Meta: Jack/Ianto and Lurve, that old chestnut.

[fide_et_spe]

Notes: There may be bits of this that aren't 100% serious, I hope they are obvious. As to canon, I am counting all the television episodes, and the radio plays, not the books and other media. (I think the books get a little confusing and I know some people don't count them, so I won't) I also am well aware that the plays were written after CoE, but

Comments

[lefaym]

Well fine, but one thing that strikes me about GDL, he isn't disingenuous, he gives thoughtful answers and this is how he interpreted his work. Good for him. Also I think there is a lot of support for this from the pre CoE interviews. Whether we think the writing and direction showed it or not, clearly someone thought this was a love story. Euros Lynne said this, and as the director, this is the vision that would be worked on with the actors.The thing that gets me is that they did have a good team of writers and an extremely good director. So I can't just buy that they fucked up unintentionally here. I think if they'd wanted to write a love story, then that's what they would have done -- and the fact that it didn't come across in the writing and direction indicates to me that they didn't want it there, in spite of what they said in interviews

[fide_et_spe]

you see I think the two John Simm episodes are embarrasingly bad. Utopia is great, and yes RTD wrote Mad Max set in a gravel pit. However what he does well is dialogue, and the dialogue in that episode is a joy. Derek Jacobi is sublime. Both JB and DT are great as well. But once we get into the doctor being turned into Dobby then jesus, well the whole thing, painful.

I agree there are no new stories and Shakespeare nabbed all of the plots. However I do think lifting stuff can be cheeky if you don't do something very worthwhile. Also I like them to acknowledge the source, which lots of writers do. Or just put lots of different elements in, so that something different comes out, say like JK Rowling did.

[welshactorlover]

I know the real world reason is budget constraints,and in some ways a small team made for better storytelling, but I always five people was to few to staff TW3 adequately. No wonder they had no personal lives - they seemed to work 24/7.

Personally I thought the Primeval S3 set up was more realistic - soldiers for the bang, bang stuff, and a large facility with support staff.

This a great discussion in general - I'm loving it! Unlike those who swore off TW because of CoE, I need to work through my feelings with endless analysis and discussion. Thanks, guys.

[fide_et_spe]

Hey no problem. I need this stuff as well, it's like a support group! You mustn't mention Primeval though, look what happened there! Still their writing always made Torchwood look like Shakespeare so I hold out more hope for TW. May not watch it that much, mind, it really depends on what happens.