Doctor Who musings
So, since I've made progress on starting the Daily Nightly-inspired DW fic, I'd been looking more into the oneshot villain Ramon Salamander--the Doctor's doppelganger--as he's going to play a central role in the fic. I'd read the novelization of his arc, "The Enemy of the Word." Alas, it's one of the lost arcs; only one ep exists--the 3rd of 6--but since I wanted to be sure that I had Salamander's characterization down, I looked into the surviving footage.
...Holy. Wow.
It is not often that I get creeped out by a villain played by an actor I adore; it really isn't. Usually, I try to just focus on some other aspect of said villain--I wasn't even creeped out when Simon Oakland played Mel Barnes in Bonanza (I may have been too busy yelling at the TV at how he was trolling Hoss... but I digress...). But Salamander legit gave me chills. And even though I know it, it's still so difficult to wrap my brain around that, yes, the fella playing this cold, cruel man is the same fella who plays the loveable, huggable Doctor (which leads to the wonderful irony that the Gallifreyan is actually much more human than the actual human here).
I really wish that some footage of the end scene on the final ep of the arc existed--it's the part where Salamander decides to impersonate the Doctor and attempts to run off in the TARDIS with Jamie and Victoria (the novelization gives him a wonderful-but-suppressed WTH reaction to the whole "bigger on the inside" bit--you have no idea how much I wish for even a frame of this to be found--his expression would've been priceless, I'm sure...). ...There is an existing pic of Salamander's impersonation attempt, and oh, gosh... Well, see it for yourself. Just... GAH. Look into his eyes. Now compare that to the real Doctor's eyes. You just know something is *not* right here, and it's in his eyes. The impersonation doesn't work. And it's not supposed to; the Doctor is used to disguising himself; he can pass as Salamander flawlessly. Salamander's eyes are still so cold and creepy, but the Doctor's are so warm and loving; Salamander can't hide his cruel nature, even when posing as the Doctor.
...Aaaaand that brings me to the entire point of this post--that Patrick Troughton could show all of that with just his eyes (Salamander was completely silent during that scene, speaking only after his true identity had been revealed, so no voice, either--it's literally all in the eyes). It's so subtle, but so incredibly effective; even that still of Salamander-as-the-Doctor gives me chills and I can't even look at it for too long at a time. But with pictures of the Doctor as himself, it's all, "Oh, he's so precious and I just want to hug him." Seriously, Patrick deserves major, major kudos for whatever it was he did with his eyes in that scene. And it is a crying, howling shame that this scene--and most of the arc--is lost.
Apropos of Patrick's eyes, no one can seem to agree on what color they are--I thought they were hazel/gray, and while the general consensus among the fandom seems to be blue, one of the bio snippets said green, one of the DW novels said blue-gray, and yet another one of the novels said brown (...What? That's not even close...). ...I don't know. I just don't know...
...Of course, maybe I shouldn't count the novels. These are the same people who keep saying, "Oh, the Second Doctor is the most difficult Doctor to write for!" Meh. I've written for Two, Six, Nine, Ten, and Eleven (that bit I wrote for him will be in the next chapter of the Monkeesfic--yep, he's got a cameo... sort of!) and I can tell you now that writing for Two is the easiest of those. And I've got multiple sources of feedback that said I nailed his characterization perfectly. So, there.
Regardless, I know I really want to delve into the eye comparisons of the Doctor and Salamander in the actual fic. I think I know the perfect moment for it, so I don't have to readjust my outline. Yay!
...Holy. Wow.
It is not often that I get creeped out by a villain played by an actor I adore; it really isn't. Usually, I try to just focus on some other aspect of said villain--I wasn't even creeped out when Simon Oakland played Mel Barnes in Bonanza (I may have been too busy yelling at the TV at how he was trolling Hoss... but I digress...). But Salamander legit gave me chills. And even though I know it, it's still so difficult to wrap my brain around that, yes, the fella playing this cold, cruel man is the same fella who plays the loveable, huggable Doctor (which leads to the wonderful irony that the Gallifreyan is actually much more human than the actual human here).
I really wish that some footage of the end scene on the final ep of the arc existed--it's the part where Salamander decides to impersonate the Doctor and attempts to run off in the TARDIS with Jamie and Victoria (the novelization gives him a wonderful-but-suppressed WTH reaction to the whole "bigger on the inside" bit--you have no idea how much I wish for even a frame of this to be found--his expression would've been priceless, I'm sure...). ...There is an existing pic of Salamander's impersonation attempt, and oh, gosh... Well, see it for yourself. Just... GAH. Look into his eyes. Now compare that to the real Doctor's eyes. You just know something is *not* right here, and it's in his eyes. The impersonation doesn't work. And it's not supposed to; the Doctor is used to disguising himself; he can pass as Salamander flawlessly. Salamander's eyes are still so cold and creepy, but the Doctor's are so warm and loving; Salamander can't hide his cruel nature, even when posing as the Doctor.
...Aaaaand that brings me to the entire point of this post--that Patrick Troughton could show all of that with just his eyes (Salamander was completely silent during that scene, speaking only after his true identity had been revealed, so no voice, either--it's literally all in the eyes). It's so subtle, but so incredibly effective; even that still of Salamander-as-the-Doctor gives me chills and I can't even look at it for too long at a time. But with pictures of the Doctor as himself, it's all, "Oh, he's so precious and I just want to hug him." Seriously, Patrick deserves major, major kudos for whatever it was he did with his eyes in that scene. And it is a crying, howling shame that this scene--and most of the arc--is lost.
Apropos of Patrick's eyes, no one can seem to agree on what color they are--I thought they were hazel/gray, and while the general consensus among the fandom seems to be blue, one of the bio snippets said green, one of the DW novels said blue-gray, and yet another one of the novels said brown (...What? That's not even close...). ...I don't know. I just don't know...
...Of course, maybe I shouldn't count the novels. These are the same people who keep saying, "Oh, the Second Doctor is the most difficult Doctor to write for!" Meh. I've written for Two, Six, Nine, Ten, and Eleven (that bit I wrote for him will be in the next chapter of the Monkeesfic--yep, he's got a cameo... sort of!) and I can tell you now that writing for Two is the easiest of those. And I've got multiple sources of feedback that said I nailed his characterization perfectly. So, there.
Regardless, I know I really want to delve into the eye comparisons of the Doctor and Salamander in the actual fic. I think I know the perfect moment for it, so I don't have to readjust my outline. Yay!