Matt Smith lays the smack down on critic of DW

[23skidoo]

Back in January, British actor Trevor Eve of the series Waking the Dead (not to be confused, I assume, with The Walking Dead), was quoted in a number of media outlets strongly criticizing the BBC for wasting its time on shows like Doctor Who, rather than "more challenging" shows. At one point he even plays the "it's just a children's show" card. Here's the original story - it was the subject of a thread here at one point:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...spend-so-much-on-Doctor-Who-and-Top-Gear.html

It took a few months - probably because no one bothered to ask him - but in today's Telegraph, Matt Smith delivers a strongly worded, frankly smackdown on Trevor Eve. If anyone needs ammo for defending Doctor Who against anyone who thinks it's just a sci-fi kiddy show (and we know there's a lot of Trevor Eve's out there), you'd be well-advised to just quote Matt!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...ds-the-show-from-criticism-by-Trevor-Eve.html

My favorite bit is where Matt plays the "Who are you? We had Michael Gambon on OUR show!" card! (Not in those words exactly, but the meaning is there!

(The punchline is apparently at some point between the first article and this new one, Eve's show apparently got cancelled!)

Alex

 

[Marc]

Back in January, British actor Trevor Eve of the series Waking the Dead (not to be confused, I assume, with The Walking Dead), was quoted in a number of media outlets strongly criticizing the BBC for wasting its time on shows like Doctor Who, rather than "more challenging" shows. At one point he even plays the "it's just a children's show" card. Here's the original story - it was the subject of a thread here at one point:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...spend-so-much-on-Doctor-Who-and-Top-Gear.html

It took a few months - probably because no one bothered to ask him - but in today's Telegraph, Matt Smith delivers a strongly worded, frankly smackdown on Trevor Eve. If anyone needs ammo for defending Doctor Who against anyone who thinks it's just a sci-fi kiddy show (and we know there's a lot of Trevor Eve's out there), you'd be well-advised to just quote Matt!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...ds-the-show-from-criticism-by-Trevor-Eve.html

My favorite bit is where Matt plays the "Who are you? We had Michael Gambon on OUR show!" card! (Not in those words exactly, but the meaning is there!

(The punchline is apparently at some point between the first article and this new one, Eve's show apparently got cancelled!)

Alex

I did see waking the dead recently derided as "wanking the dead" but can't remember where that was.

It's not just Michael Gambon but Doctor has a very long list of well known actors as guest stars.

 

[Starkers]

Bit unfair to say "Who are you" given that Eve is a respected and well known British actor, and reading between the lines of what Eve says, I still think he has a point, that being that the BBC (and not just the BBC) continue to flog dead horses (Not Who and probably not TG but its getting there) because they have built in appeal, rather than trying to create something new...and in one interview I've read with him he actually cites Waking the Dead as another one of the shows that the BBC kept going because it was succesful.

I'm not saying I completely agree with Eve, and I think he's shooting himself in the foot given he was outed as probably the highest paid BBC actor a year or two ago, so these profitable shows have made him a wealthy man, but I don't think his statement is completely without merit.

It's just a real shame if this keeps getting blown out of proportion. Eve's been one of my favourite actors since I was a kid and I'd have love to see him guest in Who. Shame it seems he never will.

At the end of the day people are allowed to not like Doctor Who you know?

 

[JoeZhang]

(The punchline is apparently at some point between the first article and this new one, Eve's show apparently got cancelled!)

Alex

No, what happened what it was suppose to finish after ten series but the BBC wanted to cut the budget for it and Eve didn't want to do that so they called it a day after season nine. I doubt he's particularly heart-broken as the next thing the BBC did was to pay his production company a big bag of cash to produce a spin-off show.

 

[Kaijima]

Pretentious celebrities and actors will of course trash Doctor Who. DW is, by its own turn, entirely non-pretentious about what it is, and entirely shameless. And usually, it uses this to its strength. (Though the RTD years allowed RTD to take advantage of DW's unpretentious nature for some extremely loose scripting.)

Doctor Who tackles those "big issues" because it doesn't feel the need to justify itself as an authority; anyone can identify with it and nobody is turned away. I believe a huge part of this lays in the decision to make the Doctor a non-violent "action star". He's a hero who must defeat powerful enemies every day, but without using a gun. This opens the show up to a much wider range of viewers - not because it's "kid friendly". The fact that the Doctor is non-violent just makes it family friendly as a byproduct.

And that in turn, is a key element that pushes DW to be creative. The pretentious actors and creators of much television do work that is pretty stereotypical. Stereotypical plot devices, stereotypical relationships, stereotypical conflict resolutions. This causes a huge number of potential viewers to not take these other shows seriously - ironic since their cast and crews desperately want to be taken seriously. Thus, other shows tend to look arrogant and conceited when they tackle a "big issue".

Doctor Who, by being the class clown, inadvertently disarms viewers and its themes tend to sink in once people's cynicism defenses are down. And that innocence is how it hooks people.

It's just a real shame if this keeps getting blown out of proportion. Eve's been one of my favourite actors since I was a kid and I'd have love to see him guest in Who. Shame it seems he never will.

At the end of the day people are allowed to not like Doctor Who you know?

What makes Mr. Eve look pretentious isn't that he has a criticism of Doctor Who, or that he doesn't like it. He goes too far - as people tend to do when flapping like this - in suggesting everybody else should see how bad it is. I.e. "I don't like this, so you shouldn't like it either."

I think if you stick your foot in your mouth like that, a bit of a slap is deserved.

 

[Cutter John]

Steven Moffat has also responded to criticism of the show, recently griping that if you want to know how popular Doctor Who is in Britain, consider this: “Doctor Who is the show celebrities trash when they’re desperate for more attention.”

 

[Australis]

Waking the Dead and Kidnap & Ransom are such jolly shows, aren't they? The whole family can sit and watch them.

And a thought: Who is popular and raises a lot of money for the Beeb to make other shows like, ooo, I don't know, Waking the Dead? Yeas, it's been cancelled, but you know what I mean.

 

[Starkers]

Considering Waking the Dead was being made for years before Who returned and is very succesful in its own right I doubt it's been v reliant on Who money.

Although I now like the notion of Who Money...you could have a different Doctor on all the bank notes, although we'd need odd things like £9 notes etc...then we could have companions on the coins!

 

[Sindatur]

Waking the Dead and Kidnap & Ransom are such jolly shows, aren't they? The whole family can sit and watch them.

And a thought: Who is popular and raises a lot of money for the Beeb to make other shows like, ooo, I don't know, Waking the Dead? Yeas, it's been cancelled, but you know what I mean.

Yea, that's my position. Dr Who continues bringing in the ratings, and the overseas and DVD revenues. Why would any network not want to continue any show that continues to succeed in this manner? Especially, a network that must also air things that lose money hand over fist, because the audience they appeal to is so small, and therefore, Dr. Who's success allows them to exist.

 

[Marc]

Waking the Dead and Kidnap & Ransom are such jolly shows, aren't they? The whole family can sit and watch them.

And a thought: Who is popular and raises a lot of money for the Beeb to make other shows like, ooo, I don't know, Waking the Dead? Yeas, it's been cancelled, but you know what I mean.

Yea, that's my position. Dr Who continues bringing in the ratings, and the overseas and DVD revenues. Why would any network not want to continue any show that continues to succeed in this manner? Especially, a network that must also air things that lose money hand over fist, because the audience they appeal to is so small, and therefore, Dr. Who's success allows them to exist.

And lets not forget when the BBC canned Doctor Who in the 1980s it then when it production of program that cost more to produce and was an absolute flop that cost millions.

 

[DAK]

Steven Moffat has also responded to criticism of the show, recently griping that if you want to know how popular Doctor Who is in Britain, consider this: “Doctor Who is the show celebrities trash when they’re desperate for more attention.”

That was my favorite line. Ouch!

 

[Sindatur]

Waking the Dead and Kidnap & Ransom are such jolly shows, aren't they? The whole family can sit and watch them.

And a thought: Who is popular and raises a lot of money for the Beeb to make other shows like, ooo, I don't know, Waking the Dead? Yeas, it's been cancelled, but you know what I mean.

Yea, that's my position. Dr Who continues bringing in the ratings, and the overseas and DVD revenues. Why would any network not want to continue any show that continues to succeed in this manner? Especially, a network that must also air things that lose money hand over fist, because the audience they appeal to is so small, and therefore, Dr. Who's success allows them to exist.

And lets not forget when the BBC canned Doctor Who in the 1980s it then when it production of program that cost more to produce and was an absolute flop that cost millions.

Absolutely, which is why they had to can it

 

[Capt_Pickirk]

“Show me any other series that can tackle this many big issues, appeal to this broad a range of people, and still have a laugh along the way,”

Eeeerrmm, Star Trek?

 

[Iamnotspock]

“Show me any other series that can tackle this many big issues, appeal to this broad a range of people, and still have a laugh along the way,”

Eeeerrmm, Star Trek?

It's not done that much since the '60s...

 

[Iamnotspock]

Pretentious celebrities and actors will of course trash Doctor Who. DW is, by its own turn, entirely non-pretentious about what it is, and entirely shameless. And usually, it uses this to its strength. (Though the RTD years allowed RTD to take advantage of DW's unpretentious nature for some extremely loose scripting.)

Doctor Who tackles those "big issues" because it doesn't feel the need to justify itself as an authority; anyone can identify with it and nobody is turned away. I believe a huge part of this lays in the decision to make the Doctor a non-violent "action star". He's a hero who must defeat powerful enemies every day, but without using a gun. This opens the show up to a much wider range of viewers - not because it's "kid friendly". The fact that the Doctor is non-violent just makes it family friendly as a byproduct.

And that in turn, is a key element that pushes DW to be creative. The pretentious actors and creators of much television do work that is pretty stereotypical. Stereotypical plot devices, stereotypical relationships, stereotypical conflict resolutions. This causes a huge number of potential viewers to not take these other shows seriously - ironic since their cast and crews desperately want to be taken seriously. Thus, other shows tend to look arrogant and conceited when they tackle a "big issue".

Doctor Who, by being the class clown, inadvertently disarms viewers and its themes tend to sink in once people's cynicism defenses are down. And that innocence is how it hooks people.

QFT!

What makes Mr. Eve look pretentious isn't that he has a criticism of Doctor Who, or that he doesn't like it. He goes too far - as people tend to do when flapping like this - in suggesting everybody else should see how bad it is. I.e. "I don't like this, so you shouldn't like it either."

I think if you stick your foot in your mouth like that, a bit of a slap is deserved.

Very true too.

 

[bigdaddy]

Doctor Who has 32 seasons (right?) so I'm sure it's just a waste of money.

At one point I remember season numbers of 11-12 million people watching the finale of the new series 4 in the UK. That's a 5th of the country watching the show, but I'm sure it's was all children.

 

[lurok]

I suspect Trevor Eve has had a humour bypass. Nice little irony: daughter Alice Eve is apparently in MiB3 (more silly/kids SF) and is in 'The Decoy Bride' with one David Tennant...

 

[Turbo]

They're making a third Men in Black? I guess someone needs more money.