"John Hurt teases Doctor Who 50th role" (SPOILER)
Shoppy
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Having just seen this...
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a479841/john-hurt-teases-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-special-role.html
I wondered what people's thoughts might now be as to the nature of his character?
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a479841/john-hurt-teases-doctor-who-50th-anniversary-special-role.html
I wondered what people's thoughts might now be as to the nature of his character?
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I hope not - sounds too sci-fi. The show needs to find its way back to being a bit more human.
Disagree entirely, I think a more scifi approach would do marvels and fi the disastrous soap opera styling a of RTD that still seem to be draping themselves lightly over moffat
I'm thinking about what's good for the show - the more sci-fi it gets, the poorer the reviews and the lower the viewing figures. I'm dreading the season finale because I think its going to be a horrible, complicated mess - even worse than The Wedding of River Song. Sounds like the 50th special could be along the same lines.
Might be worth remembering that the "the disastrous soap opera styling a of RTD" delivered the highest ever viewing figures, amazing reviews and awards left, right and centre.
Agree entirely.....
But it's a sci-fi show for goodness sake!
I think it can still be sci-fi without being convoluted (I'm not going to say complicated, because complicated can often be good- Mawdryn Undead for example- and anyway, I didn't find any episodes of NewWho very complicated). It just needs to be done well.
And then again, the general public love shows like XFactor, Britain's Got Talent and The Only Way is Essex, all of which I would consider abominations and insults to my intelligence. The general public love things they don't have to think much about, but Doctor Who should be intelligent and clever- not something which is designed to appeal to the masses. Obviously, it should try to be clever and appeal to the masses, but not to the extent that the stories become too simple or, dare I say it, dumbed down.
Look at Sherlock- It has been immensely popular whilst being complex and clever at the same time. I think the 50th should aim to be something like that.
The difference with Sherlock is that it's still firmly rooted in the real world.
Doctor Who tends to be more whimsical and off-beat in terms of realism. Mainly because it can afford to be, rather than because it should be.
The Valeyard perhaps
Actually if you look at the average viewing figures for all the seasons they are pretty much the same across the board.
Season 1 hit 8 million+ but the rest I believe is around the 7 million mark.
Also I would rather Doctor Who finished than become mind numbing drivel that just appealed to the masses.
Its about the writers understanding the need to balance the sci-fi elements of the show with real-world, human elements. If it becomes too sci-fi (as I feel it is) then more general viewers might disconnect from the characters and stop watching. And the show won't succeed if the only people left watching are us lot, the Doctor Who fans.
RTD, I feel, understood this perfectly and built characters from the ground up and then threw them into the middle of the Doctor's insane life. But those characters - Rose, Martha and Donna - helped keep the show grounded and accessible.
Amy and now Clara, first and foremost, were both created to fulfill a story-line and so lack depth as characters. And with the sci-fi elements of the show also increasing, I am concerned the viewing figures will continue to drop and the reviews continue to worsen.
Season 4 had the highest viewing figures of all seven seasons by far - and season 7 is at risk of delivering the lowest.
And its not a question of Who becoming "mind numbing drivel that just appealed to the masses" - its about the show being accessible.
Lightly? Moffat's era is far more of a soap opera than RTD's ever was.
How so?
You'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching Eastenders at times when Jackie was in the show.
True actually - two marriages (including the Doctor's), a long-lost daughter turning up unexpectedly, a young couple going through a separation . . . sounds like a daytime US soap!
And back to the actual thread......
Sorry if this is a "Dumbed down" answer but the article said he is part of the doctor making a trinity. The first thing I thought of is maybe a doctor we haven't seen yet. I mean isn't it boring that when we have multiple doctor episodes its only doctors we've seen. In the 10th doctors timeline he is going to see himself in the future, just as the 1st did in the other multiple doc eps, so it would be cool to see the 11th seeing his future.
There have been hints that we may get more than the 12 regenerations, so if so maybe a version of the doctor we will never see.
Hopefully he's The Valeyard rather than an older version of the 9th Doctor.
Apologies you are right Season 4 was the 8+ average. But if you look at the average figures they are pretty similar across the bored.
7.95 million - Series 1 average
7.71 million - Series 2 average
7.55 million - Series 3 average
8.05 million - Series 4 average
7.73 million - Series 5 average
7.52 million - Series 6 average
7.61 million - Series 7 average after 10 episodes.
The issue is that the amount of people watching live is going down - under 5m per episode. But the general feeling in the viewing figures thread is that this doesn't matter, as long as the final viewing figures remain good, so hopefully they are right!
Not really - although this is a stock, lazy view of the character. Her most sublime moments were her reaction to the alien and the unusual - realising her daughter comforted her deceased husband at his bed, reacting to alien threats, the regeneration issue, the marvellous cyber-Jackie, the fear of what Rose was becoming, the wonderful dynamic all round in the S2 finale. For anyone confused about what show they were watching - (for which you'd have to be a bit thick) she does face a monster in nearly every story - Autons, Slitheen, Christmas bots, Cybermen, Daleks.
Jackie, like the companions of the era, was the placing of an ordinary human in an extraordinary world. And FWIW, she had more character and heart than 90% of Eastenders' characters (at least whenever I watch the show.
Jackie's character was about situation, being in a place to react to situations at the time they were happening, and being a touchstone for the development of the lead character (the companion). Arguably the most soap-opera story was Father's Day (not a Davies episode) but even that was more focussed on time-travel, it's effects, and seeing the TARDIS as a license to do the undoable.
I think what the OP menat about soap-opera storylines was long, drawn out storylines that have OTT resolutions and connect characters in sensational ways. Alter the dialogue of AGMGTW to:
Amy: Your not my daughter.
River: Yes I am!
And it becomes more reminiscent of Eastenders than any Davies era storyline
I honestly think that the overnights are going down because the BBC have mucked about the the scheduling time and stuck the the half season thing.
Whilst it kinda worked last season (because they were directly linked) this second half feels like a new season making it harder to get into for the casual viewers in my opinion.
I also reckon the I player viewing figures (which seem really good) is important to the BBC as they seem to be pushing that quite a bit. I keep seeing BBC I player tailors but yet to see an episode trailor.
Agree 100%.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSeMFkpRjII
Personally I think John is playing a different version of 9th Doctor. Chris was obviously asked and being unable to put past differences aside for the sake of the fans it left the production team and writers no choice but to re-write the role. Maybe something has gone amiss in the time line somewhere, or someone interfered with the 8/9 regeneration, or maybe it's a 9th doctor who never regenerated into 10 and grew old.
Ratings aren't everything, not that the Moffat era ratings are that bad anyway.
We want Doctor Who, not Eastenders in Time and Space.
Father = 10
Son = 11
Holy Spirit (four incarnations in the past and forgotten) = Hurt's 9
I get that feeling as well. As wonderful as it is to see John Hurt in the show I do hope his character isn't a version/replacement of Ecclestone's Doctor, I'd feel the same if it was any Doctor as well.
Looking at a few spoilers and using the 2+2 = 5 formula (always works....:D ) is that various items relating to previous Doctors have been scattered here and there, Ecclestone's jacket, Tom Bakers scarf. Ok I'm basing that on seeing two items in a couple of photos:D