(no subject)

[danieldwilliam]

strange_complex has written a better review of Doctor Who than I’ll manage. I endorse her message and I’m grateful for her sharing her anger about the treatment of LGBT people in this episode.

So this isn’t meant to be a review of Doctor Who but a post about where I am emotionally with the new series.

Kind of Meh. Which is about where I expected to be. I wasn’t disappointed by Asylum of the Daleks. I was expecting a strategic mis-use of the Daleks, a plot more full of holes than an Edinburgh street and to find myself thinking at the end, well that didn’t suck, much.

And that’s sad. I feel sad. Generally, I’m sad about the whole thing.  It’s not great science fiction. It doesn’t feel as brave as it has been in the past. I don’t feel I’m being treated with much respect. 

This episode was pretty much everything I dislike about the current franchise.  It’s full of plot-holes. Big plot holes (if all the Daleks were killed in the Time War where did the retro Daleks come from?). Little plot holes (who posts the key for an insane asylum back through the letter box? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?)  The science fiction is poor to the point of being science fantasy. There are too many Daleks. So many Daleks I feel like an extra in Zulu. The Daleks are Epic. It’s a triumph of cool over substance.

I keep tripping over the plot holes – what is the point of chaining up an insane Dalek in a locked room, if you leave their internet connection switched on?

Dammit another one – if you have nanomachines that can turn your enemies into Dalek stooges why not just send some in the post to every planet you want to destroy?

At some point I’d expect to start watching Doctor Who with the Captain and at some point he’s going to spot a plot hole and I’m going to have to choice to become complicit in Moffat’s lazy plotting or admit that I tolerate it from Doctor Who but not from other programmes because I’m still coming to terms with the emotional fall out of being 10.

I wonder what I’m going to say to him. I don’t want to spend my hard earned fatherly reputation for not fudging when I don’t know by fudging the plot hole on Moffat’s behalf and I’m not sure I’m happy with the alternative response which is – when I was your age this programme meant such a lot to me that I’m prepared to tolerate nonsense like X because I want to love this programme now as much as I loved it when I was a boy and I want you to love it too, so please don’t pay much attention, and, um Look, a Dalek.

I’ve set the series to record on my new PVR.  Partly, because I can do that with a  button now and partly because if I didn’t I might not remember to watch Doctor Who and that would be admitting that I just didn’t care as much as I used to.

Comments

[andrewducker]

If you're going to have to explain plot holes in Dr Who you're going to have to start a _lot_ earlier. The first episode of the RTD Who isn't exactly lacking in them, and I'm willing to bet that any random five minute block from any episode going back to 1963 would show a plot hole or two.

It's a kids show. It makes slightly more sense than, say, Special Agent Oso, slightly less than Star Trek (which is also full of plot holes, if you poke it).

Which isn't to say that one episode can't be full of more or less plot holes than any other given episode, but pretty much all of them are dependent on your sensawunda going "Ooooooooh" long enough for you not to notice the plot crevice that was just leaped over.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Well, yes it is a kids’ programme, and there are other programmes out there with more or fewer holes.

I’m not sure it being a kids’ programme gets the writers off having plotting difficulties.

There are no plot holes in the Grufullo.

My bête noir in Asylum of the Daleks is the issue with the controls for the force shield because it’s lazy. I’m okay with plot holes being glossed over if you need to move from set up A to resolution B. I’m certainly okay with a plot hole you can only uncover after spending all night in the pub discussing it with a whiteboard. But the location for the force shield control was just lazy. Instead of having the Daleks do something dumb why not have the super-genius hacker do something that accidentally interferes with the control signal. That adds to the plot rather than subtracts from it. It adds to the concern that the Daleks have, that something that they don’t understand seems to be gaining control of the place where they keep their headcases

More fundamentally, I’m looking ahead to the conversation with the Captain where, as a result of accumulated plot holes he declares that the Daleks are a bit rubbish really. Game over after that I think.

[andrewducker]

Oh yes, it could definitely have done with being better thought through. But I suspect that El Capitano won't think of things like that for a good decade or so :->

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I’d say, he’ll be about nine when he starts noticing things like the force shield control thing. Depends how much tightly plotted science fiction I give him to read in the meantime.