Sherlock series 3 and Doctor Who

[shadowfireflame]

So Sherlock finally has an airdate in Britain of Wednesday, January 1, 2014!!!!!!! (And then the next two will be on Sundays: January 5th and 12th). Which was announced in flowers driven around by a hearse, omg. An empty one, we would hope. Can’t believe it’s less than a month away... I’m of course desperate for new content, but I really hope this doesn’t signal the end of what I see as a golden age of fanfic with all the varied and brilliant takes on what happened after Reichenbach. I doubted the writers that they could make series 2 as amazing as series 1, and I was proven wrong. So now I won’t speculate, I’ll just hope with all my heart that series 3 is as good or better than series 1 and 2 were. But I recognize that it’s a very tall order for the poor writers!

Also in BBC news, this time Doctor Who:

I watched this BBC mini-episode on Youtube entitled “The Night of the Doctor” on a total whim because it stars Paul McGann, whom I love from the TV series Horatio Hornblower (as Lieutenant Bush) and from Luther (as Mark North). McGann had previously played the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 movie.

And my God, I’ve had major problems getting into Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith, but this was amaaazing. McGann came onscreen and was instantly and recognizably the Doctor, with presence and gravitas and all sorts of good things. His way of speaking is just wonderful, serious and intantly riveting. Too bad he can’t have his own series. Maybe Peter Capaldi will be good enough to finally get me interested in the series enough to overlook some of the writing and surface flippancy of many of the characters. Paul McGann certainly did.

I also watched the Day of the Doctor movie in theaters (my fiancé is a fan), but I have to say that I couldn’t really get into it (many of the female characters and some of the in-jokes and deus ex machina plotlines made me cringe); I enjoyed the “Night of the Doctor” one much better. :)

Unfortunately, the 1996 Doctor Who movie with Paul McGann was not good. It didn’t really feel like the Doctor because he didn’t do any Doctorly things. And he immediately fell in love with his American doctor (lower-case), which seemed really random. Though it was interesting to see Sylvester McCoy (as Radagast from The Hobbit of course!) be the seventh doctor for a bit. The whole production was very Americanized, which almost always seems like a bad thing and definitely doesn’t make any sense for the Doctor.

I’d highly recommend checking out the fun 30-minnute video “The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot,” which has so many amusing self-deprecating jokes. I appreciate all the actors and particularly Moffat’s humor here. The bit where he plays with the dolls of David Tennant and Matt Smith was hysterical. Also Peter Jackson has a cameo! The trailer for that is here, but the actual thing is on the BBC’s site here.

Comments

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hee, I'm tickled that I just used exactly the same expression in a comment elsewhere - 'gravitas'. It's the only way I can think of to describe the difference between Old Doctors (who, let's face it, were tremendously silly at times, Tom Baker) and New Doctors (who do just seem to be somehow... flimsier).

I enjoyed the Fiveish Doctors thing very much, although I did like Day of the Doctor as well.

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

"Flimsier" seems about right. I need to see more Old Doctors, clearly. And it could be that I just like Paul McGann. But the three newest Doctors even in their most serious moments couldn't seem to measure up to him in that clip. *happy sigh*

I didn't dislike Day of the Doctor, I just didn't feel any kind of fannish glee over it that others seem to have felt. But maybe that has something to do with me not really being in that fandom. I think Peter Capaldi may be promising, though. I will certainly give him a chance.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

This is true (about DotD) - it wasn't fannish glee for me either, more a sense that it was surprisingly enjoyable for someone who hasn't really watched Who since Tom Baker (have seen maybe 10-20 eps featuring several different Doctors since *g*). I LOVE John Hurt, who I think really held DotD together for me, really. I'd totally watch the show if he were the Doctor for a longer run.

And yet - I felt the same way about Capaldi. I know very little about him, but I might give New Who a chance when he starts in the role! It's a weird feeling *g*