Doctor Who: 12th June • 13 June 2010 • The SnowBlog
Doctor Who: 12th June
One word for you: 'fun'. Or three words: 'slightly mindless fun'. It's funny (at least to me) how much less plot holes bother me if I'm having fun. They'd better not be so big that I fall down them, but I think they matter less if you're being carried along with the story. Any time you're forced to think analytically then the plot had better make sense. So that's 1) if it's a mystery (so they're making you think to entertain you) or 2) when you're trying to figure out what the hell's going on (so they're making you think because they've screwed up). But if you're along for the ride emotionally, you're clear on what's happening and you're interested in how it turns out, taking a few liberties with logic (or ret-con*) doesn't seem so bad. It's like the difference between being unexpectedly asked to wash up after being cooked a nice meal or being unexpectedly asked to wash up instead of being cooked a nice meal. [spoilers ahead] So did anyone watch Who Confidential? And did you note the bit where the writer, Gareth Roberts, mentioned that initially the disappearances (=A story) and the romance (= B story) were separate, but then Steven Moffatt suggested having the resolution to one also be the resolution to the other. Which is exactly what we were talking about last week when it didn't happen. Maybe he didn't dare tell Bafta, Golden Globe and multiple Emmy award-winning Richard Curtis, CBE, the same thing. But maybe he should have done.
*Not that I care, but Amy had access to a Tardis database with the plans for every house in Colchester (the world? the universe?). And the second-storey couldn't have been a recent addition (so the database included the council planning permission files too)? The doctor happened to have an earpiece with him when he was ejected from the Tardis which could communicate back to Amy even with the Tardis in limbo? That would have been handy on lots of other occasions too, especially if his companion were given an earpiece as well. The Tardis materialised sufficiently for the Doctor to saunter out but, thereafter, not for him to jump back in? When Sophie screamed they could hear it downstairs but not when the other victims screamed?
But, like I say, because everything else in the story was carrying its weight, I reckon the plot logic could afford to be creaky in a couple of places.
Rob
One word for you: 'fun'. Or three words: 'slightly mindless fun'. It's funny (at least to me) how much less plot holes bother me if I'm having fun. They'd better not be so big that I fall down them, but I think they matter less if you're being carried along with the story. Any time you're forced to think analytically then the plot had better make sense. So that's 1) if it's a mystery (so they're making you think to entertain you) or 2) when you're trying to figure out what the hell's going on (so they're making you think because they've screwed up). But if you're along for the ride emotionally, you're clear on what's happening and you're interested in how it turns out, taking a few liberties with logic (or ret-con*) doesn't seem so bad. It's like the difference between being unexpectedly asked to wash up after being cooked a nice meal or being unexpectedly asked to wash up instead of being cooked a nice meal. [spoilers ahead] So did anyone watch Who Confidential? And did you note the bit where the writer, Gareth Roberts, mentioned that initially the disappearances (=A story) and the romance (= B story) were separate, but then Steven Moffatt suggested having the resolution to one also be the resolution to the other. Which is exactly what we were talking about last week when it didn't happen. Maybe he didn't dare tell Bafta, Golden Globe and multiple Emmy award-winning Richard Curtis, CBE, the same thing. But maybe he should have done.
*Not that I care, but Amy had access to a Tardis database with the plans for every house in Colchester (the world? the universe?). And the second-storey couldn't have been a recent addition (so the database included the council planning permission files too)? The doctor happened to have an earpiece with him when he was ejected from the Tardis which could communicate back to Amy even with the Tardis in limbo? That would have been handy on lots of other occasions too, especially if his companion were given an earpiece as well. The Tardis materialised sufficiently for the Doctor to saunter out but, thereafter, not for him to jump back in? When Sophie screamed they could hear it downstairs but not when the other victims screamed?
But, like I say, because everything else in the story was carrying its weight, I reckon the plot logic could afford to be creaky in a couple of places.