The Faces of the Doctor
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Craig 5 years, 3 months ago.
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14 April 2017 at 11:44 #56152
My first encounter with the Seventh Doctor didn’t go well. I saw him for the first time in Doctor Who movie when he was so stupidly killed by the Chinatown mafia in San Fransisco. I thought he looked pitiful and stupidly with his awful vest and question mark shaped umbrella, a kind of a whimpish good uncle or loser. And of course it was during his time when the show was cancelled so he had to be a real failure. (I didn’t hear about Sylvester McCoy so I couldn’t appreciate his talent). So you can imagine my big surprise when I listened to one of the Big Finish productions (Protect and Survive, really claustrophobic story about atomic annihilation, I strongly recommend), with Seventh and it become one of my favourite Doctor who story ever also because of McCoy’s Doctor. As I said I never thought Seventh as an interesting character and here he was completely different from his predecessors, very determined and composed, not in the clouds but above all rather vindictive and even cruel. In his companion’s words “This is just his style. It’s not enough to defeat the bud guys. He has to punish them. What right does he have to hand out judgments. Sometimes he gets so close to the monsters it’s hard to tell him apart”. Earlier Doctors didn’t hesitate to punish the villains of course but I never felt they did it with pleasure. Those traits were examined later in Tenth case but it was more an excuse to introduce Donna and make her important and I think really compassionate (and more emotional) Doctor was rather modern development. I’ve heard more Big Finish productions with Seventh and I think this picture of him is appropriate though I haven’e watched any TV episode. I’m worry that this impression will change. That’s my few reflections on Seventh. He’s rather rarely discussed.
14 April 2017 at 19:57 #56154Hi @mersey – I don’t have anything to add, I just think I’d say how I appreciated your desire of a re-appraisal of Seven.
I’ll admit that my interest in Who waned around that time, but it wasn’t McCoy’s fault (it was as much to do with my changing interests and age).
I think that actually McCoy has or will have the ‘most under-appreciated’ tag that Richard Hill used to have in rugby (a reference that may escape many, but still – there’s a lot of support out there).
14 April 2017 at 20:59 #56156@mersey, @whisht
There was a point in The Five(ish) Doctors Rebooted, where Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy are trying to break into the BBC Cardiff Studios, and Colin Baker, in exasperation, asks, “Why are we doing this?” Peter Davison thinks about it for a minute, and replies, “We’re doing it for the fans!” Colin Baker smiles and replies, “Of course. For the fans.” Then it cuts to Sylvester McCoy, who looks up, and says, somewhat wistfully, “For the fan.”I thought that was perhaps the funniest and most endearing gag in the whole show. Because it was so self-deprecating.
14 April 2017 at 21:33 #56157The Movie Which We Do Not Name is no way to have been introduced to any manifestation of the Doctor, so your original reaction to the seventh Doctor is entirely understandable. I have to admit that I, too, underestimated McCoy in the role until fairly recently. I had stopped watching entirely not long after Colin Baker took over, because I had begun to think that the show was going in the wrong direction and so lost interest. When McCoy took over I did watch again, briefly, to see if things had improved, but his first season did nothing to alter my opinion – not entirely his fault, of course. I can’t speak for the Big Finish productions because I have heard very few of them – which is odd because, having grown up until the age of fourteen without television, and after that with only limited viewing for several years and sometimes no access to television at all for periods of months at a time, I have always maintained that the pictures [in ones imagination] are better on radio. It is only relatively recently that I have had the opportunity to watch some of the later McCoy episodes, and they give a better idea of his potential as the face of the Doctor. – Remembrance of the Daleks, for example, or The Curse of Fenric.
I cannot say that there is any manifestation of the Doctor who is *my* Doctor, unless it is Capaldi whose interpretation seems to me to embody so many aspects of previous incarnations whilst yet bringing something new to the role. Among the others I have my preferences, of course, chiefly Patrick Troughton, Tom Baker (most of the time) and Matt Smith, but I wouldn’t discount any of them entirely. That is the strength of the character and the brilliance of the concept of regeneration: provided that the core values persist the permutations are almost infinite. All that is needed then are writers who understand the concept and have the imagination and skill to create stories round it, and actors who are sympathetic to the ideas and can give them life.
15 April 2017 at 02:08 #56172@Mersey–
Yes, McCoy is — and I suspect always will be — a highly underrated Doctor. There are definite hints of the direction that both the Virgin New Adventures and Big Finish took his Doctor in, most notably in (as @mudlark says) Remembrance of the Daleks, Ghost Light and Curse of Fenric.
And I know what you mean about his regeneration, although I kind of like it because it’s one of the rare ones that remind you that it doesn’t necessarily take something spooky and alien and otherworldly to ‘kill’ a Doctor.
15 April 2017 at 08:17 #56174I was no longer watching Dr Who by the time McCoy took over. I wasn’t even aware that he had. I happened upon one of his stories while travelling in the U.K. We were staying at a B&B just outside of Cardiff in fact. I was surprised to discover that he was quite good but did not see any more of his stories for a long time. When I did it was clear to me that he was only just settling into the role and had some much more to bring to it. Such a shame his tenure was cut short. I was thrilled that he got a role in The Hobbit and loved his part in the Five-ish Doctors. @blenkinsopthebrave but I did not pick up on that line so now I have to watch it again but he certainly has more than one fan.
Cheers
Janette
15 April 2017 at 09:13 #56178I agree. All of the actors brought something different to the role and I liked all of them – some more than others.Paul McGann the 8th Doctor however – in my opinion – was awful. I’ve never cared for the McGann tribe, unlike the Foxes. Personal preference.
Missy
15 April 2017 at 16:09 #56210@jimthefish I tried to leave a comment on your blog post about Twelve, his ambiguity, and how audiences have taken (or not) to him, but it doesn’t seem to have taken. Anyway, I thought it was very thoughtful and well-written.
16 April 2017 at 00:18 #56226@missrori–
thank you. Very kind.
16 April 2017 at 23:47 #56313I think I will watch some episodes with 7th, I’ll start probably from those mentioned by @jimthefish. Thanks for that. It’s somehow refreshing to watch Doctor with completely different personality from last three Doctors, less emotional but at the same time more expressive (I think it’s McCoys’s voice).
Thank you for mentioning the Five(ish) Doctors. I didn’t know anything about it and now I’m completely hooked. I’ve watched it for three times already. Hilarious and so well written. All four Doctors were really charming. McCoy and McGann have amazing, deep (and in case of McCoy screeching) voices. But the whole show was stolen by Russel T. (and Peter Jackson and Ian McKellen). I laughed out loud. I like it even more than the official 50th anniversary special.
When it comes to the Big Finish it’s either love it or hate it. Some of productions are just ridiculous (last week I listened to one of the 50th anniversary stories with 6th and Peri in which a Russian cosmonaut flew to the Moon, found an american base on its dark side (in 1963) went back in the body of the dog Laika but with brain and larynx transplanted and started a rebellion against humans) or plainly too complicated for radio (hard to remember and recognize who is who). But there are also really amazing stories to which I class another 50th anniversary production with 5th and Nyssa who traveled to 1963 again to watch the Beatles and found that history was changed and Paul missed his chance to became famous. Great atmosphere with fantastic duo Doctor and Nyssa. Interestingly 8th mentioned all his Big Finish companions in his regeneration short movie before he drank the potion and regenerated into War Doctor.
There was a point in which I was sure Matt Smith was the perfect embodiment of the Doctor… but then his personality changed, he become depressed and the story went in wrong direction. Smith left too late or too early. He should either left with the Ponds or stay with Clara longer although I don’t think he had anything to do with her. No chemistry at all.
Capaldi’s Doctor reminds me 4th (prominent eyes, a bit curly hair, timbre of the voice). But when 4th was a bit out of touch with reality or even moony, at the same time he was cool and calm and slow and very concentrated. 12th has been in constant rush bursting with emotions. I like him but I feel he could do better with different companion and after yesterday’s episode I’m sure Bill is the one.
(I’ve bought Kalanchoe and found one neglected specimen at home. I’ll try to keep them alive).
17 April 2017 at 10:57 #56344I posted this yesterday but it’s a ghost post so I post it now again.
I think I will watch some episodes with 7th, I’ll start probably from those mentioned by @jimthefish. Thanks for that. It’s somehow refreshing to watch Doctor with completely different personality from last three Doctors, less emotional but at the same time more expressive (I think it’s McCoys’s voice).
Thank you for mentioning the Five(ish) Doctors. I didn’t know anything about it and now I’m completely hooked. I’ve watched it for three times already. Hilarious and so well written. All four Doctors were really charming. McCoy and McGann have amazing, deep (and in case of McCoy screeching) voices. But the whole show was stolen by Russel T. (and Peter Jackson and Ian McKellen). I laughed out loud. I like it even more than the official 50th anniversary special.
When it comes to the Big Finish it’s either love it or hate it. Some of productions are just ridiculous (last week I listened to one of the 50th anniversary stories with 6th and Peri in which a Russian cosmonaut flew to the Moon, found an american base on its dark side (in 1963) went back in the body of the dog Laika but with brain and larynx transplanted and started a rebellion against humans) or plainly too complicated for radio (hard to remember and recognize who is who). But there are also really amazing stories to which I class another 50th anniversary production with 5th and Nyssa who traveled to 1963 again to watch the Beatles and found that history was changed and Paul missed his chance to became famous. Great atmosphere with fantastic duo Doctor and Nyssa. Interestingly 8th mentioned all his Big Finish companions in his regeneration short movie before he drank the potion and regenerated into War Doctor.
There was a point in which I was sure Matt Smith was the perfect embodiment of the Doctor… but then his personality changed, he become depressed and the story went in wrong direction. Smith left too late or too early. He should either left with the Ponds or stay with Clara longer although I don’t think he had anything to do with her. No chemistry at all.
Capaldi’s Doctor reminds me 4th (prominent eyes, a bit curly hair, timbre of the voice). But when 4th was a bit out of touch with reality or even moony, at the same time he was cool and calm and slow and very concentrated. 12th has been in constant rush bursting with emotions. I like him but I feel he could do better with different companion and after yesterday’s episode I’m sure Bill is the one.
(I’ve bought Kalanchoe and found one neglected specimen at home. I’ll try to keep them alive).
17 April 2017 at 15:15 #56358To celebrate series 10 I have written these…
Who Haiku (or the hairdresser’s guide to the Whoniverse)
- His white hair brushed back
Travelling with granddaughter
In a stolen box
- Floppy mop of hair
Recorder played throughout time
Plus Highland Piper
- Silver curled dandy
Exiled to Earth and Unit
Driving in Bessie
- Uncontrolled brown locks
Reverse the polarity
Long bright knitted scarf
- A blond cricketer
Celery pinned to lapel
Air hostess along
- Tight light curls and frown
On trial in Gallifrey
For OTT coat
- Charming clown, dark hair
A question mark umbrella
And Ace companion
- Long and tumbling waves
Poor film but great audio
Sensuous good looks
8.5 Beard, moustache, eyebrows,
Was warring with the Daleks
No more the Moment
- Shorn northern Time Lord
Revived in leather jacket
And he Rose again
- Unruly haired Scot
A tenant of the Tardis
Timey wimey stuff
- The long mane swept back
Fezzes and bow ties are cool
Raggedy Doctor
- Tidy grey tresses
The impossible girl left
And River’s last night
- ?
17 April 2017 at 16:08 #5636118 April 2017 at 05:17 #5640625 June 2017 at 13:33 #59622My husband has just been working on a design for a Doctor Who mini-site for work, about the many faces of The Doctor.
Would be great to get some hits and feedback so he can do more features on things like Doctor Who… rather than things he is less interested in… like football ;p
It includes a brief biography and images of each Doctor. I expect members here will probably know most of this stuff already, but it’s a good roundup of all the basics, and includes some nice images and design features… so if you have a little free time… check it out 🙂
26 June 2017 at 10:54 #59705Hello there. I’ve just had a quick shufti at your husbands work and it’s astonishing. When i have more time I shall have a proper look. Thank you for posting.
Missy
26 June 2017 at 18:35 #59725@maribiscuits Damn nice! Tickles me right in the nostalgia. Thanks for that.
26 June 2017 at 18:42 #59728Thanks for the feedback.
Really glad it managed to get a few hits… as it means he will be able to do more of this sort of content 🙂
27 June 2017 at 09:31 #5976028 June 2017 at 20:12 #59882Heralds of Destruction is the best Doctor Who comic I’ve read in a very long time. It even features HAVOC stuntmen as UNIT soldiers…!
The most bonkers aspect is how the Master’s masks are linked to his TARDIS!
28 June 2017 at 20:41 #59886@wolfweed — ooh, is that a Titan job? I didn’t know they were doing Pertwee ones.
I really wish someone would hurry up and do a trade paperback collection of the old Countdown strips from the 70s. I’d snap it up in an instant….
13 July 2017 at 08:19 #60586When it comes to my favorite Doctor, that’s really hard to decide. I like all the actors who’ve played the Doctor (yes, some more than others, but I’ve never not liked an actor in the role… the material some of the Doctors have to work with on the other hand…). So, I like to break it down and say I have 4 favorites:
*My favorite classic Doctor is the Third.
*My favorite new Doctor is the Twelfth.
*My favorite Big Finish Doctor is (currently) a tie between the Fifth and the Sixth
16 July 2017 at 08:36 #60713Like you I have liked all four Doctors of the new series, but Peter Capaldi is the best of the lot.
Of the Classic series, William Hartnell, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were the best – in my opinion of course.
Missy
9 March 2018 at 17:02 #63255- Which doctor is your favourite and why?
Do tell
10 March 2018 at 05:26 #63260Peter Capaldi.
For me he was the most human, whilst trying not to be.
The most compasionate.
Grumpy to hide his true feelings.
The loss of his home, showing so clearly on his very expressive face.
Complex, in a way that the others weren’t.
Funny, in a different way to the others.
He made me feel that the Doctor was a real entity.
And came over to me as father figure, that you could always depend upon.
He is also a damn good actor!
There is much more, but I can’t think just now.
What about you?
Missy
10 March 2018 at 09:48 #63264David Tennant, without a doubt.
The way he was bright and bubbly, while hiding his hurt beneath that. His insince that killing is not the answer, and the way he goes about that. His overall portrayal of the doctor is fantastic. If I could be doctor who, I’d be like David.
beat that.
11 March 2018 at 04:29 #63268Oh I agree.
I was fond of all three Doctors but didn’t have a favourite – and then Peter Capaldi came along *grins*
Of course, he also had the best head writer in Steven Moffat.
Missy
12 March 2018 at 01:48 #63273@missy and @ddoherty95 The matter of a favourite Doctor is always so hard for me. I really like the one I am watching at the time. Watching the 12th is a wild ride that is sometimes fun but also dark and sad at times. While watching him being cranky and sarcastic I think, “I love this Doctor” and at the time he is my fave. But the other day I watched Matt Smith as the 11th in A Good Man Goes to War and when he gets so angry he scares me, I think, “I love the 11th ” and he is my fave. Same thing with the others. So that says that I am not only fickle but that I like angry Doctors.
12 March 2018 at 03:30 #63275Yes I was like that too, had-as I say- no favourite. I loved all of them.
Well PC was angry often, but he repressed it. that is why felt he was more ‘human’ the the others.
Missy
12 March 2018 at 09:00 #63279@winston I would be inclined to agree that the angry doctors are the best but then I recall Tom Baker and would have to add, the angry and funny doctors are the best.
Cheers
Janette16 March 2018 at 17:04 #6328616 March 2018 at 20:48 #63287“Splendid chaps, all of them.” 😀
16 March 2018 at 20:51 #63288Anyone else?
(I mean it’s still David Tennant but…)
😁
17 March 2018 at 01:13 #63289@ddoherty95 They are all the best. Each actor of AG Who (otherwise known as “nu who”) has brought something different to the role, has different strengths and should be appreciated for what they have achieved. I don’t ever feel the need to compare and say one is better than the other. We are currently re watching some Ecclestone Doctor episodes and really enjoying his Doctor. Previously we were watching some Smith episodes and he was equally good but very different. Tennant lights up the screen with his Doctor. They are all exceptional. What however I find truely remarkable is that I can believe that Smith and Ecclestone are the same character. Their acting styles are so different. Capaldi manages to incorporate a little of all three previous Doctors into his characterisation which perhaps makes him feel like the most complete Doctor. “Complete isn’t quite the right word but I can’t think of a closer term to describe what I mean)
Oh and by the way, thanks for keeping the discussion going. We are all feeling the lack of Who at the moment I think and it has been very quiet around here of late.
Cheers
Janette17 March 2018 at 01:57 #63290@ddoherty95 Best at what though? Each Doctor has his own style that works for him. The 9th is tortured by what he did to Gallifrey and is guilty, sad and angry at the same time.He believes himself to be the last of his kind after destroying all the rest and this gives him a disregard for his own safety that maybe makes him seem bravest. He seems tougher than some Doctors and is the best at making me feel safe.
The 10th has the gift of words and uses them as a weapon sometimes, making him the cockiest Doctor. His guilt gives him a big capacity to forgive others and give them a chance but no second chances. His relationship with Rose was an epic that crossed 2 universes. Also he runs a lot! In fact he is the best runner.
Then the 11th who looks young but is very old and loves people of all kinds. He hides his loneliness and guilt with an outward appearance of goofiness but beware hurting his friends or feel his wrath.He is the most loving to his friends and companions which of course makes him even lonelier when he loses them. He is the best flirt.
I find 12 to have the biggest hearts of the Doctors , remembering everyone, regretting so much and trying so hard to make up for the past and to be a good man. He was crusty and cranky yet funny and even silly sometimes.He had the best intentions, usually, and was determined to protect his companions at all costs. His humanity was great but he was the best at ranting.
17 March 2018 at 04:33 #63291Three answers:
1. Peter Cushing (the satirical response)
2. Everything that @janetteb and @winston said. Because they are right.
3. For me…it will always be William Hartnell, because I was 12 years old when I saw him in the very first episode, “An Unearthly Child”, in 1964 (it was Australia, so we ran a bit behind the BBC) and nothing…nothing…can compare to that experience.
17 March 2018 at 13:34 #63292How has no one said 10th doctor as THE BEST yet?
It does not compute!
17 March 2018 at 16:46 #63293Pretty much what everyone has said above. It’s impossible to have a BEST doctor because they’re all so very different and fulfilled different roles in the show’s history. You could argue Hartnell because he was the first. Or Troughton because his is the template from which the Doctor as we know him now essentially springs. Or Tom Baker because he had had the biggest ratings (or perhaps audience share would be a better way to put it) in the traditional sense of the word.
But everyone has their favourite Doctor, and that might even change over time. At the moment, Capaldi is my favourite Doctor hands down and on the marathon rewatch I’m doing at the moment he just seems to improve with every watch. But at the same time I was a big fan of Tennant until Smith blew him out the water with pretty much his first appearance. Then Capaldi supplanted Smith, albiet in a more gradual way. Who knows, maybe in a year’s time I’ll be swearing blind that Whittaker is my ‘best’ Doctor?
17 March 2018 at 21:16 #63294@janetteb @winston and @jimthefish have pretty much summed it up. Every actor has brought something different to the role and that fact, along with the vision of successive show runners and writers, is how the show has managed to survive for so long – because it has evolved and expanded in scop0e. There can be no universal ‘best’ Doctor, because viewers are individuals, and each will have their own opinion according to which incarnation resonates the most with their experience and personality. For many, such as @blenkinsopthebrave , ‘their’ Doctor is the one they first encountered as a child. I am old enough that my first Doctor was Hartnell’s, but if I am asked to name those that had the most impact on me I would say, in chronological order, though not in order of precedence, that they were the second (Troughton), the fourth (Tom Baker), the eleventh (Matt Smith) and the twelfth (Peter Capaldi) – and I would have to mention, also, John Hurt as the War Doctor, who brought his own gravitas to the part. If forced to choose just one I would probably have to say ‘Capaldi’, because in my opinion his version of the Doctor was probably the most complex and nuanced, but I would hesitate in doing so.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate all that the Tenth Doctor was – though for me Tennant’s mannerisms did begin to grate slightly towards the end; nor do I wish to argue you out of your opinion that he was the Best. You and I are different people with different views and a different experience of life, so both of us are equally entitled to claim that we are right 🙂
19 March 2018 at 12:44 #63295Ok, we all know that, so which episode is your favourite?
Any one from the first episode to the most recent.
mine is New Earth!
19 March 2018 at 22:40 #63296At the moment, for me it’s Heaven Sent, by a country mile….
20 March 2018 at 01:48 #63297@ddoherty95 Nope……can’t do it! I have tried to pin one down for quite awhile( 15-20 mins.) and I just can’t. I have fave scary ones like The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances which also has one on my fave happy endings. Favourite history ones like The Fires of Pompei and fave introductions like Deep Breath and Partners in Crime. My favourite fantasy episodes like The Wedding of River Song and so on. So many episodes I just can’t pick one and if forced I could only say Rose because it was my first episode of Doctor Who and it got me hooked.
20 March 2018 at 04:57 #63298Like @winston I can’t pin down a single favourite either. Though it is a contradiction in terms I have a lot of “favourites”. A lot depends upon mood too. Some days I enjoy a particular episode because it better resonate with my state of mine, with the state of the world. Right now I am in need of reassurance, of something bright to block out reality. (We have just suffered a most unwelcome change of government and lost one of the finest Premiers ever.) So I would not be choosing to watch Heaven Sent, though it is also one of my favourites. I think something with a happier feel is required.
Still making lists is fun but my favouite episode = about twenty episodes and we are heading out to lunch so I will work on it and post it later.
Cheers
Janette20 March 2018 at 05:14 #63299@janetteb: Well said, I agree. We too are watching the Eccleston series again and shall continue right through to Capaldi.
@winston I find 12 to have the biggest hearts of the Doctors , remembering everyone, regretting so much and trying so hard to make up for the past and to be a good man. He was crusty and cranky yet funny and even silly sometimes.He had the best intentions, usually, and was determined to protect his companions at all costs. His humanity was great but he was the best at ranting.
Hear, hear.
Because, he was only the best in his particular series and to those he appealed to. As has been said, All of them were great.
>@jimthefish But everyone has their favourite Doctor, and that might even change over time. At the moment, Capaldi is my favourite Doctor hands down and on the marathon rewatch I’m doing at the moment he just seems to improve with every watch. But at the same time I was a big fan of Tennant until Smith blew him out the water with pretty much his first appearance. Then Capaldi supplanted Smith, albiet in a more gradual way. Who knows, maybe in a year’s time I’ll be swearing blind that Whittaker is my ‘best’ Doctor?
I agree with all you say, escept for the last ten words! *grins*
“Heaven Sent” for me too. Superb acting, writing, music and sets. However, like @janetteb, there are so many I love.
When I have time, I shall make a list.
Missy
23 March 2018 at 17:38 #63309Hi,
bit of a confession. I’ve only started watching doctor who recently on Netflix, and am currently in the middle of the Doctor and Donna.
so, to quote Prof. River Song, “Spoilers!”
😀
24 March 2018 at 13:23 #6331024 March 2018 at 13:55 #63311Yes and??
Cheers
Janette24 March 2018 at 13:56 #63312PLEASE DON’T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY I HAVNT SEEN THE NEWEST EPISODES YET!
😂😂
24 March 2018 at 21:20 #63320@ddoherty95 I love the 4th series of AG! Donna is one of my favourite companions and I really enjoyed the chemistry between her and the 10th Doctor. Have fun watching all of the great stuff to come, I hope you like it all as much as I do. So much fun ahead.
24 March 2018 at 21:38 #63322 -
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