The Madness of King Russell

[gothwalk]

I've just posted an article on The Wizard of Duke Street highlighting the decision for Billie Piper to return as Rose in Doctor Who. I've kept my commentary mild enough over there, but I want to get some sensible opinions here before the txt kiddies get loose in the comments.

Is it just me or is this an utterly pathetic move on the part of the casting and scripting people? I can't lay it solely on RTD, but I suspect a great deal of his involvement. There has not been one single notable event so far in the new Who, except the switch from Nine to Ten, that he hasn't managed to weaken by going over the same events and the same plots again. And I suspect that if he could get Christopher Eccleston to sign up again, we'd see the first (temporary, of course) reverse regeneration in the Whoniverse.

It's turning into a cross between a soap opera and a 90s Marvel comic...

Comments

[ragnvaeig.livejournal.com]

I'd actually be okay with seeing them try and fail to bring her back to the normal universe, but there's been a bit too much flagrant disregard for continuity. Mostly this has been the case with Dalek plots--they're all gone/no they're not!--but it's getting confusing.

And Kylie Minogue? Really?

[giftederic.livejournal.com]

If she had gone at the end of season 1, I'd be baying at the door for her return, but Billie and David have no real chemistry, so whilst I think she has been the best companion of late, I am relatively dubious about this. That said, I think Martha has run her course. David has even less chemistry with her it seems... Bring back Jessica Hynes. I liked her. Or better yet, bring back no one and lets have an episode or 2 without a companion and we'll see how that goes...

Hmmm. Maybe the plan is to have 3 or 4 companions simultaneously and a continuation of the story started in the episode with Sarah Jane.

What of the stories that Steve Moffat is to take the helm of the series? Is it possible that that is why Billie Piper is coming back?

Gav

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Well, there's no rule that says the Doctor can only have one companion at a time, or even that the companion has to be female. Whether that's happened in New Who depends I suppose on whether you count Jack or Mickey as companions or not. Sarah-Jane's return I don't think you can really count as she was only there for one episode and didn't travel with the Doctor again.

That said, I'm not a fan of recycling ex-companions unless there's a compelling reason to do so. Would the rise of Ms Piper's star (and the fall of her knickers) with The Secret Diary of a London Call Girl have anything to do with her reappearance in the Whoniverse? It's certainly made her even more of a 'Dad's favourite'.

[sleevewornheart.livejournal.com]

I'm aggravated by this because I don't want Rose back. I don't want a revival of the whole "Rose is the best thing in the universe ever" business the show seemed to hype--particularly in series two, when I found her annoying and completely lacking in chemistry with Tennant.

Rose and Eccleston's Doctor were good together. Rose and Tennant's Doctor--those two just seemed to bring out the worst in one another.

And bringing her back takes the teeth out of her departure. I had the same reaction to the return of Donna--I thought it was a powerful stand, her refusing to go with him, telling him he was scary, etc. To then have her join him later completely negates that. Just as having Rose return from a place where she was cut off from this universe forever undermines all the emotional impact they meant for that ending to have.

[giftederic.livejournal.com]

But hasn't it had all it's emotional impact already....

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't think so. My approach - learned from running fantasy campaigns, rather than writing TV shows, admittedly - is that any peak in the "emotional impact" measure of an event isn't isolated. You have a lead-in over some time, and then a trailing away over another period.

So for Rose's leaving the show, you had about two episodes of lead-in, with a minor peak when she decides she'll stay with the Doctor, a larger one when she gets taken into the parallel universe, and a huge spike at the end of the season, with the line, "Rose Tyler, I -". And then you have a trailing off which lasted right through Season 3, and is continuing - it's not yet at zero on the graph. In fact, given that Martha left, in effect, because of Rose, it's way above zero.

If Rose comes back (assuming none of the clone, android, anthropomorphic projection of the Tardis, etc, theories are true), then that trailing end of the bell curve gets cut off. It may well get replaced by a new event curve of emotional impact over time, but that's not the point - many of the fans like this curve, and want new, additional curves, not old ones cut off and replaced.

[giftederic.livejournal.com]

You win that argument hands down. Very well put.

But...

The standard of writing on the show is so erratic, that quite frankly after watching season 3, I think they need a bit of Billie Piper.

To be honest he's a timelord in love. What lengths will he go to to meet Rose again? It's a natural story. He might just go and visit her in the past or something equally dubious. If anything it can fuel the existing emotional curve...

We're just going to have to wait and see...

[meehaneo.livejournal.com]

I remember reading somewhere (or hearing it) that when Billie Piper wanted to leave she ABSOLUTELY wanted to leave ie not BE ABLE to return. Thats why there wasn't just a change of companion, but this storyline.

So whats changed? Not that I really mind - I quite like her and was pleasantly surprised at her acting ability.