SFX

Post Apocalypse

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Peter Capaldi is televisual Marmite to you lot.

Peter Capaldi is a good actor. The Doctor is one of the all- time great fictional characters. But I’m not seeing him as the Doctor. Yes, he is broody and not a “safe”, cuddly floppy- haired boy. But something just isn’t quite clicking. The following is a short list of things that is stopping me from seeing Peter Capaldi as THE Doctor: 1. Mumbling. Peter C’s enunciatio­n of the lines can sometimes fall short. I am not sure whether this is an acting choice, his natural way, or down to direction or editing. 2. Scottishne­ss. The full accent doesn’t suit the Doctor. He is an alien; he shouldn’t sound like he is from any particular place, and definitely shouldn’t be defined in the show as such. 3. Peter Capaldi. On his casting I was delighted, but now all I see is the familiar actor Peter Capaldi. He is too well known to be this alien character. Eccleston was not an unknown, but he wasn’t exactly mainstream. I’d seen David & Matt in a couple of things prior, but had no difficulty in seeing the Doctor, and not seeing them…

Of Mars, SFX forum I was lucky enough to attend the NYC screening of “Deep Breath” and it was there that all my apprehensi­ons about the Twelfth Doctor vanished. Capaldi’s “angry old man” behaviour, mixed with the strange young quality of the character, makes him so enjoyable to watch.

I loved Matt Smith, but Peter Capaldi has truly stolen the spotlight and reignited my desire to work on Doctor Who someday. Who knows, the Doctor does have a daughter, doesn’t he? It’s just too bad that Malcolm Tucker can’t make an appearance in the TARDIS…

Rachel Leishman, NYC This is the shallowest and most childish season ever. It really is an embarrassm­ent to the proud history of the show. If I had one thing to say to Moffat it would be “that’s a funny way to resign”.

Michael Newton, Facebook I think he’s brilliant. He’s crotchety, and a complainer, and I have no problem with him, his acting, or the writing. True there are episodes I absolutely dislike (“Love And Monsters” is a prime example), but I have loved all the Doctors and their episodes equally. My allegiance doesn’t sway because my allegiance is to the Doctor, not the actors playing him. As for Moffat and his

writing, many people blame him for perceived wrongs because it’s easy to do so. They can say this and that is horrible, or that he himself is horrible, but I would love to see them do Moffat’s job. If they think they could do better, let us see it!

Briar Duclos, Facebook He is unsettling and awkward, untrustwor­thy and peculiar. Which is exactly how I found Tom Baker when I was a kid and started watching Doctor Who. So, in short, he’s just perfect.

Kate Leatherbar­row, Facebook It’s fascinatin­g that people see moments and touches that are reminiscen­t of earlier Doctors – a line delivery in the style of Tom Baker, a Pertwee pose, some Hartnell gravitas – because that happens every time the character is recast. It totally depends on what you’ve seen, and your interpreta­tion of it. One thing that’s totally clear from interviews, and now from seeing him at work on screen, is that Peter Capaldi is thoroughly invested in this role. He’s one of us, we can trust him not to let us down.

Michael Lupton, Facebook He launches the TARDIS with ONE LEVER! No pirouette, pull this, twist that. One lever. Job done. No messing about. Says it all.

John Buckett, Facebook Peter Capaldi is one for the

“He’s one of us. We can trust him not to let us down”

purist fan only, and will lose key demographi­cs ( kids and women). Mumbling old wrinkly Scottish moaner doesn’t cut it. I give it one more series after this one before ratings take this Doctor off air.

Sanders29, email Capaldi’s Doctor is like House – gruff and uncaring, with intense vulnerabil­ity. This Doctor asks ( and thankfully hasn’t yet sufficient­ly answered) the big questions about the kind of person he is (“Am I a good man?” “Who frowned me this face?”) and seems to have a slightly different moral compass than his recent predecesso­rs. I find Capaldi’s Doctor the most interestin­g part of the show, but the writing from Moffat has been underwhelm­ing.

Christine M Hinton, DeBary, FL In- office opinion of the new series is so far inconclusi­ve – even from episode to episode – though Capaldi probably could do with slightly better enunciatio­n if Jordan’s wellworn rewind button is anything to go by.

Egging on

I was revisiting Buffy’s season 2 finale, where Willow is attempting to restore Angel’s soul, when I noticed that one of her utterances appears to be “transport a soufflé

Wonder blunder

Nick Setchfield was right in issue 253’ s Soapbox – superhero costumes are very dull nowadays. I am tempted to suggest that they reshoot the scenes with Wonder Woman in with a bit of colour added to her costume, or just add it digitally after. Even Marvel has not escaped the dull-

Oculus rift

I agree with Sarah Dobbs: Oculus invites the viewer to draw their own conclusion – that the whole thing was a result of a supernatur­al force or a delusion that the two siblings were suffering from. A sequel would just lessen this belief. After all, it’s quite clear Kaylie was mad in the first place.

Oculus is a film with two morals: let an obsession get the better of you, and it won’t be just your life you’re destroying. And some promises should never be kept.

Gary Watson, Northumber­land

Don’t count on there not being a sequel. If I know anything about WWE ( and by extension WWE Studios) it’s that any small success will be exploited over and over again. Director Mike Flanagan has stated that he’s up for it, too – at least with the right script.

“They should reshoot it with a bit of colour”

to L’Oreal”. I’m mystified as to how the conveying of a savoury dish to a major cosmetics company could possibly restore a vampire’s soul.

Paul Holden, Preston Willow always did have some curious methodolog­y.

 ??  ?? The angry half of the SFX readership expresses its displeasur­e. Violently.
The angry half of the SFX readership expresses its displeasur­e. Violently.
 ??  ?? “The mumbling isn’t a problem if you just do what I’ve written here.”
“The mumbling isn’t a problem if you just do what I’ve written here.”
 ??  ?? Wonder Woman’s natty shade of brown isn’t charming our fashionist­as.
Wonder Woman’s natty shade of brown isn’t charming our fashionist­as.

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