mom@sftri.UUCP (Mark Modig) (04/24/85)
I, too, have been somewhat dismayed at the apparent increase in
violence (particularly pointless violence) in some of the recent Doctor
Who episodes. I'm mostly talking about "Caves of Androzani",
"Resurrection of the Daleks", and "Vengeance on Varos".
I've really liked Colin Baker as the Doctor, but I have yet to see a Colin
Baker story that I really liked for its own merits. "Vengeance on
Varos" comes closest to that, I suppose, with its interesting ideas
on planetary government, but the story to me seems to be too violent
and graphic, so much so that it obscures the plot. [I've also seen
"Attack of the Cybermen" and "The Twin Dilemma".] The stories seem to
be relying too much on violence and not enough on a good,
well-executed idea or two that marked the best stories in the past.
The first Colin Baker season apeears to be a good one, at least on
paper. There is the business with the Chameleon circuit, the return
of the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans, and appearances by the
Master, Patrick Troughton, and Frazier Hines. And, like I said before,
I've really liked Colin Baker as the Doctor, better than Peter
Davison in many ways. But the stories just don't live up to their billings
(at least I don't feel the ones I've seen have) and appear to be
much more violent than sstories have generally been in the past.
On the whole, I thought the stories in the Peter Davison era were
much better, particularly the earlier ones. (I thought "Caves of
Androzani" was probably the worst Peter Davison story.)
So, in one sense, at least, the hiatus may be a good thing. It
gives JNT & co. time to sit back and maybe pick out some better
stories (and maybe better writers, too. I could probably write a
story better than the ones I'm panning here--and I don't write for
a living.) I think JNT has done some really good things for Dr.
Who. And it's nice to see old friends and enemies once more. But
what has made the series really GO, to my mind, are the stories, and
I think that is still true today. I'm worried that Dr. Who may
begin to suffer from what I call (and others before me have
mentioned in one form or another) "Star Trek syndrome". During the
last season, the Star Trek characters began to really become
caricatures of themselves, and the stories became to look pretty
much alike, without a great deal of action, drama, or pretty much
anything else. I hope this doesn't happen to our show.
Mark Modig When uncertain
ihnp4!sftri!mom When in doubt
Run in circles
Scream and shout