Dr Who @ UEA - 2008 06 11
Jul. 6th, 2008 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabeth2008 06 11 Dr Who
On screen at the moment is something called Summoned By Shadows (?) By Bill Baggs Video (?)
When Doctor Who went off the air some people decided to make their own versions. Copyright precluded it being called DW. This is The Stranger and Miss Brown, starring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. Started a whole run of quasi amateur DW straight to video stuff.
Will Dr River Song be back? Will Alex Kingston come back to DW? Will she be the new companion or what?
(I did shrugging)
She’d have to be younger wouldn’t she? (yup)
This is the problem, setting up a future story.
[Future Doctor] All we know – the Doctor had a swagger. How many have a swagger? Brian Blessed! Likelihood is highly improbable. Once upon a time, yes, now, no.
Schedule.
Also the character of the Doctor now has to be child friendly.
One vote only for yes, the first time she meets him.
If they do bring her back it’ll assume a lot of knowledge on the part of the audience. Only 10% of the audience sees every episode, which is quite a small amount actually. It could get convoluted. Strangle a programme after a while.
RTD said in interview.
(detour via explaining the plot) (Er, I’m being loud and opinionated.)
“Be careful of the handouts tonight”
Vashta Nerada joke.
Almost a recurring theme of this series, you can change history, decide who lives who dies.
Is he playing god.
As far as the theme for this series goes, you’re not watching for Bad Wolfs to appear anywhere, or gratuitous mentions of Torchwood really badly shoehorned in, but it’s difficult to tease out the recurring theme this time.
The podcast to this week’s episode on the BBC website is worth listening to. RTD, SM and DT. They start off as professionals but rapidly degenerate into fanboys. When it gets to the point they’re talking about Yartech leader of the Voord the fan credentials are out there. They compare old and new and the main difference is pacing.
(I went to DL the podcast and missed a bit. Summary: Everybody Lives. Except Reinette.)
(Now something about the Doctor’s Father having to be Brian Blessed or John Hurt. Also NH wanted Bill Bailey to be the Master, a really bewildered Master of rubbish schemes.)
After DT? Hint on the podcast – James Nesbitt – there’s a joke going around he’s next.
This is going to be the hardest casting of all. It’ll be harder than replacing Eccleston, because he had the one series. But DT has now been there 3 or 4 years. Difficult to say.
One guy, something quirky about him… Hustle? The leader of the group… the black guy. Imdb says Adrian Lester.
NH has DW as Mark Gatiss as Doctor. Signed. “I’ll be back.” He’d love to, but NH can’t see it.
Register question next week: Who should be the next Doctor.
Next week: in the Arts building. Best way is through the quadrangle.
It’s where the Yeti attack. (See later today)
At the old BBC shop on Sat June 28th, Hatty Hayridge ex of Red Dwarf – couple others added. Ian Fairbarn, plays highly strung scientist on DW, Inferno and Invasion. Also Kai Owen, plays Rhys in Torchwood. Confusion cause normally to get stuff signed you have to buy £10 of stuff, so is it £10 per person or what?
Reading matter:
Nice essay how to guide thanks to becca (me! From college!)
Other stuff:
From the Inside – have mentioned about JNT being the last producer of the original series of DW and quite a controversial figure. His script editor in 1986 Eric Saward left under not good circumstances and gave an interview slagging them off. NH hasn’t been able to track that down (internet?) but this was in DWB, which became Dreamwatch. Editor had a (didn’t like) JNT. Did an expose behind the scenes. Also response from another fanzine taking it to task. Gives an idea of how some fans responded to the producer at the time.
Then there’s some stuff about companions.
Fanzine called Cottage Under Seige, first openly gay DW fanzine. Gareth Roberts, who wrote The Unicorn and the Wasp, was actually a co-editor of it. There’s an article about gay characters in DW during the classic years. The nearest comparison is to classical Hollywood – they’re not overtly stated as gay but it’s coded. (This) decodes the gay characters. Fans took Sam West to heart and nicknamed him Shagg.
Last bit DIY convention invitations. One of the most libellous (things… argh, not keeping up!)
This is the only article written about gay characters in DW to date. Not likely to show up in DWM.
Come in Nu – various forms of Paul McGann Doctor – just from an hour of screentime he ended up having a longer life than most Doctors through books, comic strips and audio plays.
Scheduled for success – first about how DW ended up with 14 episodes, explains why. And then a more recent one explaining how it was successful when it came back in 2005.
Then a whole load of press cutting related to the new series, including the response from Outpost Gallifrey when they had to close down their forum because CE had announced he was leaving and things got a little heated. Then a couple of sensationalist and stupid articles, like the Slitheen spaceship crashing through Big Ben described by the Daily Express as ‘the most tasteless ever’. Also The Daily Star, Billy Piper leaving, decided someone was going to be the new assistant so they could run pictures of her in her underwear.
There’s been loads of rumours. People ringing up the Sun getting paid for rumours.
Was going to compile list of top ten most stupid rumours about the new series. Rumours of someone from footballers wives was going to be the Rani.
Plenty of reading to be going on with.
Last week: Couple of presentations.
Mike – where did the educational process of DW go. NH: If DW had been fully devoted to education and science and history it just wouldn’t have lasted. The whole educational process was whittled away from quite early on. “The Chase” – the most barking DW story ever. The Daleks pursued the Doctor through time and space for six episodes. Along the way they land on the Marie Celeste, the Daleks come out, and that scares the crew off. Other barking bits as well, they end up at a funfair thing with Frankenstein and Dracula. But the last episode, when there’s a fight between the Daleks and the Mechanoids, big rotund impractical robot things… that’s really well shot, really exciting, really good sequence.
Clip from episode 1. Fantasy objects – Time space visualiser.
Previous story, Space museum, first episode great the rest rubbish. The grateful folk of the planet Xeros give the Doctor a time space visualiser.
It’s one of those things that could only work in the B&W era, this is verging on fantasy rather than science. Show the visualiser sequence:
(arrgh, eeeepy noises)
This is from 65.
“Doctor, turn it off!” (Yes!)
Big roung thing with a TV in the middle.
“Converts light energy into electrical impulses”
“You rattle off explanations that would have baffled Einstein and you expect Barbara and I to” understand.
“Everything that ever happens anywhere in the universe is recorded in light” and more technobabble of even worse than usual babble.
“A sort of time television”
/clip
Um… the explanation… neutrons… it’s almost quantum theory before quantum theory had been properly espoused… um, it’s tosh. They invented a nice looking glass really by giving it the technological trappings.
Clip:
(arrgh, noise!)
Everyone is arrgh noise.
NH: It’s very like a 60s television, having to tune it in and everything.
Abraham Lincoln giving some famous address… fuzzily… then it goes to looking like it’s in a studio with a bad beard.
Then it goes fuzzy and wavy again.
They put in a new card, and then thump it to make it work.
It’s Queen Elizabeth the I. (we don’t see the Doctor annoying her) (they’re not interacting with history at all, they’re just showing bits on TV)
I’m not writing many notes cause it’s boring and I’ve been awake too long to keep paying attention.
/clip
Continuity: that’s not the Shakespeare we see in The Shakespeare Code. How do we reconcile the two within the continuity of DW?
M says regeneration – S was a time lord all along!
It’s only the fans who will remember this, so otherwise… for the general public it doesn’t matter. The fans have to work out how. This story is full of continuity blunders anyway.
Or else they’re not looking back through time, they’re just picking up television programs.
Next, NH favourite bit: dancing.
Clip:
Well the BBC announcer just said they were starting so this bit is television. With the Beatles.
… yeah, this is totally a Doctor Who story /sarcasm
Ticket to Ride… Ian is dancing… oh dear…
Beatles = classical music according to Vicki.
/clip
So there we have it. Later on the screen will tell them Daleks are on their trail. Episode ends with constipated Dalek coming out of the ground.
The Chase, for all its faults, and they are numerous, is highly entertaining.
And what kids would love back then – six weeks of the Daleks chasing them.
Time space visualiser never appeared again after that story.
Story was they were going to age them up to have a concert in 2000.
Which would be a bit of a problem comparing to actual history.
Probably will hold up release on DVD due to rights issues. Beatles on the soundtrack. Another story released on audio had to swap out a Beatles song.
It just shows how far it was moving away from any educational basis by this point, the fact they can have a magical looking glass to tune in any time any place. Around the side of it it says Mars, Venus, and you can tune into those planets too.
TARDIS could take them there… except at the time it couldn’t get to particular times and places.
Basically it’s one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time. Like Kamelion, the robot companion to PD.
It’s one of those mad machines that fits logically back then but now… don’t think so. There’s still problems where a lot of the science in the new series are by any other name magic. Sonic Screwdriver is a magic wand, with all the things it can do. No scientific plausibility whatsoever.
Wargames is coming out on DVD soon.
One thing they didn’t do is tune in to 2008 – ‘are we still on’. ‘Blimey Doctor, you look different’
It’s… it’s odd because… The Chase is a good example of how fandom changes… Back in the 70s The Chase was seen as this real classic story. Daleks in it chasing the Doctor through time and space. And then as the bootleg video got circulated a lot of people thought it’s not classic, it’s not good. So it got lambasted. But then it had an upswing, people saying it’s bad but it’s fun. It went out around xmas so you could say it’s a bit of a panto. And now it’s enjoyed for all its faults, and they are numerous. It’s one of those things fandom got bogged down in, the difference, what makes something a classic DW story and what doesn’t. Fandom in the 70s were people in the late teens early 20s who were the elder spokesmen. Then along came a younger generation of fans who watch it and say it’s not that good. They slagged it off and then it gets rehabilitated.
There are some stories that will never be brought back for amusement. Like the Space Museum.
The program finishing in 1989 did actually liberate fandom in a way. They’d spent so much time wondering if the show was going to end; slagging off the producer; little internecine fan wars.
Instead of celebrating the story the fandom started celebrating itself. Started looking at itself. Getting more analytical as well. Not the history of Gallifrey stuff: applying English Literature stuff to DW eps. Fan Olympiads, like conventions but with no stars turning up.
There was always the hope that it would come back during the early 90s. The whole period between 89 ending and 96 McGann one night only… seems a hell of a long drag, a lot longer than the distance between McGann and 2005, which was actually longer.
There was stuff happening. It was no longer a TV program but it was still a commercial proposition and you could actually… merchandising was important.
Then on TV… there was this odd mixture of past present future – past the looking for missing episodes form the 60s, because for a time it was the only new DW you’d have… then in 1992 they rediscovered the legendary Tomb of the Cybermen, which for a long long time was regarded as the Holy Grail of the DW story. The best and scariest DW story ever… according to all the old fans. When it finally is released… it’s okay, but it has its faults up there to be seen. Since then only two episodes discovered. One from The Crusades, and one from The Daleks Masterplan, which is marvellous because it has the monster who walks floppily and has blobs all over him (I think he said)
M – do people make money finding them?
NH – no.
There were rumours for a long time, film being rediscovered…
there isn’t really money to be made. A couple of episodes were bought at a car boot sale for 8 quid. The guy didn’t know what he had at the time.
The BFI ran this thing called Missing Believed Wiped, not just DW but so much of 60s TV is missing. Steptoe, Nigel Kneale stories, jukebox jury with the Beatles.
As to anyone making money out of it… you couldn’t really because these days with the internet if you had a copy of a DW episode and decided to screen it it would get around quick.
It is still technically BBC property. They do retain the copyright.
When you look at it… some episodes will always remain lost, like the xmas episode from 1966 The Feast of Steven, wiped immediately afterwards, just won’t exist.
Others about 12 copies on 16mm sent around the world.
Diminishing numbers, getting so unlikely. But you never know.
So while the fans were looking at the past there were also campaigns to bring the program back. Letter writing campaigns. Then they started getting militant and barking. One attempt to sue that was absolutely ludicrous. Then the mass phone in one day that was also daft. But it wasn’t going to happen. BBC was basically looking at the coproduction Segal was trying to set up in America.
And then there was the future. In 1991 Virgin Books who were the publishers of the Target books, the adaptations of the stories, filled up many a child’s library in the 70s and 80s, 1991 were granted the licence to write new DW fiction, the proviso being they had to pick up where 7 left off.
There was a lot of fanboy fantasy with Ace. Any excuse to get her naked.
Takes the TARDIS into previously unexplored realms of time and space – with more sex and quite a lot of drugs as well. Which didn’t fit easily in with the DW universe.
There’s a series of 3 novels written by Cartmel and… it was part of the problem that some of the authors were writing what they wanted to write, it wasn’t a Doctor Who story as such.
So there was sex and drugs and swearing in one. And there was a lot of complaints at the outset of them.
But. As a breeding ground for what would happen later. Many of the people who’d written for the new series, their first published work was with these books. Gareth Roberts, Mark Gatiss probably the best one of all called Nightshade, it’s like proper Doctor Who, he didn’t want any sex or drugs. Nightshade you can download at the BBC DW website. Paul Cornell as well. He wrote one called Human Nature. Which… plot summary: Norfolk town, war on the way 1914, John Smith, history teacher, hard time with new post at boys school for military officers.
Basically was remade for the new series.
The actual one in the new series is a lot better in the book.
In the book he puts his time lord stuff in a cricket ball. The watch is much better. And in the book you’re never sure why he turns human or what the villains want. But it is basically the same story.
The books were originally designed to be part of the DW canon. Becomes problematical once again when the Doctor has the same adventure twice. The books are not regarded as canon now.
Human Nature the original version is also on the BBC website.
Interesting run of books. Did tail off towards the end. Part of the problem was they were written in the early 90s and the big SF was cyberspace. And there’s lots of gung ho space battle wars.
Another, near the end, RTD wrote Damaged Goods. Characters called Tyler. Not a bad book actually. This one was actually written just about the time McGann was announced.
Hint of cameo appearance.
They were working out this absolutely ludicrous backstory for the Time Lords where they're not actually born they’re spun from looms, which thankfully gets junked when the new series gets back. Much better to have an emotional relationship with family rather than My Daughter Came from a Loom.
(I would disagree because tech is not relationship but he’s moved on)
Then the BBC wrote books about the Paul McGann Doctor.
They sold pretty well at the beginning.
Now they’re collectors items. Some can go for upwards of £50 on ebay. Which when they cost £3.99 is pretty stunning.
The ones worth reading are the ones on the BBC website, Nightshade and Human Nature. Makes an interesting compare/contrast.
But…
There isn’t any DW on TV, but… we have the books, which are an offshoot of fanfiction. Unlike other publishing ventures they had an open submission policy where they’d take first time authors. That’s how people like mentioned above got published. RTD was established, had done TV Dark Season and Century Falls, great and weird respectively. Probably found a spare few weeks and wrote that novel.
But books aren’t a replacement for actually watching Doctor Who.
This is where people like Bill Baggs comes in. Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Doctor Who in any other name. They did actually do quite a few of them. Changed to make it clear he isn’t really Doctor Who, he’s some mad assassin from another dimension or something. And they got progressively bigger and better, and there was money to be made for them. If you could put together a video with stars from DW there was a market for it. Even better if they had them playing characters from the program. PROBE – marketed as UK XFiles. Liz Shaw came back. All stories set in an old school house, cause they had that set. Mark Gatiss in it, wrote for it, gets naked at one point.
Biggest one of all was one called Down Time, a coproduction between DWAS, commercial arm, ??Temporal services who run the conventions, and… they got Christopher Barry to direct it, who had directed Doctor Who, Liz Sladen is in it playing SJS, Nicholas Courtney is in it as the Brigadier, Victoria’s in there, her father’s in there, it’s a big star studded cast. Biggest star studded cast for DW for years. So it’s got to be shot somewhere really really spectacular. It’s a story about the Yeti, UNIT are going to fight them, spectacular battle, where are they going to film it…
(I know this one, it’s at the UEA, I found that out before)
clip:
Chancellery Drive… big furry monsters…
SJS meets offspring of Brigadier.
Music does the scary violins of stabbing.
Building is at the UEA, one of the boring straight ones. Where’s the ziggurats? They’re proper scary.
Aha, the quad, full of Yeti balls. And the Chaplaincy. And the buildings. And… they stuck a bad CGI pyramid on a building. Still no ziggurats.
Oh, web sky, very scary. And fire extinguisher arms.
Possessed dude with echoey voice.
UEA looks pretty good as alien planet. Reckoned so before.
Brigadier in flat cap is less awesome. Still cool.
Use of the multi levels with the walkways.
UNIT in webs.
/clip
Shot here. NH missed that. Didn’t know. It was 1994. Summer. Absence of students.
Had the water going, must have been graduation. Water only runs when students aren’t around.
What was the distribution of that?
Initially only sold at conventions mail order. Was picked up and sold in shops. Not a big run, but enough to cover costs.
Never mention it to Lis Sladen, she didn’t get paid for years. Really bad point with her. She wishes she hadn’t done it. She’s still very protective of the character and feels it demeans SJS.
Funds came basically from fans chucking money in. The commercial arm of DWAS. Ian Levine chucked some money in as well.
And there was a market for it.
All good fun. But it’s not going to sell outside the DW cachet really. It’s still… when you’ve got so many stars from the program itself that’s all it’s going to sell to really.
Did other ones, including Airzone, got CB, PD and SM… had CB in bed with NB. Also a very young Alan Cumming. [er, I don't remember that being 'in bed'. Must take care with typing...] Actually worth looking at.
Some of them are coming out on DVD now.
This one hasn’t.
That’s dubbed off friends of his who got it at convention.
They were selling for £15, a lot for video in the 90s.
[of mysterious origins] Copy on DVD! Yaays! [I has, haven't watched yet]
Amusing, just cause it’s all shot here.
In the 90s this was the place for alien activity. The Uninvited, Leslie Grantham possessed policeman. Computer center here. They filmed down in the car park.
The video spin off thing faded out after the McGann thing happened.
BB mostly did autons. Easy to do.
Starts to move into doing audioplays, CDs. That’s where a lot of people cut their teeth. RS who wrote Dalek for 2005 season started in audio. (Yep, they adapted his)
1996:
He’s back, and it’s about time.
Back bigger and better than before.
Paul McGann Doctor. Everyone’s first response was hmm thought it would be Richard E Grant. But he played it and wasn’t very good. [in the Red Nose Day thing]
Played on sunny bank holiday, got audience of 9million.
On Fox it was opposite season finale of Roseanne. Didn’t get a big audience in the states.
Eradicate any knowledge you have of Doctor Who. Imagine you’re sitting in America not knowing anything about DW and you tune into the DW TV Movie.
Show the opening and see where the problems lie.
Clip:
Video – recorded at the time, with Euro 96 ads.
BBC: Greatest heroes back, and its about time.
That godawful opening speech.
Skaro, Daleks, Master, Time Lord, Gallifrey… and the stuff that doesn’t even remotely fit.
Weird theme music of marching.
titles = Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, her, then Sylvester, then him, then a couple of people. Then a TARDIS.
13 lives. Master used his. Rules.
Locked up remains with slightly blurry backwards sonic and see Doctor 7 in wiggly mirror.
Really weird set of TARDIS opulence.
7 and never be too careful.
Music… weird candles everywhere… singing about kissing… you know between viewings I totally repress the details on this one…
Gallifrey, Rassillon Era, 500 year diary…
Jelly babies?
HGWells The Time Machine he’s reading.
… it’s a long slow start where he drinks tea and reads a book. Um, why?
And then things break, also for no reason.
I kind of like the central column.
/clip
For a casual viewer, where’s the problems?
US viewer, continuity infodump impenetrable.
UK viewer, too American.
In the UK we know Time Lords, regeneration, Daleks… except those sound like helium Daleks… you’re just hit with the mythology of the program right from the outset.
You’ve got to take a lot on board.
Skaro, Master, Daleks, Timelord, Gallifrey, 13 lives, Doctor.
Good that they have McCoy there to do the regeneration… but that’s a problem too. You start off with one character as your leading man and suddenly he switches to another one.
(I said my theory you should start with her trying to fix a guy with two hearts. That’s a beginning, mystery, problem. The actual start… isn’t.) [Martha's introduction has something of that idea, yesno?]
By all accounts the production was fraught, the script constantly changing. Which does show. The ending doesn’t make any sense at all.
(I’m trying not to grumble too much. Oops.)
McCoy only in it for 10 minutes before he regenerates. He’s fine.
But it’s odd because it’s trying to be slavishly faithful but there’s lots of elements that don’t quite match.
That said, it’s still the best *directed* Doctor Who.
The inside of the TARDIS is stunning.
New series takes a lot from movie… (I disagree, think it’s more how TV developed.)
Complaints of Americanisation.
Or liking it – it’s like Batman and the Joker at the end in the virtually crypt.
There’s a lot of God thing going on. Shroud, crown of thorns.
The regeneration sequence is marvellous. Bit of gurning sadly, but the way the regeneration happens is really good.
There’s lots of great moments in there but it doesn’t gel as a whole.
Bit unfair just to show the opening cause it doesn’t show McGann.
There’s always a moment when you finally accept the new guy as the Doctor.
Took NH a while to accept DT as the Doctor. Not until he said “My Sarah Jane” that he’s the Doctor.
This moment in the movie is one great moment –
Her with microscope. Him trying shoes on, belong to Brian. Him with magnifying glass.
Blood is not blood.
Walk in the shoes…
It’s the ‘these shoes fit’ isn’t it?
Yep.
Meteor storm => these shoes fit perfectly.
/clip
Then to the High Camp of Eric Roberts as the Master.
The show starts making less sense from this point on.
Also: The Half Human thing.
Fans up in arms about that.
And the snogging.
Kisses the leading lady. Cause he’s happy. It’s not romantic.
Broken the big taboo.
Now?
The point about the Doctor these days – the Doctor can flirt, but he can’t make the first move. The woman always has to make the first move on the Doctor. [or Jack does]
That said… NH quite likes it. As a pilot for a new TV series goes, it’s no worse than the one for ST TNG, B5, all the other SF shows around at the time.
It could have been a hell of a lot worse. Early drafts knocking around, Master as Doctor’s brother, Daleks invade Gallifrey… No.
It’s interesting what they took from it for the new series and what they ignored.
Snogging’s okay but half human, no.
Fandom opinion: relief it was back, but didn’t like the Americanisation, weren’t happy about the kissing, the motorbike chase in it… which NH doesn’t mind; Pertwee was doing that.
There’s the lovely moment where he points a gun at himself. “He’s British.” “Am I? I suppose I am.”
Could have been worse, could have been an American actor in the role.
Did lead to a rights nightmare in the BBC for years. For a while the rights were co-owned by Universal, then that lapsed. BBC films were going to make a film.
RTD went in, asked what are the rights issues… Jane Tranter (?) said she didn’t quite know. RTD knew the rights issues better than the BBC, partly from reading DWM.
Compare/contrast
The opening moment of ‘Rose’ = recorded on the night, applause and laughter, Graham Norton.
When DW first began in 1963 transmission was held back by Kennedy, in 2005 it was interrupted by GN. Because someone didn’t switch the feed off from the Dance thing earlier. Nightmare.
See how this compares to other openings.
(Yaays, Rose!)
(Yes I didn’t like Rose the character at the time… or still, quite often… but this rocks.)
Familiar theme tune, title sequence – has the flying names very similar to other thing? Still not sure about the Doctor Who spin, says NH.
TARDIS flying is cool.
Remember the opening from Spearhead from Space? Replayed – Moon to Earth.
Alarm clock. Rose in bedroom of pink. Music. Montage of going places. “Bye, see you later” Rose face of bored. Traffic being British ie red buses.
Dummies in windows.
Henriks sale.
Music goes a bit like it’s on speakers in the shop, then back to the mix for outside with Mickey.
Kissings and food and Mayor of London in the background.
Music again to speaker with montage of boredom and working…
Then back to the proper sound even though she’s still in the shop, cause she’s taking the money and heading down in the lift. Lift doors, lift mechanism… suddenly I’m getting flashbacks of New Earth and feeling dumb for not previously noticing.
Rose in the basement calling for Wilson.
Spooky noise of doooom.
… no not Graham Norton yet, that’s in a sec.
Lights on, “Wilson”, and cheering… yep, that.
Subsequent DVD rewatches almost erase that memory.
It’s so quick, she’s got the monsters already, we’ve got background from montage of quick ordinary, we have spooky dark places and…. Got to love the autons, just the dummies coming to life idea, that does not get old.
Backed into a corner… with GN comments… corner, dark, scary… Hand!
“Run”
In the lift together, the Doctor being the Doctor… CE being the Doctor that is.
Wilson chief electrician.
Explosive.
“I’m the Doctor by the way, what’s your name”
“Rose”
“Nice to meet you Rose – run for your life!”
And she does run, and on the street with normal stuff being scary and nearly running her over, and… BOOM!
Yaay kabooms!
Running off past the TARDIS with the music sting.
/clip
Quite happily watch that episode time and time again.
Compare to McGann movie:
You didn’t need to know anything about it.
We know more about Rose.
From the opening of the episode to her getting in the lifts we’ve got a pretty fair idea of what her life’s like. Lives with her mum, got a boyfriend who is a bit rubbish, works in a department store. Then goes down the lift to deliver the money.
In that time, remember The Leisure Hive? The long pan along the beach? In that time – we’ve learnt a hell of a lot.
So.
There’s nothing mentioned from the McGann weird words list.
We’re seeing it through the companions eyes to begin with. It’s grounded. It’s like the first episode in An Unearthly Child. Someone recogniseably human who somehow gets caught up in the Doctor.
Eccleston’s first appearance?
One guy wants to slap him.
Big contrast between him, dynamic and action man, and the Doctor who’s irascible but very staid in UC.
But he is irascible. Quite unpleasant. Way he treats Mickey is horrible.
Do we hear the words Time Lord?
Nope.
Oh we do – the Nestene Consciousness mumbles it, but it’s low down on the mix.
Gallifrey finally gets mentioned in The Runaway Bride, two series two xmas specials later.
There’s none of this. We don’t even know the Doctor regenerates.
Inspired to use autons. Appeases fanboys, but back to basics taking something real and making it scary. Plus people who weren’t necessarily fans remembered the shop dummies coming to life.
Touches on the old and the new. Boldly states this is a new series. Never has the series started like that. *click click click* fingers. Never started with the companions.
Family of companion? Used to be all orphans.
No backstory. Get rid of Gallifrey, Time War destroys it, so you don’t get bogged down with all the old Time Lord stories and mythos.
In the cycle of books with McGann Gallifrey does get destroyed but it’s probably not the one referred to in the series.
Won’t go into Faction Paradox, time travelling voodoo cult, bogged down the books for quite a while.
Resisted the temptation to put the Daleks in the first episode.
He said no. It’s Rose’s story.
Autons are back, but they’re in the background. Main story is Rose meeting the Doctor.
Working on the American principle of Sweeps episodes – half way through you have a big episode that will draw viewers in. Six episodes in, finally an episode with a Dalek. If people hadn’t been following up to that point, Daleks are in it, lets see it for the Dalek.
That was the other great thing. The week with the Dalek was the same week as the general election. Radio Times cover was Dalek outside Westminster.
Shows how much TV changed – two weeks earlier blew up No 10 – once upon a time anything vaguely political around elections would have been pulled.
It spanked Ant & Dec that night.
Doctor Who’s back, wahey. Beat A&D, loads of viewers. Going to be another series, and another after that… and CE is leaving.
What a week that was.
Next week:
Companions. Very very different to what they were in the 60s and 70s. Not orphans, have families.
Closing video: Red nose day version. I shut down computer and pack.
On screen at the moment is something called Summoned By Shadows (?) By Bill Baggs Video (?)
When Doctor Who went off the air some people decided to make their own versions. Copyright precluded it being called DW. This is The Stranger and Miss Brown, starring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. Started a whole run of quasi amateur DW straight to video stuff.
Will Dr River Song be back? Will Alex Kingston come back to DW? Will she be the new companion or what?
(I did shrugging)
She’d have to be younger wouldn’t she? (yup)
This is the problem, setting up a future story.
[Future Doctor] All we know – the Doctor had a swagger. How many have a swagger? Brian Blessed! Likelihood is highly improbable. Once upon a time, yes, now, no.
Schedule.
Also the character of the Doctor now has to be child friendly.
One vote only for yes, the first time she meets him.
If they do bring her back it’ll assume a lot of knowledge on the part of the audience. Only 10% of the audience sees every episode, which is quite a small amount actually. It could get convoluted. Strangle a programme after a while.
RTD said in interview.
(detour via explaining the plot) (Er, I’m being loud and opinionated.)
“Be careful of the handouts tonight”
Vashta Nerada joke.
Almost a recurring theme of this series, you can change history, decide who lives who dies.
Is he playing god.
As far as the theme for this series goes, you’re not watching for Bad Wolfs to appear anywhere, or gratuitous mentions of Torchwood really badly shoehorned in, but it’s difficult to tease out the recurring theme this time.
The podcast to this week’s episode on the BBC website is worth listening to. RTD, SM and DT. They start off as professionals but rapidly degenerate into fanboys. When it gets to the point they’re talking about Yartech leader of the Voord the fan credentials are out there. They compare old and new and the main difference is pacing.
(I went to DL the podcast and missed a bit. Summary: Everybody Lives. Except Reinette.)
(Now something about the Doctor’s Father having to be Brian Blessed or John Hurt. Also NH wanted Bill Bailey to be the Master, a really bewildered Master of rubbish schemes.)
After DT? Hint on the podcast – James Nesbitt – there’s a joke going around he’s next.
This is going to be the hardest casting of all. It’ll be harder than replacing Eccleston, because he had the one series. But DT has now been there 3 or 4 years. Difficult to say.
One guy, something quirky about him… Hustle? The leader of the group… the black guy. Imdb says Adrian Lester.
NH has DW as Mark Gatiss as Doctor. Signed. “I’ll be back.” He’d love to, but NH can’t see it.
Register question next week: Who should be the next Doctor.
Next week: in the Arts building. Best way is through the quadrangle.
It’s where the Yeti attack. (See later today)
At the old BBC shop on Sat June 28th, Hatty Hayridge ex of Red Dwarf – couple others added. Ian Fairbarn, plays highly strung scientist on DW, Inferno and Invasion. Also Kai Owen, plays Rhys in Torchwood. Confusion cause normally to get stuff signed you have to buy £10 of stuff, so is it £10 per person or what?
Reading matter:
Nice essay how to guide thanks to becca (me! From college!)
Other stuff:
From the Inside – have mentioned about JNT being the last producer of the original series of DW and quite a controversial figure. His script editor in 1986 Eric Saward left under not good circumstances and gave an interview slagging them off. NH hasn’t been able to track that down (internet?) but this was in DWB, which became Dreamwatch. Editor had a (didn’t like) JNT. Did an expose behind the scenes. Also response from another fanzine taking it to task. Gives an idea of how some fans responded to the producer at the time.
Then there’s some stuff about companions.
Fanzine called Cottage Under Seige, first openly gay DW fanzine. Gareth Roberts, who wrote The Unicorn and the Wasp, was actually a co-editor of it. There’s an article about gay characters in DW during the classic years. The nearest comparison is to classical Hollywood – they’re not overtly stated as gay but it’s coded. (This) decodes the gay characters. Fans took Sam West to heart and nicknamed him Shagg.
Last bit DIY convention invitations. One of the most libellous (things… argh, not keeping up!)
This is the only article written about gay characters in DW to date. Not likely to show up in DWM.
Come in Nu – various forms of Paul McGann Doctor – just from an hour of screentime he ended up having a longer life than most Doctors through books, comic strips and audio plays.
Scheduled for success – first about how DW ended up with 14 episodes, explains why. And then a more recent one explaining how it was successful when it came back in 2005.
Then a whole load of press cutting related to the new series, including the response from Outpost Gallifrey when they had to close down their forum because CE had announced he was leaving and things got a little heated. Then a couple of sensationalist and stupid articles, like the Slitheen spaceship crashing through Big Ben described by the Daily Express as ‘the most tasteless ever’. Also The Daily Star, Billy Piper leaving, decided someone was going to be the new assistant so they could run pictures of her in her underwear.
There’s been loads of rumours. People ringing up the Sun getting paid for rumours.
Was going to compile list of top ten most stupid rumours about the new series. Rumours of someone from footballers wives was going to be the Rani.
Plenty of reading to be going on with.
Last week: Couple of presentations.
Mike – where did the educational process of DW go. NH: If DW had been fully devoted to education and science and history it just wouldn’t have lasted. The whole educational process was whittled away from quite early on. “The Chase” – the most barking DW story ever. The Daleks pursued the Doctor through time and space for six episodes. Along the way they land on the Marie Celeste, the Daleks come out, and that scares the crew off. Other barking bits as well, they end up at a funfair thing with Frankenstein and Dracula. But the last episode, when there’s a fight between the Daleks and the Mechanoids, big rotund impractical robot things… that’s really well shot, really exciting, really good sequence.
Clip from episode 1. Fantasy objects – Time space visualiser.
Previous story, Space museum, first episode great the rest rubbish. The grateful folk of the planet Xeros give the Doctor a time space visualiser.
It’s one of those things that could only work in the B&W era, this is verging on fantasy rather than science. Show the visualiser sequence:
(arrgh, eeeepy noises)
This is from 65.
“Doctor, turn it off!” (Yes!)
Big roung thing with a TV in the middle.
“Converts light energy into electrical impulses”
“You rattle off explanations that would have baffled Einstein and you expect Barbara and I to” understand.
“Everything that ever happens anywhere in the universe is recorded in light” and more technobabble of even worse than usual babble.
“A sort of time television”
/clip
Um… the explanation… neutrons… it’s almost quantum theory before quantum theory had been properly espoused… um, it’s tosh. They invented a nice looking glass really by giving it the technological trappings.
Clip:
(arrgh, noise!)
Everyone is arrgh noise.
NH: It’s very like a 60s television, having to tune it in and everything.
Abraham Lincoln giving some famous address… fuzzily… then it goes to looking like it’s in a studio with a bad beard.
Then it goes fuzzy and wavy again.
They put in a new card, and then thump it to make it work.
It’s Queen Elizabeth the I. (we don’t see the Doctor annoying her) (they’re not interacting with history at all, they’re just showing bits on TV)
I’m not writing many notes cause it’s boring and I’ve been awake too long to keep paying attention.
/clip
Continuity: that’s not the Shakespeare we see in The Shakespeare Code. How do we reconcile the two within the continuity of DW?
M says regeneration – S was a time lord all along!
It’s only the fans who will remember this, so otherwise… for the general public it doesn’t matter. The fans have to work out how. This story is full of continuity blunders anyway.
Or else they’re not looking back through time, they’re just picking up television programs.
Next, NH favourite bit: dancing.
Clip:
Well the BBC announcer just said they were starting so this bit is television. With the Beatles.
… yeah, this is totally a Doctor Who story /sarcasm
Ticket to Ride… Ian is dancing… oh dear…
Beatles = classical music according to Vicki.
/clip
So there we have it. Later on the screen will tell them Daleks are on their trail. Episode ends with constipated Dalek coming out of the ground.
The Chase, for all its faults, and they are numerous, is highly entertaining.
And what kids would love back then – six weeks of the Daleks chasing them.
Time space visualiser never appeared again after that story.
Story was they were going to age them up to have a concert in 2000.
Which would be a bit of a problem comparing to actual history.
Probably will hold up release on DVD due to rights issues. Beatles on the soundtrack. Another story released on audio had to swap out a Beatles song.
It just shows how far it was moving away from any educational basis by this point, the fact they can have a magical looking glass to tune in any time any place. Around the side of it it says Mars, Venus, and you can tune into those planets too.
TARDIS could take them there… except at the time it couldn’t get to particular times and places.
Basically it’s one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time. Like Kamelion, the robot companion to PD.
It’s one of those mad machines that fits logically back then but now… don’t think so. There’s still problems where a lot of the science in the new series are by any other name magic. Sonic Screwdriver is a magic wand, with all the things it can do. No scientific plausibility whatsoever.
Wargames is coming out on DVD soon.
One thing they didn’t do is tune in to 2008 – ‘are we still on’. ‘Blimey Doctor, you look different’
It’s… it’s odd because… The Chase is a good example of how fandom changes… Back in the 70s The Chase was seen as this real classic story. Daleks in it chasing the Doctor through time and space. And then as the bootleg video got circulated a lot of people thought it’s not classic, it’s not good. So it got lambasted. But then it had an upswing, people saying it’s bad but it’s fun. It went out around xmas so you could say it’s a bit of a panto. And now it’s enjoyed for all its faults, and they are numerous. It’s one of those things fandom got bogged down in, the difference, what makes something a classic DW story and what doesn’t. Fandom in the 70s were people in the late teens early 20s who were the elder spokesmen. Then along came a younger generation of fans who watch it and say it’s not that good. They slagged it off and then it gets rehabilitated.
There are some stories that will never be brought back for amusement. Like the Space Museum.
The program finishing in 1989 did actually liberate fandom in a way. They’d spent so much time wondering if the show was going to end; slagging off the producer; little internecine fan wars.
Instead of celebrating the story the fandom started celebrating itself. Started looking at itself. Getting more analytical as well. Not the history of Gallifrey stuff: applying English Literature stuff to DW eps. Fan Olympiads, like conventions but with no stars turning up.
There was always the hope that it would come back during the early 90s. The whole period between 89 ending and 96 McGann one night only… seems a hell of a long drag, a lot longer than the distance between McGann and 2005, which was actually longer.
There was stuff happening. It was no longer a TV program but it was still a commercial proposition and you could actually… merchandising was important.
Then on TV… there was this odd mixture of past present future – past the looking for missing episodes form the 60s, because for a time it was the only new DW you’d have… then in 1992 they rediscovered the legendary Tomb of the Cybermen, which for a long long time was regarded as the Holy Grail of the DW story. The best and scariest DW story ever… according to all the old fans. When it finally is released… it’s okay, but it has its faults up there to be seen. Since then only two episodes discovered. One from The Crusades, and one from The Daleks Masterplan, which is marvellous because it has the monster who walks floppily and has blobs all over him (I think he said)
M – do people make money finding them?
NH – no.
There were rumours for a long time, film being rediscovered…
there isn’t really money to be made. A couple of episodes were bought at a car boot sale for 8 quid. The guy didn’t know what he had at the time.
The BFI ran this thing called Missing Believed Wiped, not just DW but so much of 60s TV is missing. Steptoe, Nigel Kneale stories, jukebox jury with the Beatles.
As to anyone making money out of it… you couldn’t really because these days with the internet if you had a copy of a DW episode and decided to screen it it would get around quick.
It is still technically BBC property. They do retain the copyright.
When you look at it… some episodes will always remain lost, like the xmas episode from 1966 The Feast of Steven, wiped immediately afterwards, just won’t exist.
Others about 12 copies on 16mm sent around the world.
Diminishing numbers, getting so unlikely. But you never know.
So while the fans were looking at the past there were also campaigns to bring the program back. Letter writing campaigns. Then they started getting militant and barking. One attempt to sue that was absolutely ludicrous. Then the mass phone in one day that was also daft. But it wasn’t going to happen. BBC was basically looking at the coproduction Segal was trying to set up in America.
And then there was the future. In 1991 Virgin Books who were the publishers of the Target books, the adaptations of the stories, filled up many a child’s library in the 70s and 80s, 1991 were granted the licence to write new DW fiction, the proviso being they had to pick up where 7 left off.
There was a lot of fanboy fantasy with Ace. Any excuse to get her naked.
Takes the TARDIS into previously unexplored realms of time and space – with more sex and quite a lot of drugs as well. Which didn’t fit easily in with the DW universe.
There’s a series of 3 novels written by Cartmel and… it was part of the problem that some of the authors were writing what they wanted to write, it wasn’t a Doctor Who story as such.
So there was sex and drugs and swearing in one. And there was a lot of complaints at the outset of them.
But. As a breeding ground for what would happen later. Many of the people who’d written for the new series, their first published work was with these books. Gareth Roberts, Mark Gatiss probably the best one of all called Nightshade, it’s like proper Doctor Who, he didn’t want any sex or drugs. Nightshade you can download at the BBC DW website. Paul Cornell as well. He wrote one called Human Nature. Which… plot summary: Norfolk town, war on the way 1914, John Smith, history teacher, hard time with new post at boys school for military officers.
Basically was remade for the new series.
The actual one in the new series is a lot better in the book.
In the book he puts his time lord stuff in a cricket ball. The watch is much better. And in the book you’re never sure why he turns human or what the villains want. But it is basically the same story.
The books were originally designed to be part of the DW canon. Becomes problematical once again when the Doctor has the same adventure twice. The books are not regarded as canon now.
Human Nature the original version is also on the BBC website.
Interesting run of books. Did tail off towards the end. Part of the problem was they were written in the early 90s and the big SF was cyberspace. And there’s lots of gung ho space battle wars.
Another, near the end, RTD wrote Damaged Goods. Characters called Tyler. Not a bad book actually. This one was actually written just about the time McGann was announced.
Hint of cameo appearance.
They were working out this absolutely ludicrous backstory for the Time Lords where they're not actually born they’re spun from looms, which thankfully gets junked when the new series gets back. Much better to have an emotional relationship with family rather than My Daughter Came from a Loom.
(I would disagree because tech is not relationship but he’s moved on)
Then the BBC wrote books about the Paul McGann Doctor.
They sold pretty well at the beginning.
Now they’re collectors items. Some can go for upwards of £50 on ebay. Which when they cost £3.99 is pretty stunning.
The ones worth reading are the ones on the BBC website, Nightshade and Human Nature. Makes an interesting compare/contrast.
But…
There isn’t any DW on TV, but… we have the books, which are an offshoot of fanfiction. Unlike other publishing ventures they had an open submission policy where they’d take first time authors. That’s how people like mentioned above got published. RTD was established, had done TV Dark Season and Century Falls, great and weird respectively. Probably found a spare few weeks and wrote that novel.
But books aren’t a replacement for actually watching Doctor Who.
This is where people like Bill Baggs comes in. Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Doctor Who in any other name. They did actually do quite a few of them. Changed to make it clear he isn’t really Doctor Who, he’s some mad assassin from another dimension or something. And they got progressively bigger and better, and there was money to be made for them. If you could put together a video with stars from DW there was a market for it. Even better if they had them playing characters from the program. PROBE – marketed as UK XFiles. Liz Shaw came back. All stories set in an old school house, cause they had that set. Mark Gatiss in it, wrote for it, gets naked at one point.
Biggest one of all was one called Down Time, a coproduction between DWAS, commercial arm, ??Temporal services who run the conventions, and… they got Christopher Barry to direct it, who had directed Doctor Who, Liz Sladen is in it playing SJS, Nicholas Courtney is in it as the Brigadier, Victoria’s in there, her father’s in there, it’s a big star studded cast. Biggest star studded cast for DW for years. So it’s got to be shot somewhere really really spectacular. It’s a story about the Yeti, UNIT are going to fight them, spectacular battle, where are they going to film it…
(I know this one, it’s at the UEA, I found that out before)
clip:
Chancellery Drive… big furry monsters…
SJS meets offspring of Brigadier.
Music does the scary violins of stabbing.
Building is at the UEA, one of the boring straight ones. Where’s the ziggurats? They’re proper scary.
Aha, the quad, full of Yeti balls. And the Chaplaincy. And the buildings. And… they stuck a bad CGI pyramid on a building. Still no ziggurats.
Oh, web sky, very scary. And fire extinguisher arms.
Possessed dude with echoey voice.
UEA looks pretty good as alien planet. Reckoned so before.
Brigadier in flat cap is less awesome. Still cool.
Use of the multi levels with the walkways.
UNIT in webs.
/clip
Shot here. NH missed that. Didn’t know. It was 1994. Summer. Absence of students.
Had the water going, must have been graduation. Water only runs when students aren’t around.
What was the distribution of that?
Initially only sold at conventions mail order. Was picked up and sold in shops. Not a big run, but enough to cover costs.
Never mention it to Lis Sladen, she didn’t get paid for years. Really bad point with her. She wishes she hadn’t done it. She’s still very protective of the character and feels it demeans SJS.
Funds came basically from fans chucking money in. The commercial arm of DWAS. Ian Levine chucked some money in as well.
And there was a market for it.
All good fun. But it’s not going to sell outside the DW cachet really. It’s still… when you’ve got so many stars from the program itself that’s all it’s going to sell to really.
Did other ones, including Airzone, got CB, PD and SM… had CB in bed with NB. Also a very young Alan Cumming. [er, I don't remember that being 'in bed'. Must take care with typing...] Actually worth looking at.
Some of them are coming out on DVD now.
This one hasn’t.
That’s dubbed off friends of his who got it at convention.
They were selling for £15, a lot for video in the 90s.
[of mysterious origins] Copy on DVD! Yaays! [I has, haven't watched yet]
Amusing, just cause it’s all shot here.
In the 90s this was the place for alien activity. The Uninvited, Leslie Grantham possessed policeman. Computer center here. They filmed down in the car park.
The video spin off thing faded out after the McGann thing happened.
BB mostly did autons. Easy to do.
Starts to move into doing audioplays, CDs. That’s where a lot of people cut their teeth. RS who wrote Dalek for 2005 season started in audio. (Yep, they adapted his)
1996:
He’s back, and it’s about time.
Back bigger and better than before.
Paul McGann Doctor. Everyone’s first response was hmm thought it would be Richard E Grant. But he played it and wasn’t very good. [in the Red Nose Day thing]
Played on sunny bank holiday, got audience of 9million.
On Fox it was opposite season finale of Roseanne. Didn’t get a big audience in the states.
Eradicate any knowledge you have of Doctor Who. Imagine you’re sitting in America not knowing anything about DW and you tune into the DW TV Movie.
Show the opening and see where the problems lie.
Clip:
Video – recorded at the time, with Euro 96 ads.
BBC: Greatest heroes back, and its about time.
That godawful opening speech.
Skaro, Daleks, Master, Time Lord, Gallifrey… and the stuff that doesn’t even remotely fit.
Weird theme music of marching.
titles = Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, her, then Sylvester, then him, then a couple of people. Then a TARDIS.
13 lives. Master used his. Rules.
Locked up remains with slightly blurry backwards sonic and see Doctor 7 in wiggly mirror.
Really weird set of TARDIS opulence.
7 and never be too careful.
Music… weird candles everywhere… singing about kissing… you know between viewings I totally repress the details on this one…
Gallifrey, Rassillon Era, 500 year diary…
Jelly babies?
HGWells The Time Machine he’s reading.
… it’s a long slow start where he drinks tea and reads a book. Um, why?
And then things break, also for no reason.
I kind of like the central column.
/clip
For a casual viewer, where’s the problems?
US viewer, continuity infodump impenetrable.
UK viewer, too American.
In the UK we know Time Lords, regeneration, Daleks… except those sound like helium Daleks… you’re just hit with the mythology of the program right from the outset.
You’ve got to take a lot on board.
Skaro, Master, Daleks, Timelord, Gallifrey, 13 lives, Doctor.
Good that they have McCoy there to do the regeneration… but that’s a problem too. You start off with one character as your leading man and suddenly he switches to another one.
(I said my theory you should start with her trying to fix a guy with two hearts. That’s a beginning, mystery, problem. The actual start… isn’t.) [Martha's introduction has something of that idea, yesno?]
By all accounts the production was fraught, the script constantly changing. Which does show. The ending doesn’t make any sense at all.
(I’m trying not to grumble too much. Oops.)
McCoy only in it for 10 minutes before he regenerates. He’s fine.
But it’s odd because it’s trying to be slavishly faithful but there’s lots of elements that don’t quite match.
That said, it’s still the best *directed* Doctor Who.
The inside of the TARDIS is stunning.
New series takes a lot from movie… (I disagree, think it’s more how TV developed.)
Complaints of Americanisation.
Or liking it – it’s like Batman and the Joker at the end in the virtually crypt.
There’s a lot of God thing going on. Shroud, crown of thorns.
The regeneration sequence is marvellous. Bit of gurning sadly, but the way the regeneration happens is really good.
There’s lots of great moments in there but it doesn’t gel as a whole.
Bit unfair just to show the opening cause it doesn’t show McGann.
There’s always a moment when you finally accept the new guy as the Doctor.
Took NH a while to accept DT as the Doctor. Not until he said “My Sarah Jane” that he’s the Doctor.
This moment in the movie is one great moment –
Her with microscope. Him trying shoes on, belong to Brian. Him with magnifying glass.
Blood is not blood.
Walk in the shoes…
It’s the ‘these shoes fit’ isn’t it?
Yep.
Meteor storm => these shoes fit perfectly.
/clip
Then to the High Camp of Eric Roberts as the Master.
The show starts making less sense from this point on.
Also: The Half Human thing.
Fans up in arms about that.
And the snogging.
Kisses the leading lady. Cause he’s happy. It’s not romantic.
Broken the big taboo.
Now?
The point about the Doctor these days – the Doctor can flirt, but he can’t make the first move. The woman always has to make the first move on the Doctor. [or Jack does]
That said… NH quite likes it. As a pilot for a new TV series goes, it’s no worse than the one for ST TNG, B5, all the other SF shows around at the time.
It could have been a hell of a lot worse. Early drafts knocking around, Master as Doctor’s brother, Daleks invade Gallifrey… No.
It’s interesting what they took from it for the new series and what they ignored.
Snogging’s okay but half human, no.
Fandom opinion: relief it was back, but didn’t like the Americanisation, weren’t happy about the kissing, the motorbike chase in it… which NH doesn’t mind; Pertwee was doing that.
There’s the lovely moment where he points a gun at himself. “He’s British.” “Am I? I suppose I am.”
Could have been worse, could have been an American actor in the role.
Did lead to a rights nightmare in the BBC for years. For a while the rights were co-owned by Universal, then that lapsed. BBC films were going to make a film.
RTD went in, asked what are the rights issues… Jane Tranter (?) said she didn’t quite know. RTD knew the rights issues better than the BBC, partly from reading DWM.
Compare/contrast
The opening moment of ‘Rose’ = recorded on the night, applause and laughter, Graham Norton.
When DW first began in 1963 transmission was held back by Kennedy, in 2005 it was interrupted by GN. Because someone didn’t switch the feed off from the Dance thing earlier. Nightmare.
See how this compares to other openings.
(Yaays, Rose!)
(Yes I didn’t like Rose the character at the time… or still, quite often… but this rocks.)
Familiar theme tune, title sequence – has the flying names very similar to other thing? Still not sure about the Doctor Who spin, says NH.
TARDIS flying is cool.
Remember the opening from Spearhead from Space? Replayed – Moon to Earth.
Alarm clock. Rose in bedroom of pink. Music. Montage of going places. “Bye, see you later” Rose face of bored. Traffic being British ie red buses.
Dummies in windows.
Henriks sale.
Music goes a bit like it’s on speakers in the shop, then back to the mix for outside with Mickey.
Kissings and food and Mayor of London in the background.
Music again to speaker with montage of boredom and working…
Then back to the proper sound even though she’s still in the shop, cause she’s taking the money and heading down in the lift. Lift doors, lift mechanism… suddenly I’m getting flashbacks of New Earth and feeling dumb for not previously noticing.
Rose in the basement calling for Wilson.
Spooky noise of doooom.
… no not Graham Norton yet, that’s in a sec.
Lights on, “Wilson”, and cheering… yep, that.
Subsequent DVD rewatches almost erase that memory.
It’s so quick, she’s got the monsters already, we’ve got background from montage of quick ordinary, we have spooky dark places and…. Got to love the autons, just the dummies coming to life idea, that does not get old.
Backed into a corner… with GN comments… corner, dark, scary… Hand!
“Run”
In the lift together, the Doctor being the Doctor… CE being the Doctor that is.
Wilson chief electrician.
Explosive.
“I’m the Doctor by the way, what’s your name”
“Rose”
“Nice to meet you Rose – run for your life!”
And she does run, and on the street with normal stuff being scary and nearly running her over, and… BOOM!
Yaay kabooms!
Running off past the TARDIS with the music sting.
/clip
Quite happily watch that episode time and time again.
Compare to McGann movie:
You didn’t need to know anything about it.
We know more about Rose.
From the opening of the episode to her getting in the lifts we’ve got a pretty fair idea of what her life’s like. Lives with her mum, got a boyfriend who is a bit rubbish, works in a department store. Then goes down the lift to deliver the money.
In that time, remember The Leisure Hive? The long pan along the beach? In that time – we’ve learnt a hell of a lot.
So.
There’s nothing mentioned from the McGann weird words list.
We’re seeing it through the companions eyes to begin with. It’s grounded. It’s like the first episode in An Unearthly Child. Someone recogniseably human who somehow gets caught up in the Doctor.
Eccleston’s first appearance?
One guy wants to slap him.
Big contrast between him, dynamic and action man, and the Doctor who’s irascible but very staid in UC.
But he is irascible. Quite unpleasant. Way he treats Mickey is horrible.
Do we hear the words Time Lord?
Nope.
Oh we do – the Nestene Consciousness mumbles it, but it’s low down on the mix.
Gallifrey finally gets mentioned in The Runaway Bride, two series two xmas specials later.
There’s none of this. We don’t even know the Doctor regenerates.
Inspired to use autons. Appeases fanboys, but back to basics taking something real and making it scary. Plus people who weren’t necessarily fans remembered the shop dummies coming to life.
Touches on the old and the new. Boldly states this is a new series. Never has the series started like that. *click click click* fingers. Never started with the companions.
Family of companion? Used to be all orphans.
No backstory. Get rid of Gallifrey, Time War destroys it, so you don’t get bogged down with all the old Time Lord stories and mythos.
In the cycle of books with McGann Gallifrey does get destroyed but it’s probably not the one referred to in the series.
Won’t go into Faction Paradox, time travelling voodoo cult, bogged down the books for quite a while.
Resisted the temptation to put the Daleks in the first episode.
He said no. It’s Rose’s story.
Autons are back, but they’re in the background. Main story is Rose meeting the Doctor.
Working on the American principle of Sweeps episodes – half way through you have a big episode that will draw viewers in. Six episodes in, finally an episode with a Dalek. If people hadn’t been following up to that point, Daleks are in it, lets see it for the Dalek.
That was the other great thing. The week with the Dalek was the same week as the general election. Radio Times cover was Dalek outside Westminster.
Shows how much TV changed – two weeks earlier blew up No 10 – once upon a time anything vaguely political around elections would have been pulled.
It spanked Ant & Dec that night.
Doctor Who’s back, wahey. Beat A&D, loads of viewers. Going to be another series, and another after that… and CE is leaving.
What a week that was.
Next week:
Companions. Very very different to what they were in the 60s and 70s. Not orphans, have families.
Closing video: Red nose day version. I shut down computer and pack.