RTD vs Moff - 100% agreement. What's going to be really interesting is to see how the fans react to non-Moff-written eps because if they're rubbish, Moff will no doubt still be blamed. I do worry (and have always worried) that while Moff can do great single episodes (and two-parters) he could reasonably struggle with an entire series. That said, I really do want him to do well overall, because I love this show and don't want it to falter.
The real problem IMHO is that this is the second episode. If it were the fifth, and the previous four had been strong, people would have said, as you did, "Oh, well, he can have one bad one." Because it came so soon after TEH, though, which was very strong for an introduction of both a new Doctor and a new companion (which we haven't faced since Rose), it looks weaker than it probably is. (Keep in mind that I haven't actually seen it yet, just read a lot of reviews and summaries. I'll watch it when it airs on TV in Australia in a couple of weeks. However this does mean I don't want to discuss plotholes with you because I don't know the details.)
As for Rose vs Martha vs Donna vs Amy, I suppose that was fairly inevitable. When people find "their Doctor" then part of that discovery is because of the companion, being the audience touchstone, so it's understandable that they think Amy is so wonderful. And as far as the promotion goes, they almost HAVE to trumpet her as the best thing since sliced bread, don't they? I mean, they're hardly going to say "And his new companion, who's pretty good, but really, you wouldn't have done better to watch the last few series. Why aren't they around anymore? We-ell, we did some nasty things to them - but it was all in the name of creativity and cliffhangers, you know, and you've got to have them in TV these days!" Apart from anything else, how do you fit that into a newspaper ad?!
One specific point though. I would argue (while agreeing with you) that Donna's attitude had both relevance and similarities to what she went through with the Doctor. She'd longed for her whole life to get married and he interrupted that, so she snapped. Fair enough. But clearly Amy's abandonment issues (which I what I see as the primary motivation for the way she treated people in TEH, as well as what I've heard about TBB) come from her parents first and then the Doctor. So she's projecting, rather than being able to blame him directly. After all, he at least did come back eventually, unlike Amy's parents. And it clearly hasn't occurred to her that she's abandoned Rory (presuming that's the intended groom) just as much as the Doctor abandoned here - and surely she knows that she's not going to be dropped back on time. I mean, if the Doctor has been so late coming back to her, why would he be any more punctual bringing her with him?
Thank you so much for your rant, which was wonderful reading, and I apologise for the essay I've left in response. ;-)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-04-12 09:37 pm (UTC)The real problem IMHO is that this is the second episode. If it were the fifth, and the previous four had been strong, people would have said, as you did, "Oh, well, he can have one bad one." Because it came so soon after TEH, though, which was very strong for an introduction of both a new Doctor and a new companion (which we haven't faced since Rose), it looks weaker than it probably is. (Keep in mind that I haven't actually seen it yet, just read a lot of reviews and summaries. I'll watch it when it airs on TV in Australia in a couple of weeks. However this does mean I don't want to discuss plotholes with you because I don't know the details.)
As for Rose vs Martha vs Donna vs Amy, I suppose that was fairly inevitable. When people find "their Doctor" then part of that discovery is because of the companion, being the audience touchstone, so it's understandable that they think Amy is so wonderful. And as far as the promotion goes, they almost HAVE to trumpet her as the best thing since sliced bread, don't they? I mean, they're hardly going to say "And his new companion, who's pretty good, but really, you wouldn't have done better to watch the last few series. Why aren't they around anymore? We-ell, we did some nasty things to them - but it was all in the name of creativity and cliffhangers, you know, and you've got to have them in TV these days!" Apart from anything else, how do you fit that into a newspaper ad?!
One specific point though. I would argue (while agreeing with you) that Donna's attitude had both relevance and similarities to what she went through with the Doctor. She'd longed for her whole life to get married and he interrupted that, so she snapped. Fair enough. But clearly Amy's abandonment issues (which I what I see as the primary motivation for the way she treated people in TEH, as well as what I've heard about TBB) come from her parents first and then the Doctor. So she's projecting, rather than being able to blame him directly. After all, he at least did come back eventually, unlike Amy's parents. And it clearly hasn't occurred to her that she's abandoned Rory (presuming that's the intended groom) just as much as the Doctor abandoned here - and surely she knows that she's not going to be dropped back on time. I mean, if the Doctor has been so late coming back to her, why would he be any more punctual bringing her with him?
Thank you so much for your rant, which was wonderful reading, and I apologise for the essay I've left in response. ;-)