It took a while for Capaldi's Doctor to grow on me. From the beginning I appreciated Peter Capaldi the actor (DW was my first experience watching him), but I wasn't immediately drawn to him. Thank goodness Clara was still there, as she is a favorite companion of mine. That helped, and his evolution to a very empathetic character ultimately won me over. I loved his final season with Bill and Nardole, Bill in particular was an excellent follow up as a companion. And Missy was fantastic, Michelle Gomez gave her a soul I don't think previous versions had. I started watching Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston's Doctor, and they say your first Doctor is your favorite, and in my case that's true. Peter Capaldi's Doctor has a place in my heart, however, and I was sad to see him go in the end.
I actually started Who with the New Adventure books from Virgin. I read Kate Orman's The Left Handed Hummingbird, which featured the 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and fell instantly in love. I then bought tons of VHS tapes and taught myself Doctor Who rapidly. McCoy's era started poorly and got canceled right when it started pushing the envelope and exploring the character. So my 7th Doctor is a combination of those few live action glimpses and the best of the novels (Orman's and Ben Aaronovitch's IMHO). There are a few audio books from Big Finish that feature Syl as the post-series version of the character, and those are great for putting it together. Anyway, he was my favorite Old School Doctor. Then Capaldi came along, and he seemed to embody everything that had come before back then: he starts off with Colin Baker's broken regeneration. He has a bit of the first Doctor's tetchy attitude. He manages Tom Baker's alienness. Troughton's whimsy. He evolves into Davison's empathy and literally wears Pertwee's jacket (and position of influence with UNIT). But he also has McCoy's years, McCoy's pain, McCoy's vision - seeing the whole of the universe and standing somehow above it, absorbing all the pain of others and not breaking. He was everything I ever wanted in a Doctor. It breaks my heart that a lot of the fan base just won't young-seeming thousand year old men hitting on 19 year olds. Capaldi's completely non-sexualized love for his companions was light years above that. The "betrayal" scene with Clara - that's the essence of Who!
That was one of the things I liked about his run, no romantic entanglements. Even when River appeared, his love seemed less romantic and more fondness (not sure if that's the right word).
Cannot wait. :)
Great stuff!
Thank you.
It took a while for Capaldi's Doctor to grow on me. From the beginning I appreciated Peter Capaldi the actor (DW was my first experience watching him), but I wasn't immediately drawn to him. Thank goodness Clara was still there, as she is a favorite companion of mine. That helped, and his evolution to a very empathetic character ultimately won me over. I loved his final season with Bill and Nardole, Bill in particular was an excellent follow up as a companion. And Missy was fantastic, Michelle Gomez gave her a soul I don't think previous versions had. I started watching Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston's Doctor, and they say your first Doctor is your favorite, and in my case that's true. Peter Capaldi's Doctor has a place in my heart, however, and I was sad to see him go in the end.
I actually started Who with the New Adventure books from Virgin. I read Kate Orman's The Left Handed Hummingbird, which featured the 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and fell instantly in love. I then bought tons of VHS tapes and taught myself Doctor Who rapidly. McCoy's era started poorly and got canceled right when it started pushing the envelope and exploring the character. So my 7th Doctor is a combination of those few live action glimpses and the best of the novels (Orman's and Ben Aaronovitch's IMHO). There are a few audio books from Big Finish that feature Syl as the post-series version of the character, and those are great for putting it together. Anyway, he was my favorite Old School Doctor. Then Capaldi came along, and he seemed to embody everything that had come before back then: he starts off with Colin Baker's broken regeneration. He has a bit of the first Doctor's tetchy attitude. He manages Tom Baker's alienness. Troughton's whimsy. He evolves into Davison's empathy and literally wears Pertwee's jacket (and position of influence with UNIT). But he also has McCoy's years, McCoy's pain, McCoy's vision - seeing the whole of the universe and standing somehow above it, absorbing all the pain of others and not breaking. He was everything I ever wanted in a Doctor. It breaks my heart that a lot of the fan base just won't young-seeming thousand year old men hitting on 19 year olds. Capaldi's completely non-sexualized love for his companions was light years above that. The "betrayal" scene with Clara - that's the essence of Who!
That was one of the things I liked about his run, no romantic entanglements. Even when River appeared, his love seemed less romantic and more fondness (not sure if that's the right word).