So you may have heard — certainly I’ve mentioned it here — that David Tennant, aka the current Doctor Who, will be appearing in Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon this summer and autumn. (Performances start in July, and I think they’re all sold out.) I’ve got tickets to both shows in late September/early October, and I’m really looking forward to my trip across the pond. Not just for the plays, but because I really love England, too, and it’s been too long (1996!) since I was there.
As a fan of both Tennant’s and Shakespeare’s, I’m very interested to see how the actor approaches the crazy Dane, because — having seen most of what Tennant has done that’s available on DVD — it’s clear that he’s got an affinity for the, ahem, somewhat alternatively mentally abled. The Doctor is one of the more even-keeled characters he’s played, and even the Time Lord is really not all that particularly sane. I saw Ralph Fiennes play Hamlet on Broadway, ooo, probably ten years ago or more now, and I remember being struck by how he played the character: like he really was insane, and not just crazy like a fox, the way most other interpretations have had him. I’m not sure if a genuinely crazy Hamlet is actually even supported by the text, but I loved the risk Fiennes took in doing that: he made the character his own in a unique way. And I’m expecting something similar from Tennant.
So, in preparation for my trip to the land of the Bard, I am rereading Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost — nay, studying them, in fact. And more: I’m going to (re)watch every version of Hamlet on film I can find (plus Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead), and review them — which has the bonus added value of also tying in to the upcoming summer releases of the movies Hamlet 2 and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead.
I’m also going to rewatch all of Tennant’s stuff that I’ve got– a lovely pile of overseas DVDs — and talk about all that, too.
Not that I ever made more grandiose plans for myself than I’m able to get through… but I should be able to manage this between now and September…
my summer of David Tennant:
• Secret Smile
• Takin’ Over the Asylum audition
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Jude
• Bright Young Things
• David Tennant as Hamlet
• David Tennant in Love’s Labour’s Lost
• (more to come)
my summer of Hamlet:
• Maximilian Schell as Hamlet
• Kevin Kline as Hamlet
• Derek Jacobi as Hamlet
• Mel Gibson as Hamlet
• David Tennant as Hamlet
• (more to come)
I ‘ll be following the “Tennant” summer with great interest, the perfect warm up before seeing the two plays.
The Royal Shakespeare Company website has published the full cast list for both plays, Nina Sosanya (“Bellino” in Casanova) plays Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost. A lovers reunion, very excited about that.
Are you planning to include Takin’ Over The Asylum
at your Tennant reviews? It’s a 1994 BAFTA award winning series (six parts) with an absurdly young David Tennant in it. And a (not so absurdly young) Ken Stott. It’s a great drama, not available to buy until now, but it’s been released on region 2 dvd on 2 June. One of the extras is David Tennant’s audition tape!
I’ve been reading your Doctor Who posts for a long while — which are wonderful analyses of the show — and I’m moved to comment this time as I will also be going to England this fall to visit friends and see Hamlet.
I fell in love with Shakespeare in college and have been drawn to the UK numerous times in my life, so this is a great collision of my, errr, three loves… if I can swear to love Tennant in a wholly sane and appreciative manner based in reality.
I like your plan. I’m rereading Hamlet as I write but I hadn’t thought of watching past interpretations of Hamlet. Good idea :)
Of course! And *Blackpool,* and *Learners,* and *Casanova,* and *Harry Potter* (though he’s not in much more than two scenes or so) and *LA Without a Map* and anything else I can find.
For oompleteness, don’t forget the delectable tranny Davina in Rab C Nesbitt, which must hve been retty muh t first thing that he did on tv.
And that very creepy killer that he played on The Bill.
For those that have never seen DAvid’s turn in Rab C Nesbitt, here’s some clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0vXP0VcZZo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqkVMMgJ2Zg
although I wonder how much of the dialogue some people will understand :-)
Oh and a clip of David on the Bill (this isn’t available on dvd), playing a crazy guy as usual
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csW9_D9z8s0
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is my fave movie, and it was really hard for me to come to a final decision on that. Yea, I’m a dork. But its just brilliant.
Will you watch the “Mrs. Bradley Mysteries” episode “Death at the Opera”? I checked these out from the library once just to kill some time, and was surprised to see both Tennant and Peter Davison in this episode. So, Time Crash wasn’t their first appearance together. Interesting.
Well, now that I know that he’s in that episode, sure, I’ll watch.
Hamlet’s cast has now been announced. Patrick Stewart will be playing both Claudius and the ghost of Hamlet’s father. John Woodvine (‘The Armageddon Factor’/’An American Werewolf in London’) will be the Player King.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/118094.html
Not that I don’t love him, but don’t you think he’s a tad old to play Hamlet? It’s like a few years ago there was a poll for stratford, and apparently james marsters was britain’s choice to play romeo. They’re both great actors, just a little well seasoned.
Tennant I’d love to see as MacBeth. Or Richard III, who was actually not a hunchback and known for his charm.
According to the play, Hamlet is thirty. He is not a teenager. In british theatre, there was one recent young Hamlet, Ben Whishaw who played the part in 2004 at the age of 24, but having a young Hamlet was central element to that production and it’s the exception, not the rule. Most actors are in their thirties or even fourties.
There’s a convention that Romeo is usually played by an actor in his 20s, Hamlet by an actor in his 30s and Richard III an actor in his 40s / early 50s.
Of course in reality, Romeo would be about 16 (Juliet is 14 in the play), Hamlet late teens / early 20s and Richard III no more than 32 (his age when he died), but then Richard III when he apeared in Henry VI Part II would actually be a toddler of 2, which would have made his actions in the Battle of St. Albans truly astonishing. So Shakespeare’s ages are way out of synch with his character’s true ages anyway.
The text of *Hamlet* does actually state his age as 30. Which makes him an extended adolescent on a scale typically not seen until the late 20th century. :->
You may also consider adding to your list, the shorts: Traffic Warden, sweetnight goodheart, and Nine and a half minutes. Traffic Warden is quite lovely for a film with practically no dialogue.
MaryAnn, I can’t wait to read your response to “Blackpool.” I keep seeing it on your “What I’m Watching, Region 2” thingamajig, and sending you urgent ESP messages to watch faster, watch faster, and write, write! (Are you getting any of those? No? Well.)
And I agree with Eva above, “Traffic Warden” is a totally enjoyable ten minutes. Worth a look.
I’ve seen *Blackpool* twice through now, and I will get around to writing about it this summer, never fear.
Then, as the producers of *Doctor Who* say endlessly in their DVD commentaries: Hooray. The fact that you’ve watched it twice through makes me look forward to the review even more. Hooray!
Have you seen the BBC pilot called Only Human? It’s not even listed on his imbd.com page. You can watch it at http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DAEAF7DC5C68EE35
I have not seen that. Thanks for pointing it out.
(first time posting a comment. woo.)
have you watched Recovery?
he is amazing in it, but its….devastating. and intense.
I could only watch it once :(
but if you are doing a study of David’s varied acting its a must see because he is so deep in his part I felt more like I was watching a documentary….if that makes sense.
Something Tennant does, that honestly I think he does better than anyone, is he BECOMES his characters. I can’t explain it, but he even looks like a completely different person in different roles. And its not make up or costume, its in his face. The way he carries himself, the way his eyes move. Even if he’s dressed up as the doctor, when hes not “the doctor” he doesn’t quite look the same..
sorry about all that rambling :)
I just really really wish I was seeing him in hamlet.
is “Recovery” available on dvd, because i keep looking for it, and haven’t seen it yet.
Bronxbee, Recovery is on Youtube in nine ten-minute segments. I’m in the process of watching it (it’s a process because I’m on dial-up!) and it is must-see DT. I’ve seen segments 1-6. Don’t want to spoil it for anyone so won’t comment further, except to say that I also e-mailed BBC Drama and BBC America and asked them to consider releasing it on DVD and showing it, respectively. Maybe if enough people do likewise, Auntie Beeb will catch on that they could make some (additional) money off David’s immense talent and popularity, and the you-tube-challenged will get to see it.
Absolutely. He’s a chameleon.
And YouTube is no way to watch anything. There are other ways of watching *Recovery*… and I’m sure it will be on DVD soon. It’s just that it’s relatively recent.
For people on dial-up? Do tell!
Have you seen the episode The Actor from People Like Us?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tv4V8yJrBqE
(in four parts)
People Like Us is a spoof documentary series, every episode being a day in the life of a fictional person, exploring their career and lifestyle. In this episode from 2001, DT plays the central character, actor Rob Harker. Apart from the programme being hilarious, it’s one of my favourite DT performances. It’s naturalistic and understated, in many ways different from what he usually does (in many of his performances, he makes big choices and still makes them look natural) but in this one he is low key and still absolutely charismatic and hilarious.
I haven’t seen *The Actor* — thanks for pointing it out.
Many things that have been on TV can be found online in downloadable form, which one can then, theoretically, either watch on a computer or burned onto a DVD.
Of course, these downloads are illegal. And not really feasible over a dialup connection anyway.
Poly, thanks for the link to The Actor. Only thing I hated about it was seeing him smoke. Ew. Sure hope that was for the camera only.
Quoting MaryAnn:
Ah well, that’s as I thought. So my dial-up connection is keeping me legal and teaching me patience. Good things both.
Free access to so much of his work is worth the wait. Have watched Recovery, Only Human, The Actor, Traffic Warden, Sweet Night Good Heart, Nine and a Half Minutes, and various silly fan vids that caught my eye recently, and enjoyed them all.
MaryAnn, do you ever do comparison reviews? I’m thinking Harrison Ford in Regarding Henry and David in Recovery. I kept seeing parallels as I was watching Recovery. The biggest one is that I liked both characters–Henry and Alan–more after their brain injury than before. Especially Henry–Alan was okay pre-injury, but he was so sweet afterwards (once he’d worked through his initial grief and rage and turned the corner to learning to live again).
“Only thing I hated about it was seeing him smoke. Ew. Sure hope that was for the camera only.”
He doesn’t smoke. I saw him in a couple of things recently where his character is a smoker and I always think, maybe because I know he doesn’t smoke, that he looks funny, not natural.
“So my dial-up connection is keeping me legal and teaching me patience.”
Youtube clips of copyrighted material are not legal. Funnily enough, when Takin Over the Asylum was recently released on dvd, its writer publicly (and privately***) thanked a fan you had uploaded the whole programme on youtube, because, she said, the interest generated by youtube viewings convinced the BBC to release the dvd.
*** they sent this fan a dvd signed by DT and other cast.
Way to punish illegal activity! That for sure will be a deterrant to future Youtube copyright disrespectors. :-)
Just goes to show that copyright laws have, in many ways, ceased to serve creators, as was the original intention, and now serve only the middlemen (movie studios, book publishers, TV networks, etc) who make the majority of the money to be made from creative material.
MaryAnn, don’t limit yourself to his DVDs. I bought some of the Doctor Who audiobooks, three of which David narrates (performs would be more accurate), and one of them in particular is absolutely marvelous. Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole. Excellent story, worthy of being filmed, but the truly delightful thing about it is David’s performance. So many voices, so many accents, and all wonderful! I had to keep reminding myself that it was him doing Mickey, and not Noel Clarke himself. He nails him! And there’s an American character in it, so we get to hear David do American English, which had me grinning as much as hearing the Proclaimers singing King of the Road did! (See your “A Little Bit of David Tennant” entry for that comment.)
Amazon (US and UK) now has more of my money, as I found more audiobooks he’s done and had to (HAD to, I say!) order them. I love being read to. I’m sure it goes back to my dad reading to us all at bedtime. A well-loved male voice reading to me is comfort food for my soul. {sigh}
I’m sure his audio performances are fine, but I’m gonna have enough trouble getting through all the DVDs I have to get through…
We also recently bought Pest Control. Tennant’s facility for accents is quite extraordinary.
I’m so sorry you won’t be at Worldcon this year….
David Tennant needs to stop working so I can catch up. :->
No, I will not be at Worldcon. Hopefully next year, in Montreal…
I second the recommendation on the audiobooks- just for pure David Tennant bliss, you can’t beat falling asleep with his voice in your ears. :) I’ve never been so happy to have children as I was when I discovered he narrated a bunch of children’s books. :)
Oh, Carey–you’re braver than I! I didn’t want to admit to falling asleep to his voice every night! :-) Doesn’t even matter that I fall asleep in two minutes or less and so have to listen to the disc in other circumstances to actually follow the story.
I just got the audio cassettes of his Henry VI from the library and listened to that as I went to sleep last night. He plays Henry VI who is an infant in the first scenes, so never even got to the point of hearing his voice before falling asleep. Oh well. Guess I’ll have to listen to that one while awake!
MaryAnn said:
Oh no no no no no! He needs to keep working so we can never catch up. Nothing sadder than having seen it all. There are Tom Baker episodes that I still haven’t seen and haven’t wanted to–just because I never wanted to know that there was no more new Who for me to see.
That was, of course, back before New Who. So it would be safe for me to go back and watch those eps–but now, of course, I’m spoiled by David’s Doc and the new series, and I don’t want to!
Weimlady, I have no shame where David Tennant is concerned! Get Eva Ibbotson’s “The Beasts of Clawstone Castle”. It’s an ‘older kid’s’ book, scottish accent, and he does some amazing voices! My kids can’t figure out why I like that story so much…
Carey, I ordered How to Train Your Dragon (Hiccup) by Cressida Cowell a few days ago and am eagerly awaiting it. Now I’ll have to add The Beasts of Clawstone Castle to my order. Thanks for the tip!
Weimlady, I would love to hear what you think of the Cressida Cowell book when you get it! You can email me if you want at tribble _ h (at) yahoo . com (no spaces, etc). I also bought a John Barrowman CD so I can fall asleep to his lovely voice as well. :)
David also did some Big Finish Audios before he was the Doctor. He is in one with Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor where David plays a nasty Nazi officer called Colditz. He is in one with Colin Baker where he is a sympathetic character called Daft Jamie (I may not remember the name exactly). There there is a Big Finish production called The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, where David voices the main character.
Also there was a radio comedy series called Double Income No Kids Yet that I think is on Youtube with pictures along with the audio. In this series he uses his normal Scottish accent and it is very funny and sometimes sad.
GB
I can’t even tell you how jealous I am, but I hope you have a great time. I was just in London on a layover a couple of weeks ago and went to the Doctor Who Exhibition in Earls Court (awesome!), and before that, I was in Denmark visiting the castle that inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet, and I couldn’t stop thinking about David. I am insanely proud of that man.
Are you going to try to brave the crowds at the stage door and get some pictures?
As I’ve said elsewhere here, No freakin’ way. I’m going to try to get an interview with Tennant (though I’m not hopeful this will come through), as well as some other Doctor Who folk, but I will not hover by the stage door. It’s too sad. I’d rather not be seen at all than be seen as a crazy-ass fan.
So… if you were able to get this interview, would you be able to communicate verbally in his presence? I mean, a puddle can really only bubble and sort of… flow in his general direction. I’m only half joking; could you maintain your composure and resist the dangerous fangirl urges? Honestly? I know you’re a mature adult and all, but really? With THE Doctor (or at least the actor who currently plays him), sitting three feet away? Seems awfully tough. We all hope you get the interview, you certainly deserve it with all the blogging you do.
“Fangirl urges”? Like what? (I’m almost afraid to ask that.)
I’ve met and spoken to lots of famous people — even ones I’m big fans of, even ones that make me swoon at the remove of the TV or movie screen — and managed to maintain my composure while talking to them. Actually, it’s not even a matter of “managing” anything. There simply is a huge difference between getting lost in the fantasy of a movie or TV show and actually meeting someone in person, and this is certainly so within a professional situation like an interview. It’s actually not hard to not be a blubbering fan if you see them as people and artists — particularly when you remember that most people love to talk about their work — and not as weirdly superhuman demigods.
I used to feel sorry for them. Sitting in a room answering the same questions and telling the same rehearsed anecdotes over and over to interviewer after interviewer. But you’re right, they’re professionals, you’re a professional and it’s just one more part of the job. You’d probably have more interesting and informed questions than the average journalist too.
The first official production photos of Hamlet have been released:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/celebritynews/2470437/David-Tennant-as-Hamlet.html
i have to say, i’m a little disappointed that the coat and little beard from the poster seem to have disappeared. that was absolutely awesome…
I’m worried.
From: http://tinyurl.com/5krx9t
If he were coming back, why wouldn’t they announce it? It seems to me that the only scenario that makes sense if they know his decision and haven’t said anything about it is that he’s declined their offer and they’re working on replacing him. Which of course is impossible.