Eighth Doctor & thoughts on a female Doctor...

[elisi]

I watched the Eighth Doctor movie last week.

I have since been trying to think of anything to say, but basically my impression is this: It starts and ends like an episode of Doctor Who. However, the TARDIS accidentally lands in a cheesy 90s US TV movie, which means the whole thing is offkilter. Just look at how the Doctor dies - shot in a gang shoot-out! And the Master turns into the Terminator... Not surprisingly the newly regenerated Doctor finds it difficult to remember who he is. (It's not quite as bad as for Seven, who was fed misinformation by the Rani, but the world he has landed in isn't his own.) Anyway, he saves the day, leaves some people behind to be awesome, and sails off back to his own universe to have lots of proper adventures [/audio dramas] that one day I'll catch up on and probably enjoy, as Eight seemed rather charming when he was allowed to be himself.


In other news, speculation about who will be the new Doctor is of course rife, and even Andrew Sullivan is getting on board, being rather taken with the idea of Helen Mirren. Mind you, he also came across some of those fans. His whole post is here: A Female Doctor Who?? Ctd, and he quotes someone complaining that a female Doctor would make up for 'the recent companions [who] have been weaker and younger than the ones who accompanied the earlier Doctors.' To which Sully's response is:

Has Helmuth been watching the same show I have? Is Clara supposed to be weak?

I've not read the article he links to, but surely we can all agree that saving ALL OF THE DOCTOR is the very hallmark of weakness. And we must not forget the very reticent Amy Pond who never once stood up for herself, not to mention the timid (and painfully young!) River Song - a woman so quiet you worried she'd faint if you spoke to her... (I give up. I can't keep a straight face.)

ANYWAY. He also linked to a list of imagined gender-swapped Doctors:

The Other 11 Doctors

Not sure I agree with all of them, although Sue Perkins as Ten keeps cracking me up. Esp because of one of the comments:

Perfect. I could almost cry for what we've missed. I NEED to see Sue Perkins' farewell to Rose!

SOMEONE write Sue Perkins!Ten/Rose PRETTY PLEASE?

(Will get to comments when I can. Life keeps being busy, and I'm too chatty!)

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

:lol: Yes, poor Eight! Paul McGann is quite distressed that he's forever trapped in that bad wig as well. The TARDIS is very pretty, though. And Eight is lovely. I have more fondness for it than I should, because my first taste of online fandom came in the newsgroups just before it came out, and everything came alive after it happened - and DW was back, just for a night. (I haven't quite forgiven them, though, for killing Seven like that. It wasn't as if the previous 6 years hadn't been bad enough.)

[elisi]

:lol: Yes, poor Eight! Paul McGann is quite distressed that he's forever trapped in that bad wig as well.
Oh, they updated his look recently! (Look here and here.)

The TARDIS is very pretty, though. And Eight is lovely.
Oh the TARDIS is *gorgeous*! My 11 year old was especially impressed. :) And Eight is a delight. <3

I have more fondness for it than I should, because my first taste of online fandom came in the newsgroups just before it came out, and everything came alive after it happened - and DW was back, just for a night.
Oh that's perfectly understandable - the circumstances & community makes a huge difference.

I haven't quite forgiven them, though, for killing Seven like that. It wasn't as if the previous 6 years hadn't been bad enough.
MY SEVEN! I love Seven to distraction (he's my favourite after Eleven), and it hurt a lot... :(

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

I love Eight's new look! And it leads directly into my beloved Nine's look so...

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, I've seen the new look, but as it's Big Finish, it still means he's stuck with it everytime the BBC want to make any sort of reference to Eight! Heh. ;-)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Dude. Idris. As Nine. WANT. *CACKLES IN DELIGHT*

[elisi]

I'm not sure she could be stark enough (Nine is so... angular, both in aspect and character), but as I've not really seen her in anything else, I can't say that she couldn't pull it off!

Mostly it's a fun game. :)

ETA: The thing is - could she wear a doorway, the way Nine does in my icon?

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Why yes...yes I believe should would. Though not as smoothly, I'm sure.

[lostakasha.livejournal.com]

Not Helen Baxendale. No, no, no. No.

She's the wrong Helen. I'd rather Mirren!

[elisi]

I can't see it either. Like, at all. She seems very... slight. She couldn't pull of the ancientness.

Conversely I think Helen Mirren is probably too old. There is an awful lot of running involved, after all!

[stick-poker.livejournal.com]

Sue Perkins!Ten is just the best idea ever, and Sue Perkins!Ten/Rose the only sort of Ten/Rose I feel I could read these days.

[stick-poker.livejournal.com]

And, Sue Perkins!Ten/Rose set when, exactly? *wonders* Round about Idiot's Lantern, maybe? For the Sue Perkins and retro / baking lols?

[elisi]

Oh god. /o\

[elisi]

Good, isn't it? I'm not sure Sue Perkins has the gravitas, but she could certainly pull of the silly, and I'm sure she could angst appropriately! ;)

[lyricwrites.livejournal.com]

Well. Here I've been thinking that I've seen good and bad arguments for keeping the Doctor a man, but no really stupid arguments in favor of a female Doctor. And then Mr. Counterbalance-The-Weak-and-Timid-Companions comes along. Hmph.

Mind you, I recently read a post which ticked me off by being wrong about everything, including insisting that the Doctor should stay a white man. So I've been thinking about this. It's unfortunate, but I think Helen Mirren may be too old for the physically challenging nature of the part. What do you guys think of Tilda Swinton? I'm pretty sure she can carry the dramatic side of the role, but I've never seen her do comedic stuff, and Doctor Who is both.

I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in thinking a female Doctor could work, by the way. I remember getting in quite a fight about the whole thing on the doctoreleven board (albeit with someone who was later banned) and wondering whether my opinion was really that offensive, or just the way I'd expressed it. I really should learn to keep my mouth shut on the internet . . . ah, well.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

OHhh!! Tilda is a good pick!! And just...wow. *Mind is blown*

Okay, ummmm...I can;t see you being offensive like that (even on a bad day). Sounds like they were itching for a fight or took one thing out of context, made a decision about your reasoning and ran with it...straight to a bad place.

I really didn't know it was possible to GET into fights (unwittingly or no) on doctoreleven...O_o

[elisi]

Well. Here I've been thinking that I've seen good and bad arguments for keeping the Doctor a man, but no really stupid arguments in favor of a female Doctor. And then Mr. Counterbalance-The-Weak-and-Timid-Companions comes along. Hmph.
Naturally. (No really, it must be a law of nature.)

Mind you, I recently read a post which ticked me off by being wrong about everything, including insisting that the Doctor should stay a white man.
Was this the doctoreleven post? I've not read/clicked through on anything recently, and am happy I didn't. It's the nicest comm in the world.

What do you guys think of Tilda Swinton? I'm pretty sure she can carry the dramatic side of the role, but I've never seen her do comedic stuff, and Doctor Who is both.
I've got her in my head as Narnia's White Witch. And she might be too pretty?

I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in thinking a female Doctor could work, by the way.
There've been two. One written by Moffat (The Curse of Fatal Death - Comic Relief sketch - see icon) and the other from the audios, portrayed by Arabella Weir. So it's not like the idea has not been tried. I'm sure it'll happen soon or later.

[eaweek.livejournal.com]

ROTFL at all of this, especially Julia Roberts as the Mistress in the TV movie!

[elisi]

I couldn't not share... :)

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

'the recent companions [who] have been weaker and younger than the ones who accompanied the earlier Doctors.'

.........................................................................................................................................................................................

[elisi]

One word: Peri.

[dweomeroflight.livejournal.com]

I am enjoying this assumption that young=weak.

[mengu.livejournal.com]

Apart from anything else, they're all older than Rose started out, and Clara and River are older than Martha probably was, Amy is in her 30s by Angels Take Manhattan and River I'm fairly sure is in her hundreds. There are enough subjectives for them to wrangle over, they should at least get the facts right.

[elisi]

*nods*

It's probably the stupidest thing I've seen in a long time. So stupid that a big name blogger gets in a twist (and not even over the age thing).

[redjaywrites.livejournal.com]

Oh god I want to write fem!Ten/Rose, now.

[elisi]

Dooooo Eeeeeeet!