ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS, last night's episode of DOCTOR WHO, was based on a ridiculous premise from the start. Daleks are supposed to have no emotions other than hate, so how then can they be driven insane when they don't have the prerequisite sensibilities to begin with? Daleks are insane from the get go - driven by a compulsive, obsessional lust to destroy everything in their path and subjugate whatever survives. Hardly the definition of sanity in anyone's book.
I don't know what it is about STEVEN MOFFAT. Under RUSSELL T. DAVIS, he wrote some of the better episodes of the earlier series, but now that he's in charge and without someone to rein him in, he seems to be indulging himself to the point of turning in lacklustre scripts that still need a fair bit of polishing. Doctor Who Confidential was cancelled, presumably as a result of dwindling interest in the series, so now would really be a good time to pull out all the stops and give us something that'll have us on the edge of our seats (or behind our sofas).
Instead, what we get is yet another retread of the Doctor running through corridors being pursued by something nasty, with doors closing behind him and other doors opening up in front of him, almost ad infinitum. Or at least, that's what it seemed like, because - sad to say - we've seen it all before. Like, in almost every other episode of the last series - and the one before that, and the one before that, etc.
Which is not to say that there was nothing entertaining about last night's episode, because there was. However, the programme still needs to pull its socks up if it's going to hang onto its audience, and the only way to do that is to give us something different. Personally, I'd like to see the Doctor materialize in Victorian London and get involved in a good old- fashioned murder mystery - like finding out who JACK The RIPPER was and revealing the secret behind why he was never identified and seemed to vanish off the face of the Earth forever.
Dare I say it? A Who-done-it, so to speak. Pun completely intended.
9 comments:
I'm not sure if a story about a man who butchered prostitutes would be suitable Doctor Who material. Besides, it's been coverdd on the box so many times already.
I'm sure there's a way of handling such a subject delicately for the kiddie audience. Also, Jack the Ripper may have been covered many times already, but never from an SF perspective. Aliens, anyone?
Have you never seen the film "Time After Time" where Jack the Ripper nicks H G Well's time machine?
Not quite sure, Mel. If it's the one with Malcom McDowell then I think I saw it on TV years ago. Don't remember much about it to be honest.
Except in the movie 'Time After Time', starring Malcolm McDowell.
And the Judge Dredd story 'Night of the Ripper'.
And the Outer Limits episode 'Ripper' in which - as you suggest - the murders are actually attributed to aliens!
Also, he's already sort of appeared in Who - in last year's 'A Good Man Goes to War', where we learn he's been eaten by Madam Vastra, the Silurian.
Ripping!
Never from an SF perspective in Dr. Who 'though - as far as his origins go. However, the point I was trying to get at, is it should be possible to do a story that hasn't been done a hundred times before in Dr. Who. In the first four episodes ever, the story was pure drama. They should do a story where it's a straight drama murder mystery set in the past.
I watch my kids reactions and they did their usual,work out the plot twists and turns and jump up and down with excitement at the danger spots.
I loved the egg joke.
At the end, the repetition of the phrase,"Doctor Who?" was slightly suspect.
I think this season will be very American in its structure due to the suggested rise in popularity in the u.s.
I felt like I was watching a pilot for a T.V. series called Doctor Who.
I will be back for more next week,I cant let my boys down.
baab hits the nail on the head. Doctor Who is mainly for children or something you watch with your kids and what better way to establish some of the basics of the series than to have the first episode of the new series with characters running around corridors? It's as much a part of Who as The Daleks themselves and the episode was so well done it whizzed along and wasn't boring.
Perhaps the Who producers don't want to do a Ripper story because it's been done by others with a SF twist so many times. Having the ripper fictionally killed off, off screen, was no less than he deserved. He murdered women in the most brutal way. Not appropriate for family television.
I don't have a bee in my bonnet about Jack the Ripper - that was merely an idea to illustrate that something different (in the programme) could be done.
Also, the Doc has fought some of the biggest mass murderers and butchers in history, so obviously murder isn't a problem for those behind the programme. It's what you show and how you deal with it that's the important thing.
As for the fact that ol' Jack has been used in other programmes and movies - I wouldn't say that's an obstacle against him being used in the Who universe as long as something slightly different was done. One might as well argue that because time travel has been used in numerous movies then it shouldn't be used again, which is clearly ridiculous. As I said, it's how the subject is handled is what matters.
I'm glad that Baab's kids enjoyed the show - so did I actually, never said I didn't. I just pointed out that the premise on which it was based was slightly absurd - and that all the running about from one room to another has become slightly boring. I enjoyed the first few series of the show when it was revived, but it needs to lift its game in my opinion.
Doctor Who is mainly for kids? Yeah, but kids of all ages. And remember, it's made by the drama department of the BBC, not the children's department.
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