Thirty Days of Doctor Who: Day Two
Aug. 4th, 2010 03:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrasteDay O2 - Your Favourite Classic Series Episode
It wasn't an altogether promising start. David Fisher wrote a Bulldog Drummond parody set in 1920s Monte Carlo that had be completely rewritten after John Nathan Turner (production manager at that stage) figured out it would be cheaper to set it in contemporary Paris than to build the sets. Then Fisher wasn't available for the rewrites because he was going through a messy divorce, so the script editor and producer had to do it ... in three days.
If anyone other than Douglas Adams had been that script editor, it probably would have been an shambles, an acceptable script at best. But because he was a certified literary genius, after three days of black coffee and whiskey, a miracle had been performed.
Why is it so good? Why is it, in fact, my favourite of all Doctor Who stories in any era or medium? I think you do have to start with that script: that preposterous plot and that extraordinary dialogue. For all that Fisher and Williams have had their contributions underestimated, its Adams that puts the magic in. I don't think it's an accident that he did his best work on the series (and arguably some of his best work ever, full stop) when he had to make the deadline because Graham Williams wouldn't let him leave or sleep until there was something to shoot.
But the magic didn't stop with Adams - it wouldn't have come off so well if director Michael Hayes hadn't known his stuff, or if John Nathan Turner hadn't worked out that the could film in Paris in the first place. The guest stars are uniformly perfect in their roles, and Julian Glover gives us one of the great one-shot villains. Better still is Duggan, showing us that a show with Lalla Ward as the alien space traveller followed around by a dim male sidekick would have worked just as well. People tend to underestimate Tom Baker's performance simply because he's insisted on keeping it up for decades, but none of this would work half as well with anyone else in the role.
What it boils down to is that this story of all stories is just brimming with such cleverness, wit and joy at being Doctor Who. Even the padding is filled with joie de vivre - who's in a rush to get back to the plot when we could be watching the Doctor and Romana run around Paris holding hands? And ah, those lines, those lines.
"What a wonderful butler, he's so violent!"
Day 01 - Your Favourite Quote
Day 02 – Your Favourite Classic Series Episode
Day 03 – Your Favourite New Series Episode
Day 04 – Your Favourite Doctor
Day 05 – Your Favourite Companion
Day 06 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 07 – Your Favourite Piece of Music
Day 08 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Happy
Day 09 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Angry/Sad
Day 10 – A Who-Related Photo That You Took
Day 11 – Your Favourite Season (Classic or New)
Day 12 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 13 – Your Favourite Villain
Day 14 – The Villain Who Scared You the Most
Day 15 – Favourite Who-Related Tumblr
Day 16 – Your Favourite Who-Related FanFic
Day 17 – A Piece of Who-Related FanArt
Day 18 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 19 – The Scene That Made Your Cry the Most
Day 20 – The Character Who Is Most Like You
Day 21 – Your Doctor Who OTP
Day 22 – A Who-Related Fan-Site
Day 23 – A Who-Related YouTube Video
Day 24 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 25 – Favorite Who Actor
Day 26 – Favorite Who Actress
Day 27 – An Episode You Wish Hadn’t Been Made
Day 28 – An Episode Idea You Created Yourself
Day 29 – Who You Think Should Be the Next Doctor
Day 30 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
It wasn't an altogether promising start. David Fisher wrote a Bulldog Drummond parody set in 1920s Monte Carlo that had be completely rewritten after John Nathan Turner (production manager at that stage) figured out it would be cheaper to set it in contemporary Paris than to build the sets. Then Fisher wasn't available for the rewrites because he was going through a messy divorce, so the script editor and producer had to do it ... in three days.
If anyone other than Douglas Adams had been that script editor, it probably would have been an shambles, an acceptable script at best. But because he was a certified literary genius, after three days of black coffee and whiskey, a miracle had been performed.
Why is it so good? Why is it, in fact, my favourite of all Doctor Who stories in any era or medium? I think you do have to start with that script: that preposterous plot and that extraordinary dialogue. For all that Fisher and Williams have had their contributions underestimated, its Adams that puts the magic in. I don't think it's an accident that he did his best work on the series (and arguably some of his best work ever, full stop) when he had to make the deadline because Graham Williams wouldn't let him leave or sleep until there was something to shoot.
But the magic didn't stop with Adams - it wouldn't have come off so well if director Michael Hayes hadn't known his stuff, or if John Nathan Turner hadn't worked out that the could film in Paris in the first place. The guest stars are uniformly perfect in their roles, and Julian Glover gives us one of the great one-shot villains. Better still is Duggan, showing us that a show with Lalla Ward as the alien space traveller followed around by a dim male sidekick would have worked just as well. People tend to underestimate Tom Baker's performance simply because he's insisted on keeping it up for decades, but none of this would work half as well with anyone else in the role.
What it boils down to is that this story of all stories is just brimming with such cleverness, wit and joy at being Doctor Who. Even the padding is filled with joie de vivre - who's in a rush to get back to the plot when we could be watching the Doctor and Romana run around Paris holding hands? And ah, those lines, those lines.
"What a wonderful butler, he's so violent!"
Day 01 - Your Favourite Quote
Day 02 – Your Favourite Classic Series Episode
Day 03 – Your Favourite New Series Episode
Day 04 – Your Favourite Doctor
Day 05 – Your Favourite Companion
Day 06 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 07 – Your Favourite Piece of Music
Day 08 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Happy
Day 09 – A Who-Related Photo That Makes You Angry/Sad
Day 10 – A Who-Related Photo That You Took
Day 11 – Your Favourite Season (Classic or New)
Day 12 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 13 – Your Favourite Villain
Day 14 – The Villain Who Scared You the Most
Day 15 – Favourite Who-Related Tumblr
Day 16 – Your Favourite Who-Related FanFic
Day 17 – A Piece of Who-Related FanArt
Day 18 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 19 – The Scene That Made Your Cry the Most
Day 20 – The Character Who Is Most Like You
Day 21 – Your Doctor Who OTP
Day 22 – A Who-Related Fan-Site
Day 23 – A Who-Related YouTube Video
Day 24 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Day 25 – Favorite Who Actor
Day 26 – Favorite Who Actress
Day 27 – An Episode You Wish Hadn’t Been Made
Day 28 – An Episode Idea You Created Yourself
Day 29 – Who You Think Should Be the Next Doctor
Day 30 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy