Recasting is
a touchy subject in the Doctor Who fandom and that's a complex
subject. Its very emotional and not entirely logical but I understand
it. I can argue all day that there's no rational difference between
Jemma Powell taking on the role of Barbara Wright that Jacqueline
Hill originated and (to take a topical example) Kenneth Branagh being
Poirot in the new Murder on the Orient Express.
Branagh is Poirot now and that doesn't insult David Suchet's or Peter
Ustinov's work in the role. Different actors play the same role all
the time, its how acting works.
And
yet I see the argument. Its purely emotional and there's nothing
wrong with that. Jacqueline Hill is the
Barbara Wright, Lis Sladen is Sarah
Jane Smith. These were definitive performances that mean something to
the fandom.
Personally
I don't mind recasts but they will always be second best. I hate that
I feel that because I feel like I'm insulting the new actors. Take
Tim Treloar, for example, who has played the Third Doctor for Big
Finish for a couple of years now. He puts in a fine performance and I
include the fact that he explicitly plays a version of the Third
Doctor and not a Jon Pertwee impression. From what little I've seen
of David Bradley (in The Doctor Falls
and clips of An Adventure in Time and Space)
he seems to take a similar approach to the role (even when explicitly
playing Wiliam Hartnell in the documentary).
I
won't lie: I love what I've seen of Bradley and I think Big Finish
are going to do well with this project but I say that with one
caveat...
I
think it would be better in the long run if they treated The
First Doctor Adventures as
effectively a reboot of Season One. This is an entire TARDIS team
played by new actors, with a new Master as well, and I'd rather see
the roles pushed in new directions for new actors than slavishly
trying to imitate the past.
This
is Big Finish so it could go either way but for the moment I think
I'll tend towards the positive.
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