The Best of Both Worlds
Russell “The Man” Davies wrote a fantastic piece in The Guardian about his work on the new series. A little less geeky and teasing than his DWM Production Notes, Russell talks about how he was cautioned he might lose his love for his favourite show by working on its revival and that such a revival might end up just being a niche thing…and that happily both are not the case now.
It’s a great little article because he talks about how he used the icons of Britain while at the same time employing the tactics of American TV:
On screen, the Doctor was deliberately flying the flag as a very British icon (Routemaster buses, Big Ben, Simon Callow) while off screen, the concept was given a very American kick up the arse. We built in sweeps episodes - event episodes and two-part stories placed strategically throughout the run, designed to boost ratings. The last in the series quickly became the “season finale”. And we did not just learn structure from the States, we stole story. So many good dramas - thank you, Buffy - had expanded the genre. They showed us that if you can laugh and cry in the middle of a story, then the adventure is that much better.
It’s a nifty combination: The ‘sweeps’ episode is the one with a Dalek in it. And Bad Wolf uses that great American TV tactic of building up as much excitement as possible for the season finale in the penultimate episode of the season.
Posted by Graeme on Tuesday, June 14 at 1:56 pm
1 Comment...
Little premise - I’ve discovered DW just very recently (I’m italian, the classic series was never broadcasted here), so I don’t suffer any “nostalgia” effect. This said, while I agree that the new series is well done and interesting, in mere coolness terms, it doesn’t hold a candle to the best serials of the “old” DW. The problem is - it’s an interesting thing in the Buffy idiom, but Buffy was already there before, and, to be honest, it ceased to be hip. And even if you’re the biggest Buffy fan in the world, was it completely necessary to have ANOTHER “Buffy-inspired-series-with-a-different-name” thing around?
Let’s put it in another way - I’m middle aged guy who bought his first Dr Who DVD less than six months ago - how come I’m much more excited at the idea to get the “City Of Death” release instead of the 9 Doctor’s, because the rewatchability factor of the new episodes is very, very low? Not to mention that I’ve very little chance to get any of my friends interested in the new series, while showing, let’s say, “Robots of Death” always seems to be a sure thing when I’ve people at home?
It may be just me, but…
Posted by Luca Signorelli on 06/16 at 10:04 PM
Post a comment