i dont think the writers of this show are intelligent enough, or even paying enough attention to realize that sort of thing. I hope you don't mind me debating this, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on that.
Each TW episode is 40 minutes long. They have to stuff in the plot, the "alien of the week", the characters and even then there are fans complaining that "so-and-so didn't get enough screentime, f*** you, RTD".
I agree with Saria that they attempted to do that with "Random Shoes", trying to see TW from the perspective of an outsider, but that didn't go very well. "Random Shoes" is one of the least liked TW episodes, many fans claiming that it was boring. It probably didn't help that it was Gwen-centric (I must admit I was one of those fans at first; now I find it provides interesting insight to how TW sees the "ignorant masses". They are quite callous and dismissive of the people they protect. We're just the silly people getting into trouble with aliens and dumb enough to not notice what is staring at us right in the face. TW and DW go on quite a lot that we humans aren't quite perceptive about a lot of things.)
I digress, but the point is, BBC also has to make money. And since ratings and reviews have shown that the viewers prefer action or Janto heavy episodes, the "Random Shoes" type episodes take less precedence. It shows how we viewers think, I guess and... well, I suppose we're not much for the POV of the normal populace.
TW is also a show that a lot of people watch for escapism. I've read many complaints about COE saying that it was "too realistic" (to be honest, I'm one of them; I like my TW weirdness, snark, crack and sex, thanks). I mean, we all watch TW (I'm assuming this, never mind that it makes me an ass) wishing we were part of it, that we got to shag Jack/Ianto/Owen/Tosh/Gwen/Janet/Myfanwy, that we got to drive around Cardiff in an SUV while waving guns. Who wants to watch a show about a woman lamenting that her husband got killed by a Weevil. About a family trying to rebuild their lives after the Cardiff bombings? We get enough about this in the news every day, we don't want to see this in our TV show too. We want to be heroes.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Sorry for this long post and sorry if I come across as condescending/patronising/heavy-handed. Feel free to flame/argue/debate further on this topic with me. :)
PS: I've read somewhere that after Abaddon was destroyed, the people came back to life (silly if you ask me, but that would explain TW's apathy regarding the matter).
PPS: I think BBC made a mistake by making COE very political. I personally don't think that DW handles that subject well, and as we can see in Season 5 (post COE) everything's hunky dory (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm more of TW fan than a DW fan, so I don't pay as much attention to DW). I'm hoping that S4 of TW will deal with the ramifications to the events in COE but... we'll see.
Whoops, rambled off again, sorry! And if you've read all of this, thanks. :)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-11-16 06:45 pm (UTC)I hope you don't mind me debating this, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on that.
Each TW episode is 40 minutes long. They have to stuff in the plot, the "alien of the week", the characters and even then there are fans complaining that "so-and-so didn't get enough screentime, f*** you, RTD".
I agree with Saria that they attempted to do that with "Random Shoes", trying to see TW from the perspective of an outsider, but that didn't go very well. "Random Shoes" is one of the least liked TW episodes, many fans claiming that it was boring. It probably didn't help that it was Gwen-centric (I must admit I was one of those fans at first; now I find it provides interesting insight to how TW sees the "ignorant masses". They are quite callous and dismissive of the people they protect. We're just the silly people getting into trouble with aliens and dumb enough to not notice what is staring at us right in the face. TW and DW go on quite a lot that we humans aren't quite perceptive about a lot of things.)
I digress, but the point is, BBC also has to make money. And since ratings and reviews have shown that the viewers prefer action or Janto heavy episodes, the "Random Shoes" type episodes take less precedence. It shows how we viewers think, I guess and... well, I suppose we're not much for the POV of the normal populace.
TW is also a show that a lot of people watch for escapism. I've read many complaints about COE saying that it was "too realistic" (to be honest, I'm one of them; I like my TW weirdness, snark, crack and sex, thanks). I mean, we all watch TW (I'm assuming this, never mind that it makes me an ass) wishing we were part of it, that we got to shag Jack/Ianto/Owen/Tosh/Gwen/Janet/Myfanwy, that we got to drive around Cardiff in an SUV while waving guns. Who wants to watch a show about a woman lamenting that her husband got killed by a Weevil. About a family trying to rebuild their lives after the Cardiff bombings? We get enough about this in the news every day, we don't want to see this in our TV show too. We want to be heroes.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Sorry for this long post and sorry if I come across as condescending/patronising/heavy-handed. Feel free to flame/argue/debate further on this topic with me. :)
PS: I've read somewhere that after Abaddon was destroyed, the people came back to life (silly if you ask me, but that would explain TW's apathy regarding the matter).
PPS: I think BBC made a mistake by making COE very political. I personally don't think that DW handles that subject well, and as we can see in Season 5 (post COE) everything's hunky dory (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm more of TW fan than a DW fan, so I don't pay as much attention to DW). I'm hoping that S4 of TW will deal with the ramifications to the events in COE but... we'll see.
Whoops, rambled off again, sorry!
And if you've read all of this, thanks. :)