Doctor WTF

[khaosworks]

Okay, cold sober light of day.

Part of me feels for Eccleston - that it's perfecly legitimate for him to want out, and even if he was committed to a two year or however long contract, if he's not happy then he's not happy and there's no point having an unhappy actor - no matter how good - in a role.

And yet, if his justification is not wanting to be typecast, or the gruelling schedule, or the publicity... he should have known. Maybe the problem was that he was never really a fan, and during the shoot he was insulated from all the publicity because of the schedule, so it never quite sunk in until the media blitz in the runup to the debut of Rose just how intense the scrutiny could be.

I respect his decision, and wish him the best. But he should have known that it wasn't just another television show. And it's hard not to feel disappointed, and maybe even a little betrayed by that decision after all the good will and positive feelings we've invested in his Doctor. It's not his fault he had to make the annoucement now, marring what was the elation over the greenlighting of Series 2, but damn.

Conspiracy theories are already running around that Eccleston never intended to do a second series and that the Beeb knew this from the start and this is all just publicity and spin, playing with the audience's expectations and focus attention on the new Who. If only I were still paranoid enough (and less ignorant of history) to believe that people actually plan things in this world.

I'll get over it. The thought of a new Doctor is kind of exciting, as is the prospect of a 21st Century regeneration. I will enjoy the next 12 episodes, of that I have no doubt. I'll even start cheering up again once a new Doctor is announced. But for now, it's just damn, damn disappointing and demoralizing.

And the really ironic part is that for not wanting to be typecast, Eccleston will forever be remembered for this.

I'm just going to try and forget the madness and get some work done today.

Comments

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Jan was convinced, from the glimpses of him in the publicity, that he never intended to do more than the one year, and I trust her feelings on this kind of thing (most things, actually). The thing that bugs is that I can't see RTD casting a Doctor who he knew was going to leave after a year.
It's just going to shake the whole thing up again when it really needs some stability. Maybe the series should have been called "Rose" and the first ep "The Doctor"...

As you say. No help fretting about it. They'll do what they'll do. (I wonder how long it takes to get an Equity card and acquire an impressive CV...suppose I could always do a Jerry Doyle and make stuff up...)

[aunty_marion]

Mmm, now *there's* an idea! I can see you as a really eccentric Doctor in the Old Style!

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Once when I was working at Titan I took a passport-sized photo of me looking startled (as you do) and blew it up to A4. The dark curtain turned into a very nice starfield, and the posterising effect made the image quite stark. So I did some cutting and pasting and mocked up a cover of Doctor Who Magazine, captioned "The New Doctor!" with a little TARDIS just underneath my mug.

Long lost, I fear, but it gave me a good feeling...

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

I'll race you for it! =:o}