Will we ever have a decent Egypt or Dinosaur story?

[26138]

There are lots of stories I would like to see Doctor Who tackle. Among them...

• Vikings
• The American Revolution
• The Wild West
• World War I
• King Arthur (the historical one)

But I'd take ancient Egypt, too. Considering I set part of "The Spindle of Necessity" there, I have some affinity for the place.

Vikings - The Time Meddler
Wild West - The Gunfighters
WWI - The War Games

 

[The Nth Doctor]

There are plenty of emotional moments in the classic series.

For example, one from each Doctor

-The Doctor's relationship with Cameca (The Aztecs)

-The Doctor's speech to Victoria about her father's death (Tomb of the Cybermen)

-The Doctor's sadness over Jo getting married (The Green Death)

-Sarah Jane's initial farewell. (The Hand of Fear)

-The Fifth Doctor's sacrifice (Caves of Androzani)

-The Sixth Doctor's condemnation of the Time Lords (Trial of a Time Lord)

-Ace realizing the baby she saved is in fact her abusive mother (Curse of Fenric)

A handful of individual emotional moments does not make for a regular pattern of emotional writing, especially on a show that lasted for over a quarter of a century.

Even Steven Moffat and Paul Cornell have commented that DW TOS was rather unemotional, arguing that the larger and more persistent amount of emotional content in the current series is one of the things that sets it apart from DW TOS.

That list of examples is just that: EXAMPLES. There were many cases of emotional content in the classic series.

Seriously, Sci, I'm sick of seeing you criticize a series that you've admittedly seen only a very small sample of. Get back to us when you've seen at least the majority of the classic series.

 

[Starkers]

^ What EMH said...

 

[klingonmaquis]

While not on tv, the Big Finish audio of Eye of the Scorpion has the 5th Doctor in Egypt.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

That doesn't mean that the current series should repeat the original series's mistakes. DW TOS often had rather unemotional writing, too -- that doesn't mean Moffat should abandon emotionalism when he takes over as showrunner.

I'm not sure that Doctor Who needs to be a tear-jerker.

For instance, I find the novel Human Nature to be far more moving than the two-part episode. The ending of the novel is gutwrenching, with the Doctor sobbing over what he's lost, while the ending of the episode, because it has the Return of the King problem, drags out too long, losing the emotional energy.

My issue isn't that Doctor Who shouldn't go for its emotional marks, but that when it does it can fall flat. In some cases, it's the writing (such as "Journey's End"); in other cases, Murray Gold's score lets down the side (such as "Last of the Time Lords"). When everything clicks, like "The Girl in the Fireplace," though, it's magic.

 

[Sci]

Seriously, Sci, I'm sick of seeing you criticize a series

And I'm just heartbroken over it.

I've criticized DW TOS exactly once in the last year, and by the way, I've been making it a point to track down and watch various random DW TOS serials in the meantime.

I'm hardly talking about it all that much, and when I am, I'm not speaking from ignorance. Get over it.

 

[Starkers]

That doesn't mean that the current series should repeat the original series's mistakes. DW TOS often had rather unemotional writing, too -- that doesn't mean Moffat should abandon emotionalism when he takes over as showrunner.

I'm not sure that Doctor Who needs to be a tear-jerker.

For instance, I find the novel Human Nature to be far more moving than the two-part episode. The ending of the novel is gutwrenching, with the Doctor sobbing over what he's lost, while the ending of the episode, because it has the Return of the King problem, drags out too long, losing the emotional energy.

My issue isn't that Doctor Who shouldn't go for its emotional marks, but that when it does it can fall flat. In some cases, it's the writing (such as "Journey's End"); in other cases, Murray Gold's score lets down the side (such as "Last of the Time Lords"). When everything clicks, like "The Girl in the Fireplace," though, it's magic.

Yeah I'd agree with that assesment. A lot of new series episodes really overegg the pudding, and quite frankly are somewhat mawkish and overly sentimental. When they get it right though it is great

 

[voggmo]

A good Egypt story would be fun. Find the perpetual motion machine under the Sphynx or something. Viking theme barely/rarely covered in Who stories. 13th Warrior showed how myth can be used in conjunction with it.

I'd like to see a Planet Earth, ( Roddenberry movie), knockoff with tunnels crisscrossing the earth. Primitives above, Daleks or some other baddies below. That sort of primitives being tricked & secretely controlled by advanced beings common in Who stories. State of Decay & I think Full Circle followed that theme.

 

[Starkers]

A good Egypt story would be fun. Find the perpetual motion machine under the Sphynx or something. Viking theme barely/rarely covered in Who stories. 13th Warrior showed how myth can be used in conjunction with it.

I'd like to see a Planet Earth, ( Roddenberry movie), knockoff with tunnels crisscrossing the earth. Primitives above, Daleks or some other baddies below. That sort of primitives being tricked & secretely controlled by advanced beings common in Who stories. State of Decay & I think Full Circle followed that theme.

Sounds like Roddenberry was knocking off HG Wells' The Time Machine!

 

[Chaos Descending]

As I have mentioned before, I am DYING to see an episode with the "Earth Reptiles" (aka Silurians/Sea Devils) set in the era in which that species was the dominant lifeform on Earth.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

It would certainly raise a number of interesting questions.

How would the Silurians react to the Doctor, who clearly isn't a Silurian?

What if the Doctor took a Silurian as a companion for a while?

 

[Chaos Descending]

It would certainly raise a number of interesting questions.

How would the Silurians react to the Doctor, who clearly isn't a Silurian?

What if the Doctor took a Silurian as a companion for a while?

That brings up some good points.

One thing that always stuck in mind is that the Silurians seemed to have a higher level of technology than 20th century mankind. What if the Silurians in their day had frequent and common contact with other planets, and possibly even had some offworld colonies?