It's that thing that if you don't like it you don't understand why it's so popular. I was given the box set of the first 4 seasons for Christmas a couple of years ago. Thought it would be interesting and totally fell in love but my husband couldn't stand it. I think it requires a really good actor to play the Doctor, my husband thinks you need to be a terrible actor to do it.
Like sj4iy said they hire rising stars because it's a very full on role. I remember seeing an interview with David Tennant and he said that because children like the show you are signing on to being the Doctor all the time. Like if a kid comes up to you in the street you aren't an actor you are the Doctor. Which I think he does very well. I think that might be one of the reasons Benedict said he wouldn't do it, he likes to keep the two worlds seperate which is very understandable.

sj4iy wrote:

It's instant notoriety.

Trivia: Matt Smith auditioned for the role of Watson in "Sherlock"

/yes, I love Doctor Who
//and Matt Smith
///can't wait for the next Doctor to be announced

 I agree. I'll be sad to see Matt Smith go but it will be really interesting to see who the new Doctor is.

sj4iy wrote:

Michele wrote:

sj4iy wrote:

It's instant notoriety.

Trivia: Matt Smith auditioned for the role of Watson in "Sherlock"

/yes, I love Doctor Who
//and Matt Smith
///can't wait for the next Doctor to be announced

 I agree. I'll be sad to see Matt Smith go but it will be really interesting to see who the new Doctor is.

What do you think of a female Doctor?

My opinion:  It seems that people want it more for political correctness than for the good of the character or the show.  Shock value, I guess.  And that's the reason I disagree with it.  Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean you should.  Now, if an actress goes in there and blows everyone out of the water...then go for it.  But I don't want them to do it just to "appease" people who think that it's mysoginistic to have a male in the part when there *could* be a woman.  It should be based on skill and skill alone, as well as what the story demands.

I agree. Decide on the actor based on their skills rather than their gender or race. I think the thing is with each change of the Doctor is that there is a lot of resistance no matter who it is. The old '1 is better than 2, 2 is better than 3' until we get here to 11 and 12. I would imagine that if the Doctor was a woman there would be more resistance to it just because it is an even bigger change and some people are really funny about powerful women. However I would hope if they do that she would prove everyone wrong and totally dominate the role.

The other question is can a Time Lord change gender? Is a gender change different to a change of face/personality?

Deilenn wrote:

I once read somewhere that Time Lords actually can change gender during regeneration, not sure if that's true.. I haven't seen any classic series so far, I'm planning to do it though, but maybe something about changing gender has been said there?
Then again, it's kinda weird to me to imagine the Doctor as a woman! Personally I'd prefer them to stay like it is now, that's the male Doctor and the female companion (like, a main companion)... I think so many people have already got used to this state of affair, so to speak, and this is the thing that shouldn't be changed.

I haven't seen the classic episodes either. I wonder if the Doctor was a woman would they make the companion a male? I hope a show of this caliber and age would be smarter than to just do something like this for shock value. Gender and race aside they need to pick the right actor for the role.

the_dancing_woman wrote:

I will certainly miss Matt Smith a lot. I instantly liked him, even without the awkward "uh, who is that new guy??" phase.

I agree. I actually had more difficulty adjusting from 9 to 10 which is probably odd since most people have David Tennant as their favourite Doctor. I think Christopher Ecclestone doesn't get enough praise!
I loved Matt Smith from the get go so it's going to be really sad for him to leave. The next Doctor (as always) has big shoes to fill!

I used to love it as a child but your're right, It is extremely camp and childish

detectiveolson wrote:

I used to love it as a child but your're right, It is extremely camp and childish

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you.  There's always a bit of camp, but it is not childish...especially now that Moffat is the head writer.  One episode dealt with mental illness in the best and most touching way I have ever seen.  The Doctor may look goofy, but he is a dark and dangerous man given to whims and a narcissist so impressed with himself that he will lure people into danger and they come willingly.  The best written episodes, which show how truly deep the show can be (from NuWho):

1. Vincent and the Doctor
2. The God Complex
3. The Water on Mars
4. Asylum of the Daleks
5. Blink
6. Amy's Choice
7. Dalek
8. Turn Left
9. The Name of the Doctor
10. The Angels Take Manhattan

There are many more, and then there are some not-so-good episodes (I didn't care much for RTD)- but even "Sherlock" has it's subpar episodes.  Everything does.  The camp keeps Doctor Who fun to watch, because otherwise it would be a very depressing show.  An essentially immortal demigod who is the last of his kind because he destroyed his own people wandering all of space and time without a sense of humor about himself would be very depressing indeed.  But they hit on the hard truths, they don't gloss over them.

Last edited by sj4iy (September 18, 2013 2:45 pm)

MNRebecca wrote:

sj4iy wrote:

The Doctor may look goofy, but he is a dark and dangerous man given to whims and a narcissist so impressed with himself that he will lure people into danger and they come willingly.  The best written episodes... show how truly deep the show can be... An essentially immortal demigod who is the last of his kind because he destroyed his own people wandering all of space and time without a sense of humor about himself...

This was a very helpful assessment.  Thank you.  I'm going to think about checking out the episodes listed if they're on Netflix streaming...

Anytime  I will admit that Classic Who could be quite cheesy, but the tone of the show changed when it came back on air.  They made it darker and more introspective, which I enjoyed very much.  Series 1 and 2 could be quite bad, but the overall quality started to pick up with Series 3.  This is how I would rate the New Series (or Seasons, as we call them in the US) best to worst:

1. Series 5
2. Series 7
3. Series 6
4. Series 3
5. Series 4
6. Series 2
7. Series 1

I don't think Moffat would ever make Benedict a Doctor, since he chooses rather not very well-known actors for this role; I'd say Benedict is too famous to be the Doctor

Lovelocked wrote:

I also don't see it as a corny or campy show; it has humorous moments but also dark and sad moments. Tennant was my first Doctor and I'm not ashamed to say I cried when he went out and Matt Smith came on. I think the End of Time was an excellent special and was well written.

Totally agreed, and I was the same on Tenth's leaving.