Sense8 was pretty good, at least the first season. I never did get around to watching season 2 or the final tv movie though. It even has a Doctor Who connection, with Freema Agyeman in a supporting role.
Could an American write Doctor Who? - Babylon 5 creator throws hat in the ring
- Thread starter Tonguez
- Start date
FitzTheRuke
Legend
As usual, Snarf, you are fully correct here. On every single point.Well I suppose I should post this here.
Warning- do not read if you haven't seen the most recent season of Doctor Who!
I am a big fan of nuWho, and have seen all the Doctors and episodes. I was SO EXCITED for Ncuti Gatwa's turn as the Doctor!!!! I love the actor, and I really loved the way he portrayed the Doctor.
...but, well, I was having some Jodie Whitaker deja vu. In other words ... loving the Doctor, but not quite as in love with... you know ... all of the episodes. The first season of Gatwa was really enjoyable, albeit uneven.
And then I saw the second season aired, and I binged it. And I felt ... even moreish on my opinion. The Doctor was SO GOOD, but the writing was very uneven... and, IMO, worse than the first go-around. And the season (series) finale with the Rani was deeply unsatisfying from a pure ... well, plot and comprehensibility standpoint.
But the real kick in posterior was that I hadn't been following any news, and for the first time in my memory, I was genuinely shocked by .... THIS IS WHY THIS IS IN SPOILERS ... the Doctor's regeneration. HOLY ECCLESTON, BATMAN, THEY ONLY HAD GATWA FOR TWO SEASONS???????
And don't get me started on Rose. I genuinely like Billie Piper, but she had her run.
Basically, all of it (waves around) encapsulated everything I grew to hate about RTD. Okay, hate is a strong word. I am forever grateful for the amazing work he did bringing nuWho back. But by the end of his run, it was ... dire (IMO). The bombast, the callbacks, the cutesie reveals ... it was all to much. And it feels like S2 was derailed by the same things that plagued the later RTD years. The loss of Gatwa and the Rose reveal was just the cherry on the (again, IMO) turd sundae.
I dunno. Maybe it's time for another hiatus and, at some point, we'll get nunuWho. But I'm not sure I want another RTD season.
To bring this around to the subject of the post- I think Doctor Who would lose something if an American was to be the main writer. But I would rather JMS write for it and helm it than RTD continue on.
Zardnaar
Legend
Season 2 wasn't as good.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Great, he's going to be unbearable now.
FitzTheRuke
Legend
Now!? C'mon - you know that I did nothing that will change anything.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
I think Doctor Who would benefit from someone who is less of an auteur and more of a workman.
I watched Murderbot, and felt "this is how Doctor Who should be (possibly with fewer exploding heads)". Give it time to develop characters and setting, and allow the threat to emerge gradually. It doesn't need to be constantly throwing half baked big ideas at the screen.
I watched Murderbot, and felt "this is how Doctor Who should be (possibly with fewer exploding heads)". Give it time to develop characters and setting, and allow the threat to emerge gradually. It doesn't need to be constantly throwing half baked big ideas at the screen.
I haven't seen Murderbot, but I think it's fairly essential to Doctor Who to be pretty episodic – the Doctor and their Companion(s) show up somewhere, get into trouble, and solves said trouble. So to me, it is important to develop the characters, but not necessarily the setting.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
There’s not much point in being able to go anywhere in time and space if you don’t learn anything about the places you visit.
Murderbot had 10 episodes of around 25 minutes in which the characters show up somewhere, get into trouble, and solve said trouble.
Doctor Who: The Web Planet had 6 episodes of around 25 minutes each, in which the characters show up somewhere, etc
Sure, but you don't need to get in particularly deep on the Planet and/or Historical Period of the week. 16th century Venice with fish vampires, go. Archaeological dig on a planet orbiting a black hole, go. Planet-sized library haunted by flesh-eating shadow swarms, go. The settings in Doctor Who tend to be pretty thin, with the focus being on the characters (both the leads and whomever happens to be unfortunate enough to run into them).
Paul Farquhar
Legend
And this has been a fault of the rebooted series from the start. Everything is rushed and paper-thin. Wasn't the case for the classic series.
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