Let’s say that you are an actor. Your last job was portraying a character who is loved by fans in over 100 countries, from the ages of 15 to 85. What could you possibly do next? (And no, I am not speaking about anyone connected to the latest Star Trek revisioning.)
Well if the character was Dr. Who, and you happen to be David Tennant, you go on to host Masterpiece Contemporary. No doubt there are thousands of American Dr. Who fans that are trying to figure this out. Tennant left Dr. Who (the next few new episodes we see will be his last), to be replaced by a skinny, geeky (in a bad way), barely adolescent, basically unknown actor. And this seems to be what he wanted to do next.
Masterpiece Contemporary might be best recalled by its old name Masterpiece Theater. It’s been running, on PBS in the U.S., since about 1971. Former hosts include some of the more loved Brits – like the former Alistair Cooke, and Russell Baker
Could Tennant have done better? I would imagine that there would be a hoard of films and television shows that would have loved to have his star power, and international fanbase as one of the better received Doctor’s. I mean Masterpiece Contemporary? Isn’t that where the formerly famous end their careers, with dignity?
Maybe I’m still bitter and twisted that Tennant left Dr. Who. Maybe I’m really not looking forward to the nebbish replacement. Perhaps I hoped for Tennant to take on a role of some importance and recurring nature that I could watch repeatedly. Like a BBC mini-series or something sci-fi.
Overall, it just ends up with a simple thought. The new Dr. Who will take more than a few episodes to overcome my apprehension, and the old Dr. Who will likely be unseen by most Americans for some time to come. Neither is a positive.
1 comment:
Eh, this new job will probably take like one afternoon to shoot. I doubt it's part of some big career plan. He is sure to have plenty of offers (and hopefully will start filming the Hamlet movie soon) and besides he doesn't seem too bothered about celebrity. Most likely he will continue his extraordinary success as a stage actor and do other things as they come up.
Post a Comment