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Doctor Who Series 8

I think it's quiet clear that Katherine Tate is many things but she is not a adherent to the Stanislavski system. and even if she was, Donna Noble isn't a idiot and spent the year between the runaway bride and the magic fat gnomes episodes actively looking for the Doctor so she should;

A) Know the actual name of the man she's running around time and space with.

B) what the name of the ship she's doing it in stands for.




and I like Jo Wiley in that Buzzcocks episode.
 
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8den said:
I think it's quiet clear that Katherine Tate is many things but she is not a adherent to the Stanislavski system. and even if she was, Donna Noble isn't a idiot and spent the year between the runaway bride and the magic fat gnomes episodes actively looking for the Doctor so she should;

A) Know the actual name of the man she's running around time and space with.

B) what the name of the ship she's doing it in stands for.




and I like Jo Wiley in that Buzzcocks episode.
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What?

I mention Stanislavski because that's essentially what ppl mean when they talk about good/bad acting. The job if acting is to pretend, as believably as possible, that you know what the character knows - and no more.

All Donna knows, from research, will be that his name is "the doctor". Catherine Tate, beyond that, knows the show is called Doctor Who. It's by no means an unreasonable assumption. If it had a question mark it wouldn't seem like a name, but it doesn't have one.

Donna has been researching him by following mysteries, hoping to bump into him. She's not in UNIT, or one of the Doctor gang in Love and Monsters. How would she know what tardis stands for?
 
spanglechick said:
What?

I mention Stanislavski because that's essentially what ppl mean when they talk about good/bad acting. The job if acting is to pretend, as believably as possible, that you know what the character knows - and no more.

All Donna knows, from research, will be that his name is "the doctor". Catherine Tate, beyond that, knows the show is called Doctor Who. It's by no means an unreasonable assumption. If it had a question mark it wouldn't seem like a name, but it doesn't have one.

Donna has been researching him by following mysteries, hoping to bump into him. She's not in UNIT, or one of the Doctor gang in Love and Monsters. How would she know what tardis stands for?
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There is the whole episode in the library where River whispers his proper name. I guess Tate should remember that. Donna would have. She was probably playing the thicko for laughs. It was her living for a while after all.
 
CNT36 said:
There is the whole episode in the library where River whispers his proper name. I guess Tate should remember that. Donna would have. She was probably playing the thicko for laughs. It was her living for a while after all.
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River doesn't whisper it to Donna, does she?
 
spanglechick said:
What?

I mention Stanislavski because that's essentially what ppl mean when they talk about good/bad acting. The job if acting is to pretend, as believably as possible, that you know what the character knows - and no more.
Click to expand...

I don't think people really care how a actor gets into character, just as long as they play the character convincingly. Look at Tennant and Capaldi both massive Who fans as children.

All Donna knows, from research, will be that his name is "the doctor". Catherine Tate, beyond that, knows the show is called Doctor Who. It's by no means an unreasonable assumption. If it had a question mark it wouldn't seem like a name, but it doesn't have one.
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I cannot comphrend someone spending the best part of a year on set, and reading y'know over a dozen scripts where his name appears next to your characters name and seeing the words "THE DOCTOR" and not say "Sorry I thought his name was Doctor Who, so why does it say "THE DOCTOR" next to all his lines"

Donna has been researching him by following mysteries, hoping to bump into him. She's not in UNIT, or one of the Doctor gang in Love and Monsters. How would she know what tardis stands for?
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Rory seems to know alot about the Tardis before he arrives.

Anyway this is a digression. Lots of great actors have researched their characters throughly and given amazing performances. Lots of great actors have barely bothered to read the script and given great performances. I don't think Tate's performance was good, and found her delivery annoying. Her lack of interest in Doctor Who was just another thing about her that bothered me (couldn't resist) I think she squandered the best companion role of new who. She wasn't Adric or Melanie (shudder) or even Martha though.
 
8den said:
I don't think people really care how a actor gets into character, just as long as they play the character convincingly. Look at Tennant and Capaldi both massive Who fans as children.



I cannot comphrend someone spending the best part of a year on set, and reading y'know over a dozen scripts where his name appears next to your characters name and seeing the words "THE DOCTOR" and not say "Sorry I thought his name was Doctor Who, so why does it say "THE DOCTOR" next to all his lines"



Rory seems to know alot about the Tardis before he arrives.

Anyway this is a digression. Lots of great actors have researched their characters throughly and given amazing performances. Lots of great actors have barely bothered to read the script and given great performances. I don't think Tate's performance was good, and found her delivery annoying. Her lack of interest in Doctor Who was just another thing about her that bothered me (couldn't resist) I think she squandered the best companion role of new who. She wasn't Adric or Melanie (shudder) or even Martha though.
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This down to you then? I jest but who votes in these fucking things?
 
Sign of the times. I imagine most people voting were only familiar with new Who. Old companions never beat any of the new ones and those old ones that have been in new who or mentioned in it or a spin off seem to have done slightly better. K9, the Brig but not Jo Grant.
 
CNT36 said:
Sign of the times. I imagine most people voting were only familiar with new Who. Old companions never beat any of the new ones and those old ones that have been in new who or mentioned in it or a spin off seem to have done slightly better. K9, the Brig but not Jo Grant.
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Jo Grant was shit anyway.
 
spanglechick said:
Hang on - hold the phone.

Acting is what I *do* know about. From a purely qualitative perspective, Tate not researching the series beyond her role is *exactly* what the very best actors should do (not that this is why she did it, necessarily). Donna doesn't know anything about the doctor beyond what she experiences with him, therefore to play her more convincingly, more in line with Stanislavski's 'system' (or the Method, as it went on to be developed in the States), researching the series is not only unnecessary, it would be actively harmful. As a fan you might be offended that she has never been into Who as a wider entity than the role she played - but there's bugger all reason why an actor *should*.

I love that Buzzcocks episode. Yes, she's completely fucking clueless - though she plays up to it, and it's obv part of her offscreen personality... I also suspect she's a bit pissed... but Tennant (a massive Who geek) clearly adores her for it. They went on to do Taming of the Shrew together in the west end. It received rave reviews. I fully expect that Tate doesn't know a great deal about Shakespeare or the canon. She didn't need to, though, even if i think it's really interesting. As an actor she needs to know one part really well. That's all.

Donna is an extraordinary companion. Far and away the best of new Who. Mostly that's the scripts - but they were created for her, the plot arc written with her in mind after working with her on the runaway bride a year earlier. Her delivery is... full on. Probably quite annoying, in some ways (appropriately to the character)... but the emotional pitch varies throughout the series and the stuff at the end is nicely at contrast with the comic overstatement at the start.
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Oh yeah, she was shi**ed in the Buzzcocks. It was a little bit awkward. I'd forgotten than.
 
8den said:
I think it's quiet clear that Katherine Tate is many things but she is not a adherent to the Stanislavski system. and even if she was, Donna Noble isn't a idiot and spent the year between the runaway bride and the magic fat gnomes episodes actively looking for the Doctor so she should;

A) Know the actual name of the man she's running around time and space with.

B) what the name of the ship she's doing it in stands for.




and I like Jo Wiley in that Buzzcocks episode.
Click to expand...
but Catherine Tate is only required to learn her lines and deliver them in a way that makes the director and producers happy she's an actor doing her job
 
ginger_syn said:
but Catherine Tate is only required to learn her lines and deliver them in a way that makes the director and producers happy she's an actor doing her job
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I really don't know why I'm diving back in. The actor's job doesn't start and end on the day of being on set anymore. They're also the face and brand of the show. Months after shooting has wrapped and post has finished they'll need to go and promote the show. These day's they'll be expected to attend events like Comic Con etc during the shoot to talk up the show. They'll need to be engaging and enthusiastic in panels, tv, radio, and print interviews.



I'll just reiterate. My dislike of Tate started before she was cast in the runaway bride, continued throughout her tenure as a assistant, and her performance on Buzzcocks was just the icing on the cake. She's got one schtick and, her only way of delivering lines was 'Louder and more Sarcastic" or "Less loud and less sarcastic". I think she was served the best script of any new who companion and squandered it.

What's annoying him about new who is Every Single Companion has been a girl from the modern age. And what annoys me even more is they're even described as girls. Karen Gillen is "the girl who waited" while Clara is "the impossible girl".

I'm tired of companions who are A) girls & B) from this era. Give me Jamie, or even bloody Adric, the doctor is supposed to traverse space and time, why is he always picking female companions from early 21st century UK!

I think he has a fetish.
 
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ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
Out of every single play off I can only agree with 8. Which is double shit because most would not have gotten past the first round.
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Four wasn't so bad, with the exception that River isn't really a companion. Never cared for Jamie. Though I do appreciate someone else's suggestion that Adric beats River just because he stayed dead. The lack of love for Romana v1.0 and Leela is horrific.
 
8den said:
I really don't know why I'm diving back in. The actor's job doesn't start and end on the day of being on set anymore. They're also the face and brand of the show. Months after shooting has wrapped and post has finished they'll need to go and promote the show. These day's they'll be expected to attend events like Comic Con etc during the shoot to talk up the show. They'll need to be engaging and enthusiastic in panels, tv, radio, and print interviews.



I'll just reiterate. My dislike of Tate started before she was cast in the runaway bride, continued throughout her tenure as a assistant, and her performance on Buzzcocks was just the icing on the cake. She's got one schtick and, her only way of delivering lines was 'Louder and more Sarcastic" or "Less loud and less sarcastic". I think she was served the best script of any new who companion and squandered it.

What's annoying him about new who is Every Single Companion has been a girl from the modern age. And what annoys me even more is they're even described as girls. Karen Gillen is "the girl who waited" while Clara is "the impossible girl".

I'm tired of companions who are A) girls & B) from this era. Give me Jamie, or even bloody Adric, the doctor is supposed to traverse space and time, why is he always picking female companions from early 21st century UK!

I think he has a fetish.
Click to expand...
or the producers do :) I get what you mean about New who companions, in my opinion Rory was the best companion but was not used to the best advantage at all. still it could have been worse at least none of them are Bonnie Langford, that choice still gets me a bit frothy mouthed after all this time.
 
Bonnie Langford's another one (along with Colin Baker) who did really well in the audio books. Whether it was maturity or just better writing, I couldn't tell you. The only one I can think of that wasn't very good either on TV or in the audio stories is Sarah Sutton. Though I hear she's quite lovely in person (Matt Waterhouse, too).
 
its always peri or amy pond for me.

Rory gets the lions share of quality gags in new who tho. more than the doc. The hitler episode ffs.
 
Donna was the best new Who companion for me, followed by Rory. In terms of their wider arc, next comes - shockingly - Martha. Despite her somewhat awkward acting ability and the unfortunately beginnings where she was his rebound companion who of course fell in love with him but couldn't have him because Rose, she matured into someone who was strong and amazing and a leader in her own right, even if her actor probably wasn't the best to handle a storyline like that. I liked Rose well enough, although I despise the way she got her own doctor at the end - wasn't it enough she got her dad back? But I otherwise liked her independence. In fact probably the two strongest in my eyes are Rose and Donna - working class women with otherwise not much of an exciting future ahead of them who end up being pretty darned marvellous. I like Martha for similar reasons except the working class bit - she was going to have a decent life anyway as a doctor, but her personal insecurities were overcome and she showed she could lead as good as anyone else. Really Amy and Clara have been the weakest for me, certainly Clara because she's pretty much a nothing, but even with Amy all she was was a pining girl with legs up to here and a crush on the doctor, or a wife, or a mother, and yet another problem for the doctor to solve. She lives in this big old house that apparently can be paid for by being a kissagram, and ends up (inexplicably) as a high street fashion model. Great arc, that.
 
8den said:
I really don't know why I'm diving back in. The actor's job doesn't start and end on the day of being on set anymore. They're also the face and brand of the show. Months after shooting has wrapped and post has finished they'll need to go and promote the show. These day's they'll be expected to attend events like Comic Con etc during the shoot to talk up the show. They'll need to be engaging and enthusiastic in panels, tv, radio, and print interviews.



I'll just reiterate. My dislike of Tate started before she was cast in the runaway bride, continued throughout her tenure as a assistant, and her performance on Buzzcocks was just the icing on the cake. She's got one schtick and, her only way of delivering lines was 'Louder and more Sarcastic" or "Less loud and less sarcastic". I think she was served the best script of any new who companion and squandered it.

What's annoying him about new who is Every Single Companion has been a girl from the modern age. And what annoys me even more is they're even described as girls. Karen Gillen is "the girl who waited" while Clara is "the impossible girl".

I'm tired of companions who are A) girls & B) from this era. Give me Jamie, or even bloody Adric, the doctor is supposed to traverse space and time, why is he always picking female companions from early 21st century UK!

I think he has a fetish.
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It is interesting; the difference between Adric, by today's standards a massive geek, and the likes of Rose, sassy young woman giving as good as she gets. I think the difference sums up the difference in the periods concerned. Adric was a young genius whose talents were recognised by the doctor whle Rose is a gobby cow who got stick in a parallel universe with a sex toy clone of Dr 10.
 
Episode 4 in short, "there's somethinng under the bed aghhhh" :) It's a bit better than the last 3 piss poor offerings though.
 
They're not starting that timeline things again are they? I'm not good at keeping track of the plot at the best of times.
 
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