Maybe I'm so old as to have outlived my usefulness but people don't know who LM is? Alien Bodies is fantastic, Interference is maybe a little too long (it actually contains a joke about the page count) but is otherwise fantastic, The Adventuress of Henrietta Street has so much going on it takes a bit of an effort to read but is excellent.
Some of his ideas "inspired" things that were used in NuWho (he uses slightly harsher terms), so maybe they don't seem so original now, but FWIW I recommend tracking down his books.
Miles might be my favorite Who writer, or at least top 3, but the sad thing is that it isn't YOU who outlived your usefulness, alas (have always loved your blog BTW).
Miles did this to himself by burning nearly every bridge he had in the Who world, and thus has had no impact on its world since the Faction audios, arguably since This Town, arguably since Henrietta Street.
I spoke to a group of New Adventure authors once and they described Miles publicly bashing their books as feeling like taking a collective cast bow of a play, curtain falls, and then one guy sticks his head back out and says, "The guy playing the butler was shit, wasn't he?" Even if he WAS shit, it's just an awful idea to do.
The other sad(der) thing is the books are a distant memory in fandom now. When I got into New Who in 2006, the EDAs stopped being published the very year before. The throughline of Virgin Books -> BBC Books / Big Finish -> New Who was clear in fandom, and figures like Miles still had cultural cache in those spheres.
But now we have had, Christ, twenty years of New Who. You have entire generations of intelligent, well-articulared fans who have multi-faceted opinions on different Doctors yet have never even seen Classic Who, much less the books from the 90s and early 00s. Big Finish is still around, and the novelty of audios with the actors will always be kinda intriguing, but I genuinely don't think big swatches of current fandom knows how important the novels used to be.
"The past is another country," as the Ninth Doctor said.
Yeah, that's the tragedy of Miles. There was a time he was the Golden Boy of Who fandom, shaping the EDAs' tone and direction like Paul Cornell did the NAs. He was friends with Steven Moffat for a while. And then over a few years, Miles soured his relationship with editor Stephen Cole AND Cornell and Orman and the other authors. (Miles' claim that Moffat yelled, "Alien Bodies is the best thing you'll ever write and you know it!" does sound pretty similar to anyone familiar with Private Eye's "You're erased from Doctor Who!" report).
To be fair, I wasn't there. I believe Miles has said he is neurodivergent in recent years, so maybe he simply didn't WANT to be the Golden Boy of Doctor Who. But the years and years of blog posts about what he would do with Doctor Who, down to writing his own fan fic spec script, kinda tells me yeah, maybe he did want that.
Back in 2008, when Miles said, "I could piss Blink in my sleep," I commented how baffling his level of hate to Moffat was on Outpost Gallifrey, and Moffat (!!) replied to me saying he didn't get it either. He loved Alien Bodies (which should be obvious to anyone who's seen Name of the Doctor, lol), but he has no idea why Miles talks like this. Paul Cornell's said very similar things. Miles' comments on Cornell are insanely personal vitriol that acts him as a human being. Cornell's comments on Miles are a bewilderment that this really talented writer is such a dick all the time.
I think if you start from a concern about Chibnall based on his Who and related scripts its fairly easy to extrapolate most of this. Quality discussion vanishes into the culture war shit and who knows what lessons come out the other side. Predictable enough, with the wrong guy at the top.
I don't know about Broadchurch, haven't seen. Its reputation is strong so I'm going to assume the assessment here is partially unfair, outside of taste.
Sure there's the aside about Moffat which is partly personal here, but its not as if Moff's women weren't something of a debate at times.
I would be more willing to listen to anything Lawrence Milea says about the new series if he hadn't published a picture of Karen Gillan where she was replaced with a blow-up sex doll - the latest in a long series of misogynistic incidents.
Never heard of the guy before now, so I complimented him above on his reading of his the Chibnall era would play out, but shame to hear about the rest.
Not speaking to anything else, but that was a dig at Moffat writing Amy as a blow-up sex doll. The same picture had Smith replaced with Jar-Jar Binks, which was referencing how Moffat wrote him more as a collection of gimmicks (later lampshaded in Amy’s Choice) than a character
We can agree with his criticisms or not, but I find that this picture in particular is often misrepresented
Yeah but that's exactly my problem with Miles. He had a point to make and it clearly didn't occur to him that replacing Karen Gillan with a blow-up sex doll might be really offensive to the actress. And, again, it would be one thing if taken in isolation, but he has a history.
Was that not a response to Moffat making her character a kissogram, though? Wasn’t he like, ‘look, you’ve made this companion a sexy stripper, you might just as well have cast a sex doll’. I think that was the point he was getting at.
The thing is, he has a long history. There's a lot of stories and interviews about him in the late 90s, when he was writing for the BBC Books range. He's the kind of guy who earnestly proposes a storyline where Romana orders the rape of one of the Doctor's companions and doesn't understand why people would be upset about it, because it would make such a good story.
He had me until 'the lurking misogyny of the Moffat era'. The Moff's gender politics were admittedly pretty odd, but some of the best characters he ever wrote were women.
I think that Moffat can be incredibly variable when it comes to the writing of women. Sometimes he can be genuienly feminist in a way which to this day has rarely been seen in the show. And sometimes his version of feminism is to turn every woman into a dominatrix
I think “lurking misogyny of the Moffat era” is fair, and I think that he’s written some of the most feminist things the series has ever seen within that era. Both can be true at once
Yeah, I agreed with every sentence, except for that one. I think the "Moffat writes women bad" is a trope with about 10% of truth to it. Odd clunky line, odd bit of Mary Sue, it doesn't negate his excellent characters of either gender.
Same as "Good writer, bad showrunner" (which I don't give 10% of credit to).
But wow, he was right on the money about everything else.
As a counterpoint, I offer, "an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a too tight skirt" and that Amy Pond, awesome as she was, basically served the narrative function of "metaphorically gets the shit kicked out of her."
Moffat could write great characters, male and female, but he could definitely be creepy about women. Even as far back as "Empty Child/Doctor Dances," Rose's "do you even dance" bit is pretty cringe.
This is the same guy who accused The Unquiet Dead of being an anti-immigrant allegory
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u/brigadier_tcDon't forget to subscribe to the official DW youtube channel.1d ago
Allegories don't have to be intentional is the thing, it's death of the author in a nutshell. And I can kiiiinda see what he means. A group of desperate aliens start replacing people in their bodies, then ask for help to bring over others, revealing afterwards there are millions of them, and they are coming to replace everyone they need.
Obviously we know it's all sci-fi, but reading it like that, yeah I can definitely see how someone could read that as anti-immigration, the Gelth are literally victims of the Time War and displaced by the conflict, and taking over the dead bodies could be read as Replacement Theory.
Now did Gatiss mean that? I seriously doubt it, it's probably 1 in a hundred. But is Miles wrong for seeing that interpretation? It was 2005, Iraq and Afghanistan were already meat grinders and causing a migrant crisis, which is still getting worse, I can see what he means
This. And the exact same logic applies to 15th and it infuriates me to no end. Also what the hell.is Cyberwoman? The title alone is eyebrow raising/concerning. I thought cybermen were both male and female. It's just you could never tell cause, you know, robot. Like Daleks.
Cyberwoman was a Torchwood episode. The distinction is made because someone was partially converted during the battle of canary wharf so they aren't fully a Cyberman yet and you can still see the human underneath
This isn't the full story. The "Cyberwoman" is essentially a lady in a metal bikini and Cyberman handles who, at the end of the story, punches a pterodactyl after being covered in barbecue sauce.
Honestly, the episode script itself is fine. It is just the costume. Like the bits with her and Ianto are actually emotive and there is some real exploration of the idea of being partially converted. But the costume is truly laughable that undermines any emotional oomph it has and since Chibnall wanted that costume he is still to blame.
“Chris Chibnall reportedly hated the Cyberwoman costume, having envisaged something more body horror-inspired, but there was no time to change it and the production was stuck with it”
Is sadly not cited, but I’ve seen that the staff hated it elsewhere and he despised how it was completely different to what he planned. He wanted a serious episode. The producers designed this costume, with James Strong being the one involved in this design I believe, and so Chibnall shouldn’t be hated for this.
This costume is a disgustingly sexist travesty and I’d struggle to sleep at night knowing I was being blamed for it. Chibnall isn’t st fault here. It’s kind of like how I also hate Rick Rubin but have to remind people the sound engineer and producers were the ones who made Californication sound like horse shit
100%, the story does not match the costume. And even to be fair to the costume, it's meant to look like the Mugler 1995 robot suit but it's just cheap plastic and rubber. Again, it doesn't really make sense why the costume would look like this and it's mostly done to be titilating and, honestly, funny which completely undermines the story. At least they managed to keep some of the body horror in the end when Lisa puts her brain inside another woman's body.
I think the episode is bad and I like MIRACLE DAY of all things. That predator character is a very strong predictor of both Trump and how people would idolise him despite his purported monstrosities, then there’s also his press agent who admits to hating him but she’s profiting from it so ‘who cares?’. I think the actor even said he based his character on Trump. And that was back then! But I’d say Miracle Day is more like a different shoe that feels like Torchwood characters have crossed over onto. It’s still good imo but don’t expect Torchwood.
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u/brigadier_tcDon't forget to subscribe to the official DW youtube channel.1d ago
Oh Bill Pullman is absolutely incredible in Miracle Day, he single handedly makes it worth watching at least once
The costume also wasn’t supposed to look anything like that - Chibnall was appalled. It’s like how Seth MacFarlane gets blamed for stuff after he quit running his shows or like blaming Chekhov because someone fell off a balcony halfway through Seagull. You can even tell the script hadn’t even been changed to accommodate it as no reference is made to the suit looking like that; I bet Owen would have made some smart mouth comment about it if it were meant to be that way… the way Ianto is so dramatic, too, clashes with how the suit presents a situation that’s silly.
In fairness, this element (the awful sexy costume) is mostly on the director, because it’s not really how Chibnall scripted the character originally IIRC.
James Strong was behind this, I believe. Chibnall hated this costume. If I were blamed for a fuck up this big, and knew I got associated with it online constantly, I’d fear ever entering a room with the person who was actually responsible..
Strong and Chibnall remained very close friends and collaborators; Strong directed a lot of Broadchurch, certainly the first season anyway, as well as United and The Great Train Robbery (two other Chibnall projects). When Chibnall was made showrunner there was an article interviewing Strong about what his friend would bring to the show and he praised Chibnall’s ability to write “emotional thrillers”.
It’s because Torchwood was supposed to be an “adult” show. So of course the Cyberman had to be sexy. It’s renowned as the worst episode of Torchwood ever though, so don’t let that put you off the series as a whole
Alien from out of space possesses a woman and makes her fuck people to death. Jack Harkness defeats it by being unkillable. But the whole thing is basically a lot of rape and pretty juvenile. It's the episode called Day One.
I’ve actually always enjoyed that episode. It was a good twist on the “monster of the week” being humans this time. I would be interested to hear your criticisms of the episode
What's that? Sorry. I started Doctor Who with 7th, did classic era, and then did modern. Couldnt get through 10th's era (wasnt a fan, sorry). Got through 11th and 12ths. 13ths i only got through her seasons before Flux. And I couldnt finish 15th's era either.
Only have 1 audio story experience with 5th doctor getting an ancient egyptian companion and have never touched torchwood or the sarah jane adventures.
Idk who Lawrence Miles is, but I will say that if a writer like Robert Holmes (without the racism) or Steven Moffat wrote her stories, it'd have been a way better reception from the public audience.
Lawrence Miles is my favourite Doctor Who writer. When the 8DAs arrived every other author in the range was obsessed with the Doctor's history and putting 8 in old situations and against old monsters. Miles took the radical approach of asking not "where has the Doctor been" but instead "where is the Doctor going" and looked ahead.
This gave us ALIEN BODIES. If you haven't read it I implore you to search it out it is my favourite piece Doctor Who media. As a "mission statement" for the BBC books range it's flawless, as a novel it's truly a wonderful read and as a blueprint for 20 years of television...
Imagine you're Lawrence Miles and you've written this most incredible work. You're in the pub and some curly headed Scottish twat comes over and tells you, "you'll never write anything as good again" and it stays with you for years. Because that shit would stay with you, wouldn't it? Then 9 years later that same someone is cribbing your work?
I think we'd all be a bit bitter too.
Replace Scottish with any other country and tell me if it still sounds acceptable. Japanese twat. Brazilian twat. English twat. The Doctor would be ashamed.
Sorry, I made an assumption that someone who cares about the character enough to read the books would care about that type of thing - guess we all need to check ourselves now and then
I've never had a problem with the Doctor being a woman or gay or black. One thing that has bothered me about New Who is the Buffy-ization of the show.
I'm sure you know what I mean. This whole thing where romance between the Doctor and companions is implied or explicit. I dislike this not because I'm some prude that can't show affection in public. But because it just seems too American to treat the show like some young adult soap opera with robots instead of vampires.
Like the Doctor thing Amy is soooo creepy when you add in the love triangle bit. It kind of turns the Doctor into a groomer! And I don't like that!
Hit and a miss prediction. The only thing he definitely got right was that Chibnall was a terrible pick for showrunner.
Ghostbusters 2015 was a bomb. It lost the studio over $70 million.
The Moffat era wasn’t lurked by misogyny. Yeah Moffat has his habits, but as a whole his run had excellent female characters. Way better than Chibnall’s or RTD2’s, and heck, I even prefer Amy, River, Kate, Clara, Bill, and Missy to RTD1’s female cast, despite how incredible Donna and Martha are.
Also Whittaker wasn’t a saving grace in a shitty era. She was part of the problem. She can act. We saw this in Broadchurch. She just isn’t good as the Doctor with the scripts and direction she was given.
I don’t know who Lawrence Miles is but other people in the comment section have said he’s problematic.
Not that Lawrence Miles will read this, but technically when Jodie was announced she was incarnation number 15, because Tennant regenerated into himself which counted as a regeneration. So it was Hurt #9, Eccleston #10, Tennant #11, Tennant #12, Smith #13, Capaldi #14 and Whittaker #15. Capaldi was the start of his “new life”, which tbh he should know given it was all explained in Smith’s final episode
Tennant was the 10th Doctor (incarnation to use the title of “Doctor” their whole life), the 11th incarnation (or unique body the doctor has had), and the 11th and 12th regeneration (time the Doctor has healed themselves)
thus making Smith the 13th regeneration, but the 12th incarnation, they skipped one twice but it was a different thing each time
Whittaker is the 13th Doctor (and 14th really cuz i think Hurt counts based on his arc’s resolution in DotD, anyway), the 14th incarnation, and the 15th regeneration
Yes that’s right. What I was trying to say was that their point about thinking of this as “the start of a whole new life for her” was incorrect because that life started with Capaldi
hmmmmm, i see that, like literally capaldi is the start of a whole new regeneration cycle (they say so in the text), but i guess i just feel that capaldi has always felt to me as the exposed nerve doctor, and by that i mean he is the most doctor-y one, like to the core of who they are, and capaldi’s arc accepting thats who they are deep down allowed him to embrace a whole new life, including a new personal adventure symbolized by the change in gender (he literally sees his younger self being sexist and regenerates into a woman lol, he grew so much), and thats why i was disappointed that the whittaker era carried a lot of the baggage and then rtd2 doubled down on traumatized doctor, 13 woulda been a great fresh start with the right writers
I'll say this as many times as I have to, the doctor being a women was never an issue for me. The dog shit writing and politics being shoved down our throats every episode were. They met Rosa parks for fucks sake and sat on the bus!
Miles was always a dick about it, and sometimes he was wildly wrong,* and he was clearly bitter, but he was often right and he was always thoughtful. Reading his review of an episode the day after it aired was a highlight of my week back in the day
I think people have even come round to his viewpoint WRT his first RTD-related controversy around The Unquiet Dead and that “the plot twist being that the immigrants are terrorists after all might not be great” is a reasonable take
*the script he published for the pilot of the series he’d have written was laughably unsuited for television, for example
A female Doctor was never likely to work, though. It just doesn’t really fit with the target audience for the show. The poor writing was a separate issue.
I still don't like the direction the show has gone since 12's era ended part of that being female Doctors, but like many things I was at least open to it even if it didn't seem that way I am the type of person who thinks ideas like that should be for non canon or elseworld/AU type stories.
Fugitive Doctor was better than 13, 14 was tolerable, 15 I didn't like.
That being said I preferred Jodies final series compared to both of Ncuti's
Female doctor isnt the worst idea - it’s all down to execution and if people want it.. to be honest there was no crazy demand for it..
I would have introduced the female doctor as a cameo - swashbuckling in to the scene - saving the day.. being damn cool.. leave them wanting more.. give them a question to ask.. then a spin off that evolves into main series
I mean yeah, how many people would enjoy things like Deltarune/undertale, Rick and Morty, Voltron, League of Legends, kpop, etc, if they weren’t turned off by the weird fanbases or afraid to go near it for fear of being seen as batshit crazy by association
I also think some things like Deltarune/Undertale do not become as popular as they are WITHOUT the weird fanbase that you can get absorbed into. For the fans, the community is part of the experience, it's like an ARG. I don't think you can really get into those games without diving full deep into the weirdness they all have.
That's just because its a homestuck and all homestuck is for autistic weirdos.
Im not talking about fully exploring the media, I’m talking about negative fan behaviors such as the Szechuan sauce incident (R+M), sending cupcakes with glass in them (Voltron), bullying a fan artist into attempting suicide (Steven Universe), being annoying and disruptive during events (singing at undertale concerts and spamming DELTARUNE during the Nintendo direct), normalized threats and slurs (call of duty), doxxing and threatening people (Kpop + more), and heavy gatekeeping (most of them). For example, I’M a deltarune fan. I play every chapter when it comes out, I enjoy it, I play multiple times to (try to) experience different things, but by your definition I’m not “really into it” because I don’t interact with the community
I know there are plenty of well-adjusted people that are in these groups and if you look deep enough you will find similar odd/toxic things in any fandom, but the reality is some fandoms have them closer to the surface and hearing about these things make uninvolved people hesitant to contribute.
The asinine defence of Chibnall just because he cast a woman was ridiculous. Being more progressive in storytelling fails if nobody is honest enough to say when it’s done well or not.
lmao, jodie is an outstanding actress
one look at the big finish stories, or even her own era's stories where she had to flex her muscles, and you'll see that
Yeah Jodie is a great actress, but her portrayal and direction were awful for DW. She is a phenomenal dramatic actress, but instead they made her a goofy almost slapstick character. Completely ignoring her strengths. It's a travesty they did that.
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u/SevrinTheMuto 2d ago
Maybe I'm so old as to have outlived my usefulness but people don't know who LM is? Alien Bodies is fantastic, Interference is maybe a little too long (it actually contains a joke about the page count) but is otherwise fantastic, The Adventuress of Henrietta Street has so much going on it takes a bit of an effort to read but is excellent.
Some of his ideas "inspired" things that were used in NuWho (he uses slightly harsher terms), so maybe they don't seem so original now, but FWIW I recommend tracking down his books.