The Doctor is in . . . ? (nerd alert)
Although I am loathe to admit it, since Sunday I've been embroiled in a bit of an internal struggle: I can't decide how I feel about the new Doctor Who.
I am kind of a Whovian-come-lately having only started watching the show when it was rebooted in 2005. I'd heard about Doctor Who, of course, and around the time a TV marathon caught my attention I was also systematically devouring The Prisoner and was curious about this other British TV classic. Anyway, with the help of my DVR, I ended up working my way through most of the episodes I'd missed and by the end of David Tennant's Doctor and for all of Matt Smith's I've been paying pretty close attention. I'm a fan.
I'm not great with change. When Christopher Eccleston was about to end his run as the Doctor, I thought for sure I'd be woefully disappointed in the next one. But that was David Tennant! And then when he was stepping down, I practically mourned . . . but then we had Matt Smith!! All of them were so charismatic in the role that watching the show could feel a bit flirty (what self-respecting Smart Girl wasn't a little jealous of Amy Pond for reasons that had nothing to do with time travel?) So when The Husband and I settled in on the couch to watch the season premiere of Doctor Who, "Deep Breath," on Sunday night (we watched on demand), I was ready to be won over again, this time by Peter Capaldi. Instead, I was a bit unsettled not to be more charmed by the new Doctor.
I felt guilty about my response and, upon further reflection, there are two reasons for this:
- Peter Capaldi did a great acting job and was not just believable but memorable as the Doctor as he was written in "Deep Breath." (As a fellow actor, in retrospect, it felt crummy not to be cheering him on in his new role.)
- What do I REALLY love about Doctor Who? Steven Moffat! I love his Sherlock. I loved his Jekyll. Even Coupling is delightful. And it was about three-quarters of the way through "Deep Breath" when Peter Capaldi had a distinctly Jeff-from-Coupling-esque monologue that I realized where my true affections lie.
Steven Moffat tells stories that I love to hear, in ways that I love to hear them and, whether I find him fanciable or not, Peter Capaldi seems up to the task of helping realize those stories. I'm excited to see how this new Doctor fits into his vision (and disinclined to think I know better).