Doctor Who

[Eighthours]

Gaius Baltar would be perfect.

[Davros sock drawer]

Tom Hollander

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Tom Hollander

Thats a really good choice as well!

Has the Colin / Baker look about him.

[Made of Ghosts]

If we have to have a woman I want Frances De La Tour. She's perfect. She even looks a bit like an alien.

[Lorfarius]

Can you smell what the Doc is cookin? Could work.

[davidcotton]

No one mentioned Johnathon Davies yet?

[Sprite Machine]

The Talons of Weng-Chiang

(Blog has pictures)

If any evidence were needed that Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes are basically the same character, this is it. (On a topical note: how about Benedict Cumberbatch to replace Matt Smith?) The Victorian London setting is dark and dangerous, and the Doctor absolutely falls neatly into the role of the sleuthy detective, with Leela providing the muscle.

[Picture: At no point does the Doctor say "it's elementary, my dear Leela" - unfortunately.]

But this isn't a case of a logically minded thinker unravelling a complex hoax, it is an otherworldly time-traveller thwarting another otherworldly time-traveller from unleashing the power of a magic box. The locals have got no chance. Nevertheless, it is amusing to see how easily the Doctor is accepted into the role of police helper - he has such a strong presence he can simply assume authority in any situation - and it's done with wit and charm (psychic paper not required).

[Picture: The disfigured face of the villain is only seen for a few brief moments, but it leaves quite an impression.]

Again, this story mixes humour with horror, with bizarre and monstrous foes ranging from oversized rats to undersized men, and amusing exchanges of dialogue such as Leela asking what the name of the local tribe is, and the Doctor replying "cockneys".

[Picture: The pig-brained robotic homunculus. Creepy.]

However, there is an unsophisticated air of mild racism present here, not the least of which with the obviously English man made-up with false eyelids to look Chinese and put on a "me so solly" type accent, while characters refer to him as "yellow", etc. I found it quite uncomfortable in parts, and that's a shame, as I think Robert Holmes' scripts normally rise above such things.

[Picture: Mr. Jago discusses business with his star act, Li H'sen Chang.]

Elsewhere, two of the supporting characters, Professor Litefoot and the theatre owner Mr. Jago, are well-written and performed and I could probably watch a whole episode of them blustering about and getting into scraps. I also enjoyed Leela reacting to things completely alien to her and failing to be a 'proper lady'.

[Picture: Jago and Litefoot hatch a plot to catch the killer.]

It's a good setting, with a moody visual style (although at times I found it too dark to see what was happening). Another six-parter, the plot is nothing special, but thanks to some sharp dialogue and another stellar performance from Tom Baker, it is never less than watchable.

[Fireproofradiator]

Lovely as always Sprite Machine. If you like Jago and Litefoot I believe Big Finish have done a bunch of audios with them.

[Davros sock drawer]

I watched Talons again recently, and it is a bit racist. No ifs, no buts. Which is a shame, and it did take the shine off it for me a bit.

Mr Sin though. What a creation! It's got the cerebral cortex of a pig, and when it goes kill crazy at the end you can hear it snorting! Brilliant.

I love Leela eating with Professor Litefoot ("It is a good knife!") and Litefoot being too polite to correct her, gnawing on a giant Turkey leg.

It's also very, very nasty again, in the best way. I mean, Greel kills and cooks women to survive, and feeds the remains (one assumes) to a giant rat! I was too young to see this on original transmission, but can you imagine the nightmares?! It's proper Horror, with a capital H.

Talking of which, Horror of Fang Rock next.

[davidcotton]

Not got round to it myself, but the Jago and Litefoot spin off from Big Finish is meant to be very very good.

Cheers

[sweetdaddyg]

That guy who plays luther

or johnson from peep show please

[Harsin]

That guy who plays luther

Gene Hackman?

[Lag]

Christopher Walken

Ben Kingsley

Idris Elba

Alan Rickman

Tilda Swinton

[sweetdaddyg]

My mum!

[mr twig]

Mark Heap

or Tyrone from Coronation Street

[Mr Cochese]

Barry White

[NEG]

Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik

Winnie the Pooh

[SeanR]

John hannah

Hannah Gordon

Gordon burns

Mr. Burns!!!

[El Pibe]

Chris Barrie

[SeanR]

barry humpries

[Don Wiskerando]

Mark Heap

Winner.

[SqueakyG]

Peter Dinklage

That is all.

[SeanR]

Peter Dinklage

That is all.

all? he's about half. if that. maybe we could stick Verne Troyer on his shoulders, inside bakers long coat.

[El Pibe]

Do you think they would do a disabled Dr? Dr in a wheel chair?

That'd be quite ground breaking.

[Don Wiskerando]

Wheelchair Dr vs. Davros would be fun.

[zxcvbnm]

Mark Heap

He'd be pretty good. How about Kevin Eldon?

[robotattack]

As long as it doesn't conflict with his Tin Tin schedule, Bob Hoskins.

[El Pibe]

Paul bloody McGann!

Or...one of the other McGanns and he regenerates into each McGann brother in turn!

[robotattack]

How about getting The Mill to do some real work and have him have four McGann heads at one time? No? Okay.

[sweetdaddyg]