The Time of the Doctor (Seth's Take)

Hi there! Remember me? Seth, classic-series aficionado. I've been gone a while, school and such, but I'm back now! I'll do another post catching you up on my opinions on the things I've missed--the fiftieth and so forth--later, but that can wait, because we've got this much more immediate thing to discuss.

The Time of the Doctor (Ley's Take)

Spoiler warning!

Good Night, Raggedy Man: A Love Letter to the Eleventh Doctor

"I'll be a story in your head. But that's okay. We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know, the best."

Dear Doctor,

They say you never forget your first Doctor.

I will say, you were not quite the first for me. The first Doctor I watched was the Ninth. But you were the Doctor when I became a Whovian. So, not only is this my first Christmas special, but this is my first regeneration as well.

Though this may be the first time I actually
admit it, the answer is, and always will be yes.

You know by now that I have mixed feelings about you. I hope it counts for something that a really, really do want  to like you. But I think Ten will always be my Doctor.

I began watching the show on a medical leave from college in February of this year. I am a Theatre Arts major and a lot of the other students in the program love it. I didn't quite fit in with them, and so I began watching it as something to be able to talk with them about and understand the references.

But, as you can tell, it became more. So much more.


Since my second or third year of high school, I've known I was a relatively decent writer compared to my peers. (Quite franklyI thought that spoke more about my peers than myself.) Starting this blog proved me wrong. Once it picked up momentum, it never really stopped. It evolved in a way I could not imagine.

And you carried the show while all this was happening.

For me, you only became the Doctor in late February or March, so I am still attached to your previous face. It's strange, how we attach to faces.

Your song is ending now, too. But, as Ood Sigma said, the story never ends.

And that is so true. Just over a month ago, we all celebrated fifty years of Doctor Who. And we, as a community, have never been stronger. I would attribute most of that to the internet, allowing millions of Whovians to connect everyday. I believe there have been studies that prove that talking about things (and people too!) is conducive to creating the bonds that we call love. Twitter. Facebook. Tumblr. All crawling with Whovians, if your know where to look. I believe the epic of your story will only perish when the human race does so as well. It will go to the end of the Earth--and perhaps beyond.

Here's the gist of what I'm trying to say. Bad Wolf said it best:

You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing groaning? That sound brings hope where ever it goes. To anyone who hears it, Doctor. Anyone. However lost.

There has been no line in all of Doctor Who with more veracity than that. That wheezing, groaning used to invoke such a response in me that I set it as the text tone on my phone to desensitize myself it it (not that it really worked, of course).

Before I end this letter, I'd like to share my most fond memory of you with you. This summer, I babysat my two-year-old cousin, Max, for two consecutive weeks. On the Tuesday or Wednesday of the second week, I popped on "The Beast Below," as we had just watched Treasure Planet and the Orcus galacticus, naturally, reminded me of the Star Whale. Max, curious as ever, asked what exactly a Star Whale is. And, as that episode is pretty child-friendly (compared to a lot of the other stories), I didn't think it could do any harm (and as far as I know, it has not). He and I watched it. And he loved it. I wonder when his mother (my aunt) will Google "star whale" and figure out what happened.

So, Doctor. The Eleventh Doctor. Matt Smith. Sir Doctor of Tardis. The Oncoming Storm. The Drunk Giraffe. And, in a way, my Doctor. You are so loved. And by no one in the exact same way as me.

Goodbye, Raggedy Man.

The Forever and Always Yours Ley Wynn

PS. It's not quite goodbye, you know--same software, different casing.

Like What You See?

Join Us On:

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram!

What I Want From the Twelfth Doctor (or Whatever Number Capaldi Is…)

And ever since then...

With Matt Smith’s reign as Doctor having less than twenty-four hours remaining, the internet is atwitter with…timey-wimey stuff. There is no doubt in my mind that the Doctor Capaldi will be will be unlike the last two Doctors. More than twenty years older at the start of his tenure than David Tennant, it would be unfitting to have him play a flirty, sexy Doctor, especially alongside the youthful Jenna Coleman.

The most recent Doctors have had faces that reflect the personality of their Doctors, Tennant being young, flirty, and suave, and Smith being joyous (most of the time) and a tad crazed. When you look at Capaldi’s face, what do you think of? His face is aged in a way the likes of which we have not seen since at least Sylvester McCoy, or perhaps even Jon Pertwee. There is a striking similarity between the eyes of William Hartnell and our incumbent Doctor, at least to me. Capaldi’s face, in general, especially when paired with the little First Doctor impression he did when he walked on stage upon being announced as Smith’s successor, reminds me of Hartnell. Perhaps his Doctor will be a bit more like the Classic Doctors rather than the new Doctors.

...the Doctor had a thing about showers.

But so far, these clues have been just that—clues. And that’s not the title of this post. Here’s what I want to see from Peter and the team:

• In all honesty, I want a sterner Doctor. While I love the playfulness of Matt, I would love to see this new Doctor be a bit more mature.
• This may sound weird, but I want a Doctor who reminds me of a nice wine. In my view, they’ve been getting better with age, no question, but I want something with a deeper, more complex flavour. Something that might pair well with a filet mignon. (#SecretFoodie)
• While Matt certainly had his darker moments, I personally loved the fire and ice and rage that was David’s Doctor, and I want that back for Capaldi. Some of that was a consequence of Gallifrey burning, which it has not (Can we just take a second to “appreciate” how Moffat broke the key rule and [sort of] negated eight years of writing? Clearly this man has no improv training.) Actually happened, apparently, and now the Doctor knows it there is less of an influence for is depression. Call me crazy (it’s OK; people have done it before), but when Clara goes, and we know it is only a matter of time, I’d like it to be in a way even more emotionally damning that the Rose…it’s been a long time since a companion’s been truly killed… Oh, I’m so bloody evil. Although Clara’s a bit of a meme, I wonder what having the definite article killed would do to her existence in the Doctor’s timestream…



Artwork (c) Erin Natal

• NO BOWTIES. I will accept the fez now that it has been on the head of Ten, but no more. Please, costume designers, consider a cravat? Capaldi would look seriously good in a cravat. Allons-y on that cravat.

Like What You See?

Join Us On:

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram!

The Extended BBC America "Time of the Doctor" Trailer?

Yeah, it's a thing.
Even as an American (for now) I think it is more than strange that the BBC would release a trailer only to the States.
But let's get past that, and discuss it!

"I HOPE YOU MADE A WISH."

-Clara's Grandmother (?)

That's where it is. That's how the Doctor does it. Regenerate again, I mean. Clara makes a wish for him not to die.

"WHAT ARE YOU? WHY DO I KEEP FORGETTING YOU?"

-Clara

There's a huge surprise in store for Clara. She hasn't met the Silence yet. Whole years of Moffat plot, they are, and she has never had an experience with them (with the Doctor--as a person, I assume so, as everyone meets Silents.

But there's still another surprise in store--the Weeping Angels!

"YOU WILL DIE IN SILENCE, DOCTOR."

-Dalek

The Daleks never were too good with metaphor, so it is my thinking that they mean that the Silence will kill him.

"THE TIME LORD WILL BEGIN ANEW."

-Woman

Now, I try to avoid night-blogging here, but what if Capaldi is playing another William Hartnell Doctor? I mean, the Curator did say a  few things that would point to something akin to that.

"THIS WORLD WILL BURN."

-Woman

Alright, I know that Gallifrey didn't burn (one thing, though, is he gonna just keep that cube like on his night stand or something?) but still that phrase must evoke some feelings to the Doctor after 400 years thinking he burned Gallifrey.

AND TWO FINAL THOUGHTS

for which I have very little back up....

...what if the Doctor's name is Trenzalore? and, what if Trenzalore is Earth?

Like What You See?

Join Us On:

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram!

The Clock Strikes Twelve: The Twelfth Doctor is...

...Peter Capaldi

The death of one Doctor and the introduction of another, is always an awkward time. There will be people who hate the new actor, there will be people who love him right off the bat. Some people will need a bit convincing, but no matter who steps through that door tonight, all that can be asked of us, is that we give him a chance.
People did not like it when Peter Davison sat up after Tom Baker, people raged against Colin Baker, people quite after Sylvester McCoy, people dismissed Paul McGann, people rolled their eyes at the leather wearing Christopher Eccelston, people criticised the antics of David Tennant, people judged Matt Smith on his age.

Even if you hate this new Doctor, and you think there is no going back, know this. In what seems like the blink of an eye (but, um, don't blink), we'll have another. That is how Doctor Who works.

My Twelfth Doctor Nomination(s)

Allow me to first say that typing the title to this post was the first time I ever spelt "twelfth" right on the first try that I can remember.

Okay, now I will get to the point. My nomination for the role of the Twelfth Doctor is none other than Ben Daniels. Although he's not young like the past two Doctors have been and probably won't have the epic fangirls that Tennant and Smith bring to the fandom, I think Daniels could be a very suitable choice. I first saw him as Tristan in BBC's Merlin ("Sword in the Stone", parts 1 and 2) and I immediately thought that he could play the role with the emotional vulnerability that Eccleston's and Tennant's performances made me expect from Matt Smith, which, for me, in my humble opinion, Smith did not deliver on. I think that if the Beeb wants to go with another male for the role that Ben Daniels is perfect for it--of course, that is if he wants it.

Then, there is the possibility of the Doctor becoming a woman, which was only made bigger by Matt's recent comment at the San Diego Comic Con. If this happens, I've no idea who it might be. I'd like to see Olivia Coleman in the role; I just have a funny feeling about her and this role. I know the BBC has said that they are wanting to cast a non-A lister who isn't already known for some other role, like Emma Watson. May I suggest myself?

What it comes down to is that only time itself will tell, and unfourtunately for us it itsn't the non-linear wibly-wobly, timey-wimey sort of time. We humans at this point have to go about time linearly, so we can only wait and see. You can bet that you can come back to TARDIStyle and see an announcement here as soon as it breaks!

Hey, Who's Running this Show? Who's Even in this Show?

The answer has been "Steven Moffat" since 2010, but there's some speculation that that may be changing. The Radio Times reports that despite rumours otherwise, Moffat will be staying for at least a year.
Many fans have a love/hate relationship with Steven, and personally I'm indifferent to him, but I think that its good that he'll be there for the first season of the Twelfth Doctor. When Russell T Davies left along with David Tennant, I felt like too much change and that I was watching a whole different show, between the new Doctor, new TARDIS, inside and out, new companion, new sonic screwdriver, and different writing. So that is good.

Some Whovians can sleep a bit easier tonite knowing that the new Doctor will not likely be announced until July. The Radio Times reports that the search is underway. That is a tad obvious as the Christmas Special, in which Matt will regenerate, starts filming in July.

Read the RT article I'm mentioning here.

Some More 12th Doctor Candidates

In addition to the last post, here are some more names of the people who may be being considered to play the twelfth Doctor:

Stephen Mangan

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Damien Molony

Tom Hiddleston

Richard Madden

Sue Perkins

Jamie Dornan

Miranda Hart

Colin Morgan

Andrew Buchan

Eddie Redmayne

Ben Daniels

Dev Patel

Patterson Joseph

Matthew Goode

I still have a strange feeling about Olivia Coleman. I don't know why.

Guess Who?

Some mathletes have hit the books and come up with the odds of several actors favorited to play the Twelfth Doctor. Here they are:

3:1 Rory Kinnear

4:1 David Harewood

9:2 Idris Elba 

6:1 Benedict Cumberbatch

7:1 Harry Lloyd

8:1 Derek Jakobi

10:1 Rupert Grint

10:1 Russell Tovey

12:1 Martin Freeman

14:1 Ben Winshaw

16:1 Billie Piper 

(Personally, I find Billie highly unlikely as she was, of course, Rose Tyler and, well, it'd just be awkward....)

20:1 Helen Mirren

20:1 Tilda Swinton

20:1 David Walliams

25:1 Rys Ifan

25:1 Olivia Coleman

25:1 Daniel Radcliffe

40:1 Rowan Aktinson

66:1 Stephen Fry

250:1 David Beckham

250:1 Tom Cruise

250:1 Simon Cowell

What do I think? I think I should play the Doctor. But I don't think that will be happening for this incarnation, so my bet is on Olivia Coleman, I just have a feeling about her, or Rupert Grint, because he is ginger. I do feel that casting the Doctor as a black actor might be likely as well. I just have a feeling about Olivia Coleman, I don't know why. It will definitely be exciting to see who gets this role.

CONFIRMED: Matt Smith Leaving Officially Doctor Who

Some, like myself, are happy, and some are sad. No matter what your opinion, Matt had some great moments as the last of the Time Lords and will be missed. To my knowledge, it has not yet been announced who will be taking over for him.

His last episode, as predicted, will be the 2013 Christmas special.


Here is the statement Matt made just a few minutes ago.

"Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show.
"I'm incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day to realise all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I'm incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.
"Having Steven Moffat as show runner write such varied, funny, mind bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career. It's been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven - he's a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.
The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other; they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show (and speculate more about the future of the show) in a way that I've never seen before.
"Your dedication is truly remarkable. Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation of the Time Lord, number 11, who I might add is not done yet - I'm back for the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special.
"It's been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with 'the ginger, the nose and the impossible one'. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls. Thank you guys."

Read the full article from the BBC itself here.

This is the first in a series of DW announcements expected tonight.

Matt Smith Regeneration Update

In a post from 26 March 13, SciFiBulletin reports that Matt Smith will stay as the Doctor in to the 2014 season, according to an interview in the upcoming edition (30 March-5 April) of "Radio Times."

"Doctor Who star Matt Smith has confirmed categorically that he is committed to Doctor Who for the next year – taking him through the recording of series eight – and that he is taking the show on a year by year basis.
"There have been rumours that the 50th anniversary special would conclude with the Doctor regenerating, but this would seem to put a stop to those.
"The Radio Times includes a wraparound cover featuring the various monsters to be featured in the eight episodes about to be aired, and confirms the titles of all bar the finale: The Bells of Saint John; The Rings of Akhaten; Cold War; Hide; Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS; The Crimson Horror; and Nightmare in Silver. Moffat’s finale, featuring the return of River Song, will be revealed later, with the head writer explaining, 'You’re about to learn something about the Doctor that you never knew before. And I think you’re in for a shock…'”

Matt Smith: Christmas Regeneration?

As you may have seen yesterday, there are regeneration rumours surrpunding the 2013 Christmas special. The rumour is that Matt wants to leave the TARDIS in exchange for a career in Hollywood.
This is the only article I found that makes an attempt at debunking it:

"The last time showrunner Steven Moffat was asked how long incumbent Doctor Matt Smith would remain in the role, he snapped back with a cheerily brisk 'Forever. For the rest of time'. There's the slightest chance you know, that he wasn't telling the truth... 

"Of course he wasn't. If there's one thing more certain than death, taxes, and repetition of the phrase "Doctor Who?" in the new episodes, it's that Matt Smith won't be the Doctor forever. The Sun, amongst others, is keen for us to think that his departure will come sooner rather than later, namely, after the 2013 Christmas special. The newspaper ran a story suggesting that 'Insiders say the festive special will be Matt's last outing as The Doctor', citing Smith's ambition to break into Hollywood as his reason for bowing out after a four year stint. 

"The BBC was quick to respond to the story, and had this to say: 

"'Sorry folks but even we don’t know what’s going to happen at Christmas. It’s not been written yet! But Matt loves the show and is to start filming the unmissable 50th anniversary, and the new series starting on Easter Saturday.'

 "It's not exactly a denial, and neither was Smith's answer to the question posed by Jonathan Ross last week, 'I am very happy doing it. I do the anniversary special, then the Christmas special. At the moment it’s 2013 and we will see what 2014 holds.'”

-Den of Geek, "Doctor Who: BBC Responds to Matt Smith Quitting Rumours"

So there it is. Any allegations about Matt Smith regenerating for the Christmas special are not fact...yet.

While I was searching for that, I did come upon some very interesting "contreversy" over regeneration.
Some are saying that the Doctor's lack of gingerness is condoning anti-gingerism. The Telegraph
When Eleven does regenerate to twelve, will it be a woman? For my own aspirations of playing the Doctor, I hope so...The Huffington Post
Helen Mirren has her eyes on the role. The Huffington Post. 
And for all you worrying that he's run out of regenerations, here's reassurance for you, too. It's even a "fact"now.


What do I think of all of this?

The Impending Regeneration

Good. I'm really not a fan of the Matt Smith interpretation. He's...well, I'm going to be critical here, but before you say I don't know what I'm talking about, I do: I'm an actor, so I know that he can do better.
I do have to hand it to him that David Tennant's performance is a tough act to follow. Tennant, in general, is a phenominal actor. I first saw him in the televised version of RSC's "Hamlet" and loved it. That's a big reason of why I started watching Doctor Who. When you've seen an actor before, there's always a risk of it being that character playing the character. I didn't see Hamlet playing the Doctor. (I watched Casanova, which was done before Tennant started as the Doctor after I watched all of the Tenth Doctor, so I can't say that I saw Casanova playing either.) Of course, David has his trademarks that almost all his characters use--ie, "Welllll....," "Oh yes!," his eyebrows, but all those characters use those attributes differently.

In doing the Doctor so well, David also made it a really easy role to take over. We see so much emotion in Tennat's Doctor, and that lets us in to his personality. What we see him go through are emotions we all go through, but never talk about. I think that that's one of the best things about the Tenth Doctor. It may be that yes, I do have high expectations from any actor playing the role, and it is true that every Doctor is different from the last, but they still have traits from their previous regenerations:

"You know, I loved being you. 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. And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing, I got that from you. Oh, and the trainers. And... [putting his glasses on] snap! 'Cos you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor."

 -The Tenth Doctor to the Fifth Doctor, Time Crash

Anti-Gingerism

When the doctor eats beans and pears. It's quite simple: Amy is ginger and if the show had an anti-ginger agenda, then they wouldn't make someone as pivitoal as the Fantastic Amy Pond ginger.

Regenerating as a Female 

and Helen Mirren as the Doctor

Also good. As I mentioned, I really want to play the role. There were some pretty solid hints that Twelve will be female. In The Eleventh Hour, one of the first post-regeneration new-body panics in that he's now a woman. Then, in The Doctor's Wife, he mentions the Time Lord Corsair and his regenerations. He says: "He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooo, she was a bad girl." 

I did edit this photo. This is the original.

There are a couple of things that could prevent it, not "scientiffically," just from a buisness end. Since David played the role, we have the expectation for the Doctor to be a super-sexy man. While I do know females who are super-sexy men, Helen Mirren is not one of them--in fact, she is, sorry Helen, a bit on the older side, currently at age 67, and is a July baby so sould by 68 by the time she'd get the role. At 1200, the doctor is older than ever, but Helen would be the oldest actor at the start of her portrayl of the lonely god by thirteen years (William Hartnell, the First Doctor was 55 when he took on the role in 1963), which would be somewhat ironic as Matt Smith, who started as the Doctor at age 27, is the youngest actor to be the doctor by two years (Peter Davison was 29, and the third youngest was Tennant at 34). Then there is the fact that the Doctor being female would complicate the River Song-Doctor thing. I've got nothing against homosexuality--I'm a big suppourter of the LGBT movement--but I just don't see River as being a lesbian. Of course, the Doctor has now known River for three hundred years of his life, and we might just see River meet the Doctor for the first time before the eleven-twelve regeneration.

All and all, I've no problem with the Doctor being female, I just don't know how good it would be for the longterm continuing of the show...

Running Out of Regenerations

Again, we must remember that Doctor Who is a television show (yes, I know there are novels and comics and all sorts of other media of it, but mainly, it is a show) and show buisness is just that: buisness. Like the Doctor becoming female, it all depends on if the show is turning a profit or not. As long as it is, they'll throw continuity out the TARIS doors and into an event horison and/or find a reason why the Doctor earned extra regenerations.

In Conclusion...

There's a reason you're reading this blog: you like (or at leart are remotely interested) in Doctor Who. It's the longest running televison show on the planet, and thats because its fantastic. And I think it's gonna keep being fantastic for a long, long time.