From: jogulin@pub_one.fia.dmg.ml.com (Joseph Ogulin)
Subject: ARCHIVE: Review of the JN-T Era of Doctor Who, Part 7
Organization: The Rift from Here to There
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 13:59:39 GMT

And now for the last two installments...
Here's Part 7...

************************** CUT HERE *****************************
Hold on to your seats, everyone...the end is almost here!
 
 
JN-T quits and comes back:  Take 3.
 
 
Time and the Rani -
 
     Regeneration.  That's about all.
 
     This one ain't worth a review.
 
 
Paridise Towers -
 
     Defective garbage machines, three colors of  Kangs  (is
this  anything like a Roman 2 diamonds bid?), ladies who eat
people, incompetent guards, fraidy-cat  guys  (maybe  that's
why the women are so hard-up), a creature in the bottom of a
swimming pool, and neon-noodle in the basement add up to far
too  much for a four-parter...that's why we use Roman 2 dia-
monds.
 
     You actually want us to review this  one??   See  above
paragraph.   It  will  suffice.   Bid  2 no-trump to force a
response.  (We hope you alerted that 2 diamonds bid...)
 
 
Delta and the Bannermen -
 
     JN-T gets to showcase his dog.  Bee people,  and  flag-
waving  others don't mix.  Neither does the incidental music
and the music of the story.  Anyway, to save the bee people,
a  philanthropic  human decides to eat, uh, royal jelly (for
lack of a better term) and try to become one of them.   Next
time, you know Who will look at his computers before passing
through an intergalactic toll booth.
 
     Hopefully, next time, he'll look through his computers.
 
 
Dragonfire -
 
     Mr.  Freeze  meets   Aliens.    Features   a   for-real
cliffhanger (ain't we terrible?).
 
     Unfortunately, this is actually the  best  one  of  the
season.   Saying  this leaves a horrible taste in our mouths
(pass the mouthwash...).
 
 
 
Season overall -
 
     We thought the production team was on trial last year.
 
 
 
Seasonal trivia:
 
-    Who said it?  What episode?:
                    Mel finds her new-found friends are more
                    than she bargained for...
 
-    What part is cut from the movie version of Time and the
     Rani?
 
-    What was the ambient body temperature when the  freezer
     case opened?
 
 
 
Era review -
 
     The era relies very heavily on visual items...the  most
since  the  early  Pertwee's.  For instance, the lavish sets
his first year.  Compare them to the flashy  colors  of  the
background in "Doctor Who and the Silurians" and "The Ambas-
sadors of Death."  In these early  Pertwee's,  they  try  to
show  off  the  fact  that they're now in color.  Similarly,
JN-T tried to show off the fact that a new producer  was  in
town.   This,  of  course,  means  that  more  money in both
instances are sunk into sets.
 
     JN-T should have left when Peter Davison did.  He  lost
creativity  and  good  writers  then, and it shows very pro-
foundly.  His attempt, along with Eric Saward, to  make  the
show  more  adult  in nature (the black comedies that proli-
ferated in seasons 21 and 22) took  away  from  the  general
appearance  and  feel  of  the  show.   As we mentioned, the
stories rung extremely hollow.
 
     The stories are far  too  uniform  in  style.   Perhaps
varying  story  length and style would help.  One of the big
problems is that the story is now sought to be done  as  the
"Ninety  minute movie."  JN-T has only done one "six-parter"
in eight years of production.  Everything else is  a  "four-
parter"  or  shorter.   This,  however,  is not entirely his
fault.  It's been a trend since the Hinchcliffe era (one six
parter  per  season).   Some  of  the stories would probably
improve vastly with either lengthening or  shortening,  such
as  "Timelash,"  "Revelation  of  the  Daleks,"  "The King's
Demons," and "Arc of Infinity."
 
     JN-T never stuck with a winning team, as shown  by  the
constant  changes  in  production staff and writers.  We did
another article comparing JN-T to Barry Letts (the two long-
est producers of Doctor Who), listing all of the writers for
each of them, and some directors.  JN-T's list of writers is
twice  as  long  as  Letts's, and there are about 3 times as
many directors for JN-T as there are  for  BL.   Why  hasn't
JN-T  asked  Graeme  Harper  to direct for him again?  Fiona
Cumming?  Peter Grimwade?
 
     Unfortunately, the series is now geared for  Americans.
This  is  best  shown by the Beeb's pressure on JN-T to make
the "Ninety-minute movie."   Much  of  this  blame  must  be
transferred  to  Michael Grade.  When JN-T took over, he was
directed  to  aim  the  series  at   American   syndication.
Granted,  that  most  of  the money comes from the US, it is
still a British series.  It would probably gain  more  popu-
larity  if  the  original idea for the show brought about by
Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert was brought  back.   Doctor
Who  was intended to be a children's show which anyone could
watch.
 
     Another little problem is the obsession with a  certain
type  of  story every couple of years.  Early in JN-T's era,
it was the melodrama, that is, vulnerability and  heightened
tension  of a gun at the Doctor's head.  Then, it became the
black comedy.  Now, it is "light entertainment" (quote  from
James Armstrong).  Styles should be mixed with story length.
 
     The most  telling  problem  of  the  entire  era:   the
freshest idea came from Robert Holmes.  Do we really need to
elaborate here?  We think not.
 
     Don't get us wrong.  JN-T actually did  some  good  for
the  show  when  he  first  took  over.   Probably  his best
improvement was bringing the sfx up to date.  There are very
few  laughable  fx  during his production era, except in the
rush in season 20.  His sets are all quite good -- no more 2
sets  and  the quarry, although maybe he should make a visit
back there some time.
 
 
 
Well, hey...you all sat  through  it!   We've  come  to  the
end...if  we had any capability of rolling end-credits, this
would be the space in which we would do that...
 
(end credits moved to a more suitable location....)
 

-- 
==> "You never f**king know the answer when it's important." --The Doctor <==
Joe Ogulin

jogulin@camelot.fia.dmg.ml.com		joe@monroe.pilot.dmg.ml.com
jogulin@apollo.stevens-tech.edu		gcs_jogulin@stevens.bitnet

Disclaimer:  The above article is solely my opinion and does not necessar-
ily reflect that of my employer.  The content is my responsibility alone.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho