DBWI: Red White and Who? Doctor Who as an American TV series

[Crow T R0bot]

OOC: I found this article a few months ago, dwelled on it a bit, and decided it merited a "discussion" of what Doctor Who was like as an American TV series. It's fairly basic on its own, giving a brief summary of each American!Doctor's tenure, but I think it's worth expanding on. The link below is our jumping off point.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/newu456/what-if-doctor-who-was-american-5pxx

IC: Well, a year ago today, I jumped on the Doctor Who bandwagon, more specifically the NuWho after watching the first two episodes on NetFlix. Nicholas Cage was a certainly memorable Doctor, and his tenure as the Ninth Doctor is right up there with Big Daddy from Kick-Ass as one of my favorite roles.

Yet with a whole bunch of old episodes to go through to tide me over until Bryan Cranston finally gets an episode to himself, I'm wondering what you guys thought of this excellent long-runner.

 

[Morty Vicar]

OOC: I found this article a few months ago, dwelled on it a bit, and decided it merited a "discussion" of what Doctor Who was like as an American TV series. It's fairly basic on its own, giving a brief summary of each American!Doctor's tenure, but I think it's worth expanding on. The link below is our jumping off point.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/newu456/what-if-doctor-who-was-american-5pxx

IC: Well, a year ago today, I jumped on the Doctor Who bandwagon, more specifically the NuWho after watching the first two episodes on NetFlix. Nicholas Cage was a certainly memorable Doctor, and his tenure as the Ninth Doctor is right up there with Big Daddy from Kick-Ass as one of my favorite roles.

Yet with a whole bunch of old episodes to go through to tide me over until Bryan Cranston finally gets an episode to himself, I'm wondering what you guys thought of this excellent long-runner.

OOC: that looks amazing up until Jeff Goldblum, I can't see him as Dr Who at all! Gene Wilder would be amazing though!! But don't you mean a triple-blind WI? Sorry I can't get my head around those! btw, what do OOC and IC stand for specifically? I assume out-of-something and in-something.


IC: I can't wait for Bryan Cranston to start, he's an amazing actor! I really hope they put some Breaking Bad references in there, that would be a crazy crossover! I'm not a huge fan of Nicholas Cage as the Dr, again a great actor, but not how I see Dr Who. Mind you I grew up watching Gene Wilder, to me he was the epitome of the role.

 

[Crow T R0bot]

OOC: that looks amazing up until Jeff Goldblum, I can't see him as Dr Who at all! Gene Wilder would be amazing though!! But don't you mean a triple-blind WI? Sorry I can't get my head around those! btw, what do OOC and IC stand for specifically? I assume out-of-something and in-something.


IC: I can't wait for Bryan Cranston to start, he's an amazing actor! I really hope they put some Breaking Bad references in there, that would be a crazy crossover! I'm not a huge fan of Nicholas Cage as the Dr, again a great actor, but not how I see Dr Who. Mind you I grew up watching Gene Wilder, to me he was the epitome of the role.

OOC: "OOC" means Out of Character, meaning discussing things as they really are. "IC" means "In Character," meaning discussing things in the context of this fictional universe.

IC: I've already heard way too many "The Doctor Who Knocks" jokes as it is, but Cranston already has the chops to be possibly the best Doctor yet, and this is coming from a guy who already considered Sam Rockwell his favorite.

I need to see more of Wilder's Doctor, or Vincent Price's for that matter. He played splendidly off of The Colonel, and George Peppard really sold that character.

Anyone remember Hans Conried's role as the original Master? An acquaintance of mine preferred his stiffer yet hammy performance to the sheer bombast the most recent guy gave him in the revival series.

 

[AlanJWhite]

AFAIK the actors who have played "the Master" are

Anyone remember Hans Conried's role as the original Master? An acquaintance of mine preferred his stiffer yet hammy performance to the sheer bombast the most recent guy gave him in the revival series.

Roger Delgado (1971–73)
Peter Pratt (1976)
Geoffrey Beevers (1981)
Anthony Ainley (1981–89)
Gordon Tipple (1996)
Eric Roberts (1996)
Derek Jacobi (2007)
John Simm (2007–10)
William Hughes (child, 2007)


Doctor Who .. with the exception of one TV film .. was and is firmly British TV

Hans Conreid was firmly US based ... the only "Who" he worked on was with Hortom

 

[Morty Vicar]

Doctor Who .. with the exception of one TV film .. was and is firmly British TV

Hans Conreid was firmly US based ... the only "Who" he worked on was with Hortom

OOC: Thanks Crow!

Alan, this is a Double-Blind What If

IC: Who do you hope is going to be the next companion? It's a little bit obscure, but I'd love it to be Dilshad Vadsaria, she has the perfect blend of poker-faced cynicism to be a great counterpart to the doctor, especially if Cranston plays it more Heisenbergy than Malcolm in the Middley.

 

[dilbert719]

OOC: "OOC" means Out of Character, meaning discussing things as they really are. "IC" means "In Character," meaning discussing things in the context of this fictional universe.

IC: I've already heard way too many "The Doctor Who Knocks" jokes as it is, but Cranston already has the chops to be possibly the best Doctor yet, and this is coming from a guy who already considered Sam Rockwell his favorite.

I need to see more of Wilder's Doctor, or Vincent Price's for that matter. He played splendidly off of The Colonel, and George Peppard really sold that character.

Anyone remember Hans Conried's role as the original Master? An acquaintance of mine preferred his stiffer yet hammy performance to the sheer bombast the most recent guy gave him in the revival series.

Cranston's a remarkable actor, and given the wide array of roles he's already portrayed, and convincingly, I don't expect Twelve to be the Doctor Who Knocks. He'll be a bit spooky, like Three, maybe irascible in the Six mold (I hope; we got far too little time with Doctor Walken), but he's not going to be importing another of his characters wholesale. I am excited, though; I was afraid they'd continue down the "young, glossy, nerdy but not too nerdy" path they'd taken the Doctor on, and we'd end up with Aaron Ashmore or Simon Helberg. A bit older than Glover, true, but not the radical break from what's come before that we needed to see.

I will say, though, no matter how good Cranston is, he's still probably not going to top the Seven/Ten crossover episodes for me. Rockwell and Shalhoub played off each other brilliantly. Some of the best television I've ever seen.

I've been hearing rumors about the Master getting recast, honestly. I think it's about time, too; Cranston needs a Master who plays off of his Doctor specifically, and I just don't feel like Alan Tudyk's the right man for the job. Against Rockwell, sure, it worked well to have a more energetic Master, but Cranston? He needs an intellectual.

 

[TheKnightIrish]

Have you seen the US 50th Anniversary trailer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCv5o7n_mtk

I want to go to this universe!

 

[Crow T R0bot]

I've been hearing rumors about the Master getting recast, honestly. I think it's about time, too; Cranston needs a Master who plays off of his Doctor specifically, and I just don't feel like Alan Tudyk's the right man for the job. Against Rockwell, sure, it worked well to have a more energetic Master, but Cranston? He needs an intellectual.

How about Hugh Laurie? His performance as Dr. House managed to come across as darkly funny, so a more subdued version of his predecessor, perhaps?

 

[Morty Vicar]

How about Hugh Laurie? His performance as Dr. House managed to come across as darkly funny, so a more subdued version of his predecessor, perhaps?

No, don't ruin Dr Who by adding brits to the cast! Bad enough we have Andrew Lincoln on the Walking Dead, the guy in homeland, dr house, gillian anderson.. No offence to our British friends, but UK tv programs are always bad! For some reason europeans feel the need to make everything seriously depressing, except the comedies, which aren't funny..

 

[dilbert719]

How about Hugh Laurie? His performance as Dr. House managed to come across as darkly funny, so a more subdued version of his predecessor, perhaps?

I like that one. I could see him playing it like Rene Auberjonois did, actually; hammier even than Conreid, but not off the wall manic like Tudyk. Laurie could pull off the menace of the character, and has the gravitas to play the dark foil to Cranston the way Auberjonois did with Wilder and MacLachlan.

 

[Ultimate Paragon]

I like that one. I could see him playing it like Rene Auberjonois did, actually; hammier even than Conreid, but not off the wall manic like Tudyk. Laurie could pull off the menace of the character, and has the gravitas to play the dark foil to Cranston the way Auberjonois did with Wilder and MacLachlan.

I second this. Especially if we can get Stephen Fry involved somehow. I love seeing those two interact.

 

[Morty Vicar]

You know what would be awesome, if the Master came back in the form of Julietta Curzon [OOC: Walkens companion who died tragically, played by Nana Visitor] and just played serious mind games the entire time, eventually revealing her true identity.

 

[thekingsguard]

I'm looking forward to Cranston, if only because it looks like he's taking after Vincent Price and the Third Doctor. Hopefully we'll see a return of Venusian Akihito - I love the episodes where Bruce Lee cameo'd as the Doctor's sensei, maybe we could bring Brandon Lee on to play him now

 

[dilbert719]

You know what would be awesome, if the Master came back in the form of Julietta Curzon [OOC: Walkens companion who died tragically, played by Nana Visitor] and just played serious mind games the entire time, eventually revealing her true identity.

Oh, that would be stunning. (Yeah, yeah, I know, as a thread about Doctor Who progresses, the odds that someone will quote Nine approach 100%, we've heard it all before.) Hell, I'd be happy to have her back in any capacity, but after seeing her turn as Velma Kelly in Chicago, it's perfectly clear that she can play dark and evil. It'd make such a nice change from Julietta.

I am wondering what the relationship between Twelve and Claire is going to turn into, though. She had such a great rapport with Eleven, and now she goes from fun and bouncy to dark and brooding. Jewel Staite's been brilliant, though, and I'm sure whatever they have planned, she'll pull it off.

 

[titulus regius]

Looking back, it's clear why the Doctor Who production never got past one season. Despite the big budget (for the 1960s) and the big names, the concepts involved were far too complex. Lucille Ball did her best as the 'Doctor' but anyone watching just saw Lucy and , this time around, did not love her.

All so different from the edgy British movie just released, 50 years after the tv show, which has set record attendances and is set for at least two more sequels.

 

[Crow T R0bot]

Looking back, it's clear why the Doctor Who production never got past one season. Despite the big budget (for the 1960s) and the big names, the concepts involved were far too complex. Lucille Ball did her best as the 'Doctor' but anyone watching just saw Lucy and , this time around, did not love her.

All so different from the edgy British movie just released, 50 years after the tv show, which has set record attendances and is set for at least two more sequels.

OOC: Wrong Double Bind, this assumes Doctor Who was just as successful as in real life, but made in America instead of Britain. Also there's a link to a "cast list" of the various American!Doctors throughout the years.

IC: Anyone have a favorite Davros? Christopher Lloyd did a magnificent job in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, but I was wondering if anyone preferred his predecessors.

 

[Morty Vicar]

OOC: Wrong Double Bind, this assumes Doctor Who was just as successful as in real life, but made in America instead of Britain. Also there's a link to a "cast list" of the various American!Doctors throughout the years.

IC: Anyone have a favorite Davros? Christopher Lloyd did a magnificent job in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, but I was wondering if anyone preferred his predecessors.

Was it just me, or did the Daleks then suddenly develop a slight Noo Yoik accent? You almost expect them to start blaring their horns at each other and saying 'move it schlomo!'

 

[dilbert719]

Was it just me, or did the Daleks then suddenly develop a slight Noo Yoik accent? You almost expect them to start blaring their horns at each other and saying 'move it schlomo!'

They did, but it was worth it to get the reference to Taxi thrown in, with the confusion over what a yellow light meant.

Lloyd's still the definitive Davros, but I'm warming to Armin Shimerman's version. I just hope he gets a star turn again soon, since it's been a while since he was the focus of a Dalek episode.

 

[Morty Vicar]

Do you mind if I take this off topic and ask WI Dr Who was a British series? Personally, as I mentioned, I'm not really a fan of British TV (despite being British!) but it would be interesting to see what would change. What form would the tardis take? I suppose it could still be a van, a VW campervan would be awesome, especially if it had loads of flowerpower stuff on it!

EDIT: ok, I just turned Dr Who into Austin Powers!

 

[Crow T R0bot]

I'm looking forward to Cranston, if only because it looks like he's taking after Vincent Price and the Third Doctor. Hopefully we'll see a return of Venusian Akihito - I love the episodes where Bruce Lee cameo'd as the Doctor's sensei, maybe we could bring Brandon Lee on to play him now

Isn't Brandon Lee also dead, or is this a different Brandon Lee? I'm thinking of the one from The Crow.

What would you say was the silliest moment from The Classic or New Series? I for one can't get over Abraham Lincoln suplexing The Master in Dixie Steel, but at least it has the excuse that the real Honest Abe was a wrestler in his youth.