It is almost a week since I had the joy
of seeing not 11, not 12, but 13 Doctors save the day. The Day of the Doctor
was the day he finally accepted the self that was the War Doctor, and who is
now really the 9th Doctor, making his present incarnation the 12th. But we
shall not worry ourselves about that latest wondrous turn of events. I wish to
think more about the Doctor who loves fish fingers and custard.
A few days after watching the Day of
The Doctor I was chatting with a friend via text messaging and of course we
were talking about one of our many shared loves, Doctor Who. We both spoke
about many of the highs of the 50th anniversary special including the moment
all the Doctors came together. I added how brilliant it was to be including the
soon to be 12th/13th Doctor, Peter Capaldi. There was a pause in our texting.
Then he said he
wasn’t convinced by him and wasn't looking
forward to when he took over. He'd made the decision from one tiny moment in
the Whoniverse. I said I was going to
wait until he actually started. There was no way they'd give ANYTHING away in
that one moment, absolutely nothing. So
back to The Eleventh Hour and what I thought of this funny faced mad-man in a
box.
I loved the 10th Doctor and when it was
announced he was hanging up his Converse I feared on who the next Doctor would
be. Unlike the younger fans I'd seen errors of choice, or what I at the time
thought were errors. Now, after all the celebrations and the programmes that came
with that I now know that the 6th Doctors obnoxious behaviour was the damned
writers and not poor Colin. So when they announced who it was, who is Matt
Smith? AND How old he was I panicked a little. No I panicked a lot. Much like I
did when they announced 29 year old Peter Davison was taking over from Tom
Baker and I was a mere teenager then. Imagine how it felt to hear a 27 year old
was taking over when I was now in my forties?! I'm digressing again....sorry...
I knew who Peter was, but had no clue
about Matt. Never heard or seen of him before. And the same was of Karen
Gillan. And even before David's final moments were even aired we were seeing
pictures on the Internet of filming of the new series were popping up. I was
now getting worried. He looked 12 for goodness sake and he most certainly
didn't look like the Doctor. 'Calm Mickie, give the boy...I mean man a chance.
Make no harsh judgements yet! It's a picture, it means nothing. But my god he
looks like a bloody child!'
Then it finally arrived "I don't
want to go!" 'Christ David nor do we! Stop now for goodness sake! Stop
your silly regeneration and stay...Please!!!'
'Damn...too late....there he is, the 12
year old with a funny face!' After he'd moaned he still wasn't ginger and the
credits ran past I still was NOT convinced. Even with a few visual moments I'd
decided he wasn’t the man. He wasn't the Doctor. No...No way...not the 12
year old with the funny face!
But...deep down in my heart of hearts I
knew I had to give him a chance...so I waited....
Then it came "The Eleventh
Hour" was upon us and as the minutes passed my view on this funny faced
Doctor started to change. As he looked over the edge of the TARDIS at Amelia
Pond he had the most whimsical and delightful smile. What child wouldn't feel
safe when faced by something as strange as a mad man in a box that made odd
noises and steamed (that's the box, not the Doctor). And when he was all
serious, you believed him even then. In that one episode I knew he was right
and I realised I was right to stick with him.
As these few years have passed Matt has
proven to be well worthy of carrying the name The Doctor. He has made him his
own, until he passes on the Sonic baton to the next man. And he has most
certainly proved his worth as an actor. He may be, to date, the youngest to
play the roaming Time Lord, but also seems to be the oldest at times. When someone
said the Doctor had a young face, but his eyes betrayed him, it was very true.
Matt has had the skill to look much older than his years. He'll look at the
camera and you can almost see all his other selves looking back. All those
thousand and odd years seems to look back at you. All the loss and pain this
alien has felt is there, hidden behind a child-like face. There are few actors
who reach their sixties who have that capability and Matt was there before his
thirties.
So now we are fast approaching the end
of The Eleventh Hour. Fast approaching the end of Matt’s reign as the Doctor
and I know I shall miss him terribly, even the brilliant Karen Gillan proved me
wrong as she was a brilliant and feisty companion who took no crap from the
Doctor and would have made Sarah Jane proud, so to say he was amazing and
brilliant would be a massive understatement. In the words of the 9th Doctor he
was fantastic!
I cannot choose who my favourite Doctor
is; between David and Matt...I couldn't. So they shall both have to share that
top spot. They have both fetched something of their own to this
mad-man-in-a-box and I hope that Peter will also prove many wrong.
I am going to miss you Mr Smith we had
a brilliant time with you. They were some of the very best! Well done and good
luck. I know you will achieve great things as an actor. But you will always be
one of the best Doctors in my opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment