Ha ha! She said Peter!

This is a follow up to a post I made here. I shall address the first topic raised there.

"Nymie the Pooh's thoughts on Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, and what that means for the series vis-a-vis its return to the "cranky old man" doctor of the 1960s versus the "pretty boy eye candy" of recent years."

Like many between the ages of [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] that grew up in the United States, my first exposure to Doctor Who was on PBS. Doctor Who was featured back to back with Red Dwarf on Saturday evenings. I did not watch many episodes, but the those I did catch on my 13" black and white screen made up some of the most entertaining television of my childhood. Both shows were fun, goofy, rip-roaring yarns and fit well together. Sometimes a different actor was called Doctor, but even without an explanation at the tender age of [REDACTED] it was still a fun story so I was not overly concerned with why the Doctor changed or who was portraying him.

Fast forward a century. Well, to a new century at least. There had been times in my life leading up to this new series where I did not own a television. The reasons varied from not having money at one point to never thinking about it. I did not miss television once it was out of my life for more than a couple of months. Television was replaced with little available free time. I would listen to audio books and talk radio when I could however as that was a form of entertainment I could enjoy while up and about doing other things. I bought a new television and a cable subscription in 2004. This was more for other people in my life to keep them occupied so they would stay out of my hair than for viewing myself while I took advantage of the amazing internet speeds.

I did not watch the new Doctor Who when the series relaunched. I actually started listening to the Big Finish audio dramas before watching the new series. The first time I saw Eccleston's Doctor was as part of a marathon on the SciFi channel. I binge watched Eccleston. I liked him, but a lot of that story line is a blur now. I also turned to Netflix to consume older content while I continued to listen to the Big Finish audio dramas. I watched everything Netflix had available at the time. I did not view the movie with Paul McGann until after I had already fallen in love with him in audio format.

Eccleston was a good Doctor. He was presented in such a way to fit in with other popular television of that time however. I feel Eccleston himself was great, but some of the writing felt a bit like it was conceived for a different audience than the program [REDACTED] year old me used to watch. He did not start as the Doctor for me, but he grew into the role as the writers let his character become the Doctor.

Tennant was a refreshing change. He was permitted to start as the Doctor. Tennant did a wonderful job of combining various aspects of previous Doctors while injecting a bit of himself into the role. I do not know how much of this was the actor himself and how much to attribute to the writers. That is because actor and writers meshed so seamlessly together to form this Doctor.

I like every Doctor to this point. When I am comparing Doctors it is from the angle of different degrees of positivity where none of them drop into the negative for me. I like Matt Smith's Doctor, but not to the same level as the other post Time War Doctors. It's a bit difficult for me to put my finger on exactly why. Maybe it is that he lacked a bit of that same child like enthusiasm as the previous two Doctors. It was still there, but not anywhere near the level of Eccleston and Tennant. I like many of his mannerisms. He had good body language for the role and the way he used his hands is something worth highlighting. I think it might come down to writing. Most of my personal complaints with the seasons he was featured include timing and the pace of the story lines. I like the Matt Smith Doctor, but I do not always care for the writing during his time.

Let's go back and look at some of the Doctors from before the third War in Heaven.

The first Doctor was William Hartnell. I do not think I got to see any of his footage when I was younger. My experience with him is catching some of his episodes more recently in my life or through other actors portraying the character in audio format. Hartnell's Doctor was a charlatan. Human's were beneath him, but he both needed and liked them. He did not consider Humans as lesser beings, but he did treat them as such at times.

Troughton was silly. He was a bit foppish and came across strongly as a presenter of children's programing. [REDACTED] year old me thought he was an idiot and I found it a little demeaning that any adult would think a kid would want this over the other Doctor's. I have enjoyed Troughton in a couple of other things. His depiction of the Doctor was perfect for what he was hired to present. There were times the idiot facade would slip away as the writing would permit. The script was mostly new ways to have the Doctor be an idiot however. I tend to think of this time as the Doctor's toddler phase.

Pertwee was a Doctor unto himself. If there was ever a Doctor to have an action figure made of him or her then it should be Pertwee. His figure would come with Kung Fu grip action to boot. I liked him when I was [REDACTED]. He was the James Bond of the Doctor Who franchise. It was during Pertwee's time that we started to see story development extend outside of a single arc.

Almost everybody that currently watches the show has heard of Tom Baker, Doctor #4, even if they have never seen any episode he was in. I believe Tom Baker may have been in the most episodes of any of the younger Doctors. He is also one of the few to have been on television outside of the United Kingdom prior to the resurgence from the relaunch of the series. A search on Netflix or other services for previous Doctor Who content will produce mostly Tom Baker content. I have not checked in a while, but Netflix used to have more Tom Baker available than all of the younger Doctors combined. He is easily the most accessible.

There is a whole paragraph dedicated to me avoiding the discussion of Tom Baker's place as Doctor Who. You're welcome.

Peter David was the Doctor many consider to be the first serious Doctor. He had fun, and other Doctors had serious moments. Up to this point Pertwee was the most serious Doctor, but he was also an action hero where the times of all the other Doctors focused more on comedy or drama. Peter David's Doctor was a bit of a petulant teenager at times. He was an adult, and wanted to be treated like an adult, but treated everyone like kids even when he was acting like a kid. Especially when he was acting like a child. He was quite moody. He was also the first Doctor which had a companion die as a result of his actions. Much of Peter David's TV time had an undercurrent that involved growing up.

Peter David and the following younger Doctors have all performed in a lot of audio dramas for Big Finish. Tom Baker joined Big Finish a few years ago, but it was after the others have been there for a number of years. I mention this because Peter David's Doctor is an adult in the audio dramas. Even when interacting with the same actors performing the same roles he feels much older. A lot of this is the writing. Peter David's Doctor was growing up before our eyes on television. Now we get to experience him as an adult.

Most of my time with the next three Doctors has been in audio format. I believe all three might have more content produced in audio dramas than what was made for television. Their television appearances are also harder to acquire than the audio dramas or the television episodes of other Doctors. My opinion is very much influenced by this.

With Colin Baker it feels like the producers and writers wanted to return the show to the time of Tom Baker. Colin Baker himself has stated he came into the role wanting to wear black and was hopeful to continue taking the show to more serious places by following the path laid out during Peter David's time. He was handed a technicolour dreamcoat and asked to play the role of a clown instead. He had serious moments, and the actor tried to apply some levity where he could. The story around him was permitted to be serious, but the Doctor was not. He was that bright happy spot in the middle of all the darkness. It was not allowed to touch him. Colin Baker got to play a darker Doctor in the audio dramas. He still has that brightness to him even in that darkness while being allowed to play a Doctor that is just as realistic as any other.

Sylvester McCoy is a bit like Pertwee to me in that he stands alone as his own Doctor. Yes, each Doctor has been their own individual, but McCoy was one where you do not really see the influence of the previous or later Doctors often. McCoy is the Batman of Doctors. He portrays himself as a doddering fool when he thinks he can, but he always has a plan. He normally has plans within plans so his plans can plan. McCoy's Doctor has a very bad habit of not sharing those plans with his companions. Sometimes this is intentional, and other times it is not. It's almost like he can not resist making overly complicated plans then not sharing them as it might spoil the surprise.

Paul McGann is the eighth Doctor. He is also the oldest Doctor Big Finish has access to. Most know McGann's Doctor from only two things. The first was the movie that was made for television where he wore the most terrible||| amazing wig ever. The other is much more recent, the short Night of the Doctor made to preview the Day of the Doctor special. Viewers got a taste of what those that consume the audio dramas are accustomed to.

Paul McGann's Doctor is the gloomy Doctor. He does not see the light at the end of the tunnel. He really is ready to die, and reaches that point before the second Time War actually begins in his timeline. He had lost a few companions, been trapped in another dimension, had companions attempt to assassinate him, been turned into an evil God from Gallifreyan legend, was responsible for mass genocide, and continued to try to be a good man. McGann is the Doctor that can most definitely do wrong with no chance to fix things, yet he keeps trying. If you can not tell from all my gushing, Paul McGann is my favourite Doctor. He's not necessarily my Doctor, but he is the one I rate higher than the others.

There is one Doctor that came neither before the last Great Time War, nor after it ended, but was born as part of it. This of course is John Hurt's Doctor, sometimes referred to as the War Doctor. This Doctor has only appeared as part of the television series and some prose. I have not read any novelization or comic with this character in them. I like this Doctor. I like him a lot actually. I would love to get more of him. I think John Hurt perfectly portrayed that aspect of the Doctor. I do not know how I would care for him in different stories, especially if he happened to find himself outside of the Time War, but he was the right man for that role.

And now we are at Peter Capaldi. As of this post he has appeared in one episode while his eyebrows made a guest appearance in another episode. I like Peter Capaldi in the role. I do not know yet what direction the writers plan to take the Doctor in and that plays a lot into how I feel about a Doctor. The way he talked to the dinosaur brought Troughton and Tom Baker to mind. That moment where he left Clara behind was slightly reminiscent of Hartnell and McCoy at first. The fact it was part of a plan reminds me of McCoy over Hartnell who might have been more interested in self-preservation than saving Clara. None of the Doctors want to kill, but McCoy and McGann's Doctors sometimes view it as a necessary evil.

Capaldi is pulling a bit from everywhere while still working something new into the recipe. I do not know what to expect yet. I can not wait to see where the Doctor goes next nor how he gets there.