Going to Eleven

Filed under: Speculative Fiction, Television
2 Comments

The Guardian provides info on relatively unknown actor Matt Smith being chosen to play the eleventh Doctor on Dr. Who.

I imagine everyone who cares already knows that David Tennant will (sadness!) be leaving the show in early 2010 after a series of four specials to be broadcast this year. (Plus the 2008 Christmas special, which has already aired in the UK but not in the US.)

I'm dubious about Smith, especially after watching his nearly content-free interview with the BBC about being picked. However, I was dubious about Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor, but was won over quickly; and then I was very dubious about Tennant when he took over--and he may well now be my favorite Doctor. So I'm willing to give the people in charge the benefit of the doubt.

I had been thinking that the day was ever-faster approaching when they would have to decide what to do after number twelve, but actually it turns out that (a) a Time Lord gets thirteen bodies total (twelve regenerations, not twelve bodies), and (b) there's a suggestion that that limit may have been a social limit rather than a physical one. The BBC's series 4 plot and continuity FAQ (that page contains spoilers for the latest season) says, in response to the question "How many regenerations does the Doctor have?": "Now that his people are gone, who knows? Time Lords used to have 13 lives."

2 Responses to “Going to Eleven”

  1. crinklequirk

    Another link to this boy: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1741002/

    Oh, egads, another really ugly guy – and this one a boy – with another bad haircut, a mullet, even! Sad.

    Don’t know if I can continue – hated Tennant, and all the Companions but Cap’n Jack Harkness and Donna (and the Poseiden Adventure rip-off xmas special companion) have all been ditzes. Disappointing.

    And I really wanted Lenny Henry. *sigh*

    I miss Eccleston – at least he had that wanderer-adventurer-wiseman *Zing* to him. So intelligent and charismatic.

    We’ll see. We’ll see.

    Thanks for the tip.

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  2. Jed

    I’m surprised you hated Tennant–I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say negative things about him. What didn’t you like?

    Then again, it sounds like our tastes don’t have much overlap–Donna is by far my least favorite Companion from the new series. I love Captain Jack (so at least we can agree on that); I adored Martha on the rare occasions when the writers could be bothered not to waste her; and I was rather fond of Rose, though it took me an episode or two to get used to her.

    I did like the pain in Eccleston’s rendition–I could really believe that he had been through a Time War. Whereas Tennant is a little more happy-go-lucky, with occasional serious moments. I liked both of them, but I’m a sucker for charm, so Tennant wins in my book.

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