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11th Doctor/Sherlock Similarities

MulettMulett Posts: 9,055
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in Doctor Who #1
I recently re-watched The Eleventh Hour and was struck by how similar this is to Sherlock. I think Matt Smith’s portrayal of the Doctor (particularly in this episode) is very similar to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock.

There are also whole sections of this episode which are reflective of the way Sherlock is filmed. Certainly, the ‘3D freeze frame’ technique that was used to explore the Doctor’s thought processes in scene on the green (when he’s analyzing all the visual information around him) was Sherlock 100%.

I do wonder if there would have been much more of that in Doctor Who if Sherlock hadn’t come along.

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    #2
    Yes I agree, although I think Benedict's Sherlock is more serious and less optimistic than Matt's doctor. (That's not to say that he isn't jubilant and exciteable at times, I'm talking about his general outlook on life.) Also the Doctor always tries to see the best in people, despite the fact he's far more intelligent than them, while I think Sherlock has almost a contempt for people in general, especially if he does not view them as his intellectual equal.

    I hadn't compared the 3D freeze frame thing to Sherlock before, but now I think about it I can see the similarities and I think that type of thing would have carried on in Doctor Who, if showing the thought process hadn't become a kind of trademark thing in Sherlock.
  • Shawn_LunnShawn_Lunn Posts: 9,353
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    #3
    I prefer Matt's portrayal as Eleven than Benedict's as Sherlock though.
  • sovietusernamesovietusername Posts: 1,169
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    #4
    It's inevitable there'll be similarities when there both written by the same guy. It's like the similarities between Avatar and Aliens. At the end of the day though, there 2 very different beasts
  • lordo350lordo350 Posts: 3,634
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    #5
    Surly someone at the BBC has seen the epicness that could come out of a special cross-over episode here, for charity? The Doctor and Sherlock interacting: priceless!!!
  • MulettMulett Posts: 9,055
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    #6
    sovietusername wrote: »
    It's inevitable there'll be similarities when there both written by the same guy. It's like the similarities between Avatar and Aliens. At the end of the day though, there 2 very different beasts

    No, I disagree. Moffatt's written plenty of stuff for Who in the past that was nothing like Sherlock when it ended up on screen.

    It just seemed to me that with The Eleventh Hour (in particular) and some of the episodes since, there were incredibly strong similarities in terms of script, characterisation (of The Doctor) and filming techniques.

    For me, it looked as though Moffatt had a clear idea of how he wanted the 11th Doctor to act, and also how the Doctor's thought-processes should be visualised to the audience (eg - the scene on the green).

    But after Sherlock came along, he transferred a lot of that character and visual style to Cumberbatch/Sherlock and minimised it in Who.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    #7
    lordo350 wrote: »
    Surly someone at the BBC has seen the epicness that could come out of a special cross-over episode here, for charity? The Doctor and Sherlock interacting: priceless!!!

    That would be fabulous! I know they wouldn't want to do this in the actual series, but I think they should for Children in Need or something like that.
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