Lol, fair enough 
Doctor Who... Page 878
Quote: Lazzard @ September 24 2012, 6:31 AM BST45 minutes isn't long to tell a story of any depth - having to commit a good 25% and more to stuff that's not pertinent is a tough call.
I disagree. American shows like West Wing managed perfectly fine with a 39 minute running time. And HBO dramas don't usually last much longer than 50 minutes.
45 mins is tough for Doctor Who because each story is a stand alone narrative with a unique set up into which the Doctor intrudes (even to an extent the alien invasion of the earth ones). Even less than in most sci-fi shows is there is a consistent universe. Only the characters of the Doctor and the assistant are fixed points, everything else has to be introduced, developed, (preferably) explained, and satisfactorily resolved. It then becomes more rushed if there is an over-arching story arc that has at best only a tangential connection to the narrative in the episode, and if the action has to be put on hold while Rory and Amy gaze into one another's eyes and Murray Gold churns out a f**king symphony.
Quote: Tursiops @ September 24 2012, 1:50 PM BST45 mins is tough for Doctor Who because each story is a stand alone narrative with a unique set up into which the Doctor intrudes (even to an extent the alien invasion of the earth ones).
I disagree entirely, I've watched loads of sci-fi from Twilight Zone to Star Trek and coming up with a 45 minute show with a beginning, middle and end is not some sort of 'Holy Grail', it's the expected norm. And on American telly, they have to time multiple cliff hangers with each advert break.
Watching the Cube episode, they wasted unbelievable amounts of time on nothing happening. It felt like a ten minute story stretched out to 45 minutes. A three minute segment of the Doctor creosoting a fence and kicking a football around just goes to prove how little story there was.
The sooner the Pond Scum storylines are taken out the better.
Too right.
Twilight Zone could tell complex full stories, with developed characters in an hour.
And look at how Buffy in Once More with Feeling. Introduced and concluded about a dozen diferent plot threads.
With songs!
Early days of Holby when it wasn't a soap did it, ahem, pretty well. Same with DOCTORS whole complete story in half an hour, which, ahem, got them a BAFTA nomination.
Quote: Marc P @ September 24 2012, 4:11 PM BSTEarly days of Holby when it wasn't a soap did it, ahem, pretty well. Same with DOCTORS whole complete story in half an hour, which, ahem, got them a BAFTA nomination. For scripts written under the influence of Beechams and Vermouth.
I saw that episode, is that the one where the head of oncology had to live in his shed. Because he'd spent all the hospital budget on sherry and had punched the hospital director?
Quote: Marc P @ September 24 2012, 4:11 PM BSTEarly days of Holby when it wasn't a soap did it, ahem, pretty well. Same with DOCTORS whole complete story in half an hour, which, ahem, got them a BAFTA nomination.
Holby PTTTTTTTTTT
It's very easy for people who don't write the show to say things like the above, but it seems to be a common trait in interviews with Who writers that they say they expected it to be easy and fun (You can do anything!), and it actually turned out to be one of the hardest things to write. I'll go with what they say.
Quote: sootyj @ September 24 2012, 4:14 PM BSTI saw that episode, is that the one where the head of oncology had to live in his shed. Because he'd spent all the hospital budget on sherry and had punched the hospital director?
Yes. And he had a stuffed cat.
Quote: sootyj @ September 24 2012, 4:08 PM BSTAnd look at how Buffy in Once More with Feeling. Introduced and concluded about a dozen diferent plot threads.
If we're comparing Buffy to Doctor Who, the episode 'Hush' didn't have a single word of dialogue and told a brilliant story.
I think what I found most frustrating about the Cubes That Did Nothing, was that it seems to have been written around the Ponds / Doctor relationship rather then as a stand alone story.
The intial premise - millions of small black cubes suddenly appear on Earth - is great. It could have gone in a myriad of sinister and dramatic directions, instead it went nowhere - and not fast.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ September 24 2012, 4:16 PM BSTIt's very easy for people who don't write the show to say things like the above, but it seems to be a common trait in interviews with Who writers that they say they expected it to be easy and fun (You can do anything!), and it actually turned out to be one of the hardest things to write. I'll go with what they say.
Writing within tight lines is a real challenge.
Quote: sootyj @ September 24 2012, 4:19 PM BSTWriting within tight lines is a real challenge.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ September 24 2012, 4:16 PM BSTIt's very easy for people who don't write the show to say things like the above, but it seems to be a common trait in interviews with Who writers that they say they expected it to be easy and fun (You can do anything!), and it actually turned out to be one of the hardest things to write. I'll go with what they say.
Its not so much the hardness of writing Holby or Casualty its more the fact that they bother at all, formulaic nonsense that is only hard to write if you have been living on mars since 1901. The writers write to formula and barf it out like a nightclubber in Ibiza.
Don't look so shocked Grandmaster Flash managed it.