Doctor Thoughts
Apr. 24th, 2007 01:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteSo, we have watched up to "Gridlock" - I suspect we will probably trail behind for a while, till the other shows we watch are over, and till I can figure out BitTorrent.
Spoilers? Yup.
At one level, this series is getting stale. "The Shakespeare Code" and "Gridlock" both follow formulae from previous seasons. There was nothing about the plots we hadn't seen before. Famous person vs. famous quasi-supernatural threat; and strange world of the future where everything is really the same and the Doctor saves the day. If you want innovative SF, look elsewhere. And whatever you do, don't analyze it too long, since things will crumble fast - it's 5 billion years in the future, and even the cat-people still have Irish accents?
I think it's somewhat safe to say that we don't love Doctor Who for the SF. But by now, we don't expect it, either. It's a long and storied tradition for this show. No, we watch for the characters, the acting, and the storytelling. It didn't matter that the story behind a visit to Shakespeare's time was a bit silly. We were far more interested in Shakespeare, brilliant and egotistical and fliratatious and strangely believable. It didn't matter that we knew the people of New New York would be saved (again). It was far more interesting to see the Doctor and the Face of Bo meet one last time and put things right.
"Gridlock" was actually rather pedestrian for a while. So much so that we stopped watching about 30 minutes (we were having problems with the sound-image sync). I went to sleep thinking, "well, not every show can always be good." Little did I know that the action would accelerate, that David Tennant would kick it into gear, that the death of the Face of Bo would be so gripping, and that Ten would be forced to admit to Martha that he's the last of the Time Lords. That ending? Heartbreaking. Russell T. Davies and his staff know what they're doing, even when it seems like they are off their game. There's no reason to doubt.
And yet....and yet, there's Martha.
I like Martha Jones. The actress is very good. The character is smart and savvy and is not a Rose clone (or a clone of any companion). She could be a great companion. But her role, three weeks in, is increasingly Rose-like. She's The Woman the Doctor Worries About, and The Woman Who Believes, and also The Potential Love Interest. And in "Gridlock," it didn't seem like she was Martha Jones. She could have just as easily been Rose. Rose late in her run, at that, after she and the Doctor were clearly in love.
I liked Rose, too. I even accepted that the Doctor could fall in love with her. But it took the whole of her run for me to accept that. At first, it could have gone either way (though I think that with Nine, it was less likely to happen). It built up, if without a great deal of subtlety. With Martha, it's happening way too fast. And yes, the Doctor can protest that he doesn't need anyone, but the scripts are not having any of it. We are racing down that path, again. And I would rather see Martha develop as Martha first, the way Rose did. Anyone else think we aren't going to see Martha's family that often? Or her career? Unlike Rose, she has a career worth going home to. And it's a waste if they forget that.
And I'm not even going to talk about how much I think the Doctor should fall in love rarely, if ever. I will accept that this is not the old school Doctor. Fine. But didn't we just end that story? It would be more interesting if there was some other dynamic here.
Still, it's only three weeks, and there are ten to go, and who knows what surprises await? Maybe I'm totally wrong about Martha. I hope so. But if I'm not, I still love this show.
Spoilers? Yup.
At one level, this series is getting stale. "The Shakespeare Code" and "Gridlock" both follow formulae from previous seasons. There was nothing about the plots we hadn't seen before. Famous person vs. famous quasi-supernatural threat; and strange world of the future where everything is really the same and the Doctor saves the day. If you want innovative SF, look elsewhere. And whatever you do, don't analyze it too long, since things will crumble fast - it's 5 billion years in the future, and even the cat-people still have Irish accents?
I think it's somewhat safe to say that we don't love Doctor Who for the SF. But by now, we don't expect it, either. It's a long and storied tradition for this show. No, we watch for the characters, the acting, and the storytelling. It didn't matter that the story behind a visit to Shakespeare's time was a bit silly. We were far more interested in Shakespeare, brilliant and egotistical and fliratatious and strangely believable. It didn't matter that we knew the people of New New York would be saved (again). It was far more interesting to see the Doctor and the Face of Bo meet one last time and put things right.
"Gridlock" was actually rather pedestrian for a while. So much so that we stopped watching about 30 minutes (we were having problems with the sound-image sync). I went to sleep thinking, "well, not every show can always be good." Little did I know that the action would accelerate, that David Tennant would kick it into gear, that the death of the Face of Bo would be so gripping, and that Ten would be forced to admit to Martha that he's the last of the Time Lords. That ending? Heartbreaking. Russell T. Davies and his staff know what they're doing, even when it seems like they are off their game. There's no reason to doubt.
And yet....and yet, there's Martha.
I like Martha Jones. The actress is very good. The character is smart and savvy and is not a Rose clone (or a clone of any companion). She could be a great companion. But her role, three weeks in, is increasingly Rose-like. She's The Woman the Doctor Worries About, and The Woman Who Believes, and also The Potential Love Interest. And in "Gridlock," it didn't seem like she was Martha Jones. She could have just as easily been Rose. Rose late in her run, at that, after she and the Doctor were clearly in love.
I liked Rose, too. I even accepted that the Doctor could fall in love with her. But it took the whole of her run for me to accept that. At first, it could have gone either way (though I think that with Nine, it was less likely to happen). It built up, if without a great deal of subtlety. With Martha, it's happening way too fast. And yes, the Doctor can protest that he doesn't need anyone, but the scripts are not having any of it. We are racing down that path, again. And I would rather see Martha develop as Martha first, the way Rose did. Anyone else think we aren't going to see Martha's family that often? Or her career? Unlike Rose, she has a career worth going home to. And it's a waste if they forget that.
And I'm not even going to talk about how much I think the Doctor should fall in love rarely, if ever. I will accept that this is not the old school Doctor. Fine. But didn't we just end that story? It would be more interesting if there was some other dynamic here.
Still, it's only three weeks, and there are ten to go, and who knows what surprises await? Maybe I'm totally wrong about Martha. I hope so. But if I'm not, I still love this show.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: Apr. 24th, 2007 05:38 pm (UTC)And I can keep telling myself -- I made it through Torchwood (and actually kind of liked it), I can make it through this.
But...this is Doctor Who, and I shouldn't have to tell myself that.
(no subject)
Date: Apr. 24th, 2007 05:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: Apr. 24th, 2007 06:07 pm (UTC)Definitely agree that they need to address Martha's family and career and I am worried with all the plot like things that they have given us glimpses of there might not be time this season but we will have to wait and see. After all we are still at the point where the Doctor thought he was only going to be taking her on one trip and Martha just realized how dangerous traveling with the Doctor is and that her family would have no idea what happened to her if she were to die 5 Million and some Years in the Future on another planet.
As for the accents, give them a break. Take stargate where almost every planet they travelled to the people spoke english and had American accents. This is something that many SciFi shows are guilty of.
Also Russell T Davies and his people know what they are doing when they have guidlines to follow, Tourchwood really disappointed me. It was fun but it was missing something.
And of Course, Much Love for the Doctor.
(no subject)
Date: Apr. 24th, 2007 07:12 pm (UTC)Give Martha a boyfriend! That'll alter the dynamic. Or even just throw in another Companion to shake things up and force Russel T. to write in different combinations?