...NEW DR WHO TONIGHT, 25/12/06, 7pm 'THE RUNAWAY BRIDE'...

[Cthulouis]

I'm back in the land of internet, so here's my ill informed opinion.

I don't want Doctor Who to be hard sci fi, I just want a good story, well told.

The first half hour was aimed at the Eastenders audience. Putting aside the fact that the BBC shouldn't be rating hunters, this was okay if you could stomach it. Not a plot I had any interest in, but it was at least full of humour and action.

Then came the alien invasion bit.

"Awesome" thought I.

"Hell no," thought RTD, "You should prefer the Eastenders bit to the sci fi! I'll show you!!!"

The following half hour is as such four people sat in a room talking about the plot.

One of them happens to be a big spider.

For the entire second half of the episode, where the plot should ram up a gear, NOTHING HAPPENS, and all the characters just stand in a dull room, trying to get their head round an insanely complicated plot (which is only really complicated because it has no grounding in reality what so ever, not a bad thing, but for a writer who claims to want to avoid "Planet Zog Syndrome", he is kinda taking the piss.)

[Steve Green]

I couldn't really get past the shoutiness of the whole thing, it does my head in.

It's possibly been the worst in that sense, combining Catherine Tate, ridiculously loud music and the Empress.

Still, not as depressing as the waste of money that is Torchwood. It just annoys me that Strontium Dog didn't make it to a pilot, but that pile of shite gets another series.

- Steve

[W. R. Logan]

also if Dr Who is so hip and up to date why did they use a tank that the final ones were mothballed in the mid 90's and why was the driver shouting fire?

[Eric Plumrose]

Because that's what tank driver's do! You of all people should know that!

[DavidXBrunt]

The driver, who may have been David Troughton, was relaying orders from Mister Saxon.

[Leigh S]

From the "Why do we pay yuo fools?" files:


"Malcolm Wicks MP, who was appointed in November following the resignation of Lord Sainsbury, believes that too many pupils are put off science during school.

He claims that popular television shows such as the hit BBC science fiction series and the Star Wars films provide children with an insight into real science that teachers can use to kick-start lessons. Science education campaign groups have warned, however, that shows such as Doctor Who often involve ideas that have little basis in science.

Mr Wicks said: "If you start a lesson with the chemical formulae you will lose 90 per cent of the class. If you start with something interesting or important, like something they read in the paper or saw on television, they will remain interested.

"It can be part of an entrée to some of the more technical, important but slightly more boring parts of the subject. If I was a teacher I would start with a chunk from Doctor Who and Billie Piper and say, 'Actually, what was that all about and how is our textbook relevant to that?'

"Take R2D2 from the Star Wars films, for example. We are already doing that kind of stuff in robotics. I would show that, talk about how you would build a thing like that and its uses in the future in the home, in caring for people and for space exploration."

Mr Wicks believes that it is essential to produce a generation of children who are science-literate so that they can go on to help in making the decisions Britain is likely to face on issues such as climate change and medical research.

However, Derek Bell, the chief executive of the Association of Science Education, said: "We all enjoy programmes such as Doctor Who, but teachers would need to be careful to make it clear which bits are science and which fantasy."


Right on Derek! Can you imagine the kind of scientists we'd get from RTD Who? )I mean, old Who soon dropped it's science facade for the most part, but it was at least occassionally accurate...)

I've met Wicks, from when he was messing around with Social Security matters - shame I don't have a time machine...I could go back and point out that Doctor Whos science is entirely baloney... although that mightn't sound so convincing, having just turned up from the future to tell him that...

[TordelBack]

At least Star Wars doesn't even consider itself to be Science Fiction - Space Fantasy, as I understand it.  While I can see the benefits of using R2D2 (pre-flying version) to start a lesson in robotics, I'm not sure there's much mileage in Lightsabers, the Force, Midichlorians, Hyperdrives and Sound Effects in a Vacuum - except as cautionary tales.  Might as well use Professor Snape as an example of a chemistry lesson.  The man is a twit (Wicks, not Snape - Snape is a going to save the day!).  

[Dark Jimbo]

All this just makes the recent death of Nigel Kneale all the sadder. The poor man must be wondering why exactly he bothered trying.

[SamuelAWilkinson]

Probably not, what with being dead and all.

[JOE SOAP]

yeah, death is such an enigma.

[Bico]

What Wicks describes is less to do with the curriculum, and more to do with someone knowing how to hold a child's attention long enough for knowledge to seep into his/her brain.  If a kid doesn't relate to - or like - a teacher or what they're saying, it doesn't matter how knowledgeable they are at their job.

Theoretically, a teacher might be able to grab a child's attention on a monday morning with "did you see that Doctor Who?  What a load of old shite - AND HERE'S WHY..." so RTD might have helped in some small way.

[TordelBack]

By strange paths, I came in to unintentional and unwanted possession of a Call Sheet for the 3rd Season episode Shakespeare, and relevant portion of script for that day's shooting.  I'm a bit of a fence sitter when it comes to New Who, in that I watch and enjoy it as fast-paced witty TV, but find that endings disappoint, and re-watching of the 2nd Season is a Bad Idea.  So take it with a pinch of salt when I say that this reads just as bad as you might imagine.  Fan-fic isn't in it.

[Leigh S]

I see our very own Alan Barnes is writing the animated Who thing they are doing this year.

On the one hand, Alan Barnes was a genius with the Meg, on the other, his comic strips seem to embrace the RTD end of new Whos spectrum rather a bit too fully, but for some reason, despite my real disappointment with last season in particular, I'm kind of excited about the theory of animated Who in a way that is hard to explain.  If theyd said Who was coming back, but not as a live action show, my interest would have been zero.

I suspect its misplaced hopes of stories with the scope and imagination of "The Iron Legion" or "City of the Damned" actually appearing - if they can 'reimagine' Big Finish audios, they could do worse than lift one of those old Mills/Wagner tales.

[paulvonscott]

I head the latest leaked info for series 3, which let's face it is probably leaked on purpose.  Another bit of casting and reintroduction of bad guys to try and keep a jaded old fan like me interested.

It's not going to work, because no matter how tempted I am by the reintorduction of favourite characters, or bringing in actors I liked fom shows I love... you can't get around a badly written show.

I'll give the show another go when RTD has gone, if he doesn't take his ball with him when he finally buggers off.