5. Low Tolerance For B.S.
I have not seen the entirety of
The Thick of It, but I have seen enough to make me double over laughing at times and grimace in heartfelt sympathy at others. Malcolm Tucker, Capaldi's character, is described by
The Guardian as having "the physical demeanour and the political instincts of a velociraptor."
Remember what I said about one hell of a ride? No, seriously, take Malcolm Tucker's sadistically shrewd intelligence, age it 1100 years and put that character in the position of a man who, after 11 incarnations of himself, is still alien to the human experience. I am of the opinion that there lines just MEANT for certain Doctors. Christopher Eccleston's statement that he is a "coward, any day" (
"The Parting of the Ways") is one that would sound ironic instead of honest coming from any Doctor but the one who just outlived the Time Lords. David Tennant was fearsome and brilliant when roaring that "The laws of time are
mine and THEY WILL OBEY ME!", but Matt Smith's signature swagger would not do as much for me. And I believe that Eccleston would be adorable and Tennant would be apologetic if they tried to say "I am definitely a mad man in a box." I could not see any of the previous Doctors mastering the profane vitriol that Malcolm Tucker comes up with. At one point, he greets a couple of idiots with the line, "I'm likely to use an awful lot of what we would call violent sexual imagery." Take away the profanity and good God, this guy would make a scary-as-hell opponent for anyone. Worse is the fact that he's usually right about what you fouled up.