Doctor Who: Greatest Characters: Numbers 44 and 43
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Apologies for the delay - I've been holidaying in the Lake District and all my poll information was at home.
As requested, I've put a few characters in one thread so as not to "clog up the forum".
[highlight]44: Martha Jones[/highlight]
PLAYED BY: Freema Agyeman
ONSCREEN: 2007-2008, 2010
RATING: 69.06%
Replacing Billie Piper's Rose was always going to be a difficult task, but Freema Agyeman did it very successfully; so much so that Martha has placed higher than Rose in our little poll! Martha first encountered the Doctor when the hospital in which she was training was kidnapped and placed on the moon by the Judoon. She impressed him instantly, and after she'd saved his life and the hospital had been returned to Earth, the Doctor offered her just one trip as a way of saying thank you, although this one trip eventually became many, Martha becoming an 'official' companion when the Doctor gave her her own key in 42. Martha was attracted to the Doctor from the moment they met, although the Doctor had never realized, and after her family spent a year being held prisoner by the Master whilst he destroyed the Earth, Martha decided her travelling days were over, leaving the Doctor but giving him a phone so that she could call him if she needed him. When they met again, Martha was a member of UNIT and now an official doctor, and was much more independent and mature than when she had traveled with the Doctor. She assisted him once more against Davros and the Daleks before making her final farewell.
REMEMBERED FOR: Being in love with the Doctor. Joining UNIT. Threatening to use the Osterhagen Key. I'm bringing you back to Earth. Randomly marrying Mickey.
[highlight]43: Sutekh the Destroyer[/highlight]
PLAYED BY: Gabriel Woolf
ONSCREEN: 1975
RATING: 69.07%
"Your evil is my good. I am Sutekh the destroyer. Where I tread, I leave nothing but dust and darkness I find that good!"
That's a brilliant quote, isn't it? Pyramids of Mars is generally considered one of the greatest Doctor Who stories, and that opinion is in no small part due to Gabriel Woolf's chilling performance as Sutekh. A member of the alien race the Osirans, Sutekh has stuck in the minds of fans who were terrified by him as both children and as adults, and despite appearing in only one story, remains as one of the shows most popular and discussed villains. The Doctor suggests that Sutekh may even be Satan himself, and Gabriel Woolf returned to the Whoniverse to voice the dreaded, and equally chilling, 'Beast' in 2006's The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.
REMEMBERED FOR: Kneel before the might of Sutekh. Those hands on his chair. You are but an ant. His gift of death.
What do we think? Do these two characters deserve a place in the Top 50? Does Martha deserve a higher placing than Rose? Let me know!
http://gregsdoctorwhoandreviewblog.weebly.com/doctor-who-greatest-characters.html
As requested, I've put a few characters in one thread so as not to "clog up the forum".
[highlight]44: Martha Jones[/highlight]
PLAYED BY: Freema Agyeman
ONSCREEN: 2007-2008, 2010
RATING: 69.06%
Replacing Billie Piper's Rose was always going to be a difficult task, but Freema Agyeman did it very successfully; so much so that Martha has placed higher than Rose in our little poll! Martha first encountered the Doctor when the hospital in which she was training was kidnapped and placed on the moon by the Judoon. She impressed him instantly, and after she'd saved his life and the hospital had been returned to Earth, the Doctor offered her just one trip as a way of saying thank you, although this one trip eventually became many, Martha becoming an 'official' companion when the Doctor gave her her own key in 42. Martha was attracted to the Doctor from the moment they met, although the Doctor had never realized, and after her family spent a year being held prisoner by the Master whilst he destroyed the Earth, Martha decided her travelling days were over, leaving the Doctor but giving him a phone so that she could call him if she needed him. When they met again, Martha was a member of UNIT and now an official doctor, and was much more independent and mature than when she had traveled with the Doctor. She assisted him once more against Davros and the Daleks before making her final farewell.
REMEMBERED FOR: Being in love with the Doctor. Joining UNIT. Threatening to use the Osterhagen Key. I'm bringing you back to Earth. Randomly marrying Mickey.
[highlight]43: Sutekh the Destroyer[/highlight]
PLAYED BY: Gabriel Woolf
ONSCREEN: 1975
RATING: 69.07%
"Your evil is my good. I am Sutekh the destroyer. Where I tread, I leave nothing but dust and darkness I find that good!"
That's a brilliant quote, isn't it? Pyramids of Mars is generally considered one of the greatest Doctor Who stories, and that opinion is in no small part due to Gabriel Woolf's chilling performance as Sutekh. A member of the alien race the Osirans, Sutekh has stuck in the minds of fans who were terrified by him as both children and as adults, and despite appearing in only one story, remains as one of the shows most popular and discussed villains. The Doctor suggests that Sutekh may even be Satan himself, and Gabriel Woolf returned to the Whoniverse to voice the dreaded, and equally chilling, 'Beast' in 2006's The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.
REMEMBERED FOR: Kneel before the might of Sutekh. Those hands on his chair. You are but an ant. His gift of death.
What do we think? Do these two characters deserve a place in the Top 50? Does Martha deserve a higher placing than Rose? Let me know!
http://gregsdoctorwhoandreviewblog.weebly.com/doctor-who-greatest-characters.html
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Comments
Sutekh was a terrific villain. Pyramids of Mars was my favourite story out of the whole classic era, and I'm very glad he's here.
I would agree with you 100% here. I do think the characters in the top 30 are all deserving of their places however; I'll just have to wait to see if people agree with me!
Though Freema did her best, I think she was betrayed by lazy writing, even in some of the better storylines. Even the character's backstory was lazy - think about how well you know Rose's parents and Mickey and where she lived, or Donna's mother and Wilf etc. With Martha this was only explored on a surface level - there was absolutely no depth to her family or to her.
I thought the character's greatest outing was in human nature/family of blood. Only at that point did I feel any sort of sympathy for her. It was a massive relief to get rid of her and get a well-rounded, fully realised character like Donna Noble with whom the doctor could really play off against (with the result of some of the best dialogue of the Russell T Davies era) .
That said, I still enjoyed Freema's portrayal, particularly in series 4 were she came very much into her own