Not for a moment.
Yep. They should get a two-part episode out of it, though, at least. And there will be Daleks. Probably the Master as well.
The Problem With The New Doctor... *spoilers*
- Thread starter DangerMouse
- Start date
Not for a moment.
Yep. They should get a two-part episode out of it, though, at least. And there will be Daleks. Probably the Master as well.
At the rate they're going, they'll soon wind up with a Doctor who's played by the baby from the "Charlie bit me" video. 
And it's insulting on both fronts, really. It implies that 1) as I said, older viewers aren't important, and 2) young viewers won't tolerate an older Doctor.
And it's insulting on both fronts, really. It implies that 1) as I said, older viewers aren't important, and 2) young viewers won't tolerate an older Doctor.
Well, you have to be pretty determined to find an insult there, particularly as concerns younger viewers. It's not in the least bit insulting to young people to suggest that they like to see and identify with young people - and while it might be somewhat "insulting" to older folks to suggest that many of them prefer that, too, it would probably be hard to refute on the basis of actual research.
Is it "insulting" to say that catering to older viewers isn't important to a show's success if in fact it isn't?
Is it "insulting" to say that catering to older viewers isn't important to a show's success if in fact it isn't?
Of course young viewers like to see young characters, I just think they would also like older ones. TPTB seem to be dismissing out of hand that an older Doctor would ever work. Now of course it would probably be too jarring to have the 12th Doctor be as old as, say, the First, although I sure wouldn't complain if they did that (I'd love to see a Doctor who looks and acts as crotchety as his age implies - similar to Hartnell, or Richard Hurndall from The Five Doctors who is probably my favorite Doctor ever).
They should do an episode with Eight - then at least we'd see that one of them beyond Seven actually got old. 
There's one other aspect that everyone (including me in my prior post) seems to have forgotten, and that's one of logistics.
Donna Noble set out the Doctor's job description in "The Doctor's Daughter": "There's an awful lot of running involved".
This isn't an innovation that came in with RTD. Go back all the way to Hartnell and there was, indeed, a lot of running involved. Remember Troughton trying to outrun the Cybermen's laser guns on the streets on London?
The fact is the Doctor cannot allow himself to regenerate into someone who isn't physically capable of keeping up with the lifestyle he has set out for himself. Remember in 11th Hour after the duck-pond exchange where the Doctor sets off at a run and hops a fence at full gallop? I can't even see Eccleston doing that. Let alone someone like Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley in the Potter films) or Bill Nighy, both of whom were mentioned as possible Doctors at one time. Could you imagine Troughton or Pertwee or Hartnell recovering after falling through multiple rooms in the TARDIS and landing in the swimming pool, and then climbing out using block and tackle? Possibly Pertwee, but not the others.
In the novels (I'd put a spoiler tag but the books in question are a decade old now) Romana II (the cute blonde with the mischievous grin) purposely regenerated into a harder-edged Romana III because she knew II didn't have the personality to handle the Time War that was coming up. Whether subconsciously or intentionally, the Doctor clearly is trying to skew either younger or about the same age so that he might be able to handle the rigors of being the last Time Lord.
Alex
Donna Noble set out the Doctor's job description in "The Doctor's Daughter": "There's an awful lot of running involved".
This isn't an innovation that came in with RTD. Go back all the way to Hartnell and there was, indeed, a lot of running involved. Remember Troughton trying to outrun the Cybermen's laser guns on the streets on London?
The fact is the Doctor cannot allow himself to regenerate into someone who isn't physically capable of keeping up with the lifestyle he has set out for himself. Remember in 11th Hour after the duck-pond exchange where the Doctor sets off at a run and hops a fence at full gallop? I can't even see Eccleston doing that. Let alone someone like Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley in the Potter films) or Bill Nighy, both of whom were mentioned as possible Doctors at one time. Could you imagine Troughton or Pertwee or Hartnell recovering after falling through multiple rooms in the TARDIS and landing in the swimming pool, and then climbing out using block and tackle? Possibly Pertwee, but not the others.
In the novels (I'd put a spoiler tag but the books in question are a decade old now) Romana II (the cute blonde with the mischievous grin) purposely regenerated into a harder-edged Romana III because she knew II didn't have the personality to handle the Time War that was coming up. Whether subconsciously or intentionally, the Doctor clearly is trying to skew either younger or about the same age so that he might be able to handle the rigors of being the last Time Lord.
Alex
I seem to recall that Moffat was actually looking for an older Doctor during casting.
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Yes, in one of the confidentials he mentioned he had looked for someone in the mid to late fourties, but then came Matt Smith and nailed the part.
As far as the baggage goes, I see 9 as being hit the hardest by it as it was most immediate to him. 10 was burdened by it but had healed enough by the end to the point that he wasn't ready to go. It doesn't seem unnatural that 11 carries even less of the baggage.
Yeah I agree.
Mind you, the older doctors never had too much trouble pulling in huge ratings (as in much bigger than nuWho) back in the day..
It doesn't matter, as the real reasons are the ones noted above - basically, demographic.
That oldWho pulled in "much bigger ratings" is fairly meaningless given the changes in television broadcasting and home entertainment in the last two decades. It's just like Trek fans remembering that Trek TOS was cancelled for pulling in a much bigger audience than TNG would be declared an extraordinary success with twenty years later - both true and a matter of apples and oranges.
That oldWho pulled in "much bigger ratings" is fairly meaningless given the changes in television broadcasting and home entertainment in the last two decades. It's just like Trek fans remembering that Trek TOS was cancelled for pulling in a much bigger audience than TNG would be declared an extraordinary success with twenty years later - both true and a matter of apples and oranges.
Hah! What about Jim Broadbent?
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_zNSSknXC4[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_zNSSknXC4[/yt]
Perfect! Just imagine him locking lips with Rose on the beach...
Better Rose than Jacobi.
Hey, who do you suppose will play the Master next time around? I'd bet against Simm - his character was too much the match for Ten.
Hey, who do you suppose will play the Master next time around? I'd bet against Simm - his character was too much the match for Ten.
I thought Broadbent was great as the doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death !
Oh and Johnathan Pryce as the Master is one of my all time favourite portrayals of the character, 2nd only to Delgado..
Oh and Johnathan Pryce as the Master is one of my all time favourite portrayals of the character, 2nd only to Delgado..
Pryce is the most brilliant thing about Fatal Death. Although Atkinson certainly has his charm as an incarnation of the Doctor. In a different story one could take both of them seriously - or as seriously as it's necessary to take DW, anyway.
I agree. Utter twaddle.
Who exactly is using that excuse though?
