Two observations about Doctor Who and Torchwood and their showrunners

[twice_immigrant]

Just re-watching some old episodes here, including one of my favourites, Turn Left. And two things struck me, about Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat. Now, I know that there are fervent camps on either side of the divide, but I'll admit, I'm agnostic about the whole thing. I think they each have their strengths and their weaknesses. There are

Comments

[heldc]

I think most people find it far easier to imagine that one would do something terrible to someone else for the greater good than to believe an individual would willingly agree to have something terrible inflicted upon themselves for the greater good. I suspect this may be especially true for reasonably well off, white, cis, otherwise privileged men, who for all they may claim to know nothing of privilege, in my experience have a pretty good "innate" sense of "My well being and wants and needs will be met at others' cost rather than my own cost".

[rikibeth]

I said exactly the same thing about grandson Steven when that aired. I was sorta frothing at the mouth about it. Because it would have been TRIVIALLY EASY for Jack to convince Steven to "volunteer" to be a hero.

And then the pain would have hit.

And he'd have been crying and screaming that he didn't mean it, he took it back, and begging for his mother.

Rather like a WWI doughboy when the mustard gas hit.

And it would have been amazingly blubworthy and affecting and hit like a punch to the gut, and I still would have been angry at Jack, but not angry over the SAME THING, and I would have liked the whole thing a lot better, instead of being in a "Story: UR DOIN IT RONG" rage for a week after.

Same thing applies to Donna although I don't have as clear a rewrite in my head.