Sunday, February 7, 2016

Doctor Who: Beyond the Whoniverse

Hi there! Welcome to I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, delivering Jimmy John's sub sandwiches freaky fast since 1963. I'm Dave-El and no, I don't want a pickle with that. 

Today is the biggest day on the American calendar that is not connected to a major religion centered around Jesus, his message of hope and a never ending advertising assault that says we have to buy stuff now. 


Yep, it's the Super Bowl and it's an important one because it was a number with a zero at the end. Yep, Super Bowl#50. Wow. 


And that's all I've got on that topic. Have to see the game first, I guess, huh? And I'm really, really, really pulling for the Panthers. I will write more on The BIG GAME and post that on the blog tomorrow. Maybe. Ish. (More on that at the end of the blog.)  


Since today is Sunday, I'm going to do a Doctor Who centric post with the theme of certain Doctor Who actors seen or will be seen television shows and films right here in America.


The biggest and brightest debut of a Doctor Who actor on American TV belongs to Arthur Darvill. Before being cast as Rory Williams, Arthur had tried out for the part of the Doctor. Now we have a chance to see Arthur's version of a take charge time travelling eccentric in DC's Legends of Tomorrow














LoT is a hodge-podge collection of minor characters, heroes and villains, from the vaults of DC Comics. Leading this group is Rip Hunter, played by Darvill. Rip Hunter has ran off from his fellow time travelers to stop a great evil and has assembled a team to do just that. Flying off in his really cool looking time ship called Waverider, Rip Hunter can't help but call up parallels to the Doctor: the British accent, the cool outfit, his glib tongue, his lack of patience with those not keeping up. While echoes of Doctor Who can't be helped, Rip Hunter is still a unique character and Arthur Darvill does a fantastic job bringing him to life.


The 2 part pilot was bogged down a bit in exposition but that is often the way with TV pilots. Now that the basic foundation has been put into place, we will hopefully see the LoT team explore their characters with more opportunities for development. 


One more note about DC's Legends of Tomorrow. One of Doctor Who's best directors, Rachel Talalay, will direct this season's penultimate episode of LoT.  


Meanwhile, Matt Smith is back on the big screen in Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. In case you thought the question of "What the would the love child of Jane Austen and Robert Kirkman look like?" really needs to be answered, this is something for you.  




















I wonder if Matt's thinking, "Would this be a good place to get jiggy with it and bust out the old Drunk Giraffe?"

Unlike Matt's last big screen foray, Terminator: Genysis, Matt is on screen for more than 10 seconds and early word on this movie so far is a bit more positive.  


  • My wife is bugging to go because, well, you know, Matt Smith. 
  • My daughter might be cool to see this because, well, you know, zombies. 
  • I might be OK to go because, well, you know, bored.  



Also Matt Smith has another feature fill coming up this year (Patient Zero) and a TV series for Netflix (The Crown).  

Speaking of Netflix, Freema Agyeman is in Sense8 while 
David Tennant wrapped up his turn as the evil pyschopath Killgrave in the Marvel series, Jessica Jones.

Here are some other Doctor Who alumni that can be seen on screens big and small over in the United States


  • Christopher Eccleston - The Leftovers (HBO)  
  • Billie Piper - Penny Dreadful (Showtime)
  • John Barrowman - Arrow (CW)  
  • Karen Gillan -  The Big Short, an Oscar nominated film and is currently working on Guardians of the Galaxy 2



And here's one where I'm getting a bit a head of myself: 
Jenna Coleman in the ITV series, Victoria. Yep, it's a British production but it will appear on American television as part of the PBS program, Masterpiece Theater.    


I'm sure there maybe other good examples where Doctor Who talent is keeping busy in American TV and movies. Being on Doctor Who is a big attention getter for getting this kind of talent performing and working. 

_________________________________

I've got a Panthers post coming up but depending on issues relating to time, energy and the status of my health, said post may not appear until Tuesday. If that is the case, something else will be posting here on Monday


Thanks for dropping by and remember to be good to one another.  




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