Doctor Who : Deep Breath
Aug. 24th, 2014 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatSo, I saw the new Doctor Who episode, "Deep Breath", and it felt a bit like the writers and actors telling the fans to take a deep breath and go with the flow. Which makes me wonder a bit about Doctor Who fandom, and wish the writers would pay far less attention to it - and more on the story. Actually - this is a long-standing pet peeve of mine, that is not restricted to Doctor Who - I honestly think "fans" should have 0 say in what happens in a tv show, movie, book series...they shouldn't tell the writer what or how to write it, or what the story should be. And if they do? The writer should blatantly ignore them. When it comes to Television, movies, and books? I want the fourth wall firmly in place. Theater - is where it can be broken, because theater is a live and organic art form, that twists and changes, and interacts with the audience directly. TV, Movies and books are static art forms - where you passively watch, critique and comment - but cannot effect them, because hello, it has been performed, written, filmed or published - long before you saw it.
The result of fan interaction with writers online - leads to metanarrative episodes like this one. Which has it's pluses and minuses. The minus being that it is hard to buy that Clara would have trouble accepting this new Doctor, considering she ended up interacting with five different versions of him in the anniversary special. Also, the number of versions of Clara that the Doctor has interacted with. So Clara's role as a stand-in for the audience did not quite work as effectively as Rose's did when Nine became 10.
That said? I do love Peter Capadili's take on the character. He's less frenetic. A little calmer, and more mature. I believe this guy has been around for 2000 years. He's less child-like and goofy. They appear to be going back to the William Hartnell version or earlier versions of the character.
And the plot was interesting. The villains reminded me of the cybermen. Not sure if that was intended or not?
Missy - the mysterious lady who popped up at the end with the cyborg, in what she describes as paradise, reminded me of an insane Mary Poppins (she actually even looks like Mary Poppins), and an evil Doctor River Song - who is also in a sort of make-shift paradise. I can't help but wonder if Missy may be a regeneration of the Master or another Time-Lord. Which would be an interesting villain or at the very least, slightly different.
The Doctor, being older, no longer requires the requisite love interest - which younger versions apparently did? Not sure why. Old people fall in love and have sex. At any rate, it does make Clara a bit like Donna and Amy Pond - in that she has no romantic interest in the Doctor. Which suits me just fine - I don't particularly like the companion/Doctor ship, doesn't quite work for me - there's a power imbalance there.
They aren't on equal footing. River Song/Doctor worked because no power imbalance, equals, both were time travelers, and wickedly smart. Rose/Doctor did not work for me - because big time power imbalance on multiple levels. This may explain why my favorite seasons are 5 and 6, and I sort of skipped over 1-3 completely. And why my favorite companions were Donna Noble and Amy Pond/Rory. Although did not mind Martha Jones - when she wasn't pining after the Doctor.
Love the new credits - the bit with the clocks is rather inspired. And the redecorating.
Also, no more bow ties and hats, thank heavens.
The result of fan interaction with writers online - leads to metanarrative episodes like this one. Which has it's pluses and minuses. The minus being that it is hard to buy that Clara would have trouble accepting this new Doctor, considering she ended up interacting with five different versions of him in the anniversary special. Also, the number of versions of Clara that the Doctor has interacted with. So Clara's role as a stand-in for the audience did not quite work as effectively as Rose's did when Nine became 10.
That said? I do love Peter Capadili's take on the character. He's less frenetic. A little calmer, and more mature. I believe this guy has been around for 2000 years. He's less child-like and goofy. They appear to be going back to the William Hartnell version or earlier versions of the character.
And the plot was interesting. The villains reminded me of the cybermen. Not sure if that was intended or not?
Missy - the mysterious lady who popped up at the end with the cyborg, in what she describes as paradise, reminded me of an insane Mary Poppins (she actually even looks like Mary Poppins), and an evil Doctor River Song - who is also in a sort of make-shift paradise. I can't help but wonder if Missy may be a regeneration of the Master or another Time-Lord. Which would be an interesting villain or at the very least, slightly different.
The Doctor, being older, no longer requires the requisite love interest - which younger versions apparently did? Not sure why. Old people fall in love and have sex. At any rate, it does make Clara a bit like Donna and Amy Pond - in that she has no romantic interest in the Doctor. Which suits me just fine - I don't particularly like the companion/Doctor ship, doesn't quite work for me - there's a power imbalance there.
They aren't on equal footing. River Song/Doctor worked because no power imbalance, equals, both were time travelers, and wickedly smart. Rose/Doctor did not work for me - because big time power imbalance on multiple levels. This may explain why my favorite seasons are 5 and 6, and I sort of skipped over 1-3 completely. And why my favorite companions were Donna Noble and Amy Pond/Rory. Although did not mind Martha Jones - when she wasn't pining after the Doctor.
Love the new credits - the bit with the clocks is rather inspired. And the redecorating.
Also, no more bow ties and hats, thank heavens.