Blinks in surprise

[kerravonsen]

Doctor Who casting spoiler!

I predict there will be spoilers in the comments, so those who do not wish to be spoiled, do not click!

It could be good. It could be stupid. I expect that there will be a mixture of both, since that seems to be par for the course.

I remember there was a lot of mutterings about her being cast in "The Runaway Bride", but since I'd never seen that actress before, I didn't have any preconceptions about whether she would be good or not. And most people seemed to think she was good in that -- certainly a refreshing change from the "instant crush" kind of companion we've had lately.

On the other hand, if they give her an instant crush, I'll... whine frustratedly about it on LJ and do nothing else. (sigh)

One thing that's really encouraging about Who, really, is that actors keep wanting to be on it, and wanting to come back even when they've had a taste of the gruelling schedule. That's got to say something positive about the whole team of people behind Who: Who isn't just RTD.

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I didn't know who she was before either, and enjoyed her character. Since then I've seen some of her comedy and it's quite different from how she played Donna, so that's encouraging; some people only play one character.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I think it's going to be pretty difficult to avoid; I found out because the casting was a sidebar on the page with the Alan Johnston release story! And today the newspapers are full of it, with big pictures from The Runaway Bride.

What's nagging me is that I think Doctor Who (before and after the break) has a bit of a weakness for casting showbiz names, though usually as guest stars, and that can be annoying if they're just there to do a turn. It can come up trumps, though - I was astonished by the straight performance given by Nicholas Parsons in Curse of Fenric - so let's hope Tate wants to do it as a proper actor.

[kerravonsen]

Difficult to avoid in the UK, yes, but there are folks on my flist who aren't in the UK but still interested in Who...

so let's hope Tate wants to do it as a proper actor

I think she does; if what Nico says above is true, that her comedy is quite different from Donna, then she's already played it as a "proper actor".

I also get the impression -- though I could be wrong -- that good comic actors don't do a bad job on Who as a rule, since they do have a reasonable range and know the importance of timing.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

It's just more difficult in the UK. I knew about John Simm a long time in advance, despite never seeing it in a newspaper or on a news website, and never clicking on any possibly spoilery link. It was so pervasive on LJ that I couldn't filter the knowledge out, however hard I tried, and however hard people like you tried to use cuts.

I'm hopeful, on the basis of her previous performance. Doing a run rather than a one-off will put her to the test. Just as long as there's Absolutely No Romance.