Fifth Time's the Charm...
This week saw the timely release of two shows from the old school days of Doctor Who.
They showcase the Fifth Doctor who ran for three season in the early eighties. It is rather nice to see this version of Doctor Who being reappraised by critics for today’s audiences and seeing a new light being shed on this period. Most people young and old would agree that the series was very entertaining at this time.
Because of the new Doctor Who series being revamped for today’s world, and having featured the brief return of the fifth Doctor a few years ago in a special called “Time Crash,” some interest is flooding for the old shows with the cricket wearing, young blond who came across with an awkward charm and gentle innocence. Some may call him the Vet in Space because Peter Davison recently starred in the BBC series “All Creatures Great and Small.”
By the time 1981 was coming around, Davison was already one of the hardest working actors in the BBC business. He’s been in “All Creatures…” and “Sink or Swim,” both very popular with British audiences. Then he was going to take over the series as the new leading actor at the age of 29. The youngest actor up to date before Matt Smith took over the role last year.
Did Davison ever sleep when acting?
That’s not saying. He did bring a breath of fresh air and taking on the most difficult chore of replacing Tom Baker who played the part for record breaking seven years. With that, Baker got a built in audience who knew only the scarf wielding Bohemian with a massive overbite you could hang a coat rack on. And don't forget the floppy hat. And yet, despite his geeky looks, Baker became very popular with the audiences. Including myself. Baker still remains my favorite actor to play the part.
But Davison brought something else to the role. It’s a welcome change. There’s an invulnerability that is rarely seen and that makes him very accessible: he’s not so arrogant like the other actors who portrayed the part. He’s considered “The nice one.” Davison was probably the most handsome actor to play the role so it’s not difficult to see a larger boost of women fans in the series.
Both DVD releases for this week are “The King Deamons” and “Planet of Fire” which are the only shows to feature a rather budget-crunching robot for the series called “Kamelion.” Much like his dog-like predecessor K-9 which was a robot, this new prop was not without flaws and often gave production crew headaches. But it still looked very good on the screen.
Here we see Davison already settling in his role as the more down-to-earth Doctor. He shows winning a battle as a struggle for him. And every corner is met with a greater challenge for this particular Doctor. Playing Doctor Who is like adding something to an artist’s painting: throwing new colors and formation to the canvas.
Davison brought a reckless youth to his role by always underplaying the part. It was always nicely done by Davison. You can see the arch villain Master countering in a mental conflict with the Fifth Doctor nearly stumbling in defeat. The Master made the quip, “You’re getting old, Doctor. Your will is weak.” That’s not something often heard in the series.
But the Fifth Doctor manages to make highlights in the episode by cheating a victory right from under the Master’s nose when he steals the Kamelion before his nemesis could take advantage of his talents. You also see a great sword fight between the Doctor and another fencer who was called the best swordsman in France. The Fifth Doctor makes the retort, “Unfortunately, we are in England.” The Fifth Doctor wins out. Give him a sword any day. For the Doctor knows how to fight like a gentleman instead of resorting to guns.
The other story is “Planet of Fire” which makes very good location shots which looks like a desert world boiling in frantic heat and the return of the Kamelion for the last time. There is some resolution to the story here and you hear an interesting remark made by the Master, “You would do this to your own?” And he never finishes his line before he is burned to a crisp. But you wonder what he was going to say. His own kind? His own brother? It was something never resolved.
Davison did such a nice job and the episode “Planet of Fire” would be his second to last story. It’s too bad because he was very good in the role. He was in two minds whether he was going to run for another added fourth season or not. I wish Davison did. I thought he was one of the better actors to play the part. It would have been nice to get another good year under Davison’s belt.
My only problem is the constant searching for the DVD titles in my local area. It’s becoming an expense buying it from Best Buy stores and I’m not caring very much for the business. It’s getting to be a pain in the ass. I’ve asked someone to hold one video for an extra day because I was from out-of-town. When I got there, no video was on hold for me. It’s frustrating And the video was on a pricey side. Same with Barnes and Noble. Not much better in the expense racket.
I’ll probably be getting more of the Who shows through Amazon.com. I’ve never had any problems with Amazon and they do have great customer service. I’ll go this way. It might be a good suggestion to order through online services. It’s not a bad way to go. Less expensive. Faster service.
But these shows will give a nice glimpse of the Fifth Doctor era which has been seeing a steady incline of interest. That’s a good thing. Davison is a very good actor who is always precise and careful about his acting. And he does have acting chops. But he isn’t as extroverted about it as Tom Baker who always gave a magnetic performance. Davison is more interested in giving a human performance. And there was nothing wrong with that.
I can’t imagine someone not liking Davison in the part. But some of them don’t care for it. But I do. And I’m here to give my approval of the Fifth Doctor period. There’s nothing like a fared haired hero who has a little twitch for the dramatic. Maybe revisiting his era wouldn’t do any harm at all. Do it now. You won’t be sorry. In fact, you might be delighted.
They showcase the Fifth Doctor who ran for three season in the early eighties. It is rather nice to see this version of Doctor Who being reappraised by critics for today’s audiences and seeing a new light being shed on this period. Most people young and old would agree that the series was very entertaining at this time.
Because of the new Doctor Who series being revamped for today’s world, and having featured the brief return of the fifth Doctor a few years ago in a special called “Time Crash,” some interest is flooding for the old shows with the cricket wearing, young blond who came across with an awkward charm and gentle innocence. Some may call him the Vet in Space because Peter Davison recently starred in the BBC series “All Creatures Great and Small.”
By the time 1981 was coming around, Davison was already one of the hardest working actors in the BBC business. He’s been in “All Creatures…” and “Sink or Swim,” both very popular with British audiences. Then he was going to take over the series as the new leading actor at the age of 29. The youngest actor up to date before Matt Smith took over the role last year.
Did Davison ever sleep when acting?
That’s not saying. He did bring a breath of fresh air and taking on the most difficult chore of replacing Tom Baker who played the part for record breaking seven years. With that, Baker got a built in audience who knew only the scarf wielding Bohemian with a massive overbite you could hang a coat rack on. And don't forget the floppy hat. And yet, despite his geeky looks, Baker became very popular with the audiences. Including myself. Baker still remains my favorite actor to play the part.
But Davison brought something else to the role. It’s a welcome change. There’s an invulnerability that is rarely seen and that makes him very accessible: he’s not so arrogant like the other actors who portrayed the part. He’s considered “The nice one.” Davison was probably the most handsome actor to play the role so it’s not difficult to see a larger boost of women fans in the series.
Both DVD releases for this week are “The King Deamons” and “Planet of Fire” which are the only shows to feature a rather budget-crunching robot for the series called “Kamelion.” Much like his dog-like predecessor K-9 which was a robot, this new prop was not without flaws and often gave production crew headaches. But it still looked very good on the screen.
Here we see Davison already settling in his role as the more down-to-earth Doctor. He shows winning a battle as a struggle for him. And every corner is met with a greater challenge for this particular Doctor. Playing Doctor Who is like adding something to an artist’s painting: throwing new colors and formation to the canvas.
Davison brought a reckless youth to his role by always underplaying the part. It was always nicely done by Davison. You can see the arch villain Master countering in a mental conflict with the Fifth Doctor nearly stumbling in defeat. The Master made the quip, “You’re getting old, Doctor. Your will is weak.” That’s not something often heard in the series.
But the Fifth Doctor manages to make highlights in the episode by cheating a victory right from under the Master’s nose when he steals the Kamelion before his nemesis could take advantage of his talents. You also see a great sword fight between the Doctor and another fencer who was called the best swordsman in France. The Fifth Doctor makes the retort, “Unfortunately, we are in England.” The Fifth Doctor wins out. Give him a sword any day. For the Doctor knows how to fight like a gentleman instead of resorting to guns.
The other story is “Planet of Fire” which makes very good location shots which looks like a desert world boiling in frantic heat and the return of the Kamelion for the last time. There is some resolution to the story here and you hear an interesting remark made by the Master, “You would do this to your own?” And he never finishes his line before he is burned to a crisp. But you wonder what he was going to say. His own kind? His own brother? It was something never resolved.
Davison did such a nice job and the episode “Planet of Fire” would be his second to last story. It’s too bad because he was very good in the role. He was in two minds whether he was going to run for another added fourth season or not. I wish Davison did. I thought he was one of the better actors to play the part. It would have been nice to get another good year under Davison’s belt.
My only problem is the constant searching for the DVD titles in my local area. It’s becoming an expense buying it from Best Buy stores and I’m not caring very much for the business. It’s getting to be a pain in the ass. I’ve asked someone to hold one video for an extra day because I was from out-of-town. When I got there, no video was on hold for me. It’s frustrating And the video was on a pricey side. Same with Barnes and Noble. Not much better in the expense racket.
I’ll probably be getting more of the Who shows through Amazon.com. I’ve never had any problems with Amazon and they do have great customer service. I’ll go this way. It might be a good suggestion to order through online services. It’s not a bad way to go. Less expensive. Faster service.
But these shows will give a nice glimpse of the Fifth Doctor era which has been seeing a steady incline of interest. That’s a good thing. Davison is a very good actor who is always precise and careful about his acting. And he does have acting chops. But he isn’t as extroverted about it as Tom Baker who always gave a magnetic performance. Davison is more interested in giving a human performance. And there was nothing wrong with that.
I can’t imagine someone not liking Davison in the part. But some of them don’t care for it. But I do. And I’m here to give my approval of the Fifth Doctor period. There’s nothing like a fared haired hero who has a little twitch for the dramatic. Maybe revisiting his era wouldn’t do any harm at all. Do it now. You won’t be sorry. In fact, you might be delighted.
posted by K.M. Paters at 11:49 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home