Maybe there could be a spin-off show developed, where every week our hero Captain Matt Stott travels all over the internet trying to defend Doctor Who from the attacks of merciless critics?
Doctor Who... Page 686
Quote: chipolata @ May 1 2011, 11:59 PM BSTThere was certainly no sense of jeopardy in Saturday's episode. It was just the first piece in a puzzle.
This is a very good point, the Doctor and River Song coming back in time congruently means there is never any jeopardy for both of them. Apart from the heart breakingly emotional jeopardy from River that has me reaching for my kleenex. Please don't go there chip. Oooh did she murder the best man she ever knew... who can that be? Who?
Quote: Tim Walker @ May 2 2011, 12:01 AM BSTMaybe there could be a spin-off show developed, where every week our hero Captain Matt Stott travels all over the internet trying to save Doctor Who from the attacks of merciless critics?
I'd watch that. Captain Matt Stott has a nice ring to it.
Quote: Marc P @ May 1 2011, 11:56 PM BSTThey have set up too much to be resolved really.
Not really. There's no reason why any of it couldn't be resolved. Or fumbled and mishandled and left unanswered, too true.
Quote: Marc P @ May 2 2011, 12:02 AM BSTThis is a very good point, the Doctor and River Song coming back in time congruently means there is never any jeopardy for both of them.
To be fair, there's NEVER any real jeapordy for The Doctor. We know he won't really die, at worst he'll change into someone else; even then we always know way ahead of time that it's going to happen.
Quote: Godot Taxis @ May 2 2011, 12:00 AM BSTIt's not hard to see why it's a problem. Imagine someone gave you random chapters from a novel to read on your morning commute. The knowledge that they would eventually give you all the chapters wouldn't help make it a good read.
I can only answer that many people did seem to enjoy the opening two episodes, so it must have worked on some level for them.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ May 2 2011, 1:02 AM BSTTo be fair, there's NEVER any real jeapordy for The Doctor. We know he won't really die, at worst he'll change into someone else; even then we always know way ahead of time that it's going to happen.
Nowadays maybe. That's why it is important to introduce jeopardy. The mistake that they seem to be making now is that it is not just Earth but the whole universe and time and space is in jeopardy so often! Scale it down! Drama 101.
Quote: Marc P @ May 2 2011, 3:07 AM BSTNowadays maybe. That's why it is important to introduce jeopardy. The mistake that they seem to be making now is that it is not just Earth but the whole universe and time and space is in jeopardy so often! Scale it down! Drama 101.
Oh I agree, every year they seemed to step it up, until reality itself was at stake! I remember from RTD's book, The Writers Tale, how at first he wanted to end Tennants run in a much smaller way; that after having saved the world, and the universe, in previous series, his final story, in which he regenerated, would be him just trying to save a family he didn't know whose ship was going to explode, or crash. Something along those lines. Then chickened out to some extent, worried that audiences would be too dissapointed if he ended Tennant's run with such a seemingly small scale threat, so instead we got the rather more overblown ending.
Quote: Griff @ May 2 2011, 12:36 PM BSTWhat's the most small-scale threat the Doctor ever faced in the original series?
I suppose Peter Davison's final story, Caves Of Androzani, was sort of small scale in some respects. Getting caught up in a dispute between a planet desperate for some wonder drug, and the man who controlled the supply?
It's 24itis. Each season you have to top yourself with more and more spectacular stories.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ May 2 2011, 1:02 AM BSTTo be fair, there's NEVER any real jeapordy for The Doctor. We know he won't really die, at worst he'll change into someone else; even then we always know way ahead of time that it's going to happen.
That's not true. We assume he won't die for the same reason that we assume that the title character of any TV show won't die but there's been plenty of jeopardy in Who over the years. In fact before JNT and Graham Williams put the show in a patterned jersey and went down the pub it was almost all jeopardy and there was no proof that the Doctor would save the day. Yes he always survived and saved his companion but often everyone else was collateral meatwad.
---SPOILERS---
Everyone cops it on the Sandminer in Robots of Death, in the Lighthouse in Fang Rock, In the Arctic and UK in Seeds of Doom etc.
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The Doctor in those days seemed ironically 'only human' in his capacities and he certainly couldn't bring people back from the dead. In last weeks show Matt Smith boasts; "It still won't be enough" about some über-prison that they're building around him. the character has become basically omnipotent.
hang on the whole ppopulation of the uk dies in the seeds of death?
River Song and The Doctor in handy chart form
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/05/keuc9.jpg
It's certainly a quick way to see how they f**ked up the show by trying to be clever.
Ace!
Adric!