Doctor Who Trailer

If This Goes Emo, Somebody's Getting Cut

By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (42)

I’ve tried really hard to keep an open mind about the casting of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan for the fifth series of “Doctor Who,” remembering quite well how much I loathed the idea of David Tennant replacing Christopher Eccleston after those introductory thirty seconds at the end of the first series. Martha? Donna? Same thing: distasteful skepticism followed by dawning appreciation. Smith is an easy target because of his age, something the interwebs have been rumbling about ever since his casting was announced. The thing is, it’s too obvious. Tossing the role to a kid in a misguided attempt to pull in the young whipper snappers with their hippity hop and wavy hair? That’s a classic American network move, but this is the BBC we’re talking about here. They’ve got standards and classy British accents and such, right?

Oh shit.

That’s just … I mean … it looks bad. Not “meh,” not “eh, a little rough here and there,” definitely not “well that’s cheesy, but it’s still the Doctor,” just plain flat out unadulterated disappointment. This doesn’t feel like “Doctor Who,” it feels like a cheaply made spin off made for kids, like those young adult book series spun off of genre paperbacks like Star Trek Academy and the like. Steven Moffat has written some of the greatest episodes of the relaunched show: “The Girl in the Fireplace,” “Blink,” “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead,” “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.” And so he’s been given a huge benefit of the doubt as casting news, logo changes, and teasers have come out. Maybe it’s just a lousy trailer, hell, even “Battlestar Galactica” had trailers with a Nickelback song.

But just to really screw with your minds, the BBC is doing the work for fan fic writers everywhere since Matt Smith had an appearance on “Secret Diary of a Call Girl” and his character slept with Billie Piper’s character.

Here’s my take: Doctor #11 goes back in time and sleeps with Rose before she met Doctor #9, and we find out what her job as “shop girl” really entailed. Feel free to add your own theoretical reconciliation of the timelines of the two shows in the comments.

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Comments

Maybe I'm a hopeless fanboy, but that trailer stoked me up, and it didn't seem to be any more cheesy than the show usually is. I, too, am always disappointed in the replacements at first but eventually warm up to them. And Daleks! The angels! The theme! I'm totally ready.

How long do we usually have to wait for the DVDs to get over here?

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at February 23, 2010 9:11 AM

Mr. Wilson, you're correct and incorrect at the same time. You are correct in that the ad does not reflect the awesomeness that the show usually does (or for that matter, the awesomeness the previous trailer contained). But you are incorrect in that it's a fun little ad that sells the show to an audience it probably wouldn't reach without it.

So yeah, it might be selling out just a bit, but if The Doctor starts invading more homes because of it then I guess it's a small price. Though I'll reiterate, the showier minute plus trailer of actual footage is the cooler and more appropriate approach. And I hope to Gods that's not the new Time Vortex. I mean it's cool and all, but I'm rather nostalgic for the other one. Oh well...time to go continue indoctrinating my girlfriend into the world of The Doctor!

Posted by: DoctorControversy at February 23, 2010 9:23 AM

Ugh. It looks like Junior Who. Seriously, couldn't they have made a teenybopper spin-off instead of subjecting us to this crap?

Posted by: Cindy at February 23, 2010 9:26 AM

It's cheesy, but it's a special 3D trailer to show in front of Alice in Wonderland, it's definatley trying to hard, far too much like going down the rabbit hole, but this trailer is meant for the kids. Steve Moffat is the showrunner this ser4ies/season, you're worrying prematurely.

Posted by: cockroach at February 23, 2010 9:27 AM

So DoctorControversy, you're in favor of quantity over quality? I just can't agree.

Posted by: Cindy at February 23, 2010 9:28 AM

I can't watch the trailer at work, but that fucking picture up there makes me want to punch The Doctor in the face. PUT YOUR CHIN AWAY AND STEP AWAY FROM THE TARDIS, YOU GREASY DAWSON LEERY-WANNABE.

David Tennant has had spittle on his chin with more charisma than this kid. I can't bear this.

Posted by: vikky at February 23, 2010 9:34 AM

It's like the Star Trek Movie all over again, take a chill pill guys.

Posted by: cockroach at February 23, 2010 9:45 AM

I remain hopeful. Clearly the trailer is trying to draw in an additional audience, and you can't say that the BBC hasn't been going for maximum coverage the whole time. I mean there are two spin-offs and a remake of a spin-off and a central mechanic that could make the show last into perpetuity.

And don't you remember thinking at first that Tennant was a retarded clown compared to Eccleston? And how Donna was ugly and stupid? This show has a way of making you love the changes it makes, and that keeps things exciting.

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at February 23, 2010 9:48 AM

I'm sorry, I just prefer my Doctors to be older. He's supposed to be over 900 years old at this point. Show a little grey hair and laugh lines. The beefcake was always in the companions, never the Doctor.

I remember when Peter Davison took over the role, and he was the youngest Doctor up to that date. As much as I loved him as Tristan, he just never seemed very Doctory to me. I even thought Eccleston and Tennant were a bit too young for the role, too.

NOW GET OFF MY LAWN.

Yeah, OK, I'll watch every damn one of these as soon as they make it over the pond. Dammit.

Posted by: BWeaves at February 23, 2010 9:51 AM

They want there to be romantic tension between the Doctors and the companions now, that's pretty much it.

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at February 23, 2010 9:56 AM

BWeaves

They were going to go for an older Doctor, before they saw Matt; take that news how you will.

/was part of the Stephen Fry should be the new Doctor camp

Posted by: cockroach at February 23, 2010 9:57 AM

As a huge Doctor Who fan I am trying to stay positive with this kid. I'm going to reserve judgment for the spring when the episodes actually air. Initially I became stabby when Matt Smith's giant chin and wrinkle-free face (and that hair, that horrible, horrible hair) appeared on the screen but I'm trying to work through my 11th Doctor anger issues.
In the past I've been pleasantly surprised by the changes and additions so who knows, right?

But one thing is certain. If they insist upon trying to make "Geronimo!" happen someone is losing an eye.

Posted by: Kiddo at February 23, 2010 10:00 AM

AHH FUU STUPID CANADA. Why can't anything be watched from my stupid current location. :(

Posted by: teacupnosaucer at February 23, 2010 10:05 AM

kiddo
As a huge Doctor Who fan I am trying to stay positive with this kid. I'm going to reserve judgment for the spring when the episodes actually air.

Isn't it sad in geek circles, that reserving judgement before you've seen/read something,seems to be such a radical statement?

Posted by: cockroach at February 23, 2010 10:08 AM

I also agree with BWeaves on the Older Doctor thing.
/was part of the Bill Nighy should be the new Doctor camp

Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at February 23, 2010 10:08 AM

The bit with them lying in a field - seemed a little bit too like that Twilight film if you ask me...

Posted by: Dora at February 23, 2010 10:10 AM

teacupnosaucer
link to where I saw the trailer
http://io9.com/5476223/doctor-who-and-the-vortex-of-monsters

rather ironic that the trailer here refuses to play in the UK

Posted by: cockroach at February 23, 2010 10:12 AM

I'm happy to wait and see how the first few eps go, which is unusual for me. I loved Tennant but that final episode basically killed it for me. I was ready to see him go by the time they got around to it. And I think Moffat does excellent episodes. So we'll see. It's not going to be the same, but it doesn't mean it's not going to be good. Hopefully.

Posted by: Carrie at February 23, 2010 10:29 AM

Does BBC put episodes online after they air like the networks in the colonies?

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at February 23, 2010 10:45 AM

Does BBC put episodes online after they air like the networks in the colonies

Yes, but I guess that the iplayer is region blocked.

Posted by: cockroach at February 23, 2010 10:54 AM

Ugh, I don't know if I can handle waiting for the season to end AND waiting for the DVDs to get over here. I just started watching a couple of months ago, and thanks to instant Netflix viewing, I got to binge on four seasons in like a month and a half. The withdrawal is getting to be tough.

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at February 23, 2010 10:58 AM

Bill Nighy would have been awesome as the Doctor. Unfortunately, Stephen Fry is always Jeeves to me, but I think he would have been great, too.

Posted by: BWeaves at February 23, 2010 10:59 AM

Mr. Tusks, I'm the same; I started watching in December(ish) and now just have the last two episodes of the fourth series and the specials left. I've been holding off on the last few episodes for more than a week because I don't want it to end; I can't imagine having to wait for the DVDs. In fact, I'm going to put my name on the list at the library now so I get them as soon as possible.

Posted by: vikky at February 23, 2010 11:02 AM

Oh, don't be such a kill joy. It looks cute. And as crazy dark as Doctor Who can get sometimes, it's still technically a family show. Besides, after the unrelenting angst of the last few episodes, we could use some silly again.

Posted by: cleverpeach at February 23, 2010 11:11 AM

I love the sentiment of "Well I've had these same feelings many times before and they were completely wrong BUT GOD DAMN IT THIS TIME I'M RIGHT and the show is doomed."

Moffat's great and if he likes Smith then Smith is probably great too. Geez.

Posted by: ultraliz at February 23, 2010 11:12 AM

It's just a coping mechanism -- if we go into it hating the new Doctor, he won't disappoint.

Posted by: vikky at February 23, 2010 11:16 AM

Don't go by this cheesy trailer. Check out the initial series clips up on youtube. They are much better.

It was the beeb that gave us David Tennant riding the Tardis like a sled for christmas and that shit was just wrong!

It will be wierd getting used to this Doctor just like it always is. And then one day, we'll stop comparing him to his past incarnations and just watch the show. And it will be alright.

And then they won't renew his contract and it will be trauma and mayhem all over again.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Posted by: Harkness68 at February 23, 2010 11:34 AM

Security! Another one of those goddamn Sleestak from "Land of the Lost' sneaked onto the stage again. Bugger just ruined the final shot of our trailer! And keep your eyes peeled, I could swear I saw a few rejects from "Poltergeist: The Legacy" skulking about.

Posted by: bleujayone at February 23, 2010 12:11 PM

Stupid region restrictions! Just because I'm not in the US doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to complain about a two minutes trailer that doesn't neccesarily portray the actual content and tone of the series!

Posted by: Radlum at February 23, 2010 12:41 PM

Posted by: Cindy at February 23, 2010 9:28 AM

No, not nessicarily. This ad opens it up to a wider audience with a different approach. This doesn't mean the show's quality will change, as we all know that advertising is tricky like that. Out of the increased fan base, only the truly interested will stick around for the rest of the season. Out of that percentage, a smaller group will check out the whole Modern run, and a smaller group within that will check out the whole series from day 1. Overall, only a handful of "new" fans will probably jump on board, but those fans will be rewarded for their dedication.

Short short version: By no means is quantity better then quality, but it doesn't hurt to cast the net wider. So long as it doesn't affect the quality of the show.

Posted by: DoctorControversy at February 23, 2010 1:12 PM

THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE STARTING? THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS WRONG WITH THIS THAT MY BRAIN MIGHT EXPLODE.

One of the great things about Doctor Who is its ability to make you feel anything it chooses. This wasn't
a) exciting
b) funny
c) scary (depsite the presence of the weeping angels, which never fail to freak me out)
d) heartbreakingly gutwrenchingly tragic (but without David Tennant's face, it may never be that again)
e) hottttttttt (yeah, they left that on the Tennant Train too)
f) ALL OF THE ABOVE, WHICH IS WHAT IT USED TO BE. CONSISTENTLY.

Hopefully I'll have changed my mind 4 episodes in (David Tennant won me over in 1, but I don't think pointy bangs can do that), but really? Why the HELL didn't some top exec at BBC take one look at that trailer and say "We just lost half our viewership. Go back and don't bother me again until you've got something remotely in the canon of what we do here."

Rant, Rant, I could go on for another hour but I have to get to class. Fuck.

Posted by: esme at February 23, 2010 2:19 PM

They should have cast the kid from Family Of Blood (Will Scarlett in the beebs Robin Hood, real life descendant of Charles Dickens'n'all), Davies himself said he'd make an amazing Doctor.
Yeah it'd have been weird having a Doctor turn into one of his former enemies bit since they retconned Doctor Lore with that fake Human Doctor bullshit at the end of Donna's season, they could have explained this.
I tried hard to like New Doctor, the whole run from Eccleston(egh) to Tennant (Yipeee) but the whole thing, to me, stank of Beeb's current running status which is simply this 'We will not invest time and energy into new characters/shows/villains- we will bring back the old no matter how many Plot lines we have to snap into pieces'

In the Soap EE they've been bringing back characters, SOME OF WHOM WHERE DEAD for years and keeping them, but on the rare occasions they introduce totally new characters, they make no effort to make them likable and the family's rarely last 3 years if that.

In Who, they brought back the Doctor and so far, in order, if I'm right, the season villains have been; Daleks, Cybermen, Daleks and Cybermen, Daleks.
That doesn't include the Christmas specials (Cybermen at least once) which are too preachy to enjoy any way.

Torchwood took a lot of (unfair) shit but at least it only had ONE repeat Who character(Cyberchick) and we all chose to ignore her any way.
Fuck Who.

I thought Davies had integrity but this tripe and the recent announcement about basically selling everything to The States(no offence you guys)and leaving the UK with THAT!?

Fuck him. I hate to use the phrase but it's in my head....Sell Out

Posted by: Nadine at February 23, 2010 3:49 PM

Jesopus you lot love to worry. Tennant is gone, deal with it. Davies is gone and just in time if the last four eps are anything to go by. One look at Stephen Moffat's output should tell you that loudly and firmly that the series is in good hands. Wasn't Gaiman going to contribute an episode? For god's sake pull yourselves together, it will be FINE.

[bites nails]

Posted by: Squirrelgripper at February 23, 2010 4:15 PM

Squirrelgripper...for my nerd sake... I hope you're right...

And see, I cant even get excited about the Gaiman ep, despite my TOWERING AND MIGHTY love for Gaiman.
Because that weird looking freak will be in it. Ruining the words with his filthy whore mouth

Posted by: Nadine at February 23, 2010 5:04 PM

Nadine- So do I, I'm just refusing to panic.

I'm not going to prejudge Smith. As someone who wanted 2-3 series out of Eccleston, I skipped the first 4-5 eps of Tennant because he came across as a dodgy pantomime lead. An interesting contrast those two: I had preset notions of Eccleston as Mr Dark and Serious after previous roles in Cracker and 28 Days Later, whereas I only knew Tennant from comedic bit parts and Harry Potter. Yet the best of Eccelston were the moments of joy (the end of The Doctor Dances- another Moffat tale btw), while the moments Tennant really shone were the moments of quiet heartbreak ala Family of Blood or the Girl In The Fireplace (ooo, another Moffat tale).

This clip is just a promo, changing the show too much would be the Beeb killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Not saying it couldn't happen, but at least they have (imo) the best possible guy in charge. Change is always nerve wracking, but frankly I'm up for fewer cybermen, fewer daleks, less London and new villians a'la the Vashta Narada and those creepy ass statues.

Posted by: Squirrelgripper at February 23, 2010 5:29 PM

As crappy as the above trailer is (and it is REALLY CRAPPY), I remember being vaguely optimistic after watching the series 5 sneak preview on BBC-America following the series 4 finale.

But really: Doctor, Schmoctor. I'm still more upset over losing DONNA.

Posted by: Craig at February 23, 2010 7:23 PM

Squirrelripper - i agree but I just cannot think this guy is going to be able to pull any of it off.
Mr Dark and Serious, uh, I think not.
Mr Comedic? only in looks, sorry.

/was in the Hugh Laurie for Doctor Who camp

Posted by: Stella at February 23, 2010 8:26 PM

Never seen him in anything so I can't really judge. I wanted James Nesbitt, but thats only because I had a mancrush after Jeckyl. Eddie Izzard as a transvestite time traveller could have been wrong but fun.

Posted by: Squirrelgripper at February 23, 2010 8:47 PM

Getting used to this new guy will be like getting used to whacking off with a newly grown third arm. It will feel like someone else, and unnatural for a while, but hey, as long as the finish is good, right?

Posted by: Odnon at February 24, 2010 2:46 AM

cut indeed!

i say regenerate him aftr a coupla epi's and install hugh laurie!

Posted by: kikz at February 24, 2010 11:29 AM

I have no words for how craptacular this looks. Kid has a weird Frankensteiny head and Twi-hair and, as cute as the girl is, she's NO Rose/Martha/Donna. Damn. Esme is right....All the Who-ness, at least for now, was in the pocket of Tennant's overcoat when he left.

I love the Stephen Fry/Bill Nighy ideas, but Nadine's is even more awesome....the kid from Family of Blood...OR Thomas Sangster, who played Tim Latimer in the same epi.

Posted by: dammitjanet at February 24, 2010 1:49 PM

izzard... hmmmmmm..... interesting...

do you hav a flaaaag?

Posted by: kikz at February 24, 2010 5:08 PM

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