If Doctor Who was an American show from the beginning

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by sttngfan1701d, Feb 14, 2014.

  1. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    ^ Chris Lloyd for 6 - YES!!! Infinitely better than Colin B, but definitely a better point of comparison than Walken.
     
  2. sttngfan1701d

    sttngfan1701d Commodore Commodore

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    Having trouble imagining Sam Rockwell as the Doctor though. I've seen him in plenty of stuff, so I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just comparing him to Tennant directly and that's the problem.
     
  3. Green Lantern

    Green Lantern Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    lol, some of the casting choices are actually great! :)

    I think they should make a Doctor Who US set in an alternate timeline. Would be good. ;)
     
  4. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Actually Colin and Sylv were both quite well known at the time, in the UK at least.

    Colin Baker had one of television's more high profile "bad guy" roles during the late 1970s as Paul Merroney in the Dynasty-esque quasi-soap The Brothers. He certainly wasn't by any means a no-name when he got the role of Doctor Who.

    Sylv was probably lesser known than Colin, but many people were aware of him from his time with the Ken Campbell roadshow. So much so that "Ferret down the pants" jokes were immediately made at his expense once he was announced in the role (one of his best known routines involved, allegedly, putting these rodents down his trousers live on stage).

    Tom Baker, on the other hand... I'll give you that one. :) For perhaps the most famous classic Doctor of all, he really *was* practically unknown by the public at large when he was cast, although he had a good reputation with the casting agents within the industry itself (which is how his name got put forward to then Doctor Who producer Barry Letts in the first place).
     
  5. diankra

    diankra Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Walston very yes for the first. Vaughn is surely more of an alternative to Pertwee?
     
  6. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    So who played Dr. Who in the two films released in the 60s?
     
  7. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Though the linked site has Vincent Price as the third Doctor it would seem to me like he'd be a good choice of an equivalent to Peter Cushing. Perhaps the films would have been done by Roger Corman?
     
  8. Timelord Victorious

    Timelord Victorious Vice Admiral Admiral

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    What shape would the Tardis have been? Is there a comparable American object of similar size?
     
  9. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    [​IMG]
     
  10. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    It occurred to me that Peter Capaldi has won an Oscar for a non-acting role (Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life) and played a spin doctor based on Tony Blair's spin doctor, Alistair Campbell. So his equivalent would have to be Billy Bob Thornton, who won an Oscar for writing Sling Blade (but not acting) and who played a character based on Bill Clinton's adviser James Carville in Primary Colours. And just like Capaldi's Scottish accent will distinguish him from most of his predecessors, so would BBT's southern accent.
     
  11. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The expected humorous answer, but did those exist in 1963, at least, the vacu-formed, roto-cast models like the one here?

    I'd suggest that other classic artifact of outpaced technology, the pay phone booth. But not the steel and aluminum models that were the last to be phased out. Rather, I'd suggest the primarily wooden design you see in films from the 30s and 40s, the type of phone booth that the golden age (or is it now diamond age?) Clark Kent would dive into and exit as Superman.

    I know what you're thinking. "It's got clear glass. How would they handle the 'bigger inside' business?" Simple, "frost" it.

    Ah, I found some examples...

    https://www.google.im/search?q=1930...ICw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=878#imgdii=_

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2014
  12. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    That's a very good observation. Did you know that Price was born on 27 May 1911 and Cushing on 26 May 1913 and both died around a year apart (1993 and 1994). They also co-starred on a number of occasions.

    I think Barry Newman of Petrocelli and Vanishing Point is a good alternative Jon Pertwee: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=b...QDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAA#biv=i|0;d|AlJ-uwcvhLP-dM:
     
  13. sttngfan1701d

    sttngfan1701d Commodore Commodore

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    That's a great choice actually. I was going to suggest a phone booth since there's (oddly enough) a British-style red one down by the harbor near me. I have no idea why...I've always been intrigued by it. But those wooden ones look good.
     
  14. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    Two more suggestions, since I'm on a roll/being a bore (take your pick). For Five, I would suggest that Richard Thomas of the Waltons fame is a better match for Peter Davison. As Peter's costume was partly inspired by the fact that his character in All Creatures Great and Small played cricket, maybe Thomas' Five would wear a sort of 1930s-style baseball outfit.

    For the War Doctor, I think Harrison Ford is too big a name and closely associated with an iconic sci-fi role. I'd suggest Nick Nolte - like Hurt, he's a former hell raiser, has a gravelly voice and is more a character actor these days.
     
  15. Sean_McCormick

    Sean_McCormick Captain Captain

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    How about a 1950ies yellow Checker Taxi for the TARDIS?
     
  16. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    How about this for a TARDIS? You might have to tweak the size a little and it would be a tighter entrance. I picked a model from 1963 and like the phone box it looks more dated but classic as the years roll on.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hmm, built-in "product placement", but then you'd have the Coke corporation looking over the production's shoulder "second guessing" a lot of potential story material. Stories like "The Sun Makers" would be "shut down" because "big business is never the bad guy". At least that was the mandate during the 60s, according to David Gerrold in "The making of the Trouble With Tribbles". (That's how we got Klingons in the story. Gerrold originally proposed corporate espionage by a rival company and David was told, "no.")

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  18. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    What about Jerry Lewis as Two? Dick Van Dyke seems too smooth or something.
     
  19. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Awesome, but, actually, it would work quite well for The Master's "Computer Bank" TARDIS, that way, it wouldn't be in every Serial, so, Coca Cola wouldn't have nearly the say over the show, but, you'd still get some Product Placement out of it.

    Jerry Lewis, yea, I I think he'd work even better as The Sloppy Tramp Second Doctor then Dick Van Dyke (Though I could imagine Dick Van Dyke doing it as well)
     
  20. sttngfan1701d

    sttngfan1701d Commodore Commodore

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    I like the Billy Bob Thornton idea mentioned by someone else above. For those who don't like Nic Cage as Nine, I think he would fill that role. Also, James Cromwell for a one-off War Doctor if Harrison Ford turned it down? I don't think the War Doctor necessarily needs to be an action star (see John Hurt). Cromwell could play it like an old grizzled cowboy. Or....Clint Eastwood in a huge casting coup!

    And who would be the alternate-universe Clara? Mekenna Melvin immediately comes to mind for me (she played Alex on the latter seasons of "Chuck") or maybe Allison Brie (who previously worked with Donald Glover).