I wrote a superb, detailed and informative answer to this. The internetz ate it. *sigh*
Short version: the problem isn't special effects per se, we've always had that. The problem is the fractured audience, as we have so many channels and ways to view, that there is no longer enough resources in television making to support detailed and narrative driven serial drama that works with character development as essential to the narrative development. You need a Straczynski or a Whedon, and RTD is neither.
The new bloke may pull it off, as the audiences are now so big the BBC might take the risk. But that takes us to Children of Earth, and I'll throw up if I have to discuss that.
The longer version I wrote made more sense. But I can show you a hundred Early Cinema films that are as bad as today's High Concept stuff... it's a matter of taste if you prefer spectacle over narrative and character, and spectacle is winning in cinema at the moment.
It's the resources for serials on tv, that drives using spectacle to plug holes in tv drama - and that's audience/resources led, not spectacle.
One can only hope new guy takes the audience figures, and puts proper narrative sequence back into Who. I too, yearn for it. I'm quite happy with whoring it for spectacle.. we've discussed this before. But I really enjoy the Good Stuff, and it's sorely missed...
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-12-26 04:03 pm (UTC)Short version: the problem isn't special effects per se, we've always had that. The problem is the fractured audience, as we have so many channels and ways to view, that there is no longer enough resources in television making to support detailed and narrative driven serial drama that works with character development as essential to the narrative development. You need a Straczynski or a Whedon, and RTD is neither.
The new bloke may pull it off, as the audiences are now so big the BBC might take the risk. But that takes us to Children of Earth, and I'll throw up if I have to discuss that.
The longer version I wrote made more sense. But I can show you a hundred Early Cinema films that are as bad as today's High Concept stuff... it's a matter of taste if you prefer spectacle over narrative and character, and spectacle is winning in cinema at the moment.
It's the resources for serials on tv, that drives using spectacle to plug holes in tv drama - and that's audience/resources led, not spectacle.
One can only hope new guy takes the audience figures, and puts proper narrative sequence back into Who. I too, yearn for it. I'm quite happy with whoring it for spectacle.. we've discussed this before. But I really enjoy the Good Stuff, and it's sorely missed...