The 2012 Timelash Awards - Part One
Back when I used to edit Enlightenment I used to devote my end-of-the-year editorial to what I called the Timelash Awards, given to various aspects of Doctor Who over the past year. As we depart 2011 and enter the future of 2012 I thought it would be fun to revisit that august award, so throughout January I shall be awarding the good, the bad and the outright bizarre of Doctor Who in Two thousand and eleven…
Let’s get started!
The winner of the “Spin Doctor (Who)” Award goes to Steven Moffat for his supreme efforts of making half a loaf of bread not only seem like it’s a full loaf, but the loaf is made of gold! Who can forget such disingenous teasing as the exciting cliffhanger that compelled the season be split into two (that would be the cliffhanger where, um, River turns out to be Amy’s daughter. The one that gets resolved ten minutes into the next regular episode), or “We’re not cutting down the episodes of Doctor Who next season” (even though it’s very likely there are only going to be 6 or 7 episodes in 2012). In all these cases the Grand Moff has sufficent cover (it’s rumoured they’ll make 20 episodes of Who starting in mid-2012 to be broadcast between autumn 2012 and the 50th anniversary, for example) but it’s not exactly being truthful either. Add to this the breathless hype in Moffat’s DWM column, the man is a master of making everything look like a spectacular part of a grand plan (note how often Moffat says something like “All will be revealed and it will be wonderful”) when all he’s doing is fobbing off mildly inconvenient news for fans.
The Best DVD Feature North Americans Haven’t Seen Yet Award goes to “Come In Number Five” a superb documentary on the Peter Davison era included on the Resurrection of the Daleks DVD. It’s a thorough overview, well interviewed and did I mention it’s presented by some bloke named David Tennant? It’s included on the Resurrection of the Daleks DVD in the Revisitations box set. While other entries in the Revistations set are getting releases as special editions in North America in 2012, we’re still waiting for this one. Shame, because the David Tennant feature would probably shift quite a few copies…
Stay tuned for other categories!
Posted by Graeme on Wednesday, January 4 at 3:37 am
2 Comments...
Matt Smith is really great, & the basic parameters of his Doctor must have been mapped out by Moffat, as must others, e.g. River Song, lots of clever, fun premises, the avoidance of overuse of Daleks, Cybermen & other famous baddies (though I think the Master would be great against 11), & the lovely sense of fun to be found here & there since Moffat took over.
But too often stories in the Moffat era have been shallow, slapdash, reducing the wit & wonder of DW at its best to a formula that can be taken apart and reassembled as if it were a soulless Hollywood commodity.
I suppose the monetary investment of the BBC must be a source of great pressure for Moffat to avoid rocking the boat, but the fact of the matter is I don’t really get excited about DW any more. Moffat’s got everything he needs to make the show amazing again: talent, a great Doctor, & bigger production values than ever before. Let’s hope he can do what DW at its best always does: make it greater than the sum of its parts.
Posted by Jimmy on 01/05 at 08:45 PM
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