I've no idea—I'm a physicist

[sovay]

As the rest of my friendlist prepares to watch (or has just finished watching, I'm not sure about broadcast times) the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who, I am preparing to attend a modern opera about Lizzie Borden. We'll watch "The Day of the Doctor" when we get back. If there isn't enough John Hurt, don't tell me.

We did observe the twenty-fifth anniversary of the program last night: derspatchel showed me "Remembrance of the Daleks" (1988), written by Ben Aaronovitch of more recent Rivers of London fame. I can see why the Starship of Madness cast was willing to go to Long Island for Sylvester McCoy—his Seventh Doctor is a wonderful mix of registers and incongruities, his clown's dress and manners (bits of business with pens and Panama hats, his quirked mouth and that question-mark umbrella) offset by that sharp, precise, irritable voice and the cynical intelligence behind it, dropping hints of being something much more and much more dangerous than a time-jaunting eccentric with a taste for paisley and sleight of hand. Not to mention the willingness to destroy planets and talk the last remaining member of a species into terminal meltdown. I like Ace as well; I'm not sure how I could have been expected not to, seeing as her dystopian future looks a lot like the punk '80's and she never goes anywhere without at least one blunt object and a backpack full of explosives. I have already been warned that their run together is very short; the series went into limbo before any of its mysteries could be more than tantalizingly raised. I really want to read Aaronovitch's own novelizations, though.

Excuse me while I run for a bus.

Comments

Sylvester McCoy could have been the favorite

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

I was recently watching a DVD with the commentary and the writers were talking about how they didn't think that they were making the Doctor in the final days, but that they had actually turned a corner and were recovering from the Colin Baker era.

Definitely the Seven and Ace stories were the highlights for me, especially after the Peter Davidson and Colin Baker eras where many of the companions were either annoying or useless - even when they had potential of being interesting like Tegan or Nyssa, they tended to get shafted by the writers who never wanted to write any continuity in the characters. Then in the Colin Baker era, we had one nutcase Doctor and two companions who were a serious step back - like they belonged in the pre-Sarah Jane Smith time when the companions were mostly around to shriek and get rescued.

I remember that even though I was 12 when I first saw Peri, and she spent a great deal of time acting and dressing like a lifeguard from Baywatch, I got bored with her.

But with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred there was an actual relationship between the two of them and there was growth. I think they lasted at least 2 seasons together before the indefinite hiatus.

[sovay]

I was recently watching a DVD with the commentary and the writers were talking about how they didn't think that they were making the Doctor in the final days, but that they had actually turned a corner and were recovering from the Colin Baker era.

Ouch. I could tell from the internet that whatever long game they were hoping to play never came to fruition; is it known what they were planning, or is it mostly fan speculation/semi-canon/the hazy graveyard where obsolete backstories go to die at this point?

Then in the Colin Baker era, we had one nutcase Doctor and two companions who were a serious step back - like they belonged in the pre-Sarah Jane Smith time when the companions were mostly around to shriek and get rescued.

I am getting the impression that the Sixth Doctor is not something I want to do to myself.

But with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred there was an actual relationship between the two of them and there was growth. I think they lasted at least 2 seasons together before the indefinite hiatus.

Well, it's more than Nine and Rose got?

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

The tie-in books took off from the series though and there were a lot of books about Ace and the Seventh Doctor, with new companions being introduced. It was a strange time in Doctor Who history as the books were really the only viable option for Doctor Who fans. Some of the writers were quite good - Ben Aaronovitch and Paul Cornell being the most famous - and some were pretty bad.

I was more interested by the fact that the BBC pretty much let everything happen without much interference. It was only when the books became popular sellers that the BBC started taking a much stronger hand in the books with very clear rules concerning what can and cannot happen.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Marc Platt's Lungbarrow is the spin-off novel to go to for the intended resolution of Seven's long game, though it comes at the end of a slew of "New Adventures" novels with Seven and other companions it stands reasonably well without them. It was rejected as a TV script, but incidental elements from it show up in "Ghost Light".

The other New Adventures novel that's particularly worth a look is Andy Lane's All-Consuming Fire, in which Seven meets Holmes and Watson (and incidentally gets Three kicked out of the Diogenes Club.)