Comments on: Dr Who 40 Today

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 18:43:36 +0000

38 years ago the Cybermen frightened me so much I was forced to watch the rest of the episode from behind the sofa…….

By: harry

harry — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:11:10 +0000

I liked the Daleks, maybe because I was too young (or too stupid) to recognise their weaknesses. But the Cybermen were far the most terrifying to me. Ice Warriors a close second. I thought it was fine with Pertwee (I loved UNIT, which shows a youthful cosmopolitanism perhaps)—it lost its bearings under Douglas Adams etc with Tom Baker, but even those I like. I’m an uncritical fan, to be honest. Yep, any Goodie or any Python would be great.

By: dsquared

dsquared — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 14:08:52 +0000

I always thought that the Daleks were pretty badly overrated; the stairs thing has been done to death, but what about the genius idea of having your only sense-organ located on a yard-long stalk waving about with supreme vulnerability in front of you? Or for that matter, the lack of a decent manipulatory appendage, meaning that Daleks had to employ disgruntled slave-races for any task that required more dexterity than was available with a sink-plunger. The Cybermen, otoh, were rock. And so were the Sontarans.

By: Nabakov

Nabakov — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 05:40:06 +0000

I’m with Harry. No pretty boys. Remember that disasterous film in the 90s with Paul McGann as the Doctor. The Doctor needs have something of the dotty don about him. Bill Nighy would be a very interesting choice -he certainly looks not quite of this earth. For a really off the wall Who – how about Bill Drummond? The idea of Tony Wilson is fun, and he used to have his own Tardis in reverse…the Hacienda.

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:14:21 +0000

Tony Wilson would be an amazing Dr. Who. Just watch 24 Hour Party People. he has the perfect balance of crankiness, wackiness and smarts.

By: Jon H

Jon H — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 01:00:43 +0000

If Ian McKellan were the new Doctor, he’d wrap up a geek trifecta – Magneto, Gandalf, and Doctor Who.

By: Arnold Bocklin

Arnold Bocklin — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 00:17:14 +0000

The best of the Doctors were unknowns when they were cast—well trodden character actors who stole every scene they were in, but previously never got to play the lead. The current fan favourite for the role seems to be Bill Nighy. He’d be terrific.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 23:33:22 +0000

First of all, you don’t need broadband for the animation: there is a narrowband version; it’s just slow. I agree with Harry, ergo Patrick Troughton for me. They spoiled the music, which used to be scary by being so weird, with a drum track, making it sound like everything else. (But they have responded to complaints, and maybe that changed.) It’s Richard E Grant in the current animation, which is crap for lots of reasons, none due to him. The Daleks were the only enemies who really worked. I remember my dad said of the change from Troughton to Pertwee that “it went from being for clever children to being for stupid teenagers” which may sum up my dad more than Dr Who, but I think he was right. They lost the educational brief where he went back in time for “educational” purposes, and it lost something with that. As for the new Doctor, I prefer them old, so either Leslie Grantham (Dirty Den) or an old Goodie or Python (any would do).

By: harry

harry — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 21:38:39 +0000

The rule is that your favourite Doctor is the first you really knew. Chris is obviously an exception. I sort of follow the rule, preferring Pertwee (just about) to all others; but Sylvester McCoy is a close second, with Ace by far my favourite companion. Yes, Chris, it got tamer and you got older. I just hope they don’t give it to some pretty young boy (I would like Nick Lyndhurst or Geoffrey Palmer myself, but Richard E Grant would be fine) and they get on with it in time for Nicholas Courtney to appear for the final time as Lethbridge Stewart.

By: Andrew Northrup

Andrew Northrup — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 21:31:08 +0000

I’m very pleased that Eddie Izzard is not a done deal; first, because he’d be awful, and, secondly, because there is still hope that people will give Richard E. Grant the role he was born to play.

By: --kip

--kip — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 21:19:31 +0000

Eddie Izzard is nothing but a rumor, sadly. Myself, I stick by my earlier suggestion: why not Rob Morrow, née Doctor Joel Fleischman of Cicely, Alaska? It’s just crazy enough to work… (As a sidenote: everyone’s familiar with the “Spot the Timelord” sophomoric bull session? Find fictional characters who have a propensity for turning up in odd places and times, who live in [or with] iconic items that are much larger on the inside than on the outside. Applying this standard, then, we find that Mary Poppins, Snoopy, and Oscar the Grouch all fit the basic Time Lord criteria.) PS: Peter Davidson, and don’t ever let anyone tell you different.

By: Theophylact

Theophylact — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 20:49:33 +0000

I’ve heard that they’ve cast Eddie Izzard. Now that would be something…

By: Chris Bertram

Chris Bertram — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 19:07:44 +0000

I remember the first time I saw it, which must have been near the beginning, with William Hartnell as the Doctor. Terrifying and atmospheric and such a wonderful intro with that spooky music. I don’t know if it became tamer or I just got older. Tom Baker was probably my favourite Doctor, but none of the aliens ever came close to the Daleks.