London Deserted

[alexsarll]

Well, that was more like the real meaning of Doctormas, wasn't it? The classic Who story about the evils of big business, a few festive nods without resurrecting the sodding pilot fish, a cameo by the Queen. An "I am the Doctor" speech (I always love those) and Kylie heartrending as Halo Jones x self-sacrifice. Like so many RTD scripts, little lazinesses stop it being a classic - if £1m = 50 million credits, then Tittybangbang woman's topical 'phoneline debt of 5,000 credits is only £100, but hey, that bit was ideally placed for me to recharge my glass. No 'The Hopes And Fears Of All The Years', probably not even a Christmas Invasion, but not a disgrace like last year either. And what do you know, in the trailer at the end, Tate even managed a couple of lines that didn't make me want to tear my ears off!

Also: Merry wobs to you all, even the heretics like half my family who ignore the real meaning of the season and don't watch the Doctor Who special.

Comments

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Check the archive from last christmas for my post on the Tate abomination if you want, or just take my word for it: I think the man was responsible for the single worst piece of Who ever perpetrated in any format, plus a couple of close runners-up. But that doesn't mean that I think he's beyond redemption. Mostly, I just think he should be writing but not head writer; the majority of his stories would be OK if someone else could insist on a script polish.

[kenix.livejournal.com]

I think I have two main problems with his writing on DW - one, his (I'm assuming) lack of SF background means that the plot mechanics just never seem to hold up to scrutiny. Two, his writing is far too transparent, and tries to go for emotional resonance, often at the expense of logic. By which I mean, you can see very clearly that he has decided THIS character must feel THIS at THIS point, so THIS thing must happen to get that character there.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Broadly agreed there. Although in a sense it's even worse - apparently one of the main things he changes from his first drafts is that he thinks many of them 'too science fiction'. Whenever I hear about concepts from those early drafts, I prefer them.

[kenix.livejournal.com]

There's a definite sense that he feels like he needs to appeal to "the man on the street". See also the Heroic Pikeys.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Oh dear me yes. Again - not a problem in the odd episode, only grating because he gets to impose it across the whole show.

[the-roofdog.livejournal.com]

I can't help thinking that if any other new Who writer tried to include a midget alien cyborg character called 'Bannakaffalatta' or a giant grasshopper who says their name at the beginning and end of every sentence it would get a big red line through it from old Rusty. When he does it it's clever and funny though, obv.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I quite liked Bannakaffalatta! And grasshopper companion woman! But yes, agreed on the general point. Then again, some of the worst lazy needs-another-edit glitches were in Cornell's first story. And the utterly execrable 42 and Manhattan Dalek 2-parter were !Rusty.