(no subject)

[danieldwilliam]

Didn’t hate the Doctor Who season 7.2 final. Didn’t love it.

Thought the idea that the bit of a Timelord that is entombed is his or her space time stream was clever.

Clever enough for me to overlook some of the ropier bits.

I still think the whole thing is rushed and compensates for the rushing narrative with more soliloquy and sonic screwdriver waving then I’m happy with.

I was going to post a longer piece on it but I’m not sure I can be bothered. Does the world need another disgruntled former fan summoning up the courage to stop watching the programme?  Probably not. Probably not.

Comments

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering about this for a while.
In the last few weeks I've seen posts from people bemoaning that Who, Star Wars, Batman, Game of Thrones and Blue Peter are not as good as they used to be.

What most of them seem to boil down to is that they aren't the people they used to be, when the show was much better. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying that a show doesn't give you what you used to get from it. Posts and articles like that can be very funny, and the criticisms valid. But posts which say "I don't enjoy it as much as I used to, and therefore it should go back to the way it was, and then I'll get what I used to get from it" do seem fundamentally misguided.

I know this happens to me. I consider myself a big comics and SF reader, but I have to admit that I read very few new books and comics. Must of my reading is re-reading, because those books do give me the same enjoyment they did when I was 12, or 15, or 30.

Some things I've had to let go - the New 52 DC comics are helping me to do that. Somethings I've picked up again - I hadn't bought a Batman comic since Miller's Dark Knight until Grant Morrison's recent Batman Inc. run.

There is some hope - I stopped watching Who after Tom Baker, and didn't really come back until Eccleston. The last season wasn't as good as some recent ones, but it still worked for me, and I'll keep watching for as long as it does.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

There’s definitely something to this. Doctor Who has changed and I’ve changed too and it may be that the two things have changed in ways that mean they don’t work as well together as they did. Which is fine, if a little sad.

I’m currently seeking out new SF to broaden my horizons. Kindle helps, impulse buying and cheaper prices help me get over my “How can I buy this book, it’s not Banks?” sticking point.

That said I think there are some definate structural problems with Doctor Who that detract from my enjoyment of it on its new revised terms. The rushed pace of the narrative and the constant littering of the narrative with post-it notes sayings “Look Here!!” and “Fan Reference 49.”

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Agreed on structural problems from my POV, but I can see them as advantages for people who a) value pace over coherence and/or b) enjoy the fan service.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Yeah you could frame it as an advantage like that but, defective production no matter how pacey, is worse than no production. I guess I’m grumpy because it could be a better show (both objectively and in my opinion) were it done differently and it feels like it is being done in a slightly shonky way because that suits the writing and directing team rather than for a positive reason to do with the audience. But then 8.9m people can’t be wrong. (1) I have no evidence for my supposition that the structure of the show is designed for the writing team rather than the audience except intuition. I’m not getting the feeling that they’ve looked at the audience and gone – they want fast paced action with some sonic screwdriver action and Alex Kingston in a corset. I more get the impression that they don’t want to censor themselves, so everything goes in, not just the good stuff.

(1) 10.7 million people voted Conservative at the last election.