HOME | DD
DoctorRy β The Doctor IV: Project Who 50
Published: 2013-01-04 14:13:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 874; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 11
Redirect to original
Description
Ahh Tom. Tom Baker. The Fourth Doctor. Until David Tennant (and arguably still) *the* quintessential Doctor. He's actually not my favourite Doctor, but the truth is, when watching him, you can't help but be dragged in by that enormous charisma. In real life the man is barking mad (and definitely on my list of the six famous people I'd invite to dinner...can you imagine the conversation??), but gosh he's watchable. He's just so powerfully charismatic you can't help but like him. In some ways he killed Doctor Who, making it almost impossible to take over from him, but in others he made it. Great man. Great Doctor.Project Who-50: [link]
"Like" Project Who-50 on facebook:
[link]
Related content
Comments: 27
The only and the best, the legend. The Doctor of Doctors.
π: 0 β©: 0
It annoys me when people tote Tennant or Baker as the quintessential Doctor. But I think one thing that makes Baker's Doctor so interesting is that it's not just an act, it's pretty much Baker's personality. So it's easy for Baker to add the extra nuances and insanity...because he's crazy. And yeah, the charisma. I still roll my eyes when people say that though.
π: 0 β©: 1
Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that it's true - Most fans over 30 will say Baker is the quintessential Doctor, most under will say Tennant. And to be fair to Baker, I think it was an act (read his autobiography - if the Doctor was Baker, he'd be drinking, smoking and shagging his way through the universe). It's all very well burying your head in the sand but it it true.
π: 0 β©: 1
Welp it's not that big of a deal but yeah unfortunately my head is pretty out of the sand. I hear it all around me. I'll just have to make the proverbial lemonade from those lemons...
I listened to Immortal Beloved. This story was pretty good but it ended a little too quickly. I liked how it tried to address or at least include the ethical dilemma when it comes to clones. And I canβt believe it had implied rape in there. And a sort of slavery. That doesnβt happen a lot. Though Solomonβs leering at Nefertiti comes to mind. Or Peri in that harem. That's all I got.
π: 0 β©: 1
The first implied rape was in "The Keys Of Marinus" between Vasor and Barbara...so it goes back all the way to season one
I did like Immortal Beloved...that was a good audio. Had a great cast too.
π: 0 β©: 1
Maaaan that went right over my head. I really need to rewatch the classic series because I just watched the Keys of Marinus and rolled my eyes and some parts and resisted the temptation to fall asleep. Well maybe that's an exaggeration but I didn't read any of that into it. But I really don't want to spend all that time rewatching the classic series it's so lonnggggg.
π: 0 β©: 1
Ah the classic mistake of not actually paying attention to the story 
π: 0 β©: 1
Haha guilty as charged. Probably mostly guilty of this in the second Doctor's run. I listened to No More Lies which was nice enough. At first I was confused by this sudden villain who we hadn't been introduced to but the Doctor and Lucy seemed to have been fighting against but I got over it. Pretty normal story. What I wonder is, are these stories early? They seem lower production (like the background sounds and such) maybe because they're earlier or because they're not the main range?
π: 0 β©: 1
See all the wonderful subplots you're missing out on?
No More Lies - didn't impress me much. Waste of Nigel Havers and Julia McKenzie, really. The stories aren't early in the run, no - Big Finish had being doing them for around seven years by that point. But, I know what you mean - there did seem to be a strange production drop in that first run of McGann stories...not sure why...
π: 0 β©: 1
Oh geez. See, nope didn't get that in the Crusades. Rape, you say? Good lord, tell me again how this was supposed to be a kid's show? I guess I'll have to go rewatch 1 and 2's runs. I was still getting used to black and white tv at the time. I'll have to readjust all over again oh gosh. So yeah I'll get around to that after all the dramas
I listened to Human Resources parts one and two. It was awesome! It felt like a real tv show series finale (probably too high budget for the show). I loved the Cyberman twist. See I thought from the title that it would be Cybermen, but then this whole office scheme happened (which was fun) so when they really did show up I was surprised. I liked the Wizard of Oz and near-Scooby Doo reference. I'm also glad that Lucy doesn't actually have her life manipulated by the TLs (though it would be cool to see a companion turn evil). I also really like the idea of a black market company that does dirty jobs and talks about government take overs and "land clearing" like it's casual every day stuff. It's like in The Raincloud Man where time travel gambling is normal. This is totally what humans would do in the future.
Side question: do we have any Asian/Eastern companions in the audios? Someone on the net was again bringing up the old topic of why the Doctor hasn't regenerated into another race. When people bring up the trouble of being non-white someone else pointed out how that's only a problem because (tv) Doctor Who only does stories where Europeans have already colonized. Do we have any stories about Native Americans or ancient Asia? Pre-European Africa?
π: 0 β©: 1
Yeah, the suggestion is that El Akir raped Barbara, or intended to. Most of the adult stuff is in the early seasons, edited by David Whitaker (who must have had some interesting ideas on what he thought Doctor Who was) and I think the idea was that the adult stuff would go over the children's heads...
Human Resources was great - and a good use of both the Headhunter and the Cybermen. It's not a bad first season but it picks up after that. Lucie is a good companion but is a bit of a Rose clone in the first season.
Asian/Eastern companions in the audios? Uhh...I can't think of any. A couple in the books but not in the audios...The Doctor is unlikely to regenerate into another race, based purely on the odds - in any group of people auditioning for the role of the Doctor, you can pretty much bet that the majority will be white, English males (because...it's filmed in England), so the odds are, the Doctor will be a white, English male. Obviously there's always the chance he'll be black or Asian - there's bound to be some blacks or Asians auditioning, but the odds are against them. I wonder, if Doctor Who had been created in India, would people be pushing for a white Doctor? "All the Doctors have been Indian males...if he's an alien, he could regenerate into anyone - even a black or white man!"
Native Americans and Ancient Asia - in terms of audios, you come up with the same problems of casting (how many people complain about Americans in Big Finish; even when they actually cast Americans? "The American accents were terrible!") So Big Finish naturally shy away from stuff that's foreign because then they don't have to put up with the complaints (though they still try, bless them). The novels are freer to do that sort of thing. I can't think of any story about Native Americans, but unless you had an author who actually had some understanding of their culture, to set a Doctor Who story in Native Americans would be the most insensitive, gratuitous thing the series has ever done. It's the same reason that Star Trek stories tend, on the whole, to be set in America when they go back in time to Earth (and let's face it, when they go back to England, it's always Victorian England, crap accents and the Ripper).
The problem stems for who writes for Doctor Who - and they are almost exclusively English. On the rare occasion a foreigner does, and they set it in elsewhere it works well (Lloyd Rose - American, wrote The City Of The Dead, set in New Orleans and it's f***ing awesome). Write about what you know...if you're English, don't write about foreign countries (Gary Russell...)
π: 0 β©: 1
I listened to Dead London which I didn't like much. I'll give it another shot because I got turned around near the end. But the villains voice was odd and I don't understand how it was snatching humans and putting them inside its brain. Or why. And how do you materialize inside a brain anyways? That aside it just didn't grip me.
Them I found the free UNIT prequel the Coup. This explains so much about ICIS. I liked it. I loved the Silurian thing. I wish the Silurians were a big thing and that the unit arc added them. But I guess that would screw up earth continuity.
So when do we start sharing earth with them? I don't remember any Silurians in future-set Earth. I want to see the social upheaval and political ramifications of that. It would be a good story.
π: 0 β©: 1
Oh Dead London, I remember that one...it was a bit confusing, yeah...I always got the impression that the Doctor saying they materialised in a brain was a bit of a guff, and he wasn't really certain about what had happened. Hmmm...where's my AHistory...
The Coup, yes...that gives us lots of info. In Eternity Weeps, which is set in 2003, the Silurians are working with UNIT, and The Coup is set in...what...2005? Something like that?
Here's my take - I reckon the Silurians are working with various organisations under cover from about the late 1990's, and it's precisely because of the social upheaval and political ramifications that it's kept a secret and nobody talks about it. Now, presumably at some point in the future, it all comes out, but it has yet to happen before 2084 which is when Warriors of the Deep is set, and presumably also only select groups of Earth Reptiles are working with humans; other tribes still see themselves at war with the humans. Of course, the cracks could also have altered the human's relationship with the Earth Reptiles, as it did with the Daleks
π: 0 β©: 1
I'm so glad you're here. I have been talking with this one person on the internet on reddit. I made the suggestion that maybe it was better for fans to ignore canon. Oh god it was horrible. This person and I, our viewpoints probably couldn't differ any further. We disagree a lot. Except this person really doesn't have any problem with being a jerk as they do so and they won't stop heckling me. They're a big subscriber to canon. When I say we should ignore canon and that everybody should have their own personal interpretation they think it means that people can just willy nilly totally ignore things happening like Rose's existence or whatever. Really the only reason I suggest this view of personal canon is so that there's less "it's not canon so shut up" and more "let's agree to disagree". Why can't people just agree to disagree? Ahhh shoot me I hate the internet why can't people just get along. /rant
I listened to Max Warp which I liked well enough. It was executed nicely but it felt like a pretty standard story trope. The classic murder mystery which didn't really surprise me with its resolution even though I probably couldn't have worked out all the details myself.
And I'm guessing from your Silurian theory there hasn't actually been any story about the Silurians coming out into the world. Bummer. I think that should be a story. A big special or something.
π: 0 β©: 1
Oh, wow. The canon fighters. Or even the "there is no canon" fighters. Extremists scare me 
Max Warp I liked because I really like Graeme Garden
Yes, no. No big coming out story. Would be cool to do, actually. Maybe set in 3000 as a sequel to "Cold Blood"
π: 0 β©: 1
Yeah well it turns out that person has some major issues because things turned nasty pretty quick. They got themselves banned and ran the gamut of inappropriate words in the English language.
π: 0 β©: 1
Ohhhh....delightful....
π: 0 β©: 0
MMM? *bug eyes*
Neither Quintessential nor killed it (Michael Grade did that). Overrated, as Tennant is. A good Doctor, but not as good as hype and nostalgia have made him.
π: 0 β©: 1
Yeah, but to a great deal of people, Tom Baker *is* the Doctor. And after seven years of being enormously popular, he was a very hard act to follow. I'm not saying he was the greatest (in fact I think I said he wasn't my favourite), but to most Doctor Who fans over 30, Baker is the quintessential Doctor. That's all I'm saying.
π: 0 β©: 1
Yeah, I knew what you meant. And some fans of a younger generation say the same of Tennant. And they're wrong, too. See what I'm driving at?
π: 0 β©: 1
You don't run with the pack?
π: 0 β©: 1
I recognize when the pack is nothing more than a flock of sheep. :wink:
π: 0 β©: 1
Did you know (bit of trivia
π: 0 β©: 1