Tim Child Interview

[Crispeater]

Whilst the interview with Tim Child was very enjoyable, there is one remark of his that needs picking up on:

"[Knightmare] adopted and fed on elements of political and social parody, as most fantasies (with the exception of Dr Who) are inclined to do"

In fact, there were numerous instances of satire in Dr Who throughout its original 26-year run, and will doubtless do so when it returns next year.  

An example contemporary with Knightmare: Lilith, with her tendency to dispose of those who failed to please her, may have been fairly reminiscent of a certain PM; but she was nowhere near as blatant as the chief villainess in "The Happiness Patrol", a Dr Who story, also from 1988.

Chris

[Skarkill]

A good number of Doctor Who stories were Political or social satiers.

"The Sunmakers." (Taxes)

"The War Machiens" (The Internet)

"The Green Death." (Pollution.)

(You know Crispeater this would have been better suited to the Off Topic Back-Up Forum.)

[Malefact]

Not really - this is General Knightmare Discussion, after all.


New Labour is an open target for some sly Km scripting, imo.

[Kieran]

I do believe Dr Who commented on things mare often then other shows do, many instances in Who serials show this.

Anyway, the New Labout remark in reference to KM was very interesting, as Malefact said, it is an open target for some new and interesting things in KM.

[Skarkill]

Or Dr. Who.  ;D

Depending on which NEW Serries starts first.

[Billy]

"The War Machiens" (The Internet)

But was the internet around in 1966?

[Emii]

It may well have been in planning. After all, they had computers (I think) , and they had telephones, and they had libraries...put them together and what have you got?

[Skarkill]

It was in the planning stages.

The Story "The War Machiens" feturing William Hartnell as the Doctor was centerd around a Meglomaniac computer called WOTAN (I forget what that stood for.) which was centerd at the Top of the Post Office Tower in London.

It was going to take over the world by hooking it's self up to all other computers (Internet) and activating a bunch of 12 foot high mobile killer computers (The War Machiense).

The story was a satire of the claims that the internet would only be benifical to mankind this story was showing how dangerous that sort of tecnolagy could be.

[HStorm]

As far as I understand it, the Internet was established in 1979.

[Skarkill]

Yes but the original Idear was thought up in the late 60's.

It was just intended for buissness at the time.

[Lord_Bob]

If you search google for a while you can find some antique web pages, my friend Oliver is a computer nut and found some original 70s sites which have not been updated for ages. I will get some links for anyone who cares!

[Malefact]

That sounds good. I'd be very interested indeed in that.

Anyone remember Telex, Prestel etc.?

[Billy]

The internet may have started at the end of the '70s, but surely websites weren't around then? I believe I heard somewhere that the first ever website was launched in 1991, called http://info.cern.ch . And no, that link doesn't work anymore, they're at http://public.web.cern.ch/public/ now.

[Kieran]

The internet was used as a Government tool from the late 1970's, obviously back then, the machine tended to take up an entire room.

They were used to spy on the Russians a lot, and general intelligence.

They have been searching for intelligence on Grimwold and the Beckams, but as of yet they have been unsuccessful  ;)

[beveryafraid]

I am sorry that some of you are so disturbed to discover that I am not a Dr Who fan.

In the 20th century postwar league of written sci-fi, Britain does rather well, with massive contributions from those who were prepared to follow in the steps of HGW and beyond.

But when it comes to translation of the genre into television, we lost out big. For over 2 decades, we got Dr Who, whilst the Americans got Star Trek. A fair deal? I don't think so.

It seems that just as the Americans could not manage a credible portrayal of heroic fantasy, we just simply couldn't do Sci-Fi. Whilst they were locked into fur bras and tanned bodybuilders with plastic sabres, we were stuck with: well, Daleks. Then Hollywood got it so very right with Conan the Barbarian, whilst our own defining movement was, er,  Blake's Seven?

Of course some of the plots in Dr Who had social context and the odd swipe at parody. But so also does a bad Christmas pantomime.

True also that some of the talented screenwriters who took the cash to turn out the dross, went on to redeem themselves in other areas. Douglas Adams springs forward as an example. And yes, DW was broadcast in the States, but only, I believe on the minority PSB channels, and they'll show the Queen's speech on a quiet day. Even the Australians thought the Dr was more rubbish than Skippy.

One of the reasons why I so applaud Peter Jackson's team success with LOTRings, is because  he has with a stroke redefined the acceptance level for fantasy, which includes all the genres. George Lucas might as well retire because it will never be possible to get away things like Star Wars again. Fine for the time (arguably), but gone, gone, gone now, and thankfully never to return.

So let's bring back Dr Who.

Will someone please tell me - why?



BVA