Dr Who

(10-10-2014 18:48 )bytor Wrote:  They just about got it right with Ecclestone but ever since have seemed hellbent on ruining it one way or another.

My least favorite of the modern ones.

Everyone knew when David Tennant handed in his notice the programme would struggle .When it was first relaunched it was a relavation ,what with the dynamic fast paced 1hour stories and the modern cgi effects .Even Christopher Ecclestone seemed a great fit .He even made everyone think that the "New Who " would die a premature death with his resignation after a glorious one and only series .In hindsight he was a bit naff , but he had his moments .
Enter David Tennant and he played the part to perfection for me .The stories were mostly good up to the end of his tenure .
Then came Matt Smith .To be honest I didn't like him in the role ,for maybe his first two series . Gradually I started to warm to him ,but still wished David Tennant had stayed .This period for me is where the "quality ideas" start to go AWOL .
I'll skip John Hurt , an obvious "star name" cash-in , for a quick tilt at "The Ratings" and "luvvie" points .
Peter Capaldi .
The jury's still out on him ,but my first impression's of him are ;too old ,doesn't look dynamic enough ,he may "grow" into the role the longer he plays it .Maybe I'll come round to him later .Like I said at the beginning ,not sure about him yet .However ,the stories have got to improve a hell of a lot for this to happen .
Overall I'd rate Tennant tops by a Galaxy ,then Tom Baker ,Jon Pertwee ,,Chris Ecclestone ,then Matt Smith .Peter Davison would be next ,then Patrick Troughton .
I'll abstain on William Hartnell ,even I was too young for his time .
The others Baker C. ,McCoy (and Hurt ?) absolute dross .No wonder Grade decommissioned the programme .
Remember the old adage history repeats itself .Well if the quality keeps dropping as at the present it might get dropped again .

Do people remember the Donna Noble episodes? those fat idiot things in parliament, the never ending Billie piper thing. There was a hell of a lot of tat back then.

****Overall I'd rate Tennant tops by a Galaxy ,then Tom Baker ****

Probably only one in the galaxy

But "the tat" back then was 1 in 4 episode's .The "tat" ratio now is 3 in 4 episodes .

Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were the two iconic Doctors as far as I am concerned. Eccleston was good while Tennant began well but soon started playing it for laughs. It's the storylines that bother me more though than which actor is playing him.

Good Tennant:

Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel
Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
Human Nature / Family of Blood
Blink
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
Midnight

Bad Tennant
The idiots Lantern
Love & monsters
Fear Her

So overall more good episodes than bad.

Dr Who now kinda reminds me of the original Star Trek, weak scripts, corny dialogue, tragic special effects/costumes, and extremely ham acting.
Thing is, Star Trek got away with it because it was produced in the 60's, this is now 2014, things have moved on, there is really no excuse for it to be like this. Bear in mind this is being shown at 8.30 on a saturday night, this is a flagship show, being shown at prime time, yet it has the look and feel of a kids show because of the overall amateurishness, it wouldn't look at all out of place on CBBC!

Perhaps it's time to put it to bed, and come back after a suitable rest with a new creative 'team' (as opposed to one individual), and relaunch with a kind of 'Dr Who - Next Generation', with better scripts, proper acting, real character development, decent effects, and an overall more 'grown-up' feel to the whole show.

.....^......
Exactly , the perfect diagnosis Munch .

(11-10-2014 04:35 )mickster Wrote:  But "the tat" back then was 1 in 4 episode's .The "tat" ratio now is 3 in 4 episodes .

We obviously have very different memories or tastes, or may be I just remember the bad episodes, which says a lot.

Inspired by the list above and the general talk of how good it was I just had a look of all the episode guides of tennent on IMBD to remind me and below, for me are the truly good ones versus the truly bad ones..

Good Tennant:

The Girl in the Fireplace
Gridlock
Human Nature / Family of Blood
Blink
The Shakespeare Code
Silence in the Library

Bad Tennant

The idiots Lantern
Love & monsters
Fear Her
The run away bride
smith and Jones
The Lazarus Experiment



The rest, even with imbd I couldn't remember which says a lot about the impact they had, but wobbled around average.

I always liked David Tennant's doctor. I thought he had a hard job to do taking over after the good work started by Chris Eccleston in the show's return but he did it admirably in my view, even surpassing his predecessor by the end of his run, for me. I'd put Tennant second favourite after Peter Davison with Tom Baker in at number 3. I haven't yet seen enough of William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton or Jon Pertwee's doctors to make a judgment on them.

I did like Paul McGann's doctor too - he never got much screen time but I was pleased when he came back for the Night of the Doctor bridging the gap between Eighth Doctor and War Doctor. I still hope they can one day do more episodes with McGann and Eccleston, I'd love to see an eighth doctor and ninth doctor crossover. McGann has always said he's happy to come back and still occasionally does the audio dramas. Eccleston sadly seems to be distancing himself further from the show though.

While we're on the subject of particularly good and not so good episodes for Tennant I'd like to add mine. I liked most of his, it's just the titles in this list stand out as first my favourites and a few I didn't get at all.

Good Tennant

Blink
42
Human Nature / Family of Blood
Gridlock
The Girl In The Fireplace
Midnight
Fires of Pompeii
The Shakespeare Code
Waters of Mars
Silence in the Library

Not so good Tennant

Turn Left
Utopia
Love and Monsters
Partners in Crime