The Faces of the Doctor

[Torchwood3 @torchwood3]

My first doctor was Christopher Eccleston. He was by far one of the best doctor’s ever. He’s Greatly underrated though. He got me hooked on doctor who the moment he said,”RUN!” to rose. Out of all the Episodes he was in, I highly recommend the Episode “Father’s day”. That represented what life for him was like with rose the best In my opinion.

[nerys @nerys]

@torchwood3 Nice to see another Eccleston fan here! I enjoyed his too-short (IMO) run as the Doctor. But I have also enjoyed all who succeeded him.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@torchwood3 Hi. Welcome. I agree that Eccleston is underrated. His performance was make or break really for the series as it was being relaunched. The first series would have failed and there would have been no more Dr Who had he failed as the Doctor. I did love his grin. Eccleston is known for playing serious and intense characters. The role was against type for him and I think some people struggled to accept him as the Doctor. Sometimes over familiarity with an actor can be a bad thing. I had only seen him in “Jude” prior to 2005 and so was able to enjoy his version of the Doctor and I thought he did humour well, partly because it did feel “out of character”. His Doctor was carrying a leaden load of guilt and loneliness but when he smiled the warmth really shone through. My favourite first series stories are The Empty Child and the Doctor Dances. I loved that moment at the end where he lightens up. The only off note about the first Doctor was his treatment of Mickey.

Cheers

Janette

 

[ohboyatoycar @ohboyatoycar]

Ever since the end of David Tennant’s run as the Doctor I have been gradually losing interest in the show. The writing during Matt Smith’s term was patchy and has become darker and darker to the point where each episode is like something designed for Goths and Batman fans. I have no problem with Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of the Doctor but I think the writers need to seriously lighten up. The greatest episodes of the reboot to date have been Vincent and the Doctor, Blink and the exquisite The Girl in the Fireplace. While Death in Heaven was a moving it was also quite gruesome and there has been nothing in the most recent series that I have found particularly enjoyable. It feels like the show is losing its way. More joy and fun please guys. The real world is dark enough at the moment.

[RandyPan @randypan]

I kind of feel the opposite way, sort of, that it was good before, but got really good with Smith.  I do, however appreciate you not using the term “grim-dark”.  I am getting so freaking sick of that expression.

[Anonymous @]

@ohboyatoycar

Oh bull!

You wouldn’t have watched it last year?

Sherwood-fun

moon an egg thing – fun

kids running around London with trees growing and another kid reappearing. no one died – Xtra fun

On and on: how about Ashildr this season being the thief -fun!!

Grr

 

 

[ichabod @ichabod]

@ohboyatoycar  Goths and Batman?  Huh?  I just don’t see it, but as you do, you might skip the rest of S9 and rejoin the show at the start of S10.  There’s a short interview with Capaldi and Moffat on the Den of Geek site in which they discuss how they’re expecting to shift the tone of the show for that season using the tone of the companion(?) they pick.  They can’t go much darker after S9, IMO, given that DW still *is* a show categorized in the UK as “family viewing” and “youth audience”, and Capaldi started watching at six or so and has said that he wants it to stay accessible to modern kid viewers, which means scary but not gruesome (there’s a marked lack of spilled blood in DW, which is quite noticeable, and is not accidental), and also funny and wittily entertaining.

So you, and other fan who’ve been put off by the darker depths of S8 and S9 can very likely look forward to something lighter and maybe more rackety in S10.  Remember, Capaldi’s earlier work is better known for comedy, in  “Local Hero” and “The Thick of It” than the darker dramatic explorations he’s been making in DW, light, satirical, and funny is also right up his alley.  By the end of filming S9, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he and Moffat were both ready to move on from the inherent tragedy in DW to more fun, games, and foolery.  So don’t lose heart.

@puro  Not to mention the Tank-and-Rock show, loads of high quality Doctor/Clara and other banter (“Big nose, Big — ?”  (Yikes) ” — Handkerchief!” and other cheery bits salted in among the tense moments), and “Odin” being routed on camera by a puppet-dragon, among others.  But some people are more sensitive to darker elements, and don’t get the benefit of the fast interplay of dark and light in the same story and often a single scene.  Which is a pity, but there it is.

[Anonymous @]

@ichabod

I’m sorry but I should be patient: I have none for stupid comments.

I don’t understand how the Doctor standing at the top of a plane in a rock star pose isn’t ‘fun’ ? Of course it’s grim and dark -does anyone not recall BG Who -it was incredibly dark and miserable -sturdy locations with gravel and dirt, woodlands and a Spartan Tardis without the gorgeous colouring and detail we have now.

So, I often think this is a good way to enter a conversation: “I don’t like Dr Who. I like about 3 or 4 episodes every two years. The rest of the time it’s not my thing. Therefore I’m not what you’d call a fan”.

To me that would be a better or more sensible thing to suggest.

What do I know? 🙂

[Frobisher @frobisher]

Well, for my part, I’ve felt the tone shifted to become darker from the start of Moffat’s tenure – and I love it. It is not all dark and scary – e.g. Robin of Sherwood, lots of Matt Smith episodes – and the darker stories still have very amusing comedic moments in them. I loved the guy on the Cold War Russian sub listening to Duran Duran, and the Doctor’s hand sticking through the door of a shrunken TARDIS in Flatline to make it walk, hermit crab style. For me, the balance is good right now. I can see that a shift to be slightly lighter may increase the number of younger viewers, though, and that is a good thing. The fans must keep regenerating too, after all. 🙂

[ichabod @ichabod]

@puro  Oh, I agree — it gets annoying when people come here with what looks like every intention of complaining (as some of our recent Underbridges have actually stated outright!  Godsakes, as if there weren’t plenty of other sites just dying to hear all about it!).

@frobisher  Yes, I felt the same — Smith’s era had turned me off.  When Deep Breath went right for the throat in a harsh but also very funny way, I was once again enthralled.  Still am, and I love the humorous touches as much as the grittier underlayer of mistakes, challenges, wounding and tears, and perils not just physical but ethical.  Which is a good thing, because I think we are headed for some Stygian depths in these closing weeks, and then for a lighter fantastic in S10, so I’d better like both — and everything in between.

Amazing, how they have to plot these shifts out in relation to keeping the viewing audience balanced and growing, for which we should all be grateful.  Sometimes it must be like running a shrewd political campaign that never ends, so you’re always figuring out how to steer into the curve of commercial necessity while working artful magic.  Moffat turned 34 yesterday, I think.  Jeez, the sheer *energy* of these people — !

[Mersey @mersey]

@ichabod @purofilion
I understand that some people feel that Doctor Who changed its direction after RTD left. Its a natural process that series issues become more serious and complex with time. But I won’t be upset if the new series is a little bit less psychological and more adventurous.

I don’t like Dr Who. I like about 3 or 4 episodes every two years. The rest of the time it’s not my thing.

🙂 For me Doctor Who is like a husband, the love of my life through thick and thin. But for some people it can be like a lover. After the first infatuation everything backs to the reality.

 

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by  Mersey.

[Anonymous @]

@ichabod @frobisher

Matt Smith dark? Really? I didn’t think so. I thought, say, The Girl in the Fireplace was dark/grim 🙂

In comes Tennant, pretending to be drunk and saying “you’re thickety thick from thicktown”.

That? I thought that was dark, actually, and worse, somewhat depressing, stark and even vitriolic.

I loved it. And the weeping angels? Silence in the Library? I thought they were very dark indeed.

When I think of Smith, though, with this speeches and his waffling neediness, I don’t see dark, sad, grim or any other hue of that type. I see exquisite colour, visual density and an optimism that was hard to break: brittle, sure but very certain. Remember how he struggled to keep Van Gogh from depression and tried to ensure Amy remembered Rory? Even the Pandorica -and the eventual trap had a score which contained an element of the Big Bang -it was infused with a tiny fragrance of optimism and security so no, I don’t think much of that era was too stark but I could be omitting certain things like Crimson Horror which wasn’t to my taste. Being stuck in a Dalek and unable to speak is certainly worrisome and frightening as is any concept of being aware of the passing of time whilst trapped (this was hinted in The Pandorica but the Doctor had a way out which was immediate in the following episode). I suspect…..now I have to go to Spoilers to finish that sentence. I won’t tag you in case you’re not fans of spoilers!

[Anonymous @]

@mersey I think Who has never been more adventurous than it has in the past 5 years.

Kill the Moon -say no more

Killing off various people -say no more

2 parters every where you look

heavy political parallels

Unless you meant a new planet every week? That was more early Who, though I could be wrong.

Pertwee stayed on earth all the time and not many people complained about it then in the letters section or on the ABC’s Show Watch where people would routinely write in and complain about characters in a particular show and this would be read aloud by a prodigiously ponderous voice. It was a 20 mins programme airing on a Sunday night back then and very different to the 10 min Media Watch which took its place 15 years ago and which is funnier. 🙂

[Mersey @mersey]

@purofilion

I meant more about their adventures less about their (ill) feelings (Caretaker is my favourite Capaldi’s episode). But it’s only my opinion. My personal view. Nothing more.

But I disagree with the opinion that 11 was darker than 10. For me he was the most cheerful Doctor in the modern era and the fifth series remains my favourite.

[Frobisher @frobisher]

@purofilion @mersey

Apologies, perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. I too think Matt Smith’s Doctor can be extremely cheery and bouncy. Some of his stuff is just pure fun. I get the feeling, though, that he is often “putting on a brave face”, and is very, very troubled by the universe around him most of the time. It is more the tone of the stories, not necessarily the Doctor himself, that I feel turned darker under The Moff. There is a palpable feeling of hopelessness in the universe 11 bounces around in. He is my favourite Doctor, btw. Capaldi is pushing hard, though. Another strong series or two and we’ll see…

@ichabod

Yes! Ethical perils! They are often far, far scarier than physical perils. I feel pool old 12 is fated to face more than his fair share of ethical dilemmas – and Capaldi’s acting range is perfectly capable of dealing with the fallout.

[Mersey @mersey]

I remember how I wrote somewhere about Paul McGann that he was the worst Doctor ever, after I watched the Doctor Who movie. But it was a very unfair opinion expressed on the spur of the moment. McGann did a magnificent job as 8 with Big Finish and I love his adventures with Lucie Miller. I think he was the most sensitive of all Doctors and it’s the irony of fate that he was the one who decided to regenerate into the War Doctor. And there’s no such a thing as the worst Doctor ever. Maybe there’s the least favourite but these things change all the time. Like my opinion on 10 who was my favourite and now I can hardly stand him 🙂

[Carrieanne @carrieanne]

I guess for me Matt Smith’s doctor was about hope.  Yes he had all the feelings of guilt and self loathing the other’s had, but still managed not to be dark and depressing, in general.  Now could he go dark, absolutely, but in situations where we all would be in a dark frame of mind.  But it was always an understated anger that boiled from deep within, not out of every pore.  I’ve been rewatching his seasons the past few weeks and I noticed that I was so happy to be with him again.  Most of the time his tenure felt like the right amount of dark light balance.  His incarnation of the doctor did seem whimsical and I’ve thought about that and what I take away is that he believed that to be his last generation of the doctor, it obviously didn’t turn out that way, but he didn’t know that it would change. Also his Doctor’s first encounter was with a child, which always has the capacity to help one view the world through the eyes of a child.

The show is a deeper hue right now, and with Clara’s impending exit of course it would be.  But peppered in throughout is humor.  Missy actually following through with scratching Davros eye in TMA was too much for me. Loved it.  I guess I’m trying to say that all the generations of the doctor always had the darkness, NuWHo of course as I haven’t seen BG, which I’m hoping to rectify when I can.  But you cannot see the light if you don’t have the darkness, just as without the dark night sky we wouldn’t see the glorious stars.

[janetteB @janetteb]

All this series I have had the feeling that the Doctor knows something, something terrible. That has made for an overall sombre feel though there have been plenty of moments of humour. Every series since the reboot has had a different tone, more so since Moffat took over.  Last series the tone was that of uncertainty, leading to moments of light and shade. The darker tone of this series reflects growing confidence, of the characters and of the actors and writers. (Moffat and team.) Next series, I am certain, will shift in mood again. It keeps things, fresh, interesting, and gives a sense of narrative development. I suspect that it will begin dark but the mood will lift, so just as this series has become steadily darker next series I would expect, will move back towards light but time will tell.

Cheers

Janette

 

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

I once made a comment on the Smith Doctor that he (the Doctor, not the actor) thought he was playing the starring role in a tragedy.

The universe, however, knew that he was playing the starring role in a comedy.

Series 5 ended in Rory and Amy’s wedding, Series 6 ended in The Doctor’s own wedding, and Series 7 ended with The Day of the Doctor and the children of Gallifrey being saved. They’re the classic comedy endings – the world is set to rights.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

Discussion on this thread, and the general lack of bonkers theorizing at the moment, made me think that it might be nice to have another look at Troughton’s Doctor being forced to pick a new face by the Time Lords (in their first outing) who decide he must regenerate. It is a funny and whimsical note on which to end Troughton’s tenure as the Doctor, and a note that has been rather lost in recent years as each regeneration tends to be rather full of pain, or loss (with the possible exception of The War Doctor’s regeneration).

It is also rather amusing that the first face he is offered seems to be Karl Marx!

[ichabod @ichabod]

Blast it!  Moffat turned *54*, not 34!  I am a idiot!  Well, my fingers are.  The left hand especially.

[Whisht @whisht]

well @blenkinsopthebrave I did try and come up with a bonkers theory….

but perhaps I was too influenced by @bluesqueakpip ‘s ‘children of Gallifey’ musings.

 

Though now she seems to be advocating ‘happy endings’ for the Doctor and Clara and heaven knows what time in the evening that might air!

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@whisht

And a very fine theory it was, too. Truth be told, I just wanted to upload that clip of Troughton.

p.s. I wonder if the correct verb for what we do should be “bonkerising”. It is just that “bonking” does leave itself open to…well…other interpretations…

[Anonymous @]

@blenkinsopthebrave

Oh, I hadn’t seen that in quite a while -a ripping moment in time 🙂

Yes, @whisht is up to bonking again. Goodness

@frobisher

No, I understand. Quite possibly you’ve seen a much deeper side to Smith’s Doctor than I did -perhaps at the time I was aware of that bouncy personality of  which you write. But I agree with you: deep beneath that were the troubles and fears which he concealed much of the time. The old eyes were always the key weren’t they?

On re-watch I can see what you mean.

Some of his statements were cold and dark (that word again): “Fear me, I killed them all”

[Ericam @ericam]

@torchwood3

Ya I really enjoyed Eccleston to. Fathers day was so sad…

I’m not really sure what everyone else in the doctor who community is thinking but I am loving the 12th doctor. I’m no sure if anyone else agrees but I was kinda happy to see Clara go.  I feel like it kind of represented the end of Matt Smith hell to me. I really didnt like Matt Smiths doctor and I didnt really care for Clara much either.

I would really like to see them switch it up a little more and throw a dude in the Tardis for a change. We need a new Captain Jack or something. Its getting a lil old having him travel with chicks but I know its kind of a tradtion so I doubt they ever will.

By the way this is my first post. im new here to HI EVERYONE im glad to be here!!!!

[ohboyatoytruck @ohboyatoytruck]

The writing throughout the entire current series has been patchy and erratic and melodrama has replaced interesting plots with great twists. I found the climax/finale of the last series (Death in Heaven) somewhat moving though it was quite dark and grim too, but I haven’t enjoyed a single episode of the current series and the final episode was the worst. Dr Who has basically been turned into a soap opera. When the wonderfully brilliant and moving Day of the Doctor screened for the 50th anniversary it set up an expectation in viewers’ minds that Peter Capaldi’s Doctor would start the search for Gallifrey. I thought th series would be a series of attempts, some failed, some informative that would culminate in a final episode where he finally reached Gallifrey. I even thought that possibly to find Gallifrey he would have to die and regenerate so he would find it at the expense of his current incarnation. That would have been great. Instead he found it in the penultimate episode with no explanation of how Galifrey had freed itself from the frozen pocket universe where the Doctors plural had put it except for an offhand remark by Capaldi that the Timelords must have freed it themselves. How was the timelock defeated? The writers should have written a brilliant plot that explained how the Doctor found the freed Gallifrey – that would have been moving. I felt nothing when Capaldi broke through the diamond wall and found himself on his home planet. No that’s not true, I felt cheated. The wonderful set up of the Day of the Doctor was completely wasted. As for all the audience-milking melodrama surrounding Clara – I was not moved mainly because Clara cannot die – remember she’s scattered throughout the Doctor’s entire time stream – she can only disappear not die. Where has the wonderful pathos gone that accompanied the loss of Rose and Donna? Those series remain the high point for me. The character of “Me” leaves me cold and I find nothing to like about her. I feel totally ripped off and feel like Ive wasted my time even bothering to watch. And the weird looking Christmas special trailer looks no better.

P.S. Capaldi’s sudden interest in playing the electric guitar and wearing dark sunglasses is not “fun” but just extremely corny as though the writers were trying to make the Doctor “cool” for younger viewers. The Doctor is and always has been cool because he’s not cool.  I fear the show is being increasingly manipulated by marketing people which happens when something starts to be a major commercial success.

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@ohboyatoytruck

Paragraphs are your friend.

 

Also, there appears to be an echo in here….

[Mersey @mersey]

@ohboyatoytruck

That’s a bit harsh. I can agree with you that there’s too much melodrama in the two last seasons and that Death in Heaven was grim and creepy (too creepy for my taste) but you know, it’s a matter of taste. You said that for you The Day of the Doctor was brilliant. For me it was mostly rubbish 😎 and Hell bent was brilliant. I expected the full reset and had to wait for it two seasons but I got it. Doctor Who has fans all over the world, and you can’t expect that its creators will always satisfy your taste. These people do amazing job so it’s really ungratefull to speak in a such manner about one of the most brilliant tv series of all time. I also don’t find this season very illuminating but I love the character of Doctor and I would never tell that watching Doctor Who is a waste of time. But I’m a fan, not a random watcher.

And I admire the people from this forum because with their brilliant theories they can change even the worst and the silliest episode into a big mystery worth solving (at least here).

[gamergirlavatar @gamergirlavatar]

@torchwood3 I enjoy the 9th Doctor as well. He and The 12th Doctor are my favorite Doctors. However, Father’s Day isn’t that great in my opinion. While I did like the personality of The 9th Doctor, I didn’t care for what the episode did to Rose. Rose was turning into a shop girl changing her life just to have her turn into a emotional mess and nearly ending the life of every human. I do like Rose as a companion but I can never watch that episode again without thinking about how I started to resent her, but Chistopher makes the episode great to watch.

[nerys @nerys]

I love this guitar-playing Doctor. I think it’s wonderful that he does something besides fly a TARDIS … but that’s just me. For what it’s worth, I have enjoyed all of the new-era Doctors equally, but differently. Each time a new actor comes on board, I think there’s no way he can top his predecessor. And then I find I enjoy him precisely for the differences he and the writers bring to the role of the Doctor.

[janetteB @janetteb]

Guitar playing is a much an eccentricity as flute playing. I see no reason at all why it is acceptable for the Doctor to play a recorder or dangle a yo yo but not strum an electric guitar. I also don’t think that playing the guitar is seen by anyone as “cool” any more. Wait, checking with random teenager, and yep, to quote, “if anything electric guitars are more old fashioned than anything else”. Incidentally those random teenagers loved the most recent series, old fashioned guitar not withstanding.

(sorry but getting rather tired of reading complaints about the Doctor’s latest choice of hobby.) Personally, like @nerys, I love it.

cheers

Janette

[gamergirlavatar @gamergirlavatar]

@nerys I like The Doctor playing the guitar as well. It reminds me of Sherlock playing the violin in order to think. Other Doctors have played instruments and it’s great to see a New Who Doctor find his own instrument to play so he can process all his ideas.

[ichabod @ichabod]

@janetteb  @nerys  I like The Doctor playing the guitar

Me, too — really like it.  It’s a form of meditation for him, I think — better than sitting on his TARDIS in a sort of yoga posture, more like this Doctor than a violin.  CapDoc may be an aristocrat by birth, and he has some of the attitudes and habits of command of an aristocrat, but he’s learned to be a lot more than that, I think, in his travels and experience.  The common instrument of the aspiring youthful musician (of my day, and of Capaldi’s too), the guitar, suits him very well.  Noodling on the violin is, IMO, more abstract — it’s about thinking, perfect for Mr. Holmes.  Noodling on the guitar strikes me as more earthy and concrete, a non-verbal voice of the heart more than of the calculating brain — the Doctor’s music of nostalgia for a long, long past.

[McCotton @mccottonthedoctorfan]

I’m a fairly new fan to Doctor Who (by the way, I am American just so you know).  I’ve been into science fiction ever since I was very little, three or four.  In my senior year of high school (2012), a lot of my friends started recommending I watch Doctor Who.  I had heard about the show but I didn’t know that much about it…at the point.  After doing some research into the show, I finally said, “we’re so far into this Doctor, I’ll come in on the next regeneration.” (Back in 2012, the Doctor was the Eleveth) Technically…I started in on “Day of the Doctor,” but Peter Capaldi was my first Doctor for the most part.  After catching up on the series (as the entire series is available on Netflix), I really found that the Twelfth was my favorite of the new Doctors (the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth).  And, for a while, he was my favorite Doctor.  Then, I discovered Classic Who on Netflix.  While it doesn’t have all the episodes, I did watch a few story arcs for each Doctor (except the First and the Second, as I could only really find one or two).  After watching both series, I have to say that the Third Doctor is my personal favorite.  Actually, my rankings of the Doctor (from my favorite to my least favorite) are as follows:

1. the Third
2. the Twelfth
3. the Fourth
4. the Tenth
5. the War Doctor (yes, I do count the War Doctor.  If you do, awesome.  If you don’t, that’s alright too)
6. the Eighth
7. the Second
8. the Seventh
9. the Ninth
10. the First
11. the Eleventh
12. the Fifth
13. the Sixth

[winston @winston]

@mccottonthedoctorfan  Welcome from a neighbour up in Canada. I hope you enjoy this place. It is nice and friendly. I started watching Doctor Who when it came back in 2005 and was instantly hooked. For that reason the 9th Doctor is my Doctor, but not my favourite one. I can’t pick a favourite and when I try to, I always feel disloyal to the rest of them.  So I like them all but in many differant ways. Like funniest- the 11th , saddest-10th etc. That way I don’t have to choose just one!

 

[McCotton @mccottonthedoctorfan]

@winston It was actually really hard to pick a favorite.  I like different Doctors for different reasons.  But, some I like more than others.  But don’t get met wrong, I like all the Doctors (… except Peter Cushing, but to my understanding, we don’t talk about him)

[Anonymous @]

@mccottonthedoctorfan

Halloo and welcome from Oz! Hope you do have a lovely Christmas and that you continue to enjoy our ramblings -the Christmas special is a-coming. Whoo -hoo. And Christmas, too, of course. 🙂

Kindest Puro and Son (the hybrid)

[nerys @nerys]

@mccottonthedoctorfan

Welcome to this forum! I really enjoy the intelligent discourse here. By and large we are troll-resistant (notice I didn’t say “-free” … but we do our best to keep that silliness at bay).

@ichabod

It’s a form of meditation for him, I think — better than sitting on his TARDIS in a sort of yoga posture, more like this Doctor than a violin.

Guitar playing as meditation. I like it!

[ichabod @ichabod]

@nerys  Sure — I’m thinking of the noodling part, just “fooling around”, rather than doing exercises, lessons, or playing a particular piece.  But that can also be a form of rest, too.  As long as it’s not competitive with anything else, including one’s own last or best effort.  Free-wheeling body, free-wheeling mind, slaves of nothing, for a while.

 

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

@Mccottonthedoctorfan- re: Cushing, I have read- it must be somewhere on here- the theory that the Cushing Doctor is Ten’s human version, grown old, somehow in possession of a tardis, traveling with his (and Rose’s)  granddaughter. If that makes it at all better…

[McCotton @mccottonthedoctorfan]

@miapatrick Really?  Because I read that Cushing based his performance off William Hartnell.  So, I would have assumed he was an alternate reality version of the First

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

@mccottonthedoctorfan: I know, its a ret con theory!

[Anonymous @]

I agree that the guitar playing is a particularly nice touch to 12’s doctor. Particularly when he plays the song ‘Blue Hotel’ by Chris Isaak at the end of The Woman Who Lived.

Something I find particularly interesting is the justification for the new faces and personalities the Doctor adapts to during each regeneration. The transition from 9 to 10 is said to be the Doctor becoming younger and more like Rose herself, as a favour to her almost. 10 to 11 (I think) is generally considered to be him trying to forget that this is his last regeneration by making himself eve more youthful and energetic. And then 11 to 12 is discussed in Deep Breath to be him revealing his true self to Clara.

[ichabod @ichabod]

@birdtomahawk  11 to 12 is discussed in Deep Breath to be him revealing his true self to Clara.

Hmm; I think it’s more testing out what his true self *is*, in the course of which self-discovery he also reveals more than he normally would to a companion, because he’s busy flailing around trying to find his balance (and she’s 11’s Impossible Girl and 12’s north star/lodestone, so he has to trust her to reactions even when they’re unfavorable, ie Into the Dalek).  One of the things about S8, which makes it both great and experimental *and* irritating and crazy-making, is how unmoored both of them are, how desperate to find something steady to hang onto in the chaos unleashed around both of them by this huge and unexpected regeneration from Matt to Peter.

So what is S9, then, in these terms?  The two of them burning through what’s good about them together and then having to recognize and accept that they must go their separate ways to avoid burning up the whole damned universe?

[TheDentistOfDavros @thedentistofdavros]

Hello everyone I’m sorry I haven’t posted for a while I’ve been quite busy lately but now that all that’s over I just thought I’d let you all know that I have embarked on quest – to watch every Jon Pertwee story in order from start to finish.  I’ve just finished watching episodes 1 – 3 of Spearhead from Space which I’ve already seen but I have to say it’s a very strong opening for the Pertwee era.

The reason I chose Pertwee was simply because I have all the Pertwee episodes on DVD but I have to admit I haven’t see them all so there are some episodes I will be seeing for the first time on the marathon (The ambassadors of death, the mind of evil, colony in space, the mutants, the time monster and invasion of the dinosaurs are the ones I haven’t seen).

Pertwee is a great doctor with a lovely charm and sophistication that I admire and I do think he is one of my favourites but Pat Troughton (My favourite) is the complete opposite which just goes to show that no matter how different the doctor can be they all have something to like about them.

when thinking of Pertwee you often think of ‘the UNIT family’ which is a good thing as it does add some familiarity to the show (familiarity isn’t  always a good thing though)  with this unit family you definitely feel as though you know the characters and it does add some nice qualities to the character of the doctor that were previously unseen.

the Pertwee era is fantastic with plenty of great stories and a consistently high quality I would say (let’s overlook Peladon shall we!) and I’m looking forward to going through this era of the show and revisit some stories and discover new ones.  Anyone who isn’t familiar with Pertwee then I recommend him as he truly is a great doctor.

[Anonymous @]

@thedentistofdavros

great to see you back!

Actually, when I first joined this Forum I commented on how I came to ‘know’ the Doctor -and it was thru Pertwee’s stories? I was probably about 6 or 8 at the time. It was in B&W and so the colour came entirely from his spinning and whirling cloak (about which I imagined all sorts of colours: like Joseph’s technicolour coat!). I loved the fact Pertwee was ‘stuck’ on earth and that there were endless creepy, dusty and grey/black corridors. I enjoyed his coolness and his aristocratic, bearing – balanced with an endearing manner.

For awhile he was definitely ‘my’ Doctor -although that changed when Mat Smith came on board. And has probably changed with PC. Funnily enough, I think they’re all ‘my Doctors. So much similarity but as you say, even the opposites can attract a viewer as much as commonalities between Doctors, across eras and viewers. I think showrunners now contribute, largely, to the way a Doctor behaves but his distinct and individual quirky appeal is the actor himself, what he brings to the part and how that develops.

Enjoy your viewing 🙂 Kindest,

PuroSolo

 

[Anonymous @]

Test123

[DenValdron @denvaldron]

If you’re doing the complete Pertwee as the Doctor, don’t forget the Five Doctors, the Ultimate Adventure, the Paradise of Death,  the Ghosts of N-Space and  the segment from Devious on the War Games DVD.

[Anonymous @]

@birdtomahawk

Did it work?

🙂

[Missy @missy]

…….there you all are! I wondered where everyone had gone.

Box not ticked, shall do it now.

cheers,

Missy

[Author]

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