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

[drinkingcocoa.livejournal.com]

The announcement hearse was definitely empty! Three Patch Podcast will have an episode out this week with more on that. :-)

[beesandbrews.livejournal.com]

Paul McGann does have his own series as the 8th Doctor courtesy of the folks at Big Finish Productions. Full blown audio dramas. Not quite the same as with the visuals, but you do get that lovely, lovely voice. BigFinish.com

[yalumesse]

SHERLOCK! WHOOOT :D *is incoherent with glee*

[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.

[hoshiko-2000.livejournal.com]

VERY excited about Sherlock series 3! Certainly starting the new year with a bang.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

How fun to share your squee about upcoming Sherlock, and also to hear your Paul McGann love! I'm also a fan of his from his Hornblower days, and I thought he was just terrific in the mini-episode. In fact it was extra fun for me because I'm a fan of Tom Baker as well (Doctor #4) and the group of priestesses that use the elixir of life to save/change McGann's Doctor are directly from a Tom Baker episode called Brain of Morbius -- I got such geeky glee from seeing them turn up 35 years later!

I have enjoyed the New Who series very much and consider myself a continuing fan. It's not for everyone, though; you do have to have a pretty high tolerance for silliness.

Since you enjoyed the other anniversary specials, I bet you would also like "An Adventure in Space and Time," the Mark Gatiss episode about the real people who created Doctor Who in 1963. It focuses especially on Verity Lambert, the show's first producer, Waris Hussein its first director, and William Hartnell, the first actor to play the doctor. I found it both inspiring and moving.

If you have any interest in taking a look just at a few individual episodes that are less silly and more emotionally powerful, I would recommend "Blink." It has a strong female lead, haunting images and a clever puzzlebox of a plot -- one of the most popular things Moffat has ever written, I think. If you like "Blink," you might also try "Midnight" for Tennant at his most serious. I admire it for using a no-tech, very simple story idea to create something deeply creepy. And to wind things back a few decades, I liked "The Aztecs" for Doctor #1 (especially impressed by how smart and BAMF the adult female companion, Barbara, turned out to be. She has to pretend to be a goddess, and at one point a suspicious character makes a threat and claims that if she is really a goddess she should use her powers to stop him. At which point she grabs a nearby knife, holds it to his throat, and freaking uses her power to stop him). For Tom Baker (Doctor 4), you will hear a lot of good recommendations for famous episodes, but my personal favorite is not that well known. It's called Seeds of Doom, and I like it because I think both Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen give wonderful, intense performances in and amongst the appropriate silliness and over-the-top camp. It's a story about a monstrous space plant that wants to eat people and a Bond-villain-esque millionaire who wants to let it, so be prepared for that going in. But what can I say, I think it's great fun.

All best wishes!