Tor.com was recently in line at the 4/11 NYC Doctor Who premiere with a ton of fans. We’ll be shining a spotlight on a few of them leading all the way up to April 23rd.
While some fans during the DW Line Con milled about taking pictures and checking people’s vitals with various incarnations of screwdrivers-that-are-soniced-up, some were completely happy to stake out their own patch of sidewalk and just chill out for the day. The weather was certainly lovely enough for it (once the cold morning air and fog had subsided).
Wandering toward the front of the line, I spotted two such gentleman all camped out on a great big TARDIS-blue blanket. Nick Antoine and Dominic Alexander had a sea of fandom knowledge between the two of them, and Nick gained points for being the only person out of all my interviewees to mention the original Team TARDIS: Susan, Barbara and Ian.
What was your first experience with Doctor Who?
Nick: The episode “Blink.”
Dominic: Same here.
Nick: I say it to everyone; it was my brother a couple years ago, he was like, “You have got to check out Doctor Who.” And I was like, “I don’t know why!” I checked out “Blink” and I’ve been hooked ever since.
What other types of science fiction and fantasy do you enjoy?
Nick: You know, I actually ended up enjoying a lot of the American sci-fi, so Battlestar Galactica and Sanctuary, I like that stuff. I wasn’t against certain aspects of Primeval. I’m not hooked on it, but I can check it out. As long as it’s some kind of other reality. Yeah, anything is better than this.
Dominic: I gotta say the same thing, like Firefly, I love that show. Star Wars. I liked some of Battlestar Galactica, but I didn’t get as hooked as I know some people got. It never got me.
Favorite Doctor?
Nick: I really take it as a character type. So some moments I really want to see Patrick Troughton play the Doctor. You know what I’m saying? Other times I’d really like to see William Hartnell. It goes by mood. I generally love them all depending on what time of the year it is.
Dominic: That’s really hard to follow up. I’ll just say, let’s go with David Tennant.
Favorite companion?
Dominic: I think Martha Jones.
Nick: Really?
Dominic: I have nothing against her.
Nick: I really did like the original trio, it was solid. So Susan, Barbara and Ian.
How about favorite villains or episodes?
Dominic: Have to say… I know this is probably everyone’s answer, but the Master. Absolute favorite. John Simm as the Master was absolutely phenomenal. Especially in “The End of Time.” The way he played the “I’m crazy, I’m dying, but I’m taking everyone with me?” He knew exactly what he was doing, he kept the Doctor alive during [the series 3 finale]. He was like, “you’re going to watch while I do all of these things and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Nick: Honestly, I really really like “Trial of a Timelord.” Because you know, none of it mattered. You know? After all of it, none of it mattered. And that’s reality. Favorite bad guy? I’ll go with the Meddling Monk.
Is there anything you would like to see them do on the show that they haven’t done?
Nick: First time I watched “The Eleventh Hour,” I was somewhat disappointed for some reason. And then I watched it again, and I was like, “okay, I get it.” I loved it. Honestly, I don’t find anything wrong with what happened before. I don’t think that anything needs to be changed. It takes a lot of work to put stuff like this together. So it could be the worst episodes for an entire season—it’s better than I was gonna do.
Dominic: Until it’s over, I can’t say that anything should be changed. I have no idea what they plan on doing. The next two episodes could explain something that I was like, “I wish they—oh, right…that’s why they did that.” And the writing is always 100% what I want out of an episode. Even if it starts off slow. There’s the whole “Doctor’s Daughter” thing. [I have] questions, but I’ll wait to see if there are answers. If there aren’t, I’m sure I’ll be writing someone letters.
What is something that you like about Doctor Who that you think might not be as popular with other fans?
Nick: I like the secrecy. I’d rather you not tell me stuff, that’s the point. I’d like to figure it out. And then on top of that, I feel like not as many people like River [Song]. They’re kind of fed up with it. And I like that; there’s this mysterious woman who can mess up your entire day. I think it’s beautiful.
Dominic: Ever since “Silence in the Library” I’ve been like, I like this character, I want to see where it’s going. I don’t care who she is in [the Doctor’s] life, everything about their relationship, that dynamic, makes me interested.
Emmet Asher-Perrin cannot wait to find out who River Song is, but she knows that ranting about it will do absolutely no good (unless Steven Moffat breaks down and decides to call…). You can bug her on Twitter and read more of her work here and elsewhere.
