Quote: Matthew Stott @ April 20 2008, 11:34 AM BST
Tates been good in it, if people hate her then theyre going to carry on hating her; I dont really know how people can slate her performances so far because theyve been pretty good; especially in the more serious, emotional moments. As I say, some people are always just going to hate her, and the moment she does anything light hearted, or says a funny line, youll get people going 'oh, Tate ruins it with her comedy voices'; Tennant hardly underplays the comic moments now does he? As far as Im concerned, shes only playing the script which has been presented to her; which, at times, calls on her to use her skills as a comic performer. That being the case, if you really dont like it, then its really a fault with the script and not the actor. Shes certainly a better actress, and more believabnle in the heavy sutff, than Martha.
What utter twaddle! Well, the bit about Tate being better than Freema Agyeman, anyway. Agyeman was f**king A-1 as Martha. Wow, Tate can cry. Big deal! I'll give it to her that she can do a good range of voices/mannerisms in her sketch show, but so can a lot of jokers down the pub... this does not an actress make. You make the point that Tennant hams it up, prancing round like a squirrel in a mine-field and gurning at every available opportunity. Surely this makes it even more important that his companion be "straight"? I mean, the companion is supposed to be a foil for the doctor, not a competitor in a see-who-has-the-most-grating-mannerisms contest.
That said, I think the scripts have been pretty shite too so far. The last episode was, I thought, the best so far this series, but it still seemed rather muddled/confused. Bring in/back some decent writers and make a fist of it, for God's sake. What we've had so far is an odd mix of the bizarre, the crudely over-emotional and the often uninspired. All in an incoherent jumble. Which is a shame because I like Dr Who. I'm hoping it picks up soon.
