Monday, February 22, 2016

Day of the Doctor A Study in Dialogue


When I read the overview of this assignment, I was surprised to find myself immediately considering the BBC program Dr. Who. I took a few days to consider which episode I would want to perform the study in dialogue from, when it occurred to me that any of the Doctors and Seasons in which the various actors portray them would work. This show is an intense study in dialogue and in physical communication, as each new actor becomes the Doctor, through his regeneration, in a unique and carefully outlined portrayal of rebirth.

When it came down to which episode I would wish to sit down and view, I found myself considering “The Day of the Doctor” from season 7,  as both imaginative and fun. Within this episode we not only encounter 4 different reincarnations of the Doctor himself, but we also encounter at least 2 of his assistants in both Clara and Rose.

One of the greatest scenes to witness both orally and silently is when the 11th doctor leaps through the time vortex, after sending his fez through first, where-upon Matt Smith leaps into the vortex and lands in Elizabethan England, at the feet of David Tennant’s 10th doctor. From a purely oral standpoint, to walk away from this scene and simply listen to what occurs between the two Doctors is an intense joy and filled with laughter. One can simply imagine Matt Smith’s Doctor being his normal playful, impish and childlike demeanor, very reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Puck from Midsummer Night’s Dream. David Tennant, on the other hand, is befuddled, annoyed, curious and cautious upon meeting his 11th self. What proceeds is a good old fashion, western standoff between the two men.

Though you do not see this as your only listening, but when once again reviewed through the silent viewing mode, both men stand there facing each other with “Ah hah!” expressions upon their faces as they whip out their Sonic Screwdrivers.  Matt Smith proceeds to prance around David Tennant as a child would mocking and making fun of his former self.  David Tennant, while intrigued, gives off body language that leads the viewer to laugh, for it is obvious he would really like to use his screwdriver to make the 11th version of himself become nonexistent.

  Dialogue of the two doctors meeting in Season Seven’s “Day of the Doctor:”

Tenth Doctor: That's a time fissure! A tear in the fabric of reality! Anything could happen!

[a fez comes out of the hole]

Tenth Doctor: For instance... a fez?

[out drops Eleven rolling and coming up to stand before Ten.]

 Eleventh Doctor: [looking at Ten] Oh, that is skinny. That is proper skinny! I've never seen it from the outside. It's like a special effect. Oi!

[grabs the fez]

Eleventh Doctor: Ha! Matchstick man!

The Tenth Doctor: Compensating?

The Eleventh Doctor: For what?

The Tenth Doctor: Regeneration. It's a lottery.

The Eleventh Doctor: Oh, he's cool. Isn't he cool? I'm the Doctor and I'm all cool. Oops, I'm wearing sandshoes!

The Eleventh Doctor: Reverse the polarity!

[they do so, but nothing happens]

The Eleventh Doctor: It's not working.

The Tenth Doctor: We're both reversing the polarity.

The Eleventh Doctor: Yes, I know that.

The Tenth Doctor: There's two of us, I'm reversing it, you're reversing it back again, we're CONFUSING the polarity!

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