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Actor Matt Smith Will Be 11th Doctor Who
Jerry Smith was among a large number of readers letting us know that the 11th Doctor Who has been named. It's Matt Smith, 26, who will be the youngest actor to play the time-traveling Doctor. The head of drama at BBC Wales said this about Smith's audition: "It was abundantly clear that he had that 'Doctor-ness' about him. You are either the Doctor or you are not."
I heard about this earlier I am waiting out to see his performance as the doctor, before I start judging.
Who?
Seems like they have been burning through regenerations in the latter Dr. Who series. What are they gonna do when they hit twelve? No more Dr. Who?
I hope its not just so doctor who can become yet another 'only beautiful people allowed' show.
Mind you, the BBC are pretty careful about casting for their prime real estate, so he may just be the best choice.
For me though, although I liked Eccleston and Tennant, I've always considered Tom Baker to be the definitive Doctor. When will they bring back the mad scarfs?
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
Since it wasn't included in the summary and searching for "Matt Smith" brings up page after page of listings on IMDB, here's the profile of the actor in question.
It looks like he hasn't done much in his career so far, and (other than one episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl) I don't see anything that American audiences would be familiar with there.
Goo goo g'joob.
The same thing as when they were faced with parallel universes that under any circumstances can never be crossed, because it's utterly impossible and ooh let's have Rose appear in another episode and Mickey cross over.... whoops
My UID is prime... is yours?
If I remember that question was asked a long time ago. If I remember correctly the producers answered by reminding people about the "Keepers of Traken" story. It was with the introduction of Nysaa's character. I think it was episode 18. The story had the "Master" returning and he had used up all of his 12 regeneration but found a way to extend his regenerations. So I think the good Dr. has a way.
You have to remember there used to be more Time Lords in the universe. Now with fewer Time Lords, in order for the number of regenerations to remain constant, The Dr must regenerate more often. Otherwise, we could see a localized destabilization with the accumulated regeneration energies normally expended.
Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
The Master was given an extra set of regenerations by the Time Lords for... something. The Sisterhood of Karn had the secret to true immortality, but the Time Lords rejected it because they realised that immortality lead to a static society. Without the Time Lord rules against it being enforced, there's nothing stopping The Doctor from regenerating more than 12 times. There is a lot of evidence in the series that the limit of 12 was artificial - to encourage Time Lords to savour their lives and then move on to make way for a new generations.
Allowing infinite regenerations could easily be done without breaking continuity, but it would destroy the show by making the Doctor's death totally meaningless. There are lots of ways of extending the number of regenerations too. It is implied several times that regeneration is something that only happens to Time Lords who are joined with time capsules. The TARDIS is presumably not connected to the Eye of Harmony (the black hole contained on Galifrey) anymore, so the amount of energy it can provide for regeneration might be more or less than normal.
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Some 'physics experiment in Swizerland' created a Black Hole. K-9 is in a safe in Sarah Jane Smith's house, with the black hole, attempting to stabilise it. He occasionally orbits near the door, but he is rather occupied for a while. The one Romana took with her to Gallifrey presumably died in the great time war.
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Not to mention the little fact that Gallifrey is no more. Who knows what changes the Time Wars(tm) unleashed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_(Doctor_Who)#In_the_series
The BBC's Series 4 FAQ suggests that now the Time Lord social order has been destroyed, the Doctor may be able to circumvent the limit on regenerations; it says: "Now that his people are gone, who knows? Time Lords used to have 13 lives.
In "The Sound of Drums" (2007) the Master is revealed to have been granted a new body by the Time Lords during the Time War with at least one new regeneration. Non-Gallifreyans are also seen to regenerate in Underworld (1978) and Mawdryn Undead (1983), but with adverse side effects.
Sounds to me like regeneration is a socially-imposed limit to keep them from living forever. ;)
But they aren't immortal... found this interesting tidbit:
In The Mind of Evil the Master points a conventional firearm at the Doctor and threatens to "put a bullet through both your hearts", while in "Forest of the Dead", Professor Song warns that an impending electrocution would stop both the Time Lord's hearts, killing him. From these, it is apparent that a Time Lord can die if both his hearts stop.
This quote also further supports it:
The TARDIS appears to assist in the regenerative process. In addition to the second Doctor's explicit statement to this effect shortly after regenerating from the first, regenerating outside the TARDIS has never been shown to go particularly well. Of the four occasions on which this has happened, one is forced on him by the Time Lords (The War Games), one requires a Time Lord to give the Doctor's cells a "little push" to start the process (Planet of the Spiders), one needs the TARDIS's "Zero Room", a chamber sealed from all outside forces, to help him recover (Castrovalva) and the last occurs a few hours after he has actually "died" (The 1996 television movie). That last regeneration remains the only one that takes place significantly far away from the TARDIS, without any obvious interaction from other Time Lords, though it may be noted that in The Doctor's Daughter, Jenny - a woman created from the Tenth Doctor's DNA - dies and later reanimates in a process that has some apparent similarities to a regeneration, some time after the TARDIS leaves her planet.
All these + more indicate that the limit may not be a physical one.
Another:
In "Last of the Time Lords", the Master and the Doctor demonstrate that regeneration is not an automatic process (or the process is automatic but the Time Lord undergoing it can halt the regeneration at will) as, despite the Doctor's pleas for him to regenerate, the Master instead chooses to die after being shot by Lucy Saxon
It's quite possible that it's a socially imposed limit - that is, multiple timelords can collectively decide whether you get to regenerate or not.
Twelve regenerations was never a biological limit; it was something imposed by the Gallifreyan leadership. ISTR that once they offered the Master an extra set of regenerations, in exchange for doing some of their dirty work. Now that the other Time Lords have been exterminated, who's to say there can't be a Fourteenth Doctor?
As for the regeneration rate, the Ninth was short-lived, but the Tenth has had a good long innings. He first appeared in 2005 in the final episode of the first new series, and is scheduled to regenerate in early 2010. So... four or five years. That's quite long for a Doctor. The First did three years, so did the Second and the Fifth. The Third did four, the Sixth two, the Seventh two (well, nine, but he was off the air for most of that), the Eighth and Ninth one each (again, the Eighth technically nine years, same objection).
It's only really Tom Baker who's outdone Tennant in terms of years in the TARDIS. And since he has an enormous TV fanbase from Blackpool, Casanova and Doctor Who, and has lately proved himself to considerable acclaim on the legitimate stage as Hamlet, I imagine he thinks it's about time to move on to some extremely lucrative roles.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Lore? Join the 21st century. Nobody memorises things these days. I looked up the dates on Wikipedia :-)
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
I am boycotting the 21st century. Maybe if it gets better I'll participate but until then I'm sticking with my tomes, and abacus.
I've watched fair share of scifi, being 31 and while I've known of doctor Who before i was a teenager, I never got around to watch it. I recently picked up the relaunch with the 9th doctor, and having my watched my way in to "new" season 4, I have to say that I'm fairly hooked. To me, the series is a sort of mix between douglas adams and startrek. It's quirky and playful; but the universe has depth and play's with interesting themes; and I find the general writing very good.
You have to accept the humerous take on aliens and the countless "impending" dooms - that's part and parcel of the show; and there's a lot of humerous meta-references involved.
You wouldnt believe how many characters croak; and while it's done tough-in-cheek, it also manages to be full of suspense. I dont recall seeing this kind of "body count" in any other series.
Watch the episode "Blink" - though somewhat different from your "average" episode - I found it more exciting than most sci-fi movies that I have seen recently.
- Mad, ingenous - they've both left you puzzled -
> here are lots of ways of extending the number of regenerations too ... implied ... regeneration ... Time Lords who are joined with time capsules ... connected to the Eye of Harmony ... the black hole ... so the amount of energy
Here's an idea. We have a special-combo episode where the TARDIS meets The Enterprise whose crew beam aboard with Chief Scientific Officer Deus Ex Machina who adlibs technobabble, not just giving the doctor as many regens as the BBC needs but tying up all the plot holes since the series began. Everyone knows Tie ins help ratings and since Dr Who is increasingly a "Beautiful People" show, what about one with Bay Watch too?
"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear non-subjective view point, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey...stuff." -- The Tenth Doctor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmWRjo7gKI
It comes with sound of voice, facial gestures, gesticulation etc.
Hair is still annoying though, head still looks way too big for the body, and he appears way too young for the role.
It somehow just ain't right for the Docta to be younger than yours truly.
Now I know how Frank Miller felt when he realized that he was older than Batman.
But at least the guy still has his own nose.
If he was an Hollywood actor, half of it would be gone by now, and he would look even less like someone who treats bodies like I do jackets.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I'm not sure if the tenth regeneration could count either. Ohhhhh! In THAT sense! Ok. It's unclear. Time Lords may be able to change their appearance without actually using up a regeneration (Romana was way too bright to have wasted an entire life after a mere 150 years), so it would seem to follow that "partial" regeneration is possible without using up an actual regeneration in the process.
Although this is the 11th Doctor, it is also questionable as to whether each life has used up a regeneration. The Second Doctor to the Third may or may not have been a regeneration but it was under the control and supervision of Time Lord technology. The life-energy (or whatever) that is involved in the process could therefore have been external. If so, it would not have used up that amount of energy internally. The same could be argued for the Fourth to Fifth, as the Watcher was an external source of regenerative energy. (The Third to the Fourth was started externally but the energy was internal.)
If you want to take this line of reasoning further, you may also wish to consider Mawdryn Undead. In that, The Doctor was due to have all his remaining regenerations drained to kill off Mawdryn and his associates. The Brigadier intervened, saving him. But is that all he did? Action and reaction are equal and opposite, and the circuit was still complete. If the machine could take regenerations away, a reverse surge should logically add them. This should give The Doctor potentially another six lives.
Also consider Brain of Morbius. We don't know what effect the elixier had on The Doctor. It is supposed to aid in failed regenerations, so presumably provides an external energy source in addition to any other curative properties. Those who drank it did, after all, become immortal for the duration of drinking it, which suggests that it had that kind of restorative power. This potentially gives The Doctor another additional life, as he didn't require a regeneration to heal.
Finally, if you subscribe to the notion that Russel T Davis is, in fact, a Dalek Agent hell-bent on destroying The Doctor's reputation, you can disregard as much of DW:TNG as you like.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Please get that man a haircut.
The current look seems to be "half a flock of seagulls"
I like how the filename is misspelled, too. Sharp tacks over there.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Oh for the love of Rassilon why didn't his parents name him John?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Allowing infinite regenerations could easily be done without breaking continuity, but it would destroy the show by making the Doctor's death totally meaningless.
Kinda like playing Zork.
It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue. ...
> West
Game over. You have been eaten by a grue. Start again? Y or N?
> Y
It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
According to what The Master did, he refused a regeneration even if he had more left. Rumor has it his lifeforce and Timelord DNA are in the ring he left behind. That ring can activated and steal a body like when The Master stole Tremas' body for his 13th regeneration.
Also the original show had The Doctor in his 12th regeneration as evil, more evil than The Master.
The Doctor is clever enough to find a way to grant himself more regenerations.
It is debatable if Galifrey still exists in some form or can be renewed again. All The Doctor need do is violate the laws of time and travel back to save it or stop the Dalek invasion before it reaches Galifrey. I am also having a theory that Romana still exists with her own TARDIS and K9 unit and has 10 regenerations left, and she could take over for The Doctor or even The Doctor's daughter from that DNA clone can take over. I have a theory that other Time Lords still exist but are unaccounted for. Since The Daleks survived, chances are some Time Lords survived as well.
Someone set up the time agency that Captain Jack Harkness is a part of, maybe they were Junior Timelords who left Galifrey to set up the Time Agency?
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Will Smith would make an excellent Doctor. He'd do a rap solo every episode and remix the theme music to a hiphop/rap version. Plus he would wear sunglasses and dress up in the latest rap or hiphop fashions. Every planet he visits he is street smart. Plus they would have to cast Alfonso Ribeiro as his companion Carlton for comic relief. Carlton would get The Doctor and his female companion into trouble, and then The Doctor has to figure a way out of that trouble, all the while lecturing to Carlton that he needs to grow up and stop being such a dork.
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The Daleks do have two origins, but I figured out a solution to that. Some Daleks were sent to the Thaal city and had not returned at the time The Doctor destroyed the entranceway. These would have been trapped in the Thaal city and, lacking access to the computer data banks in the Kaled city, would have necessarily invented their own past in order to explain their existence. Lacking advanced technology, they would also have been forced to improvize, hence their use of static electricity.
The population in the Kaled city, however, have suffered some damage to their computer systems. They would have therefore had no ability to be aware of the population of Daleks in the Thaal city. These Kaled Daleks become convinced that they are the only Daleks and therefore do not reconnect with the Thaal Daleks.
As the Thaals possessed rocketry, the Thaal Dalek population rapidly develops space flight (hence their invasion of other worlds) and eventually develop time travel as well (The Chase). The Kaled Daleks independently develop space flight but their seclusion has resulted in a more imperial, structured regime. Eventually, these Dalek populations rediscover each other and partly re-merge. However, the inability to reconcile histories results in the split between the loyalist Daleks and the Imperial Daleks. The mythologies created by the Thaal Daleks also results in groups like the Cult of Skaro and the Emperor-God seen at the end of the 10th Doctor run.
We now have a reconciled history that "explains" the two origin stories and the factionalism that should not have existed in the lower-level Daleks. (Picture the Daleks as similar in structure to the original Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, where the warriors have one primitive brain, the more senior Cylons have two more sophisticated brains and the highest-ranking ones have three highly sophisticated brains.)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Scrubs. But Zach Braff would make a terrible Doctor.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Good point.
There was a special episode of "Dr Who Confidential" last night, just to announce the new Doctor, and it had interviews with RTD, Stephen Moffat and Matt Smith.
Stephen Moffat said that he started auditions determined to cast an older Doctor this time, but that it soon became overwhelmingly apparent that Matt Smith was the one for the role. Something about being able to handle the dramatic bits and the quirky mercurial aspects, and being able to switch between them fairly easily.
They had a couple of clips from Smith's earlier roles; not much to judge by, but I think I can see what he's getting at.
It's going to be interesting to see how he handles the role
Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
Imagine a doctor as cunning and stupid as the Black Adder...a major TV hit!
It's understood that time lords only expected to live a long time when they had dull monastic lives on their home planet. The Doctor grew to an age of just over 900 before he stole a time machine and went off saving planets, and he's been burning through his multiple lives at a shocking pace ever since.
Then again, all the other time lords got themselves killed in a war with the Daleks, so who's the reckless fool now?
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.