Doctor Who *Spoilers Abound! We've lost Containment*

The bow tie is a bad choice, but to me the Doctor is like James Bond. I'll still watch even if the new guy isn't all that good. I still wish Eccleston had gotten in more seasons than he did.

Once I past the tie, I noticed the rolled pants.

There's a doctor? All I see is a redhead.

Funkenpants wrote:

The bow tie is a bad choice, but to me the Doctor is like James Bond. I'll still watch even if the new guy isn't all that good. I still wish Eccleston had gotten in more seasons than he did.

Since they are going with such a young guy, I'm glad they're nerding him up a little. I don't think the Doctor would work if he was *too* James Bond, would he?

First new Doctor Episode: America circa 1955?

Atomicvideohead wrote:

First new Doctor Episode: America circa 1955?

And her costume is circa 1985. It could work, I'm reserving judgment for now (although those rolled-up pants bring back flashbacks of fifth-grade).

This episode's score has been done by Huey Lewis.

I really think the sexual tension that arises between the Doctor and companion will be a lot harder to make subtle with such a young doctor. They look like a newly married couple already

More photos from IO9

IMAGE(http://io9.com/assets/images/gallery/8/2009/07/medium_3739903682_984b02a5b4_o.jpg)

IMAGE(http://io9.com/photogallery/riverzong/1009827231)

I hate him. I will watch and maybe his acting or the stories or something will help but I hate him. Why the heck did they hire some Robert Smith impersonater to be the Doctor!? It even looks like he has red lipstick on - maybe because he is as pale as a teenage goth wann-be. Have I mentioned I hate him? I hate hoped when I saw the first shots of him after he was cast that they would be reworking his ugly hair style, anemic skin ton, and general ugliness but apparently that is the look they want. I know the Doctor is not a fashion model, in fact many of them are kind of ugly but come on!

Why did they re-do the TARDIS? It looks like a miniature.

farley3k wrote:

More photos from IO9

IMAGE(http://io9.com/assets/images/gallery/8/2009/07/medium_3739903682_984b02a5b4_o.jpg)

IMAGE(http://io9.com/photogallery/riverzong/1009827231)

"Get your damn hands off her!"

bighoppa wrote:

Why did they re-do the TARDIS? It looks like a miniature.

Yeah WTF?! I hope that image is because of some awesome storyline thing where his TARDIS is turned into a Lego figure.

Man. He really makes me think "Timelord baseball, anyone?" Except that the sneer is less dumb than the bulbous-eyed staring of Twilight.

Have to see him in action to judge, I think. The style is definitely different, but it could work. It all depends on how the character is actually played.

It could work. But I still hate him for not being David Tennant.

Damn it Tennant, WHY

VDOWhoNeedsDD wrote:

But I still hate him for not being David Tennant.

Sometimes I hate me for not being David Tennant.

I hope that isn't the permanent costume. It is rubbish.

Maybe he'll only last a year and get replaced. *crosses fingers*

Personally, I would love to see Mos Def as a Doctor.

Also from io9: confirmation that River Song (the mysterious companion who knew the Doctor in the future) will be back in the new season.

farley3k wrote:

I hate him. I will watch and maybe his acting or the stories or something will help but I hate him. Why the heck did they hire some Robert Smith impersonater to be the Doctor!? It even looks like he has red lipstick on - maybe because he is as pale as a teenage goth wann-be. Have I mentioned I hate him? I hate hoped when I saw the first shots of him after he was cast that they would be reworking his ugly hair style, anemic skin ton, and general ugliness but apparently that is the look they want. I know the Doctor is not a fashion model, in fact many of them are kind of ugly but come on!

Agreed. So far I am not impressed.

I'm totally ok with the companion though (if only because she's from Inverness and thus automatically given the benefit of the doubt )

VDOWhoNeedsDD wrote:

It could work. But I still hate him for not being David Tennant.

Damn it Tennant, WHY

My guess is because he's starting a movie career (playing Bilbo Baggins).

LiquidMantis wrote:
VDOWhoNeedsDD wrote:

But I still hate him for not being David Tennant.

Sometimes I hate me for not being David Tennant.

I hate you for not being David Tennant too.

As if the bow tie wasn't bad enough - apparently there are suspenders under the jacket!

So what's the long-term angle for the new guy. He's young but unhip? Are they going after a Joss Whedon demographic- Like they want Doctor Who the Vampire Slayer?

That dude has Hollywood hair.

farley3k wrote:

As if the bow tie wasn't bad enough - apparently there are suspenders under the jacket!

Nah, I'm sure it'll be fine. The Doctor's had braces in the past and it hasn't done the series any harm so f....oh hang on a sec...

IMAGE(http://dailypop.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/c_baker.jpg)

Oh. Crap. -_-

So what's the long-term angle for the new guy. He's young but unhip? Are they going after a Joss Whedon demographic- Like they want Doctor Who the Vampire Slayer?

More like Doctor Who the Vampire by the looks of him. If it wasn't Moffat in charge then the cynic in me would assume they're after the Twilight demographic. A scary thought indeed.

Here's a long, involved BBC story over-analyzing the Doctor's costume which strikes me as quite hilarious. Looking at the picture, all I can think is there's something inherently wrong with the Doctor being younger than me. Still, I'll trust Moffat and crew until they fail to entertain me. And between Coupling, Jekyll, and Doctor Who, Moffat's got a pretty solid track record going.

To hell with him, let's see some more of the redhead.

Rat Boy wrote:

To hell with him, let's see some more of the redhead.

IMAGE(http://www.scifiheaven.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/dr-who-series4-promo-catherine-tate-donna.jpg)

CaptainCrowbar wrote:

Also from io9: confirmation that River Song (the mysterious companion who knew the Doctor in the future) will be back in the new season.

Oh cool.

I had a long talk with a coworker a while back about why the Doctor having romantic interests Just Doesn't Work (related to why the same thing holds true for House). What it basically came down to is that the Doctor embodies the archetype of the magician. There are a few things about that archetype that make it unsuitable for romance.

First, the magician is a person who embodies great and mysterious power. If the magician has peers in his own field (or at least, peers in his immediate surroundings), he's no longer the magician, because he's no longer special in the correct way. Because of this, anyone who remains on-screen for a significant amount of time must be less powerful than the Doctor--and this is rather problematic because it means such characters are less than his equal, which makes things rather awkward. There are some exceptions to this rule. First, it is very appropriate for the magician to have a rival (or more precisely: a nemesis) who is equal to him in power. This is why the Master worked so well as a recurring villain. He was Moriarty to the Doctor's Holmes, and he was a great villain precisely because he was the Doctor's equal. The second exception is for people who are explicitly part of a team, particularly a duo. (I'm thinking of the classic TV show The Avengers, here.) Romana fits into this model somewhat, and part of why Romana worked was that she became involved with the Doctor specifically working with him towards an explicit goal. Romana, however, was not quite the Doctor's equal, and was never a romantic interest. After the goal was completed, she eventually drifted off (which was a good thing.)

So: Rivals and teammates working together on a great goal works, but doesn't set up good romance. Rivals can be great for sparking forbidden love type stories--the love that can never be allowed to bloom (and if it does, you know that tragedy is on the way.) Teammates eventually split apart after achieving their goal, because while the magician might momentarily be seeking the same thing as another, his direction is so individual that it will never last.

The second and more important thing about the magician that makes him unsuitable for romance is that he is already married. What do I mean by that? It's a little weird, I must admit. But what I'm talking about is that the magician is wedded to the unknown, and even more to the unknowable. He is constantly seeking those things that are outside of knowledge and making them his own. If ever he learns some great secret he has been searching for, his journey is not complete, because there's another secret just out of sight. This pursuit of knowledge (or more generally, power) is always the core of the magician's life, and will always take priority over any other love. If it does not, then again we are immediately primed to expect tragedy in the outcome, as the magician must eventually realize that he has given up what made him great in favor of the comfort of the known. And if he does not, then it is still tragic, because the story has come to its end.

Okay. The next step in my thought process, tying it back to River Song's return, is this: There is one and only one romantic interest that is truly appropriate to the magician, and that is a person who embodies the unknown. In this scenario, the romance ties together with the magician's goal of seeking out the unknown. Seeking the romantic partner and solving the mystery are the same. For as long as this person embodies the unknown, the magician may seek them out. If, however, that love is ever truly consummated (I don't just mean in the carnal sense here, I mean reaching a state of stability), then the romance must end.

So... River Song. My thesis is this: She is the best romantic partner for the Doctor imaginable. She may not be his equal, but in some ways she is his superior. She knows things that he does not, and she may not reveal them to him. Even better, he also now knows things that she does not, and may never reveal them to her. She may in fact be his peer in power, but that power is concealed. Her romance with the Doctor is in his future and her past, leaving any situation between them pregnant with longing but beyond understanding. She is strong as an individual on her own, with her own life and pursuits. She flits in and out of the Doctor's life, leaving him behind as much as he leaves her behind.

She is, in fact, the embodiment of mystery, the high priestess to the Doctor's magician. And as long as she is used sparingly and carefully, and never fully detailed to the viewers and especially not to the Doctor, she may remain a very emotionally powerful recurring character for a long time.

I wrote a reply to Hypertian, but then I realised that I am ill equipped to respond, having watched very little pre-Ecclestone Doctor Who, and thus I should shut my face.

Tennant in Lord of the Rings? I started shouting no, but then I saw James MacAvoy on the list too. I don't think I've hated any of the movies I've seen James MacAvoy in, so I will probably (foolishly) attempt this Hobbit movie at some point and hate it as much as I hated all the other LOTR movies.

I agree that this new kid is waaaaay too young. Doctor Who is wise and 600 hundred years old. That kid has got to have some serious on-screen gravitas to prevent being bottled in the streets.

By the way, I am a bit late to the game, but: MY GOD the new Torchwood is fantastic! Finally got around to watching the first two parts last night (stayed up too late to do that and now I am tired -_-) and will probably finish it tomorrow. It is melt-the-face awesome.