Unpopular? Yeah.

[tencrush]

Everyone on my flist is posting their unpopular Whovian opinions again.

I've only got one: I PRAY TO THE GODS THAT THIS IS TRUE. I don't like Freema, I think she's an awful actress, I think she did a bad job in Who (admittedly the writing wasn't much better) and I think she did an awful job in Torchwood (again, writing, yes). And I was oh so ready and willing to love Martha when Martha first happened, honestly I was. But series three did absolutely nothing for me, and Freema's utter inability to sell me on this character was a large part of what made me almost turn off come the end. The idea of her joining the cast of Torchwood has made me lie awake at night, shuddering.

People are always accusing the Sun of selling bullshit, but in actual fact the Sun's Whovian reports have, on the whole, usually been correct. Full of hyperbole and overly dramatic bullshit, but essentially correct. I am hoping fervently that this is the case.

ETA: CONFIRMATION ON TELETEXT. Phew.

Comments

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

:O

[tencrush]

Truth. Srsly. I've had a lot of time to mull it over since S3, and I don't like S3 and Freema's one of the main reasons. I haven't even really watched any of S3 more than twice. AND I WANTED TO LOVE MARTHA SO BADLY. I CONVINCED myself she was going to be great. She wasn't, in my mind. (I liked Tish. Why didn't they cast Tish as Martha? Plus, Tish is really cute and has the big eyes thing going for her.)

(Conversely, I CONVINCED myself Catherine Tate was going to be AWFUL and ruin Who for me for good. And she was so brilliant I still can't quite believe it.)

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

I think Freema was a bit weak at times but didn't ruin anything for me, though I did think "Wow, she really is a bit weak" when she first showed up on Torchwood. She annoys me less than Billie being less wooden but REALLY FUCKING AWFUL at playing poor or confident or any number of other emotions. Crying. God, that crying. Whereas Freema (and Noel to start with) was just a bit off at times and it was okay somehow. I could believe in her character still.

Tate was > all of them, though.

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

Tate was > all of them, though.
I whole heartily agree that.

[justinej.livejournal.com]

Phew! Thank goodness for that.

[quinn222.livejournal.com]

I hope it's true too. I have no particular opinion re: FA as an actress but the thing that makes TW so appealing to me is the fact that these people are basically a band of misfits. The Martha character is way too polished for me.I liked Owen and part of the reason I liked him was that he was such an utter bastard but under all that he cared about his team, so you were always conflicted about him.

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

I read that, and felt a bit guilty that my immediate reaction was REALLY PLEASED.

[queencheesecake.livejournal.com]

If this is true I'm quite relieved, as I never wanted Martha in Torchwood. While I didn't hate the character, I always felt that her moments of awesome were too few and far-between and pretty much absent when she was in TW.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

I endorse this comment.

I don't mind her on DW because I seldom watch Tennant!Who, but she didn't fit in TW. AT ALL.

[ionlylurkhere.livejournal.com]

I think your analysis of the Sun's coverage is spot on, though Freema does seem to have been the centre of some particularly hyperbolic hyperbole in her time, so I'm not sure. Given it's only five eps of TW I can see the schedules working out OK, to be honest.

As a fan of hers (I know! I don't think she's a great actress or anything, but I enjoy her work generally -- I went in thinking she'd be shit and being pleasantly surprised that she was mostly OK, though, which probably colours it), I am pissed off. Not about her not being in Torchwood, 'cos judging by the S2 eps they're two great tastes that don't taste great together, but because I thought I had seen the back of having to watch Chibnall's "writing" once he'd left and yet I can totally see myself watching the new Law and Order because of her. And thingy off of BSG maybe.

*oppresses you mildly with Martha icon*

[tencrush]

*feels oppressed*
I really wanted to like her, and she just left me completely unmoved. The writing was pretty bad, and in the hands of someone more talented maybe Marthe could have gone somewhere, but, for me, Freema just wasn't shiny enough to breathe life into such a blandly written character. And she really didn't work in Torchwood. At all.

Law & Order will be SO BAD, I reckon. I don't think Chibnall's up to the job.

[cirrocumulus.livejournal.com]

As I've said before, it's actually Mickey that I would absolutely despise having on the show. I find him to be one of the most boring, tedious, obnoxious, incompetent, whiny characters I have ever had the misfortune to witness on television. Martha, on the other hand, didn't bother me at all-- I wasn't crazy about her, but I didn't find her to have any overbearing faults either (I mean, in my opinion, none of them are really fantastic actors, which isn't helped by the scripts sucking from time to time). That said, though, I certainly won't be heartbroken if she really is leaving.

The one thing I am concerned about is that Torchwood will apparently have a large cast. I think a show should ideally have no more than five or six main characters, and what I liked a lot about seasons 1 and 2 is that the main cast was so small, with very few recurring supporting characters, that we really got to spend a lot of time with our characters in a claustrophobic environment, while still being kept at enough distance from them to not really know much about them either, which created this balance of growing attached to the characters while still being intrigued by aspects of mystery that they had for us. I think adding too many supports will mess up that dynamic. I know a lot of fans are already worried about Ianto not getting enough screentime as it is.

[tencrush]

I don't think Mickey's going to be in it at all, seriously, I don't think you have any worries there. I actually quite like Mickey, but like Martha, I don't really think he'd work very well.

I know a lot of fans are already worried about Ianto not getting enough screentime as it is.
From what I'm hearing and just as a general prediction, given his popularity and the fact that that popularity has finally filtered through to the people in charge, I don't think that will be any sort of concern.

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

Have you seen this post on Noel Clark's blog? I've always been worried that if Martha AND Mickey come to Torchwood the show would be all about the ex-companions- guess who'd get pushed into the background until they kill him.

[tigercheetah.livejournal.com]

Nothing has been said about Torchwood getting a large cast. However something has been said about 'Law and Order' getting a large cast, which might be where the confussion has come in.

From everything that we've heard so far about Ianto's role in S3 - from Gareth saying that Ianto has "a lot of lines" in the first script that he's seen to Julie Gardner saying that we learn "much more about Ianto" in S3 - I'm not too worried anymore. I think RTD may have intentionally made the decision to bring Ianto even more to the foreground of the show, now that Owen and Tosh have gone.

PS - I'm very pleased about the lack of Martha. I don't want MY SHOW turning into 'The ex-Doctor Who Companions Show'. I want my swearing, sex and violence thank you very much.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

i'm glad
i didn't want her on torchwood
i still liked her though

[(Anonymous)]

Well I liked her. You can hate me if you like.

[tencrush]

Why on earth would I hate you if you liked her? I just didn't particularly like her and I didn't think she'd work on Torchwood.

I don't hate anyone for liking her, I don't even mildly dislike anyone for liking her. That would just be stupid, we've all got different opinions, surely?

Also, I don't know who you are.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh dear should have put a smilie on it. :):)

[tencrush]

Phew. Right. Sorry, I had reason to believe you were being serious, it's a sensitive topic. Apparently.

Never mind. :)