Thirty Days of Doctor Who: Day Four
Aug. 6th, 2010 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrasteDay Four: Your Favourite Doctor
There's something funny about Tom Baker, and it's not just his wide-eyed stare. To this day, he is so strongly associated with the role that fans who don't count him among their favourites have to explain why. And on the flip side, every time I tell someone that I love the Fourth Doctor best of all, I feel compelled to defensively state that I am familiar with the others. (Because, yes, I have had people say 'if Tom Baker is your favourite Doctor you can't have watched much Doctor Who' to my face. On more than one occasion, even.) Popularity is weird, and so is fandom.
There it is, though: I love my goggle-eyed Doctor with the long scarf best of all. There's a moment in The Seeds of Doom that sums up why exactly. He's standing contemplating the prone body of a man infected by the Krynoid when a villain with a gun enters the room behind him and orders him sternly to 'turn around'. So he does. He spins in a circle and goes back to what he was doing, expression not altering one jot. Is he making dangerous, deadpan fun of the gunman? Or did he misunderstand the human idiom because he's so focussed on the problem at hand? There's no way of knowing what just went on in that curly head of his.
That is why I love, love, love the Fourth Doctor. The character fascinates me most when he's an alien, when that emotional distance is firmly in place. Whether he's clowning or serious, Tom Baker's performance always danced across that gulf with unparalleled grace. Nobody ever gave a better impression of being a Time Lord who just happened to look like a 6"4 human from Liverpool. There have been better actors to play the role, but there have been none more suited to it.
Day 01 - Your Favourite Quote
Day 02 – Your Favourite Classic Series Episode
Day 03 – Your Favourite New Series Episode
Day 04 – Your Favourite Doctor
Day 05 – Your Favourite Companion
Day 06 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 07 – Your Favourite Piece of Music
Day 08 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Happy
Day 09 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Angry/Sad
Day 10 – A Who-Related Photo That You Took
Day 11 – Your Favourite Season (Classic or New)
Day 12 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 13 – Your Favourite Villain
Day 14 – The Villain Who Scared You the Most
Day 15 – Favourite Who-Related Tumblr
Day 16 – Your Favourite Who-Related FanFic
Day 17 – A Piece of Who-Related FanArt
Day 18 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 19 – The Scene That Made Your Cry the Most
Day 20 – The Character Who Is Most Like You
Day 21 – Your Doctor Who OTP
Day 22 – A Who-Related Fan-Site
Day 23 – A Who-Related YouTube Video
Day 24 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 25 – Favourite Who Actor
Day 26 – Favourite Who Actress
Day 27 – An Episode You Wish Hadn’t Been Made
Day 28 – An Episode Idea You Created Yourself
Day 29 – Who You Think Should Be the Next Doctor
Day 30 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
There's something funny about Tom Baker, and it's not just his wide-eyed stare. To this day, he is so strongly associated with the role that fans who don't count him among their favourites have to explain why. And on the flip side, every time I tell someone that I love the Fourth Doctor best of all, I feel compelled to defensively state that I am familiar with the others. (Because, yes, I have had people say 'if Tom Baker is your favourite Doctor you can't have watched much Doctor Who' to my face. On more than one occasion, even.) Popularity is weird, and so is fandom.
There it is, though: I love my goggle-eyed Doctor with the long scarf best of all. There's a moment in The Seeds of Doom that sums up why exactly. He's standing contemplating the prone body of a man infected by the Krynoid when a villain with a gun enters the room behind him and orders him sternly to 'turn around'. So he does. He spins in a circle and goes back to what he was doing, expression not altering one jot. Is he making dangerous, deadpan fun of the gunman? Or did he misunderstand the human idiom because he's so focussed on the problem at hand? There's no way of knowing what just went on in that curly head of his.
That is why I love, love, love the Fourth Doctor. The character fascinates me most when he's an alien, when that emotional distance is firmly in place. Whether he's clowning or serious, Tom Baker's performance always danced across that gulf with unparalleled grace. Nobody ever gave a better impression of being a Time Lord who just happened to look like a 6"4 human from Liverpool. There have been better actors to play the role, but there have been none more suited to it.
Day 01 - Your Favourite Quote
Day 02 – Your Favourite Classic Series Episode
Day 03 – Your Favourite New Series Episode
Day 04 – Your Favourite Doctor
Day 05 – Your Favourite Companion
Day 06 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 07 – Your Favourite Piece of Music
Day 08 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Happy
Day 09 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Angry/Sad
Day 10 – A Who-Related Photo That You Took
Day 11 – Your Favourite Season (Classic or New)
Day 12 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 13 – Your Favourite Villain
Day 14 – The Villain Who Scared You the Most
Day 15 – Favourite Who-Related Tumblr
Day 16 – Your Favourite Who-Related FanFic
Day 17 – A Piece of Who-Related FanArt
Day 18 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 19 – The Scene That Made Your Cry the Most
Day 20 – The Character Who Is Most Like You
Day 21 – Your Doctor Who OTP
Day 22 – A Who-Related Fan-Site
Day 23 – A Who-Related YouTube Video
Day 24 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 25 – Favourite Who Actor
Day 26 – Favourite Who Actress
Day 27 – An Episode You Wish Hadn’t Been Made
Day 28 – An Episode Idea You Created Yourself
Day 29 – Who You Think Should Be the Next Doctor
Day 30 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy