Some tales of two writers
As the big Blink versus Human Nature showdown at the Hugos approaches, long interviews with Stephen Moffat and Paul Cornell were posted these recent days, and I found both interesting to listen to. Our future Scottish overlord gets quizzed here.
There is the usual American/British culture clash when they keep asking him about the children's show label with the implication that this is something to get over and Moffat is all "family show yay! Of course we write for children, we always have, we always will!", and when asked whether now that there is a sizable American audience the style/writing of the show will change to take said American audience and its viewing habits into consideration reacts with a polite version of ?!?!!!. But it's all good natured. Most of what he says is nothing new if you've been following previous interviews, but it's put in concise form. For example, no, there won't be any depiction of the Time War; he loves the hints RTD kept including as something that fires the imagination of the audience but says any actual depiction would be a let down, pointing to the Gallifreyan scenes in the days of olde (somehow I don't think Moffat is a fan of the Fourth Doctor onwards depiction of Gallifrey and the Time Lords) as a proof why. Something I found both interesting and amusing in the lights of the silly feuding going on in parts of fandom, where "Moffat is sexist!" charges are immediately countered with "Rusty is so much more sexist!" or vice versa (instead of, you know, discussing either gentleman based on his own works instead of the other guys) is what he replies when asked about his favourite characters in New Who. He says that of RTD's characters, he loves Donna best, and Yvonne Hartman, the leader of Torchwood 1, and explains that to him, Yvonne Hartman is a wonderful creation and a great example of a character who is an antagonist but from her perspective a heroine and who indeed tries her best according to her own ethical code. Given that Yvonne usually makes it into the list of characters cited as proof for Rusty having it in for middle-aged women, this neatly illustrated how different one can watch shows. Of his own New Who characters - i.e. Nancy, Jack, Reinette, Sally Sparrow and River Song - he named River as his favourite (definitely not the choice most of the audience would make, again, different view point), which promptly led to questions whether she'd be back (to which he said that while the Doctor will see her again, obviously, he's not sure yet the audience will) and whether she knew Ten or later Doctors (mostly later Doctors, but she has met Ten before, and Moffat also jokes about River running across Eight as well and considering him the dishiest; he's quite nice about Eight in general, saying the tv movie wasn't that bad and Paul McGann was fabulous).
The most interesting thing he says about the Doctor is that in his eyes, the Doctor really doesn't know how old he is anymore, because short of marking each day with a nob in the TARDIS, which he wouldn't be the type for, how would he know? And he wants to address that element in s5 specifically, the different perspective on time of a time traveller, that everyone is equally alive or dead to him.
Paul Cornell's interview can be downloaded here, in which he talks as much about his comics work for Marvel (especially Pete Wisdom) as about his Doctor Who stuff, and reminds me again that most of the writing staff of New Who really are utter and complete fanboys, as he mentions writing his first DW stories for a fanzine. (I'm old enough to remember fanzines and fandom long before the internet. Those were the days, kids.) He also mentions being a Stephen King fan, which doesn't surprise me (I once said Moffat and Cornell are the Thackeray and Dickens of DW, but you could also say they are Peter Straub and Stephen King and make the same point; my third comparison pair would be Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin), during some great discussion about being a writer and how the process of writing works. Asked that if he could create the Eleventh Doctor, how he'd go about it, he suggests - as I think he did in his blog before - Ray Stevenson, based on Stevenson's performance as Titus Pullo in Rome. Not because Eleven should be like Pullo but because Pullo proved that Ray Stevenson can convey a lot of personal warmth, and the juxtaposition of a thuggish exterior with the Doctor's great intellect and with said personal warmth would be, Cornell argued, an interesting new variation of the Doctor. I must say, this is by far the most intriguing casting suggestion I've heard in the Eleven speculation game, but alas Cornell also adds that ideas like this were why he'll never be in charge of the show.
Lastly, a fanfic rec. Two of the fandoms you'd consider least likely to be crossed over with each other are surely Torchwood and C.S. Lewis' Narnia chronicles. Well, Threads that are golden don't break easily pulls it off. In which Captain Jack Harkness recruits Susan Pensieve, who can't go back to Narnia again. Expect some fantastic twists which make sense in both fandoms!
There is the usual American/British culture clash when they keep asking him about the children's show label with the implication that this is something to get over and Moffat is all "family show yay! Of course we write for children, we always have, we always will!", and when asked whether now that there is a sizable American audience the style/writing of the show will change to take said American audience and its viewing habits into consideration reacts with a polite version of ?!?!!!. But it's all good natured. Most of what he says is nothing new if you've been following previous interviews, but it's put in concise form. For example, no, there won't be any depiction of the Time War; he loves the hints RTD kept including as something that fires the imagination of the audience but says any actual depiction would be a let down, pointing to the Gallifreyan scenes in the days of olde (somehow I don't think Moffat is a fan of the Fourth Doctor onwards depiction of Gallifrey and the Time Lords) as a proof why. Something I found both interesting and amusing in the lights of the silly feuding going on in parts of fandom, where "Moffat is sexist!" charges are immediately countered with "Rusty is so much more sexist!" or vice versa (instead of, you know, discussing either gentleman based on his own works instead of the other guys) is what he replies when asked about his favourite characters in New Who. He says that of RTD's characters, he loves Donna best, and Yvonne Hartman, the leader of Torchwood 1, and explains that to him, Yvonne Hartman is a wonderful creation and a great example of a character who is an antagonist but from her perspective a heroine and who indeed tries her best according to her own ethical code. Given that Yvonne usually makes it into the list of characters cited as proof for Rusty having it in for middle-aged women, this neatly illustrated how different one can watch shows. Of his own New Who characters - i.e. Nancy, Jack, Reinette, Sally Sparrow and River Song - he named River as his favourite (definitely not the choice most of the audience would make, again, different view point), which promptly led to questions whether she'd be back (to which he said that while the Doctor will see her again, obviously, he's not sure yet the audience will) and whether she knew Ten or later Doctors (mostly later Doctors, but she has met Ten before, and Moffat also jokes about River running across Eight as well and considering him the dishiest; he's quite nice about Eight in general, saying the tv movie wasn't that bad and Paul McGann was fabulous).
The most interesting thing he says about the Doctor is that in his eyes, the Doctor really doesn't know how old he is anymore, because short of marking each day with a nob in the TARDIS, which he wouldn't be the type for, how would he know? And he wants to address that element in s5 specifically, the different perspective on time of a time traveller, that everyone is equally alive or dead to him.
Paul Cornell's interview can be downloaded here, in which he talks as much about his comics work for Marvel (especially Pete Wisdom) as about his Doctor Who stuff, and reminds me again that most of the writing staff of New Who really are utter and complete fanboys, as he mentions writing his first DW stories for a fanzine. (I'm old enough to remember fanzines and fandom long before the internet. Those were the days, kids.) He also mentions being a Stephen King fan, which doesn't surprise me (I once said Moffat and Cornell are the Thackeray and Dickens of DW, but you could also say they are Peter Straub and Stephen King and make the same point; my third comparison pair would be Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin), during some great discussion about being a writer and how the process of writing works. Asked that if he could create the Eleventh Doctor, how he'd go about it, he suggests - as I think he did in his blog before - Ray Stevenson, based on Stevenson's performance as Titus Pullo in Rome. Not because Eleven should be like Pullo but because Pullo proved that Ray Stevenson can convey a lot of personal warmth, and the juxtaposition of a thuggish exterior with the Doctor's great intellect and with said personal warmth would be, Cornell argued, an interesting new variation of the Doctor. I must say, this is by far the most intriguing casting suggestion I've heard in the Eleven speculation game, but alas Cornell also adds that ideas like this were why he'll never be in charge of the show.
Lastly, a fanfic rec. Two of the fandoms you'd consider least likely to be crossed over with each other are surely Torchwood and C.S. Lewis' Narnia chronicles. Well, Threads that are golden don't break easily pulls it off. In which Captain Jack Harkness recruits Susan Pensieve, who can't go back to Narnia again. Expect some fantastic twists which make sense in both fandoms!