Re: Returning monsters

imipak <imipak@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Ok, let's settle this location/monster/script issue by running a straw
poll. I'll list off some sci-fi series. Nobody has to say which they
prefer, or think is best, all I want is for people to note which ones
they think worked the best in terms of scripts, monsters and locations
actually coming together effectively. You don't have to like the show
to recognize when something is effective, and you don't have to always
feel that something worked perfectly just because you happen to be a
fan of the series.

Ok. I'll give it a go. But I'm not really into rigid yes/no,
black/white thinking, so expect a lot of waffling comments explaining
which bits of scripts, monsters and locations worked together, and which
didn't.

Still, it's gotta be better than a Yads-style one sentence post. Right?


Ok, here's the list:

[_] Stranger and Miss Brown

Interesting one to start with. The series made a big shift in plot
after the first three videos: revealing the Stranger's true identity and
backstory and replacing Miss Brown with Egan. This also coincided with
a big change in setting, from alien planets to contemporary Earth.

I don't think this worked very well. The new Earth-based setting meant
that we weren't able to see the Preceptors home world/home dimension, so
we had to be told all about it and Solomon's relationship with them. As
a result there was too much telling not showing.

[_] P.R.O.B.E.

I guess it worked. My biggest problem was with the characters and
storylines, not the setting. (And a problem with the fact the first
Winterbourne story was originally sold in two parts across two videos
despite the fact that it was totally obvious who the murderer was by the
end of part 1.)

[_] The Auton Trilogy

Like The Stranger, it had a major change in both setting and plot
direction, so it's very hard to say whether the problems are because of
the location or the plot or both.

The first video, despite all the Spearhead continuity references, was
actually a very good Troughtonesque base-under-siege story. (In fact,
the whole "Scientist reactivates old alien energy sphere, and triggers
the way for a repeat alien invasion," storyline could've been inspired
from Troughton's "The Web of Fear.")

But as the location opens up in the later videos, the plot seems to lose
direction, switching first to a more Pertwee-esque village-under-siege,
and then an attempted invasion of Earth. Big, action-packed battle
scenes can bore me, unless they're done really well (which IMHO these
weren't). And it's very hard to write convincing motivations for the
alien strategies in these invasion-of-earth storylines. I definitely
prefer the more claustrophobic suspense stuff of the first video.

Also I'm not totally convinced that UNIT has psychics and cyborgs
working for it. With hindsight, it might have been better if it had
been set in Torchwood instead. But they weren't to know that at the
time.

[_] Blake's 7 (Season 1)

Why only Season 1? Were the settings really that different from Season
2? IIRC in both seasons there was one episode on Earth, and others in
other planets or spaceships or space stations, with the Liberator as the
crew's ship. And even the same with Season 3, I think.

Now if you were to contrast Seasons 1-3 with Season 4, that might make
more sense. (Not only was there a different spaceship, IIRC Season 4
didn't have a single episode set on Earth.) But why just Season 1?

[_] Space: 1999

Stupid. The idea that one nuclear explosion could propel the moon
through the galaxy at FTL speeds is just silly. Especially since it
would have to slow down whenever it passes a planet, to allow the crew
to visit, and then speed up to FTL again to make its way to the next
week's planet.

Why not just use a proper starship?

[_] U.F.O.

Worked well. Its 1980 was nothing like the real thing, of course, but
it was right for the series.

[_] Sapphire and Steel

Definitely worked. The settings all had a strong sense of place,
despite being created entirely in the TV studios, and were almost
characters in their own right. In some cases they were more interesting
than the real characters!

[_] The Omega Factor

On the whole it worked well. There were one or two little problems with
episodes like St Anthony's Fire where Tom wants to use Department's
resources to investigate possible activity by the conspiracy. His boss
objects because they're supposed to be a scientific research department
with limited budget and resources, not police investigators dedicated to
following one employee's personal obsessions. And we're left thinking,
yes the boss is right. Investigating crimes and conspiracy theories is
not the sort of thing this scientific research department should be
doing.

This could've been avoided if the setting had been some kind of police
or investigation bureau, but that would have ruined the early episodes,
so either way there would still be a problem.

[_] Timeslip (the 1970s ITV mini-series)

Not familiar enough with it. Can't say.

[_] Moondial

It's been ages since I saw this but IIRC it definitely made good use of
the setting, with a strong sense of place and loads of atmosphere.

[_] Quatermass (only the first three stories and only the UK versions)

Why only the first three? I though the fourth one made very good use of
its distopian near-future setting.

For Experiment, a lot depends on how well the spooky, Gothic atmosphere
of Westminster Abbey was realised in the studio. And that's something
we'll never know for certain.

Moving on to Q2, Winnerton Flats was possibly the best use of a setting
in the first three stories. It had a real sense of place, full of its
own mysterious atmosphere. (No pun intended!)

As for Pit, well, I actually prefer the film version, and that replaced
the bomb site setting with a tube station. So the original setting
couldn't've been very important to the story. Although it was a very
good story.

[_] The Avengers (Catherine Gale/Honor Blackman era)
[_] The Avengers (Emma Peel/Diana Riggs era)

I'm not familiar enough with the Avengers to know if there was a
difference in settings between these two. There was a very different
look and feel due to the switch from videotape to film. But I don't
recall any major change in the settings of the stories.

One thing that the Avengers did do with settings was to set most of its
stories in Britain, allowing them to take good advantage of location
filming. This is unlike its rivals such as The Champions or Department
S, where stock footage and one corner of the Elstree backlot represented
just about every country in the world.

[_] Project: Icarus

Never heard of it.

[_] The Tomorrow People (up to Revenge of Jedekiah, so none of the
Mike stories or later)

Not familiar enough with it to say.

[_] Doctor Who (First Doctor)
[_] Doctor Who (Third Doctor)
[_] Doctor Who (Fourth Doctor)

Why only these three? I've already mentioned the Troughton era's
base-under-siege stories which were a perfect combination of story and
setting (except The Ice Warriors and The Wheel in Space where the base
commander looked too far cranky to cope under even normal circumstances.
Maybe being shunted sideways to isolated space wheels or ice bases is
what happens to Gordon Brittas types in the future?)

Anyway, the Hartnell era made full use of its settings. Most obviously
the historicals, which depended on their historical setting to work, but
also the futuristic stories were as much about exploring and learning
about the alien worlds as fighting the aliens. (It's just a shame the
worlds weren't always interesting enough to justify this.)

The Pertwee era often tried to make good use of its settings too. It
didn't always succeed, but at least it attempted it more often than not.
For example, DWATS wouldn't work as well on any planet except Earth.
Even the space future ones, took the trouble to develop a vaguely
consistent future continuity with the Earth Empire setting and the two
Peladon stories.

But in the fourth Doctor's era the settings become more generic, and the
stories start to rely more on plot and characterisation and less on a
sense of place. I've said this before, but one of my problems with The
Deadly Assassin is that it doesn't _feel_ like a planet of time
travellers, just like a generic alien planet with a generic alien
civilisation. You could transplant the whole story to Dulkis, and it
wouldn't make any real difference to the plot.

Only at the end of Tom Baker's era do we start to get the strongly
defined sense of place from the settings that marked the first half of
the JNT years.

[_] The X-Files

I've got no strong feelings about the setting. The plots suffered from
the same problems that most long-running conspiracy theory dramas do.
But that's always going to be a problem with long-running conspiracy
dramas, no matter what the setting.

[_] The IPCRESS Files

Never heard of it. Is it some kind of spin of series from The Ipcress
File film?

That should be sufficient. Where there is sufficient difference in the
style and substance that a single classification won't work, I've
split the show into multiple groups. Tick off as many shows as you
like that you feel were effective. As I said, you don't have to have
liked any other aspect of the shows, you don't have to have liked any
of the ideas, the premise, anything other than whether the story,
location and enemy fit together.

Once again, sorry I couldn't do a simple yes/no tick. Hope this told
you what you needed to know anyway.


.

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