Wibbly-Wobbley, Timey-Wimey Fingers
Posted January 3rd, 2009 by Howard TaylerI am a Doctor Who fan.
In 2010 we’re getting a new Doctor, the eleventh regeneration. For folks with access to BBC and the Doctor Who Confidential special this is old news, I’m sure.
With a little bit of search-fu I got what I needed from BBC Online: a name, a face, and a little official footage…
At first blush? Watching this youngster talk I can’t help but see his hand gestures, and think “wibbly-wobbly, timey wimey…”
Congratulations, Matt Smith.
For those of you who don’t much care about Doctor Who, go ahead and watch Validation again.
Explore posts in the same categories: Television
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Ugh. The BBC isn’t funded by ads. Why do they have to show a promo for another show before the video we want to see? Isn’t a snippet of an interview about one of their shows enough of a promo for them? Worse yet, the first few times I tried it, it dropped the connection about 12 seconds into the Top Gear promo – it only worked when I tried to see what was going wrong.
That aside…
Yep. Matt Smith seems perfect for the role.
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
To me he seems a bit…ehh…
With Moffat as lead writer, though, it’s gonna be an awesome series :D
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I guess it’s a good thing he doesn’t have to improvise his dialogue on the show.
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I dunno… I fear the Doctor getting younger. I don’t want the writers to go all Smallville on us trying to appeal to the hip young crowd at the expense of actually staying true to the story and characters. Still, I’m totally with you on the hand-wavey thing.
What I *would* like is for them to get a multi-year commitment out of one of these guys. Pretty soon they will be forced to hand-wave away the Regeneration Limit, and make Time Lords fully immortal.
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
When you consider that David Tennant actually plays both the tenth and eleventh Doctors (thanks to the hand stopping him from changing after his tenth regeneration), there’s only one to go after Matt Smith. (Let’s not argue about whether Paul McGann’s canon.)
I wonder whether the writers will remember the Valeyard.
I think they’re gonna have to find some way to give the Doctor a finite number of extra regenerations, and leave it to future writers to find more ways. If the Doctor explicitly gets infinite lives, he’s just another Jack Harkness.
Putting the above two paragraphs together: The Master wanted to steal the Paul McGann version’s remaining regenerations – maybe the Doctor could do that to the Valeyard. It’s okay to suck the life out of an evil version of yourself, right?
But even if they do that, I’d like to see Matt Smith stick around long enough to age noticeably first.
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Wait a sec. How’s the Valeyard supposed to prosecute the sixth Doctor, when the Time War sits in between them? Could the Valeyard be a hook to bring back the other Time Lords?
Why not – the Daleks came back…
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I don’t know…. somehow, he doesn’t feel quite right… perhaps he’ll improve
January 4th, 2009 at 12:49 am
You know, I actually kind of got the impression, the way they’ve been burning through regens, that they actually plan on bring the series to a close in some kind of epic, satisfying super-arc.
They kind of started setting it up with the Eccleston version, and the mysterious and vain total-destruction of gallifrey save one.
And.. the Tennent verson has now had a wastefully superfluous regen: they kept the same actor…
I think they intend to burn through the regens and go out with a bang.
January 4th, 2009 at 1:26 am
I will be the odd one out among these comments. I have never seen Doctor Who. I’ve intended to, but I’ve never actually seen any of it.
So I have no clue what you folks are talking about. :D
January 4th, 2009 at 1:33 am
I don’t think there’s going to be a problem with the regenerations - The TARDIS is working happily without the Eye of Harmony using occasional visits to Captain Jack at the Cardiff filling station, so who’s to say that there’s not going to be a pleasant get-out clause for the 12 regenerations problem. (Remember there’s at least one other timelord-oid running around out there, and regeneration energy can be transferred between people. Species, even.) McGann is definitely canon now, BTW, having been in the diary and on the wall projection.
Before Matt gets to us, the specials are going to be fun. Once they’re done with, Matt is going to have a great time and so are we. The show is still on the box and that’s the important thing. Congratulations Matt Smith.
January 4th, 2009 at 2:00 am
steamfoxen: You’re not alone — actually, I ‘m a bit beyond you, in
that I actively loathe _Doctor Who_ (but then, *anything* involving
Time Travel is abhorrent to me — and yes, the “time-loop” story of
this comic did grate on me a tad :) ).
January 4th, 2009 at 2:02 am
Mr McGann has been playing the Doctor on BBC Radio 7 this year, in a couple of series of shows. Very satisfyingly too. Since everything on radio 7 comes round and round, keep an eye on the schedules.
I would also recommend ‘the man in black’, a horror show format that has popped up on the BBC at intervals for 50 years; The current readings of Spike Milligans autobiography; the current readings of Philip Pullman; and Ian Charmichael as Lord Peter Wimsy when they come round again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/programmes/schedules
January 4th, 2009 at 8:50 am
What I *would* like is for them to get a multi-year commitment out of one of these guys.
Actually, when Matt Smith takes over, David Tennant will have played the Doctor (continuously) longer than anybody except Tom Baker. The average seems to be about 3 years. (From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_who#The_Doctor)
As far as the regeneration limit, we know that it’s not absolute. The Master has been “brought back” at least twice, and I believe he got a whole new cycle of regenerations at one point. An easy out would be to simply say that the limit was imposed by the Time Lord council for some reason, and with no more council, there’s no more limit.
January 4th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Been a long, long time since I ever watched the show and I know my memory of Dr. Who trivia isn’t what it used to be, but it was my impression that the limit WAS imposed by the council.
January 4th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Are his hands too BIG for his head or is that just a trick of the camera angle??
January 4th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I actually think the hand gestures would fit an incarnation of the doctor. I also think that the end of the council would bring about the possibility that the doctor now has more regenerations. There are more possibilities with Sci-Fi than any one man can think of.
Ona
January 4th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
No, he’s Tenant was the ninth regeneration, the tenth doctor. (William Harnell’s doctor hadn’t regenerated yet.)
This was actually made cannon in “the five doctors”. Remember the scene between the first and fifth doctors?
“Regeneration?”
“Fourth.”
“Goodness me, so there are five of me now”.
January 4th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
well, I’ll give him a chance, but I’ve been watching the show off and on since Jon Pertwee (Dr # 3).
January 4th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I thought the limit was because they only have that much stored up in their bodies – much as our lifespans are limited by our telomeres. The Master gets extra regenerations by sucking the life out of other people. If (as appears to be the case) that’s the only way to do it, Jack Harkness seems to be an infinite supply, and there’s still the possibility that the writers remember the Valeyard.
landley: Tennant’s the ninth and tenth regenerations – he didn’t change on the tenth regeneration, because as soon as he healed, he dumped the rest of the regeneration energy into the hand.
Um… this is my fourth post in this thread, and no-one else has posted in it twice. Does that say anything about me?
January 4th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I cannot imagine any circumstance in which the writers have forgotten the Valeyard. I can imagine them deciding to give it a wide miss, pretending it never happened, but I suspect they’ve got a script or two already on ice.
January 4th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I just wish the writers for SF shows and movies were required to pass a test on basic science that a forth grader could pass. And have to know the subject they are writing for. I’ve seen interviews of writers and actors that know nothing about the show, characters or back story. They seem proud that they never saw the show or read anything about the show before they were handed a script.
January 4th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Well, I’m looking forward to the specials, and hope they give Tennant a proper sendoff.
January 4th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I fully expect one or more of those specials deal with Doctor Ten’s “marriage” to the mercenary archeologist from The Library. I’m looking forward to that.
I’d like for them to give Tennant’s specials a long, gap-filled chronology, visibly aging him before he regenerates. He is the Lonely Doctor, and that would drive that home nicely.
January 4th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
aging him before he regenerates would be a very nice touch. I would like to see that.
Ona
January 5th, 2009 at 12:01 am
No one else has had the nerve to say it, so I will…
He looks like a mildly retarded Edward Scissor-Hands.
January 5th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Sam: I wouldn’t worry too terribly about the doctor being “just another Jack.” One thing that’s pretty clear in the writing (and part of the charm) is that each regeneration considers himself to be distinct personality if not a whole distinct person, actively annoyed by his other personalities, happy to be alive, and actively wanting to live as himself (i.e. truly into self-preservation, not being cannon-fodder). Regeneration certainly ain’t the smooth and easy road to immortality! And some of the immediately post-regeneration scenes of trying on clothes and past personalities remain some of my favorite little scenes in the whole series.
January 5th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Howard: I would think they would HAVE to give him a long gap-filled chronology, because of River Song, otherwise they’ll just be saying “canon be damned.”
If he didn’t spend years as the 10th Doctor hanging around with River, it wouldn’t have taken her half the episode to work out that he hadn’t met her yet when they were in the library.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
squidfood: Good point.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Sam said:
The Master gets extra regenerations by sucking the life out of other people. If (as appears to be the case) that’s the only way to do it[…]
I doubt that’s the only way. Remember, the Time Lords offered him a new cycle of regenerations in “The Five Doctors,” and we find out in “The Sound of Drums” that they brought him back again for the Time War.
Tennant’s the ninth and tenth regenerations
Now there’s a good question - does it count if the regeneration isn’t completed (i.e. without the physical changes)? That debate should tie up the blogs and newsgroups until the series writers settle it on screen! (I’ll bring the popcorn!)
January 5th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
@WickedWolfie: And it’s storylines like that which make me upset that the actors won’t stay around.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:00 am
First off - I think all y’all, including Howard - would extremely enjoy http://comics.shipsinker.com He has a ten doctors story going on that’s freaking sweet. Includes all sorts of things they could never do in the series. Semi-sporadic on updates, but he has a decent amount of story by now.
Second - the Valeyard could be skipped, he was described as I think a distillation of all the evil in the Doctor, and took place somewhere between the 12th and final incarnation. Although he’s definitely floating around out there somewhere. They bring him back in an audio story, kind of interesting, but frankly Jayston had this terrible smokers voice going on, and his current voice just isn’t anywhere close to what it was in Trail of a Timelord.
Mind you, I wish they would deal with him somehow, he was an intriguing character to me. But perhaps that’s just because I saw it when I was 10-11 years old.
3rd - the regeneration limit was imposed by the time lords. In the Tom Baker serial Underworld - season 15ish, they visit a group called the Minyans, who were influenced by the time lords (back when they actually intervened in people’s lives) much to the destruction of the Minyans…and the Minyans themselves had been given the ability by the Time Lords to undergo unlimited regenerations. However it had a side affect of making them wear thing, like Bilbo, so it wasn’t really desirable.
Lets be honest though - all of this stuff could be done away with in a new episode depending on what the current writers like/don’t like. I mean, they’ve included references to season 6b, restored Jamie’s memories, destroyed the old Cybermen and brought in a slicker-looking but not as menacing version, and destroyed Gallifrey twice now…I’m sure they could do more…
January 6th, 2009 at 12:03 am
by the way - does anyone else have this silly fantasy that they’ll get Patrick Stewart to be The Doctor?
January 6th, 2009 at 12:07 am
oh, um, Howard or Sandra - I accidentally wrote ‘thing’ instead of thin right after I wrote ‘wear’….
January 6th, 2009 at 1:16 am
The main reason timelords get 12 or 13 regenerations is still biological. There’s a LOT of strain involved in that much energy…
As such, as they hit the 12th or 13th, they are taking a LOT of strain at a very advanced age…
So it’s entirely possible that the main reason the timelords could grant extra regenerations was via very advanced, but difficult medicine…
Of course, it could also have been an odd rule they had, which no longer applies…
January 12th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Cheers, ctfarmer! The Ten Doctors is one of the few comics I read as passionately or regularly as I do Schlock.
I’m willing to give Matt a chance-every regeneration has brought a loud chorus of ‘ohnoestheseriesisRUINED’, and it hasn’t been true yet….