From: alex.soto@analog.com
Subject: Re: ST:TNG (critiques) vs Dr. Who
Originator: soto@mystica
Organization: Analog Devices, Inc.
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 13:45:16 GMT


I didn't agree with most of your assessments of the McCoy episodes, but like
you said - they're your opinions...

> I don't claim many Doctor Who stories as masterpieces. To me "masterpiece"
>means "Macbeth" or "Ghosts" by Ibsen, or even "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are
>Dead" by Tom Stoppard. Dr Who and Star Trek do not even come close to this 
>category. Nor should they. They have given us many great stories, some which 
>make us think, but I cannot rank them as great art, much as I love both shows.
>I think this misses the point of the medium. The shows are there to entertain.
>They usually do this. When they are very good we enjoy them more, but I think
>it is unreasonable to expect great television every time we sit down to watch
>them. As I am sure Johnny Byrne could tell us at length, making a TV programme
>is a time consuming business, and with deadlines to meet, you cannot always
>do it just the way you would like it. I am not saying that this excuses shoddy
>work like "Time and the Rani" or "Shades of Grey", but I think a little more
>realism would help us to appreciate the product we are getting, especially when
>it is good.
>
I think when people say masterpieces, they're talking about a show they really
liked of alot, and that had high quality, good acting, good music, good story,
etc...  B'cse there seem to be a few, I don't think it's so bad to call them
that.  While you may say Macbeth is a masterpiece, another may say he thought
it was stupid.  Like everything else, this is a matter of opinion.  Most 
people have different degrees of artistic sense, and I see no reason why a
show such as Dr. Who can't be worked on (except b'cse of political reasons
with the BBC).  In any case, Star Trek (the old ones) have gotten great 
respect for what they achieved and showed in their time.  I see no reason why
Dr. Who couldn't do the same with a little work.  Get some good writers, and
get some people into the BBC that can open their eyes and see that their are
clubs all over the world (whovian) and people all over that are dying for the
show to come back!  A little quality wouldn't hurt either.

>Getting back to the original subject, one thing I believe has always 
>worked in Dr Who's favour is that it has never had Star Trek's Q syndrome.
>I like John Delancie, but I think the idea of Q sucks rocks. Roddenberry
>had a weakness for these ridiculous omnipotent aliens who crop up every
>other episode. For me they take Star Trek away from Science fiction into
>Fantasy, like "Lord of the Rings". Just how many omnipotent aliens are 
>there out there? The Organians, Trelaine's people, the thing from "The
>Survivors", the Q, Melkotians, Jedi........Well okay not Jedi, but
>how many are there? To the people at Paramount I say, stop with these
> omnipotent aliens. They are stupid. How did they get to be omnipotent?
>On Dr Who they have powerful aliens like Sutekh, but Sutekh was not 
>omnipotent. I find an adversary like Sutekh far more interesting and credible,
>than one like Q. Or is that just me? again the most powerful race in Dr Who
>are the Time Lords, but they are not perfect beings of pure energy like the 
>Organians. They are flawed beings who can be killed. To me that makes them 
>more interesting. Perfect societies do not make good stories.
>
>Mark C.
>
Again, you're opinion.  I happen to like Q.  He's hilarious to me.  In any
case they may encounter alot of powerful beings, but they always find a way
to defeat them and get away don't they.  They do this by using their minds.
Something I kind of like from the show.  Q may be all powerful, but he still
has to answer to the Continuum.  He also keeps his word, like when he made the
bet with Capt. Picard that Riker would become greedy with power, and he
didn't.  Q may be arrogant and alot of other things, but he does have some
type of code of honor.  
	I think the TimeLords are far from being the most powerful race.  The
Tharils can do what they do without machines for one thing.  I doubt they
could stand up to Sutekh.  It's already evident that they can't stand up to
Omega.  The Daleks should be coming close to their level of technology now.
They've had time travel technology for awhile.  I don't know if the TimeLords
could do anything to the Toymaker.  And then you have the Black Guardian.  Who
knows what the hell he is.  The Enlightenment crew is immortal, the Mara, and
the list goes on...  Lastly, though the Master is a TimeLord also, I must 
include him since his desires and actions are evil.  Without the Doctor, the
Master would have destroyed the TimeLords in the Deadly Assasin.  He has now
become a contender against his own race!
		Mystic
(alex.soto@analog.com)

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