Dr Who (David Tennant)

[DanaC]

In terms of years lived, Jack's actually older than the Doctor, and has now had some really sobering experiences. I'd like to see him take the younger Doctor in hand. Pun intended.

No he isn't. Not unless you count the Face of Bo, and that's way into the future :P Capn Jack lived through about 250 years. The Doctor claimed to be 906 (which, just to be really pedantic, suggests he's taken to lying about his age, because he was older than that in the days of Sylvestor McCoy :P)

[Sundae]

Jack went back to AD27 and was buried alive, re-emerging in the Victorian era, frozen in stasis and resurrected in Exit Wounds (I think). He's at least 2000 years old.

And that's not counting his jaunts with the Time Agency. For example we know he was trapped in a time loop with Captain John Hart for five years (and I have read some very exciting fanfic based on that I can tell you!). Also he was a lover of Proust, so he must have been around on Earth at some point.

Not that I'm an obsessive fangurl or anything.

[DanaC]

*grins* ok, fair enough. I had forgotten about Exit Wounds.

Of course, depending on what you count as canon, the Doctor's much older than he professes (apart from his miraculously shrinking age in the Nu-Who series compared to the Classic series). In sideline novels and audios, the Doctor has been buried in ice for 3 million years; spent 500 years stuck on Orbis and 180 years stuck on Earth :P

[Sundae]

3 million years?
Hmmmm, that would be a winner!

But I accept that if we discount burying, the Doctor has more years "lived" and lived fruitfully at that. After all, Jack was pretty much a conman for a lot of his time span.

Bet he's had more sex though

[DanaC]

I think that's pretty much a given lol


Oh hey, you seen this yet?
http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1Y4b728e0213aaf485.cde

Exclusive TW webcomic done for the Watch channel.

[Sundae]

No I hadn't.
Many thanks.

I'm melting...

ETA, did you do the quiz?
I failed miserably. Who history is not my forte. 16 out of 30

[xoxoxoBruce]

Sydney Newman, who devised the long-running science-fiction show when he was head of BBC drama in the 1960s, was asked to help after the show suffered a slump in ratings in the 1980s and was taken off air temporarily.

He told Michael Grade, then the controller of BBC One, that the ailing series could only be saved by regenerating the Time Lord into a Time Lady.

Mr Newman criticised the direction the show had taken, but insisted that it could be revived by turning the lead character into a heroine.

Had the advice been accepted, actresses who could have been considered for the role include Frances de la Tour, Joanna Lumley and Dawn French.

Instead, the BBC played safe and replaced the incumbent Doctor, Colin Baker, with another male actor – Sylvester McCoy, a little-known children's entertainer.

The show's decline continued until 1989 when it was pulled from the schedules, not to be revived for another 16 years.

I wonder if they'd chosen to go with a female Dr Who, if the series would have survived?

[Clodfobble]

Dawn French?! That would have been amazing to see. I could never have stopped seeing her as Patsy.

[Cloud]

very slightly related: I've gotten sucked into Merlin fandom lately. Learning lots of new Britishisms!

[DanaC]

Love Merlin!

[Sundae]

Clod - Dawn French was the other part of French and Saunders. As in the fat girl. Jennifer Saunders was Edina, whereas Dawn ended up as The Vicar of Dibley (which many people I like found funny; just not me)

Beryl Reid was also suggested as the Doctor - at the time I was fully supportive. But she could never have moved the Doctor on. I loved her because I loved Mooncat (children's TV show I can't properly trace, booo!)

RTD brought the series back in the best possible way. He was a long-term Whovian. He worked outside convential series (and Dr Who is Saturday teatime viewing, up against Ant and Dec, it should be as conventional as possible!) He is gay (in terms of difference and equality this matters).

And more I can't think of right now - something banging and bashing outside, need to investigate!
(Hope it's not Daleks)

[Pete Zicato]

I've been wanting for some time now to take a look at Dr. Who. I've been wondering where to start, but the decision has been made by fate. The 2005 series is available on netflix.

I just watched the first episode and enjoyed it quite a bit. I particularly liked Eccleston who has a charming goofiness.

Perhaps my favorite bit:

Rose Tyler: If you are an alien how come you sound like you're from the North?
The Doctor: Lots of planets have a North!

[Pete Zicato]

Originally Posted by Cloud

very slightly related: I've gotten sucked into Merlin fandom lately. Learning lots of new Britishisms!

This?

How have you liked it?

[DanaC]

I really loved Eccleston's Doctor. I do think that's the best place to start on Who. The classic series is lovely, but is very much an acquired taste, and most of the important stuff can be picked up through the new show anyway. Also, I think the changes that were made to the character for the relaunch gave it far more depth and a little more darkness in amongst the whimsy. The idea of him as the last of his kind and survivor of a terrible war makes him a much more interesting character I think. Taking nu-Who from its first episode isn't really that much of a commitment either, because although we're now approaching series 7, each series only has 13 episodes. It's not like trying to catch up on the Startrek or Stargate series.

Best stories in that first series for me were Dalek, which was adapted from a Dr Who audio story by one of my favourite Who writers, Rob Shearman, and the two parter, The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I really loved Eccleston's Doctor.

I am still sad, angry, and confused that he only played the Doctor for one season.



For Tom Baker fans, Eccleston was the perfect Doctor.