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@handles @janetteb
Glad you enjoyed the collection of Rogue’s ;-).
@handles, I meant to put links to the graphic novels (if you want to know more about the comics universe, which is very engaging, try @wolfweed s excellent blog, and there are some documentaries I linked to in the Faces strand).–
Absolom Daak – Dalek killer collected.
Nemesis of the Daleks (which features contributions by Paul “Family of Blood” Cornell)
I did consider Riddell from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship because, you’re right, Rupert Graves definitely played it with a lot of roguish charm, but sadly had to conclude he wasn’t apparently guilty of any crimes for his time. I also considered Vorg from Carnival of Monsters, who was on the dis side of the reputable scale, but decided no in the end.
Oh, and I didn’t notice @lisa had already made a comparison to Farscape’s own bank heist in Season 2 (as always – well worth checking out).
Rogue’s Gallery
OK, Time Heist introduced us to two new colourful rogues in augmented human Psi, and shape changing human mutant Saibra. To rob a bank. I’ve noted on other forums that the concept seems to have shocked a few people with very short memories, because the Doctor has always had an easy going relationship with a certain type of rogue. You know – the guys who live by a code, even if it’s not the one that’s entirely in vogue at the moment (in legal circles).
Its natural enough I suppose. He’s a hero who nicked a TARDIS, and cheerfully ignored his own societies laws. He’s assembled his outfit from hospital locker rooms on no fewer than three occasions. He’s a rogue himself! Or a Marxist. All property is theft, and all.
But who is the best, and where does this new pair figure in the grand scheme of things? Only one way to find out! Spurious list time!
8.Garron
When the Fourth Doctor started on his quest to locate the Key to Time he forged an amiable (and competitive) relationship with Garron (Iain Cuthbertson), a swindler, charlatan and all round conman. It takes one to know one, as he identified similar traits in the Doctor. The story is a heist in itself, as they both try to obtain a rare stone, which is the first segment of the Key. Who is the better conman? I’ll let you guess.
7.Lady Christina de Souza
Michelle Ryan played the jewel thief and all-round bad-girl in Planet of the Dead. It divides people, but I though she was great, and her over confidence in herself a critical part of the character.
6.Captain jack harkness
People forget that Jack was introduced AS a co-man. He tried to pull a scam that went wrong. Had the right intentions to sort it out though. Maybe that’s the secret of being the kind of Rogue that the Doctor likes?
5.Drax
OK – as I pointed out elsewhere – some Renegade Timelords are evil. Some of them are good. Some of them are dodgy wheeler dealers with even dodgier accents. Drax, who revealed to the Whoniverse that Theta Sigma was the academy designation for the Doctor appeared in the final story of the Key to Time sequence, The Armageddon Factor.
Blessed with a cockney accent that he picked up in Wormwood Scrubs prison, Drax was a character whose allegiances shifted swiftly. After trying to con a true professional, he backed down and the old school (or academy) tie won through.
4.Dorium Maldovar
Didn’t we all love Dorium? Even being beheaded didn’t deflate him that much. SM must have kicked himself after making his end a bit too final, because he’s fricking hilarious in his trio of appearances. Alas, Dorium, someone who owes the Doctor is one of the few who really pays the price for his crimes (including selling River a Time Agents manipulator, with attached hand) by losing his head. He still continues to chew his ear though.
3.River Song
But who is the bigger rogue – the guy who sells the dismembered arm, or the gal who buys it? Her story was twisty turny, but here was someone who matched the Doctor. Of course she was a rogue – a bad girl. With a nod and a wink, she’d insult nazi’s and beguile the psychopath of her dreams.
2.Sabalom Glitz
Possibly the biggest rogue the Doctor has called a friend? The Sixth and Seventh knew him, and he was a bloke (as revealed in DragonFire) who SOLD HIS OWN CREW for bodyparts. Played with swaggering amiability by Tony Selby he was more than a bit of git. He knew it, you knew it – the Doctor knew it.
Glitz paid for his crimes though. Oh yes.
At the end of Dragonfire Mel (Bonnie Lanford) left the Doctor (hurrah!) to rehabilitate Glitz. Poor bugger.
1.Absolom Daak
Those who have seen the mentions of Absolom by @wolfweed and others and who have no clue who he is/was deserve a tutorial. A chain-sword wielding psychopath from the future, he’s convicted of crimes too naughty to mention.
Sent through a void to his sentence to be a DK – a Dalek Killer, he kills, falls in love and suffers loss. He befriends people, including a taskforce including an ice-warrior, a Sontaran, and a Draconian.
He wages war on the Daleks and eventually meets a small Scottish accented man (that’s the First Scottish Doctor) and fights them again to, what for him, is a logical conclusion.
Daak is a great part of Who history for those who grew up with him. Possibly mad, positively insane, and his hatred of the Daleks only matched by the Doctors. You’ll allow us old un’s a fanboy squeal at his mention, I’m sure. It’s worth seeking out his story which has been collected many times.
Oh – and just a mention, Star Tigers, his second story featured possibly the first mention of a clockwork droid! Clickbrain.
If you have been deeply traumatised by having your favourite rogue missed from this selection, I’ll assure you that you can add yours below!
but a scholar? Not really
You’re too modest. As I’m spending most evenings observing the noctural habits of small, furry (and endangered) animals, I’m relying on a small bird (Owl called Errol) to inform me otherwise.
Congratulations on your result! You have an ‘ology!
OK – with the first glimpse of a very “men in tights” Robin, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this, but I ended up revising that opinion pretty quickly because it was too much bloody fun to resist.
As depictions of Hood go, this was knowing (and I’m sorry @theKrynoid man, but wash your mouth out – no one can be as bad a Kevin Costner).
In fact it reminded me of the portrayal of Robin from the time travelling BlackAdder: Back and Forth. The unnecessary laughter, the character who is slightly in love with his own mystique. That version was, of course, played by the late (sadly) Rik Mayall.
But as a central conceit – meeting a mythical figure who turned out to be his own caricature – it played out really well. I loved the Doctors determination to prove that this was a Fiction. Who wouldn’t, with tights like that. Like others I liked the highlighting of the Hood and Doctor “myths” – last year I wrote a blog on Big Finish and in the comments put (on the tricky subject of Who’s non-existent canon):
“I’ve always approached the Doctor as a modern myth, as I said, and myths can get confusing. It’s kind of like asking for confirmation about whether Robin Hood was a nobleman who rebelled, or a peasant who fought back. The interpretations serve their own purposes.”
The Robots – hmm. One parallel for Deep Breath is that these seem to be time travelling robots like those. They had chronicles of Earths history, myths and legends (he shows Robin). Have to think about that.
“You can take the girl out of Blackpool…”
I’m liking Clara more and more (and I liked her last year). The added bolshiness that’s growing as her confidence does reminds me of Sheridan Smith’s Lucie Miller from the Eighth Doctor Audio Adventures (who was also a resident of Blackpool).
I laughed out loud at the scene in the dungeon, and the guards assessment that she was the ringleader (presumably based on the observable evidence that she was the voice of reason as the two idiots behaved like toddlers). Again – another good confrontation between her and the villain, with her prising the back story from the Sheriff (which was a pretty good turn by Ben Miller).
Anyway – that’s my first assessment. Loved it. Back this afternoon with more thoughts.
