Season Three (i.e. 29) - Note to RTD

[PTeppic]

Having watched the revisioned, reinvigorated and reinvented Dr Who for the noughties with great anticipation and generally great joy, I've been compiling the following. YMMV.

If you're reading, RTD and team, PLEASE:
+ calm down the romance or implied romance between the leads, particular on the Doctor's side (I guess it would be only human to fancy the tall, dark, enigmatic, handsome Gallfreyan, but for him to reciprocate, as a fan, no thanks!)
+ tension: yes, things to do: yes, fixes to complete: yes, just running around: no, no, no
+ sonic screwdriver: like many things, only use in moderation - over-use is weakening its appeal
+ historical figures: I'm bipolar on this one. There's the (almost forgotten) educational aspects of the show to consider, and it makes plot/character assimilation easier, but do we really need to keep encountering famous people? (Dickens, Mme de Pompadour, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare, Elizabeth I etc.) Ditto the famous-people-and-event-name-dropping by the Doctor: he can't have been at every important event in the history of the world...


I was going to include other things, but plots have over-taken them:
- be careful with family plot-lines: yes, they're a reason to be back in current Earth (cheap/easy to film), emotionally they are valid story lines, and, it seems like this time they're being used to a purpose (i.e. the season-climax lead-in)
- avoid current England: it may be easy to film but how many aliens can the human race cope with without taking the whole series into a sci-fi future, rather than the "real" one; this season seems to be doing this anyway (either, past, future or distant)
- use caution simply going down the list of movie monsters (werewolves, ghosts, vampires etc.) - the vampire was written as a plasmavore, rather than a Stokerian version so worked much better. Though the "Family of Blood" are still coming, in their impeccable dark suits...

 

[HappyHippo]

Put this on a petition, I'll sign!

*much applause*

 

[Briareus Delta]

Pteppic,

I find myself in wholehearted agreement with most of what you say. I'll certainly sign any petition. If you had posted during the last series, I may have said that you were being a tad ungenerous. RTD has, after all, revived the series after a long period in the wilderness and very successfully, at least in commercial terms. But there are a few things now that really need addressing, which you have summed up quite nicely.

My number one hate is most of the action taking place on Earth (when he has the whole universe to choose from) and I've posted elsewhere about this.

Number two? Use of the sonic screwdriver to do absolutely everything - why don't they just give him a magic wand and have done with it!!!!

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Well I don't mind the "Earth in peril" scenarios so much - some of my favourite old episodes were those ones, but why not have more set in the future (not sure whether any attention is being to past Dr Who continuity here though) rather than current day.

Have more than 1 companion - I always thought the series worked best when you had 2 companions with the Doctor - then they could conceivably help out or need saving on an alternating basis

Have a Gallifrey episode - this is again a bit selfish but I always liked the backstory of the Doctor and this needs exploring (again not sure if there's some unspoken rule against doing this)

Encounter a planet/people 'wronged' by the Doctor - sure he's always trying to help people but there must be times when he messed up big time or inadvertently set in place a series of events with a negative outcome. Imagine going back to that planet 100 years later and being responsible for saving the life of someone like Hitler or something

My 2c

 

[Lenny]

Have a Gallifrey episode - this is again a bit selfish but I always liked the backstory of the Doctor and this needs exploring (again not sure if there's some unspoken rule against doing this)

If there's one thing I want above all else, it's a Gallifrey episode. But first, we need to know more about this damn Time War. Hopefully, what with the characters in this series finale, we might learn quite a bit.

I agree with all of the points here.

And I especially agree with the Earth one - sure, it's nice to see Earth, but for Pete's sake, what about the other billions of planets? I want to see something alien! Not aliens in London.

 

[Dave]

I'm also in agreement with PTeppic's niggles and in favour of Winter Sorrows suggestions.

I'd also like to see the return of some older monsters, but less Daleks and Cybermen.

 

[Gav]

My advice to RTD is simple.

Stick to producing Dr Who. Don't write Dr Who or ANY other SF show.

Never again, not ever - just don't do it. Because you can't

But you are a good producer...

 

[Ice fyre]

Hmm

The points you make Teppic are valid, romance between assistants and doctors I always felt was a big big no no. While Dr Who has strayed into adult fields of interest upon occasion it is primarrily a childrens show. Also from a geek/fanboy perspective it would like a human falling in love with a Neanderthal. The Doctor once said "we had reduced travel in the fourth dimesion to chllds play around the time you were hiding in caves", sorry if thats not the exact quote but you get the gist I would hope!

The running around is also true it does get a bit annoying, thankfully there has been a bit less of that the last two episode or two. When Dr Who does scary its at its best, it's a show which should delight in the terrifying of children and revel in the peeping out from behind cushons (while now in me thirties I still keep one on standby, almost needed it on Saturday!!) Its not an action show or shouldnt be. There are other shows which do that better.

If done correctly the historical episodes are fantastic, I thought Shakespeare was wonderful, it worked very well I thought good writing good acting well paced and ploted.

One last thing, could we stop David Tennant from thinking he's in gurning contest! He seems to be from the school of oooo screw your face up for David a bit more for hate thaaats it good, now distort your face, good thats fear now thats horror. I know he can act I've seen him in a few other things so stop pulling facers David ACT,Sigh if we ruled the world huh.

Overall this season has been good, not a quibble apart from the thousand listed above.

 

[HappyHippo]

It's all going a bit Eastenders with the romance. Martha seemed much less drippy than Rose at the beginning, and within two episodes was being damnably female all over the place.

We don't want another Torchwood fiasco, do we?

 

[Ice fyre]

Oi easy on der woody please, ok so I'm the only fan of the show but like oi

Martha is I feel coming into her own, like Rose she's strong and quite independant and heck I'm really getting to like her!

 

[Dave]

Martha is I feel coming into her own, like Rose she's strong and quite independant and heck I'm really getting to like her!

I heard something on the radio this morning...

Spoiler

Apparently, she has been sacked. The producers thought her performances later in the season didn't live up to those at the beginning and she won't be in the Fourth Season.

 

[Lenny]

Oi easy on der woody please, ok so I'm the only fan of the show but like oi

Well... not really. The rest of us hide underground and hope no-one notices.

I prefer Martha to Rose. And the romance with Martha seems a lot, well, better is probably the best word. Quite a one-sided romance, though. Rose was far too rough around the edges to be the Doctors love interest. He deserves better!

---

Damn... I do hope that isn't true, Dave. I wonder how they'd explain it...

Spoiler

EDIT: I do believe that you ARE wrong, Davey! The BBC have denied the rumours that were started, stranfely enough ( ) in The Sun.

 

[Dave]

Damn... I do hope that isn't true, Dave. I wonder how they'd explain it...

I like her more than Rose. Maybe that should be added to the petition?

 

[Ice fyre]

I would be very Lary of anything coming out from the Sun, they have had one or two hits on spoilers but quite frankly the Mirror is a much better source "Eugh" I cant believe I just said I prefer'd the Mirror, eugh!

Heh thanks Lenny glad some one else liked Torch even tho it had its faults I will admit that whole heartedly.

I will investigate those rumour's throughout the fan comunity but if Auntie beeb says dey aint true I'm inclined to believe em dave. I hope they are sooooo wrong as well, so far she's been really good.

 

[Dave]

I didn't know that had come from The Sun. I agree that they have published things before about Doctor Who that were way off the mark. I also don't agree. We are almost at the end of the Season now and I don't see any problem with her performance.

 

[Ice fyre]

Sorry Dave your right just re-read yer post please ignore me I'm going to sit in the naughty corner!

 

[Dave]

No problem, my fault for spreading unsubstantiated rumours.

 

[Lenny]

You never know, though, The Sun have hit on to one or two spoilers about this series that turned out to be correct. It's a once in a blue moon type event, but it is known to happen.

 

[Ice fyre]

My suspicion is that one of the tabloids was being fed rumours dillberatly by RTD and Co. This has almost dried up now as the season aproaches a climax, they've got what they needed from the tabloids lots and lots of free publicity!