The Dr Who Thread 3 3

[Get Marwood & I]

11 hours ago, The Voord said:

I always considered Col Baker to be the worst Doctor from the original run.  

I didn't mind McCoy. Bit of a superficial clown on the surface, yes, but there were undercurrents that I thought could have been developed well had he continued. We'll never know now. 

Colin started OK. He was the first to introduce full on cranky superiority for me, but I found there to be a warm side hiding there. It wasn't developed. When he was angular in the early days, I liked him more. Less so when he got a bit 'corpulent', and not just in body. 

But it's not really fair to compare the original run to the current I feel. The current run has advanced everything ten fold, so the original Doctors struggle to match their later incarnations for depth. Especially Tennant, Smith and Capaldi. Tom Baker is a classic 'old' Doctor. 

Whitaker is a huge step backwards, and hasn't advanced the canon one jot. I'm hoping she does leave soon, along with the production team, and they're replaced by a team more akin to Moffat / Davies who understand the character. 

[The Voord]

Always thought that Col Baker's attempts at acting were too theatrical . . . prone to making grandiose speeches, as opposed to holding (believable) conversations with other cast members playing their roles..  No suspension-of-disbelief whatsoever. The costume was  ridiculous, more like Ronald McDonald rather than an incarnation of the Doctor, so difficult to take seriously.  Col's first outing as the Doctor, 'Twin Dilemma' was a p*ss-poor start . . . bit like Jodie's debut story.

Not trying to compare the original run to the current re-boot, though it's perhaps inevitable to note similarities (of low-points) in both series.  I sat through the Colin Baker stories knowing most were not very good . . . in the hope things would improve (they didn't).  I'm getting that Deja Vu feeling with Whittaker's season.

[Get Marwood & I]

36 minutes ago, The Voord said:

Always thought that Col Baker's attempts at acting were too theatrical . . .

Theatrical? Theatrical!

Annoying wasn't it. 

36 minutes ago, The Voord said:

 

prone to making grandiose speeches, as opposed to holding (believable) conversations with other cast members playing their roles..  No suspension-of-disbelief whatsoever. The costume was  ridiculous, more like Ronald McDonald rather than an incarnation of the Doctor, so difficult to take seriously.  Col's first outing as the Doctor, 'Twin Dilemma' was a p*ss-poor start . . . bit like Jodie's debut story.

Not trying to compare the original run to the current re-boot, though it's perhaps inevitable to note similarities (of low-points) in both series.  I sat through the Colin Baker stories knowing most were not very good . . . in the hope things would improve (they didn't).  I'm getting that Deja Vu feeling with Whittaker's season.

Yes, Colin's tenure was largely poor. But I could watch it. I can't watch this current season. 

[Get Marwood & I]

Over half way through episode 8. Or is it 9. The Withcraft one. Lots to commend so far. But one big elephant in the room still. Pretty much everyone outshines the lead. Who still (heh heh) has yet to say anything remotely in keeping with her history. 'Incessant jabber' says the King. You're not wrong mate, you're not wrong. 

[Get Marwood & I]

5 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Over half way through episode 8. Or is it 9. The Withcraft one. Lots to commend so far. But one big elephant in the room still. Pretty much everyone outshines the lead. Who still (heh heh) has yet to say anything remotely in keeping with her history. 'Incessant jabber' says the King. You're not wrong mate, you're not wrong. 

Oh well, that'll teach me. She just had a good line. 

Best episode by far, due in part to vastly superior writing. 

[The Voord]

The Witchfinders.  I found it all a bit . . . silly.

And that hat . . . I just knew I'd seen it before.

[Get Marwood & I]

7 minutes ago, The Voord said:

The Witchfinders.  I found it all a bit . . . silly.

I think was like an average Capaldi season episode. Making it this season's stand out. Had a few good things. Some better acting and some reasonable banter. But none of it around that flaming lead! The Doctor seems so under written. And she doesn't have her own 'thing'. The youthful exuberance thing (apple bobbing! I love apple bobbing!) Was Smiths shtick. He did it with warmth. Adult in child's body. I know I sound like a broken record, but I just can't stand her. Every line is delivered the same. No menace,  nuance, humour. Terrible incarnation. 

Back to Colin.  I thought he looked good here:

 

But the suit in colour was a bit much. And then he got a big fat annoying round head. And went on trail. The end of every episode, a zoom in on his big round head. That got on my nelly. 

Capaldi must be thanking the God's of Ragnarok that he was spared Chibnall dialogue. Sorry, that was back to Whittaker again. 

[The Voord]

The guy playing King James in this week's episode made Quinten Crisp look like a macho-man.

[Get Marwood & I]

23 minutes ago, The Voord said:

The guy playing King James in this week's episode made Quinten Crisp look like a macho-man.

He did. With flair. And overshadowed the lead in every scene. 

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/doctor-who/news/a830224/alan-cumming-doctor-who-rejection-russell-t-davies/

Edited November 25, 2018 by Get Marwood & I
Whittaker! I've turned into Whittaker! I don't like the blandness 😠

[NewEnglandGothic]

51 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

But the suit in colour was a bit much. And then he got a big fat annoying round head. And went on trail. The end of every episode, a zoom in on his big round head. That got on my nelly. 

Yes, he was theatrical, but I believe he was trying to play all the Doctors in his regeneration.  I think I heard that somewhere.

Behind his eyes was a madness as the asylum in his head was full of lunatics who always managed to save the galaxy. 

It was great acting, with poor costumes, special effects and writing.

Hartnell was overly theatrical, as was Baker at times.

Baker was a clown, like McCoy, but Baker knew when get serious, when the plot dictated it, whereas McCoy never really knew how to adjust to that. 

The world is about to end and you can't keep acting like a John Steed when you are a badly dressed Joe Pesci.

Take for instance, Tom Baker in "Seeds of Doom."  I watched that last night.

When everything got serious and Cordy was ready to throw the Doctor out to the giant plant monster, Baker would explode at him after spending three episodes belittling him.

That's acting!

 

 

[NewEnglandGothic]

OK, what's the deal with "The Brain of Morbius?" 

When Tom Baker and Morbius is mind wrestling, were all those previous doctors that show up on the screen after Hartnell (I know, it was BBC staff members,) then-past itierations of the Doctor or Morbius? 

The commentary said they were the Doctor in a continuity glitch.

I always thought they were Morbius's other regenerations.

[Get Marwood & I]

3 minutes ago, NewEnglandGothic said:

Yes, he was theatrical, but I believe he was trying to play all the Doctors in his regeneration.  I think I heard that somewhere.

Behind his eyes was a madness as the asylum in his head was full of lunatics who always managed to save the galaxy. 

It was great acting, with poor costumes, special effects and writing.

Hartnell was overly theatrical, as was Baker at times.

Baker was a clown, like McCoy, but Baker knew when get serious, when the plot dictated it, whereas McCoy never really knew how to adjust to that. 

The world is about to end and you can't keep acting like a John Steed when you are a badly dressed Joe Pesci.

Take for instance, Tom Baker in "Seeds of Doom."  I watched that last night.

When everything got serious and Cordy was ready to throw the Doctor out to the giant plant monster, Baker would explode at him after spending three episodes belittling him.

That's acting!

 

 

I'd like to watch a lot of them again, as going by memory everything merges after a while. Joking aside, I don't have the time. Tom Baker was a fantastic presence of a man. That voice - a true one off. The Doctor has to command the screen, not just be another face in the crowd. Or one of a 'very flat team structure'.

[Get Marwood & I]

13 minutes ago, NewEnglandGothic said:

OK, what's the deal with "The Brain of Morbius?" 

When Tom Baker and Morbius is mind wrestling, were all those previous doctors that show up on the screen after Hartnell (I know, it was BBC staff members,) then-past itierations of the Doctor or Morbius? 

The commentary said they were the Doctor in a continuity glitch.

I always thought they were Morbius's other regenerations.

I can't remember, oddly...

[NewEnglandGothic]

11 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

I'd like to watch a lot of them again, as going by memory everything merges after a while. Joking aside, I don't have the time. Tom Baker was a fantastic presence of a man. That voice - a true one off. The Doctor has to command the screen, not just be another face in the crowd. Or one of a 'very flat team structure'.

I re-watch them very carefully. 

The Hartnell's always felt a little cold, I never watched enough Troughton's, the Pertwee's are very dated now, but the Baker/Hinchcliffe's are still amazing.  Graham Williams did a fine job taking over for a bit.  By "Nightmare in Eden" things were getting too madcap.  Not bad for a kid, but nothing you want to revisit as an adult.  I liked the Davison years, but the music is just a bit... off. 

For me, I personally find the Baker and McCoy shows, unwatchable.  Well, 90% of them.

[NewEnglandGothic]

6 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

I can't remember, oddly...

It is a key episode, especially with the "Sisterhood of the Karn" later appearing in the Paul McGann bridge to the under-appreciated John Hurt "War Doctor" and early ninth series (Modern.)

Loved that episode as a kid.

[Get Marwood & I]

5 minutes ago, NewEnglandGothic said:

I re-watch them very carefully. 

The Hartnell's always felt a little cold, I never watched enough Troughton's, the Pertwee's are very dated now, but the Baker/Hinchcliffe's are still amazing.  Graham Williams did a fine job taking over for a bit.  By "Nightmare in Eden" things were getting too madcap.  Not bad for a kid, but nothing you want to revisit as an adult.  I liked the Davison years, but the music is just a bit... off. 

For me, I personally find the Baker and McCoy shows, unwatchable.  Well, 90% of them.

 

[NewEnglandGothic]

I forgot how much I enjoyed Mary Tamm, after she took over for Louise Jameson.  So, I bought "The Androids of Tara" yesterday.  Granted, "The Robots of Death" would have been a better choice, I think that was with Jameson, but, I remembering enjoying "...Tara" as a kid.

[Get Marwood & I]

7 minutes ago, NewEnglandGothic said:

It is a key episode, especially with the "Sisterhood of the Karn" later appearing in the Paul McGann bridge to the under-appreciated John Hurt "War Doctor" and early ninth series (Modern.)

Loved that episode as a kid.

 

Oh, sorry. Karn

Sorry.

[Get Marwood & I]

5 minutes ago, NewEnglandGothic said:

I forgot how much I enjoyed Mary Tamm, after she took over for Louise Jameson.  So, I bought "The Androids of Tara" yesterday.  Granted, "The Robots of Death" would have been a better choice, I think that was with Jameson, but, I remembering enjoying "...Tara" as a kid.

Leela was in the Robots.

Mary was a stunner. Died far too young. 

[NewEnglandGothic]

1 hour ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Leela was in the Robots.

Mary was a stunner. Died far too young. 

Agreed, too young.  

Everybody compliments the talented Louise Jameson for following up the iconic Elizabeth Sladen, but never Mary Tamm's exceptional work she briefly did.

Lalla Ward never had a chance after those three.  She would just wind up as a less chatty Katy Manning.