Doctor Who - Spoilers!

[bcm77]

bcm77 is David Tennant... true story!

I have informed my bank manager of this on several occasions but the cheques from the BBC are for some reason taking their time to reach my account

 

[DinoLast]

Amy's Choice was a really good episode, my favourite of this new season. That being said I agree that so far the stories have been OK, but nothing spectacular.
However, what Matt Smith has brought to the Table with his Doctor has been the reason I can't miss an episode.
OH I hope they lose the Boyfriend as a regular. He's OK now and then, but not all the time.

 

[Kabukiman]

OH I hope they lose the Boyfriend as a regular. He's OK now and then, but not all the time.

I'd like him to stick around. I admit he's Mickey 2.0, which probably isn't everybody's cup o' tea, but I think he's funny. More than that though, having him there is bringing up a better dynamic with the TARDIS crew. It's hard for me to put my finger on, but the cast seems more "complete" with him there.

 

[bcm77]

I'd like him to stick around. I admit he's Mickey 2.0, which probably isn't everybody's cup o' tea, but I think he's funny. More than that though, having him there is bringing up a better dynamic with the TARDIS crew. It's hard for me to put my finger on, but the cast seems more "complete" with him there.

One difference from Mickey seems to be that Rory makes some decent suggestions to how they can solve things and isn't used soley to be the butt of the Doctor & Amy's jokes the way 10 and Rose used to with Mickey.........I always wanted him to snap and punch the pair of them out.

It's not a patch on trios such as the 2nd Doctor, Jamie & Zoe or the 4th Doctor,Sarah Jane & Harry but it certainly has the potential to develop into a decent group.

 

[ShadowX81]

Havent really been to keen on the new series. Its seem like there have been some massive budget cuts, because all the new episodes seem really cheap looking.

They dont really have that big epic hollywood feel that the RTD episodes have. I know that those of you in England may be praising the new series for this, but being an American, it just doesn't cut it for me.

Even though some of RTD's episodes were rife with plot holes and deus ex machinas, atleast every episode felt like a big fun adventure, and not even one episode of the new series has grabbed me that way.

 

[Memnoch]

I hope after Amy we are DONE with "modern" companions for a bit. I really want to see the Doctor travel with someone from the past who will be hugely amazed or someone from the future who will have a "been there, done that" attitude.

 

[pixletwin]

Ditto that. I want either historical comps or alien comps.

 

[bcm77]

Havent really been to keen on the new series. Its seem like there have been some massive budget cuts, because all the new episodes seem really cheap looking.

They dont really have that big epic hollywood feel that the RTD episodes have. I know that those of you in England may be praising the new series for this, but being an American, it just doesn't cut it for me.

Even though some of RTD's episodes were rife with plot holes and deus ex machinas, atleast every episode felt like a big fun adventure, and not even one episode of the new series has grabbed me that way.

It was RTD's "Americanising" of the show that was the root of much of my problems with his era.

Doctor Who has always been a very British take on the sci-fi genre and I hated seeing it become something akin to a "lite" version of US sci-fi franchises, with more emphasis placed on flashy special effects than good storylines and characters.

 

[ShadowX81]

It was RTD's "Americanising" of the show that was the root of much of my problems with his era.

Doctor Who has always been a very British take on the sci-fi genre and I hated seeing it become something akin to a "lite" version of US sci-fi franchises, with more emphasis placed on flashy special effects than good storylines and characters.

Im not really sure whats bad about some of the Americanizing elements. Whats wrong with big budget, decent effects, and a larger and more epic feel?

And im not sure where there has to be this either/or approach to story and big budget effects. They are not opposing virtues, and they can easily go hand and hand. And Moffet's stories while in the RTD era proved this. I think it worked best with Moffat as the writer, but with RTD as the producer to provide art direction.

Especially with ever increasing globalization of our media, its as important as ever that the show can compete in a global market. Today the reality is that telling a good story is equally as important as how you tell it. In fact ive heard one of the reasons for the low ratings that led to the original series being cancelled was becuase the blatently low quality effects couldnt compete with newer and more big budget productions such as Star Trek :TNG.

 

[Memnoch]

Except right now the BBC cannot afford big budgets. A lot of money was sunk into making the show HD friendly. And low ratings are not the actual reason the show went away the first time. The heads of the Beeb at the time disliked the show and purposely killed it. If the current era is the future of the show I say more power to it as it's a much better version than RTD's "ohh look how dark and moody I can make the TARDIS look" type show.

 

[ShadowX81]

Id rather have the angsty RTD Tardis than Moffat's, which looks like a box of old junk threw up on an M.C. Escher painting, and then tried to hide it by paining it orange.

But you are right, atleast it is in HD. Now I can see the dreary looking cheapness in every bland and grey detail.

 

[Memnoch]

Dude, I dunno what show you're watching but I don't see cheap at all when I watch the show. It's not about angst, or anything RTD wanted it to be about. It's about an impossibly old alien that travels around time and space in a little blue box. But don't worry, it's lasted for nearly 50 years, I'm sure it will still be around in another 50.

 

[ShadowX81]

Fine, but why can't it be about everything you want it to be about, and have good special effects?

Theres no reason that the show can't be written the way that you want it, but still have the big budget feel it did under the RTD era.

 

[pixletwin]

I felt the best stories under RTD just happened to be the ones with the smallest budgets. (ie Midnight, Blink, Father's Day).

 

[Memnoch]

Fine, but why can't it be about everything you want it to be about, and have good special effects?

Theres no reason that the show can't be written the way that you want it, but still have the big budget feel it did under the RTD era.

Because the BBC is in a budget crisis?

 

[bcm77]

Im not really sure whats bad about some of the Americanizing elements. Whats wrong with big budget, decent effects, and a larger and more epic feel?

What's bad about it is that it makes Who "just another" show that looks no different to all the crappy US sci-fi shows that inevitably get imported over here.

For better or worse it's always stood out among the rest as being a very British show and I just don't agree that it should be changed so much from it's original concept just to please US audiences who have had more than their fair share of sci-fi series to choose from down the years.

It also has to be said that RTD's attempts at being "epic" were very badly executed and most of the time involved stealing scenes almost lock,stock and barrel from the Star Wars saga or in the case of 10's demise Star Trek 2 which IMO is neither original or clever.

 

[pixletwin]

The worst thing about RTD is he had a tendancy to paint himself into a corner and always felt the need to make the next series bigger and better and more epic. Where do you go from there? From series to series? It inevitable starts to wander into the absurd and the stupid.

I hope Moffat avoids this. Series arcs are ok but they don't need to be crescendos to the end of the universe every series.

 

[ShadowX81]

What's bad about it is that it makes Who "just another" show that looks no different to all the crappy US sci-fi shows that inevitably gets imported over here.

So what? It looks like every other show. In the end it is the writing that makes it stand out as better.
The looks just draw people in. Like I said, today you really need to have it look that way in order to be competitive. Of course these elements make it blend in. To even have a fighting chance at appeal, you have to uphold a certain standard. Would you rather it stand out for looking cheap?

For better or worse it's always stood out among the rest as being a very British show and I just don't like to see it changed so much from it's original concept just to please a US audiences who have had more than their fair share of sci-fi series to choose from down the years.

You still havent said what is wrong with these elements. All you have said is that they entertain americans. What exactly is wrong with this?

It also has to be said that RTD's attempts at being "epic" were very badly executed and most of the time involved stealing scenes almost lock,stock and barrel from the Star Wars saga or in the case of 10's demise Star Trek 2 which IMO is neither original or clever.

So your solution to having him steal big budget concepts is to have no big budget elements at all?
Thats like saying "I can only afford to eat by stealing food". And then solving this problem by choosing to simply never eat.

 

[barbelith]

Series arcs are ok but they don't need to be crescendos to the end of the universe every series.

I would prefer they abandon series arcs. I knew we were in trouble when people started complaining that Vampires of Venice didn't progress the crack storyline, and now we've got people complaining that Amy's Choice was filler. Fans are beginning to judge stories based on how myth-heavy they are, and that's just retarded. Let's get back to the good old days of random arrivals and unrelated stories.

 

[barbelith]

To even have a fighting chance at appeal, you have to uphold a certain standard.

Not really. It has no real competition in its home market. It doesn't need to compete with big budget American shows, because it exists in a completely different context.

So your solution to having him steal big budget concepts is to have no big budget elements at all?

There's no point in including "big budget elements" when there's no money to pay for them, and the BBC has been hit hard by the recession. And even then we've still gotten a new TARDIS, new Daleks and Spitfires having a dogfight with a UFO. Not too shabby.