10 comments on “In Defence of Animating Lost Doctor Who Episodes

  1. Wonderful article. I really loved the Hartnell piece you did as well. It’s so refreshing to read from someone who actually seems to like Doctor Who, and who actually focuses on the positive, while still acknowledging the occasional negatives and understanding that this stuff should be enjoyed and isn’t life and death important. As you said above: “more please”.

    Oh, and I liked the Reign of Terror dvd as well. :)

    • Thank you for your very kind words, Doctor When, I truly appreciate it.

      It is always nice to know that there is actually somebody is out there reading this stuff.

      Cheers.

  2. Great blog. It’s fun watching you go through the big finish stories for the first time, and remembering back when I did the same. Though to be honest I kind of prefer the less happy reviews as they tend to be a lot funnier and more entertaining. Though I like your more serious pieces on the dvd range and stuff too. Can’t wait to see what you think of the McGann Doctor stories. Anyway just wanted to say hi, and keep up the good work! Also, yay! more animation!

    • Thank you Arleta. And there’s some Sylvester McCoy audio reviews coming up, so you might get your wish as far as ‘less happy’ reviews go…

      I’m looking forward to getting to the Paul McGann audios, too.

  3. I think you-who-blog have allowed yourself-who-blogs to become a little sidetracked from an otherwise very good piece by concentrating on the critical voices.

    The animation can be as basic as you like (within reason) as far as I’m concerned. It’s never going to approach replacing the lost visuals. All it exists for is to give the viewer a visual frame of reference for the story like the telesnaps used to. My problem with Reign of Terror is that the story itself (not the animation) turns out to be so mediocre.

    I do think you-who-blog run the risk of exaggerating to make a point though by setting up a straw man of a vocal element of fandom. For example:

    “Things always seem to be placed into sweeping blanket statements”

    When you-who-blog’re going to talk about people making sweeping blanket statements, it’s probably best not to begin the sentence with “always”.

    This highly vocal subset is two or three individuals with a bee in their bonnet. They have as much right to hate the animation as you-who-blog have to approve of it. Just take their views with a pinch of salt. Annoying as you-who-blog may find critical fan voices, the alternative is the bland, uncritical, happy-clappy, forced unanimity of DWM.

    The over-the-top condemnations of any criticism of any aspect of DW may even be what encourages the over-the-top criticism. I think the worst line you-who-blog use is the suggestion that the critics arrogantly think they’re speaking for all fans. I suspect there’s very little evidence for that. Regardless of how wrong-headed someone may appear to be, it’s never a sufficient rebuttal to simply reply “that’s only your opinion.” Something only being one person’s opinion says nothing about the quality of that opinion.

    For a long time, mine was a lone voice arguing that turpentine drunk neat from the bottle is not injurious to the health. Now see how that has become accepted wisdom among the medical community.

  4. P.S. Oops – I misssed off the complimentary bit at the end which was “Now that I’ve got that off my chest, yours is nevertheless an entertainingly great read of a blog.”

  5. Doc Whom, perhaps I have merely encountered more arrogance in that small but very vocal negative subset of fandom than you yourself have, as it is certainly a lot more than two or three objectionable voices that I have encountered, and perhaps that has me tending to over-compensate at times in my own response, even if in doing so I am achieving little more than pointlessly yelling into the abyss. And perhaps after years as a part of fandom myself, I have just grown increasingly tired of that very vocal, very negative minority, and their attitude of entitlement, an attitude that never seems sated regardless of how much they are offered, or what comes their way. And perhaps, every so often, I merely need to shout out that such voices don’t speak for me, just as I don’t claim to speak for anybody else.

    Regardless, I stand by what I have said, as it is an opinion born out of my own personal experience. If that is not an experience that you share, then it is good that you are here to offer an alternative view, and you are more than welcome to do.

    As I stated above, debate is always welcome, criticism is fine, differing opinions are always encouraged, whether they be pro, con, or somewhere in between. And hollow, fawning and undeserved praise where everything is always awesome and perfect is every bit as useless and frustrating as over-reactionary hate filled bile, where everything always sucks, that is something that I most definitely agree with. Even opinions given about the worth or validity of my own opinions are welcome as far as I’m concerned.

    The simple truth is, I value opinions and criticisms that I don’t share every bit as much as those that I do, perhaps even more so, as they tend to broaden one’s horizons and help you to see things a different way, even when they don’t actually change your own views. I just believe that the way something is said is almost as important as what it is that is actually being said, and so when something appears to be little more than hate-filled negativity for the sake of it, from those who rarely tend to produce anything else, for me it begins to wear rather thin, particularly when it comes frequently and in force. Worse than that, such outbursts also tend to be the death of discussion, and the birthplace of argument. I have seen so much of exactly that these last few years that I have intentionally withdrawn myself from much of fandom as a result. I still keep my foot in, but more as observer than active participant these days. I don’t pretend this is representative of everyone’s experience, but it certainly has been mine. And while I am fully capable of fighting it out with the best of them, all that achieves is more fighting.

    Am I overly negative towards the overly negative? Probably so. Does that make me a hypocrite? I suppose that for others to decide. Am I likely to change such views? It seems unlikely. Either way, I can only say it as I see it, and if anyone else has a different view, then the comment section awaits.

    Thank you for your views and feedback, Doctor Whom. Your input is valued.

    I still disagree about Reign of Terror though. Personally I very much enjoyed it. But then, I do tend to have rather eclectic tastes.

    • I must say, I found it a little ironic that on the very day that our friend Doctor Whom posted above about the possibility that I was jumping at shadows and perhaps over-exaggerating the negative aspects of Who fandom, and that things within Who fandom aren’t anywhere near that bad, that Gallifrey Base felt a need to post the following to all members:

      Hello *member name*, please take a moment to read this before dismissing it.

      Generally speaking, with tens of thousands of members here, things run pretty smoothly, and most of our members never have any problems or get into any trouble. That’s awesome! Unfortunately, we’ve noticed lately a marked increase in members arguing about other members, attacking others personally rather than attacking (as it were) their opinions or thoughts. There are, in fact, certain people here who have made a habit of this practice. Well, the day is drawing near when those people may find themselves banned from the forum if they don’t stop. We’re not going to single anyone out, but if you have even the slightest suspicion that you may be one of the people who frequently attacks other members rather than their opinions, you should simply stop that now. It’s against the rules, it’s always been against the rules, and we’re tired of cleaning up the messes and/or telling people to stop and take it outside. You all should know better, and now you’ve had your last warning to shape up. Have a nice day. And to those tens of thousands who don’t cause any problems? Thank you! (This message is being shown to every single member of the forum.)

      When even Gallifrey Base, the Mos Eisley of internet Whodom, thinks things are getting a bit rough and out of hand, then perhaps I’m not, to continue with my mixed metaphor, ‘just a crazy old man’ after all. Food for thought, anyway.

      Oh, and this isn’t meant as an ‘I’m right/You’re wrong’ type post, it just tickled me is all.

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