Doctor Who: The Library of Carsus discussion
The Panopticon (People of Who)
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Matt Smith, what do you think?
Mixed feelings, mostly. I think he's too young, but I also think it's wise to go with a relative unknown as opposed to a big star. No baggage or preconceptions coming into the role. Tom Baker wasn't exactly a household name when he came into the part, so I've no problem with Matt Smith not yet being a household name.
But the hair is awful... and the pasty makeup in his promo pictures makes him look like the lost member of Duran Duran.
But the hair is awful... and the pasty makeup in his promo pictures makes him look like the lost member of Duran Duran.
I have to agree. I just hope his performance overshadows all that, in a good way.
"Lost member of Duran Duran"...HA HA! Perfect! I too have mixed feelings. I hope they do a Time Lord makeover on him prior to his first episode, I really do. My daughter says he looks "creepy." For my part, I think he looks like a adolescent drow elf.The age thing irks me a bit, as well. I miss the way the old-school Doctors were portrayed as mad old uncles.
I see the point about not being a household name. I think the fact that David Tennant (not to mention Katherine Tate and Billie Piper) was already well-known distracted from the series as much as it added. I also never found Peter Davison to be believable, partly because I'd seen him in too many other things. On the other hand, Jon Pertwee was a household name prior to his time as the Doctor(for "The Navy Lark" and as a stage actor), and he was good in the role. Granted, Tom Baker wasn't a household name, but he did have some substantial acting experience. (Check him out as Rasputin in the big-budget film "Nicholas and Alexandra." Great stuff!)
Was very concerned about his age but immediately went to Netflix and rented something he was in. Found "Ruby in the Smoke" which also stars Billie Piper. Felt much better after watching him perform. He just better get a haircut, cause what he has going on right now will not work. :) Glad I found this group. It will take awhile till I can rate all my WHO materials.
I was at the Gallifrey convention this past weekend, and discovered something interesting at one of Wendy Padbury's panels - Padbury was Matt Smith's first agent. She saw him in a student production when he was still in drama school and signed him up on the spot. She was really, really enthusiastic about him as an actor. I think that bodes well.
Cool piece of trivia. That does bode well. I love WP.
I've got to say, I was skeptical about Matt's choice. He seemed to be another cute young guy, but Eleventh Hour was one of the solidest first episodes for a new Doctor ever and by the time he got to 'Basically...run'. I was sold and hope he sticks around for a while.
Travis wrote: "I've got to say, I was skeptical about Matt's choice. He seemed to be another cute young guy, but Eleventh Hour was one of the solidest first episodes for a new Doctor ever and by the time he got t..."Same here!
As the shirt says, "You never forget your first Doctor". Like many Americans, Tom Baker was my first and no one ever measured up in my eyes. Until David Tennant, that is. It didn't take long for him to knock Tom out of favorite Doctor spot. So, when Matt Smith was announced, I thought, well...I've been here before, how will he measure up? By the end of The Eleventh Hour, he was tied with David for favorite in my book. I've never become attached so quickly!And Amy Pond has become a favorite Companion, right up there with Sarah Jane, Ramona and K-9.
Matt Smith really has that odd look that personifies the eccentricity of the Doctor; he's both strange and magnetic at the same time. He and Tennant share a talent for quickly shifting from one emotional extreme to another, but I will give Matt credit for doing it a little more subtly (which is not to say better; Tennant's manic shifts are part of why I love him). A lot of people were afraid- based on his first few minutes after the regeneration- that he was going to attempt to be Tennant-redux, but he's done a wonderful job at establishing himself as the 11th Doctor in his own right.
Amber,I think it is common for people to think that the new doctor will try to be a carbon copy of the actor who he just replaced. Thankfully each and everyone of them has brought their own pleasant twist to the role.
The Almost People has cemented Matt Smith as my favorite Doctor. Hands down, done. I'm not saying it's my favorite episode of all time, but my favorite performance from the Doctor by a long shot.
matt smith is a great actor
He is my favorite doctor. The new doctor is funny.Fezzes and bowties are cool.
I still like David Tennant the best, but I think Matt Smith is cute. I love him with the fez and the mop. I have been re-watching some episodes and picking up more of the dialog (Wish I could get closed caption on BBC) Some of his little asides, some of his lines are delivered so quickly (as they should be ...doctors 9 &10 spoke quickly too) that it is easy to miss them. I loved in episode 1 of this season when Rory and Amy get the invitation and there is a Laurel and Hardy movie on tv, with the doctor joining them and dancing along.A line that I just caught re-watching, when the Doctor introduces Amy as "Legs", Rory as "The Nose" and Dr. River Song as "Mrs. Robinson". Just caught the significance of calling her Mrs.Robinson.
didnt river hit the Dr after he introd het as Mrs Robinson
no she just said she hated him, to which the Dr. replied 'no you don't'
hmmm i jst watched the episode where the dr talks to the tardis. honestly it was like having 2 doctors on screen
Karen B wrote: "I still like David Tennant the best, but I think Matt Smith is cute. I love him with the fez and the mop. I have been re-watching some episodes and picking up more of the dialog (Wish I could get..."Love that line, pure genius.
yeah....it is amazing....i just watched the doctor's wife again...ha it was amazing...my fave is still Tennant!!!
Matt Smith is phenomenal. I like Tennant, but he's not even in my top five. My big three is Matt Smith, Sylvester McCoy, and Patrick Troughton.
Matt Smith has been great so far, he'll never replace Tennant for me. I really hope though that Matt Smith doesn't get as burdened and guilt-ridden as Tennant did towards the end.
Didn't think I could love Matt Smith more than I did, but after seeing 'Doctor's Wife' and 'Almost People', he could be one of my favorites.Any grumbling I've done about series 6, none of it has been about how Matt Smith is as the Doctor.
I'm a New Series fan - "Rose" was the first episode of Doctor Who that I ever saw, though now I've seen "An Unearthly Child" and a bit of Tom Baker. This is to say, feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt. Whenever we get a new Doctor, I feel a bit like Rose in "The Christmas Invasion." A bit surprised, a bit confused, but ultimately I realize yes, it's still the Doctor! In that way, I find it a bit odd to compare Doctors. Matt Smith is just a new aspect of an old friend, and I enjoy his portrayal just as much as I enjoyed those of previous actors.
My husband thinks I'm a freak, though. He's a Tennant fanboi, LOL.
Well said Michelle.It's the same sort of thing with James Bond. We know that every 4 or 5 movies there will be a new actor playing 007 that looks nothing like the man before him, except that he wears a tux, woos all the women and has a carries a gun. There are your diehard fans who insist that Sean Connery is the ONLY James Bond, and others who will say Roger Moore is Bond, or whoever was their first James Bond.
Bowties are cool. Fezzes are cool.
I love him. I'm going as Doctor Who - Matt Smith Edition for Halloween. I'm gonna get a bowtie and a fezz >.<
I love him. I'm going as Doctor Who - Matt Smith Edition for Halloween. I'm gonna get a bowtie and a fezz >.<
I love how 'Geronimo' was introduced to be his catch phrase and ' fill in the blank are cool' has just taken over.
I enjoy Matt Smith a lot as The Doctor. David Tennant will always be "my Doctor", but Matt Smith is just wonderful! He's like an excited child....everything is new and fun again with this Doctor. I've watched series 5 and 6 numerous times already.
It's funny, as Matt was too young to have watched much Who as a child, but feels the most 'Doctor-ish' of the new guys.Not that I don't love all three, but Matt gives me biggest 'Old school' vibe of the three.
I thought that Tennant was a really great Doctor and when I found out that there was going to be a new Doctor, I was a bit sceptical that Smith wouldn't be as good. Now I love Smith more than Tennant as his lines are funny and he fits the role so well. I love his catchphrase and all the things he says are cool, and the whole 'I speak baby' thing is quite amusing too. In general I love everything about Smith's Doctor.
I am a bit behind in watching the episodes and have to say that he is not my favorite but certainly not my least favorite. I am waiting to see how he grows in the part.
I am enjoying Matt more and more as time goes on - Loved him in the Christmas special!
He is great, stories are rubbish. To see how great he could be, see him in SJA!
Husband and I have been watching Dr. Who since Tom Baker ruled, and we have all of his episodes on tape. We have some Troughton and Pertwee episodes also...The Five Doctors is one of my favorites. But I was not happy with David Tennant...felt he was too much of a pretty boy. My 18-year old daughter has all of his episodes memorized, since my sons have given my husband all of the seasons on DVD as they become available. But all of us are in agreement that Matt Smith is doing a superb job! He's made the Doctor "alien" again, the way he was in the very best episodes from way back. He's not that concerned about humans other than enjoying watching what we do in response to various stimuli...and I loved his line in this year's Christmas special, when he calls tears of happiness, "Humany-woomany", then is shocked when Amelia invites him in for Christmas dinner, and Rory tells him they always have a place set for him...and he feels a tear on his own face. None of this, "Half-human on my mother's side" BS! Just an alien who likes to interfere, because that's all he has left. Great stuff!
Honestly, the first season wasn't that good. I wasn't sure whether I liked him or not. But his second season was much better both story wise and with Smith's acting.
Unfortunately the writing is letting Matt Smith down, I've just watched the latest, the cubes, and he solves the problem too easily. I believe it's now time for an injection of American writing, a change of the Doctor, Jim Parsons, (he of Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory) would make an excellent Doctor. The writing has become stale, it's too London centered, Amy and Rory need to be binned, the Tardis needs a technological makeover. These quirky knobs, buttons, manual typewriters on the consoles are so yesterday. He should have full walls of visualization, 3D holograms, voice recognition with the Tardis. And more exploration of the Tardis. It's a world within a world, but it's become so narrow, we never see what the Tardis is really. In earlier episodes it had swimming pools, libraries, bells, all kinds of rooms. That's why it needs an American imput, it needs a complete revamp.
Albert wrote: "Unfortunately the writing is letting Matt Smith down, I've just watched the latest, the cubes, and he solves the problem too easily. I believe it's now time for an injection of American writing, a ..."I presume your joking?? just in case no no no. Keep your hands off a show which is working just fine thanks.
We've already seen what the Americans would do to the Doctor, and much as I love the 8th Doctor it was a mess.
Doctor Who is a uniquely British show that simply doesn't need an American revamp
OMG, please NO! After what the Americans (and I live in the Midwest) did to Torchwood! NEVER!I really like Matt Smith...I think he's doing a great job making the Doctor more like he was when played by Troughton...more playful and alien. The first few episodes of this season are really good. I loved the Daleks one, especially since now he won't be hunted by them anymore since they don't remember who he is anymore!
Fiona wrote: "OMG, please NO! After what the Americans (and I live in the Midwest) did to Torchwood! NEVER!I really like Matt Smith...I think he's doing a great job making the Doctor more like he was when pl..."
Yes, they tried 'Americanizing' both Doctor Who and Torchwood and we saw how well that went. We manage to kill both.
Though, in our defense, Torchwood was already standing on the cliff. We just gave it that last, tiny push.
I think the show and Matt Smith are both doing fine.
I would like to see more exploring of the Tardis, but think the current version is a step up from Tennant's coral.
I think Matt Smith's a pretty good Doctor, but not as good an actor as David Tennant. I can't imagine him selling out a six month stint in Hamlet, for example... well, I guess fandom is such that he probably could, but it probably wouldn't be an RSC production co-starring Patrick Stewart.
Mod
I'll agree with everyone else: there are things Americans can do quite well, but not Doctor Who or Torchwood. Something always goes wonky when we play with British SF shows. (I understand the American pilot they did for Red Dwarf way back when was very, very bad. The only good thing that came out of that was the Kryton costume.)
Smith was one of the few Doctors that clicked for me right from the start. With so many you have their first story, but don't feel you've accepted them till their second story.
Definitely, what happened with Tennant.
With Matt Smith, I liked him from his first meeting with young Amelia. By the time we got to 'Basically, run', he was on his way to going on my favorite Doctors list.
The Red Dwarf USA pilot was on youtube and is not terrible, but it pales in comparison to the original and you can understand why it didn't get picked up.
Mod
And where's the music?!
Albert wrote: "Unfortunately the writing is letting Matt Smith down, I've just watched the latest, the cubes, and he solves the problem too easily. I believe it's now time for an injection of American writing, a ..."HELL NO! No offence to the Americans, but we saw what happens when an American gets involved with the movie in the 90's. I agree that the writing is stale. I think it might be time more Moffat to step aside and let someone else take over, unless he can get his mojo back. This season has been mixed so far. Two good stories and two sub par. Nothing great so far. Though hopefully the Angels story will change that.
I have to agree NO Americanizations. 99.9% of the time it ruins things and ends them right there. Although I am surprised at some of the comedies that were Americanized (or were the basis for an American comedy show) that did well.The Office (the office)
All in the Family (Til Death Do Us Part)
Three's Company (A Man About the House)
Mod
The Office (the office)
All in the Family (Til Death Do Us Part)
Three's Company (A Man About the House)
"
Sanford and Son (another Norman Lear show) is based on Steptoe and Son
And then there are the shows which just don't translate no matter what you do, like Couplings".
Life on Mars and Being Human also come to mind. The US version of Life on Mars was tolerable. I know there is a huge fan base for the US version of Being Human, but for me it lacks the chemistry that the UK's had. And yes, had, Season 3 started going downhill, and Season 4 was a travesty. If I could only watch current seasons of either, I'd take the US in a heartbeat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmWRj...