Musings on Doctor #11
I love the new Doctor Who. 'Nuff said.
Unlike most people, I did know of Matt Smith before he was announced as Doctor Who. I've seen him live in a pair of plays at the National Theatre - the more notable of which was 'Chatroom' by Enda Walsh, in which he played the particularly virulent part of William. He was fantastic: full of energy and excitement and the best person in there by miles. And then, from a cynical, too intelligent bully he made the transition into a stoner who talked in a quasi-Jamaican dialect with seemingly no effort, but to marvellous effect.
For that reason, I didn't get the whole hatred that everyone had. The whinging that he wasn't David Tennant got on my goat because, no, of course he's not going to be Ten, he's Eleven now, he will be different. To be fair, I stopped liking Ten by the end anyway. David Tennant is a fantastic actor in his own right, but the writing had begun to let him down drastically. It was time for a new Doctor and a new show-runner and, from the evidence presented, I cannot wait for the rest of the series.
Smith was brilliant. Bouncy and jittery, full of excitement and quirks and, yes, bonkers, but eccentricity is a wonderful thing. He was almost childlike, in the sense that he was trying to work himself out, but didn't really know how he was going to do it. The story in the episode was well scripted ("You're Scottish, fry something!"), tightly plotted, and downright good fun. I enjoyed it, and I couldn't say that for DW in the last few months of Ten. I didn't enjoy it. It just annoyed me intensely, made me sad that the show seemed to have gone off the rails and couldn't reconcile myself with it. The scripts seemed to meander, in a way, and the last couple seemed downright unfocused as far as I was concerned, going off on tangents which could have been missed out completely.
Also, though, I connected the last Doctor with Torchwood; they were bound together, in my mind, and it was fairly obvious from this episode that TW no longer exists. If I'm really, really honest, I was happier that it had folded (though they'll have to address the Rift, because by now it should have gone haywire) than it continuing on without my favourite characters. Because we've got a new start now I can enjoy it more, look forward to the rest of it with new characters to explore.
Oh, and I liked Amy Pond, too. Karen Gillan, is it? I liked her immensely. I liked Donna, too, though; wasn't keen on Martha or Rose (in fact, scratch that, I didn't like Rose at all). I can't help but notice that both of the ones I liked were redheads and so am I, but I swear that's not biased me: Amy had guts - stopping the Doctor from going anywhere by shutting his tie in a car = genius!
In other words, Stephen Moffat, well done. Well done indeed. I look forward to the rest of the series.
In other horrific, horrific news, my days of cooking and eating gingerbread may be over. The last three times I've had it, I've felt very, very ill. It's not just my cooking, because it's been made by a friend and the last time was shop bought ginger biscuits.
This is life changing, people. How will I survive university now? Gingerbread's the only thing I can cook!
Unlike most people, I did know of Matt Smith before he was announced as Doctor Who. I've seen him live in a pair of plays at the National Theatre - the more notable of which was 'Chatroom' by Enda Walsh, in which he played the particularly virulent part of William. He was fantastic: full of energy and excitement and the best person in there by miles. And then, from a cynical, too intelligent bully he made the transition into a stoner who talked in a quasi-Jamaican dialect with seemingly no effort, but to marvellous effect.
For that reason, I didn't get the whole hatred that everyone had. The whinging that he wasn't David Tennant got on my goat because, no, of course he's not going to be Ten, he's Eleven now, he will be different. To be fair, I stopped liking Ten by the end anyway. David Tennant is a fantastic actor in his own right, but the writing had begun to let him down drastically. It was time for a new Doctor and a new show-runner and, from the evidence presented, I cannot wait for the rest of the series.
Smith was brilliant. Bouncy and jittery, full of excitement and quirks and, yes, bonkers, but eccentricity is a wonderful thing. He was almost childlike, in the sense that he was trying to work himself out, but didn't really know how he was going to do it. The story in the episode was well scripted ("You're Scottish, fry something!"), tightly plotted, and downright good fun. I enjoyed it, and I couldn't say that for DW in the last few months of Ten. I didn't enjoy it. It just annoyed me intensely, made me sad that the show seemed to have gone off the rails and couldn't reconcile myself with it. The scripts seemed to meander, in a way, and the last couple seemed downright unfocused as far as I was concerned, going off on tangents which could have been missed out completely.
Also, though, I connected the last Doctor with Torchwood; they were bound together, in my mind, and it was fairly obvious from this episode that TW no longer exists. If I'm really, really honest, I was happier that it had folded (though they'll have to address the Rift, because by now it should have gone haywire) than it continuing on without my favourite characters. Because we've got a new start now I can enjoy it more, look forward to the rest of it with new characters to explore.
Oh, and I liked Amy Pond, too. Karen Gillan, is it? I liked her immensely. I liked Donna, too, though; wasn't keen on Martha or Rose (in fact, scratch that, I didn't like Rose at all). I can't help but notice that both of the ones I liked were redheads and so am I, but I swear that's not biased me: Amy had guts - stopping the Doctor from going anywhere by shutting his tie in a car = genius!
In other words, Stephen Moffat, well done. Well done indeed. I look forward to the rest of the series.
In other horrific, horrific news, my days of cooking and eating gingerbread may be over. The last three times I've had it, I've felt very, very ill. It's not just my cooking, because it's been made by a friend and the last time was shop bought ginger biscuits.
This is life changing, people. How will I survive university now? Gingerbread's the only thing I can cook!