Doctor Who?!?!?!!?

[rm]

This kid must have given the greatest audition ever.

Comments

[rihani.livejournal.com]

That was my thought...

[fragiletender.livejournal.com]

We've just finished watching Doctor Who Confidential and although he was a complete unknown to me, I liked what little I saw of him. Of course a lot depends on the scripts but my instinct was that he can do it. I could see him as the doctor almost straight away. He looks like an alien for starters and I liked the way he moved his hands. Yeah, I know it's not a lot to go on but there's not much to judge him on yet. Can't believe that we've got to wait a year to find out what his doctor is like.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Actually, how he moves his hands was in my head as one of the issues in my brain. The other is his chemistry with the next companion as with Jack.

[fragiletender.livejournal.com]

I could totally buy him as a bisexual Doctor, I have to say. I hope they continue with the queer aspects that RTD has introduced to the show.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I like the unrequited drama with Jack and the Doctor (Jack and Ten are like the awesome ex-bf superheroes) and I think the chemistry is important even as that's pretty much a past issue now.

And yeah, the random queerness is a really important component of the show at this point.

[tacky-tramp.livejournal.com]

Well, he sure didn't get cast for his looks.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

I certainly thought that about Eccleston, too, and ended up liking him quite a lot.

[demotu.livejournal.com]

Ditto - magnetism is hard to judge from anything less than the actual performance.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I was a longtime fan of Eccleston and he was one of the reasons I got into new Who at all. I already knew he was hot as hell.

[chaos-by-design.livejournal.com]

I have the biggest crush on Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor.

[rothko.livejournal.com]

eccleston is fucking HOT.

[fragiletender.livejournal.com]

Agreed, I find him far sexier than Tennant, even though Tennant is more conventionally good looking.

[natf.livejournal.com]

*nods*

[cruentum.livejournal.com]

So far the BBC has done fine with the casting, so I'm looking forward to this, I think. Kind of sad it'll be ages til we get to see him to see how he actually does.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

My thought is 'inexpensive' and, more meta-y ...

the earliest incarnation of the Doctor was an old, grandfather-y guy. Perhaps they're doing a version of the 'ages backwards' thing. Technically, the doc is heading towards the end of his lifespan - what ... two more incarnations after this (if they don't screw with that bit of canon)?

[rm.livejournal.com]

I wondered that too about the aging timeline.

And they will screw with that bit of canon if they have to.

[argentla.livejournal.com]

The Master effectively regenerated 13 times, didn't he? And the ending of "Last of the Time Lords" indicated he could have regenerated again if he hadn't been a dick about it.

I dunno. I was never a Dr. Who fan, but I was amused enough by the bits and pieces I saw of David Tennant to watch (earlier this week, in fact) the first three Tenth Doctor seasons via Netflix Instant, which I enjoyed. When he's replaced, I don't know that I'll be interested.

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

He regenerated 13 times; he absorbed one body to achieve #14, the Time Lords gave him an extra life as a bribe in The Five Doctors which I think is supposed to be the version we meet in the '96 movie; the two regenerations we've seen in new Who are unexplained unless you believe that with the destruction of Gallifrey, there's no longer a control put on regeneration.

[cruentum.livejournal.com]

Well Davidson's was younger than those that came after him, wasn't he, though.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

I just hope this isn't more of the 'american audience' bullshit that is rumored to have toned down Torchwood a bit.

I watch the damn show partly b'cause it's *not* american in sensibility.

Oh, and yes - I loved Eccleston very much. I ... tolerate Tennant. I wish Eccleston had gotten some of the meaty stories Tennant did, he would have torn the world down with them.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, and yes.

[sinonmybody.livejournal.com]

word!

[natf.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Yeah, I think Eccleston left when he was offered Heroes...

[magnetgirl.livejournal.com]

"Back when I first started at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important like you do when you're young..."

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

Somebody, and I think it was the Moff, answered a question about the Doctor's reverse aging recently, saying it's because when we're young, we wish to be older, and when we're older, we want to be young, and his regenerations are reflecting that. So I suppose at least it's in keeping with that that this incarnation is younger than Tennant. As long as we can bypass the one with acne, and then the one in nappies.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

The official BBC line on regenerations is that it's an open question after the destruction of Gallifrey. Thirteen was the traditional, usual number, but all bets are officially off according to FAQ.

As for the 'aging backwards' speculation, I don't think it holds water. People seem to be looking at the last five years rather than the series as a whole. One and Three were both sort of grandfatherly, though in different ways. Two was younger than both of them (and totally getting it on with Jamie), Four was younger than him, and Five was, up until now, the youngest of all the Doctors, old and new.

If you start with Five, they get older again until Eight, where they slip back up and hover around in the 30-40s range. Considering the new series' penchant for referencing the original, I'm inclined to say Smith is this generation's Peter Davison, not a symptom of any particular set of sensibilities.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

Well, true. I'm mostly trying to apply logic when there isn't any besides availibilty, affordability and whatever personal/face-to-face impressions the casting director recived.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Having watched the confidential, the official line seems to be that he was an early stand-out, and that they kept coming back to him being ideal, and having that sort of Doctory quality they were looking for. Then again, I'm sure being cheap and available helps.

It also looks like Moffat had a direct hand in making the casting choice, and was present for auditions, so at least the showrunner/head writer's opinion was a factor.

[fragiletender.livejournal.com]

I also like that they haven't gone for another pretty boy, although he is sort of handsome, he's not classically good looking. I'm hoping they'll stop servicing the fangirls a bit. I'm up for a bit more dark brooding from my Doctor - but then I far prefer Ecclestone to Tennant.

[spybarbie.livejournal.com]

I just hope Moffat doesn't muck this up too bad.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

Um. I'm a bit .. underwhelmed.

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

Yeah - I'm totally surprised. So young, too!

[cruentum.livejournal.com]

And ... I think he is very pretty, to go off the shallow end.

[stardust9121.livejournal.com]

Wow, he's basically my age. That's...kinda weird, for me.

Although I do appreciate, if they're going to go that young, the fact that they didn't go with someone traditionally "pretty." "Interesting" is much, much better.

My first reaction was, basically, what. "Doctor Who" indeed. But I've never seen him in anything, so I can't judge, and I'm interested to see what he'll be like.

[karnythia.livejournal.com]

The comments in my LJ may well be worse than the announcement. Because people want me to kill them.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh god, I'm afraid.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry for the asshattery you got in the comments. That was notably egregious. :-/

[dskasak.livejournal.com]

After all these years of Ten using the alias "John Smith," I suppose it's only fitting that Eleven will be portrayed by a Smith.

I wonder if he'll keep the haircut in the role, since when I looked at the clip (http://bit.ly/uSiY), all I could think of was that Matt Smith and Russell Brand share the same barber.

[natf.livejournal.com]

Ten was not the first doctor to use that alias, by the way. Even in this Doctor Who Confidential episode there was a clip of an earlier doctor (Pertwee/Three I think) calling himself Doctor Smith (and introduced by the third person in the scene as John Smith) when he was introduced to Miss (Sarah Jane) Smith.

[fuyukodachi.livejournal.com]

I hope his Doctor is less gawky-teenage-boy than his real life self seemed in the bit I saw.

Also, needs less forehead.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Apparently he's done good things in theatre. I'm waiting for the Confidential to show up somewhere US-accessible so I can make a (slightly) more informed judgement...

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I was hoping for a Doctor who wasn't another white man. If this was US TV, I'd be certain that he was just the latest pretty boy, but there's is a sufficient amount of British TV that doesn't work that way, that I'm now curious as to what Moffat is up to with him. Puzzled and a bit disappointed, but still definitely curious.

[sinonmybody.livejournal.com]

I kind of think it's awesome that he is the 11th Matt Smith on IMDB, though. heh.

[laufeyette.livejournal.com]

I see a lot of potential chemistry between him and Jack. It's funny that when they met the Doctor looked older than him, then they were about the same, and now he is going to look younger - but still with all that history between them. I can't wait to see how Jack's attitude toward him adjusts. Plus Ianto and Eleven = fanfic!win. And also fail, I'm sure. But still.

[better-late24.livejournal.com]

He's young. Doesn't fit with my vision of the Doctor, but then, all I've seen is new DW. I saw it in a weird order, so for me, any Doctor other than Ten is a bit disconcerting. David Tennant just hits the right chord for me. But then, they keep changing companions and I've wound up liking them all. Hell, I didn't think I'd like Donna.

[natf.livejournal.com]

He has been in quite a bit this side of the pond - and with Billie in a couple of them. I think that a relative unknown will be interesting as the Doctor. It may, however, make the future of his career more difficult - even Tom Baker was typecast as The Doctor!

P.S. You might find this interesting…

[angelcityblues.livejournal.com]

He was a university classmate of an actor-writer friend of mine, lol_advertising. Apparently he's quite talented, says he, and he doesn't say that about just anyway. Here's hoping he pulls it off!

[gement.livejournal.com]

I was thinking he was crazy-young and far too smooth, but then I keep pondering what Moffat steering instead of RTD steering is going to look like, and it's... grim. Shadowy. Stuff of nightmares everywhere you look and the Doctor is so terribly terribly old.

I wonder if the young actor is either to counteract or accentuate that.