McCoy does 'The Pandorica'

[Whofan]

McCoy I feel is more of a physical actor. Not in the sense that he does stunts and stuff, but he seems to rely more on stuff like facial expressions and slight-of-hand than on say, his voice.


I liked when he gave more understated performances though, like in Rememberance of the Daleks (Outside of his "CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ETC. ETC!!!!") and Curse of Fenric.

 

[Cutter John]

McCoy I feel is more of a physical actor. Not in the sense that he does stunts and stuff, but he seems to rely more on stuff like facial expressions and slight-of-hand than on say, his voice.


I liked when he gave more understated performances though, like in Rememberance of the Daleks (Outside of his "CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ETC. ETC!!!!") and Curse of Fenric.

This. Any major scene like that is going to be written to take advantage of a certain Doctors mannerisms and performing style.

For an extreme example, a scene written for Hartnell would feel totally different if read by Tom Baker.

 

[Pseudo]

I don't suppose Sylvester would like a little mustard to go with all that ham?

Seriously though. I don't know what the moderator was trying to accomplish. Seasons twenty-five and twenty-six saw some of the series' best writing since Davison.

Be that as it may, the moderator was talking about the public's perception of those seasons, about how the public was giving those seasons flak, not their true quality or an critique of it. Rather, it seems in addition to having one Doctor recite another Doctor's lines, it was also an effort to reaffirm McCoy's rightful place in the public's mind as an integral part of the show's history.

Right, now I'm confused. How did the moderator think that an essentially cold reading of a script in a room full of fans going to reaffirm McCoy's place in the public mind?

My impression was that generally among fandom McCoy's era had in the cold light of a couple of decades been reassessed and not found particularly wanting in pretty much everything other than its budget.

Or maybe that's just me.

 

[Sci]

I don't suppose Sylvester would like a little mustard to go with all that ham?

Seriously though. I don't know what the moderator was trying to accomplish. Seasons twenty-five and twenty-six saw some of the series' best writing since Davison.

Be that as it may, the moderator was talking about the public's perception of those seasons, about how the public was giving those seasons flak, not their true quality or an critique of it. Rather, it seems in addition to having one Doctor recite another Doctor's lines, it was also an effort to reaffirm McCoy's rightful place in the public's mind as an integral part of the show's history.

Right, now I'm confused. How did the moderator think that an essentially cold reading of a script in a room full of fans going to reaffirm McCoy's place in the public mind?

I think you're both taking that far more earnestly than it was meant. Yes, part of it was to demonstrate that McCoy can do a perfectly fine Doctor, but mostly it was just to have fun.

 

[Thestral]

That was darned impressive, especially for a cold read. The only difference I didn't care for was the different way of delivering "I. Am. Talking."

And the link with the music really highlight's Cyke101's point.

 

[Starkers]

It's funny - I'm not really a McCoy fan, so I'm not really neutral. And I know this is a cold reading. But I think the 20-something Smith sounds way more worldly and authoritative than the 60-something McCoy.

I agree, and I like McCoy. It's a completely different setting though, but I think McCoy was trying too hard. What's great about Smith is that he almost has an "I don't actually care if you buy this." vibe about him he's so laid back. And I think it's the relaxed vibe that makes the speech work...not to mention the fact that in light of what happens in the episode the speech only works because the badguys make the Doctor think its worked!

 

[Cutter John]

Don't know why McCoy is gettign so much flack over this reading. It was just a bit of fun, and not really intended as a serious performance. I'm sure it would have been quite different if it had been.

By way of comparison, here are a couple of his better in character scenes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAhPiPx_yQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROL6Q_P7Hgc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ks8BA5psNM&feature=related

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Don't know why McCoy is gettign so much flack over this reading. It was just a bit of fun, and not really intended as a serious performance.

Sure, it was fun. I mean, I think we all agree on that, don't we? But after all the "OMG" reactions, I thought it was fair to express that, in my opinion, this reading was not the Second Coming, but just a nice little bit of fluff that is, frankly, a bit rubbish.

I have to confess that I never enjoyed McCoy in the role. Though nice and good natured, I thought he had a very limited range, often indulged in panto overacting and lacked the necessary gravitas to portray the Doctor. I find the scenes you've provided as examples a bit embarrassing to watch, actually. To each their own, of course, I don't pretend to be an authority on acting.

 

[Turbo]

I thought it was a great reading, all things considered. Probably not as good as him doing the First Doctor's farewell to Susan, but he probably had more time to prepare for that one. As a cold reading, this was a blast!

Disclosure: I am a fairly big McCoy fan, so take this as you will.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Don't know why McCoy is gettign so much flack over this reading. It was just a bit of fun, and not really intended as a serious performance. I'm sure it would have been quite different if it had been.

By way of comparison, here are a couple of his better in character scenes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAhPiPx_yQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROL6Q_P7Hgc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ks8BA5psNM&feature=related

Well he had that convention audience sitting in utter silence during that little speech, seems they liked it, and that's WHO(Groan) he performed it for.....so good for him.

Nice few clips by the way...i still miss the old Tardis interior.

 

[BlastHardcheese]

McCoy did a great cold read, and of course if it had been an episode from his series the lines would have been different to suit his Doctor's style. But I can't shake the impression that the're still writing the Doctor's lines as if they were meant for Ecclestone.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I can't shake the impression that the're still writing the Doctor's lines as if they were meant for Ecclestone.

Really? I can see Tennante say Smithe's monologue, but I really can't imagine Ecclestone say anything that loud and brash and hyperbolic.

 

[BlastHardcheese]

I can't shake the impression that the're still writing the Doctor's lines as if they were meant for Ecclestone.

Really? I can see Tennante say Smithe's monologue, but I really can't imagine Ecclestone say anything that loud and brash and hyperbolic.

You should rewatch the bit where he shouts down the Daleks in his final episode.

 

[Sci]

I can't shake the impression that the're still writing the Doctor's lines as if they were meant for Ecclestone.

Really? I can see Tennante say Smithe's monologue, but I really can't imagine Ecclestone say anything that loud and brash and hyperbolic.

You should rewatch the bit where he shouts down the Daleks in his final episode.

I don't think that's an Eccleston thing, that's a Doctor thing.

 

[David cgc]

McCoy did a great cold read, and of course if it had been an episode from his series the lines would have been different to suit his Doctor's style. But I can't shake the impression that the're still writing the Doctor's lines as if they were meant for Ecclestone.

I don't think so. I mean, I don't think Tennant or Smith would've been any good at all with "No. I said 'no.' It means 'no,'" and they haven't really tried to give them that combination of quiet, menace, and gruffness.

 

[Cutter John]

I don't think so. I mean, I don't think Tennant or Smith would've been any good at all with "No. I said 'no.' It means 'no,'" and they haven't really tried to give them that combination of quiet, menace, and gruffness.

This. You need an actor who feels a bit dangerous to pull off a line like that.

Despite what the scripts may hint at, I've never found Tennant or Smith to be particulary threatening.

 

[Cyke101]

Be that as it may, the moderator was talking about the public's perception of those seasons, about how the public was giving those seasons flak, not their true quality or an critique of it. Rather, it seems in addition to having one Doctor recite another Doctor's lines, it was also an effort to reaffirm McCoy's rightful place in the public's mind as an integral part of the show's history.

Right, now I'm confused. How did the moderator think that an essentially cold reading of a script in a room full of fans going to reaffirm McCoy's place in the public mind?

I think you're both taking that far more earnestly than it was meant. Yes, part of it was to demonstrate that McCoy can do a perfectly fine Doctor, but mostly it was just to have fun.

I might have taken it a bit much, BUT the question was why would the moderator do that, when he prefaced it when approaching McCoy by stating that the public's opinion of the McCoy era was recently going down. The moderator meant well and probably just wanted everyone to have fun (nothing wrong with that), but it was also just to show how great he believes McCoy is. And moderators are allowed to occasionally indulge themselves

 

[Ghost Bones]

He's a nice bloke and it's cool that he's done something like that, but I didn't think he was very good, actually. Of course it's not proper acting and no one is pretending that it is, but it's all a bit am-dram, isn't it?

Any person standing there doing it like that would look a bit am-dram.

Y'know, I don't think I'd say McCoy's a better actor than Smith. But his Doctor's many times better.