Re: Not Another Spin-Off :(


<pbowles@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On 16 Apr, 01:18, "john smith" <the_johnsm...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<pbow...@xxxxxxx> wrote in message

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On 14 Apr, 23:33, Monsieur Tabernac <mtaber...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:





On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:19:13 -0500, "US 71" <u...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2009/04/14/8717/dr_who_spin-off_for_lee...

Dr Who spin-off for Lee Evans?

BBC Lee Evans could land his own Doctor Who spin-off if the show's
boss,
Russell T Davies, has his ways.

The producer said he was so impressed with the comic's performance as
scientist Malcom Taylor in Saturday's Easter special, Planet Of The
Dead,
he
could star in a new series.

Evan's character worked for the organisation UNIT, Unified Intelligence
Taskforce, under Captain Magambo, played by Noma Dumezweni.

Davies said: 'Lee and Noma are a spin-off series waiting to happen.
UNIT
soldiers often work best as half of a double-act, so Magambo needed a
foil,
though we never dreamed we'd get to cast the part so well.'

Davies, who is leaving the show after the next three specials, added
that
the
spin-off could be broadcast late this year.

If it comes off, it would be the fourth from the relaunched Doctor Who,
following Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the forthcoming
K-9.

Ah, Russell T Davies -- the homeopathic producer of Doctor Who. I
hope he knows when to stop; if he dilutes it too much, there'll be
nothing left.

Sounds as though he's just giving himself something Who-related to do
now he's off the main show.

Phil

_________________________________________________________

That's a rubbish assessment too! As if the new production team aren't
going
to bite his hand off if he does offer to write for them in the future -
which I'm sure he will do at some point. He's rebooted the franchise
(horrible term, I know!) and I'm sure he'll come back to it when he has
some
new ideas for stories

Yes. Apparently he's remaining on the writing staff. So what? He
writes for them now but also has a full-time job as producer - you
think he's going to want to sit around twiddling his thumbs when not
writing Who scripts?



****What ARE you going on about? Who said anything about sitting around
"twiddling his thumbs"? He's a freelance writer. Obviously - when not
writing "Who" scripts - he'll be writing something else! You really should
read "The Writer's Tale" if you want an insight into his approach to these
things...****



Or that producing a new show because he wants to
keep doing something he enjoys is a less plausible motivation than
just wanting the odd credit with "created by Russell T Davies" (right
next to the obligatory "UNIT original concept created by someone else"
line, at that)?


****Another "straw man argument", as you're so fond of saying. Who says he
"enjoys" producing? Hasn't he always said that's a hell of a lot of hard
work? And don't underestimate the power of that "created by" label. I'm
ignoring your UNIT example because I think that mooted spinoff is bull***
speculation that's never going to happen, but say with "Torchwood" - as
original creator - he will receive a payment for every episode produced,
whether he wrote it or *not*, because it's his original "intellectual
property"... or whatever crappy legalese term they use these days. (My copy
of "Writing For the BBC - A Guide to Writers on Possible Markets for Their
Work" - published by the BBC, no less! - is rather outdated!)



I'm guessing you don't have much firsthand experience
with the way the media works -




****A guess that would be wrong. I'm a freelance writer myself.****


bylines for writing stories and public
exposure for successful work are what matter, not originality of
concept.



****In your rather limited opinion! In my opinion, *all* those things
matter - and I'd suggest originality - of which there is such a dearth on
British TV these days - would be a major selling point.****


No one is going to turn RTD down for a job on the basis that
he didn't create Dr Who, but they may well give him one for bringing
it back so successfully.



****Another specious argument. RTD - probably along with Paul Abbott and a
handful of others - is one of the top TV writers in Britain. He was a long
time before he brought back "Doctor Who".****


In any case, RTD already has 'created by' for
Queer as Folk, Torchwood, SJA and goodness knows what else, and
whatever he went on to do he'd be able to add another 'created by'
line to his portfolio, regardless of whether or not that production
was Who-related, so your argument is spurious.



****You're completely missing the point. "Queer as Folk" was a
self-contained finite series - as was "The Second Coming" - written solely
by RTD. I'm talking about the "created by" credit in regard to a
"franchise" in which he will receive a nominal payment regardless of whether
he writes the actual scripts himself. Didn't I use the phrase "pension
plan" in another post?****



- rather than just using up the old ones he'd no doubt
stockpiled as a fan. "Planet of the Dead" shows he's running on empty.

Does it?



****For me, yes - or should I preface every statement with an "IMHO"?****


RTD's said all along it was a 'light-hearted' story,


****Did he? I'm not aware of that. If you had foreknowledge of that, that
might explain why we have this difference of opinion!****


which
those of us who've been following his contributions to the show have
learned to dread as code for "really quite rubbish, actually".



****I couldn't possiby comment on what you and those others think,
obviously. Personally, I don't equate "light-hearted" with "quite
rubbish".****




It's
still better than New Earth or Last of the Timelords. All it shows is
that he's made another bad story - but then he followed New Earth with
Tooth & Claw and his next story after Partners in Crime was Midnight,
so I don't think we can read too much into the fact that a
deliberately fluffy story was "a bit crap really".


****You say it was "deliberately fluffy"; I wouldn't call it "fluffy" or
"light-hearted". I stand by my opinion that it was "a bit crap" - mainly, I
suppose, because I was expecting a lot more from a "special". I do agree
"Midnight" was one of his best stories though!

I'm
glad he's chosen to leave when he has - before the ideas grow *too* stale

So am I, but for a slightly different reason - many of his ideas
already are too stale, in particular his formulaic season structure
(past, present, future, two-parter with returning aliens, filler,
filler, good two-parter, filler, filler, big cinematic two-part finale
with Big Bads).



****How is any of that "a slightly different reason"? This is semantics.
You're just going into more detail about what I mean by "stale"!****


Season 4 showcased his most varied writing and some of
his strongest, so I wouldn't mind seeing more of his episodes (just
not dominating the season).

Incidentally, do we know how much of this episode was RTD's work and
how much Gareth Roberts'?



****I'm surprised YOU don't! You seem to have an awful lot more
forerknowledge about RTD's motivations than I do!****


RTD's getting all the flak, but Roberts'
previous work for the show - Shakespeare Code and The Unicorn and the
Wasp - hasn't exactly been warmly received. It's possible it was worse
than an 'average' RTD episode because of the co-writer's input.


***That's possible. Both those stories were - to repeat that loosely-worded
term that seems to irk you so much - "a bit crap". On the other hand, you'd
think two heads would be better than one. I've co-written stuff myself -
though rarely; it's difficult to find the right chemistry and I'm a bit of a
possessive control-freak type when it comes to writing - and the joy of it
is, when it works, that you spark off each other and create a synergy in
which both of you arrive at something which neither of you would have come
up with separately. What William Burroughs called "the third mind". Also
it's a laugh - you can test out and tighten up jokes and plotting and stuff
on each other - and it's not so bloody lonely!

The only reason I'm writing such a lengthy reply here is because I'm
prevaricating and dodging doing some real work because I'm a bit stuck on
the ending of the story I'm doing now - so lucky you, eh? ;-)****





Phil


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