Doctor Who, Torchwood and Russell T. Davies...

[fajrdrako]

An article in The New York Times about Russell T. Davies and sexuality as portrayed in Doctor Who and Torchwood. Of course it talks quite a bit about Captain Jack Harkness, everyone's favourite omnisexual. There's a clip of the "Reunion" scene from "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" and of the scene about theatre ending with Shakespeare flirting with the Doctor from "The Shakespeare Code".

Interesting bits in the article:

• "Doctor Who" ... has morphed into something else altogether, science fiction that is playful, sophisticated, emotionally resonant and peppered with lightning-quick allusions to literary works, to classic "Doctor Who" episodes from long ago, and to historical events and people. But Mr. Davies presses his grown-up themes with a whisper and a laugh, not a shout. No one actually has sex on screen in "Doctor Who." And when Captain Jack makes an appearance ... his sexuality is an issue only in that his constant, equal-opportunity flirting tends to annoy his colleagues, busy as they are fighting intergalactic evil.
  
  [I'd say it's also significant to the story that Jack's in love with the Doctor, but that's a character detail, not a story detail.]
  
  
• Jane Tranter: "How ridiculous would it be that you would travel through time and space and only ever find heterosexual men?" Well, yes, but they seem to do it just fine on other TV shows. The frustration of only het characters on such well-written shows as Battlestar Galactica and Heroes continues to frustrate me.
  
  
• Mr. Davies used the same philosophy when Captain Jack came on the scene in "Doctor Who" — make it entertaining, not didactic.
  
  "I thought, 'It’s time you introduce bisexuals properly into mainstream television,'" he said, laughing.
  
  [Past time, I'd say.]
  
  
• "It’s a bisexual space pirate swaggering in with guns and attitude and cheek and humor into prime-time family viewing: that was enormously attractive to me."
  
  [Yeah, me too.]
  
  
• "Torchwood" appears on BBC America and this season was its highest-rated program ever.
  
  [So why aren't they even showing series 2 in Canada? Grump.]
  
  
• "It is the transformation of "Doctor Who" that has cemented Mr. Davies’s reputation. ... Serious money is being lavished on the new production. And under the care of Mr. Davies, who writes or supervises the writing of every episode, it has been imbued with newfound sensitivity, pathos and humor.
  
  [So true.]
  
  
• "Captain Jack makes no apologies; no one asks him to."
  
  [Not quite true; he does apologize - to Ianto for leaving, to Grey for everything, for example. But... no apologies for being a bisexual buccaneer, except that he does seem ashamed of some aspects of his past.]
  
  
• Davies is quoted: "Drama is easy when it’s tragedy. Anyone could write a scene of a man crying in the rain saying, 'I'm sorry.' But actually it’s much more fun to see a man in a bar trying to pick up another man. That’s tense. There’s a whole minefield of emotions there."
  
  [Is that what he's going to write next? Guys in bars?]

Comments

[trialia]

The frustration of only het characters on such well-written shows as Battlestar Galactica and Heroes continues to frustrate me.
Somebody never saw 'Razor'... =P And there's no WAY Kat was hetero.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Aah, good point, I did see Razor and loved it. But thought it too little, too late - and evil Lesbians, however sexy (okay, okay, I enjoyed it!) as the only representatives of gay characters was too little, too late to satisfy me.

But sort of delicious anyway.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Meant to add - I didn't think Kat was het either, but I wish they'd made it more clear.

And she was still a character who appeared in only one episode.

It just... wasn't enough to ease my frustration.

[trialia]

*nod* It would have been nice.

Actually, she appeared in several, and was centre-stage in Scar and The Passage off the top of my head... Recurring but not main. I don't know, I liked Kat being the way she was, but yes, it was depressing not to have an actual lesbian relationship onscreen that wasn't the focus of everything and wasn't evil (like Cain/Gina). (And I can tell you from first-hand knowledge and research that there are far more gay female SF fans than there are gay male ones =P)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Re Kat:

was centre-stage in Scar and The Passage off the top of my head...

Yes, and by no coincidence, those were two of my favourites.

it was depressing not to have an actual lesbian relationship onscreen that wasn't the focus of everything and wasn't evil (like Cain/Gina)

I thought so. And no m/m relationship at all that I could see; not even snuck discreetly into the background somewhere.

(And I can tell you from first-hand knowledge and research that there are far more gay female SF fans than there are gay male ones =P)

Factor in the bi fans and it's a big crowd. Add in the slash fans, regardless of orientation.

It's just a small irritant in a show I love. But still.

[trialia]

Yes, and by no coincidence, those were two of my favourites.
I loved The Passage. Not so keen on Scar. But Kat/Kara FTW!

Factor in the bi fans and it's a big crowd. Add in the slash fans, regardless of orientation.
The bi fans, yep, this is true. And all the het girls who say they'd turn for Mary. There aren't so many manslash 'shippers in this fandom, oddly enough.

*nod* understandable.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Kat/Kara FTW!

Yes. Nice thought.

There aren't so many manslash 'shippers in this fandom, oddly enough.

Surprise, surprise. I'm arguing there ought to be an opening for them - but there isn't.

I just wish there was.

[nuptse.livejournal.com]

... and then they go and do all these changes to Torchwood s3 that have all the hallmarks of a show that's failing.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What do you mean?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Presumably that there are only five episodes with half the original cast.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Half the original cast? Oh, right, you mean with Owen and Toshiko gone.

In an American show, I'd think this was maybe the sign of a failing show. In a British show - they're much less regular and structured: I see it as experimentation. They have hinted (and I take the hints seriously) that they will maybe do more than one miniseries. There's only one announced so far.

I see it as a very positive step and hopefully a step towards a better show: written better, with more continuity, and more consistency in tone.

Look what they're doing with Doctor Who, which is much more successful than Torchwood, phenomenally successful by any standards: they're cutting it to only three episodes, albeit extended ones.

[nuptse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, perhaps it's an American view - it's what they do to failing shows, cut back on the number of shows ordered for a season. They also usually try out new cast members and switch things around. Next would be changing the time and day it would be on.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, they seem to change the time of Doctor Who every week. I see no point in making predictions based on American precendents: it isn't likely to be the same.

[nuptse.livejournal.com]

True. Just a kneejerk reaction. Glad to know it's all good. *feels better*

[laurab1.livejournal.com]

There is less money around in the whole BBC, this financial year, 2008-9, because they didn't get the license fee increase they wanted, about 18 months ago.

There is 1 production team, this year, for all 3 shows, rather than 2 teams. So we're getting less Who and less TW, next year (but more SJA, this year). TW starts filming once Who's stopped filming. Then SJA starts filming, once TW's finished.

2009-10, the budgets will be back to normal, and so we'll get full series of Who and TW.

[maxine-mirkwood.livejournal.com]

Never seen Spooks then...?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Never seen Spooks then...?

I've seen the first series. Why, what happened with Spooks?

[maxine-mirkwood.livejournal.com]

It's a great show but they kill off major characters with horrific frequency and the ones that survive are only arguably better off. It's very tough viewing and yet still, somehow compulsive...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's very tough viewing and yet still, somehow compulsive...

Yes. I was watching it about a month ago, saw all of the first series and quite loved it, but somehow it just seemed too depressing for broken-ankle viewing. I do intend to return to it and watch more. I loved the way it was written.

it was just, as you say, touch viewing.

Have you seen Sandbaggers? It reminded me of that a lot.

P.S. Lovely icon there.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Ooh, interesting, thanks for posting.

Is that what he's going to write next? Guys in bars?

He's already done that - see Queer as Folk. The British version, that is, not the US remake of it. Sigh. Stuart Alan Jones. Putting him and Jack in a room together might actually destroy the universe through hotness.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Stuart Alan Jones

Another one of the gods in my pantheon.

Putting him and Jack in a room together might actually destroy the universe through hotness.

Oh, you fiend! The images you put in my mind!

What's Aidan Gillen doing these days? ...Just looked him up on IMDb and EEEEEEEEEEEEEE he's in Wire.

Now I really, really, really have to watch The Wire.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Oh, you fiend! The images you put in my mind!

Write it, write it, write it!

*hynoptises you*

Wriiiiiiiite it!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Write it, write it, write it!

I'd have to watch Queer as Folk all the way through again.

This could not be considered a hardship.

[basingstoke.livejournal.com]

he's in the Wire as a politician, though. No sexy fun times.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

No sexy fun times.

Hrrmph. Too bad. I also loved him as the villain in Lorna Doone.

So - Aidan Gillen aside, would you recommend The Wire?

[basingstoke.livejournal.com]

oh hello YES.

YES YES YES

Best TV show... maybe ever. It's almost not TV. It's almost its own art form.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Best TV show... maybe ever. It's almost not TV. It's almost its own art form.

Wow. Really? Okay, I'll make it a point to watch it.

[alba17.livejournal.com]

The Wire is absolutely one of the best American TV shows ever. You should definitely check it out. And no, there are definitely no hot sex scenes with Aidan Gillen in it. He may kiss his wife once.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad to hear this.

Aidan Gillen does not need sex scenes to be sexy. And even if he's not sexy in it - it's still him.

And if there are other good reasons to watch - all the better.

[marymac.livejournal.com]

But, presumably he still walks like a tomcat and does the eyes, right?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

He's gotta be sexy still - unless he's had a face and body transplant.

[marymac.livejournal.com]

There's a horrifying thought altogether. :o

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Nothing to fear. Really.

[katkim.livejournal.com]

He's already done that - see Queer as Folk.

I was thinking the same thing. Guys picking up guys in a bar is basically the whole plot line of Queer as Folk! Plus a little sex :D

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Plus a little sex :D

Hmm. Yes. Just a little.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if he did it again - a variation on theme. Twenty years later.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

No one actually has sex on screen in "Doctor Who."

That's what I love about the NYT - they will specify this. XD

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I like their caveat: "on screen".

[cupati.livejournal.com]

Dancing. Nuff said.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Dancing.

Oh, yes.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

. . . he does apologize - to Ianto for leaving, to Grey for everything, for example. But... no apologies for being a bisexual buccaneer, except that he does seem ashamed of some aspects of his past.

Yeah, but that's more about bad choices in exes' *personalities* rather than their genders.

It is a nice change that Jack's carrying around all kinds of angst and baggage, but his sexual orientation has absolutely nothing to do with it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It is a nice change that Jack's carrying around all kinds of angst and baggage, but his sexual orientation has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Far from it! He's baffled by the 21st century's orientation bigotry. Can't understand it at all. I love that.

[flautopiccolo.livejournal.com]

Would you like a print copy? There is a photo of Captain Jack and Captain John, and a photo of David Tennant.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Would you like a print copy?

Yes, please. I'd love a copy.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

I love this:

It has plumbed the mysteries and possibilities of chaste love.

Yes. A thousand times yes. There's tremendous power in that. Jack's love for the Doctor, case in point.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I want more of that.

DW/Heroes Xover Rec

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Check this out:
http://community.livejournal.com/deraliaearth/3359.html

Re: DW/Heroes Xover Rec

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks for pointing this out - I liked it.

[msilverstar]

That's a great article, and your commentary very fine as well.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful icon!

Yes, I found the article interesting. But I'm terribly curious as to what Russell T. Davies wants to do after Doctor Who. Chances are he doesn't even know yet.