Current Dr. Who
If you're not interested in current Dr. Who, move along. Nothing to see here.
Unless for some reason you think it would be fascinating to read me getting all geeky.
So, I've looked at my stats and I'm shocked to see that I get over 100 readers (where do you all come from?) so for those of you who don't actually know me, Tom Baker is MY doctor. I started watching Dr. Who in Toronto in the early '80s. I lost patience with the Fifth Doctor and couldn't stand the Sixth.
But yay the revitalized series. Love the new series. I'm glad RJD (for all the problems I had toward the end) brought it back and did such a fine job.
Like many, I was thrilled when Steven Moffat took over the show. I enjoy his writing. But... I'm having problems.
You see, back with Ten, when he had his adventure with Mdme. Pompadour (The Girl in the Fireplace), there were things about that ep that bothered me. The story was clever. The robots were brilliant. But I was very bothered by the idea that the doctor would just run off and adventure away with no thought to what was going on with his companions. Sure, Rose and Micky (particularly Rose) are plucky as all get out. But in this episode, it wasn't as if the Doctor gave them a thought at all. It was all him and the stuff in France, to the point that he was willing to abandon his companions on a derelict spaceship to die to go back in France to save Mdme. Pompadour, knowing he couldn't return.
That bothered me because it seemed clever and all, but didn't really seem to pay attention to the relationship, not just between the Doctor and Rose that was clearly playing out -- but between the Doctor and all of his companions historically.
And the above really encapsulates my concern about the direction the new series is going under Moffat. I don't care for season two (so far) at all. Unless something happens pretty soon, I will continue on the path of believing that Moffat has become so entranced by his ability to work out a clever plot with clever creatures, that he's lost sight of writing interesting and believable characters.
Which annoys me and sometimes makes me angry. Because I think Matt Smith is a fine Doctor. I like him (as well as Tom Baker, much to my surprise) better than Ten. And I like Ten quite a lot. However, an actor can only do so much with the lines he's given. It seems to me that Moffat depends upon Smith's ability to handle his lines with characterization so that he doesn't have to actually -write- character. Which is a cheat and not true. There has to be some character meat and not mere cleverness.
What he's doing with Amy and Rory, who I adore, is beginning to just piss me off. I know some people think that Moffat has it in for women. I can see where they get that feeling. I don't agree. My opinionis that Moffat just doesn't care about the companions. What he cares about is the cleverness of the scripts and the cool creatures. Well, screw that. I DO care about the companions.
Who doesn't have their favorite companions as well as Doctors? The companions stand in for US. Not caring about them is like not caring about your audience and at best that's rude.
Right now as written, Amy and Rory are becoming more and more cardboard. If Moffat was going to go through the nonsense of making Amy pregnant, then he has to deal with the consequences. You can't ask me, as someone who's had a child, to believe that Amy and Rory would be willing to abandon their daughter. Even knowing who she grows up to be. That is simply perverse. Never mind that it's telling all the children watching the show that parents abandon children. And it's OK. It's OK for children to be stolen, raised to be murderers, and their parents will never really care because somehow, in some nebulous way, it will all turn out.
No. Not only do I not believe it, it's (IMO) morally wrong. And I don't say things like that very lightly. Children should not be abandoned, nor should they ever believe that it's OK for that to happen, or that their parents won't do everything single thing withing their power, including tacking the Doctor before he ever gets in the TARDIS, to make sure they go with him and find their child.
Which makes that a problematic storyline for the series.
Which brings me to "Let's Kill HItler" which was so frickn' stupid I could hardly stand it. Mel was simply and abomination. How did she get from America to Britain? Who were her parents? Did no one notice this child was utterly pschotic? If Amy was getting psych help because of her obsession about the doctor, what about her friend (and WHY were they friends, not reason I could see, SO annoying as she was) who was even worse?
And sorry, fond as I am of the Doctor, no way would MY son every give ALL his regenerations to the Doctor. Sorry, y'all. That's MY boy. I'll raise him up and he can frickin' replace the Doctor. I don't believe any mother would condone her child doing what Mel/River did to save the Doctor. Save a little for yourself, honey. At least one.
I adore River Song. Not for a second did I find Mel credible as a child or a quasi-adult. And I certainly am not finding Amy and Rory credible in season 2 either. What, they simply go home for a summer while their baby is being raised by dangerous fanatics? Leaving everything to the Doctor who can't even steer his TARDIS? I don't think so.
And if you haven't seen "Night Terrors," spare yourself the time. What a piece of crap. Which is a shame becauase I like Mark Gaddis' work in general. But this? If I wrote this badly Mark would slap my knuckles with a ruler. Don't even get me started. There is so much that I dislike in this episode it would take up its own chapter. It didn't even make it to a good Twilight Zone ep. At least the father shows more concern about his (alien) son than Amy and Rory do about their biological daughter.
For the record, like the pirates story, the is is one more example where the Doctor is completely unnecessary. A good child psychologist could have done as well. "Face your fears." How lame is that? "Love your child." Try telling that to Rory and Amy.
Done for now. I haven't given up. I know it sounds like I have, but really, I have not. Discouraged, I am, but still holding a candle of hope that somehow, Moffat and team will pull this out of the bag. I've heard that ratings are dropping. That, if nothing else, should be inspirational. I had my problems with RTD, lord knows. But he loved his characters. There was never any doubt that he had a great deal (possibly too much) invested in them. I can't tell that Moffat cares about them at all, other than as vehicles to show off how clever he is. And in the meantime is relying on the extremely fine acting of his cast to supply his deficiencies. And that is poor writing, and poor producing.
Dr. Who deserves better.
Unless for some reason you think it would be fascinating to read me getting all geeky.
So, I've looked at my stats and I'm shocked to see that I get over 100 readers (where do you all come from?) so for those of you who don't actually know me, Tom Baker is MY doctor. I started watching Dr. Who in Toronto in the early '80s. I lost patience with the Fifth Doctor and couldn't stand the Sixth.
But yay the revitalized series. Love the new series. I'm glad RJD (for all the problems I had toward the end) brought it back and did such a fine job.
Like many, I was thrilled when Steven Moffat took over the show. I enjoy his writing. But... I'm having problems.
You see, back with Ten, when he had his adventure with Mdme. Pompadour (The Girl in the Fireplace), there were things about that ep that bothered me. The story was clever. The robots were brilliant. But I was very bothered by the idea that the doctor would just run off and adventure away with no thought to what was going on with his companions. Sure, Rose and Micky (particularly Rose) are plucky as all get out. But in this episode, it wasn't as if the Doctor gave them a thought at all. It was all him and the stuff in France, to the point that he was willing to abandon his companions on a derelict spaceship to die to go back in France to save Mdme. Pompadour, knowing he couldn't return.
That bothered me because it seemed clever and all, but didn't really seem to pay attention to the relationship, not just between the Doctor and Rose that was clearly playing out -- but between the Doctor and all of his companions historically.
And the above really encapsulates my concern about the direction the new series is going under Moffat. I don't care for season two (so far) at all. Unless something happens pretty soon, I will continue on the path of believing that Moffat has become so entranced by his ability to work out a clever plot with clever creatures, that he's lost sight of writing interesting and believable characters.
Which annoys me and sometimes makes me angry. Because I think Matt Smith is a fine Doctor. I like him (as well as Tom Baker, much to my surprise) better than Ten. And I like Ten quite a lot. However, an actor can only do so much with the lines he's given. It seems to me that Moffat depends upon Smith's ability to handle his lines with characterization so that he doesn't have to actually -write- character. Which is a cheat and not true. There has to be some character meat and not mere cleverness.
What he's doing with Amy and Rory, who I adore, is beginning to just piss me off. I know some people think that Moffat has it in for women. I can see where they get that feeling. I don't agree. My opinionis that Moffat just doesn't care about the companions. What he cares about is the cleverness of the scripts and the cool creatures. Well, screw that. I DO care about the companions.
Who doesn't have their favorite companions as well as Doctors? The companions stand in for US. Not caring about them is like not caring about your audience and at best that's rude.
Right now as written, Amy and Rory are becoming more and more cardboard. If Moffat was going to go through the nonsense of making Amy pregnant, then he has to deal with the consequences. You can't ask me, as someone who's had a child, to believe that Amy and Rory would be willing to abandon their daughter. Even knowing who she grows up to be. That is simply perverse. Never mind that it's telling all the children watching the show that parents abandon children. And it's OK. It's OK for children to be stolen, raised to be murderers, and their parents will never really care because somehow, in some nebulous way, it will all turn out.
No. Not only do I not believe it, it's (IMO) morally wrong. And I don't say things like that very lightly. Children should not be abandoned, nor should they ever believe that it's OK for that to happen, or that their parents won't do everything single thing withing their power, including tacking the Doctor before he ever gets in the TARDIS, to make sure they go with him and find their child.
Which makes that a problematic storyline for the series.
Which brings me to "Let's Kill HItler" which was so frickn' stupid I could hardly stand it. Mel was simply and abomination. How did she get from America to Britain? Who were her parents? Did no one notice this child was utterly pschotic? If Amy was getting psych help because of her obsession about the doctor, what about her friend (and WHY were they friends, not reason I could see, SO annoying as she was) who was even worse?
And sorry, fond as I am of the Doctor, no way would MY son every give ALL his regenerations to the Doctor. Sorry, y'all. That's MY boy. I'll raise him up and he can frickin' replace the Doctor. I don't believe any mother would condone her child doing what Mel/River did to save the Doctor. Save a little for yourself, honey. At least one.
I adore River Song. Not for a second did I find Mel credible as a child or a quasi-adult. And I certainly am not finding Amy and Rory credible in season 2 either. What, they simply go home for a summer while their baby is being raised by dangerous fanatics? Leaving everything to the Doctor who can't even steer his TARDIS? I don't think so.
And if you haven't seen "Night Terrors," spare yourself the time. What a piece of crap. Which is a shame becauase I like Mark Gaddis' work in general. But this? If I wrote this badly Mark would slap my knuckles with a ruler. Don't even get me started. There is so much that I dislike in this episode it would take up its own chapter. It didn't even make it to a good Twilight Zone ep. At least the father shows more concern about his (alien) son than Amy and Rory do about their biological daughter.
For the record, like the pirates story, the is is one more example where the Doctor is completely unnecessary. A good child psychologist could have done as well. "Face your fears." How lame is that? "Love your child." Try telling that to Rory and Amy.
Done for now. I haven't given up. I know it sounds like I have, but really, I have not. Discouraged, I am, but still holding a candle of hope that somehow, Moffat and team will pull this out of the bag. I've heard that ratings are dropping. That, if nothing else, should be inspirational. I had my problems with RTD, lord knows. But he loved his characters. There was never any doubt that he had a great deal (possibly too much) invested in them. I can't tell that Moffat cares about them at all, other than as vehicles to show off how clever he is. And in the meantime is relying on the extremely fine acting of his cast to supply his deficiencies. And that is poor writing, and poor producing.
Dr. Who deserves better.