f13.net forums - Dr. Who

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December 21, 2024, 04:15:13 AM

we're back, baby

yeah it was IMO the weakest Xmas special so far. It felt like they were coasting. There was nothing inherently bad, but it just overall had a rather cardboard taste to it. And yeah the battlemech was a bit much.

However, given that we won't be getting much new Who for awhile I enjoyed it for what it was.

Definitely more character than plot. The only somewhat interesting moment for me was at the end where you see The Doctor and what's-his-name walking off for Christmas dinner. It was a tableau that we don't see too often, The Doctor with another guy, acting somewhat like guys.

So...yeah. A short buddy-moment was the best thing about it, which says a lot. Didn't suck, worth seeing, but wasn't the best episode ever.

From the U.K.'s Guardian:

Tennant's replacement will be unveiled in an edition of Doctor Who Confidential to be broadcast on BBC1 at 5.35pm on Saturday, 3 January, featuring an interview with the actor who is to be the 11th doctor in the long-running BBC1 sci fi drama, successfully revived by the corporation in 2005.

Please be Patrick Stewart. Please please please please please. I know it isn't going to be, but I can't stop myself hoping! swamp poop

Help me out here Island Dwellers. Who the fuck is Matt Smith and is that good or bad news?

Quote from: Tebonas on January 03, 2009, 10:36:33 AM

Help me out here Island Dwellers. Who the fuck is Matt Smith and is that good or bad news?

As far as I can tell, he's a nobody. This does not bode well for Dr. Who at all. Plus he's like 26?

Matt Smith named as new Doctor Who
31 minutes ago

Matt Smith has been named as the new Doctor Who, the BBC said.

He becomes the 11th Time Lord since the programme first aired in 1963.

Mr Smith will replace David Tennant at the helm of the Tardis, and is due to first appear on our screens as the revered doctor in 2010.

Smith, 26, is the youngest ever Doctor and although relatively unknown, has appeared in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys at the National Theatre in London, and alongside Christian Slater in Swimming with Sharks in the West End.

He said he was delighted to take on the role.

He explained: "I've got this wonderful journey in front of me. I've got six months to build this Time Lord and that's such an exciting prospect."

Smith was unveiled live on BBC1 and with the broadcast beamed live on BBC big screens nationwide.

He added: "I'm just so excited about the journey that is in front of me. It's a wonderful privilege and challenge that I hope I will thrive on.

"I feel proud and honoured to have been given this opportunity to join a team of people that has worked so tirelessly to make the show so thrilling.

"David Tennant has made the role his own, brilliantly, with grace, talent and persistent dedication. I hope to learn from the standards set by him. The challenge for me is to do justice to the show's illustrious past, my predecessors, and most importantly, to those who watch it. I really cannot wait."

Yeah, not good is my first feeling. 26 years old and he looks 18. Remains to be seen if he can pull it off but the role needs confidence and authority, which only the rare few can manage at that age.

Still, all things considered, even if he's the abject failure that I can't help but expect him to be then at least we've had 2 or 3 good seasons worth out of this revival of Dr Who. After the wilderness years of Peter Davidson, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy that's a LOT more than I ever expected.

How far we have come as a society.

I think we should all be proud that in this day and age Frankenstein could be cast as the lead of an iconic British television show when just a few decades ago he would have been run out of town by a mob wielding pitchforks and torches.

You know, just looking at him, I think he might pull it off. He's a freaky-looking character, not at all your conventional 26-year old prettyboy. I wonder if there is some Time Lord tendency towards younger and younger regenerations as they get "older".

Quote from: Khaldun on January 04, 2009, 12:34:43 PM

The next series is going to be "Dr. Who 90210"

It's probably just as well they didn't get Patrick Stewart. I think that much concentrated awesome in one spot might have caused the universe to collapse.

Also nobody would ever want to be the next one. The only way to follow him would be to get Jesus himself to be the Doctor.

Having now seen a picture of the new Who, I think there could be some interesting stories in this. His obvious youth is going to make characters not respect him as much as say a Tennant or Eccleston, which could have some fun dramatic moments. It's definitely a departure though.

What a bunch of fucking shite.

No, not the casting choice. Do I think he's too young ? Yeah. Do I care ? Nope. Given the right story and direction anyone with an ounce of acting chops can be the Doctor. That's not the problem.

What fucks me off is having a massive show dedicated to the reveal a fucking year and a half before we see this chap on the screen.

Yeah, I get WHY they did it. Fuck the tabloids !

But it's still fucking retarded.

(Also, Jesus, his hair is floppy. Floppy, floppy, floppy...)

Wait, you still watch broadcast TV? Give that shit up before it drives you insane man. The only thing that's watchable as it's being broadcast is like, the news. Everything else should be downloaded or watched on DVD etc.

No adverts for products you don't need on ITV/C4, no adverts for the BBC on the BBC, no scheduling fuckups cos of sport etc, no watching any of the retarded crap that fills the airwaves, just picking and choosing exactly what you want to watch, when you want to watch it.

Madness lies the other way.

Wait till he gets to meet his "daughter". That's going to be all kinds of wrong.

Not so much. She's regenerated and is in the body of an 80 year old.

And that's not wrong how?

HER: Come 'ere, dearie! I'll give you an 'orrible time!
HIM: Cripes-jiminey! Will there be lashings of ginger beer?

He looks like he could be pertwee's grandson. It will be odd watching a doctor that is younger than myself (though tenant was pretty close). Like everyone else here I know absolutely zero about this guy... My only request... give him a damn haircut that isn't so emo.

guess it is time to poke around on youtube to find some clips of him. Found a photo of him in a womans dress for some play, must dig deeper.

Quote from: Ironwood on January 06, 2009, 08:04:16 AM

Not so much. She's regenerated and is in the body of an 80 year old.

Wait.. what? When? ACK!

When they recast her, obviously!

He's cute. This is his hair in Dr. Who:

Here is an article:

Quote

THE NEXT DOCTOR WHO: Matt Smith will succeed David Tennant in the role as the Time Lord in the BBC's sci-fi series Doctor Who. Photo: BBC

Matt Smith has been cast as the replacement for David Tennant as the Time Lord in the BBC's sci-fi series Doctor Who. Ahead of Smith's incarnation as the 11th Doctor, we profile the young actor who has just won the biggest role in British television.

So who exactly is Matt Smith? There's no doubt a good proportion of the viewers of the grand unveiling of the 11th Doctor Who in Saturday's BBC1 documentary Doctor Who Confidential hadn't the foggiest when Smith's name came on the screen. And after all the feverish speculation that the next Doctor might be played by a Hollywood film star or, better still, Bill Nighy, it felt like a comedown that David Tennant's successor is a 26-year-old stripling with only two semi-popular dramas under his belt – the flaccid BBC1 literary adaptation The Ruby in the Smoke and BBC2's underrated Party Animals. But that doesn't mean Smith's not the right man for the job. It's easy to forget that the only major TV David Tennant had done before he became the Doctor was BBC3's hit-and-miss Casanova. Besides, big stars won't want to be locked into a part for several years, even if Doctor Who is the biggest role in British TV.

Like Tennant, Smith has already made his name on the stage before becoming the Doctor, even if he hasn't done much screen work. He had several minor roles, one of which was in Alan Bennett's National Theatre hit The History Boys. Then in 2007 came his major breakthrough: the part of a disturbed, abused adolescent in the Royal Court's play That Face. Smith was "outstanding" according to The Daily Telegraph; "the star of the evening" said The Sunday Times; "virtuoso", "mesmerising", "heart-rending" said three other critics. I saw his performance in That Face and it was devastating.

But Smith has more than acting ability. He also looks the part. There's the tousled coiffeur – "The hair!" as Steven Moffat, the series' new executive producer said on Saturday, with awe. According to Moffat's fellow producer Piers Wenger, there's something about Smith which makes you believe that, despite his youth, he really could be 900 years old: "There's a quirkiness to him, an unevenness to his face, a lot of stuff going on behind the eyes. He hasn't got an entirely modern face."

Most importantly, Smith has the personality to be the Doctor. Unassuming and "normal", this boy from Northampton isn't a product of a starry acting school, even if his sister is a backing dancer for Take That. In fact, as a teenager, Smith wanted to be a footballer before an injury put paid to that ambition and he did a stint at the National Youth Theatre instead. He then studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia – a place considerably more famous for its creative writing than its dramatics.

Perhaps these humble beginnings helped, but Smith is gregarious and completely unpretentious as a person. You could see this in Saturday's BBC interview, in which he bubbled away about getting the part: "You're watching Doctor Who and your flatmate's there and you're going, 'Ahhh I'd love to share that I'm the new Doctor but I can't!'" I met Smith a couple of years ago in a bar and he was sweetly friendly. His rare interviewers have found the same; "funny and charming" said The Evening Standard in 2008.

A 21st-century Doctor needs to be affable because the role now requires much more than acting. Smith will have to cope with huge media interest, and also with a clamouring fan base mainly consisting of children. This is why the shy Ben Whishaw, another young actor touted for the role, would have been the wrong choice. But it is also why youth is now an essential part of the Doctor's make-up. Along with that fan base comes a huge merchandising industry and children need a Doctor close enough to their own age to identify with.

So what will Smith's Doctor, who will "regenerate" in this year's Christmas special, be like? Like Tennant, Smith is thin and gangly but handsome at second glance, so there is a danger of the 11th Doctor seeming like a clone of 10th.

However Smith comes to the role without Tennant's in-depth knowledge of the series and describes the next six months as a "time to build this Time Lord…to learn the history of the show", which should give his interpretation freshness. His Doctor may also be boyishly mischievous – he spoke with relish of "the sense of mischief" he got when he knew he'd be the Doctor.

He also spoke of the show's "magic". Smith is of the Harry Potter generation and so his Doctor Who may be full of the sense of myth and mystery found in the tales of the boy wizard – one quality that Tennant's Doctor maybe lacks.

Here is the source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4124591/Doctor-Who-Introducing-Matt-Smith-the-26-year-old-Time-Lord.html

Quote from: Samwise on January 04, 2009, 02:42:30 PM

It's probably just as well they didn't get Patrick Stewart. I think that much concentrated awesome in one spot might have caused the universe to collapse.

Not least because it would be awkward with him also playing The Meddling Monk. Of course, if Peter Sellers can play all the roles in movies, why not Stewart?

I presume they got the scoop because of their high standing among those eggheaded time-bending boffins.

David Tennant lacks Harry Potter magic? lulwhut?

So BBCAmerica just finished rerunning last season, and in addition to them cutting out about ten minutes of ending scenes (including the Doctor's farewell, explaining why Donna's memory is erased, Mickey and Martha contemplating Torchwood, and Rose and Doctor2 kiss), of course there was that phone number that they flashed so many times. When that episode first ran...did anybody call it? If so, what happened?

Doctor who Easter special ran last night and is available via the tubes for us folks in North America.

Much better than the Christmas special Heart

. A bit of the plot felt lifted from the film Pitchblack. It wasn't amazing in the sense of say, Blink, or Midnight, or the Library ones... but it was an hour well spent in my book.

Hmm not sure what else I can say that won't be a spoiler for peeps who haven't downloaded it yet.

I liked it. I'm not sure if it was deeply depressing enough for Ironwood though.

It seemed like a normal episode. Only thing that was real important was the prophecy from the end.

Otherwise it wasn't too bad. Also Michelle Ryan was at least pretty hot.

Quote from: Evildrider on April 13, 2009, 12:05:50 PM

It seemed like a normal episode. Only thing that was real important was the prophecy from the end.

Otherwise it wasn't too bad. Also Michelle Ryan was at least pretty hot.

yeah I had no problems with her strutting about in that black cat burglers outfit. I guess it was a fairly "normal" episode. I am so starved for new Who though that anything they throw me makes me tingle inside.

Quote from: Fraeg on April 13, 2009, 04:19:29 PM

Quote from: Evildrider on April 13, 2009, 12:05:50 PM

It seemed like a normal episode. Only thing that was real important was the prophecy from the end.

Otherwise it wasn't too bad. Also Michelle Ryan was at least pretty hot.

Agreed. I'd even take more Torchwood at this point.

A 'bit' of the plot ??

The entire fucking episode was Pitch Black, up to and including the Claudia lookalike in the skintight outfit with the plummy accent.

Don't get me wrong, good episode for the kids who know no better, but total and uttery hackery.

Actually it was Pitch Black doing the nasty with the Dr Who episode Midnight, up to even mentioning its second parent. "Humans on a bus, always blaming me".

If it was meant to play on the expectations of the former episode, it was actually clever. I strongly suspect that was coincidental, though.

We've seen the new guy in that Philip Pullman thing. It ran on PBS. I thought Billie Piper was dreadful and can't really recommend the show, but he was one of the better parts of it and I can see enough "quirk" there for him to pull it off. He's not just doomed to be a pretty young one.