Bad 80s Who Strikes Again

[meddow]

Revelation of the Daleks has knocked The Visitation out of its position as worst Classic Who serial I’ve watched. Thankfully it was only two episodes. I don’t think I could have taken more of it. Too many characters, too many plots and WTF was with the DJ? Last thing the serial needed was an annoying character with a terrible accent giving a running commentary.

I do wonder who on earth thought the Six-Peri dynamic would be a good idea. He’s basically mean to her all the time – even calling her fat – and although she does make the odd remark back at him, he just comes off as a bully. If they're going to make the Doctor that abrasive he needs somebody who will not take his crap. Thank goodness for Evelyn.

I think I’m going to have to avoid Six for a while after that and maybe watch some more Three. The UNIT gang never cease to make me happy. Or at least re-watch Partners in Crime. Five days and multiple re-watches later I still love that episode to pieces.

Here’s also hoping that The Fires of Pompeii is as good as it’s being made out to be. I do remember last year when 42 was hyped as being a brilliant episode and it turned out to be my least favourite of season 3. As a result I’ve become rather deeply cynical about anything the production crew announces is great (silence, on the other hand, makes me optimistic). Although I do badly want it to be brilliant since sounds like the plot is The Aztecs meets a disaster movie and if they pull it off, it could be fantastic.

Comments

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Yeah. And I think of all the men who say they were desperately attracted to Peri, and how young they must have been, and what that must have taught them about interacting with women... It's just terribly depressing. Just as nasty as the subtext with Martha last year, and fifty times as textual.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

It's quiet depressing to think that over twenty years later, very little has been learnt at all.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I think it's a lot more subtle these days, and watching Six-era, I do find myself appreciating RTD's reluctance to use standard, real-world guns. The subtlety of the ugly messages makes them more insidious, but I'll take that over Ten calling Martha fat four times an episode.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

No, it's isn't overt like it was back then. We did have Mickey tell Rose to watch the chips once that I recall, but it wasn't the Doctor at least and it wasn't an RTD script. Though I do think RTD missed the idea that if the Doctor-Companion relationship is hurtful, then it starts to effect the viewer's enjoyment of the show - or at least mine.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

I don't think you can eliminate every inkling of hurtfulness, because people tease. And sometimes that's fine. But there's a line that exists between that and the obnoxious territory.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

I think, considering how strongly people react to such dynamics in the show -- how even kids reacted to Ten's mistreatment of Martha -- that people generally made it out the other side of watching stuff like that without their interaction with women tainted by it. (That boozy Five Doctors commentary holds up David as not having his attraction to Nicola Bryant damaged, for one...)