Options
What Would You Improve: Ninth Doctor Era
![[Deleted User]](https://wc.vanillicon.com/v2/cd852b50a267a0df4fefd2afb3181a28.svg)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 611 Forum Member
✭✭
Previous Topics:
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
Now for the next topic, all rules still apply. What about the Ninth Doctor's era, from "Rose" to "Bad Wolf/The Parting of Ways" would you improve if you could?
I would add at least one story not based on Earth. I was really disappointed that it took until near the end of Series 2 for us to get to a setting that wasn't Earth-related.
Decrease the farting.
Get rid of the "there's nothing left for me here" line from Rose in the finale.
Make the phrase "Bad Wolf" actually relevant during the series. Outside the two-part finale, Bad Wold has no importance at all, and it being mentioned in "Boomtown" always seemed to me like a non-subtle way of saying "Hey this thing is a thing." I would have had the phrase noticed much earlier by the characters and have them question what it was, as well as justify the term itself. Why Bad Wolf? Why not something like Scratchy Turtle? Finally, make Rose choose to be Bad Wolf; make it a conscious decision, because there was no reason for her to know what opening the TARDIS console would do. Her choosing to do this because really, Bad Wolf has no actual affect on anything; there is no reason why she couldn't have done that eventually, since Bad Wolf really doesn't tell her what to do.
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
Now for the next topic, all rules still apply. What about the Ninth Doctor's era, from "Rose" to "Bad Wolf/The Parting of Ways" would you improve if you could?
I would add at least one story not based on Earth. I was really disappointed that it took until near the end of Series 2 for us to get to a setting that wasn't Earth-related.
Decrease the farting.
Get rid of the "there's nothing left for me here" line from Rose in the finale.
Make the phrase "Bad Wolf" actually relevant during the series. Outside the two-part finale, Bad Wold has no importance at all, and it being mentioned in "Boomtown" always seemed to me like a non-subtle way of saying "Hey this thing is a thing." I would have had the phrase noticed much earlier by the characters and have them question what it was, as well as justify the term itself. Why Bad Wolf? Why not something like Scratchy Turtle? Finally, make Rose choose to be Bad Wolf; make it a conscious decision, because there was no reason for her to know what opening the TARDIS console would do. Her choosing to do this because really, Bad Wolf has no actual affect on anything; there is no reason why she couldn't have done that eventually, since Bad Wolf really doesn't tell her what to do.
0
Comments
I wouldn't have even had him on Dalek. ;-)
1/ I wouldn't have had Graham Norton appear in 'Rose'
2/ I wouldn't have announced Christopher Eccleston's departure 4 days after 'Rose' was broadcast
3/ I wouldn't have had Jack abandoned without explanation at the end of 'The Parting of the Ways'
I would be tempted to say 'keep him on for an extra season' but I actually preferred Tennant and loved the 10th Doctor/Rose relationship.
Suggested improvement - no farting, and make the Slitheen costumes more closely resemble the CGI versions. Drop references to contemporary pop-culture, eg Weakest Link, Big Brother, which have already dated.
Hahaha there was a mistake on the first broadcast of Rose. Audio from strictly on BBC 3 was heard when Rose first encountered Autons. So Graham Norton accidentally featured on Doctor Who
No But he makes a cameo at the end of 'Time of Angels'. ;-)
Remember on the initial broadcast going "Uh-oh" when his voice bleeded into the 'Rose' soundtrack. (he was doing a live show beforehand.) Thankfully it didn't last long.
The first appearance (Rose) was accidental, granted. But the second (Time of Angels) was planned and PURE idiocy. So many people - including writers and TV execs - spoke out against it.
I was at a conference a few years ago about marketing and communications. A woman who was in charge of the BBC's social media spoke about what happened the night the BBC introduced it's new idents and that stupid little cartoon Graham Norton appeared over the dramatic final few moments of 'Time of Angels'. She admitted Twitter went MAD and rather than intervene, they decided to just let all those conversations play out. It was obvious, she said, that they'd got it wrong. Needless to say, cartoon Graham was gone by the following week.
Although I am sure it happens quite routinely on ITV - don't they do idents at the end of shows like Coronation Street and Emmerdale, regardless of what is going on?
Have Chris do one more season - his run really is too short, even though I love DT and wouldn't change season 2 - just make it season 3 and have Bad Wolf spread over 2 seasons.
The farting aliens are fine - the production team has to make mistakes to learn how to do things better and they weren't that bad.
The real bad choice was Mickey - Noel Clark now acknowledges that he got the part wrong and hammed it up way too much. A more sympathetic, nuanced performance would have actually given Rose a dilemma and real choice to make. As it was you wondered what the point of having him there was. See the contrast with Rory who is far more loved. He could still be a coward - but without being one dimensional.
Chris' departure was a fixed point in time.
Truth is, he quit before production began. I watched the first series over and I could clearly see that Chris didn't want to be there.
He had no interest in the show whatsoever. He was asked to return for the 50th and refused, saying he has "moved on" from DW. He's never been mentioned and hardly referenced at all since his tenure.
Having cracks in the wall is brilliant, but when they crop up and undermine the Weeping Angels in the middle of their own story I really don't end up caring about it once the mystery is resolved.
Things I would change:
Less Mickey, I never liked him.
The farting wasn't that bad, though tone down the ham a little
Improve some of the effects - Slitheen CGI to prosthetic transition was particularly poor.
Remove the "I think you need a Doctor" line from The Parting of the Ways - an otherwise perfect, powerful scene.
I'd obviously say to keep Eccleston on if given the choice. Alternately, keep Jack on board for Series 2's earliest episodes - it might have stunted out that annoying relationship with The Doctor that Rose ended up having - from platonic love with Nine to flirtatious, shallow love with Ten.
Have Murray Gold use an orchestra instead of keyboards.
For a series finding it's feet with a relaunch of an old TV show that had long become a by word for cheap and badly written TV, Eccleston's series was a quirky breath of fresh air in the stale navel gazing world of US TV sci-fi. It was the far better show for it.
I agree with this.
One of the joys of watching Agatha Christie stories like Poirot is looking back and seeing the clues you've missed and I felt the same here with the Bad Wolf Arc. It wasn't in your face the whole time and it didn't crop up at the end of nearly every episode. It let the stories breathe on their own and leaving it the finale is I agree the perfect way to end a Series and give you something to look forward to.
However, I disagree about Mickey. I liked his journey from Zero to Hero in Series 2. If he'd been a hero along you wouldn't have had that character development and progression and I like that.
One thing I would change is Adam. I just wouldn't have him in the Series at all. Nearly as annoying as Adric and for the short time he was in the Series it wasn't worth having him at all.
I'd make the Ninth Doctor less patronising and unpleasant and have him more like he was later in the Series from the beginning. I also would have less farting aliens and ditch or rewrite The Long Game, as it ruined an otherwise fine Series.
The journey from zero to hero was fine but what I didn't like was the kids TV acting of his first couple of performances - esp in Rose.
I think it was great!
Just perhaps not as strong as others, and the Jagrafess was funny looking
How so like?
Absolutely. Whatever the problem really was, fix it, and get Ecclestone to do two seasons. It really is a shame he quit so early, as he was the best most believable Doctor Who. IMHO. If, as suggested here, he really dislikes the show, then that is an even bigger shame. Firstly, because it's some of his best work, and secondly because if true it is is dismissive of people who watched an enjoyed that performance.
As for Peter Capaldi, while I like him as an actor, I'm not liking the publicity shots. That costume makes him look like he's on the way way to a meting of the Quentin Crisp appreciation society!
Agreed, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who hated Ecclescake's gurning Doctor. Oh it was so awful. When he turned to Rose in the opening episode and said 'Run!' <gurn>. My heart sank into my feet. I knew then that I wouldn't be able to stomach his portrayal. And in the final episode when he gurned and said 'You were fantastic' <gurn> 'And so was I! <gurn>.
Eccleston
If only that had been the last time the Doctor gurned. Alas, it wasn't to be.
I got that impression right from the start and it stayed with me throughout the entire series. He just seemed so uncomfortable in the role. God knows what he thought when he read through the scripts and saw 'Doctor exits - followed by a farting alien'.
Seems a bit extreme, yeah. With the series finale it took on a bit more significance and Simon Pegg is very entertaining in it. The direction is actually excellent.
I think it's pretty average, is all. And the 'comedy' ending with poor old Adam and all that "I only take the best." made Rose look smug and the Doctor look like a vindictive git.