Doctor Who - getting younger every day...

[mrph]

"We live in an age now where you would never cast an older Doctor," says Russell T Davies in an interview for the show. "Absolutely never. Never over fifty, I wouldn't say over forty-five actually. So we'll always have young Doctors now, because that's what a hero is these days."

He goes from "never" through "always" to the important bit - "these days". These days won't last forever. Perhaps the targer audience will remain hostile to the idea of an older Doctor for years to come. But perhaps it won't - SF's in a slightly different situation from police procedurals and Doctor Who isn't an ensemble show like West Wing or Six Feet Under...

...but even so, Patrick Stewart seemed to work in ST:TNG and Edward Woodward worked just fine in The Equalizer. Never say never, hmm?

Comments

[jruske.livejournal.com]

I don't know why the hero is "younger." It strikes me that Dr. Who is unique in that the flippant and perhaps callous disregard for rules comes across more appealingly with a younger Dr than an older one. In the case of an older Dr such behaviour was initially eccentric and somewhat fun, but nowadays might be taken as a disregard for the opinions of younger people.

Which seems to upset younger people because they don't realise how little value their input usually amounts to.

[dmh.livejournal.com]

Hmm, certainly with ST:TNG Picard's role was complemented by the young and heroic Riker, so I don't think you can make that comparison. I think I could see an older Doctor working if they found another regular character to play the young/male/hero role.

[zarbi.livejournal.com]

But then, in his 50s, Patrick Steward was charging around the Enterprise with rippling muscles in the film First Contact. I don't think you need the younger guy.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Jack? But in any case, Doctor Who isn't Star Trek.

Physical confrontations were a regular feature in the Kirk days, a little less so (but still there) in the Next Generation. How many times has the Doctor had to punch someone, though? Even in the new series, we see him running about but he doesn't end up in 'heroic' physical confrontations. That's just not how the show works.

[zarbi.livejournal.com]

May I just say

mmmmmmm...Jack!

Now I have got that out the way, I totally agree - The Doctor has never been an action hero.

[dave-exile.livejournal.com]

The Doctor has never been an action hero.

Hmm, I'm not totally sure about that - I certainly think Pertwee saw himself a bit that way, what with his "Venusian Aikido", the Whomobile etc.

Personally I think that what made the classic doctors (pre-Davison) work so well was a mixture of eccentricity, and authority/charisma - Davison was just too much of a wimp, especially after a Doctor as dominant as Tom Baker. I think Colin Baker's Doctor was a crude attempt to redress the balance, and he just came across as a bit of a bully. McCoy reintroduced the eccentricity, but IMO failed to regain the authority.

(sorry for thread-crashing, BTW!)

[zarbi.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm not totally sure about that - I certainly think Pertwee saw himself a bit that way, what with his "Venusian Aikido", the Whomobile etc.

Good point. I guess I had just blanked out the embarrassing memory of these things.

but...

[sheridanwilde.livejournal.com]

the doctor always has an assistant, who invariably is younger than him (okay, i know there were odd periods where there was no assistant, but mostly)...

[juudes.livejournal.com]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Doctor must not be totty. Peter Davison was totty, and that's when I stopped watching it before. Chris Eccleston - not totty; David Tennant - most definitely totty. Age has not a lot to do with it, to be honest: Sean Connery would still have too high a totty-rating to make a good doctor.

[zarbi.livejournal.com]

But then you are excluding many actors who I think would make great Doctors:

Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Richard E. Grant....

[juudes.livejournal.com]

But they aren't totty. Fanciable, maybe (I myself fancied Patrick Troughton, but then I'm a little strange), but not totty.

Cap'n Jack is totty, but this is desirable, nay, obligatory, for the sidekicks. (I don't fancy him though!).

[rag-man.livejournal.com]

And chances are, RTD won't "always" be producer, either!

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

Russell T Davies is a ghastly hack who should never be allowed to write a script.

So, if they'd had the option for, say, Alan Rickman, they'd still have chosen Ratboy to be the new Doctor? Sad. One of the thing I liked about the recent BBC drama Funland was that it had really meaty roles for older people. I like seeing older people have fun. For one thing, I don't want to think I'll spend the last 50 years of my life believing I could only have fun for the first 30...

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

lends credance to my brothers theory that the doctor is getting younger each incarnation...

[the-wood-gnome.livejournal.com]

yup, his last incarnation will be in nappies and say bitty bitty a lot.

[livingarmchair.livejournal.com]

How about getting rid of crap scriptwriters who can't string together a plot without using a huge plot device!