From: 10726446@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (LAU WAI KUEN)
Subject: Re: ST:TNG (critiques) vs Dr. Who
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University 
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 06:13:13 GMT

In article <rawdon.724208819@cs.wisc.edu> rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>From: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon)
>Subject: Re: ST:TNG (critiques) vs Dr. Who
>Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 01:06:59 GMT
>[Crossposted to r.a.startrek.misc and r.a.drwho]
>
>In <9212101436.AA23959@rutgers.edu> MMURRAY@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU (Murray) writes:
>>Dr. Who is an excellent example of the importance of good, solid,
>>strong writing.  The show has (had?) a 25 year (on and off) life span-
>>but the special effects were not the best, even during Sylvester
>>McCoy's tenure when they improved, they were still low-budget.
>
>I agree, if I read you correctly.  Doctor Who is an example of great writing
>transcending low production values (although it should be pointed out that DW
>also had its share of great actors, especially throughout the Tom Baker era).
>Once the quality of the writing plummeted (in the Colin Baker and Sylvester
>McCoy eras, both of which are almost uniformly *awful*), the series sputtered
>and was cancelled.  (One wonders if the BBC - long an opponent of its own
>show, for some perplexing reason - finally realized what was keeping DW afloat
>and fired all the good writers or something.)
>
>Star Trek: The Next Generation, on the other hand, is an example of high
>production values failing to compensate for mediocre-to-awful writing.  The
>result is a mediocre series.
>
>>As far as comparing ST:TNG with Dr. Who, this should be the only
>>subject discussed for improving the former; Dr. Who does have its
>>shining examples of bad acting (but usually not any of the regulars,
>>at least not the Doctor himself) and the format should not be
>>transferred to ST:TNG, but perhaps the continuity could be better.
>
>There have been discussions from time-to-time on rec.arts.startrek that Star
>Trek has really taken the "complete story in 45-50 minutes" approach as far as
>it can, and it needs to loosen up some.  The popular view is that it should
>move toward "story arcs" taking up a number of episodes apiece, and perhaps
>flowing into each other.
>
>I think that Doctor Who's format would suit Star Trek very well.
>
>>Someone complained about all the aliends being bi-ped with bumpy
>>foreheads- take a look at some of the aliens Dr. Who has met;
>>some are very interesting, others are very stupid and/or dopey
>>looking. The common thread to all of these is the budget.
>
>Doctor Who's aliens are usually more interesting to me than TNG's.  Even the
>Tesh from "The Face Of Evil" (who basically looked human since they basically
>WERE human) seemed far more ALIEN than almost any aliens from TNG, because of
>their pale complexions and sterile behavior.
>
>>No matter what the look of the alien or the quality of the acting,
>>it's the writing that has made Dr. Who such a survivor.
>
>Precisely.
>
>-- 
>Michael Rawdon				  rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
>University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Department,  Madison, WI
>( To be in the Boston, Massachusetts area for Christmas vacation )
>
>"...I trusted [Ganelon] like a brother.  That is to say, not at all."
>				- Roger Zelazny, _The_Guns_Of_Avalon_

(sorry, i can't figure out how to delete a block of text, and can't be
bothered doing the deletion by hand)


The thing about Dr. Who that's always impressed me is that they're
willing to show things in a morally _realistic_ sense.
Explaination;  the writers aren't afraid to kill off people.  Death
happens, but in TNG, death is either something remote
(ie. "that space station that was just blown up had 200 people on board"
     "nine casualties")
or not occuring at all. (there are exceptions, or course, but this
seems to be the rule).

  In Dr. Who, the deaths are always up close and gritty, often caused
by the so-called forces of good.  People die through bad luck, clumsiness,
or heroism.  I was more affected by Adric's (sp?) death than I was
by Yar's in TNG.  (didn't the writers figure out a way to bring back
Yar anyway?  we've not seen the episode yet here in Oz).
Even the Doctor isn't immune from straying from the side of good.  In
many episodes, his actions cause deaths;  he gets things wrong, and
if he wins, it can often be more luck than any planning.
The writers of TNG should all be sacked and replaced by short story
SF writers (preferably ones who consider a good plot more important
than political correctness).

halcyon
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.tv:5989 rec.arts.startrek.misc:12685 rec.arts.drwho:8844