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27 October 2007
David Tennant is the Best Doctor in the History of the Role... Discuss.
Indeed. All the intensity and shouting is waaaaay OTT and turned me right off watching Dr. Who. I was never really a fan anyway, but the guy before him was really good.
Yeah, Eccleston, that's the one. Incidentally, Tom Baker lives in a village just outside the town where I live. I walk past him about once every couple of months; the last time I saw him we were standing next to each other recycling glass bottles.
I've a soft spot for Davidson. Tom Baker pretty much was Doctor Who. All that came before or after were/are mere shadows. Tennant is good in a "They've updated Doctor Who for the 21st century way.", and he's as good if not better than Ecclestone.
Don't get me wrong: I love Tom Baker, and I will always think of him as The Doctor. He OWNED the role... but Tennant seems really natural, and he apparently always wanted to play it. He seems *invested* in it.
I definitely think he's a better actor (all told) than Baker ever was.
Eccleston was good, but he looks a lot like my friend Josh, so that always kinda messed with me mentally. "Why is the Doctor drunk and calling my roommate an ass as they play super smash brothers. oh, wait..."
And I like that Tennant seems to love being the Doctor, like chuckdarwin says. He was involved in the radio plays before, and I don't think he'll leave soon to avoid being pigeonholed into the role (since constant doctor turnover worries me.)
I always thought watching Eccleston that he really raised the bar, that probably could not be matched. It was great and dark and lonely and I loved it. And then I watched Tennant and I got into it. He made me laugh and he was just weird enough. I was along for the ride. I still thought it was Eccleston in my heart. Then I watched the Ecclestons again and now I am not so sure. Tennant now has had more time, more episodes and hence more growth. He's complicated and frustrating and charming and great.
Also Tom Baker.
I think now I have a Hallowe'en idea for my house! Maybe I will get some big cardboard and paint it tardis blue and stick in on my screen door. And maybe get the sound effect and every time some kiddie comes and I open the door the whhrrr-whhhhrrr will go...What do you think? It's not very scary, but I don't have much time to do anything else!! And the kiddies are coming! The kiddies are coming!! Argh!
Tom Baker is my fave, but he was also my introduction, what the local PBS station was rerunning when I was a lad. I have seen a few of the older ones, and I really didn't care for William Hartnell. I like Patrick Troughton quite a bit, but a lot of his episodes are lost. John Pertwee was okay, Peter Davison gets a bum rap, mainly because he had to follow Tom Baker, Colin Baker was just annoying, Sylvester McCoy was not bad. Of the new stuff, Eccleston is a fine actor, but they wrote him a bit on the intense side. Tennant is a lot of fun, and he has Martha, the hottest companion in years, lucky bastard.
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