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Post by redsharkJason on Apr 21, 2016 14:00:40 GMT
Are you comfortable with Big Finish recasting new actors as original characters that were portrayed by much-loved original actors that are no longer with us and/or for the ones that are still alive, yet for various reasons are not available to revisit their original roles? Some untapped recasting examples that come to mind: - Nicholas Courtney's - Brigadier
- Elisabeth Sladen's - Sarah Jane Smith
- Roger Delgado's - The Master
- Jackie Lane's - Dodo
- Characters from Blake's 7 that mimic their original actor counterparts
If you are supportive of "recasting" on audio, what are your minimum requirement expectations for new performers to adhere to when portraying these famous characters from the past? What are your stipulations of Big Finish's production side for you to accept their recasting of original TV actors? Are you a fan of Tim Treloar's impersonation of the Third Doctor?
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Post by jasonward on Apr 21, 2016 14:17:37 GMT
I want to see 1st, 2nd and 3rd Doctors roles filled by good impersonators.
Sarah Jane, The Master, Dodo and The Brigadier I personally see no reason to fill the roles of, but have no objection to it, again so long as its good impersonators.
I don't want a new take on the characters, I want a faithful reproduction.
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Post by agentten on Apr 21, 2016 21:32:48 GMT
I don't have any objections to recasting, but of course it's one of those things that has to be handled very carefully. You want an actor who is going to sound and feel like the original actor without being a completely lifeless imitation of the performance. One example that comes to mind is Shaggy from Scooby Doo. When Casey Kasem retired from the role Warner Bros. bounced around a bit trying to find the right actor to replace him. They tried an actor who did a really impressive Kasem impression, but ultimately replaced him because, while it was a great impression, it was just an impression. The performance was lifeless. They finally placed Matthew Lillard in the role and while his Shaggy does not sound 100% exactly like Kasem, it is completely recognizable and, more importantly, it has real life to it. This is the kind of recasting that I would hope to hear whenever Big Finish replaces actors who have passed.
The life of Doctor Who has and will continue to extend beyond any one actor. This doesn't diminish any actor's contribution to the show, just the opposite in fact. If people want more of these characters then it means the performers involved have brought those characters to life in a special way that has struck a cord with audiences. That said, I do think it's appropriate for Big Finish to wait before recasting major roles and when they do recast, to do so with great care, only settling on the right replacement when it's clear they've found it. I appreciate that they have not recast much beyond the Third Doctor. Waiting a while is important. I'm not ready for a new Sarah Jane or Brigadier yet. Maybe someday, I'm not opposed to it, just not yet.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Apr 21, 2016 21:38:34 GMT
As has been noted in another thread, if we are at the point where we are recasting Doctors, then I see no reason why companions, no matter how beloved, should be off limits.
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Post by omega on Apr 21, 2016 23:19:02 GMT
For me it depends a lot on the context around the recasting, with factors like how long the original actor/actress has been gone for, the extent to which Big Finish has worked around the absence and whether the actor/actress worked with Big Finish and in their original roles. Jaqueline Hill, Michael Craze and Jon Pertwee never got the opportunity to work with Big Finish, yet Barbara, Ben and the Third Doctor have been in new stories through the Companion Chronicles and Lost Stories. Mary Tamm, Caroline John, Liz Sladen and Nick Courtney all worked with Big Finish, at least two of them getting their own spin-offs.
With Blake's 7 David Jackson did one story for Big Finish, but that was before they got the B7 licence. The fact that BF were confident with recasting the role of Gan means they felt that his original cast mates would similarly understand (obviously getting their OK was an important step in the process). Josette Simon, who played Dayna, has emphatically refused to reprise the role, so that's a grey area. Recasting Blake is obviously off-limits as Gareth Thomas has only just left us and done a number of Blake's 7 audios with Big Finish.
I wonder if at this point Big Finish would be justified in recasting Dodo. Jackie Lane has had little to do with Doctor Who in the last ten or twenty years, apart from appearing at the disastrous after party for the 50th anniversary (then again, loads of former companions attended that). As companions go Dodo was never high on the Best Companion polls and through Steven narrated CCs and Short Trips the character has received a lot of development, so imagine if the character was allowed a story to focus on her.
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Post by iank on Apr 21, 2016 23:22:42 GMT
No, not really. I don't like it and I find it rather disrespectful and, well, pointless. Half the point of the audios for me at least is to hear these well-loved actors in these roles again. Hearing someone else pretending to the 3rd Doctor or the Brig? Ugh. No thanks.
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Post by jasonward on Apr 21, 2016 23:23:04 GMT
...the disastrous after party for the 50th anniversary... It was? Tell more.
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Post by omega on Apr 21, 2016 23:45:35 GMT
...the disastrous after party for the 50th anniversary... It was? Tell more. Four worlds to strike fear into the hearts of Doctor Who fans everywhere: One Direction live link-up. More information here.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2016 23:49:58 GMT
Recasting? Nay, nay and thrice nay!
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Post by jasonward on Apr 22, 2016 0:14:04 GMT
Four worlds to strike fear into the hearts of Doctor Who fans everywhere: One Direction live link-up. More information here. Wow, I was having to take some nasty drugs around that time, and Ive found there are all sorts of things I would expect to remember and don't at all, it would seem that was one of them, and yeah... seems that, in this case, is a good thing. I mean, who thought 1 Direction was... well anything. Makes me think of the Capaldi announcement show, could have been a bit of fun, but instead was just an embarrassment.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Apr 22, 2016 0:39:23 GMT
I've given a "Yes" vote but I'm conflicted a little.
Pro: If the story is right and the direction is right, it shouldn't matter who the actor is. We keep watching Shakespeare plays, keep going to Bond movies, keep listening to cover versions, keep watching rebooted shows and movies, keep reading retold versions of stories. And sometimes, a part needs to be recast or replaced due to contract, availability or existence breakdowns.
Con: The point of Doctor Who is that the part is bigger than any one actor. The idea of regeneration means that if an actor tires of a part/ gets fired, a different actor can be cast, but the show goes on. The idea of casting another actor to play one of the past Doctors seems a little redundant to me. However, when a suitable time has passed I don't have a problem with casting other actors to play companion roles. But, when the point of the exercise is largely a nostalgia kick - which, arguably, is a major attraction of many Big Finish ranges - recasting an iconic role seems a little strange to me.
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Post by redsharkJason on Apr 22, 2016 1:08:28 GMT
Recasting? Nay, nay and thrice nay! As you are particularly a fan of the Third Doctor, did you not enjoy Tim Treloar's faithful re-enactment of Jon Pertwee's presence in The Third Doctor Adventures? Is Katy Manning's and Richard Franklin's narration of the Third Doctor your only option preference?
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Post by Digi on Apr 22, 2016 2:17:39 GMT
No recasting, period. I know the folks at Big Finish are doing these things with the best of intentions, but I think it's disrespectful to the actors who are no longer with us.
Maybe I'm being overly harsh, but to me it feels exploitative to hire an actor to impersonate a beloved actor and character, just to sell some more units. If the story needs to be told, go to prose and let imagination do the work.
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Post by relativetime on Apr 22, 2016 3:05:43 GMT
I'm all for recasting, but definitely only after a proper amount of time has past since the original actor passed and provided the recasting has the blessings of the other actors involved. So, that means I'm not expecting or demanding any stories with Sarah Jane, for instance, anytime soon.
I don't necessarily see how recasting is disrespectful to the original actors when, in many cases, it's done with the best intentions and done with a sense of great respect and reverence for the role they had. I think that's how Big Finish has approached the recasting of the Third Doctor.
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Recasting
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 5:33:30 GMT
In general I'm all in favour. it only really seems to have become an issue in more recent years, when I was young, recasting was just part of life, especially in audio. My favourite version of Star Wars is the radio adaptation, and they recast half of the roles.
The only thing I'm unsure about is recasting Blake now. I do think that following an actor's passing there needs to be a respectful pause.
All the other quoted examples are now due for recasting in my mind though.
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Post by omega on Apr 22, 2016 6:22:17 GMT
I'm all for recasting, but definitely only after a proper amount of time has past since the original actor passed and provided the recasting has the blessings of the other actors involved. So, that means I'm not expecting or demanding any stories with Sarah Jane, for instance, anytime soon. I don't necessarily see how recasting is disrespectful to the original actors when, in many cases, it's done with the best intentions and done with a sense of great respect and reverence for the role they had. I think that's how Big Finish has approached the recasting of the Third Doctor. The people affected most are the people the original actor worked with. If they aren't on board it shows in their performance and renders the whole exercise a waste of time. If William Russell and Carole Ann Ford give Jemma Powell their seal of approval that's good enough for me.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 6:52:13 GMT
My vote would be no, except in very, very rare circumstances. Jemma Powell being the most prominent in mind and even then, there's a little reservation of judgement there. I'll wait until the release to see whether I'm wholly against recasting.
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Post by redsharkJason on Apr 22, 2016 7:45:28 GMT
No recasting, period. I know the folks at Big Finish are doing these things with the best of intentions, but I think it's disrespectful to the actors who are no longer with us. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, but to me it feels exploitative to hire an actor to impersonate a beloved actor and character, just to sell some more units. If the story needs to be told, go to prose and let imagination do the work. Even though I'm in favour of cautious and tactful recasting integration, I don't outright disagree with your adamant comments. Do your convictions against recasting apply to you refusing to purchase a Big Finish audio product with what you currently so much oppose?
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Post by OneTen on Apr 22, 2016 9:20:47 GMT
Are you comfortable with Big Finish recasting new actors as original characters that were portrayed by much-loved original actors that are no longer with us and/or for the ones that are still alive, yet for various reasons are not available to revisit their original roles? I'm comfortable with it, as long as I don't have to listen to it! This particularly applies to Doctor Who where I know parts have been recast in Early Adventures, Third Doctor Adventures etc. That's fine, I can just avoid those ranges. I was less comfortable with the 2nd Doctor appearing in Return to Telos (since then I've not subscribed to the Fourth Doctor, so that's less of concern for me now). I do hope recast characters don't appear in the Main Range, though. More generally, if we're talking about a reboot of sorts - albeit a faithful one ( The Avengers, Sapphire and Steel) then my main concern is that the casting is good, and that good actors (rather than impersonators) get the roles. As they have done.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 10:22:36 GMT
Recasting? Nay, nay and thrice nay! As you are particularly a fan of the Third Doctor, did you not enjoy Tim Treloar's faithful re-enactment of Jon Pertwee's presence in The Third Doctor Adventures? Is Katy Manning's and Richard Franklin's narration of the Third Doctor your only option preference? Nope. The Third Doctor is Jon Pertwee and always will be, other actors pretending to be his Doctor doesn't appeal to me. We are all different I know, but that's my view. I reckon we have enough livng Doctors to be making stories with when it comes to full-cast Doctor Who stories. When Big Finish started their appeal was Doctor Who stories with the original actors reprising their TV roles on audio. Jon Pertwee was dead so I didn't expect or require Third Doctor audios. Now anybody can be a Doctor, but other actors playing classic Doctors would not have got Big Finish off the ground. If people enjoy them, that's fine, but Tim Treloar is obviously not the Third Doctor so why would I bother with Third Doctor audios? Tim Treloar might be a good actor but he is only a fan fiction Doctor... which is pretty much what the BF Third Doctor audios are.
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