Posts
Veronica Mars, Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya and All
Phew, wasn’t that great? I refer, of course, to the Doctor Who season closer, ‘The Last of the Time Lords’. It felt, to me, genuinely epic, and emotionally true, and I love the shapes Russell makes of episodes and seasons. John Simm was so frightening, such a monster, that I worried about the nation’s children. And how great was Lucy? Such an acting performance with so few lines needed. Apart from anything else, the story made sense of and completed the character of the Master, and, across the span of all Doctor Who, that really took doing. Bravo!
Sorry I haven’t blogged lately. It’s down to tiredness and lately the weather. I spend so much time looking forward to the English summer that when it doesn’t happen, as is the case at the moment, I feel like I’ve had something taken from me. I rather underlined this for myself by going up to Northampton and waiting in the rain for a 20/20 cricket match that never started. And Northants, I discovered, doesn’t have the most welcoming of grounds and staff. I’m going to stick to Bristol from now on.
I had an extraordinary couple of weeks getting close to sorting out the novel, concentrating on all the things one has to hold in one’s head at once to make a book, then running at 4pm and going down the bar. A most wonderful time, spent entirely inside myself, and looking inward. Doesn’t sound tremendous fun, does it? Anyhow, now there’s just a bit more to do. I’ve put it aside to do a new draft of the Primeval episode, which is fun in a different way, but I can’t wait to get back to the book.
Next weekend it’s Faringdon Arts Festival, so my wife is fully employed on that. If you’re anywhere in the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire/Berkshire area, do come on over. I’d be happy to share a pint, and will probably need one. Here’s the website again:
http://www.faringdonartsfestival.org/
I can particularly recommend Friday night in the Market Place. The place has been filled in previous years. It’s a great night out.
Anyhow, I promised three things at the end of the last blog, Veronica Mars, Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and here they are.
The last episode of Veronica Mars (my favourite ever TV show) felt like it was written as merely a season closer, but then made knowing it might well be the last we saw of everyone. Hence Logan remained plotless all year (such a waste of a great character and actor) but at least got a cool exit line, and what might have been written as a cliffhanger came over more as ‘that’s the way it always goes in Neptune, this show wouldn’t insult you with a happy ending’. I appreciated how much effort was put into making us like Veronica and Logan staying apart and her moving on. Yet another thing this show did that TV doesn’t do. I also very much appreciated, towards the end of the series, Veronica finishing off an ‘alcohol is bad’ plot of the week, the set in stone morality of which only descends to feed upon shows in such trouble that they don’t want to offend anyone, only for our heroine to then take a swig from a hip flask and the show to indulge in five minutes of what can only be described as canonicity fanservice as Mac met her nemesis and geek beau. It was like all the mainstream viewers had left at the final ad break. Or perhaps that a showrunner had entered the room. Rob Thomas, I love you. The comic book continuation will rock.
Lucky Star is my current favourite anime show. It’s got some themes in common with Veronica, but pursues them in a very different way. It’s a very gentle and humane comedy about four girls at high school, one of them, Konata Izumi, being very much a geek. The comedy comes mostly from a subtle battle between her and one of the other girls, Kagami, who, being an elder sister, is always certain of the correct way to behave, and what’s good for everyone. Kona-chan undermines her authority and embarrasses her with open nerdiness, Kagamin slaps her down. All this is portrayed in a very realistic, character punchline comedy rather than slapstick, way. But as is already becoming clear, the two of them need each other. We as an audience have started to share some of Kagamin’s frustration with someone who won’t conform in negative ways as well as good ones. And Kona-chan is starting to let Kagamin let her hair down when she needs to. The show is vastly concerned with character, in the way only great shojo (anime for girls) is, so much so that when the girls go somewhere, for instance a festival, the background is just shapes and colours, because the series knows we’re only watching these four people. At the end of each episode, we get two minutes of Lucky Channel, supposedly a variety show about the episode (yes, like Doctor Who Confidential) hosted by an ageing former idol star Akira Kogami, desperate and sighing, and her terrified young male helper, who, to her frustration, gets to appear in the actual show. The behind the scenes showbiz cynicism is spot on, and translates across oceans. And then we’re treated over the end credits to the sight of the door of a karaoke booth, within which Kona-chan is belting out the theme to yet another anime or samurai drama that her friends, commenting, have never heard of. (Including, wonderfully, Monkey!) Finally, the ‘next episode’ voiceover is never about the next episode, but is usually an unrelated, meandering anecdote from one of the characters. All in all, the show is a lovely package, if almost entirely plot free. It’s also Fanservice Free, thank goodness. (‘Fanservice’ is an anime fan term that’s come to mean ‘containing gratuitously sexist shots of the leads’. But its original meaning included ‘purely catering to a fan audience’ as it’s used in the Veronica paragraph above.)
The most modern media experience on Earth, however, is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This is an insane, and insanely enjoyable, anime show that’s taken Japan by storm. It has at its heart, again, a darkness similar to that of Veronica, but plays it as hope. The title character is, of course, a Japanese high school girl, who loathes the sheer dull mundanity of the gorgeously naturalistically portrayed school she’s at, and starts a school club to search for aliens, time travelers and psychics. Who must exist because life would be hideously boring if they didn’t. The nature of the everyday existence portrayed by the show suggests that this effort is doomed to fail. And, without giving too much away, as far as Haruhi is concerned, it does. But her energy and drive are such that she never gives up her ridiculous attempts to push her club into the spotlight and attract the attention of said beings. She’s the ultimate outsider, rude, pushy and arrogant, but, because we start to see the vulnerability and sheer geek need that drives her to do this stuff, ultimately charming. It helps that we see her through the eyes of Kyon, a boy caught up in her wake, who sighingly narrates the show, and continuously finds himself trying to limit the fall out from Haruhi’s insane plans. We take it, by the end, that he must be utterly in love with her to keep on doing that, but he’d deny that violently. The series is geeky, serious, can tell all sorts of different stories and does so with great skill, but above all it’s very funny when it wants to be. It takes time out to make big rock star gesture episodes, just showing off. And when one finally discovers what the central plot is, it’s very Hard SF indeed. While still being poppy and groovy.
But it’s the way the show is told that makes it stand out. The episodes are shown ‘in the wrong order’. That is to say that, plotwise, that’s literally true, with episode eleven being shown first. Which is, incredibly, an episode that doesn’t feature our heroes in their regular roles at all until right at the end, and would suggest to the casual viewer that this new series is going to be a rather knowingly bad camp fantasy show. The ‘real’ episode one is then shown next week, and from then on we’re flung back and forth with episodes cropping up from many different points in the story, until we get the conclusion as the penultimate episode. We’re even made to wait an extra week between the first part of a murder mystery and the conclusion. But here’s the genius bit. This structure seems utterly planned, and not a gimmick at all, because of two things. Firstly, it gives us a foreshadowing of plot developments that’s utterly compelling. We know the situation is going to become way more complex, and we want to know how we get there from here. Secondly, the episodes in broadcast order form a thematic rather than plot-based journey into the heart of our lead character. We get to know her more and more until in the last episode the matter at hand isn’t the central plot that we saw finished last week, but about how she feels now. It’s the ultimate expression of the ‘One Year Later’ disconnect used in the last few years by everything from Battlestar Galactica to Lost to DC Comics… and now by Doctor Who! J.G. Ballard should be proud, and this should be Brian Eno’s favourite show. Causality has started to be abandoned in pop culture, and here’s a show that’s all the better for it. Do yourself a favour and don’t see it from the beginning.
Announcements:
ITEM! Also this week I’ve been exchanging e-mails with Simon Guerrier, editor of the new book about Bernice Summerfield, the former Doctor Who companion character I created fifteen years ago, and who’s had an ongoing fictional life ever since. The book is called Bernice Summerfield: The Inside Story and it’s due out in October.
http://www.bigfinish.com/benny/benny_insidestory.shtml
The process of looking back over the history of the creation and continuation of the Bernice range, through two different publishers, has been joyful but at times painful. This is real blood on the carpet stuff, full of misdemeanors, notably by me. Today was Simon’s last day of finishing the book, and also his last day as editor of the Bernice ranges. I can only say he’s done a fantastic job, and that I wish his successor the same success.
ITEM! If you remember, I did a short horror story this year for a collection called Phobic, from Comma Press. The book, and, kindly, my story, recently got a cracking review in the Guardian:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2103954,00.html
If you like horror, do check it out, it’s a great collection.
ITEM! And similarly, XTNCT gets a grand review (best comic of the last six months!) in Decibel magazine here:
http://decibelmagazine.com/reviews/jul2007/comics.aspx?terms=Gross&searchtype=2&fragment=True
ITEM! On Sunday 14th October, I’ll be appearing on a panel as part of the Manchester Literature Festival:
http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/
At the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, the subject being the boundary between fact and science fiction. Toby Hadoke (who’ll also be performing his brilliant show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf) and fellow Who writers Paul Magrs and Rob Shearman will be up there with me. More on that nearer the time, do pop along if you’re about.
ITEM! The new Resonance FM radio show purely about comics, Panel Borders, now has a website! It can be found here:
http://www.panelborders.com/
Note the rough and possibly flattering drawing of yours truly. The first me and Peter David show is on 9th July at 4.45pm.
ITEM! And finally, I'm interviewed in the new Tripwire Annual:
http://joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.com/2007/06/d-day-for-tripwire-annual-theres-been.html
That august journal of everything that rocks, with Hellboy on the front!
I’ll try and post again a lot more quickly. It’s actually refreshing to do this, and I should remember that feeling next time I get run down. Until then, Cheerio!
Sorry I haven’t blogged lately. It’s down to tiredness and lately the weather. I spend so much time looking forward to the English summer that when it doesn’t happen, as is the case at the moment, I feel like I’ve had something taken from me. I rather underlined this for myself by going up to Northampton and waiting in the rain for a 20/20 cricket match that never started. And Northants, I discovered, doesn’t have the most welcoming of grounds and staff. I’m going to stick to Bristol from now on.
I had an extraordinary couple of weeks getting close to sorting out the novel, concentrating on all the things one has to hold in one’s head at once to make a book, then running at 4pm and going down the bar. A most wonderful time, spent entirely inside myself, and looking inward. Doesn’t sound tremendous fun, does it? Anyhow, now there’s just a bit more to do. I’ve put it aside to do a new draft of the Primeval episode, which is fun in a different way, but I can’t wait to get back to the book.
Next weekend it’s Faringdon Arts Festival, so my wife is fully employed on that. If you’re anywhere in the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire/Berkshire area, do come on over. I’d be happy to share a pint, and will probably need one. Here’s the website again:
http://www.faringdonartsfestival.org/
I can particularly recommend Friday night in the Market Place. The place has been filled in previous years. It’s a great night out.
Anyhow, I promised three things at the end of the last blog, Veronica Mars, Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and here they are.
The last episode of Veronica Mars (my favourite ever TV show) felt like it was written as merely a season closer, but then made knowing it might well be the last we saw of everyone. Hence Logan remained plotless all year (such a waste of a great character and actor) but at least got a cool exit line, and what might have been written as a cliffhanger came over more as ‘that’s the way it always goes in Neptune, this show wouldn’t insult you with a happy ending’. I appreciated how much effort was put into making us like Veronica and Logan staying apart and her moving on. Yet another thing this show did that TV doesn’t do. I also very much appreciated, towards the end of the series, Veronica finishing off an ‘alcohol is bad’ plot of the week, the set in stone morality of which only descends to feed upon shows in such trouble that they don’t want to offend anyone, only for our heroine to then take a swig from a hip flask and the show to indulge in five minutes of what can only be described as canonicity fanservice as Mac met her nemesis and geek beau. It was like all the mainstream viewers had left at the final ad break. Or perhaps that a showrunner had entered the room. Rob Thomas, I love you. The comic book continuation will rock.
Lucky Star is my current favourite anime show. It’s got some themes in common with Veronica, but pursues them in a very different way. It’s a very gentle and humane comedy about four girls at high school, one of them, Konata Izumi, being very much a geek. The comedy comes mostly from a subtle battle between her and one of the other girls, Kagami, who, being an elder sister, is always certain of the correct way to behave, and what’s good for everyone. Kona-chan undermines her authority and embarrasses her with open nerdiness, Kagamin slaps her down. All this is portrayed in a very realistic, character punchline comedy rather than slapstick, way. But as is already becoming clear, the two of them need each other. We as an audience have started to share some of Kagamin’s frustration with someone who won’t conform in negative ways as well as good ones. And Kona-chan is starting to let Kagamin let her hair down when she needs to. The show is vastly concerned with character, in the way only great shojo (anime for girls) is, so much so that when the girls go somewhere, for instance a festival, the background is just shapes and colours, because the series knows we’re only watching these four people. At the end of each episode, we get two minutes of Lucky Channel, supposedly a variety show about the episode (yes, like Doctor Who Confidential) hosted by an ageing former idol star Akira Kogami, desperate and sighing, and her terrified young male helper, who, to her frustration, gets to appear in the actual show. The behind the scenes showbiz cynicism is spot on, and translates across oceans. And then we’re treated over the end credits to the sight of the door of a karaoke booth, within which Kona-chan is belting out the theme to yet another anime or samurai drama that her friends, commenting, have never heard of. (Including, wonderfully, Monkey!) Finally, the ‘next episode’ voiceover is never about the next episode, but is usually an unrelated, meandering anecdote from one of the characters. All in all, the show is a lovely package, if almost entirely plot free. It’s also Fanservice Free, thank goodness. (‘Fanservice’ is an anime fan term that’s come to mean ‘containing gratuitously sexist shots of the leads’. But its original meaning included ‘purely catering to a fan audience’ as it’s used in the Veronica paragraph above.)
The most modern media experience on Earth, however, is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This is an insane, and insanely enjoyable, anime show that’s taken Japan by storm. It has at its heart, again, a darkness similar to that of Veronica, but plays it as hope. The title character is, of course, a Japanese high school girl, who loathes the sheer dull mundanity of the gorgeously naturalistically portrayed school she’s at, and starts a school club to search for aliens, time travelers and psychics. Who must exist because life would be hideously boring if they didn’t. The nature of the everyday existence portrayed by the show suggests that this effort is doomed to fail. And, without giving too much away, as far as Haruhi is concerned, it does. But her energy and drive are such that she never gives up her ridiculous attempts to push her club into the spotlight and attract the attention of said beings. She’s the ultimate outsider, rude, pushy and arrogant, but, because we start to see the vulnerability and sheer geek need that drives her to do this stuff, ultimately charming. It helps that we see her through the eyes of Kyon, a boy caught up in her wake, who sighingly narrates the show, and continuously finds himself trying to limit the fall out from Haruhi’s insane plans. We take it, by the end, that he must be utterly in love with her to keep on doing that, but he’d deny that violently. The series is geeky, serious, can tell all sorts of different stories and does so with great skill, but above all it’s very funny when it wants to be. It takes time out to make big rock star gesture episodes, just showing off. And when one finally discovers what the central plot is, it’s very Hard SF indeed. While still being poppy and groovy.
But it’s the way the show is told that makes it stand out. The episodes are shown ‘in the wrong order’. That is to say that, plotwise, that’s literally true, with episode eleven being shown first. Which is, incredibly, an episode that doesn’t feature our heroes in their regular roles at all until right at the end, and would suggest to the casual viewer that this new series is going to be a rather knowingly bad camp fantasy show. The ‘real’ episode one is then shown next week, and from then on we’re flung back and forth with episodes cropping up from many different points in the story, until we get the conclusion as the penultimate episode. We’re even made to wait an extra week between the first part of a murder mystery and the conclusion. But here’s the genius bit. This structure seems utterly planned, and not a gimmick at all, because of two things. Firstly, it gives us a foreshadowing of plot developments that’s utterly compelling. We know the situation is going to become way more complex, and we want to know how we get there from here. Secondly, the episodes in broadcast order form a thematic rather than plot-based journey into the heart of our lead character. We get to know her more and more until in the last episode the matter at hand isn’t the central plot that we saw finished last week, but about how she feels now. It’s the ultimate expression of the ‘One Year Later’ disconnect used in the last few years by everything from Battlestar Galactica to Lost to DC Comics… and now by Doctor Who! J.G. Ballard should be proud, and this should be Brian Eno’s favourite show. Causality has started to be abandoned in pop culture, and here’s a show that’s all the better for it. Do yourself a favour and don’t see it from the beginning.
Announcements:
ITEM! Also this week I’ve been exchanging e-mails with Simon Guerrier, editor of the new book about Bernice Summerfield, the former Doctor Who companion character I created fifteen years ago, and who’s had an ongoing fictional life ever since. The book is called Bernice Summerfield: The Inside Story and it’s due out in October.
http://www.bigfinish.com/benny/benny_insidestory.shtml
The process of looking back over the history of the creation and continuation of the Bernice range, through two different publishers, has been joyful but at times painful. This is real blood on the carpet stuff, full of misdemeanors, notably by me. Today was Simon’s last day of finishing the book, and also his last day as editor of the Bernice ranges. I can only say he’s done a fantastic job, and that I wish his successor the same success.
ITEM! If you remember, I did a short horror story this year for a collection called Phobic, from Comma Press. The book, and, kindly, my story, recently got a cracking review in the Guardian:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2103954,00.html
If you like horror, do check it out, it’s a great collection.
ITEM! And similarly, XTNCT gets a grand review (best comic of the last six months!) in Decibel magazine here:
http://decibelmagazine.com/reviews/jul2007/comics.aspx?terms=Gross&searchtype=2&fragment=True
ITEM! On Sunday 14th October, I’ll be appearing on a panel as part of the Manchester Literature Festival:
http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/
At the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, the subject being the boundary between fact and science fiction. Toby Hadoke (who’ll also be performing his brilliant show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf) and fellow Who writers Paul Magrs and Rob Shearman will be up there with me. More on that nearer the time, do pop along if you’re about.
ITEM! The new Resonance FM radio show purely about comics, Panel Borders, now has a website! It can be found here:
http://www.panelborders.com/
Note the rough and possibly flattering drawing of yours truly. The first me and Peter David show is on 9th July at 4.45pm.
ITEM! And finally, I'm interviewed in the new Tripwire Annual:
http://joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.com/2007/06/d-day-for-tripwire-annual-theres-been.html
That august journal of everything that rocks, with Hellboy on the front!
I’ll try and post again a lot more quickly. It’s actually refreshing to do this, and I should remember that feeling next time I get run down. Until then, Cheerio!
Labels:
Anime,
Bernice Summerfield,
Doctor Who,
Hauhi,
Lucky Star,
Veronica Mars
|
That was amazing, agreed. Easily the best season of Doctor Who that I remember. The One Year Later thing worked, but if they use Jimi Hendrix songs as plot points, I'm going to worry. ;)
'Foxy Lady' would have been apt.
Hi Paul, glad to hear that things are going well :) I had mixed feelings about the finale last night, nots ure about the turning back of the world like the in the first Superman movie, hopefully the Xmas special will be good.
Got a big ask. Issue 1 of my first mini-series Risers came out in the US, got some great reviews, and of course you are mister busy, but would you mind taking a look and doing a review of it? I have the whole thing in a PDF file that I can email to you.
Many thanks, Martin
I'd like to apologise on behalf on my town of Northampton, heh.
Good episode though. John Simm is fantastic.
Hello Paul,
I'm a newbie to your blog (actually I got forwarded on from Mrs. David's blog), but I remember you were at Worldcon last year, accepting Steven Moffat's Hugo award.
Reading your blog I was intrigued to find that you are an anime fan, and I am assuming you'll be Nippon 2007 (as I will be), so I hope I'll meet you.
But mainly I'm writing because I'm too a follower of the Haruhism movement. When I watched it I was intrigued by the ambiguity of the story, kinda like Life on Mars- is Haruhi the centre of all things, or is it Kyon's delusions?
I'm not sure if tMofHS is going to be released in the UK, but in Australia it will be released in episode numbered order (as will the US edition) but there will be a collectable DL DVD to get the series in broadcast order.
Also, I just watched the last ep of this year's Doctor Who... I bet Sharon Osborne now regrets voting for Saxon now!
Widya Santoso
(I can't get my Blogger account to connect)
Gotta say no, it wasn't that great a finale (sorry) - it disappointed me - especially the big red reset button but most especially Martha leaving - I get why, totally, but I'm totally unhappy about it... My fave episodes were "The Shakespeare Code" and "Human Nature/Family of Blood", closely followed by "Smith and Jones" and "Blink"... I enjoyed most of the others too (except "42" and, to a lesser extent, the Dalek two-parter), but the finale felt like a big fat let down...
Some good stuff, but overall, not good enough and definitely not as good as either "The Parting of the Ways" or "Doomsday"...
DIdn't love it as much as your two-parter Paul, but I did enjoy it. And never mind Jimi Hendrix, "The Sound of Drums"is actually a line from that Rogue Traders song they used at the end of the ep!
No, actually, it wasn't great. It was an exercise in sidelining women; Martha, in particular, performs heroic acts, but they are shown to be motivated by her love for the Doctor. The Doctor says "Do you think I'd tell her to kill?", not "Do you think she's the sort of person who would kill?"
my rant
Other people are busy disagreeing on the Doctor Who finale, so I'll leave it alone. I thought the Veronica Mars finale was awful. Nothing happened. Just setting up about another five storylines then not resolving them isn't ambivilence, it's petulance at getting cancelled. Where was the DAH-DAH-DAH moment? Where I ask you? Where was the "He killed her? He blew up the bus?" I'm only angry because I care.
Martin, I don't know, how about I go take a look when I'm next at the comic shop? I get so many requests like that these days that I don't really know how to politely deal, and think a blanket ban may be the only thing that's fair. I do hope you understand. Hey, an apology on behalf of Northants! Ta! Did you mean Mr. David, Widya, or does Mrs. David also have a blog? (Forgive my ignorance.) I will indeed be at Nippon 2007, having toured the country for a couple of weeks beforehand, so do please seek me out. I love the fact it's called Haruhism! Putting the episodes in the 'right' order on the boxed set will really diminish the series, I think. And yes, when the Toclafane descended for their mass slaughter, do you think McFly had a moment of regret as a precise one or so of them was zapped? Perhaps a commitment to decimation was in the manifesto? Well, yes, Oli, the VM finale wasn't that great, but, with all the chopping and changing of how many episodes they had to play with, the format, etc., I don't think it was the team's fault, and my love for them forgives all.
Yeah I know... I was just hoping for something bigger. They had the portrait of Lilly, and then they had all those guys confessing to various evildoings, would it have killed them to freak us out by having someone say 'I killed Lilly Kane' on the video clips? Duncan, perhaps? Boom! *name of actual killer removed so as to not spoil the series* didn't do it! Cut to black!
p.s. Yes, I'm aware *name of actual killer removed so as to not spoil the series* confessed to Roni in the lift. There've been more dramatic retcons than that. And yeah, there's a load of other stuff to get around before it can work, but I still like it better than how it actually ended.
Ello,
having now read your original book Human Nature, I am in awe of your talent!
I was initially disappointed with LotTL .. largely as I wasnt enamoured by Dobby the Time Lord Elf and the Peter Pan ending that I last saw used when I took my younger siblings to Care Bears II A New Generation. However, repeat viewings have turned me around and I am now loving it lots. Now, if I could just get the team to audution me for Martha's replacement....
I'm sure they could wangle 'Message to the Universe' in somehow.
I'm hoping to bring the kids over to Faringdon on Saturday. They will be particularly keen to meet the Daleks ;-)
The last 3 Doctor Who's were horrible. I enjoyed your 2 parter and Moffat's contribution was the best of the whole revival, which just made what followed seem all the more infantile and awful.
I'd stopped watching after the silliness of the series opener with its apocalyptic MRI machines, and started watching again after hearing great things about Human Nature, and wasn't disappointed.
Your two parter and Blink were examples of how great Doctor Who can be; LoTTL was nothing of the sort. I'm not going to rant, but one plot point which sticks out hugely for me is that last week touching the paradox machine would blow up the universe, but this week Jack shot it to pieces. I doesn't make sense : /
I will *so* miss Veronica Mars. Glad to hear there are other people who properly appreciate it. It was the show I most looked forward to each week. Slowly but surely, American TV seems to be taking off any show I actually like. Humph.
Karen B.
Oli: hey, you wanted a cliffhanger that would never be resolved? I hate those. Peter: thank you very much. Neil: look forward to seeing you. Mike & Josh: you already know how I feel about it, it's at the top of the blog. Don't praise me while knocking my friends, please, it means I don't feel the praise can be accepted with good grace. Karen: and no more Rome! But at least the BBC are showing season two uncut.
I absolutely agree with you Paul, I love the overall shape of RTDs Doctor Who seasons. I do wish he'd apply a little more internal logic and consistency to his own individual episodes though! Often the credits roll and I find myself asking, "Just a damned minute, what about - ?" and there's usually a list of contradictions, unresolved plot points and vague gestures towards resolutions that make me want to scream. There felt to be rather a lot of 'lets throw some more stuff into the mix' this past couple of weeks instead of 'what can we take away to make it stronger'. I felt slightly bewildered and underwhelmed by the end, particularly since the weeks leading up had been so beautifully structured and paced, with not a word out of place.
It looks like I need to get into Veronica Mars though! This is a new one on me. I'll keep my eyes on the schedules!
ED
Well, you don't absolutely agree with me, then.
Yes, I guess I absolutely agreed with one point, but perhaps not the other.
Just to prove that I'm not totally anti-RTD (I'm not!), this is just about the same reaction I had at -that- moment! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLnk-A1OkKk (It contains strong language, but it'll raise a smile of recognition.)
But where did the futurekind come from? How did one of them get into the base? How did Jack get out of Torchwood HQ so quickly, or even hear the TARDIS from inside? Why the false cliffhanger with no resolution other than 'because'? Why... oh you get the point. But for -that- sequence: happy face.
Incidentally, great to hear that XTINCT is doing so well. I remember reading it in serial form and thoroughly enjoying the madness of it all, especially because you made me work hard with all that txtspk. Let's hear it for the crazy universe of British comics!
ED
Me and my friends loved the last doctor who, i couldn't help feeling sad when the master died. Bring on the crimbo special!
I've been hearing a lot about 'British Summertime', do you feel that 'Chalk' is a better book to buy in your modest opinion? =)
jack.
I'm really pleased with how XTNCT is getting a reputation for itself. It's the little book that can. And it's going to be a while before Chalk, Jack (I'm just getting back to it today) so I'd very heartily recommend the new US edition of British Summertime.
Catherine Tate, LOL. Goodbye Doctor Who, it was nice knowing you. Did none of the writing team suggest, "hang on, this is a terrible idea?"
*dies*
Okay, the teeniest little glimmer of hope I had that the video hasn't been seen by people at the Beeb is gone... Well, it was gone by the Metro and Guardian articles, anyway. Also somewhere around the 7,000 views point. It's 16,000 now. We only linked it in my Livejournal, which is locked, and one little forum! This is very crazy.
Yep, that's me in that youtube video. This has all been a bit mental. I hope we didn't scare anyone at the BBC and that they are taking it as a compliment to see how much we enjoyed their show? *wibbles*
As you can tell, we so were not expecting that twist. Well done to all involved! What a series! It was amazing. Loved Last of The Time Lords. And Sound of Drums.
Oh, and I have to disagree! I can't wait to have Donna join the Doctor permanently. The banter between the two of them is going to be fabulous. David and Catherine have incredible chemistry and I really can't wait!
Oh, I was hoping you'd pop up! I'm afraid I was the one who shopped you. I sent the video to Russell. And I have to say, he was absolutely flattered and delighted. So you've got nothing to worry about. I'd love to see such reactions to something I'd written! I hope you're enjoying your newfound fame!
I'm the other one just in from work :)
Didn't expect the amount of craziness that has followed this. We decided it'd be fun to film ourselves and see how we reacted.
Then we thought, lets show our friends.
16000 views later...
Yeah. Insane.
But yes to agree with buckbeakbabie. A compliment. Completely.
We're not mad :)
Perhaps showing this to Russell will mean more UNIT, can never have too much UNIT.
Also we did love Family of Blood and squeed similarly. But the filming came as a result of hyperness for the return of Jack and a *lot* of sugar.
Just wanted to add my two cents in saying this was the best season of Dr Who yet. Your episodes were especial great, keep up the good work.
I just found your blog and I am sure that I will be back.
Briege, I'm very happy for you, you two are the kind of viewers all TV writers dream about. It was the moment by moment precision of the reactions: that's exactly the end result that one looks for when writing one of these things. And thank you, Descartes, do pop back when you've a mo.
Hee, thanks!
Glad Russell liked it. (So weird to be typing that sentence...)
We are enjoying our fame, still a bit bewildered about how big it's become. But most people have been really lovely about it, the general consensus is 'Yup, that was my reaction too,' which makes us feel better. It's been brilliant.
Thanks for saying that. I know how important audiance reaction is *struggling actress type but stage mostly so I get to see the reactions* And I presume writers get to see lots less of one.
Still very suprised by whole thing :)
But yes, thanks again for saying it :)b
I'm curious. Were you aware that the Chameleon Arch watch device would be used in Utopia when you were writing Human Nature for S3? Or does Russell work with the writers on an entirely "need to know" basis?
Thanks, Gary Bainbridge
It's lovely to hear from you two. Gary: I did know, but I'm not sure if I was supposed to.
As a fan of Veronica Mars have you ever checked out Rob Thomas's previous US show - Cupid? The best ever prematurely cancelled show in the US, bar none (well except maybe American Gothic). Seriously it's brilliant even watching it on Youtube clips or poor quality downloads (it hasn't yet been released on DVD). Cracking dialogue, very funny and lovely premise.
That film… Everyone's talking about it!
Actually, I haven't seen that, I must take a look. And yes, the fame of those two spreads ever-wider!
Paul,
I really like the way every story in series three of Doctor Who contributed plot points or concepts to the series finalé. In general, the treatment of the Master was well thought out, but I felt that the story could have been better. Both you and Steven Moffat set the bar so high with your scripts for this series that is was difficult for the three-parter to maintain that level. All the elements were there, but some of the dots were connected clumsily. Though I did enjoy the final story, unlike many other of its critics, I do feel that the use of the "reset" plot device cheapened the final fate of the Master. This was also the second use of this device in a (Doctor Who) story where we see the Master "die" (the TV movie).
Taras
I see.
I live in San Diego, where Veronica Mars was filmed. They filmed at the casino where I work once. I didn't meet anyone from the show, but it was still interesting. As for anime, have you ever seen Cowboy Bebop? The music is amazing! I have a lot of it on my i-Pod.
I rather prefer the Cowboy Beebop music to the show, though I like the movie. I find myself thinking 'why is she wearing that?' a lot.
Paul,
Greetings from L.A.
I am new to your blog, but I am a fan of yours. I work for Boeing (you've probably flown on some of our jets) but try to do some creative writing on the side. A couple of years ago I developed some animated cartoon characters which were bought for possible transformation into toys by a major toy company. I've recently finished a screenplay, which I'd like to introduce to the UK market, if possible. I would like to chat with you about this. Do you have an email address where I could possibly correspond with you a bit separately? I'm at doug.shepardson@gmail.com.
It would be great to hear from you!
In any event, best regards from over here, and maybe I will see you at Gallifrey one in February.
Doug
As a rule, I don't talk about stuff like that by e-mail, but am happy to chat away in bars about it, so the best thing to do is find me in L.A. I'm back from Japan, so able to reply to comments again. Cheers.
yep
Good.
Paul,
A couple friends have sent me links to your blog citing some of your praise for Veronica Mars. Thanks so much. Very cool that it comes from another writer.
Thanks,
Rob Thomas
Goodness, a pleasure and an honour to see you here. I am indeed a vast fan of Veronica, and I hope we can expect something new from you shortly. If you're around L.A. in February, may I suggest the Gallifrey convention, where we might have a pint? I've now encountered Alan Moore, Iain Banks and yourself (virtually) in three days. Today I'm fully expecting high tea with J.G. Ballard.