Talking Meme #1
Katy wanted me to talk about: my favorite Big Finish Doctor.
My favorite Big Finish Doctor is… Bernice Summerfield! No, wait. Actually my favourite audio Doctor is Eight, with Six a close second.* Eight wins for shallow reasons - “The Night of the Doctor” just reminded me that Paul McGann has the sexiest and most pleasant voice I’ve ever heard. He’s not just good on audio, though - I’d love to see more Eight on screen, too, because McGann is also a decent actor, and the costume they gave him in “Night of the Doctor” was better than I would’ve expected (i.e. better than the updated costume Big Finish gave him a few years back - the one that included a messenger bag. Practical, yes, but the Doctor just doesn't have a handbag. Neither do his companions. It's like a rule, or something, if you travel in the TARDIS, you don't get to bring your wallet/phone/make-up/housekeys. If it doesn't fit into a pocket, you leave it at home.)
One thing I love about Eight (and about McGann playing Eight) is that his enthusiasm for adventure and for strange things feels very genuine. With Eleven, for example, but also sometimes with Ten and Nine, their enthusiasm seems to be a mask, a role they’ve chosen for themselves, or as though they’re going through the motions. Sometimes their joy and wonder is genuine, but more often it’s one of those “I do this because this is what I do” deals rather than “I do this because I WANT TO OMG IT IS GREAT”. Which makes sense because the New Who Doctors are in a way a twisted fairy-tale version of the original tale, and the whole show is frequently an excercise in retro-nostalgia. But the way enthusiasm comes very naturally to Eight is charming, and Paul McGann is simply great at playing manic characters. I also love it when Eight goes a bit crazy, because it generally feels as though he really is out of control or a bit lost, which is both frightening and sympathetic. A certain lack of control - impulsiveness, over-confidence, a tendency to ramble, wander and get lost - is part of the Doctor’s character in any regeneration, and it’s quite often emphasized with Eight.
But Eight also has some genuinely heroic moments when you see that his range includes commanding, clever, angry, even dangerous, and I think it’s all the more impressive because right up until he does it, you don’t think he has it in him.
*This kinda fluctuates. There would have been some strong points in Six’s favour - I like him with Evelyn and Charley a lot, Colin Baker and Big Finish did an ace job turning Six as he was on the show into a much more complex and likable guy, and Six can be both very funny and very sad.
It's been quite a while since I listened to an audio - are there any recent BFs that are really good? The last Eight I listened to was with Mary Shelley as companion, and the last Six audio was "Industrial Evolution". I'm not caught up on Gallifrey or Benny, either...
My favorite Big Finish Doctor is… Bernice Summerfield! No, wait. Actually my favourite audio Doctor is Eight, with Six a close second.* Eight wins for shallow reasons - “The Night of the Doctor” just reminded me that Paul McGann has the sexiest and most pleasant voice I’ve ever heard. He’s not just good on audio, though - I’d love to see more Eight on screen, too, because McGann is also a decent actor, and the costume they gave him in “Night of the Doctor” was better than I would’ve expected (i.e. better than the updated costume Big Finish gave him a few years back - the one that included a messenger bag. Practical, yes, but the Doctor just doesn't have a handbag. Neither do his companions. It's like a rule, or something, if you travel in the TARDIS, you don't get to bring your wallet/phone/make-up/housekeys. If it doesn't fit into a pocket, you leave it at home.)
One thing I love about Eight (and about McGann playing Eight) is that his enthusiasm for adventure and for strange things feels very genuine. With Eleven, for example, but also sometimes with Ten and Nine, their enthusiasm seems to be a mask, a role they’ve chosen for themselves, or as though they’re going through the motions. Sometimes their joy and wonder is genuine, but more often it’s one of those “I do this because this is what I do” deals rather than “I do this because I WANT TO OMG IT IS GREAT”. Which makes sense because the New Who Doctors are in a way a twisted fairy-tale version of the original tale, and the whole show is frequently an excercise in retro-nostalgia. But the way enthusiasm comes very naturally to Eight is charming, and Paul McGann is simply great at playing manic characters. I also love it when Eight goes a bit crazy, because it generally feels as though he really is out of control or a bit lost, which is both frightening and sympathetic. A certain lack of control - impulsiveness, over-confidence, a tendency to ramble, wander and get lost - is part of the Doctor’s character in any regeneration, and it’s quite often emphasized with Eight.
But Eight also has some genuinely heroic moments when you see that his range includes commanding, clever, angry, even dangerous, and I think it’s all the more impressive because right up until he does it, you don’t think he has it in him.
*This kinda fluctuates. There would have been some strong points in Six’s favour - I like him with Evelyn and Charley a lot, Colin Baker and Big Finish did an ace job turning Six as he was on the show into a much more complex and likable guy, and Six can be both very funny and very sad.
It's been quite a while since I listened to an audio - are there any recent BFs that are really good? The last Eight I listened to was with Mary Shelley as companion, and the last Six audio was "Industrial Evolution". I'm not caught up on Gallifrey or Benny, either...