Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not.

[Aldo]

This is coming from a huge David Tennant fan, but out of all three of the nuWho Doctors. Smith's doctor feels the closest in tone to the character from the classic series.

I'm sure this goes without saying that the change is because Moffat is running things now, but whatever caused it, I really like it. I especially love the new look of the Tardis.

If this thread seems about two years too late, well that's because I just got back into the show and finally made it to Smith's tenure

 

[PorthosShadow]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

That's interesting because a friend of mine said almost the same thing about Matt Smith. He said that Matt Smith embodies The Doctor like no other actor before him.

 

[Venardhi]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

He isn't afraid to be unlikable at times. Tennant's dark side was a stand in for the audience's own frustration or anger, Eccleston's the suffering of a survivor of trauma, but Smith's Doctor can simply be a dick for his own reasons, much like many of the 'legacy' Doctors.

 

[Sci]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

The Doctor will always, first and foremost, be Christopher Eccleston's haunted working-class revolutionary to me.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Still reminds me of Crispin Glover.

 

[WillsBabe]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

I like 11 and I can see a lot of good things in his portrayal of the Doctor, but he doesn't resonate with me like Tennant does.

 

[Aldo]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

I think it has a lot to do with Moffat being the showrunner now over Davies. With RTD it felt like a show that was going out of it's way to say "Hey look at me, this is the same Doctor Who you remember!" With Moffat at the helms I no longer feel the show is going out of it's way to say it's Doctor Who, it just is.

I know that probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense...this coming from a guy who loves the tv movie

 

[tomalak301]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

The Doctor will always, first and foremost, be Christopher Eccleston's haunted working-class revolutionary to me.

Agreed. I don't mind Smith, but I got introduced to the series with Eccleston and I felt that he was able to play the multi-faceted character very well. With Smith, while he's good, he can be way too childish, and whenever there is chaos all around, I can never understand what he's saying.

 

[Aldo]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Eccleston was my first Doctor as well. And I did enjoy him, but I much enjoyed Tennant's portrayal better. Nine was too much of a "working class" Doctor to me, he felt removed from how the character has been in the past.

 

[tomalak301]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Eccleston was my first Doctor as well. And I did enjoy him, but I much enjoyed Tennant's portrayal better. Nine was too much of a "working class" Doctor to me, he felt removed from how the character has been in the past.

I guess maybe that's why I liked Eccleston. I had no knowledge of the past series' so I appreciated that the hero of the series was like our society, with just more bells and whistles.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Eccleston was my first Doctor as well, my favorite will always be David, but Matt has something special about him. He has shown that he can do the pissed off shit is about to happen Doctor, the "I'm so sorry" gentle and compassionate Doctor, the "Oh fuck, Run!!' Doctor, his range is very impressive. I'm not surprised now that he blew Moffat and company away at his audition. I would agree that he does embody the classic Doc's extremely well.

 

[Aldo]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

I actually really like Tom Baker, and even though he only had one shot at the role, I really loved McGann in the role and wish we could have gotten more out of the Eighth doctor. He had that right mix of whimsy and seriousness to him that I think any actor playing the Doctor should carry with them.

 

[MacLeod]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Out of the latest Doctor's, I would have to go with 10, but then again my Doctor was number 5.

 

[Starkers]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

I thought Eccleston was brilliant as the Doctor because he bought something very new to the character, yet he was still recognisable as the Doctor. Eccleston has a somewhat otherworldly air to him at times as well which helped you beleive he was an alien.

I like Tennant, I really do, but his portrayal felt forced at times. There was too much gurning, and too much obvious wackiness. Of the three he felt the most human. Tennant had his moments, and I enjoyed his tenure very much. I just wished he'd been reigned in a bit more.

Smith, for me, is the closest we've come to a classic Doctor in the new series. In some ways he is like Tennant, but whereas with Tennant you felt it was possibly an act, with Smith it feels natural.

Take the hair (go with me on this) Ten has wild hair, but it looks like someone spent ages making it look like that. Eleven's hair is equally mussed up, but looks like he just fell out of bed that way.

Now it may be that Tennant's forced act was actually very natural, whereas Smith has to work really hard to appear natural, but I'm just going on what's on screen.

As for Moffat vs. RTD, I'm not sure it makes that much difference, and I like to think RTD would have seen what a good fit for the Doctor Smith was the same as Moffat did.

 

[STR]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Now it may be that Tennant's forced act was actually very natural, whereas Smith has to work really hard to appear natural, but I'm just going on what's on screen.

It's pretty clear to me that Mr. Tennant was having the time of his life pretty much every scene he was in. In fact, that obvious exuberance is what attracted me to the show. Something like "If THIS guy is having that much fun, maybe I should tune in". I don't think he acting was forced at all. Not to say toning it down would have been bad. It probably would have been better, especially during some of the more serious scenes.

 

[MacLeod]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Well with Tennant, he had always wanted to play The Doctor

 

[Starkers]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

And sometimes that glee was infectious, but sometimes it led to him trying a bit to hard, for me at least.

I always say; I don't think Tennant could have played the "Why don't you just die!" scene from Dalek anywhere near as well as Eccleston. But by the same token I don't think CE could have injected anywhere near as much joy into meeting Sarah Jane as Tennant did in School Reuinion

 

[DWF]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Matt Smith still doesn't do much for me, Tennant is still closer to the classic Doctors than Smith. Smith's act just doesn't feel natural to me at all.

 

[Sci]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

Eccleston was my first Doctor as well. And I did enjoy him, but I much enjoyed Tennant's portrayal better. Nine was too much of a "working class" Doctor to me, he felt removed from how the character has been in the past.

See, that was exactly what I preferred about the Eccleston Doctor. He felt so much more real than any of the other Doctors have ever felt, before or since, because of that working-class vibe. He really embodied that notion of, "Anyone you see working a normal job could be extraordinary underneath it all."

And he was a bit dangerous, too. As per "The Doctor Dances," we know that this guy is the sort of person who goes and blows up arms factories if he thinks they're sufficiently dangerous or evil. You could completely believe that this is a guy who overthrows governments when he feels like it -- "Doesn't she look tired?" would sound more convincing coming from him, frankly.

And we get this hint in "The Empty Child" that the Doctor was abandoned as a child. This intrigued me; usually upper-class children aren't abandoned like the Doctor claims to have been. There have been claims since about how he was in a nursery and may have had a brother, etc. But, I've gotta say, I always liked the idea that the Doctor is actually a lower-class Time Lord, that he came from the lower fringes of Time Lord society, was abandoned by his parents, yet managed to work his way up into a higher status at the Time Lord Academy before whatever happened happened and he had to run away in the TARDIS. It makes the alienation between him and the rest of the pompous Time Lords all the more interesting to think that maybe the Ninth Doctor was the Doctor going back to his "default" personality, stripping down to the bare essentials of who he is in the wake of the Time War, stripping away the pretenses of an upper-class life to reveal the working-class man hidden within.

Anyway, that's just my take on the character. It's something I've thought about the Doctor ever since watching Eccleston's first season. The absent-minded professor and geek chic versions that Smith and Tennant brought were fun, too, but I sure do miss that "I didn't go to Eton but I'm fifty times smarter than the lot of you, and you should be scared to death of me" feel that Eccleston brought.

 

[TyberiusDeAngelo]

Re: Smith resonates with me in a way that the other nuWho docs did not

I have noticed alot of people referr to certain Doctors as their doctor. I think Matt Smith's version is "my" Doctor simply because of where I started at in the series. A friend got me hooked on the show when it was taking its hiatus. I got caught up watching the DVDs. Series 5 is where I started watching it week to week. I can't really put my finger on it, but I just like Smith's portrayal. With that said however, I don't like any of the NuDoctors any less. I thought CE and DT each brought something unique to the role. So all three have a special place for me.