Meanwhile, in less depressing news
Jan. 10th, 2011 04:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakQuote of the day: kathyh, when were were talking about my Yuletide story which she beta'd, shows the following deep insight into Starfleet: I suspect all Star Trek officers were issued with a little handbook Things That Jim Kirk Got Away With But You Won't and sex with crewmembers was one of the top items on the list.
You know this is true, oh fellow Trekkers. You know this is true.
From one of my oldest fandoms to one of the recent years, After Elton got more details about the new Torchwood season out of Rusty & the cast here. It warms my Children of Earthloving heart that he's still so unabashedly proud of it, our supreme Welsh evil overlord: Was there anything in particular Davies learned from Children of Earth that he's applying to the new series? "Yes," said Davies. "Partly what we got rid of in the first two years of Torchwood is the format of monster of the week. It was a great format. Lots of shows do that absolutely brilliantly. In Britain, it was always slightly in Doctor Who‘s shadow as a result. When we got the chance to do Children of Earth, it became what it is now, which is simply one continuous story with a beginning, middle, and end. This new series is 10 episodes long. But you won’t be still finding out the resolution to the story in five years’ time because that literally bi-eps of 10. It is 10 episodes. Bi-eps of 10, there is a massive, shattering climax to the whole thing. You’ll find out who lives, who dies, what it all happens, whether they can stop it or not, and that’s the end. So it’s got that sort of shape to it now." In fact, Davies feels that with COE, Torchwood grew up. "But it just — Children of Earth, it found its legs, and it’s kind of like, you know, when you get those pictures of things evolving, and you see a monkey turn into a hominid, turn into a man standing erect. The man is standing erect now just like it would erect. So it feels like we’ve stood up tall now.
Incidentally, and unsurprisingly, I'm totally with him re: the monster of the week format versus the miniseries format. (Not least because I think it plays to his strengths as a writer. If you look at the RTD miniseries, whether the old ones like The Second Coming or Casanova, or the original Queer as Folk, or more recently Children of Earth, vis a vis full seasons he helmed, you'll see what I mean.) The premise for the Torchwood goes fourth story arc, incidentally, which I saw at the Elton article for the first time, sounds really intriguing, but to avoid spoiling people who don't want to be spoiled for anything at all, I'll hide it below the cut.
To quote After Elton again: Russell opened by saying that the Torchwood: The New World had never been anything but a working title. "That was a secret title to hide the real title," said Davies "which is now beknown as Torchwood: Miracle Day. That’s what this show is about, and the premise is a miracle that happens to the world. It’s as simple as this, that one day on Earth no one dies. Not a single person on Earth dies. The next day no one dies. The next day no one dies and on and on and on. Now, the sixth day, the old stay old and keep getting older. The dying keep dying, but no one quite dies. The possibility of death ceases to exist. Great news for some people, but globally — and that’s what the whole show is about. Actually, it’s an instant overnight population boom where, suddenly, the Earth relies on people dying. That’s how the whole system works: the food, the room, the temperature. So, suddenly, you’ve got a crisis affecting everyone on the planet, and that’s where the Torchwood team and our brand-new characters come in."
First thoughts: that's twisted, that is, in just the right way, and naturally ties into such honed Rusty themes as immortality being a bitch. There is a a Greek myth about the goddess of dawn and her lover, who made the mistake of wishing himself immortality to he could be with her forever, but he forgot to wish himself eternal youth as well. So he didn't die, but he kept aging and physically declining. I suspect the new immortality on Earth will be like that, not like Jack's brand, which could make for gruesome imagery, but even if it's not, taking what at first sounds like utopia - nobody ever dies - and turning it into a nightmare sounds like tasty story telling. Not to mention that someone will have to bring back mortality, and given the normal misery that comes with that one, who'd want that on their conscience? The next time you lose someone to death, you'd have to think: I could have prevented that. It really was my/our decision. Speculation: it won't be Jack this time, it will be Gwen, because this is about the twistiest thing you can do to her, which would make it an ideal choice. Okay then. Bring on season 4.
Meta about Caprica byabigail_n, which sums up the flaws and strengths of the aborted spin-off perfectly.
kathyh, when were were talking about my Yuletide story which she beta'd, shows the following deep insight into Starfleet: I suspect all Star Trek officers were issued with a little handbook Things That Jim Kirk Got Away With But You Won't and sex with crewmembers was one of the top items on the list.You know this is true, oh fellow Trekkers. You know this is true.
From one of my oldest fandoms to one of the recent years, After Elton got more details about the new Torchwood season out of Rusty & the cast here. It warms my Children of Earthloving heart that he's still so unabashedly proud of it, our supreme Welsh evil overlord: Was there anything in particular Davies learned from Children of Earth that he's applying to the new series? "Yes," said Davies. "Partly what we got rid of in the first two years of Torchwood is the format of monster of the week. It was a great format. Lots of shows do that absolutely brilliantly. In Britain, it was always slightly in Doctor Who‘s shadow as a result. When we got the chance to do Children of Earth, it became what it is now, which is simply one continuous story with a beginning, middle, and end. This new series is 10 episodes long. But you won’t be still finding out the resolution to the story in five years’ time because that literally bi-eps of 10. It is 10 episodes. Bi-eps of 10, there is a massive, shattering climax to the whole thing. You’ll find out who lives, who dies, what it all happens, whether they can stop it or not, and that’s the end. So it’s got that sort of shape to it now." In fact, Davies feels that with COE, Torchwood grew up. "But it just — Children of Earth, it found its legs, and it’s kind of like, you know, when you get those pictures of things evolving, and you see a monkey turn into a hominid, turn into a man standing erect. The man is standing erect now just like it would erect. So it feels like we’ve stood up tall now.
Incidentally, and unsurprisingly, I'm totally with him re: the monster of the week format versus the miniseries format. (Not least because I think it plays to his strengths as a writer. If you look at the RTD miniseries, whether the old ones like The Second Coming or Casanova, or the original Queer as Folk, or more recently Children of Earth, vis a vis full seasons he helmed, you'll see what I mean.) The premise for the Torchwood goes fourth story arc, incidentally, which I saw at the Elton article for the first time, sounds really intriguing, but to avoid spoiling people who don't want to be spoiled for anything at all, I'll hide it below the cut.
To quote After Elton again: Russell opened by saying that the Torchwood: The New World had never been anything but a working title. "That was a secret title to hide the real title," said Davies "which is now beknown as Torchwood: Miracle Day. That’s what this show is about, and the premise is a miracle that happens to the world. It’s as simple as this, that one day on Earth no one dies. Not a single person on Earth dies. The next day no one dies. The next day no one dies and on and on and on. Now, the sixth day, the old stay old and keep getting older. The dying keep dying, but no one quite dies. The possibility of death ceases to exist. Great news for some people, but globally — and that’s what the whole show is about. Actually, it’s an instant overnight population boom where, suddenly, the Earth relies on people dying. That’s how the whole system works: the food, the room, the temperature. So, suddenly, you’ve got a crisis affecting everyone on the planet, and that’s where the Torchwood team and our brand-new characters come in."
First thoughts: that's twisted, that is, in just the right way, and naturally ties into such honed Rusty themes as immortality being a bitch. There is a a Greek myth about the goddess of dawn and her lover, who made the mistake of wishing himself immortality to he could be with her forever, but he forgot to wish himself eternal youth as well. So he didn't die, but he kept aging and physically declining. I suspect the new immortality on Earth will be like that, not like Jack's brand, which could make for gruesome imagery, but even if it's not, taking what at first sounds like utopia - nobody ever dies - and turning it into a nightmare sounds like tasty story telling. Not to mention that someone will have to bring back mortality, and given the normal misery that comes with that one, who'd want that on their conscience? The next time you lose someone to death, you'd have to think: I could have prevented that. It really was my/our decision. Speculation: it won't be Jack this time, it will be Gwen, because this is about the twistiest thing you can do to her, which would make it an ideal choice. Okay then. Bring on season 4.
Meta about Caprica by
abigail_n, which sums up the flaws and strengths of the aborted spin-off perfectly.
