Geek Syndicate Issue 7 | Page 11

Geek Syndicate
Antony’s Order of Doctors ...

“A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don’t cry. While there’s life, there’s....”

My involvement with Geek Syndicate as more than a listener and contributor to the forums extends back to 2008 … I designed a logo for the UK Comic Podcast Group which was used in promotional material in that year’s Birmingham International Comics Expo. I was also one of the first news reporters and reviewers on the web site, reporting such things as Danny John Jules’ angry tirade at bin-men and reviewing classic games like Mercenaries 2. Since then, my involvement has grown and now I’m a member of the Editorial team – my main focus being the content and design of this very periodical. I am also the main Doctor Who reviewer for the Syndicate. I can safely say that Doctor Who has been with me all of my life. My earliest memory of actually watching television is creeping into our lounge to see a cricket-attired man on a misty moor. The Man said something to an off-screen presence, then pressed a device … and vanished. Years later, I realised that this scene was from 1983’s The Five Doctors (here’s a link to a youtube video – it should start about 02:40 at the relevant portion). I had recently turned four when I saw this. Since then, I’ve watched as much Who as I can – I read every Target novelisation I could get my hands on … I even enjoyed the 1996 TV movie! I read as many new and lost adventures as I could and listen to all the audio adventures. I have even started trying to work out a coherent history for the Daleks - a pdf version is sporadically updated on my website. My favourite Doctor … tends to be whichever I’m currently watching / reading about or listening to. So for this article, I present my current thinking on the subject, trying to be as objective as I can and taking into account my thoughts from the audio adventures released by Big Finish and BBC Audio.

Paul McGann, Enthusiastic Hero

Image © BBC

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11. The Ninth Doctor - Christopher Eccleston – (2005)
Christopher Eccleston had a big job to perform in 2005. He was the face of the re-launched series. While he had moments of sheer genius, I found his Doctor un-relatable and often unlikeable. Unfortunately, the season he was in suffered from a bad case of “feet finding” and it’s evident by his short tenure that (like me) the actor himself had issues with the way the show was going that year. It’s a shame, because there are moments of genius where writing and acting talent combine to create some explosive moments – the “I can feel the Earth move” speech in Rose, the willingness to offer the Gelth human corpses in The Unquiet Dead, the entirety of Dalek … I wonder how many of my problems with this incarnation would have been alleviated with a second season once the right direction was found?

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