Blimey, wouldn't have thought it would be that difficult to find some Beatles impersonators.
Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner
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Blimey, wouldn't have thought it would be that difficult to find some Beatles impersonators.
Ringo's not bad, but to be honest I don't care what they look like so much as the performances they give (always assuming they are the Beatles rather than some robot duplicates or something) Concentrating on how someone looks gets you Zachary Quinto as Spock, concentrating on how someone acts gets you Ethan Peck as Spock.
Wonder how David Schwimmer there will manage the Liverpool accent? 
Wonder how David Schwimmer there will manage the Liverpool accent?
Good to see Sean Austin getting some work as John Lennon. And is that Robbie Williams as Paul?
Wonder how David Schwimmer there will manage the Liverpool accent?
Ringo will be on a break from using his Liverpool accent for the duration of the episode
Geology Rocks (and Roll Music).
They put Johns glasses on, in an era where he was rarely seen in them, just to help us work out which one was John. I mean, I know they spent time in Hamburg, and all about Astrid etc, but… that is the most German any Beatle has ever looked.
I… do not think this is going to go well.
Is Nicholas Briggs doing the voices?
I… do not think this is going to go well.
Is Nicholas Briggs doing the voices?
Peck looks more like Nimoy than Quinto does anyway xD
The woman John Lennon talks to backstage in A Hard Day's Night looks more like the Beatles than they do.
John Lennon wore Buddy Holly-esque glasses at this point in his life, and not in public. He wouldn't don the NHS grannies until 1966, after the Beatles stopped touring and he was cast as Private Gripweed in How I Won the War.
Maybe they're better in action and a still Photoshop job is the wrong way to judge. But this is also a recreation of one of the most iconic album covers of all time...
Given that the image says "With the Beatles" and it's clearly an homage to Robert Freeman's album cover, I don't think we're supposed to need help in working out who is who. John, George, Paul top; Doctor, Ruby, Ringo bottom.
Peter Capaldi played George Harrison, by the way, in a 1985 television movie. I was thinking last night it would be really cool if there were a coda to the episode with the Doctor and Ruby seeing George circa 2000 (after the stabbing, before the cancer really got him), maybe gardening at Friar Park, and Capaldi reprised the role for a cameo.
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Exactly the point I was going to make (albeit without the excellent Spock point).
People in general get far too hung up on how actors (and not impersonators) look like the famous people they're portraying than whether or not the performances actually capture the essence of those people (and, again, not just a straight impersonation, something that many actors actively rail against).
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In an ideal world you'll get someone who looks and acts the part, but given the choice I'd always take performance over looks. And you're right, few actors want to do a straight up impersonation
Peter Capaldi played George Harrison, by the way, in a 1985 television movie. I was thinking last night it would be really cool if there were a coda to the episode with the Doctor and Ruby seeing George circa 2000 (after the stabbing, before the cancer really got him), maybe gardening at Friar Park, and Capaldi reprised the role for a cameo.
Opposite Mark McGann, brother of Paul, as John Lennon. Who has also been played by Christopher Eccleston (opposite Torchwood’s Naoki Mori as Yoko Ono). But I guess an Eccleston cameo as John is a bit unlikely…
Lot of Who/Beatles connections. Thomas Brodie-Sangster from Human Nature/The Family of Blood played Paul McCartney in Nowhere Boy
I wonder if the episode will recreate the photo of John Lennon and a Dalek from, I think, 1965. Except with a real Dalek instead of one of the movie props.
It's weird to realize that this episode takes place in a world where the Beatles didn't watch Doctor Who. Is this the first historical episode in which the Doctor is interacting with characters who knew what Doctor Who was and were fans? Ringo had a fairly complete video tape collection of Doctor Who episodes, including the wiped episodes, until they were destroyed in a shed fire in the 70s.
The difference being that Spock is a fictional character, while The Beatles actually exist and are real people that looked a certain way. I think that its fair to comment on appearance accuracy when the people in question actually existed, its also more offputting to see real life figures played by people who look nothing like them.
Also, and its off topic but whatever, neither Quinto or Peck act anything like Nimoy but I'd take Quinto (assuming he has a good script, which to be fair only happened in his third appearance as Spock) over Peck any day of the week if I had to choose the better second Spock.
Not in this day and age. Newtons casting caused all sorts of silliness for a three minute bit.
It is more common to do stuff with prosthetics these days, though I don’t think Who did that with McNeice as Churchill. (Though Nick Briggs did when he was playing Churchill for the Live shows if I recall.)
Pauline Quirke as George…
Or in the same timeline as "mavity", assuming that's what's going on. It's going to be an interesting episode regardless.
