Friday, March 05, 2004
BBC names new "Doctor Who" writers
Well, I'm largely pleased about this, although I've got doubts about Paul Cornell. I'm not the biggest fan of his "Who" novels, but none of them have been anywhere near the bottom of the barrel rubbish that others have churned out. However, re-reading them now, some of them don't seem to have dated as well as other novels in the range.
However, writing a novel and writing a television episode are two different things. It's Cornell's "Who" writing in non-book media that gives me more concern. I'd rate his Big Finish audio as amongst the worst in the entire range, and 'Scream of the Shalka' was a big disappointment - given the chance to develop his own Doctor, Cornell fell back on some right-on moralising and some appalling dialogue. If his TV episode is anything like 'Shadow of the Scourge' or 'Scream of the Shalka' then I can imagine most casual viewers turning off in droves, and "Doctor Who" simply can't afford that to happen.
Since the writers will only be working from "basic outlines" from Russell T Davies, it's to be hoped that the new series will have a strong script editor who has no compunction about stripping out the worst excesses of any of the scripts - whether that's fanwankish continuity links, gratutious pop culture references or the sort of subject matter we get in the novels and audios. Those media are aimed strictly at fans, the TV series must be aimed at a much wider audience.
Well, I'm largely pleased about this, although I've got doubts about Paul Cornell. I'm not the biggest fan of his "Who" novels, but none of them have been anywhere near the bottom of the barrel rubbish that others have churned out. However, re-reading them now, some of them don't seem to have dated as well as other novels in the range.
However, writing a novel and writing a television episode are two different things. It's Cornell's "Who" writing in non-book media that gives me more concern. I'd rate his Big Finish audio as amongst the worst in the entire range, and 'Scream of the Shalka' was a big disappointment - given the chance to develop his own Doctor, Cornell fell back on some right-on moralising and some appalling dialogue. If his TV episode is anything like 'Shadow of the Scourge' or 'Scream of the Shalka' then I can imagine most casual viewers turning off in droves, and "Doctor Who" simply can't afford that to happen.
Since the writers will only be working from "basic outlines" from Russell T Davies, it's to be hoped that the new series will have a strong script editor who has no compunction about stripping out the worst excesses of any of the scripts - whether that's fanwankish continuity links, gratutious pop culture references or the sort of subject matter we get in the novels and audios. Those media are aimed strictly at fans, the TV series must be aimed at a much wider audience.
