Brilliant
The really horrendous thing about knowing that I can’t say anything about what I just saw without spoiling it for people is like that moment when you really need a wee but you can’t leave just yet and you start to do that stepping from side to side jiggling ‘I need a wee’ dance. Well, actually it’s not but that’s kind of what I’m doing right now and I promised myself that I wouldn’t go for a wee until I’d finished the first paragraph. ‘Scuse me.
Ahhhhh, that’s better.
Rightio, so I was wrong about the Osterhagen Key. I was wrong about… well, I never put the other things I was guessing about on here because I am not clever enough to talk about them without revealing things to the people that haven’t seen them yet.
Let me just say this. Russell T. Davies is a very very clever man. He knew knew knew that the cliff hanger from last week would drive all the free publicity he would ever need. And then to do what he did with this episode. Can we please clone lots of TV writers from individual cells of his body?
Now I know there are going to be a lot of people out there who didn’t like this episode, who will pick on the odd plot hole and convenient twist but the excitement and joy and anger and sadness I felt during this episode meant for me this is a success.
Television programmes have become so much about looking good or being clever that sometimes the pure joy of watching an hours good storytelling is lost. There is a fight, well - mild disagreement - at work about good TV, as one side stacks up with Big Brother, The X Factor, I’m A Celebrity, The Jeremy Kyle Show and all the soaps… and then there’s my side with anything written by Aaron Sorkin, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Brothers and Sisters, and of course Doctor Who. When asked why I had such a downer on reality based programming I started off by saying if I want to watch people making idiots of themselves I’ll go and sit on a bench in any town in the country.
The thing is we, in the UK, are lucky enough to live in a country where we have Freedom of Speech… and I think we take this for granted. Like in an episode of The West Wing where Toby gives a Russian journalist press credentials grudgingly and says that she should treat the privilege of being able to print better… With the way the laws are changing and rights are being taken away… should we not treat all forms of communication better? And shouldn’t we be aspiring to higher forms of entertaining instead of constantly scrabbling round in the dirt?
Oh… sorry. I’m feeling very holier than thou right now. Whenever a TV show lift my spirits I get this way. I feel like we should all be able to achieve so much more. And if a children’s TV show (for that is what Doctor Who is - so stop talking about how simply things worked out) can make me feel this way then why shouldn’t more adult TV?
The really quite funny thing, for me, is that there are lots of people who blame US entertainment for dumbing down TV and yet some of the most aspiration and inspirational shows come from that side of the Atlantic. And a secondary funny thing is that people are always yelling about the ‘Nanny State’ as the Governments try and stop us doing harm to our bodies by smoking, eating and drinking too much - why aren’t they regulating the large amount of crap on TV that is slowly but surely destroying our minds?
And if a show that makes us think comes with some eye candy like David Tennant then all the better for it. And while this should be the space for the obligatory picture I can in no good conscience put one here from the episode without revealing things. You know how to Google if you want them!
Update:
I forgot to mention that as well as fantastic TV I got the equally brilliant news that the prize I won over at Psuedotherapy is a custom made mug - which rocks as it means it will facilitate one of my favourite things ever - the drinking of coffee. So thanks SJ - you really are quite the brilliant person!
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First and foremost — WOW. What an episode. When something like this can unleash a range of emotions so powerfully, even if one is upset at certain plot developments and unanswered questions, it must mean that the actors, writers and directors are successful in presenting their art form. This was simply a brilliant episode. And I mean “brilliant” the way that you folks in the U.K. mean it, not the watered-down “oh, how smart!” meaning it’s taken on here in North America.
And if you’d like to discuss the episode further, I’d be happy to do so with you — although it’s probably quite late where you are.
Now — on with your philosophy on what makes good television: I don’t know enough about the way this works in the UK, but in the USA the creation of television programs exist for one primary motive — advertising revenue. If a network show can gain a larger audience, the networks can charge higher fees for product placement or advertisement breaks. It’s a similar situation for premium pay-for television channels: quality programming begets a higher subscription rate.
(We do have public television in the USA which receives an allotment from the Federal government, but it’s only a small fraction of the operating costs of the network. The rest of the costs are underwritten by private companies and charitable donations from viewers.)
In any case — the way a television show remains on the air is its profitability. Which is why an Aaron Sorkin show such as “The West Wing” remained on the air for the better part of a decade and his clever creations “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “Sports Night” lasted for a much shorter time. It’s also why so-called “reality shows” and game shows, which cost substantially less to make than certain scripted shows, will take their place on the air. (Another example of a less-expensive show: The Office. Far fewer sets and location shots than many other shows of its quality.) Fortunately, there are some quality shows that people will watch. But often, however, the networks will go with a potential “sure thing” rather than risk it with a show that may be expensive out of the gate and yield no viewers.
Example: there was a short-lived series called “Mister Sterling” which debuted on NBC in the middle of 2003. Although Aaron Sorkin had nothing to do with it, it had some “West Wing” references as it dealt with the life and times of a freshman senator from California. It simply didn’t garner that much interest — people apparently didn’t want to watch a show about a member of the US Congress. The show lasted only a few episodes.
Doctor Who is a prime example of a show to which viewers (in the UK) will sprint. It has such a vibrant history and legendary backstory. The only thing I can compare it to in the States is the many incarnations of Superman (including The Adventures of Lois and Clark and Smallville). There’s enough confidence to hire impressive actors, writers, directors and producers to give us something with amazing quality.
Sadly. though, the financial incentive is still the highest priority…
shinys last blog post..Memory of a Helms…
Comment by shiny — July 6, 2008 @ 1:41 am
I wonder how far behind I am in episodes now. How many from the Library episode to the finale?
Avitables last blog post..I ain’t got shit
Comment by Avitable — July 6, 2008 @ 3:15 am
I am really looking forward to Moffatt taking over next season.
moobss last blog post..Communion
Comment by moobs — July 6, 2008 @ 6:01 pm
shiny - Sorry I missed you last night - kinda twittered and passed out!
In the UK it works pretty much the same way as it does in the US. Even the BBC has become all about profitability instead of the thing it should be about - To inform, educate and entertain. There is very little entertainment in watching Bruce Forsyth in Strictly Come Dancing but it makes money (for the record the American version is so much better). But there again - Spooks - made by the BBC - sold everywhere - high quality entertainment. I am probably one of the only people in the country who paid the license fee (the thing every house with a television pays to keep the BBC running) with a smile.
Avitable - Right, the first library episode is Silence in the Library, then Forest of the Dead, then Midnight, followed by Turn Left and then The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End so… you have 5 left to watch.
moobs - 2010 baby! Russell oversees the feature length specials next year and then Moffatt takes over for the next full series… when HOPEFULLY Mr Tennant will still be in…
Comment by bec — July 7, 2008 @ 12:48 am