argh so close yet so far!!

[prof_pangaea]

paterson joseph has confirmed he *was* under consideration for the eleventh doctor after all. i'm unsurprised, obviously. i think anyone who was paying attention to the way the media was spinning the rumours at the time had plenty of reason to believe they were true.

BE: You mentioned “Doctor Who” a minute ago. How much truth was there to the rumor that you were under consideration to play the Doctor?

PJ: (Hesitates for a very long time) Uh…a lot.

BE: Really? I wasn’t sure, because you never know about these things.

PJ: Yeah, a lot. But I can say no more.


still no word on the logistics of how we ended up with matt smith instead -- how far along negotiations with jospeh got, who withdrew (or whether it was mutual), etc. at least we know the bbc was willing to consider a black actor in the role, even though we didn't end up with one; and piers wenger, moff and co. didn't have a plan to try and cast a tall, lanky, big-haired white boy from the very beginning.

yeah, i am looking forward to s5 and smith and gillan and everything, but i cannot lie, i'm still missing our chance at paterson!eleven and a non-white doctor. :( here's hoping for twelve.

Comments

[kels.livejournal.com]

It would have been very cool and interesting! Matt Smith's giant chin freaks me out. :( Oh well.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

moffat has described his face as looking like a caricature of a handsome man, which... is pretty accurate. i still think he'll do a good job and i'm excited for s5, it's just... eleven white guys in a row (not to mention all white companions this year as well). sigh.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Maybe they'll do something interesting with Sophie Okonedo, along those lines--I noticed she's cast for more than one episode and apparently not as a two-parter guest character. Though that's just random spec.

"moffat has described his face as looking like a caricature of a handsome man, which... is pretty accurate."

That's sort of a feature for me and not a bug, but I realize I'm probably in the minority there. :-D

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Maybe they'll do something interesting with Sophie Okonedo, along those lines--I noticed she's cast for more than one episode and apparently not as a two-parter guest character. Though that's just random spec.

Maybe she's Romana ;)

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Just as long as she's not Adric. That spiderweb scene from "Castrovalva" will squick me until the end of time.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

Maybe they'll do something interesting with Sophie Okonedo, along those lines--I noticed she's cast for more than one episode and apparently not as a two-parter guest character.

ooh, how many eps is she supposed to be cast in? (omg just realised she played alison in scream of the shalka! first black companion playing second black companion maybe? :D?)

That's sort of a feature for me and not a bug, but I realize I'm probably in the minority there.

definitely a feature in that he's playing the doctor, and i far prefer a weird face to a conventionally handsome one for that. but, yeah, not finding him attractive quite yet. i'll wait to see him in action and then see what i think.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

She's in at least two episodes, maybe more--a few of the episodes still don't have titles or guest star lists revealed yet. Maybe she'll end up one of those semi-regulars about whom everyone has "But can you really technically call him/her a companion?" arguments until the end of time.

"definitely a feature in that he's playing the doctor, and i far prefer a weird face to a conventionally handsome one for that. but, yeah, not finding him attractive quite yet."

His face seems to change completely depending on what angle, time of day or moon phase you catch him at, so, yes, we've definitely got the "weird face" requirement down pat and we'll see about all the rest.

[(Anonymous)]

Second? Third surely. Mickey and Martha both already been done.

[kels.livejournal.com]

oh yeah! i'm excited for season 5 too, but like you i am wistful over what could have been.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Well, dammit, I'd been hoping I was tinfoiling to believe that rumor. I hope it wasn't higher-up intervention or fear of the possible audience reaction that ruled him out, but, maybe that's just naive.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

yeah, i would really, really like to know what actually went down and why. i mean, maybe joseph was like, "i'm not willing to do this much work for the pay you're offering," and the bbc were like, "um, we're in a budget crisis so instead of offering you slightly more money we will just find an unknown and pay him a quarter of what we would have paid you and save ourselves money *and* time." that would be entirely fair and unshady. the fact that casting then took no additional effort to find an actor of colour still sucks, but it sucks less than if someone was like, "yeah... so we're not going to risk fucking up our biggest moneymaker by hiring a black guy."

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

It's entirely possible that there's a non-skeevy explanation, and also we have no way of knowing how many actors were auditioned/seriously considered and how many of them were of color (or just how far "consideration" of PJ playing the part actually went in reality). At the same time, though, yeah, it would've been cool to have a non-white Doctor as more than just a theoretical exercise, and it would suck--though hardly be unprecedented thinking--if either Team Cardiff or the Beeb decided they "needed" another white guy of a certain age bracket.

[drho.livejournal.com]

There could be perfectly legitimate reasons for a non-disclosure agreement, but it's too bad that he can't say how far he went in the audition process.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd be interested to know if he were on the actual short-short list or just in the "Hey, what do you guys think of...?" rounds of competition.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

the article at least definitely makes it sound like it was beyond "hey what do you think of...?" other than that we don't know.

[biichan.livejournal.com]

*theorizes* Maybe he didn't want to commit to the role for as long as the Beeb wanted? Because I know with Matt he's there for three years minimum, with the Beeb possibly extending his contract to five depending.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

I know with Matt he's there for three years minimum

nope. i'm pretty sure he's got a contract that specifies one year for certain, which can be renewed for one or two further years (i forget which) after the first year is up. dunno if that's so the beeb can replace him if he's not popular enough or if it's so he can renegotiate for a higher salary if he ends up being very popular. (or mebbe both).

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Oh. Huh. I guess I heard wrong.

[drho.livejournal.com]

I hope nothing shady happened, but at least we know his involvement was more than a rumor.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

yeah, that is what i'm trying to focus on. although that is harder now that i've seen your icon. now i want paterson jospeh and donuts, AND I CAN HAVE NEITHER.

[drho.livejournal.com]

Aw. You should have donuts, at least.

[fannishnonsense]

Oh man. I'm sure Matt Smith will be great and all, but oh man what could have been.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

i know. :(

[rhipowered.livejournal.com]

This, all of this.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

it's a shame, but no matter how good s5 is, i'm going to be comparing it in my mind to a s5 with joseph as the doctor.

[spacefall.livejournal.com]

I was wishing so damn hard for Paterson Joseph. He's everything I could want in an actor to play the Doctor...but foolishly the BBC did not put me in charge of casting. I guess we won't know in the short term how they ended up with Smith instead. Give it a decade or two, and someone will blab.

It's good to see him in Survivors etc (as it gets ever more Terry Nation again) but... bah, how much could he have done as the Doctor. Roll on twelfth doc?

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

...but foolishly the BBC did not put me in charge of casting.

omg they should have! i mean, what's piers wenger got that you haven't? except, um, experience. yes.

bah, how much could he have done as the Doctor.

lots. :(

[cryptile.livejournal.com]

Well, color me shocked.

also, PATTERSONNNNNNNN