. I think it's one of the good things about his tenure.
O bother said Pooh. I seem to have skipped over the Fires of Pompeii, so I need to find time to watch #10 and #12 acting together.
Fires of Pompeii is one of the better episodes.
He is a fine actor and may add a bit more gravitas to the role.
Yes. I wasn't happy with the Doctors getting younger and younger and I'm glad the trend has been reversed.
'Emotional incontinence'. Yes!! That's it exactly. Less of it, please.
Tennant- though I love him dearly- was the worst offender. I never could understand why a person who expects to be resurrected instantaneously should make such a puppy-eyed fuss about dying.
Yes, I was really cross about that! As though owning David Tennant's face was in any way more important than a human life. Pertwee's Doctor was the vainest of the lot but he wouldn't have hesitated.
RTD introduced sentimentality into a show that had hitherto (over nearly half a century) been entirely innocent of it. | |
