Cult British sci-fi series “Dr. Who” is to get an edgy new Doctor in Christopher Eccleston (news) who hopes to portray the time-traveler’s “melancholy side” as he drifts through time and space.
Yeah, I was a big fan of this show during its first run, and I remember my friends and I sitting arround saying “hey, y’know what’s wrong with this show, the doctor isn’t reflective, or sensitive enough” :dubious:
Wow! I thought only George Lucas could suckify something this badly.
I rather liked the idea of Richard E Grant in the role (he did the voice for a short series of Dr Who flash animations on the Beeb website; I can just imagine him in a long coat, shouting “Fuck you, you Dalek Bastards!”
The show survived Colin Baker, it’ll survive an “angsty mopy” Doctor. (I recall some moments when Tom Baker [the archetypical Doctor] got pretty moody - the first episode of Pyramids of Mars, for example.)
Ecclestone’s a pretty good actor, and it seems likely he’ll have some decent scripts to work from … as a long-time fan of the show, I’m cautiously optimistic.
(Tom Baker suggested Eddie Izzard for the part, and that sparked the rumour that Izzard was seriously being considered … personally, I’ve nothing against the man, but I don’t think that would have worked.)
Ecclestone is neither whiny nor girly, nor mopy. He is, however, angsty. And there’s some quality about him (or at least the characters he plays) that is really rather disturbing. Whereas all the other doctors have been faintly ridiculous. Could be interesting, could be disastrous.
Angst I can handle. What worried me is the use of the word ambiguity .
Is there nothing sacred among these liberal, pinko, PC-gone-mad media people? Can they leave no institutions alone??!
Dr Who is not ambiguous. It’s quite straight-forward: The Doctor is the goody. Those against him are the baddies. It’s straight-forward, black ‘n’ white, no confusion or doubt about it. You can depend on The Doctor to always be in the right and be a moral example above all those around him.
But now they want to take that all away from us. They’ll have him smoking and swearing next! :mad:
Umm … they already started doing that, Futile, with the “dark Doctor” plotlines in the Sylvester McCoy era - showing the Doctor as an offstage manipulator of events, setting long-term booby-traps for the Daleks, the Cybermen, Morgaine, Fenric … definitely more Machiavellian than goody-two-shoes.
Tom Baker did suggest Eddie Izzard, and the rumor went round like wildfire in some places, but according to Eddie’s website, he never seriously considered the role, nor did he audition for it.
Tom Baker once lurched over drunk in an elevator at a WhoCon and just about fell on top of me, though.
And this one as well - which could be exceptionally useful if you’re willing to make this for someone (says she who spent more time than she’ll admit to trying to count the rows and stitches of Harry Potter’s scarf in the publicity stills from some magazine.)