Children of Earth thoughts from hellenebright

[unfeathered]

hellenebright has managed to put what I've been trying to say about CoE into much better words than I've managed: here.

Comments

[evilawyer-fic.livejournal.com]

Not having seen the show yet, I don't feel qualified to comment to your friends points (other than to say they are well put) at her entry. But her post did put me in mind I was talking about the other day with the S.O. (who really didn't care) about RTD. Not to take anything away from the man because he's obviously bright and talented, but he seems to have this need to be "the shining star" that stands out above all else. He seems to need to tinker with things just for the sake of being able to say that he made it unique and damn the consequences to taste and cohesion. The thing that set me off was that I read in some newspaper (I think they are still called "papers" even if on the internet) that he'd said that he'd always planned to force-feed the audience what is essentially a year-long hiatus on Doctor Who with little "specials" (we used to call them TV movies) to allow for a smooth shift for the next production team. I'm sorry, but if that's true (as opposed to David Tennant having the world's best agent to pull off a deal that let him still be the Doctor when he barely had time to work on the show because of other acting gigs), it's insulting to the audience and to the next production team. While I'm sure there is a wide contingent of young viewers who are going to stop watching Doctor Who just because Tennant is leaving, there are still many, many viewers who watch because they like the show. They like it's premise, a premise which was set when Davies was still in diapers and saying "goo". That audience doesn't need to be weaned off one Doctor to be able to watch the next one. Similarly, one assumes that the next production team aren't total neophytes who don't know how to put a show together. And history itself belies the need for Davies to have done it this way ---- seven Doctors over twenty-six years and there was never (with the exception of the switch from Colin Baker to Sylvester McCoy, but that was clearly more politics and power plays among BBC departments than within the show itself) any need to give such a long "break" to ensure a smooth transition. In fact, the current force-fed hiatus smacks of one man's desperate attempt to make sure his famed place in TV history as the "creator" (because that is, from interviews and commercials, what he appears to think of himself as even though it's not so) of Doctor Who is secure beyond attack. Which is sad, because as a purveyor of entertainment, he is here to, well, entertain us. That is his job, the job he chose for himself quite some time ago. We are not here to give him validation; if we do, it's a pleasant plus for him, but we aren't here to serve him --- quite the other way around.

I think the handling of Doctor Who and, from what I've read, Torchwood's current "year" was handled, may be proof of something I don't really like to say but can't unfortunately get away from thinking ---- Davies' ego is out of control. I hope not, because he is talented. I also, contradictoriy, hope that's what it is, because one nasty alternative would be that he really lacks self-esteem, which is not a good thing for anyone to have to suffer. Either way, maybe a flop or two would get his feet back on the ground. All feet, in the end, really do need to be on the ground, after all.

[unfeathered]

Having talked about this with several different people, now, I'm starting to see it this way too. RTD wants to be special, different, to be remembered.

And at this rate, he will be - as the man who killed both DW and TW.

And if he really is using hte handover as an excuse, that's just pathetic. I wish the man would remember what you said up there - that he's here to serve us, not the other way round.

[evilawyer-fic.livejournal.com]

And at this rate, he will be - as the man who killed both DW and TW.

Oh, the irony. His subconscious would probably be happy with this, too, because it it would be a distinction. Unfortunately, it's been done before on DW and as for TW, well, a creator who thinks it's okay to destroy his own creation because he created is freaky.