Matt Smith would have stayed...

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Allyn Gibson, Oct 23, 2013.

  1. Nagisa Furukawa

    Nagisa Furukawa Commander Red Shirt

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    Nah, the prospect of finally getting an older, more mature Doctor is infinitely preferable to just interchanging between two young, zany ones.
     
  2. DalekJim

    DalekJim Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I don't see how the idea of bringing back the previous Doctor full-time is in anyway an exciting prospect. Sounds like it would have been a hugely stagnant, lazy step backwards for the show which has already struggled to escape 10's shadow of squee.

    10 left years ago guys. It's time to move on, and give Peter Capaldi a chance.
     
  3. Brefugee

    Brefugee No longer living the Irish dream. Premium Member

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    ^Part time, not full time.

    And it sounds like it could have been an interesting scenario.
     
  4. DalekJim

    DalekJim Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Bringing 10 back for a whole year as 11's partner would be a full-time contract.

    Doctor Who existed before David Tennant, damnit. The show should be looking forwards, not living past glories. If we could in fact call Series 2 a glory.
     
  5. inflatabledalek

    inflatabledalek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I've often thought using the 8th Doctor would be a good way of doing one of the "Doctor-lite" episodes, structure it as a flashback story explaining something the current Doctor has to do, ending with him resolving whatever situation 8 had gotten himself into.

    I think McGann is probably the only old Doctor you could do that with, as he doesn't have the nostalgic fanbase the others do it would get away with being the cheap episode and the two Doctor's not meeting much easier than if it was any of his predecessors (plus the ageing issue is moot with him as well). Whilst for fans, just having him back would be more than enough.
     
  6. sttngfan1701d

    sttngfan1701d Commodore Commodore

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    I too want the series to move on rather than look backwards. I might change my mind for a few days if the 50th is awesome and Matt and David are wonderful together, but ultimately I say David had his time. I love him, but bring on Capaldi.

    A few of my Whovian friends are still gnashing their teeth over Amy and Rory and want THEM back for the 50th. And I'm like....as great as they were, let's move on please.
     
  7. Venardhi

    Venardhi Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Damn right.
     
  8. Green Lantern

    Green Lantern Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Well this would have been....unique.
     
  9. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Much as I'm looking forward to seeing Capaldi... I have to admit it would be fun to see more adventures with Tennant's Doctor.

    It's a shame Moffant and/or the BBC don't see the value in bringing back the previous Doctors for one-off specials. A new hour-long story with Seven, Eight, or Ten would surely pull in huge ratings, and would still leave plenty of time in the year for the current Doctor to make his mark.

    I really doubt audiences would be confused by the idea or anything.
     
  10. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Our Neighbors across the Pond have a Channel Called UK Gold or something similar (don't they?) that plays old Reruns of shows (Similar to our TVLand or others).

    Our TVLand has made at least one new Series (The Betty White one with Valerie Bertinelli, Wendy Malick and I think Jane Leeves), so, yea it would be cool if they could make a "wheel" of a different Classic Doctor each week having a new Adventure and air it on the Classic Rerun Channel. 2 or 3 adventures each a year (for a 10 or 15 episode Series) Especially if we were to lose Big Finish Audios.*

    *Of course they would have to sell the show to America so we could watch it too.*
     
  11. Emperor-Tiberius

    Emperor-Tiberius Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Honestly, the Destiny of the Doctor audio series is something that should've happened this year, or at least something akin to it. A special on each of the post-1989 Doctors, with little hints towards the 50th anniversary special. Obvious a 9th Doctor special might not have happened, but maybe it would?

    I dunno, definitely some lost opportunity there. I mean, who wouldn't honestly want to see Paul McGann in a proper, un-Americanized Doctor Who story?
     
  12. The Borgified Corpse

    The Borgified Corpse Admiral Admiral

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    Agreed!

    When I think about the Tennant/Smith idea, I'm torn. At first glance, it sounds really freakin' awesome! But I feel like doing it for an entire 13 episode season might be straining the novelty of it.

    I've been thinking lately that, if they ever do a year like 2009 where they just do a bunch of specials in lieu of a full season, they could have each special feature a different Doctor. Like, one each for McGann, Tennant, Smith, & Capaldi.

    BTW, much as I love Matt Smith, I'm really looking forward to Capaldi. I've been watching & reading a lot of 3rd Doctor stuff lately, so I'm even more predisposed towards an older Doctor anyway. He's even been popping up in some of my dreams lately. Fall 2014 can't come soon enough!
     
  13. Green Lantern

    Green Lantern Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Well really, I'd rather have a McGann series than another Tennant series. I love Tennant and he was my doctor, but McGann got about 40 minutes screen time, he deserves more. Tennant is fantastic and I'd love to have seen him for longer, but I think it couldn't be as good as it ever was with him as THE doctor.

    However one positive of this is that Smith IS leaving. Am I the only one who has become utterly fed up with Smith? I can't wait to see the back of him. His whole era has just been breaks in the middle of series, badly written series finale's, and underwhelming episodes in general. It's time to say good bye. At long last. And thank god. Smith did have some good times. Eleventh Hour, Cold War, The Angels Take Manhattan, and Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon come to mind, but other than that, most Smith episodes have been average at best, with the majority of them being under average or just plain shit. Hopefully Capaldi will bring a wind of change. he will be his own doctor instead of basing himself on the second doctor like Smith did. I don't want Capaldi to be the next first, third, or even sixth doctor, I want him to be his own doctor. I want him to be the 12th doctor unlike Smith being the next second doctor and Tennant to a degree being the next fourth doctor.

    But really, people on this forum are forgetting one thing about Tennant's doctor. He has not just become a doctor, he has become the doctor. The default doctor. He's the Tom Baker of the 21st century. Not only does tenant seem to be based a tiny bit on Tom Baker, but he has pretty much become the most iconic doctor, especially in the UK. At the end of the day, Tom Baker and David Tennant are the default doctors now. Remember in the days of the classic series that Tom Baker was always the doctor people thought of when someone said Doctor Who, that's what Tennant has become. Plus younger fans have grown up with Tennant, me included.
     
  14. Green Lantern

    Green Lantern Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Yeah, they could have done a specials year where Smith meets other doctors to learn how to become more "doctorly" again. My suggestion would have been the following:

    1)Smith and McGann
    2)Smith and Tennant
    3)Smith and Davison
    4)Smith regeneration to Capaldi.
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    How is Smith responsible for any of that? Those are writing/production/scheduling issues, not actor issues. Remember, Moffat will still be the showrunner when Capaldi arrives. So there's no reason to expect the writing style of the series to change much. And I think the midseason breaks are the BBC's decision, so there's no reason why recasting the lead actor would have any affect on them.


    This is quite an overstatement. Smith may have drawn some inspiration from Troughton, but the two are extremely different in a lot of ways. Troughton's Doctor had a humble, gentle facade masking a sharp, commanding mind within; Smith's Doctor has more of a brash, overconfident, and self-congratulatory facade masking a more feckless and insecure personality. Smith's Doctor thinks he's the coolest guy in the room when nobody else does, and revels in being the center of attention; Troughton's was content to go unnoticed and underestimated, but had a way of quietly taking charge in a crisis through his sheer competence.
     
  16. Anachronus

    Anachronus Commodore Commodore

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    I quite agree with Christopher, while Smith had some Troughtonesque mannerisms at first, those quickly faded and he became his own Doctor well before the end of the first series, though its hard to tell as the filming order did not parallel the order in which they aired.
     
  17. Green Lantern

    Green Lantern Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Smith isn't responsible for shitty episodes and bad production, that was mainly Moffat. I just don't particularly like how Smith plays the doctor. He's too full of himself, plus I feel Smiths era has been the weakest of the revived series.

    Those are relatively minor differences. But you can't deny that Smith based himself on Trougthon a lot. The bow tie (which Smith went a bit more overboard with while Troughton thought nothing much of it), in later episodes they shared a similar coat, they have similar catchphrases such as "I see you've redecorated, I don't like it" which worked well with Troughton, but not so will with Smith. I'd say Smith is pretty much the younger version of Troughton. If Troughton was the first doctor and he had a prequel series with Smith as the doctor, Smith would pretty much be the perfect younger troughton. Smith is more self aware and proud of his looks, thus the fancy haircut, bow tie, and what is almost a tidier and fancier version of Troughtons outfit. But as time goes on, the doctor would grow up, stop caring about looks, and thus the bad haircut and tattier version of Smiths outfit on Troughton. You can see what I mean, Smith is just too similar to Troughton.
     
  18. Photoman15

    Photoman15 Commodore Commodore

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    The "Doctor" does not grow up. Various incarnations may act older, crotchety, etc, and some whimsical and insane, but he has not grown up. He is still a child for his race.
     
  19. MickJo1701

    MickJo1701 Commander Red Shirt

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    David Tennant said just recently that he used Patrick Troughton's portrayal of the Doctor to base his own and believed every actor since Troughton has done the same.
     
  20. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    I agree. Hartnell is the "odd Man Out", everyone else has some variation of Troughton at their core.