Writing Good Drama
RTD wished to create a great sci-fi 'drama' with Torchwood: Children of Earth. It resulted in lots of disgruntled fans because one of the best-loved pairings on the show came to a tragic end. He ridiculed these 'hysterical' fans by claiming that all they wanted was to see boy-kissing and handsome men and that they were upset because they couldn't have that any more.
I'd like to contrast this with recent developments in the plot of BBC's long-running soap EastEnders. This is definitely a drama, a not-too-bad one even. And there is a same-sex couple, Christian and the closetedSyed, which has quite a following (includes some Torchwood fans too).
In recent episodes, particularly on 1st January, matters came to a head in their relationship. Syed has to choose between his love for Christian and his duty to his family and community. He ultimately decides to choose the latter, thus denying his true self and shattering Christian's hopes for a future together with him. Obviously, those who 'ship' this couple did not get their desired happy ending, but this is where things take a different turn fromCoE.
If any readers here have watched these few episodes of EE, you'll have seen the superlative quality of the writing and the acting and the very convincing portrayal of the characters' dilemmas and anguish. There were no scenes played purely for shock value, nobody behaving in a weird and OOC way (within the constraints of soap writing, that is), and most importantly, it was poignant and affecting drama without anyone DYING.
In almost all the comments I have read from fans about the saga of Christian and Syed, they expressed their disappointment that the two could not be together, but also remarked that the writing, the acting and the plot development were so sincere and convincing that, even though it didn't turn out as they wished, they accepted the way things happened. Because of the authentic and sincere portrayal of family pressure, social prejudices,Syed's mental turmoil and Christian's despair, even an undesired outcome was seen by fans as a realistic (though sad) one.
The point I am making here is that if RTD had actually bothered to write GOOD drama, then there wouldn't have been such an unhappy reaction from fans. If he had respect for the characters, their relationship and their background and actually written solid scenes that did justice to their characters, then I wager that many more fans would have accepted the heart-wrenching end of the relationship (though maybe not the death of one character). Of course, there is also the little detail that EastEnders writers and producers didn't go about assuring fans that they would loooove the storyline of Christian and Syed, and that it would make them very very happy; unlike what Torchwood writers and producers did!
I'd like to contrast this with recent developments in the plot of BBC's long-running soap EastEnders. This is definitely a drama, a not-too-bad one even. And there is a same-sex couple, Christian and the closetedSyed, which has quite a following (includes some Torchwood fans too).
In recent episodes, particularly on 1st January, matters came to a head in their relationship. Syed has to choose between his love for Christian and his duty to his family and community. He ultimately decides to choose the latter, thus denying his true self and shattering Christian's hopes for a future together with him. Obviously, those who 'ship' this couple did not get their desired happy ending, but this is where things take a different turn fromCoE.
If any readers here have watched these few episodes of EE, you'll have seen the superlative quality of the writing and the acting and the very convincing portrayal of the characters' dilemmas and anguish. There were no scenes played purely for shock value, nobody behaving in a weird and OOC way (within the constraints of soap writing, that is), and most importantly, it was poignant and affecting drama without anyone DYING.
In almost all the comments I have read from fans about the saga of Christian and Syed, they expressed their disappointment that the two could not be together, but also remarked that the writing, the acting and the plot development were so sincere and convincing that, even though it didn't turn out as they wished, they accepted the way things happened. Because of the authentic and sincere portrayal of family pressure, social prejudices,Syed's mental turmoil and Christian's despair, even an undesired outcome was seen by fans as a realistic (though sad) one.
The point I am making here is that if RTD had actually bothered to write GOOD drama, then there wouldn't have been such an unhappy reaction from fans. If he had respect for the characters, their relationship and their background and actually written solid scenes that did justice to their characters, then I wager that many more fans would have accepted the heart-wrenching end of the relationship (though maybe not the death of one character). Of course, there is also the little detail that EastEnders writers and producers didn't go about assuring fans that they would loooove the storyline of Christian and Syed, and that it would make them very very happy; unlike what Torchwood writers and producers did!