I'm writing a Doctor Who short story for a Big Finish competition. Big Finish is the company that produces most of the Doctor Who audio dramas, and also a series of short stories. Haing read a fair few of the short stories and liking them a lot, and with little to fill the Who-shaped whole that last year's lack of a proper series has left me with, I've found myself getting into the audio dramas.
They're mostly great, but that's unsurprising. They don't have the cautions and restrictions of a special effects budget there to stop the story from being as ambitious as they want it to be like the classic TV series, they're not producing episodes for the whole country and thus having to make sure the lowest common denomenator is always kept in mind like the new TV series, and they have a plethora of lifelong Doctor Who fans who happen to have become superb sci fi and fantasy writers at the helm, all of whom are given mostly free reign over what they write and how far they play with the formula. So its easy to understand why the stories are so good.
They've also provided an invaluable way to do greater justice to the ill-treated Eighth Doctor, having only one TV appearance (he should have been invited to do that short Children In Need special instead of Peter Davison) despite his energy and ability but instead due to low ratings in the US for said story's airing. The Big Finish Audios have given him plenty of stories and even the opportunity to spar with a great companion in Sheridan Smith's (the blonde from 2 Pints of Lager) Lucie Miller (gone now sadly).
So having become an even bigger Doctor Who geek this way (there are whole spinoff series set on Gallifrey but I wont go into that) I have begun trying to get myself into this environment. Steven Moffat's Who career began, as I understand, with a short story. Now he's in charge of Doctor Who! He gets to decide who the Doctor is, what he does and what villains he bumps into. Imagine having that job. The first opportunity I went for was the chance to write one of four 25 minute audio plays featuring the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and Nyssa. Although this is my least favourite Doctor and companion, I went for it and wrote a story where the two of them are effectively out of space Lenny Henrys, turning up on a devastated planet and appealing to its government to allow aid workers to land. Big Finish reported that around 1,200 people entered this, which put my likelihood of getting the job close to slipping in the shower on an airplane while putting my socks on. But they're still reading them as I type this so I haven't given up hope yet.
The next one was, to my delight, a short story competition (though to be released as an audiobook rather than a hardback), this time allowing me to write for any of the first eight Doctors (their liscence doesn't cover the new series) and any companion. Instinct led me to assume I'd either automatically opt for Tom Baker's Doctor, or spend ages mulling over who I should write for instead. To my surprise, however, I found myself immediately picking the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, and Peri. For those who don't know the Sixth Doctor is largely considered fandom's least favourite. I myself am not a fan of his 'era', but, while writing dialogue for him and enjoying doing so a great deal, I realised that it can't really be the Doctor himself people don't like.
On paper, Colin Baker has everything a successful Doctor needs. He can act, to get that issue out of the way, he has a commanding presence; whatever's going on in the scene, its always him you're drawn to (and not just because of his ridiculous clown coat) and he's got a big alien-looking face that's capable of displaying a thousand emotions. Add to that his curly hair and surname and there's very little about him that's different to everyone's favourite Doctor (pre Tennant anyway), Tom Baker.
So why is he often so neglected in polls? Simple. Everything else about Doctor Who was shoddy at that time and, as previous showrunner Russel T Davies has said, actors are the front line. When you see any film that you find dreadful, you always remember it as 'that shitty film with so-and-so in it.' Its not Colin Baker's fault that the props, writing and supporting cast were at their weakest, and its not Colin Baker's fault that the producer at the time insisted on dressing him in a horrendous multi-coloured clown costume when, as one of the darkest Doctors thus far, he should have been wearing something subtle and sinister (I've seen fanmade mockups of him in a black suit and he looks superb). Put Colin in the 'golden age' of the mid seventies instead of Tom and he might today be regarded as the best Doctor ever.
Which brings me back to Big Finish audios. Despite his misguided reputation and his abrupt sacking from Doctor Who by Michael Grade, Colin has had good grace enough to lend his services to Big Finish as the Doctor for many audio plays. Listen to him, if you're partial to a bit of Doctor Who and not too worried about not having anything to look at while the story is taking place. He's been in many brilliant audios but at gunpoint I'd recommend Jubilee or Medicinal Purposes (the latter of which also features David Tennant as a madman, before he received the part of the Doctor himself). Listen to one, close your eyes and imagine Colin Baker away from bad actors, papier mache walls, tin foil hats and a stupid costume, and just allowing himself to be the Doctor as best as anyone ever could, acting out a proper script that every Doctor Who story should have. Because let's be honest, there are thousands of people itching to be able to write for Doctor Who (myself very much included), and now the TV programme has the budget to do almost any script justice, so there's no excuse why it shouldn't be top notch all the time.
They're mostly great, but that's unsurprising. They don't have the cautions and restrictions of a special effects budget there to stop the story from being as ambitious as they want it to be like the classic TV series, they're not producing episodes for the whole country and thus having to make sure the lowest common denomenator is always kept in mind like the new TV series, and they have a plethora of lifelong Doctor Who fans who happen to have become superb sci fi and fantasy writers at the helm, all of whom are given mostly free reign over what they write and how far they play with the formula. So its easy to understand why the stories are so good.
They've also provided an invaluable way to do greater justice to the ill-treated Eighth Doctor, having only one TV appearance (he should have been invited to do that short Children In Need special instead of Peter Davison) despite his energy and ability but instead due to low ratings in the US for said story's airing. The Big Finish Audios have given him plenty of stories and even the opportunity to spar with a great companion in Sheridan Smith's (the blonde from 2 Pints of Lager) Lucie Miller (gone now sadly).
So having become an even bigger Doctor Who geek this way (there are whole spinoff series set on Gallifrey but I wont go into that) I have begun trying to get myself into this environment. Steven Moffat's Who career began, as I understand, with a short story. Now he's in charge of Doctor Who! He gets to decide who the Doctor is, what he does and what villains he bumps into. Imagine having that job. The first opportunity I went for was the chance to write one of four 25 minute audio plays featuring the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and Nyssa. Although this is my least favourite Doctor and companion, I went for it and wrote a story where the two of them are effectively out of space Lenny Henrys, turning up on a devastated planet and appealing to its government to allow aid workers to land. Big Finish reported that around 1,200 people entered this, which put my likelihood of getting the job close to slipping in the shower on an airplane while putting my socks on. But they're still reading them as I type this so I haven't given up hope yet.
The next one was, to my delight, a short story competition (though to be released as an audiobook rather than a hardback), this time allowing me to write for any of the first eight Doctors (their liscence doesn't cover the new series) and any companion. Instinct led me to assume I'd either automatically opt for Tom Baker's Doctor, or spend ages mulling over who I should write for instead. To my surprise, however, I found myself immediately picking the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, and Peri. For those who don't know the Sixth Doctor is largely considered fandom's least favourite. I myself am not a fan of his 'era', but, while writing dialogue for him and enjoying doing so a great deal, I realised that it can't really be the Doctor himself people don't like.
On paper, Colin Baker has everything a successful Doctor needs. He can act, to get that issue out of the way, he has a commanding presence; whatever's going on in the scene, its always him you're drawn to (and not just because of his ridiculous clown coat) and he's got a big alien-looking face that's capable of displaying a thousand emotions. Add to that his curly hair and surname and there's very little about him that's different to everyone's favourite Doctor (pre Tennant anyway), Tom Baker.
So why is he often so neglected in polls? Simple. Everything else about Doctor Who was shoddy at that time and, as previous showrunner Russel T Davies has said, actors are the front line. When you see any film that you find dreadful, you always remember it as 'that shitty film with so-and-so in it.' Its not Colin Baker's fault that the props, writing and supporting cast were at their weakest, and its not Colin Baker's fault that the producer at the time insisted on dressing him in a horrendous multi-coloured clown costume when, as one of the darkest Doctors thus far, he should have been wearing something subtle and sinister (I've seen fanmade mockups of him in a black suit and he looks superb). Put Colin in the 'golden age' of the mid seventies instead of Tom and he might today be regarded as the best Doctor ever.
Which brings me back to Big Finish audios. Despite his misguided reputation and his abrupt sacking from Doctor Who by Michael Grade, Colin has had good grace enough to lend his services to Big Finish as the Doctor for many audio plays. Listen to him, if you're partial to a bit of Doctor Who and not too worried about not having anything to look at while the story is taking place. He's been in many brilliant audios but at gunpoint I'd recommend Jubilee or Medicinal Purposes (the latter of which also features David Tennant as a madman, before he received the part of the Doctor himself). Listen to one, close your eyes and imagine Colin Baker away from bad actors, papier mache walls, tin foil hats and a stupid costume, and just allowing himself to be the Doctor as best as anyone ever could, acting out a proper script that every Doctor Who story should have. Because let's be honest, there are thousands of people itching to be able to write for Doctor Who (myself very much included), and now the TV programme has the budget to do almost any script justice, so there's no excuse why it shouldn't be top notch all the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment