The Story of Doctor Who...

[fajrdrako]

I just finished listening to The Story of Doctor Who on BBC radio, done at Caernarvon Castle, one of my favourite places in Wales. (Or at least, to be honest, one of the few places in Wales I've been to.)

I enjoyed it thoroughly, though it advertised Russell T. Davies as being one of the people on the show, which he wasn't. We got to hear producer Julie Gardner and director Euros Lyn be interesting, though. Too bad Steven Moffat wasn't there - but then, all the attention would be on him. His time will come. He has other things to do right now.

I found it interesting that they said they worked it out way in advance how they would use different colours each episode.

Loved it that they talked about the first series episode "Dalek", one of my favourites.

As usual, I was alert to mentions of Captain Jack. Julie Gardner said at one point that "we can get the young kids in to watching The Sarah Jane Adventures, then they can watch Doctor Who, and then they can get naughty and go on to Torchwood." A person asked why all the companions were from the 21st century, and they explained (while noting Kylie Minogue as an exception), and I wanted to ask, "What about Jack?" He did get mentioned as a companion a little later, when someone asked why the companions were all female. Jack, along with Adam and Mickey - "lots of male companions", said Julie Gardner, though her comment on Jack was, "He's a bit naughty, but he's kind of a companion." I like to think he is a companion, and that the Doctor enjoys his naughtiness.

Someone asked whether Captain Jack would help out the eleventh Doctor. "He has to survive five episodes of Torchwood first." They assured us that they wanted to do more Torchwood series.

More comments about Matt Smith's hair. I think his hair is more discussed than anything else about him.

There was a lovely anecdote about how Euros Lyn and the set people were agonizing over how to portray the "spaceship in a field" owned by the Family of Blood. They finally had to go to Russell T. Davies and explain that they didn't have the budget for a spaceship in a field. "No problem," he said. "Just make it invisible."

Comments

[raissad.livejournal.com]

I loved the spaceship story and that we got the rationale behind the TARDIS' shape for new fans.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, the story of the Police Box - that was fun, and I hadn't heard it before.

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Just make it invisible

Seems so obvious, doesn't it? That made me giggle. Must make sure I listen to this sometime.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Made me giggle, too. I love effective problem-solving.

It illustrates something else, too, that I often notice, and experience when I write things myself. To the writer, it's all fluid. You're constantly turning ideas over in your head, and upside down, and sideways. Suppose this happened, suppose that happened. Until it clicks. So to the props guys, it was all set in stone, it was in the script. But to Davies it was all a kind of fluid lava. Okay, if this doesn't work, we do that. And 'here's a trick' - making the ship invisible also explains why no one had seen it yet.

New RTD Video Interview

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Donna's Grandpa Wilf will be the companion for the last two specials - the oldest at 80. Plus, we get a little of Lady Christina's (Ryan) backstory:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7987179.stm

Re: New RTD Video Interview

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Wilf! Wilf! Oh, how wonderful! That quite thrills me.

And Lady Christina... why am I reminded of the flapper in "The Wasp and the Unicorn"?

This all excites me even more.