50th anniversary needs to get the Classic/New Series balance right.
daveyboy7472
Posts: 16,405 Forum Member
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Over the weekend while I was away I read a lot of posts on ideas for the 50th anniversary which seemed for some reason to blatantly want to deny the Classic series ever existed and that the 50th anniversary should be just exclusively about the New Series.
The idea that seems to have cropped up a lot over the last few months is about McGann and the Time War. I think this a neat idea in itself and I think one day, maybe in 2016 on the 20th anniversary of the Movie perhaps, it would work as a separate story with just McGann and whoever is The Doctor then. Or he could come back anytime to do this in the same way Troughton came back for The Two Doctors where there was no anniversary.
As a 50th anniversary idea however, it sucks. It doesn't really celebrate anything that came before McGann's time and if we are to have a proper anniversary story surely there needs to be something in it that celebrates all 50 years of the show.
Now I'm not going to turn this into yet another Multi-Doctor argument thread. That is a side issue for me. Everyone has their opinion on whether they want one or not and I'm cool with people who don't, it's all about opinion after all.
My point is that regardless of whether any Doctors return or not, we should have a balance between having an anniversary story that celebrates the past, does exactly what it does now and looks to the future at the same time. Reading through a lot of posts at the weekend, it's almost as if Classic Who is the analogy of some embarrassing relative you enjoyed the company of once who you don't want to be associated with anymore or even worse someone you never knew and have no wish to be associated with full stop.
What has to be appreciated is that Classic Who makes up over 50% of those 50 years. It can't be totally ignored. Without it we wouldn't have a show today and it saddens me when I read posts that seem to want to ignore the show's heritage. Like many others on here, I grew up watching the show and the anniversary needs to cater for us as well as the New series fans. It can't be just about Matt Smith's Doctor going of on a spanking new adventure. There's a regular Series for that. It needs to look back as well otherwise we may as well not bother.
The idea that seems to have cropped up a lot over the last few months is about McGann and the Time War. I think this a neat idea in itself and I think one day, maybe in 2016 on the 20th anniversary of the Movie perhaps, it would work as a separate story with just McGann and whoever is The Doctor then. Or he could come back anytime to do this in the same way Troughton came back for The Two Doctors where there was no anniversary.
As a 50th anniversary idea however, it sucks. It doesn't really celebrate anything that came before McGann's time and if we are to have a proper anniversary story surely there needs to be something in it that celebrates all 50 years of the show.
Now I'm not going to turn this into yet another Multi-Doctor argument thread. That is a side issue for me. Everyone has their opinion on whether they want one or not and I'm cool with people who don't, it's all about opinion after all.
My point is that regardless of whether any Doctors return or not, we should have a balance between having an anniversary story that celebrates the past, does exactly what it does now and looks to the future at the same time. Reading through a lot of posts at the weekend, it's almost as if Classic Who is the analogy of some embarrassing relative you enjoyed the company of once who you don't want to be associated with anymore or even worse someone you never knew and have no wish to be associated with full stop.
What has to be appreciated is that Classic Who makes up over 50% of those 50 years. It can't be totally ignored. Without it we wouldn't have a show today and it saddens me when I read posts that seem to want to ignore the show's heritage. Like many others on here, I grew up watching the show and the anniversary needs to cater for us as well as the New series fans. It can't be just about Matt Smith's Doctor going of on a spanking new adventure. There's a regular Series for that. It needs to look back as well otherwise we may as well not bother.
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That would be better than nothing......:D
Or they do like they did in Deep Space Nine tribbles episode and have Matt Smith run about through old scenes!
There has been some suggestions that the 11th Doctor could do that and even that would be something, though it would seem a bit of a cheat.
The problem is how to do it smoothly and without alienating viewers that haven't been around for all that time.
How about if the episode's pre-title sequence was in black and white and the opening titles were those from An Unearthly Child, with the original logo and Matt Smith's name shown in the vintage font. Also, the original version of the theme tune.
I agree and if it's done right, you can mix in those elements of the last 7 years with the old so the story isn't lost on the New Series Fans as well.
All these things would be great ideas. They could mix the old theme into the new one like they did in The Five Doctors.
There's always going to be young kids who have little history of Doctor Who. But I do think that viewers who only started with the new series have now been exposed to enough references to its history for them to get what is going on in an anniversary story that heavily references the classic series.
Also, its all about a learning curve. I didn't know much about the First to Third Doctors when I saw The Five Doctors. Nor did I know who Burusa was (I didn't make the connection that he was the same guy in Arc of Infinity).
For new series only viewers, they know that The Doctor has had many incarnations before The 9th Doctor, so I don't think it matters if they have never seen those guys in action. Any more than it mattered whether they had seen The Hand of Fear when Sarah Jane returned in School Reunion.
School Reunion pulls the viewer in and makes the past seem tantalising while Attack of the Cybermen says "F*** you if you're not in our little club!"
Absolutely. If there's one good thing to come out of the 50th anniversary is that it will familiaraise newer viewers with older era's of the show as you say. Not that they haven't already with the documentaries before Rose, Doctor Who Confidential and various references to older Doctors in the show itself over the years since it came back. I'm sure there will be new documentaries outside the series itself so yes, I guess you have a point.
Can't wait. I'm almost looking forward to those as much as the episode itself.
I remember watching the Matrix sequence in Trial Of A Time Lord at a time when I didn't know what the Matrix was really all about and as a result the story was one garbled mess at the time. Now that I do know it makes perfect sense.
Things aren't so bad now with the writers explaining very clearly about necessary references(such as the Sontaran's probic vent for example) while a lot of 80's stuff was continuity overload and unless you were a fan a lot of stuff often could go straight over your head.
Nathan Turner was obsessed by continuity (and Who history) and by Colin Baker's time, it seemed to be the most important aspect. I agree it was totally overloaded during that period.
I agree the show does have to look to the future but an anniversary needs to look back, that's what it's for. As I said at the beginning, it needs to be special and feel different from a regular episode otherwise there's no point in doing it.
I don't think you need a Multi-Doctor story to actually celebrate the series past, though I'd prefer one. All it needs to do is have the essence from each era of the show in the story, including something from the New Series as well.
Make a whole episode in black and white, 4:3 aspect ratio, and record it 'as live' just like the early days.
Or alternatively, go to a planet where the light filters through the atmosphere in a weird way and makes everything look black and white.
I wish he would start Tweeting!
with @amypond and @rorywilliams on #Skaro. Was aiming for Skegness. ROFL. #whatamIlike?
@themaster - your Tweets are NOT cool. I WILL BLOCK YOU #beardyweirdy
Yes and no!
An anniversary is a celebration of the previous years after all! You need the history to have an anniversary otherwise its meaningless!
Maybe have one episode where there is perhaps a previous doctor return briefly, either as a memory 'flashback' (which never seems to work in a show) or as in 'Timecrash' (with Peter Davison).
Other stories in the series may have snippets/themes from previous doctors/monster etc but I do agree that it shouldn't go overboard on it.
As pointed out, there will undoubtedly be documentaries about it all so today's audience wil not miss out on the old series.
But agreed - the mix has to be done right, although having said that, if I were SM, I would be tempted to have included in the past series or two, 'breadscrumbs' in the stories which could be picked up later in the anniversary series.
The wait will be too long but hopefully SM won't cock it up when we get there, as I feel he did a bit at the end of the most recent series (anti climax of the teselecta whatever).
I think Moffatt runs the risk of looking somewhat egotistical if the anniversary show is only about current-and-future Who and doesn't celebrate the past 50 years.
It doesn't necessarily need to have other Doctors, but it does need to be about the journey so far, with some reflection on what might be next.
Moffat has increased the frequency of references to the classic Doctors, and Troughton was 'his Doctor', so surely he'll be dealing with the whole journey in some fashion.
I hope so. Would love to see a scene with Matt's Doctor in the classic console room.
if you want an anniversary special that is just looking forward then you could argue as to what is the point of having one as you might aswell just do the normal series.To be still going after 50 years is an incredible achievment one that only Coronation Street can better . This is going to be a one off chance to truely celerbrate the programms past. and I think it would be a crime if we ignored the classic series. I will agree that I don't want any 50th anniversary to turn into a fan pleasing A to Z of classic series monsters putting in brief cameo appearences each episode nor do I want it to turn into a Dalek/Cybermen fest.
TBH I'm not really sure what I want for the 50th anniversary the current set up of mostly brand new stuff with a few episodes of classic who thrown in has worked well. Under normal circumstances I'd much prefer Moffett to continue like that but because this is such a special anniversary I'm leaning towards a series that is mostly episodes of classic series villains and monsters.
Tom bakers episode...Genisis of the daleks, here the doctor meets Davros for the first time, and the doctore for reason he dosnt want to comprimise his time line, calls him self John Smith
So what does the doctor do, stop the creation of the daleks, knowing this will change history, or leave it as it is