Being a Physician Who fan over the previous few years has been a lesson in persistence and disappointment. The latter intensified tenfold once we realized that, for all intents and functions, the long-running sci-fi present has been canceled indefinitely. Whereas it could find yourself being the perfect factor for the franchise — particularly if whoever takes the collection subsequent really has contemporary concepts — that does not imply we significantly benefit from the prospect of no extra Physician Who on our TV screens for the subsequent 5 to 10 years.
Nevertheless, there’s hope. Hollywood screenwriter Dean Devlin, recognized for Independence Day and Stargate, confirmed to Radio Instances that his firm, Electrical Firm, will be a part of the BBC in discussions about Physician Who’s future. The Instances beforehand talked about Devlin’s curiosity in bringing again David Tennant because the Tenth Physician. Although he didn’t verify or deny this, our response is: Can we simply transfer on from David Tennant because the Physician already?
Whovians shortly fell for Tennant’s roguish antics because the Tenth Physician again in 2006, when he took on the position from Christopher Eccleston after just one season of the reboot that aimed to replace the traditional character for brand new audiences after an extended absence from TV. It’s not onerous to see what was so gratifying about Tennant: he was humorous, charismatic, had nice chemistry with all of his companions, and was able to balancing the sunshine and darkish sides of the Physician with a mesmerizing gravitas. I nonetheless get goosebumps at any time when I watch “The Water of Mars” and see the feral look in Tennant’s eyes as his hubris consumes him.
That’s all to say: I really like Tennant because the Physician. I additionally cherished a number of of his cameos, corresponding to his look in The Sarah Jane Adventures and within the fiftieth anniversary particular, “The Day of the Physician,” alongside Matt Smith and John Harm. Technically talking, Tennant might seem because the Fourteenth Physician as a result of he is nonetheless kicking round in London with Donna Noble.
However his time is finished, and pretending in any other case reeks of desperation to cling to an period that was so well-loved as a result of Physician Who’s return after 16 years away was new and refreshing — not solely due to Tennant. That’s to not say we doubt Electrical Firm’s plans to deliver Tennant again because the Physician wouldn’t be well-received. The actor’s reputation would nearly definitely assist draw extra viewers to the present, because it did when he briefly took on the position of Fourteen after Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as Thirteenth Physician got here to an finish.
Name me old school, however I don’t assume views ought to outline a franchise that’s been a British staple since 1963. The Physician’s regeneration makes the character distinctive and permits many actors so as to add their very own spin. Love or hate them, Eccleston, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker, and Gatwa had been all completely different Medical doctors from Tennant, possible the primary for some followers. Imagining a world the place Tennant is the Physician for years on finish doesn’t fill me with pleasure, however with disappointment on the considered the present being robbed of its personal potential for renewal.
If all Electrical Firm — or anybody else, for that matter — cares about is replaying the outdated hits and doing nothing completely different with the Physician, what does that say in regards to the collection’ future? The Physician themself is aware of that the whole lot ends and one thing new is reborn from its ashes — it’s a lesson the franchise must embrace, or, just like the Tenth Physician, be consumed by its personal hubris.