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[solitary_summer]

So, SJA. I really wish I'd written this post yesterday when I was full of unreserved squee, while now I have to say I found the second half of S3 rather generic and something of a letdown after the first. I can't quite put my finger on it, but a certain something that made the other episodes so charming, details, the way the relationships between

Comments

[topaz_eyes]

I don't know how much influence RTD had over stories as the executive producer of TW or SJA. (Though he kept lamenting how he believed he neglected them in The Writer's Tale.) Chris Chibnall was head writer for TW seasons 1 and 2, and Phil Ford was head writer for at least SJA season 1, but maybe RTD set the direction for them. Or at least the tone?

Gareth Roberts wrote all the SJA Trickster episodes, as well as "The Shakespeare Code", "The Unicorn and the Wasp" and "Planet of the Dead" for DW, so there must have been cross-talk, at least. The Trickster episodes certainly wouldn't have been out of place on the main show (and the Trickster Brigade was the villain of "Turn Left"). The Trickster in SJA is heavy stuff, when those episodes involve characters who should have died but didn't.

[solitary_summer]

I don't know how much influence RTD had over stories as the executive producer of TW or SJA. (Though he kept lamenting how he believed he neglected them in The Writer's Tale.) Chris Chibnall was head writer for TW seasons 1 and 2, and Phil Ford was head writer for at least SJA season 1, but maybe RTD set the direction for them. Or at least the tone?

The fact that it was his decision to switch Ianto and Owen (as well as the fact that he came up with the resurrection glove in the first place) vaguely suggested to me that he might have been responsible for this arc, but it's impossible to say, really.

The Trickster in SJA is heavy stuff, when those episodes involve characters who should have died but didn't.

Definitely. I loved The Temptation..., but it isn't a lightweight episode. I'd have said that maybe children notice this kind of thing less than adults, or maybe it doesn't have the same weight to them, but then again it's all about a parents/child relationship, even if there's time travel involved, so I'm sure if that is true

[topaz_eyes]

Yes, the Trickster Brigade was behind the brain parasite in MD. Apparently the Trickster Brigade is the only villain to have appeared/been implicated in all 3 shows. And in all 3 shows the Trickster Brigade is linked with death--death always seems to be aligned against chaos.

[solitary_summer]

and especially the relationship between Sarah Jane and Maria

That really stood out for me. Maybe I'm watching the wrong things, or perhaps I'd have to watch more children-orientated shows, but I can't remember seeing such a close female/female relationship on TV that wasn't mother/daughter.

I would love it if you did that...but only if it's something you really want to do...

Oh, I want to. It's just that at least at the moment I have severe doubts about whether I'm good enough. I do believe that it's definitely worth looking at it from that angle, but it feels like... too many entangled threads, too many ideas too juggle... it's still all so unclear in my mind.