It was only a few weeks ago that I first began watching the 2010 season of Doctor Who; it’s hard to believe it’s already nearing its conclusion. (Why do they have only 13 episodes per season, instead of 22 like a proper season?) During that time I’ve become quite a fan of Matt Smith’s interpretation of the character.
“The Pandorica Opens” – the first half of the two-part season finale – doesn’t play on BBC America for a few weeks yet, but it aired in Britain today and so I just watched it online. Nope, no spoilers here – just thought I’d say a) a hell of a lot happens in it, and b) it ends on one hell of a cliffhanger. Getting out of this is going to be a tricky one ….
I’m really enjoying Matt Smith’s interpretation too.
I don’t know why the short series, but it seems part of the course in the UK.
Christopher Eccleston even found the recording schedule very difficult – hence the doctor lite episodes (like Blink).
I have a friend who thinks he’s a bit too “mad”; I can understand the criticism (especially with an episode like “The Lodger” — though that would be a criticism of the script rather than the acting), but I really like Smith’s ability to morph from childlike enthusiasm to cold menace.
I know; I was trying to make a sort of joke about that by using “proper” the British way to criticise the British practice.
Wasn’t that a Tennant episode?
I think we should call all the episodes that don’t have to do with Daleks “Dalek-lite episodes.” 🙂
especially with an episode like “The Lodger” — though that would be a criticism of the script rather than the acting
But not a very good criticism, since “The Lodger” is the best episode of the season thus far.
Anyway, properly speaking I wouldn’t call Smith’s Doctor “mad” so much as he’s “alien.” Like Tom Baker, Matt Smith is playing up the fact that the character is not human & doesn’t think like us. It’s a direction the series hasn’t taken in a while, and I’m pleased to see it.
I enjoyed “The Lodger,” sort of, but I do think that, for the sake of comedic effect, they had the Doctor come across as much more clueless than he has in other episodes, to the extent of its being hard to accept it as part of the show’s continuity. (That’s a slightly different criticism than my friend’s “madness” objection, though — cluelessness being distinct from madness [and likewise from alien-ness, which I have no problem with].)
Just one example: if he really thinks air-kissing is the way you greet people in Earth’s early 21st century, why didn’t he thusly greet any of the many, many other early 21st-century people he has met in other episodes? He never greeted Amy and Rory that way; nor their friends and neighbours in Leadworth (“Eleventh Hour,” the opening scene of “Vampires in Venice,” the village scenes in “Amy’s Choice”); nor the museum guide at the d’Orsay (“Vincent”); nor the scientists at the Big Mining Thing (“Hungry Earth,” “Cold Blood”). Plus of course he’s spent much of his last two incarnations interacting with early 21st century Earthers as well, again with no sign of air-kissing. It just felt to me as though they were trying to get humor out of making the Doctor seem more clueless than he generally is, and thus disrespecting the character — and the audience — for the sake of a laugh. (I have an analogous beef with how Spock was handled in some of the Star Trek movies, especially IV and V.) So I’d have to rank it as one of my less favourite episodes this season.
FWIW, my favourites so far have been “Eleventh Hour” (which grows on me more and more with repeated viewing), “Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone,” and “Vincent.” Least favourite:”Victory of the Daleks.” (But then I’m not usually a fan of Dalek episodes, though there are some nice exceptions; Eccleston’s first Dalek story was quite good, and I found the very first appearance of Daleks in the Hartnell days oddly effective despite the especially limited special effects.)
I just watched “Vincent and the Doctor” again (the BBC America broadcast), and Van Gogh responds to the museum guide’s speech by kissing him on both cheeks. And that’s the episode just before “The Lodger.” So that might have put the idea in the Doctor’s mind.
i’ve never heard of him before.
many thanks!!!
I’ve come to accept the idea that each writer’s vision of the Doctor’s knowledge and habits may differ a bit from the others’, so I’m more interested in whether I like the “Lodger” version of the character than whether it fits perfectly well with the behavior we see in other episodes. That said, I think you can make it consistent with the other episodes if you (a) assume the new incarnation’s personality change included an increase in absent-mindedness, (b) assume he’s attempting to pose as a human himself while he lives as a human being’s roommate, and thus makes a greater effort to adopt human habits, and (c) squint.
On a different subject: Thanks for linking ot that website. Much easier than waiting for a torrent to dowload.
On an even more different subject: imagine if the Pandorica had opened — and had contained Jar Jar.
Or Mary Whitehouse.
That would have been quite an … Experience.