Thoughts on the new Doctor? [Doctor Who]

[Springy]

I don't know how many of you watch Doctor Who but for those who do will most likely be aware that a few weeks back, Peter Capaldi was revealed as the new Doctor. Going slightly off here but today I managed to watch the 50th anniversary and it was awesome (due to Tom Baker of course). Anyway, when the news was announced I was both pleased but disappointed at the same time. The reason being that while he is a fine actor and stars in my favourite all time show, it is nice to see him playing the Doctor but for what I have seen him in I doubt whether I'd be able to take it seriously without thinking that he is swearing half way through. I just wondered what anyone else's thoughts were on the new Doctor for those who have seen what he has been in, do you think he'll play the part well or not so well?

EDIT: Sorry for the poor wording. Will edit later when I feel a little better.

[Tristan]

I watched Doctor Who since it's revival in 2005, and kept watching it until the last series. It's become a joke now.
Matt Smith's second series was definitely a mixed bag, and his third (the last one) was just outright rubbish. Way to ruin the Weeping Angels by bringing the statue of fucking liberty to life.
I'm sure Capaldi will do a fine job when he takes over, and it's nice to see an older actor play the doctor too now (Capaldi is the same age as William Hartnell). I'll watch Smith leave, hopefully with a different visual effect on the regeneration rather than the bloody fire AGAIN. I'll also watch Capaldi's first episode, to see how he does. I imagine it'll be hard for me to judge how he's doing if his episodes are so terrible, but I'm sure he'll do fine.

Spoiler

And to anyone who wants to post about the 50th anniversary episode, I haven't watched it yet, so please make use of this tag, kthx :)

[Bucket]

I'd had enough of the show two years ago. The reboot was great and Eccleston was brilliant, one of the best Doctors if not the best. (And yes, I've watched them all since the 1980s.) Tennant was too emo and Smith is too clever for his own good. It started to feel like every episode was a straight march to the end, waiting for Smith to pull a solution from his ass (that he could've done at any time, sucking all the suspense and urgency from the plot). I'm just really tired of the show writing itself into a corner every week and Deus Ex-ing its way out in the last five minutes.

I kind of watched the 50th in the background.

Spoiler

The whole hand-waving of the Time War was stupidly contrived, and seemed to be a left turn for its own sake.

John Hurt was clearly shoehorned in after whatever stubborn asshole (probably Moffat) ruined the possibility of other Doctor appearances. I really do think he considers some the Doctors to be "not real Doctors" and paid them as little tribute as possible. If you read his old message board threads you get a sense that he looks down on people who take something different from the show than he does.

I could go on about Moffat. The show may improve now that the fangirls will be leaving, but it won't truly go back to normal until Moffat leaves.

[Tristan]

Bucket said:

but it won't truly go back to normal until Moffat leaves.

This. When Russell T Davies left with Tennant, the show changed, and that worked for a while. Then it stopped working.

It's a shame, because Moffat wrote some great episodes in the Ecclestone/Tennant era. The WWII gas-mask kid, those clockwork dudes in Versailles, the original angels and the fucking shadows in the library. I've been wanting to make a GZDoom-map out of that last one using subtractive lights for ages.

DW (heh) is pretty much the only show I wish I still liked and watched. Sucks really.

[Snakes]

I'm a big fan of Capaldi and would watch almost anything he does, but Moffat's somehow made Dr. Who even more contrived than it was before. Bucket nailed it when he said the solution-out-of-the-ass thing got old quick. The first Smith season was okay but things got more and more redundant after that... Which is a shame, because I actually thought he made a fine Doctor.

Eccleston's still the best modern Doctor for me.

[Clonehunter]

I've watched little Doctor Who, but I remember liking Tennant and Eccleston episodes, though maybe because I've seen more of Tennant than any of the others, while pretty much having zero opinion on Smith. He isn't terrible, but, eh, I dunno how I would describe him.

[Seeker_of_Truth]

I've only watched since 2005 so I don't know any of the Doctor's before 9. I have enjoyed all the 4 Doctor's (including Hurt's Doctor) I've seen and think they've been great. Lately though I feel as though the show has been suffering from hit and miss writing, especially this last series. I thought about half of the episodes were done really well and half of them just were okay at best.

In regards to the OP, I really don't know Capaldi, so I can't say how well he will do. That being said, I do look forward to seeing him play the role. I like Smith, but I feel that it's time to move to a new Doctor.

EDIT: I say since 2005, but what I mean is that's the series I've started with. I only actually started watching the show since January.

[Technician]

I've watched a lot of classic Who when I was a kid. I watched the first episode of the 2005 relaunched and liked it. Revisited it later and wasn't at all impressed.

Also, I hate the community.

[Dragonsbrethren]

I've never been a huge fan of the series. I started watching the reboot partway into Tennant's run and enjoyed I'd say maybe a quarter of the episodes. When the show's good it's really good. It's usually not, yet I watch anyway because I like the character.

Spoiler

I was enjoying the 50th right up until the whole convoluted conclusion. So they never ended the Time War, but won't remember so nothing actually changes, except maybe they do? Why was John Hurt regenerating? Was the scene with all the Doctors at the end a real part of the story or just something for the 50th? Also, was there even a conclusion to the whole Zygon thing? I missed it if there was, I figured we were just supposed to assume a happily ever after ending.

All of these came off as plot holes to me and just soured the episode, even though I thought the beginning was pretty good.

[TwinBeast]

I think I've seen about all the new episodes... I missed one multi part episode, but I saw the 2nd part, so I had some idea what happened in the 1st part. I haven't seen any of the old ones, I'd probably watch if they showed them here.

I think I liked Tennant's episodes most. Smith had a bit goofy episodes, swing from one extreme to another, and sometimes lots of times in one episode, but I got used to it eventually. Maybe Tennant had a few in the beginning, but maybe that was just regeneration aftershock or something. Eccleston could have lasted a bit longer, he was ok. I thought Hurt was going to be the next Doctor, they kinda ended the episode before this 50th anniversary like that.

Wonder how this Capaldi is going to be then...

[Aliotroph?]

I've watched every episode ever made (as far as that's possible given some of the missing ones still only have really low-quality reconstructions). The classic ones are so even more variable in quality than the new ones. More Eccleston needs to happen at some point. He's awesome.

I don't know what Capaldi will be like, so I'll give him a go. As long as the writing is better than what Colin Baker got he'll probably be fine.

Also, I demand specials with John Hurt fighting the Time War. That sounds fun! If that doesn't happen perhaps Big Finish will do some audios about 8 trying to avoid the Time War. They've been leading up to that for a few years anyway.

[Springy]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that Eccles cakes was the best out of the newer Dr Who's, it's a shame he was only in one series and the other two were there longer. I didn't mind David Tennant much and Matt Smith took a fair few episodes to get used to. I think Capaldi should be able to do the job right but it's probably just me being so used to his Malcolm Tucker character in The Thick of It (he portrays this character very well). I guess I'll just have to wait until I see a couple of the new episodes before I can really judge.

[geo]

The new doctor is black right? Shocked these modern times haven't made him a woman like Watson. I've never watched any episode of Dr. Who?

[Springy]

geo said:

The new doctor is black right? Shocked these modern times haven't made him a woman like Watson. I've never watched any episode of Dr. Who?

No, he isn't. I'll post a video of The Thick of It if you want too show you who he is.

[fraggle]

Glad they've casted someone older. I grew up on a diet of Sylvester McCoy, with Jon Pertwee and William Hartnell episodes on VHS tapes. Matt Smith has been great but his over-the-top wackiness is starting to get old.

[Springy]

fraggle said:

Glad they've casted someone older. I grew up on a diet of Sylvester McCoy, with Jon Pertwee and William Hartnell episodes on VHS tapes. Matt Smith has been great but his over-the-top wackiness is starting to get old.

I fully agree with that. I have seen only one Hartnell episode but didn't much like it. From what I have seen of the Jon Pertwee ones he was very good but I preferred Tom Baker's episodes as he seemed to fit the character really well (for me anyway). I've heard that Sylvester McCoy wasn't all that great but I haven't seen any of his episodes so I can't really judge.

[Bucket]

He was a good doctor (they all were, really) but from Davison and on the show suffered from some pretty dismal writing. By McCoy's time there are probably only a handful of episodes worth watching.

[Dragonsbrethren]

fraggle said:

Matt Smith has been great but his over-the-top wackiness is starting to get old.

Yeah it is. I loved it at first, I instantly took to Matt Smith's Doctor because of it, but I'm over it now.

Spoiler

They gave John Hurt a few hilarious lines poking fun at it in the 50th, so I hope that means they're going to be dialing it down again.

[Philnemba]

I've been a fan since the mid 90's watching old reruns of the classic episodes before the 2005 revival(Tom Baker being my favorite and still my all time favorite doctor).

I thought the 50th anniversary special was fantastic although I really wish that eccleston was in the special since it would have been even more awesome than it already was.

[Waffenak]

I wonder how long it would take to catch up if you started viewing all doctor whos from the beginning. I'm watching star trek the original series and progressing soon to animated series because it was made next in line

[Tristan]

The only old episodes I've watched are Remembrance of the Daleks (McCoy) , a very long time ago, that's what got me into Doctor Who. The other was Planet of the Spiders on YouTube, which was Pertwee's last outing. There was a pretty cool scene with the Doctor up in a gyrocopter(?) in that one.

[Dragonsbrethren]

Waffenak said:

I'm watching star trek the original series and progressing soon to animated series because it was made next in line

Just did this myself with my brother and a friend. TAS is surprisingly on par with the originals, if you ignore the awful animation quality. Only a few episodes come across as having been written as a cartoon.

[Gez]

Waffenak said:

I wonder how long it would take to catch up if you started viewing all doctor whos from the beginning.

Unfortunately, many of Hartnell's episodes are still missing, and some only survived as incomplete records.

[Seeker_of_Truth]

Waffenak said:

I wonder how long it would take to catch up if you started viewing all doctor whos from the beginning. I'm watching star trek the original series and progressing soon to animated series because it was made next in line

I don't know about all that, but I'll tell you this. I first started watching Doctor Who in January with my first series being Eccelston's in 2005. I went through what Netflix had at the time which was up to Series 6. That took me about a week and a half give or take a day or two.

[Aliotroph?]

A huge number of Troughton's episodes are gone too. All missing episodes had their audio recorded by various people. Reconstructions exist for all of them, though the quality pretty variable.

I watched all of them. 26 seasons plus one TV movie took me a year. I often watched a whole serial in a day. Most are either four or six parts, so you kill at least two hours a day that way.

I agree about TAS. Lightyears ahead of most 70s cartoons.

[Average]

Doctor Who's always been 'variable' in quality. That's it's strength. What doesn't work for you works for another. That keeps it fresh to my mind.

I think Peter Capaldi will make an interesting Doctor. We've had the comeback kid, the emo, the whacky one in denial and now we're going to get a somewhat older Doctor for the first time since Tom Baker's era. He can be old and wise or old and jaded or a bit of both. One's thing's for sure he's not going to be young and zany. This is why I love the series so much. You never really know what you're going to get and for that reason alone it's worth sticking with.

Sylvester McCoy got a bum deal and was as much a victim of in-house politics as Colin Baker ever was. It's amazing that either of them got as many episodes as they did!

PS: Can't wait to see the recently discovered episodes. I've know idea what they are or how they'll get released as I don't watch or read any reports on Doctor Who for fear of spoilers (God, doesn't the media just like to ruin everything?!). New episodes of the classic run is the best 50th anniversay present we could have if you ask me. Well, that and the 8th Doctor getting his regeneration. :)

[Aliotroph?]

Average said:

...and now we're going to get a somewhat older Doctor for the first time since Tom Baker's era. He can be old and wise or old and jaded or a bit of both. One's thing's for sure he's not going to be young and zany.

Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy right roughly the same age as Tom Baker had been when they started.

Average said:

PS: Can't wait to see the recently discovered episodes. I've know idea what they are or how they'll get released as I don't watch or read any reports on Doctor Who for fear of spoilers (God, doesn't the media just like to ruin everything?!).

They've been on iTunes since they were announced. They're pretty good.

[Average]

Cool. I'll have ot look into the iTunes thing then. I presume one has to pay for them?

Oh, and my bad. I meant Pertwee. At least he seemed older!

[Foofoo]

My one major complaint with the new serieses of the show is some real obviously lazy ways of getting out of situations or fixing plot holes. both Davies and Moffat are guilty of it. probly the most stupidest one (from memory) was that episode where Donna becomes part time lord (during Tennant's era). that part near the end, where she says some of that psudoscientific crap then presses a few buttons and all the Dalek ships just suddenly blow up. just fucking fucking stupid. i hate that stuff. seriously, they couldn't take another 5 minutes to think of a better way out of that? jesus christ, man.

and i hated they even pulled some of that stuff in the 50th special. with all that crap about how they're going to forget it all at the end of the ep. i dont understand people.

so yes, that was a rant. apart from that i like the show. i think all the doctors so far have been great and ill love to see Capaldi having a go.

[Average]

The Doctor Donna was foretold quite a while before that by the Ood. It wasn't a 'quick' bit of writing. Anyway, even if it was I think it was quite a good way to get out of a very tight spot. I mean, how would you have written it if it's so "fucking, fucking stupid"?

EDIT: Spelling and took out an ill chosen comment.