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icepixieI had a longish, half-finished post on why Rusty's Sue issues and "OMG Rose/Doctor Is The Most Specialist Of All Relationships Ever!!11!!!" thing has irritated me more and more this season, particularly as I get deeper into Old Skool stuff, but decided that a.) it's been done before (often by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nostalgia_lj), and b.) it would probably piss off at least half the Who fans on my flist, so screw it. Plus, I'm lazy and don't want to finish trying to explain thoughts I'm finding it very difficult to put into words. Basically, IMO there is OTP and there is OTPForNow when dealing with the Doctor, and the latter is the best I can do. Also, more blah-di-blah on why Rose and Ten don't work as well together as Rose and Nine did, because she puts up with more from Ten than she did with Nine, and this robs the relationship of much of its interesting dynamic.
In conclusion, all problems would go away with judicious application of bugs made out of spray-painted bubblewrap. (Why yes, I did watch "Ark in Space" last week. Green spray-painted bubblewrap is the Bestest Villain Ever.)
*
So I watched "School Reunion" again a couple days ago. Can I just say that I'm glad I hadn't watched any SJS episodes before seeing this for the first time with other people? 'Cause I wouldn't have come out of that screening with any dignity left intact, I can tell you that. *sniffle* Not to mention K-9! I get the impression most people hate him, but I kind of love that little dog. And I was very sad indeed when Mark III sacrificed himself to the burning fires of french fry goo. And I was crying like a little girl at the end, with Sarah and her brand-new robot dog. Awww, Sarah!
Scenes in this episode made me think that Ten would actually work better with a group of companions--two or three, anyway. He's good at the coordinating stuff he does in this episode with Mickey, Sarah, and Rose. He's a bit of an army commander (or Stargate team leader), actually, giving assignments and having hisunderlings team gang companions do individual jobs like a well-oiled machine. Also, it might not be a bad idea to spread the fact that DT can have UST with a shoe hyperactive puppy energy around a bit.
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Wishlist for S3
1.) No returning to early 21st-century Earth until at least the second half of the season. At least. Preferably NOT AT ALL.
2.) Martha should be a historical companion! Who's with me? Yeah, yeah?
3.) ROMANA III. Yes, yes, A THOUSAND TIMES YES.
3a.) Martha is Romana III?
4.) Martha gets to blow shit up, like Ace, or is a scientist-type person, or has some other fun and useful skill that is all her own. Not that Rose didn't have her good and interesting qualities--compassion, bravery, etc.--but I think maybe last season she wasn't often written into situations where she could make use of them, and thus came off feeling a bit superfluous at times? Like, "Fear Her" required compassion to make the resolution work, whereas, say, "The Idiot's Lantern" didn't, and so she got sucked into the telly. Yeah.
5.) More of the TARDIS, please.
6.) More than just one or two frustrating hints a season about the bloody Time War, FCOL!
*
Following on from numbers 3 and 3a, I watched part of "Shada" the other day.
Oh, such fun. I've only seen the first two episodes, but oh, the love. PUNTING! Hee. Also, I love that silly old professor. Felt very bad when he died. :( And I kind of want Romana's hat, except I think if I had it I'd hang it on a wall rather than wear it, because it goes just about an inch over the line between "fashion accessory" and "home decor."
Someone over at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
otp_probably has posted video clips of various Romana episodes, and they're much fun. I fully believe that Four and Romana are involved in, like, the Time Lord equivalent of a common law marriage. There's one scene in...hmmm...maybe "Creature from the Pit"? I forget. Anyway, Romana drags a box of junk into the console room, and is going through it asking the Doctor what all this junk is, and why he hasn't cleaned out the storage areas in the last few centuries, and it's totally the stereotypical neatnik girlfriend moving in and trying to create space for her stuff and make her boyfriend Not A Slob. Then in "Shada," when Professor Chronitis runs out of milk for tea, she's all, "We've got plenty," and is a bit proud of (her and) the Doctor's TARDIS, sort of like one might be of one's house, and it's really quite a couple-y little moment, particularly since the Doctor isn't even there.
Also, the regeneration scene from "Destiny of the Daleks" is so funny I can't even put it into words.
Romana is hilarious and deadpan and knowledgeable and totally awesome. I need Romana II icons, stat.
*
I started reading Bridget Jones today, after about six years of avoiding it. Mostly that was because of my Austen H8 and my general "eh" reaction to the movie, but also because I have pretty much no interest in the Trials of Finding Love After Thirty or whatever it's been billed as. Obviously, I shall eat something laced with crow tonight, because it's pretty funny. Not the best book I've ever read, but entertaining all the same. The Lit!Snob part of my brain is little eyerolly at the fact that every character, with the possible exception of Bridget and, perhaps later, Mark Darcy, is a blatant caricature, but the more easily amused half is busy saying, "It's a farce; get over yourself."
Plus, it does have lines like: "It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party." Although Fielding then immediately takes it a hair too far with, "It's like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting 'Cathy' and and banging your head against a tree." Ah, well.
Also, there is brief mocking of postmodernism, which is grand.
I'm wondering who exactly decided that Renee Zellweger fit this role, though, 'cause I'm not picturing her in it at all. I'm not sure who would fit, but it's not her.
(Related to none of the above: in what world is 124 pounds even remotely overweight? Is she really short or something?)
nostalgia_lj), and b.) it would probably piss off at least half the Who fans on my flist, so screw it. Plus, I'm lazy and don't want to finish trying to explain thoughts I'm finding it very difficult to put into words. Basically, IMO there is OTP and there is OTPForNow when dealing with the Doctor, and the latter is the best I can do. Also, more blah-di-blah on why Rose and Ten don't work as well together as Rose and Nine did, because she puts up with more from Ten than she did with Nine, and this robs the relationship of much of its interesting dynamic.In conclusion, all problems would go away with judicious application of bugs made out of spray-painted bubblewrap. (Why yes, I did watch "Ark in Space" last week. Green spray-painted bubblewrap is the Bestest Villain Ever.)
*
So I watched "School Reunion" again a couple days ago. Can I just say that I'm glad I hadn't watched any SJS episodes before seeing this for the first time with other people? 'Cause I wouldn't have come out of that screening with any dignity left intact, I can tell you that. *sniffle* Not to mention K-9! I get the impression most people hate him, but I kind of love that little dog. And I was very sad indeed when Mark III sacrificed himself to the burning fires of french fry goo. And I was crying like a little girl at the end, with Sarah and her brand-new robot dog. Awww, Sarah!
Scenes in this episode made me think that Ten would actually work better with a group of companions--two or three, anyway. He's good at the coordinating stuff he does in this episode with Mickey, Sarah, and Rose. He's a bit of an army commander (or Stargate team leader), actually, giving assignments and having his
*
Wishlist for S3
1.) No returning to early 21st-century Earth until at least the second half of the season. At least. Preferably NOT AT ALL.
2.) Martha should be a historical companion! Who's with me? Yeah, yeah?
3.) ROMANA III. Yes, yes, A THOUSAND TIMES YES.
3a.) Martha is Romana III?
4.) Martha gets to blow shit up, like Ace, or is a scientist-type person, or has some other fun and useful skill that is all her own. Not that Rose didn't have her good and interesting qualities--compassion, bravery, etc.--but I think maybe last season she wasn't often written into situations where she could make use of them, and thus came off feeling a bit superfluous at times? Like, "Fear Her" required compassion to make the resolution work, whereas, say, "The Idiot's Lantern" didn't, and so she got sucked into the telly. Yeah.
5.) More of the TARDIS, please.
6.) More than just one or two frustrating hints a season about the bloody Time War, FCOL!
*
Following on from numbers 3 and 3a, I watched part of "Shada" the other day.
Oh, such fun. I've only seen the first two episodes, but oh, the love. PUNTING! Hee. Also, I love that silly old professor. Felt very bad when he died. :( And I kind of want Romana's hat, except I think if I had it I'd hang it on a wall rather than wear it, because it goes just about an inch over the line between "fashion accessory" and "home decor."
Someone over at
otp_probably has posted video clips of various Romana episodes, and they're much fun. I fully believe that Four and Romana are involved in, like, the Time Lord equivalent of a common law marriage. There's one scene in...hmmm...maybe "Creature from the Pit"? I forget. Anyway, Romana drags a box of junk into the console room, and is going through it asking the Doctor what all this junk is, and why he hasn't cleaned out the storage areas in the last few centuries, and it's totally the stereotypical neatnik girlfriend moving in and trying to create space for her stuff and make her boyfriend Not A Slob. Then in "Shada," when Professor Chronitis runs out of milk for tea, she's all, "We've got plenty," and is a bit proud of (her and) the Doctor's TARDIS, sort of like one might be of one's house, and it's really quite a couple-y little moment, particularly since the Doctor isn't even there.Also, the regeneration scene from "Destiny of the Daleks" is so funny I can't even put it into words.
Romana is hilarious and deadpan and knowledgeable and totally awesome. I need Romana II icons, stat.
*
I started reading Bridget Jones today, after about six years of avoiding it. Mostly that was because of my Austen H8 and my general "eh" reaction to the movie, but also because I have pretty much no interest in the Trials of Finding Love After Thirty or whatever it's been billed as. Obviously, I shall eat something laced with crow tonight, because it's pretty funny. Not the best book I've ever read, but entertaining all the same. The Lit!Snob part of my brain is little eyerolly at the fact that every character, with the possible exception of Bridget and, perhaps later, Mark Darcy, is a blatant caricature, but the more easily amused half is busy saying, "It's a farce; get over yourself."
Plus, it does have lines like: "It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party." Although Fielding then immediately takes it a hair too far with, "It's like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting 'Cathy' and and banging your head against a tree." Ah, well.
Also, there is brief mocking of postmodernism, which is grand.
I'm wondering who exactly decided that Renee Zellweger fit this role, though, 'cause I'm not picturing her in it at all. I'm not sure who would fit, but it's not her.
(Related to none of the above: in what world is 124 pounds even remotely overweight? Is she really short or something?)
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-16 10:42 pm (UTC)I'd always taken all Who-dom at face value when I was originally watching in high school. I'm not sure if the discovery of internet fandom has really been good for me in that regard--not that I want to be a blind viewer, or anything, but digging too deep can make you too critical, which can take a lot of the fun out of it (which is why I stopped posting my own thoughts on Series 2 in my journal--it stopped being fun, which seemed counterproductive).
I do remember a Tom Baker blooper reel, one of which included the Doctor asking K-9 if he knew the answer to some question. K-9 said no, and Tom burst out with something like "Dammit, K-9, you never know the fucking answer when it's important!" After I got over the initial shock, I was quite amused. I could imagine working with a character like K-9 would have been trying at times.
New Earth was fun, I can't deny. I was just disappointed that it couldn't have been New Mars or New Venus or something. It's not so much that I think an individual story is unoriginal if it's set on Earth, it's that this fabulous machine is supposed to move through space as well as time, and we almost never ever see the space part. Even on the shoestring budget of the classic series, we were frequently on space stations, ships, other planets, whatever. I just don't think the budget should be THAT much of an issue in making that work--we don't need fancy aliens or sets. I think of something like "The Sunmakers," where there was one visibly non-human character and the only "alien" set you needed was two suns in the sky, or "Kinda"/"Snakedance" where you were on another planet but it mostly looked like earth, and so did the natives, and you had some funky dream sequences, but otherwise, didn't really need special effects at all. Certainly not anything on the scale of, say, "Tooth and Claw," which really had quite a bit of CGI even though we never left Earth.
I know modern audiences have modern expectations re: effects, but I guess my point is that the effects aren't the important part of the story--a good story may not even need them at all. I just feel like we're largely trapped on Earth, and have been itching to go somewhere else, where you'd have a different culture if not radically different creatures, and stretch the imagination through space as well as time. Earth just starts to feel old after a while when it's not balanced out with trips elsewhere. I mean, wouldn't you want to take a few trips to see what's outside the solar system when you weren't popping back to see ABBA at Wembley in 1979? :)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-16 11:48 pm (UTC)K-9 Blooper: Heheheh
New Earth: I could be remembering wrong, but I thought the New Earth was in a distant solar system from the original? Which to me is still totally alien. Well, maybe not totally...I can see how a New Mars or whatever would be different, not based on the Earth template. I still loved that city, though...and found the idea of a city called New New New New etc. York disproportionately hilarious--because I'm still 12, especially when watching Doctor Who. *g*
Alien worlds: Yeah, I definitely see your points. The flipside...the jungle in Kinda was a studio set, and Who studio jungles got to be sort of infamous. I rarely mind them, but I can respect the new crew wanting to avoid them. Then again...I also get the feeling sometimes that like the crew in the 3rd Doctor's era, they're big fans of the "Yeti in the loo" theorem...the idea that the monsters are scarier in your own backyard, in your own world. While I don't always agree and love my alien worlds, I do think we've gotten some wonderfully creepy moments out of it in the past year: the sleepwalkers in Christmas Invasion, the Cybermen in the living room, etc.
I'd also say, as much as I love a good alien culture, it's not what Who tends to focus on...which is usually more with the monsters and macguffins and humans in trouble, whether at home or out in the galaxy. Which doesn't mean it can't do an awesome alien culture...just not where they tend to put their focus, unlike Trek or even Stargate.
Actually, too, a good alien culture doesn't need to be on an alien world...I found the aliens in 'Fear Her' rather imaginative and cool.
Of course, I totally WOULD be going out to see some crazy alien cultures when not popping back for concerts totally not including ABBA. *snerk* I'd love to see some of the places the 7th Doctor describes in the last speech in 'Survival'...
Hope I'm not getting annoying with all my glass-three-quarters-full-at-the-very-least! fanboyism. :?P
no subject
Date: 2006-07-17 04:39 am (UTC)Same here. Sometimes, now that I've been exposed to other fandoms, I wonder if that was just because we shippers cocooned ourselves amongst each other, and also that ScaperCon, particularly the first three years, attracted a certain type of fan, while the more traditional "non-family" types hung out at Creation or whatever. But yeah, Scapers are the best fandom to be a part of. Bar none.
Who...it's a bit more like armed camps.
I have been witness to the Sam/Jack and Jack/Daniel Wars, not to mention the Save Daniel Jackson campaign, and I have never seen a fandom as bitter and batshit insane as certain segments of Who fandom. That is saying something.
New New^14 York was incredibly pretty. Also, even if the science was nonexistant, it had alien cat!nuns, and a futuristic sci-fi premise, and basically satisfied what I'd like to see as far as getting off Earth/out of the 21st century.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-17 05:03 am (UTC)Who fandom: To be fair, Who's been around for more than 40 years, and had a highly diverse cast. It's changed so much over the years, it makes some sense that there would be fans who only enjoyed certain flavors. Still sad how belligerent some of them get over it, of course. I think, too, that the cancellation further fragmented the fandom...when your show's in danger or awaiting resurrection, everybody has different ideas how to save it, and that can drive people apart. There were even some cracks in Scaperdom after FS was cancelled...thankfully it didn't take anywhere near so long to come back, and in high style.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-18 01:30 pm (UTC)I forgot about rec.arts.drwho! Discovered it in college, though my memories of it are foggy. I don't think it struck me as ridiculous at the time, but then, I also don't think I knew any better!
You are right about New Earth being far away from Old Earth. I just...why must everything be Earth all the time? I'm starting to think that the Doctor was exiled again somehow, by the Time Lords, after blowing up Gallifrey (maybe their collective consciousness reached back and blew up the TARDIS space travel circuit? ;) ). It just starts to stretch belief, when you realize we've almost never left the same bloody planet. Maybe Kinda was a bad example, but I still think it's possible to do a good episoe set somewhere else without even needing a whole lot of CGI, necessarily. It does seem like there's a lack of imagination in that particular part of story development for the new series, and I really think that's a shame. Sure, monsters are scarier in your own backyard, but surely any planet would land in the Guinness Book of Improbable Galactic Records if this many aliens tried to conquer it. And let's not forget that Shakespeare set most of his more critical plays in other countries so as not to land in trouble at home--alien worlds offer a great opportunity for social commentary in a way that's tough to do at home.
And you're not annoying--I hope I'm not, either! I do think the glass is half-full, just because there's so much potential on this show. I just think it's a shame that so little of it has been tapped so far.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-18 03:58 pm (UTC)Earth: Well...there *is* the incredibly sacreligious explanation that the Doctor is half-human. I was one of the Few, the Weird, the Fans Who Saw the TV Movie and Didn't Mind That. *snerk* It DOES make for the simplest explanation of why the Doctor keeps going back to Earth...and even more so now, when his 'other' home world is gone. There's also been a lot of speculation that Earth is some kind of time-space nexus point, key in the big universal picture somehow. On the whole...yeah, I would like to see them stretch themselves even more, to trust that they can make an alien planet work, but as long as they're telling great Who stories I'm not gonna worry about it too much.
Shakespeare: Interesting point, but to be fair, I don't think RTD has shied away from social commentary at all--especially in the modern Earth based stories, actually. AoL/WW3 and CI were loaded with it. Perhaps Shakespeare should've done a few England-with-aliens stories. *g*
Annoying: Not at all...I always enjoy a good Who debate! :?)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-17 04:32 am (UTC)I saw that a few weeks ago, and it cracked me up. So funny. Mary Tamm was kind of collapsing with giggles in the background, if I remember correctly.
I did enjoy the non-smug parts of T&C, but, y'know, Victorians. Yay. (Also, I'm watching Upstairs/Downstairs DVDs at the moment, and hee! Pauline Collins!) I do know what you mean about feeling tied to Earth, though. It feels a bit like being condescended to--particularly as we hear about places like Women Wept, but don't get to see them--which is irritating.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-18 01:31 pm (UTC)I do know what you mean about feeling tied to Earth, though. It feels a bit like being condescended to--particularly as we hear about places like Women Wept, but don't get to see them--which is irritating.
Exactly. That's really what bothered me most about that moment during the finale--for two seconds, we saw it, but then whoosh, we're right back on Earth. Gah!