Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman - io9 Comments

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

shokk — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:53:49 PDT

NO Tennant is not gay...
[en.wikipedia.org]

I think the EC intensity was really good, but DT can show both joy and intensity equally well. EC's ability to show anything but intensity either comes up flat or creepy.

shokk

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Mills — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:25:13 PDT

@RRich: I thought he only agreed to do one year in the first place-before he even started, either so he wouldn't be typecast, or so he could move onto 'more serious' projects.

Mills

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

lever2k — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:24:30 PDT

Well, I'm not disappointed to see JB criticizing a fellow actor, everyone's entitled to an opinion. However, I think JB's criticisms say a lot more about him than they do about CE. The extent of his critique of a fellow artist is that said artist is "too concerned about his craft" and "he won't go to Madge concerts with me". Yes, JB, what a SERIOUS actor you are.

lever2k

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

splig — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:14:39 PDT

As someone who thinks that John Barrowman has done some amazing work and loved him in Dr Who, I'm disappointed that he would criticise his fellow thespian.

In the role, Tennant is an average Doctor, whilst Eccleston is (IMHO) the reason that the new series survived. His depth made it look like a serious attempt, rather than Tenannt's playing with a franchise.

Anyway, I would rather see Barrowman kiss Eccleston again. Seeing him kiss Tennant seems icky.

splig

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

lever2k — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:28:59 PDT

Also, John Barrowman sure does love to talk, doesn't he? Perhaps there's a bit of jealousy in his comments? I like the Doctor Who version of Captain Jack, but Torchwood's "complexity" really shows up Barrowman's lack of range as an actor. I think it is not ironic in the least or surprising that John has recently added Game Show Host to his resume.

lever2k

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

lever2k — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:21:12 PDT

The more DT Doctor I see, the more I wish we'd gotten more CE Doctor. Not because Tennant is bad, but because he can be so lighthearted and glib it would have been nice to have a little longer period of that Eccleston intensity before the series shifted to such a contrast in Doctor. I wish Chris had done two seasons.

Watching CE Doctor you know you are watching a good, accomplished, "serious" actor when you see CE working his process on screen. Watching DT Doctor I feel I'm watching a good, accomplished television actor who is a big Doctor Who fan getting to play (a little too much, at times). Now, having said this, I enjoy both portrayals. I just wish, in retrospect, we'd had a little more CE to chew on.

lever2k

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

femto — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:46:15 PDT

@btgoss: I totally recognized that video from the thumbnail, and I love you for it.

femto

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:46:02 PDT

@Velireon: No, Tennant is straight or at least exclusively linked with female girlfriends so far (including Sophia Myles who played Reinette in Season 2's "Girl in the Fireplace")

John Barrowman, however, is very out and has an ADORABLE picture on his website (I think) of himself in formal kilt with his male partner.

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Finsbury — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:14:17 PDT

@RRich. I don't see how you could work regularly with Russell T Davies AND be a homophobe. Before bringing back Doctor Who, Davies was best known for Queer as Folk, so any gayness can't have come as a surprise. Eccleston, who had already worked with Davies on The Second Coming, wrote to him asking to be considered for the role of the Doctor. He also said, repeatedly, that Davies was why he wanted to do the show.

Doing publicity for Doctor Who, Eccleston never sounded quite at home in sci-fi: clearly astonished by the idea that adults could get that excited over daleks. He also said the Doctor Who workload was exhausting, and hard to combine with other projects. Reason enough to leave.

Finsbury

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Evil Tortie's Mom — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:54:39 PDT

@Velireon: In England, they say "partner" equally for gay or straight.

Evil Tortie's Mom

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Velireon — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:40:00 PDT

By Barrowman's use of the word "partners", am correct to think it sounded like Barrowman was saying Tennant is one of my people? (i.e., the gay kind)? Is this true, did I somehow miss out on this huge thing?

Velireon

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

RRich — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:31:44 PDT

INcorrectly, I mean. Shhesh!

and "knows" not "know"

RRich

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

RRich — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:30:42 PDT

Please someone correct me if I'm not remembering this correctly.

Didn't Eccleston say one reason he was leaving was because he thought the show was "too gay" or something to that effect?

Who know; maybe Barrowman just doesn't like homophobes...

RRich

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:23:48 PDT

@JennaW:
Please note. Above post was in "grumpy" mode for dramatic effect!

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:18:21 PDT

@edosan: Pertwee wasn't a grumpy Doctor! GEEZ, people. Neither was Eccleston.

Did you guys even WATCH the show?

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

edosan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:06:30 PDT

"Eccleston is apparently going to play Destro in the G.I. Joe movie..."

Game, set, and match. Discussion over.

Maybe it's because I saw a lot of Jon Pertwee when I first saw Doctor Who, but I like a grumpy Doctor.

edosan

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

twreckx — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:05:30 PDT

@aspiringexpatriate: @ManchuCandidate: I couldn't agree more. Stopped watching Dr. Who because I couldn't stand David Tennant hamming his way across the screen. He does tend to overdo it a tad. Adored season one though. Eccleston then proved himself again in Heroes S1 and can do no wrong in my eyes.

twreckx

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:42:39 PDT

@Pouncer:

Don't hold your breath:
[imdb.com]

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Pouncer — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:22:24 PDT

Eccleston is apparently going to play Destro in the G.I. Joe movie. The casting for that thing is bizarre, although his presence makes me slightly hopeful that it won't be too terrible. But then there's always Raul Julia's last role to scare me. Who knows, anymore?

Pouncer

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Slatz_Grobnik — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:20:34 PDT

@ManchuCandidate: Seconded. I'd even go so far as to say that the show couldn't have resurrected with Tennant. Of course, I also would suspect that it couldn't have sustained without him.

Slatz_Grobnik

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

SnotFare — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:06:07 PDT

uh yeah, no one has to like all their co-workers

SnotFare

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

CmdrHunt — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:53:57 PDT

@Urael: Yeah, I'd be interested to hear Billie's opinion on the two Docs.

CmdrHunt

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Miranda Kali — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:35:58 PDT

@JennaW: With Barrowman and Eccleston as well, of course. Reading lines from Shakespeare to compare their "talent". Or perhaps selections from "Equus" would be more appropriate?

Miranda Kali

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:25:08 PDT

@JennaW: Well, yes, so do I. But Jason was all clean and haughty and perhaps seeing them both in a range of DeathEater states would make the comparison more fair... if they'd be willing to put on a little fashion show... for me?

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:24:00 PDT

@aspiringexpatriate: I was responding to what Theoban said, not judging Eccleston though I see it came across like that.

I don't know anything about Eccleston aside from the work of his I've seen and certainly wouldn't hold him responsible for what other people think he feels.

Sorry, Chris! *LOVE* you as the Doctor *and* as Claude -- yay, Claude!

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

ManchuCandidate — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:47:54 PDT

I liked Eccleston's grumpy Doc. I enjoy Tennant, but given a choice, Eccleston.

ManchuCandidate

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Zantor — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:33:30 PDT

John Barrowman's a trip! I get a big kick out of watching him on TV, The more I watch him, the more I like him. He just comes across as a really genuine-fun guy that loves his work. He's not a bad actor either.

Zantor

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

aspiringexpatriate — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:28:42 PDT

@JennaW: That implies that Eccleston didn't treat the role as important. And the first series of Doctor Who argues that. I don't think Eccleston looks down on them. It really depends on how you get your joy as an actor, no? On a live stage, you have 100-500 living breathing audience members waiting on ever word you say. That has to be cool. Hell, Tennant must love it if he's going off to do it next year. TV and film acting is incredibly different. Especially as TV has a lot less rehearsals and singular focus, a lot of the time it's about getting the shot, whether it's good or not. And if that's part of the experience, always going after mediocrity, you probably will be upset. But Eccleston acts in a range of tv and film, and he does a kickass job at it, so I don't think he dislikes it as a medium. Personally, I like Eccleston more. I liked his chippy shoulder. Sometimes I watch a Tennant episode and I think 'he's having too much fun'. First ep of season 4 is a great example. It's rather cartoony. I know Tennant is capable of great acting, but I feel sometimes that Davies gives him too free a reign, maybe because Davies doesn't really know how the doctor should be now. Notice how Barrowman didn't say he didn't like working with Eccleston, he simply said he wouldn't want to go to the pub with him. Huge difference.

aspiringexpatriate

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Miranda Kali — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:16:58 PDT

@JennaW: I actually thought he was more enticing all mussed up and wild, but that's just me. I like the freaky, goth boys.

Miranda Kali

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:51:39 PDT

@Miranda Kali: To be fair, we never get to see him all cleaned up. But I still thought he was hawt even all crazy like that.

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Urael — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:48:56 PDT

I think we need Billie's opinion on this, she spent a year with each Doctor so is the perfect person to judge. I don't mind asking her - anyone got her number? *hopeful*

Urael

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Urael — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:46:53 PDT

What we really need is Billie's opinion on this: she spent a year with both. Anyone got her phone number? *hopeful*

Urael

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

lovelight — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:42:29 PDT

Love JB. Lovin' his work. But having seen him in Panto and doing his concert (my boyfriend loves him and dragged me along) I really can't imagine being in a pub with him. He's fairly overpowering in a concert hall or a theatre. I have nightmares about being trapped in a lift with him

lovelight

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Miranda Kali — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:41:13 PDT

@dOk: As Death Eaters go, Jason Issacs faaaar out-sexy's Tennant. Wingardium leviosa, indeed!

Miranda Kali

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

btgoss — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:36:21 PDT

I think this puts this whole discussion into proper perspective.

btgoss

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:35:07 PDT

@dOk: Very HOT Deatheater...

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:34:41 PDT

@Theoban: What sets a self-important actor apart from a great actor is that the great actor treats every role as if it were as important as (well, I dn't think Godot is a good example here, so I'm changing it to) Hamlet.

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

dOk — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:26:15 PDT

It is Interesting that everyone has a crush on The Death Eater...
But hey our 1st Doctor was trying to recreate the human race by collecting and raping the few woman left in England...

So maybe The Death Eater is a better choice?... lol

dOk

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Miranda Kali — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:24:57 PDT

@JennaW: I have more of a crush on Billie Piper, but yeah..Tennant, too

Miranda Kali

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

DocGratis — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:23:17 PDT

@JennaW: "That's who."

Yes.. I think the Doctor doesn't have a crush on David Tennant...

(because it is reciprocated so it isn't a crush.)

DocGratis

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

jbq — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:21:40 PDT

@92BuickLeSabre: @JennaW: Hahaha! It certainly reads that way as it stands :-D

Then again, Tennant and Barrowman are infamous for their displays of infantile humour on the sets (farting contests and the likes), and if Chris Eccleston wasn't really into that sort of thing, I could see why he would come off as having a chip on his shoulder to Barrowman.

jbq

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

TheRemedy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:18:58 PDT

@92BuickLeSabre: The truth is humorous

TheRemedy

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

92BuickLeSabre — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:13:13 PDT

@JennaW: I'll tell you who doesn't!

...um...just give me a second...

...yeah, can't think of anybody.

92BuickLeSabre

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Theoban — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:12:49 PDT

Eccleston always did seem like he took the 'art' of acting a little too seriously. If you check out the interviews with him, it's clear that he looks down upon anything other than traditional theatre. I got the very strong feeling that he needed to lighten up a little, and realise he was in Doctor Who, not Waiting for Godot.

Theoban

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:08:58 PDT

@92BuickLeSabre: Well, I *meant* on David...

Because, let's face it. Who doesn't have a crush on David Tennant?

*Very few people!* that's who.

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

matriaya — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:07:09 PDT

I am just psyched he's coming back for Heroes. As long as I don't have to hang out with him, we're all good! I enjoy his acting.

matriaya

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

92BuickLeSabre — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:05:05 PDT

@JennaW:
(Guy walks into a pub. Approaches hot girl at the bar. Asks to buy her a drink. She politely declines. He walks away muttering about what a b****y ice queen she is and tells his buddies not to bother cause she's "totally a Lesbian")
≈
(This)

92BuickLeSabre

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

JennaW — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:55:16 PDT

*sing-song-voice*
Someone's got a cru-ush!

JennaW

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

GodofMonkeys — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:53:43 PDT

But... but... Eccleston is so COOL!

Though I have to say I think Tennant rocks as well.

GodofMonkeys

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

pinkiedeathhead — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:50:10 PDT

I think I will need to go to a pub w/Eccleston, Tennant, and John Barrowman both as one big group and then seperatly. Then I will make up my mind who is more fun.

pinkiedeathhead

Old Doctor Too Grumpy For Madonna, Claims Barrowman

Darcy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:49:54 PDT

It wouldn't hurt to go slum at a convention sometime, either...

Darcy