Helen Mirren Interested In Playing Dr. Who?
- Thread starter Kaodi
- Start date
Given the doctor regenerates a whole new body, and can apparently "switch sides", and that this is established within the canon of the sow, with that show having been around as long as it has, a change would be fitting, and give a very different pace.
Doesn't mean the doctor always has to be a female....but it would be interesting to actually see it for a "cycle".
Again, it would be entirely fitting with the mythology of the show, and there are mechanisms within that mythology for it to happen. Having Robin Hood spontaneously become a woman would be very different.....there's no mechanism for it to happen as, as far as I know, magic isn't very prevalent in the Robin Hood mythos. Arthurian, yes, but I don't think Robin Hood.
Banshee
So? That's not a change I particularly want to see. The fact that you do doesn't affect that.
Just because a change can happen doesn't mean it should happen. I also don't want the Doctor played by a child, or by a very elderly person again. Neither would I like to see someone non-British play him. All these things could happen; but I don't want them to.
Arguing that the show's premise allows for it isn't particularly persuasive in itself. The show's premise would allow the next Doctor to be a 9-month old baby, and we could watch him burp and vomit for 45 minutes every Saturday night - after all, changing is what he does, right? The fact that the show's premise makes it possible isn't an argument; one needs to discuss why one wants to see the Doctor played by someone like Helen Mirren, not that he (as is obvious) could be.
Not every change is needed.
I'd certainly enjoy seeing her playing another Time Lord.
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Maybe as an alternate universe Doctor Who that is part of a Multi-Doctor story arc on the lines of The Five Doctors! 
This thread reminds me of Curse of the Fatal Death, where the Doctor is played by Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Grant, Joanna Lumley, and others. It was written by Moffat, I believe (for Comic Relief Day a few years ago). It's intentionally awful - in a good way.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-wDPoC6GM"]Rowan Atkinson is Doctor Who - Classic Comic Relief - YouTube[/ame]
Kaodi
Legend
Just now am I remembering part of what made me post this.
It is not just the fact that Helen Mirren is a woman. It is that she is a damn fine actress. If you can find me some other Oscar winning actor who expresses an interest in playing Dr Who, then maybe a purely male vs. female Doctor argument will make sense.
It is not just the fact that Helen Mirren is a woman. It is that she is a damn fine actress. If you can find me some other Oscar winning actor who expresses an interest in playing Dr Who, then maybe a purely male vs. female Doctor argument will make sense.
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
The question is not whether or not you specifically find it to be a good idea. The question is whether or not it is a good idea in its own right. Refuting my conclusions on why I think it is a good idea in its own right by saying that my conclusions don't change whether it is a good idea in your opinion has nothing to do with the conclusions or whether or not they pertain to the actual question.
It's not meant to be persuassive as to whether or not they should do it, it is meant to point out that your objections on the grounds that there is no Jane Bond (etc.) simply isn't pertinent since, within those fictions, it isn't on the table.
As to whether or not it is needed, one could argue that there has been plenty enough Doctor Who in nearly fifty years, though I wouldn't make that argument myself. I've seen some good and some bad Doctor Who portrayals and some good and bad episodes even with good portrayals. Overall, I am a fan of Doctor Who both as a show and as a character and would be pleased to see them take it in additional possible directions, such as having a female Doctor Who, and I'm surprised they haven't tried it before now (hence feeling it is long overdue) since it has always been on the table as possible. The correlated question is, since it has seemingly always been a possibility, why haven't they tried it yet?
Sorry, I've clearly missed something. What question? I wasn't aware one had been put to me. I don't know about you, but I was discussing my preferences. I'm not privy to any further question. If you have a further question, feel free to put it to me, but I'm afraid my reasoning is preference-based.
But you haven't explained why you think it's a good idea in its own right. Or what this mysterious "actual question" is. You've merely said "The Doctor changes"; ergo they should do it.
Yes, yes, he does. That doesn't explain why you think this particular change is a good idea.
Same reason they haven't explored many other possibilities (the Doctor as a toddler, for example) - they don't think that's what people want from their Doctor. Maybe the next Doctor should be a Dougie Howser/Wesley Crusher style teenaged genius. The show would certainly allow for that. It certainly wouldn't appeal to me, though. Why haven't they done that yet?
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Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
Indeed. As is mine. However you keep quoting me and objecting to my preferences as if my preferences have to overcome your objections.
I have indeed. It is one of the possibilities of the Doctor Who character that they have yet to explore in nearly fifty years and since they don't manage to have a 100% track record with episodes and Doctors being top notch, there's no reason not to try out this long overlooked territory. If it had always been a great series, I'd argue against messing with success, but they've had ups and downs. That's the argument in a nutshell.
(I'm going to ignore your absurdist argument regarding "Toddler Who" despite the success of Muppet Babies. You should probably not bothering bringing it up with me moving forward.)
But as long as we're examining one another's arguments so closely, what of your objections? Your main argument seems to boil down to 'just because they can doesn't mean they should' rather than any real concrete objection to trying something different. Care to give it a better try, while leaving out the absurdists examples, beyond it just not appealing to you?
That is all there is to it. Why do I need more? It doesn't appeal to me. Maybe it appeals to you; it doesn't to me. I don't want to see Helen Mirren as the Doctor.
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