Doctor Who [9]

I didn't think that was in any doubt with ending to the last episode.
Lots of unfinshed business,

Spoiler:

Every regen- South Park style-

I have really enjoyed Murray Gold's score for series 8, there is no official soundtrack out yet (I expect it will be out for xmas though) but folks have been ripping music from the episodes all series (though no-one seems to agree which bits will be the official theme and which bits arent. personally I think there at two Doctor themes this time- the action theme and the epic heroic theme).
Heres 12's a medley of the themes for 12 this series-

Ive enjoyed the music that goes with this DR, it fits, tells you something about him to. Serious, stirring, gets the job done.

Yeah I agree it seems particularly well suited to Capaldi's take on the character.

This has Amy Pond in it, and I didn't mind one bit!

Brilliantly done

Figures are in for last week episode, should put to bed spurious rumours that viewers haven't taken to the new series-

It got 7.60 million, which as series finales go puts it ahead of 1,5 and 7 and is level pegging with 6 and within about 0.2million of most (the exception being the end of series 4 which was a xmas day episode and Day of the Doctor which got a massive anniversary episode boost). And that was against ITV's big Saturday night gun the return of x-factor.
And those figures dont include those who watched on platforms like i-tunes.

For a series going into its tenth year the average drop in ratings over that time is 0.14 million. Which is frankly remarkable.
Atlantis which replaced Who this week managed 4.2 million viewers on overnights, down about a million and a half on the average Who episode, and is considered a hit.

I think our show is safe for a while yet!

Well that figures.

I watched a Jon Pertwee episode on the goggily box this afternoon," Spearhead from Space" It was quite all in all, I liked the idea that they used with the plastic bodkins. In it the Brigadier asks the Dr's name, at the end. The Dr said " Dr smith, John Smith". Got me wondering if the Dr has done this in other episodes ? given a false name for himself ?

Yeah he does it all the time, whenever he needs an alias, and its always John Smith.

Fun Missy vid- spoilers for series 8 finale-

Fun song !
Of course, David Tennant, school teacher, The Family of Blood etc

Some fanvids that have caught my eye-

When I saw the title "Im not afraid [Im terrified]" I thought Id hear Gloria Gaynor  But not thank gawd ! That, & the last vid were very good

'The BBC has released figures on the performance of Series 8 of Doctor Who, the first series with Peter Capaldi taking up the role of The Doctor.

The series had an average consolidated audience of 7.4m viewers every week in the UK. This an increase of 39% on the initial overnight figures reported the day after broadcast. The 9.2m average audience that watched Deep Breath, Peter Capaldi's debut episode, is the highest figure for a non-special episode (Christmas/50th anniversary) since the opening episode of series 5 (Matt Smith’s debut) in 2010. These figures show how Doctor Who has consistently achieved big audiences across the last three series – series 7a/7b combined had an average consolidated audience of 7.4m, series 6a/6b attracted 7.5m and series 5 was viewed by 7.3m.

There has been over 18.9m requests to watch Doctor Who series 8 on BBC iPlayer - an average of 1.6m requests for each of the 12 episodes.

In the US, consolidated figures for the first 10 episodes have seen Series 8 experience a 23% uplift in total audience in Live+7 on Series 7. The series 8 premiere was the show’s highest-rated series premiere ever on BBC America, and is the first BBC Worldwide series ever to simultaneously hold the #1 slot in the Main TV Season Charts across all major Electronic Sell-through platforms in the US within 48 hours of episode 1’s release on August 24th 2014.

In Canada, on the Space channel, the first 10 episodes of Series 8 have seen a 22% uplift in consolidated audience size on Series 7.

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer said:We never take it for granted, but the miracle has happened again - the nation has taken a brand new Doctor to its heart.
Danny Cohen, Director of BBC Television added:It's been an outstanding debut series for Peter Capaldi as Doctor Who and I'm very grateful to Peter, Steven Moffat and everyone involved.'- Gallifrey Base

On the subject of Clara and Danny-

Spoiler:

Completely bonkers but I love it!

Yep, yer right, bonkers but I like that sort of thing

I really am not sure. A lot of course depends on what happens at xmas regards Clara and the Doctor.

Snippet from the Series 8 DVD launch hosted by Frank Skinner-

Probably done this before, but how would you rank the Doctors?

For me (personal preference, not 'best to worst') of those I've seen

1. William Hartnell (Arrogant, mysterious, cranky and dangerous to start with, thawing (quicker than he should have imo) to a eccentric, slighty bumbling elderly uncle, Hartnell had the best character development of the Doctors, and turned in a great (rather theatrical at times) performance, to go with a lot of good stories (and a few awful ones), he may be the first Doctor in the programs infancy, but there is something rather alien and magical about his tenure none of his sucessors were able to measure up to imo, though he was hilariously casual about abandoning his only family member...)
2.Paul Mcgann (down to the audios and NOTD, I'm still not brave enough to watch the TV film, Mcgann is simply brilliant in the role, joyuous, eccentric, silly, dark, all in the right amounts, a very emotive voice, and strong writing from Big Finish have done him wonders. 8 is probabl the Doctor I find it easiest to picture travelling with, and it easy to understand why he has the most stories out of any Doctor )
3.Peter Capaldi (For reasons we have discussed already, depending on how long he stays (hopefully he will be the first New Who Doctor to have the benefit of more than one showrunner) I can certainly see him climbing this list to the top...)
4. David Tennant (incidentally, a year ago before I had watched Classic Who or started listening to Big Finish, he was no 1, I grew up with him as the Doctor, but looking back on his reign with a new perspective I don't feel quite as enthusiastic...)
5.Patrick Troughton (Subjectively I'd say he is probabaly the 'best' on this list)
6.John Hurt (I realize this may be kinda controversial after 1 ep, but I loved his performance and found War Doctor a very interesting idea)
7.Christopher Eccleston (He gave a 'Fantastic!' performance, but some fans have pointed out he seemed uncomfortable in the role, it's not something I really agree with, but I do think he never entirely found a balance between the dark and light parts of the role (perhaps due to the 'Traumatised veteran' angle he had) and with such a short tenure (with some very hit and miss stories imo) he never really became a favourite of mine)
8.Jon Pertwee (just hasn't grabbed me)
9.Matt Smith (Sorry Petty...I watched less than half of his tenure, and found him rather goofy and overly eccentric...and frankly kina annoying! , in retrospect it may just be the stories I didn't like, though I'm not in any hurry to catch up...)
10. Rowan Atkinson (I would be tempted to rank him higher if there was more of him...Blackadder in space, what's not to like? could be a a fun idea for Big Finish if they ever start the Unbound Audios up again...)
11. Peter Cushing (Much like the films, 'he'll do')

I'm sure Tom Baker would be higher on the list, but I only really know him from a bunch of random clips, and it's kinda hard to separate his larger than life personality from the character...

Goodl list Malick.

Heres mine, Ive just listed them in order of Doctors, not preference, with my thoughts on each.

Hartnell- not much to add to what you already said Mailck. The charcterisation that sold the show to the public. Could go from fierce and distant to childlike and joyfull in the blink of an eye.

Troughton- My favourite Doctor for  along time, although with so many episodes missing still its hard to fairly judge. Had the unenviable task of being the first 'new' Doctor and having to hold onto and build an existing audience that adored his predecessor- and Troughton succeeded.
A very enjoyable to watch mix of seemingly bumbling and slow whist being the smartest person in the room under it all- reminds me a bit of Columbo, disheveled, disorganised,  but really its all just a front so people dont think him a threat.
And he travels with Jamie my favourite male companion of Who. So win, win for me.

Pertwee- my personal least favourite Doctor. Not alien enough, to grounded (literally to earth in the case of the stories), not enough other worldiness for me. And I was never taken with all the 70's James Bondesque gadgets he had.
On the plus side I did like his practical side, and that he was a genuine scientists- something its nice to see 12 picking up on.

Tom Baker- my Doctor, this is who I grew up watching and for that reason a large part of me will always rate him the best. But his run was so long that in actuality it spans several showrunners and several styles, not all of which work. But he exuded alien and he exuded charm and friendliness. Pone to childish tantrums and moods and to grinning that manic grin when excited by something new or unknown. Every bit the fun, eccentric uncle.

Peter Davidson- It was halfway during Davidsons run I tuned out of watching Who as a teenager. Fopr me he is too safe, too down to earth and the stories were pretty lacking. Probably the best of 5's run is his final two episodes when the show finally woke up to new filming techniques and editing.
Pretty awful companions too, a gobby Australian, an annoying teenage genius, a not very convincing android, and the best of them Turlough, who at least was interesting as a character, even if they sometimes didnt seem to know what to do with him.
Davidson doesnt make a bad Doctor, but the scripts dont help him much.

Colin Baker- Oh dear, poor old Colin. Stuck in a period of the show with slashed budgets, cheap design, terrible costumes and effects, and sub-par writing.
The tv version of his Doctor was supposed t be a long term character development, unfortunately they never got to do it and all you get is the starting point- a very dislikable, angry, sometimes even violent, tense Doctor who is way to stand offish. Oh and the costume of course was awful (Colin wanted a black coat not unlike 9, which would have suited much better).
But its the script that really let him down, some good bits in the series long Trial of a Time Lord, bu tnot enough.
Fortunately the 6th Doctor has been largely redeemed by the Big Finnish audio version where they got to settle the character down and develop him properly whee he became an excellent Doctor.
So mixed for me, not a fan of the tv episodes, a much bigger fan of BF version.

McCoy- the 7th Doctor is another mixed bag. His first series was pretty awful as was Mel his companion.
Things took  marked turn for the better with his second series and Ace as companion- some solid stories, some solid ideas, and a long term plan were all in place (although sadly not achieved).
First series McCoy lays the art like an intergalactic clown, second series harks back to the 2nd Doctor more, in that under the seemingly inoffensive surface is someone with a will of iron and few moral qualms. 7 is a Doctor who grows on you and leaves you wishing there were more of his episodes to watch, unlike 6 who leaves you feeling rather relieved there arent any more to watch.

McCann- The TV movie sucks, its not badly written given the obvious restrictions put on it, but its not good either. By contrast however McCann is why its watchable at all, and he slips into the role of Doctor with consummate ease and as if born to the part.
His subsequent BF episodes episodes show what could have been.
This Doctor is the fun, adventurous, daring hero.

Eccelston- Only stayed a year in the job, but did a solid job of reintroducing the character and carrying the new weight of the Time War.
Perhaps a bit too dull, not eccentric or alien enough, but he carried if off on balance. Not sure he would have benefited from a longer run however as I felt we had seen all Eccleston had to bring to the role.
Not a bad Doctor, but in the list of them a bit, forgettable.

Tennant- a right old mixed bag for me. Tennant was great in the part but over his run his characterisation became more and more a series of exclamations and ticks. Its also for me a painfully self indulgent period of the show, from Rose's constant returns to 10's never ending death and my least favorite line in all of Who. 'I dont want to go'. Pathetic, weak line for the Doctor, and very unfair of RTD on the next actor.
The Tennant era has some great moments, some of the best, but for me fewer great episodes. I find you tend to get wonderful hair tingling moments in episodes whilst the overall episode doesn't really hold up- think Davros great confrontation with the Doctor over him using his fiends as weapons, but its in a nonsense episode about missing planets and reality bombs.
I find that often in 10's run- quality moments in episodes that dont bear to close scrutiny.
Also the entire run is far too contemporary and London based.

Smith- eccentric, limb flaying. The youngest actor to portray the role he does so for me with an old heart. Kind of the opposite of 1 who was an older actor that could pay young, 11 is a young actor who can play old at the drop of a hat. The Doctor who had to deal with perhaps the weightiest issues, from Trenzalore and Gallifrey to his own potential death. Smith does a great job of conveying the old man underneath the boyish exterior. One of the best actors in the role to date Smith can carry the size of the role with easy. A favourite example is the end of Big Bang where he sits by Amelia's bedside and tells her the story of the mad old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Its note and pitch perfect.

Capaldi- touches of the first grumpiness, 2nd's mannerisms (the walk in particular reminds me of 2) 's science and analytical mind, 4's alienenss, 5's sense of platonic friendship, 6's bursts of impatient anger, 7's manipulation, a touch o f 8's charm. No other actor encompasses classic Who in a new form quite like Capaldi has. To early still to rate him, but boy the potential is awesome.