dann@wxlvax.UUCP (Dan Neiman) (11/16/83)
So, why *does* everyone like Dr. Who. I watched it a few times
after reading about it on the net. It was pretty bad. Bad acting.
Bad scripts. Bad science fiction. Terrible special effects.
Mind you, it was interesting in kind of a campy way, but I don't see
going out and starting fan clubs. Did Dr. Who used to be better?
Am I watching an early version of the show or one of the Dr's less
competent incarnations?
I mean, like, who is this guy, anyway?
dannllf@houxz.UUCP (11/16/83)
Who ever has a comprehensive answer to this question, please post it, or send me mail, too. I'd never heard of Dr. Who before this summer, and don't know if the show is availible in NJ. But it sure does generate talk! LyndaF
Heiny.henr@Parc-Maxc.Arpa (11/17/83)
From: Chris Heiny <Heiny.henr@Parc-Maxc.Arpa> Damfino. I like Doctor Who, and just about all else I can stand to watch regularly is Monty Python and auto-racing (a real intellectual, I am). I think part of it is that it doesn't take itself very seriously. There's usually a number of amusing jokes, but they don't seem as forced as on other programs (perhaps due to the lack of laugh track?). Campy does seem to describe it, but I can't see me in a fan club either (people have clubs for BattleStar: Galactica [the Lost in Space of the 70's], though, as well. No accounting for taste.). Chris PS Actually, the REAL reason is that I'm an unrepentant sexist lecher: Romana's cute, and I've been waiting for the episode where Leela falls out of her jungle costume (what!! you mean there isn't one!?!? arrrgggg....)
ofut@gatech.UUCP (11/17/83)
As was said, Dr. Who has bad acting, bad script and bad plots
but it has that *magic* that is so seldom seen and never understood.
*magic* does not capture everybody and everyone seems to have a
different opinion of what *magic* is and what it is not.
R. Howard was not (in a literary regard) a good writer. His characters
were shallow and the plots almost silly but he sure had a big piece
of that *Magic*. I love everything I've ever read by Howard, even
though I can laugh about it later.
For me, Dr. Who is indeed rather poorly done but it's *magic* with a
capital MAG.
--
Jeff Offutt
School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA
CSNet: Ofut @ GATech ARPA: Ofut.GATech @ Csnet-Relay
uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,rlgvax,sb1,unmvax,ut-ngp,ut-sally}!gatech!ofutcmaz504@ut-ngp.UUCP (Steve Alexander) (11/18/83)
I'm told that one of the reasons the production quality on Dr. Who is so bad is that 1) not that much money is spent on special effects compared to say Battlestar Glactica or even Star Trek and 2) the shows themselves are reheared for a few days and then the scenes are done in one take. That doesn't leave much time to worry about lighting, subtle acting and other qualities that make a "good" show. Under these conditions I'm surprised very frequently by just how good the shows are. One other problem that people tend to have with Dr Who is that it IS British. Like Monty Python it could be an acquired taste.
bstempleton@watmath.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (11/18/83)
Everybody likes The Doctore because he's great. Could be 'nuff said here, but I will elaborate. Everybody knows and accepts that many people on the staff of Doctor Who don't know what they are working with, so we often get bad special effects and silly stories. But for me, it is the *character* that is everything. (For others, too. Many Doctor Who fans come and go with each new doctor) The idea of a whimiscal genius with incredible knowledge and power wandering time and space with just the right amount of silliness really appeals to me. How many other SF heros would say: "Excuse me, are you sure this planet's meant to be here?" (This from Douglas Adams' "Pirate Planet" serial) "Of course I like you. I like lots of people. I don't go carting them around the universe with me." (To Leela at the end of "The Face of Evil") These are all Tom Baker, the doctor I have seen the most of. I think he is superior to Pertwee, the only other one I have seen, but others disagree. I think his acting is superb. -- Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ont. (519) 886-7304