A New English Rose

[green_amber]

palatinate notes insightfully that writing in the new companion post-Rose is going to be a tough balancing act. Rose, unlike previous traveling companions, has basically had the status of True Love, not "assistant". If the new companion also takes on this "special relationship", the Doctor will look like even more of serial shagger than he did after Sarah Jane/Mme de Pompadoour (Mickey: "he's a bit of a goer your Doctor isn't he? Sarah Jane -- Mme de Pompadour.. Cleopatra..") But if she doesn't (admittedly maybe after a decorous few eps beathing space) the series will feel lacking in emotional content compared to the first two years. How to square this circle?

Well one way would have been to have a male companion. The Doctor does not seem to be very bi. But the Beeb have scotched that one. I think frankly in this wonderful modern world (a) we need a bit of attractive nookie for the het lads audience (b) RTD likes assertive Buffy types (and so do I) (c)a male companion would just have lead to EVEN MORE slash in the canon and I think Auntie Beeb might have had a nervous breakdown.

What I think we need is more ensemble. When we had Rose and Mickie, or Jack and Rose (yes!), the one to one sexual tension eased. A gang of four with lots of cross emotional torrents would be even better. Trouble is (a) that looks like exactly what Torchwood is going to do and b) allegedly RTD doesn't like ensemble playing (tho what was QAF if not that?)

Any thoughts? I do think it's a big problem (thought: if Rose does die will the Doctor swear never to get emotionally involved with a companion again? Now that would be Just Silly. the Doctor as Goth. Ooh, the Doctor as Morrissey!)

Comments

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

Emo doc? With a little backpack to keep his sonic screwdriver/poetry books in?

Self-harm using a sonic screwdriver would be interesting to explore too.

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

You may recall that i suggested some time back that ian Curtis would have made a good Doctor. After the use of 'Love Will tear Us Apart' in School Reunion.

[andrewducker]

There's a simple answer - take all of this ridiculous emotional stuff out of it. This is Dr Who you know, not Eastenders.

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

INTP!

[andrewducker]

Which is, I believe, a synonym for "right".

[percyprune.livejournal.com]

I notice that the Doc and his new honey will be facing the Ice Warriors next season. Nice.

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

They would seem next old adversary in line. As long as we don't see Daleks back next season - they need a rest for a bit.

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

Fabbo - although given that they've not been 'properly' back since Pertwee there's not going to be many fans with firsthand experience of them!

Sadly there's no Bernard Bresslaw to play one. :(

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

Even I barely remember em..

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

> What I think we need is more ensemble

I'm not so sure, but we clearly differ on this one and to some extent are looking for different things from the show. for me, Doctor Who is about the Doctor and every second where he's not on screen that isn't plot exposition is wasted.

I've never really liked Doctor + N companions as much as Doctor + 1 companion -- then again "my" era was really Pertwee/T Baker. Multiple companions worked OK with the earlier doctors who were more father figures to the companions; now, it just feels crowded.

The low point for me was Nyssa/Tegan/Adric. I didn't like any of them individually and I liked them less together.

Now I'll admit that the Tyler saga has been done with a certain degree of wit, and Camille Coduri's performance as Jackie improved through the two series, but it's time for the Doctor to go and do Doctor stuff again. All over the Universe with no more than a tasty bit of totty by his side. ;)


> Doctor as Goth
McGann. ;)

> Doctor as Morrissey
Davison. ;)

[nwhyte]

Doctor Who is about the Doctor and every second where he's not on screen that isn't plot exposition is wasted

I think I almost entirely agree with this. There are a few exceptions - The Dalek Master Plan is about Mavic Chen, Genesis of the Daleks is about Davros - but as I listen even to the old Hartnell episodes, the ones where he's on holiday/on sick leave just seem flat and uninteresting. I even felt this was true of The Massacre, where Hartnell himself is there for the middle two episodes, but not playing the Doctor!

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

Ah but you two (plus maybe Swisstone?) are the canonical Old School Dr Who fans of my f.list :-P

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd go with that.

[andrewducker]

go and do Doctor stuff again. All over the Universe

Russel T Davies has said that he's not interested in taking The Doctor off on tours of alien worlds - he wants stories about people. I think you might be out of luck.

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

Good writers ie not RTD can write about people and alien worlds simultaneously. One thing good SF does at times is to use the alien to reveal the human. Not that I would expect RTD to know anything about that.

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

I think he's made the right call so far: crappy alien latex costums all over the shop in gravel pits would have alienated the fan market and even worse, the parents watching with kids market.
Now it's got cred I think they coud risk a few alien plotlines.
I was in an exam meeting today with lovandgarbage.
I said "New companion!"
Him (depressedly) said "She's from London -- again".
Me "OH well " or something similarly anodyne
Him: "I remember when companions were aliens."
Collapse of me, to amusement of exam meeting..

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

"I remember when companions were aliens."

yeah wasn't there an australian? ;-)

[loveandgarbage.livejournal.com]

DOCTOR: [Affronted expression] "But lots of planets have a London."

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

> A gang of four with lots of cross emotional torrents would be even better.

If I wanted to watch Friends I'd watch Friends. ;p

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

I do and I do :-P

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

I'd sooner have my eyeballs gouged out with warm teaspoons.

Scene 1: NEW YORK, INT, DAY. A MAN and a WOMAN walk into a COFFEE SHOP
F/X: crowd whooping like baboons for three minutes.
MAN: Hello!
F/X: crowd laughing so much they're peeing themselves.
WOMAN: Would you like a coffee?
F/X: Another five minutes of nitrous oxide
CUT TO: Ad break

Repeat ad nauseam, add a group hug at the end.

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

I always wondered how a bunch of people who either didnt work or had low-income jobs managed to pay rent on two huge flats in prime Manhattan. Either Phoebe was hustling on 7th Avenue or Ross was smuggling coke inside dinosaur fossils.

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

Monica inherited her flat from a grandma or something, and Chandler made decent money in IT. There you've learnt something today!

[andrewducker]

The flat was rent controlled, and they'd "inherited" it from Monica's grandmother.

[bellinghwoman.livejournal.com]

I don't think Rose does die - well not physically anyway. My theory is that she ends up in the alternative universe (the one the Cybermen crossed over from), possibly thinking the Doctor is dead or knowing that he's alive but knowing that he's closed the rift so she can never see him again, and the dying she is referring to is dying inside of a broken heart.

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

AWWWW! My money was already on her ending up in alterCyberworld (maybe as a "ghost" just like they were "hosts" in our world?) but thinking the Dr is dead ! Oh that's cruel!

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

It all had a whiff of the Grey Havens to it, when I saw the trailer. ;)

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

The close proximity on my Friends page of zotz and you leads to a thought on a new companion. If RTD really likes assertive women, how about Polly Harvey? In that red dress. Then we'll see if the Doc is really a man!

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

O.M.G. *dies*

Big Doc.

[thishardenedarm.livejournal.com]

i think they will play type variance, they have had an earthy, streety all heart, intuitive buffy-girl; I reckon they will now go for a more INTP-y, aspy, heady, clever, "other"/alien woman. I think Romana may have been a bit like that, tho I am not quite tragic enough to know for sure. That way we can still get some vibe and sparkage, and good dialogue, but less groin, and it will feel less like an episode of Big Love.

[loveandgarbage.livejournal.com]

Not sure how I feel about an ensemble in the TARDIS. Aside from the 1963 - 1965 era (where the focus was more on Ian and Barbara and their desire to get home) three in the TARDIS was tried with Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan (an Alzarian, someone from Traken, and an Australian - who happened to be in London). In the former it was quite successful. The three person dynamic coupled with the Doctor doesn't really work as the balance between main plot and the character interaction is not struck that well. Within the 45 minute format unless there was clearly defined character development across the series (of the type we saw in new series 1, but haven't really seen in new series 2 - aside from Mickey becoming rather like Ace the Dalek destroyer from the NAs (offstage!)) I'm of the view that ensembles should be left to classical music