Quote: chipolata @ April 28 2010, 10:56 AM BSTTwilight Zone and Outer Limits. And they didn't have the luxury each week of two recurring characters, one of whom represents the clueless audience, the other doubling as an expositional tool to explain everything.
I think you're missing the 'most' in the original statement Chip.
No, I just don't think what Doctor Who has to do each week in terms of setting up a story is that difficult in dramatic terms. Certainly no more difficult than any show.
Quote: chipolata @ April 28 2010, 11:06 AM BSTNo,
Well you are though really, most shows don't have to do as much leg work as something like Who, or the shows you mentioned, in terms of building a whole new world, set of characters, and so on each week.
Quote: john lucas 101 @ April 28 2010, 9:14 AM BSTAs the entire theory of Time Lord regeneration derives from this one storyline, all it will need is another story, or maybe just one line to negate this.
And in The Brain of Morbius, the doctor's eight pre-Hartnell incarnations were shown, so he's already up to his 19th life, unless we overlook that bit.
Quote: chipolata @ April 28 2010, 11:06 AM BSTCertainly no more difficult than any show.
I'd say it was a very different challenge to a lot of shows that have certain things in place from episode to episode. Certainly, in the interviews I've read, the writers of Who think so. A great challenge, but a challenge none the less.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ April 28 2010, 10:37 AM BSTYeah, but the other poster was saying silly in a denegrating way. It is silly to have bath taps and so on, but I like it.
The other poster was not saying silly in a denigrating way, but as a statement of fact.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ April 28 2010, 11:07 AM BSTWell you are though really, most shows don't have to do as much leg work as something like Who, or the shows you mentioned, in terms of building a whole new world, set of characters, and so on each week.
I think they do, whether it be Kung Fu, Sliders, Highway to Heaven, The X Files, Fringe or The Incredible Hulk, they all had the central character (s) turning up in a new place each week and having a different set of problems to solve.
And the truth is, the majority of Who storylines are set on Earth. Specifically Britain. And when they're not, they're on a space station or space base.
Discussion over. You can close the thread now, Ellie. If you're reading this. 
Quote: chipolata @ April 28 2010, 12:13 PM BSTI think they do, whether it be Kung Fu, Sliders, Highway to Heaven, The X Files, Fringe or The Incredible Hulk, they all had the central character (s) turning up in a new place each week and having a different set of problems to solve.
It's not the same with most shows, certainly not some of the ones you've mentioned. There are a lot more constants in most programmes. And I'm only passing on what I've read several of the writers say, so I assume they know what they're talking about! 
Personally I wouldn't have thought it would be that tricky, but then I've never written for Doctor Who. Or any other show.
Quote: Kenneth @ April 28 2010, 11:18 AM BSTThe other poster was not saying silly in a denigrating way, but as a statement of fact.
Riiiight.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ April 28 2010, 12:20 PM BSTIt's not the same with most shows, certainly not some of the ones you've mentioned. There are a lot more constants in most programmes. And I'm only passing on what I've read several of the writers say, so I assume they know what they're talking about!
It would be trickier to write for Doctors because you've got all these back stories and series arcs you have to factor in. With Doctor Who, you've largely got a blank cheque.
Quote: chipolata @ April 28 2010, 12:23 PM BSTIt would be trickier to write for Doctors because you've got all these back stories and series arcs you have to factor in. With Doctor Who, you've largely got a blank cheque.
Like I said, I'm only repeating what the writers have said, I would think personally it would be in some ways easier, but they don't seem to think so.
Quote: Kenneth @ April 28 2010, 11:08 AM BSTAnd in The Brain of Morbius, the doctor's eight pre-Hartnell incarnations were shown, so he's already up to his 19th life, unless we overlook that bit.
For the sake of sanity, I always took those to be previous incarnations of Morbius.
*must take geek-dampening tablets soon*
Quote: chipolata @ April 28 2010, 10:56 AM BSTTwilight Zone and Outer Limits. And they didn't have the luxury each week of two recurring characters, one of whom represents the clueless audience, the other doubling as an expositional tool to explain everything.
But the TZ, at least, had a narrator, able to fill in a lot of the back story to set the the thing up.
Quote: Timbo @ April 27 2010, 6:46 PM BSTA more interesting dynamic would have been set up if she had been bitter and resentful about being kept waiting all those years and treated like a nutter.
What does time matter to her?
Quote: Marc P @ April 28 2010, 9:06 AM BST45 minutes is a perfectly good time for an episode if people know how to write for that length. It all comes down to the three act structure as usual. The afternoon plays are all 45 minutes aren't they?
Well, the three act structure died out in the theatre in about 1960. It's just that nobody told Hollywood. Most of the plays of the later half of the 20th Century use the 2-act structure. Nowadays the vast majority are one act.
Three Acts worked brilliantly for a stately, costive public like the Edwardians, but it's tediously restrictive and formulaic today. It is the reason for the predictability (and shiteness) of so many movies.
Quote: Godot Taxis @ April 28 2010, 4:53 PM BSTWell, the three act structure died out in the theatre in about 1960. It's just that nobody told Hollywood. Most of the plays of the later half of the 20th Century use the 2-act structure. Nowadays the vast majority are one act.
Three Acts worked brilliantly for a stately, costive public like the Edwardians, but it's tediously restrictive and formulaic today. It is the reason for the predictability (and shiteness) of so many movies.
Write much?
All this debate about episode length and cliffhangers seems a bit odd when we've just had an episode that worked extremely well at 45 minutes and ended on a great cliffhanger.