Which actor is most bitter?

[Starkers]

Oh I think it was endemic within te BBC not just Who, and probably at ITV andin many other areas of society as well.

[Sindatur]

Starkers wrote:

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Oh I think it was endemic within te BBC not just Who, and probably at ITV andin many other areas of society as well.

I doubt it was even exclusive to the UK, we've all heard of Gene Roddenberry's exploits, and I seriously doubt he was acting in a vaccuum, rather then within a system that accomodated sexist behavior.

[ROBE]

The old Casting Couch is also still around in Hollywood.

Non UK members probably don't know about Jimmy Savile, he was a major BBC star who was a regular Top of the Pops presenter and host of Jim'll Fix It, a show were childrens dreams came true. Lets just say after his death lots of unpleasant details came out.

[OmahaStar]

ROBE wrote:

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The old Casting Couch is also still around in Hollywood.

Non UK members probably don't know about Jimmy Savile, he was a major BBC star who was a regular Top of the Pops presenter and host of Jim'll Fix It, a show were childrens dreams came true. Lets just say after his death lots of unpleasant details came out.

I can't even watch A Fix With Sontarans now. After seeing Strax again, I wanted more mashers, so I put that in, and it is just ... creepy. I never noticed it before, but now, the way Jim acts around that little boy is creepy. And he was only on for a few seconds.

[Marc]

Cutter John wrote:

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Hopefully the sexism and other nonsense was a BBC thing in that era and not exclusive to DW.

I do remember there being a good bit of friction between Jamison and Baker. Though I suppose they've buried the hatchet since then as they're currently doing Big Finish stories together.

Louise mentioned some of the problems with Baker on the commentary for Fang Rock.

She blew up at him aft he keep flubbing an entrance and stood her ground against him and things went much better after that.

[Nightowl1701]

For the American members: If it helps you picture it, Jimmy Savile was basically the British equivalent of the late, great Dick Clark. ("Top of the Pops" = "American Bandstand.") Now imagine Dick secretly banging (consentually or - often - not) anyone with two legs in sight (legal age or - very often - NOT) for decades with ABC covering his tracks and paying off the cops and you've got the idea. This is a MASSIVE scandal in the UK right now, and several more celebrities from that era (among them "Rock 'n Roll" singer Gary Glitter) may end up facing jailtime due to their associations with Savile.

[arch101]

I got the impression T Baker was bitter for years after his run. But, he really seems to have mellowed alot in recent years. On the dvd commentaries he seems to enjoy talking about his day and I even detect a bit of regret at his absence from the fan scene and his losing contact with his co-stars for so many years after his run. He should have a sit-down with Ecclestone.

[Marc]

arch101 wrote:

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I got the impression T Baker was bitter for years after his run. But, he really seems to have mellowed alot in recent years. On the dvd commentaries he seems to enjoy talking about his day and I even detect a bit of regret at his absence from the fan scene and his losing contact with his co-stars for so many years after his run. He should have a sit-down with Ecclestone.

Bitter or burnt out? 7 years, 41 stories, 172 episodes is fair bit of work

[DWF]

arch101 wrote:

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I got the impression T Baker was bitter for years after his run. But, he really seems to have mellowed alot in recent years. On the dvd commentaries he seems to enjoy talking about his day and I even detect a bit of regret at his absence from the fan scene and his losing contact with his co-stars for so many years after his run. He should have a sit-down with Ecclestone.

I don't think Eccleston's bitter he's just moved on to other things. And Tom Baker was upset for a bit, but I don't think it was Doctor Who related, he had a hard time finding work after his run on Doctor Who ended but he's since admitted that without Doctor Who he'd be nothing.

[diankra]

As DWF said, there's a big difference between being bitter, and just being an actor who's hoping to keep working for another 20 or 30 years, but is worried that typecasting from a big success might get in the way of that. It's also a pretty common thing for stars to relax about talking about their earlier big success once they hit the age when 'normal people' would be retiring anyway (and they realise that being remembered for anything after that long is still a massive achievement): forget about Who, look at Honor Blackman, Leslie Phillips, and so many more.
It probably helps that this tends to be around the point when youngsters who grew up idolizing them become prominent enough in the business to start offering them work...

[Marc]

diankra wrote:

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As DWF said, there's a big difference between being bitter, and just being an actor who's hoping to keep working for another 20 or 30 years, but is worried that typecasting from a big success might get in the way of that. It's also a pretty common thing for stars to relax about talking about their earlier big success once they hit the age when 'normal people' would be retiring anyway (and they realise that being remembered for anything after that long is still a massive achievement): forget about Who, look at Honor Blackman, Leslie Phillips, and so many more.
It probably helps that this tends to be around the point when youngsters who grew up idolizing them become prominent enough in the business to start offering them work...

How many people really remember Honor Blackman for her role in Doctor Who though? Took me a few minutes to remember she did Terror of The Vervoids.

Now if you mention Pussy Galore but she wouldn't have the role if weren't for Cathy Gale in the Avengers.

Or have I just illustrated your point?

[ROBE]

Pussy Galore the ultimate Bond Girl name.

[Starkers]

Nightowl1701 wrote:

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For the American members: If it helps you picture it, Jimmy Savile was basically the British equivalent of the late, great Dick Clark. ("Top of the Pops" = "American Bandstand.") Now imagine Dick secretly banging (consentually or - often - not) anyone with two legs in sight (legal age or - very often - NOT) for decades with ABC covering his tracks and paying off the cops and you've got the idea. This is a MASSIVE scandal in the UK right now, and several more celebrities from that era (among them "Rock 'n Roll" singer Gary Glitter) may end up facing jailtime due to their associations with Savile.

I think sugesting the BBC covered his tracks and paid off the police suggsts a level of conspiracy that probably didn't actually exist.

Many factors contributed to keeping Savile out of jail, for starters as has been said, some of his actions didn't seem that out of place with prevailaing culture at the time, and even though people seemed to have suspected things, nobody ever seemed to have the proof/will to act, it seems there were isolated complaints to the police but there was never enough evidence to back up what would have been the word of a youngster against a popular tv personality who raised obscene amounts for charity, and I've heard it said that if the police had had the networks in place back then that they had now, things would have been taken further, because isolated complaints to differeing forces would have suddenly tied together and a pattern would have emerged.

A lot of people (ot just in the BBC but in the NHS, the police, government etc) turned a blind eye to what was going on, but it doesn't seem likely there was a huge overarching conspiracy.

[Mr Awe]

Starkers wrote:

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A lot of people (ot just in the BBC but in the NHS, the police, government etc) turned a blind eye to what was going on, but it doesn't seem likely there was a huge overarching conspiracy.

On the other hand, I'd argue that's the largest type of conspiracy. Such a widespread conspiracy that protecting women and children is a non-starter.

I mean, we're talking about protecting 1000s of women and children, and it's no surprise that no one, anywhere lifted a finger to protect them?! Seriously? That's a huge conspiracy on a societal scale, not a small one.

Mr Awe

[OmahaStar]

Marc wrote:

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How many people really remember Honor Blackman for her role in Doctor Who though? Took me a few minutes to remember she did Terror of The Vervoids.

How do you not remember her role opposite Colin Baker?