New, New Doctor
Doctor Who is on the rebound again.
With a different actor be joining the ranks at the start of 2010, we’ll be waiting for another year before we find out how the new ideas and concepts of new show runner Stephen Moffat would coincide with a brand new Doctor.
I am at my seat's edge like a lot of people are. There's worry for us too as to how the television series is shaping up. Every few years, there's a chance for a different actor to step into the part to bring his own qualities. See it as a kind of James Bond of science fiction.
I’ve already some concerns for the new casting which still befuddles my thoughts. Most people (including myself) have wanted either a black actor or a woman to get into role of the Doctor and create some different dramatic conflicts within the series’ parameters. Throwing a black man into the part would certain heighten some interesting possibilities. It could make for some interesting interracial conflict as well. (Imagine a black Doctor Who in the middle of the Civil War).
However, on the Saturday evening in the previous weekend, the BBC News announced that the next actor to take over the reigns of the world famous time traveler would be a relatively unknown actor Matt Smith.
Who? Exactly.
He’s fairly a fresh face on the television screens with a few credits behind him already and played a large role in the Sally Lockhart mysteries alongside with Billie Piper about a modern-day woman solving crimes of violence in the still Victorian era England. They’re pretty decent stories written by Philip Pullman of the Golden Compass fame.
Though, admittedly enough, when first viewing these TV films nearly a half a year ago, nothing came to my mind regarding Matt Smith’s performance in the stories. He’s a likable guy in there, very funny, with a pretty good cockney accent to boot. But I never did for once stand up and point out, “Yeah, there’s our next Doctor Who! I can see him in the part!” I never that gut reaction when seeing these movies. I have to admit that I thought the other guy J.J. Feild who played Piper’s love interest would have been more of Doctorish material.
Of course, it could be a different reaction when it came to the writer and producer Piers Wenger searching for the next actor to play the part when they were hosting the auditions. Perhaps Smith did come across better to them and found himself a center stage when winning that role.
There’s a couple of things.
His age. He’s pretty far young to play the part at the age of 26... making him the youngest actor to be tackling with the famous role. That’s a pretty hefty weight to put on a younger man’s shoulders particularly with all the show’s history that came before him. But they said that Smith brought a uniqueness to the part that would be very good. We’ll see. Right now, I am reserving any opinions before I can actually see him in the part… and hopefully will like him in the part. But he’s awful young.
I can only make certain guesses as to why he was picked for the part. Number one, the current incumbent David Tennant, who is the tenth actor to play the role, has a huge female fan base. There are many women viewers who like him for his boyish charm and good looks. I’m sure the television series like Doctor Who wouldn’t want to lose such a huge fan base. So they pick someone who may chalk up to the same qualities Tennant had in the part, being younger, fresher, like a schoolboy with some teacher qualities about him.
Number two, I’m still interested as to why so many other possibilities were ignored for the sake of keeping a very traditional Doctor in the house… he’s still very white and also English. So there’s no black actor in the part now. Nor a woman which could have make some interesting changes. Even other probabilities… I thought they might consider someone like Sean Pertwee simply due to the well-known name… his father had already been the third actor to play the famous role. (And Sean looks remarkably like his dad). So I was a little surprised when he didn’t get picked for the part. I think everyone was surprised at the choice. I think all of us remain a little taken back by the eventual choice of the actor Matt Smith.
So many actors, so little time.
Finding a younger actor like this, in my mind, could mean that the actor could stick around a little longer than three years this time, giving him a lot of exposure to the rest of the viewing audiences. It could be a good thing for someone who is relatively known to the world. Then again, we had already one unknown in the part of Doctor Who… goes by the name of Tom Baker. And look how well that went with an unprecentated seven years and still the holding record for the longest stay on the series. So perhaps it’s not a bad thing.
But I’ll reserve my thoughts and opinions until the actual show begins. It’s better that way. I don’t want to make any judgments that would be unfair. And Moffat is writing for the series with a number of literary awards under his belt… that’s good news to have a writer of immense stature. And now we’ll have an actor who will hopefully rise above the average to capture the stirring writer’s vision. Perhaps the collaboration will be a good one. I hope so.
Join us once again with the time traveler’s exploits as he ventures into the wonderful and creative world of Doctor Who. With some exciting possibilities waiting for us, new stories to lure us with the imagination. And I can only hope that this change will be a good one.
With a different actor be joining the ranks at the start of 2010, we’ll be waiting for another year before we find out how the new ideas and concepts of new show runner Stephen Moffat would coincide with a brand new Doctor.
I am at my seat's edge like a lot of people are. There's worry for us too as to how the television series is shaping up. Every few years, there's a chance for a different actor to step into the part to bring his own qualities. See it as a kind of James Bond of science fiction.
I’ve already some concerns for the new casting which still befuddles my thoughts. Most people (including myself) have wanted either a black actor or a woman to get into role of the Doctor and create some different dramatic conflicts within the series’ parameters. Throwing a black man into the part would certain heighten some interesting possibilities. It could make for some interesting interracial conflict as well. (Imagine a black Doctor Who in the middle of the Civil War).
However, on the Saturday evening in the previous weekend, the BBC News announced that the next actor to take over the reigns of the world famous time traveler would be a relatively unknown actor Matt Smith.
Who? Exactly.
He’s fairly a fresh face on the television screens with a few credits behind him already and played a large role in the Sally Lockhart mysteries alongside with Billie Piper about a modern-day woman solving crimes of violence in the still Victorian era England. They’re pretty decent stories written by Philip Pullman of the Golden Compass fame.
Though, admittedly enough, when first viewing these TV films nearly a half a year ago, nothing came to my mind regarding Matt Smith’s performance in the stories. He’s a likable guy in there, very funny, with a pretty good cockney accent to boot. But I never did for once stand up and point out, “Yeah, there’s our next Doctor Who! I can see him in the part!” I never that gut reaction when seeing these movies. I have to admit that I thought the other guy J.J. Feild who played Piper’s love interest would have been more of Doctorish material.
Of course, it could be a different reaction when it came to the writer and producer Piers Wenger searching for the next actor to play the part when they were hosting the auditions. Perhaps Smith did come across better to them and found himself a center stage when winning that role.
There’s a couple of things.
His age. He’s pretty far young to play the part at the age of 26... making him the youngest actor to be tackling with the famous role. That’s a pretty hefty weight to put on a younger man’s shoulders particularly with all the show’s history that came before him. But they said that Smith brought a uniqueness to the part that would be very good. We’ll see. Right now, I am reserving any opinions before I can actually see him in the part… and hopefully will like him in the part. But he’s awful young.
I can only make certain guesses as to why he was picked for the part. Number one, the current incumbent David Tennant, who is the tenth actor to play the role, has a huge female fan base. There are many women viewers who like him for his boyish charm and good looks. I’m sure the television series like Doctor Who wouldn’t want to lose such a huge fan base. So they pick someone who may chalk up to the same qualities Tennant had in the part, being younger, fresher, like a schoolboy with some teacher qualities about him.
Number two, I’m still interested as to why so many other possibilities were ignored for the sake of keeping a very traditional Doctor in the house… he’s still very white and also English. So there’s no black actor in the part now. Nor a woman which could have make some interesting changes. Even other probabilities… I thought they might consider someone like Sean Pertwee simply due to the well-known name… his father had already been the third actor to play the famous role. (And Sean looks remarkably like his dad). So I was a little surprised when he didn’t get picked for the part. I think everyone was surprised at the choice. I think all of us remain a little taken back by the eventual choice of the actor Matt Smith.
So many actors, so little time.
Finding a younger actor like this, in my mind, could mean that the actor could stick around a little longer than three years this time, giving him a lot of exposure to the rest of the viewing audiences. It could be a good thing for someone who is relatively known to the world. Then again, we had already one unknown in the part of Doctor Who… goes by the name of Tom Baker. And look how well that went with an unprecentated seven years and still the holding record for the longest stay on the series. So perhaps it’s not a bad thing.
But I’ll reserve my thoughts and opinions until the actual show begins. It’s better that way. I don’t want to make any judgments that would be unfair. And Moffat is writing for the series with a number of literary awards under his belt… that’s good news to have a writer of immense stature. And now we’ll have an actor who will hopefully rise above the average to capture the stirring writer’s vision. Perhaps the collaboration will be a good one. I hope so.
Join us once again with the time traveler’s exploits as he ventures into the wonderful and creative world of Doctor Who. With some exciting possibilities waiting for us, new stories to lure us with the imagination. And I can only hope that this change will be a good one.
posted by K.M. Paters at 10:26 AM
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