Doctor Who: The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Time Lords...

[fajrdrako]

Tonight I watched Doctor Who "The Sounds of Drums" and "The Last of the Time Lords" with commodorified, iclysdale and raynedaze. commodorified has a wonderful icon to describe "The Last of the Time Lords": here.

Yes. I agree.

My reaction was different than the previous times I watched these. It is, of course, "The Last of the Time Lords" that is problematic, though "The Sound of Drums" has been sort of retroactively coloured by what is to come. First time through, my reaction was a jaw-dropping WTF. Second time around, it was distress: "What did they do to my pairings? What did they do to my fandom?"

This time - better prepared and fortified, I found it all funnier, sillier, and more - something. It is, I realize, an echo of that I hated about the old Doctor Who, which I generally refused to watch. With the scene at the beginning of "The Last of the Time Lords" when the Master is dancing with the Doctor in his wheelchair, I thought, "This is sheer Blackpool." And that... put something in perspective for me. I'm not sure what, but I feel better about it than I did.

Comments

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I loved old Doctor Who; I love new Who. I don't see anything problematic here.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

No, exactly - ! When I tried Doctor Who at odd times in the 1980s, I didn't like it at all. I love the new Doctor Who. Sometimes there's a shred of dissonance there in my reactions that I have to come to terms with.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

The '80s were not a good time to discover Doctor Who: after the departure of Peter Davison (Five), the show was allowed to go steadily downhill by the BBC.

Second time around, it was distress: "What did they do to my pairings? What did they do to my fandom?"

Again, I don't see that there's a problem. But then, I've never been drawn to writing for on-going series, in which there's a strong chance that canon may develop in different directions to those I imagine. I prefer to work with complete films/books/serials. In any case, it seems to me that the Who-verse is very flexible. I don't understand how it can have done anything to fandom, either: I don't know what you mean by this.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Different approaches and reactions, is all. Don't worry, I still love the show! I just have emotional trigger-points with regard to it.

I have never actually seen any of the shows that were produced in the 1980s. I think I saw a few from the 1960s at that time; and then no more till the 1996 movie.

I do like ongoing serials -I couldn't be a lifelong X-Men fan otherwise. I know that there will be periods at which I love a series, and periods at which I will hate it. In some cases both at once - and that isn't as paradoxical as it seems, since there are numerous concurrent storylines and creative teams on the different X-Men comics at any one time. So, for instance, I really enjoyed this month's issue of Astonishing X-Men but didn't like X-Men at all - horrible artist. Whose name I forget.

So when I say "What did they do my fandom?" it really means, "How is it that every episode doesn't cater to the aspects of the show that I most love?" "Blink" was almost perfect; "The Last of the Time Lords" alternately pleased and distressed me, by hitting a few personal squicky points. (The 'plastic monster' factor, for example, especially when applied to the Doctor himself.)

There's more to it than that, but I needn't bore you with it.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I daresay with however many million viewers, it's not possible to hit the mark with everyone every episode! I loved the trilogy that closed the series, with the return of the Master.

I've generally liked Doctor Who, apart from the dodgy period towards the end of its original run (Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy). The TV movie seemed ill-conceived: aimed primarily at US audiences, not the indigenous fanbase, and it did some odd things with canon.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The TV movie was strange. It certainly failed to charm me when I saw it in 1996 - it bored me, and I had no sense of what the Doctor was like. Which is to say - the traits I like in Nine and Ten weren't in evidence. Including the intelligence and the humour, and the strength of character. He seemed ... wimpy. And purposeless. Despite the fact that I like Paul McGann in general, and even liked his acting there - but the script didn't give him much oomph.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

He seemed ... wimpy. And purposeless. Despite the fact that I like Paul McGann in general, and even liked his acting there - but the script didn't give him much oomph.

As an episode, that might have been forgiveable, as it can take him a while to find his feet when he regenerates, but as a stand-alone story, it didn't work. I like Paul, too, and am pleased to note he has done better with audio-stories about Eight.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

it can take him a while to find his feet when he regenerates

I know that now, but I didn't know that then. As a device to get new fans - which I assume was the whole point of the Americanization - it really failed to impress.

I've only heard bits and pieces of the audio-stories about Eight, but what I heard was excellent. I'm hoping to listen to more.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

From what I can see, part of your issue with DW is that you're a shipper trying to ship in a series that doesn't naturally lend itself to that. Even with RTD's modernization, the internal logic will always be against shipping on a very basic logistical level -- Companions don't stay. They just don't. If the companions don't stay, resolving the issues inherent in the ships becomes difficult. No resolution makes for unhappy shipping modern DW fans, ie you.

Frankly, I think shipper fans need to use TW to get what they need, and let DW be what it is, no more, no less. I have a feeling that if you "delegate" that way within the franchise, a lot of the dissonance will ease.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

part of your issue with DW is that you're a shipper trying to ship in a series that doesn't naturally lend itself to that

Yes, that sums it up. Since this is what I like most about the show - and since, when it does it, it does it better than any other show I can think of - I have to adjust my perspective to the text. Which worked just fine up to "The Last of the Time Lords", though I think I have it just about figured out to my satisfaction now.

-- Companions don't stay

But the staying or not staying isn't the issue. I loved the departure of Rose (if you can call it that) in "Doomsday", and was, frankly, quite happy to see her go - which is not in any way meant as a problem with Rose, you understand. I don't want the Doctor to keep Companions indefinitely. I loved the departure of Sarah Jane, and the loss of Reinette.

My issue is more that... I felt we got the beginning of one relationship story, and then the ending of another one, and there's a discontnuity in the middle.

Perhaps the problem is that I got a sort of resolution - the good-bye scenes we had in "The Last of the Time Lords" - and didn't like them; wanted a different kind of resolution, or none at all. What would 'none at all' be? Something like the situation with Jack between "The Parting of the Ways" and "Utopia" where we're wondering why the Doctor abandoned him.

No point trying to confine my shipping instincts to Torchwood; I'd just have to stop watching Doctor Who entirely and I'm enjoying it way too much to drop it now. Besides, I still like the Jack/Doctor combination best of any, even if I just link it to Nine and ignore Ten entirely. Which I probably can't do, but it's a possile approach.