GIP!

[xparrot]

Gratuitous Icon Post, just because naye told me to. Mainly so if anyone asks why I am crazy obsessed with Doctor Who I can point to it and say THERE, THIS IS WHY.

Also, if you're a fan and you're not watching the Dr. Who Confidentials, you probably should be, because they're all sorts of awesome. Not only is it fun to see how the special f/x are done and how scenes are filmed (that kind of stuff has always fascinated me), and it has all these great music videos (it's like they know that pop music would be inappropriate for the show itself, so instead they just stick all the oh-so-apropos songs in the Confidentials) but they've got loads of the writers and directors and actors talking about the show and analyzing the chars. And can I say I am mad in love with Russell T Davies, the man is brilliant and is hereby added to the list of writers who, should ever I meet them in person, I will drop to my knees before. And then, once their guard is down, I will spring up with my fork and knife and devour their brains. And then I too will be a genius! (Other notables include JMS, Neil Gaiman, and Kazuya Minekura. With Minekura-sensei I might eat her drawing hand as well. Oda-sensei is exempt because I believe the crack levels in his brain might be lethal for an ordinary human.)

In cross-fandom news: the thing about watching the Doctor Who specials is that it highlights the trouble with Smallville. I can't imagine the writers of SV showing so much care and understanding of their series, for the characters and the universe. DW is made by fans, people who grew up with the show and love it, are thrilled to be bringing it to a new generation, and you can feel that, watching the show. And the sad thing is, SV could have been like that. Superman is an American icon as Dr. Who is a British icon; there are plenty of differences (DW's canon is far more fixed, for one, despite its diversity) but there are people who love Superman, fanboys and girls who know the comics and are steeped in the myth and could have brought it to life with that kind of devotion. Maybe in the beginning, there were some people like that on SV's team, and they've just given up, I don't know. But it's a shame, to think of what it might've been, if TPTB behind it had cared the way DW's do.

Comments

[littlehollyleaf.livejournal.com]

DW's canon is far more fixed, for one, despite its diversity

As a old!school fan I must point out- Blah! The idea of DW canon being fixed is actually rather amusing. There have been SO many continuity errors over the years, not to mention issues with time travel and paradoxes and mistakes about Gallifrey... and then there's the 100+ novels, which may or may not be taken as canon, plus the audio adventures, and the comics, and the novellas... really, DW canon is not fixed in any way. Superman canon and DW canon are fairly similar in that way :)

But I am a squeeful brit at your opinion of DW writers caring about their national icon better than the SV ones. Awww *hugs her country's DW writing team*

...Although, I personally have issues with RTD aka Rusty, because I've been known to disagree, quite a bit, with some of the directions he's taken the show in. He's actually influenced a fair bit by American shows like Buffy and Smallville (though he prefers Buffy apparently), and I think he's tried to make DW a bit too American, with the close close close up face shots and heavy, emphasised emotional moments (not to mention the 45min episode length, though these days there's not much you can do about that I suppose). And I'm still not entirely convinced this works with DW. But I guess that's my snobbish, old!school britishness coming out :p

Enough rant now. Sorry *blushes*

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

As always with this fandom, I defer to those with superior experience! But it seems that the DW canon is about as fixed as Star Trek's canon, which has all manner of continuity errors (The great Klingon makeover!) and the complication of novels and such, but they're all assumed to take place in more-or-less the same universe; we're on the Tenth Doctor, and the First Doctor was his first life. As opposed to Superman, which has been 'rebooted' several times, with history being entirely rewritten (the Kents are alive/dead/alive again; Lex Luthor is a mad scientist or a businessman, etc, etc.) to the point of the canonical multi-verses to explain the disaster!

As an American without much experience with British TV (mainly what BBC shows are brought over by PBS, what shows on Mystery! and Masterpiece Theater, mainly) I can't really judge RTD's American influence. Though it doesn't strike me as that much different from American shows, so I can see that point - it doesn't bother me because it's what I'm used to! (I do have to say that British actors are on average better than their American counterparts! Though I wonder if some of that is in how the shows are filmed; when watching the specials, it looks like many of the DW scenes are filmed all in one take, somewhat like a play, while American shows tend to be more piecemeal, film the wide shots and then reaction shots and then the f/x; I'd think the former method would be better for actors, if possibly more difficult to arrange...)

[littlehollyleaf.livejournal.com]

Fair point with the fixedness of the 1st-10th Doc. That certainly remains in a continuous line, as opposed to Superman's fluctuating histories... This is a more interesting debate than I first thought. Who's continuity IS more complex DW or Superman? :)

Rusty's actually mucked things up rather drastically with his Time War. Because no one understands what that's done exactly. Wiped out Gallifrey/Time Lords at a specific moment in time, or wiped them from history completely? Cos if it's the latter, then a lot of the Doc's past adventures must have been re-written, what with them involving Gallifrey and all... Blah! :p

And you really should stop staying things like 'British shows are more realistic and better acted' to me, it's sparking weird jingoistic notions within me! Eeek! I mean, I thought it was true before, but having someone from the US actually agreeing is likely to just make me big headed :p

Doesn't mean I don't still enjoy SV though, I will take any bad acting or ridiculous responses as endearing <3 That's what you have to do with a lot of old!school Who, especially when the sets start wobbling!

One thing I do love on American shows, is the title sequences, you know, with the (often cheesy) title music and all the characters' faces popping up and such. I was really hoping the new DW would adopt something like that, but they opted to stay with the swirling motif instead. Fair enough. But I like cool title sequences, they are pretty :)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling someone is a Master fan XDDD

Hard to compare the complexity of continuities! In some ways DW's is more complex, because you have to (sort of) keep everything in mind, while with Superman you have the option of throwing out everything you don't like willy-nilly and only keeping the bits that work. On the other hand, to have a proper grasp of Superman one needs familiarity with all the canon (and it is over twenty years longer than DW's!) Heh, yes, a debate...!

I don't know that British shows are all more realistic - just in the case of DW vs SV, and SV is hardly a stellar example of good American TV! ^_^ But the acting in the British shows I've seen does tend to be a cut above. (I was going to argue Battlestar Galactica for acting, and then recalled half that cast are Brits anyway. ^^; Though Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos are ours, and I will claim them proudly! XD)

Hey, I'm a Trekkie going back to TOS - I live on cheese! Cardboard sets and the incredible performances of William Shatner! I'm terribly tempted to watch some old-school Who, just for the experience XD