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Feb. 29th, 2008 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynneSo I started getting New Who from Netflix, because I want to watch them again and Twin has her DVDs with her.
Oh, Nine, I love you. Chris Eccleston is a fantastic actor. :D And Nine is my Doctor. I love Ten a lot, but Nine...he was my first Doctor, and I guess that's just sticking with me.
I was reading the recaps of early S1 over at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
dwrewatch, and I'm in the AoL/WWIII recaps right now. People bring up how they like that there are repercussions for Rose just swanning off with the Doctor, that there were people left behind and they had no idea what was going on, and so on. I like those repercussions too, as they totally give the show more realism, but I especially like the form those repercussions take.
Martha gets her own set of repercussions, when the Master goes after her family because she travels with the Doctor. But the Doctor gets to be right on time with her when he originally takes her home--the next morning, so her mother gets to question her about where she disappeared to the night before, but not totally freaked.
But the executive decision to make Rose's initial trip be a year in real time--I like that, and what it means, not just for Rose and the people left behind, but in terms of the show and her role in it. The Doctor could as easily have gotten it right, getting her back just twelve hours later, and events proceeding from there, with the repercussions coming from somewhere else, not necessarily the random year-long disappearance. Instead, he gets it wrong, and to me, it felt like one of the less-overt consequences was Rose being distanced from her home and family.
Martha, when the Doctor initially takes her home, could have neatly slotted back into her life, pretty much no awkward questions asked. She didn't want to, she wanted to keep traveling, but she could have. Rose couldn't.
And now, suddenly, unexpectedly, Rose is separated from her loved ones by a whole year's worth of experience, and memories, and worries, and other very messy things. She's had some experiences herself, ones that have changed her, broadened her horizons, but not so much, I think, that she couldn't have gone back to that normal life. But she didn't really have that choice; when she gets home, she finds that home has changed a lot more than she has. Now there's a gulf of experience between Rose and Jackie, one that neither can quite breach. Jackie, looking through the filter of her own grief and worry while Rose was gone, is unable to appreciate the opportunity Rose has, or understand why Rose wants to pursue it. And Rose, though she sees the pain she's caused her mother, and she definitely regrets it, can't quite comprehend everything that Jackie (and Mickey too, for that matter) has gone through in that year, because to her, she hasn't been gone for a year, only a few days. She knew her mother was safe, and imagined her as being like normal, especially after that phone call in End of the World. But Jackie didn't have that luxury.
I especially think that Rose doesn't really comprehend Jackie's pain because of the decision she makes--continuing to travel with the Doctor, and leaving Jackie behind again with a glib comment about ten seconds. So of course she's going to make that decision--she only intended London to be a stop-off to get some clothes and check in with her mother, before going right back to traveling. She had to save the world in the middle, but her intentions haven't changed, even given the reaction to her homecoming that was drastically different than what she was expecting.
It felt to me like TPTB were deliberately cutting Rose off from her normal life, but subtly. Neither the characters nor the audience know at this point that Rose is eventually going to choose to make the Doctor's life her own, that she's going to want to give him "forever". Especially not the Old School fans, I assume, who are used to companions coming and going all the time.
(And on that side note--while I've not seen much Old Who, I looked up all the show's companions on wikipedia, and for the vast majority of them, not counting the ones who died, it's the companion's decision to leave. In fic I keep seeing Rose and/or the Doctor angsting about the idea of people he leaves behind, when I get the impression--from wikipedia, so possibly I'm mistaken--that it's usually the Doctor being left, not doing the leaving. Ever since I looked that up, I've been getting annoyed at the exaggeration in fic, even if we are given that impression in School Reunion (and because of Jack, I guess, but he was a special case). I only found out about companions on the show, rather than other media, though, so maybe it's different in books and audios.)
Anyway. Everyone on the show assumes that Rose is only traveling with the Doctor for fun, and eventually she'll want to settle down and come home again. As we progress through the series, it turns out that no, that's not the choice Rose is going to make. But this is only episode four--it's early in the series, and still a long time until Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and Rose's promise of "forever".
But in essense, I think that year-long absence, that new gulf between Rose and her old life, foreshadows the eventual bigger gulf that is Rose's decision to stay with the Doctor permanently. That she doesn't get to follow through with that (so far. *tries not to get hopes up too high for S4*) doesn't matter so much as the initial choice. In AoL, Rose's absence is an accident on the part of the characters, but I think it was very deliberate on the part of the writers to give her that gap. And looking back on it, after seeing the rest of the series thus far, I think that's really cool.
Okay, so that was longer than I expected. And sort of disjointed. I hope it makes sense. :p
Oh, Nine, I love you. Chris Eccleston is a fantastic actor. :D And Nine is my Doctor. I love Ten a lot, but Nine...he was my first Doctor, and I guess that's just sticking with me.
I was reading the recaps of early S1 over at
dwrewatch, and I'm in the AoL/WWIII recaps right now. People bring up how they like that there are repercussions for Rose just swanning off with the Doctor, that there were people left behind and they had no idea what was going on, and so on. I like those repercussions too, as they totally give the show more realism, but I especially like the form those repercussions take.Martha gets her own set of repercussions, when the Master goes after her family because she travels with the Doctor. But the Doctor gets to be right on time with her when he originally takes her home--the next morning, so her mother gets to question her about where she disappeared to the night before, but not totally freaked.
But the executive decision to make Rose's initial trip be a year in real time--I like that, and what it means, not just for Rose and the people left behind, but in terms of the show and her role in it. The Doctor could as easily have gotten it right, getting her back just twelve hours later, and events proceeding from there, with the repercussions coming from somewhere else, not necessarily the random year-long disappearance. Instead, he gets it wrong, and to me, it felt like one of the less-overt consequences was Rose being distanced from her home and family.
Martha, when the Doctor initially takes her home, could have neatly slotted back into her life, pretty much no awkward questions asked. She didn't want to, she wanted to keep traveling, but she could have. Rose couldn't.
And now, suddenly, unexpectedly, Rose is separated from her loved ones by a whole year's worth of experience, and memories, and worries, and other very messy things. She's had some experiences herself, ones that have changed her, broadened her horizons, but not so much, I think, that she couldn't have gone back to that normal life. But she didn't really have that choice; when she gets home, she finds that home has changed a lot more than she has. Now there's a gulf of experience between Rose and Jackie, one that neither can quite breach. Jackie, looking through the filter of her own grief and worry while Rose was gone, is unable to appreciate the opportunity Rose has, or understand why Rose wants to pursue it. And Rose, though she sees the pain she's caused her mother, and she definitely regrets it, can't quite comprehend everything that Jackie (and Mickey too, for that matter) has gone through in that year, because to her, she hasn't been gone for a year, only a few days. She knew her mother was safe, and imagined her as being like normal, especially after that phone call in End of the World. But Jackie didn't have that luxury.
I especially think that Rose doesn't really comprehend Jackie's pain because of the decision she makes--continuing to travel with the Doctor, and leaving Jackie behind again with a glib comment about ten seconds. So of course she's going to make that decision--she only intended London to be a stop-off to get some clothes and check in with her mother, before going right back to traveling. She had to save the world in the middle, but her intentions haven't changed, even given the reaction to her homecoming that was drastically different than what she was expecting.
It felt to me like TPTB were deliberately cutting Rose off from her normal life, but subtly. Neither the characters nor the audience know at this point that Rose is eventually going to choose to make the Doctor's life her own, that she's going to want to give him "forever". Especially not the Old School fans, I assume, who are used to companions coming and going all the time.
(And on that side note--while I've not seen much Old Who, I looked up all the show's companions on wikipedia, and for the vast majority of them, not counting the ones who died, it's the companion's decision to leave. In fic I keep seeing Rose and/or the Doctor angsting about the idea of people he leaves behind, when I get the impression--from wikipedia, so possibly I'm mistaken--that it's usually the Doctor being left, not doing the leaving. Ever since I looked that up, I've been getting annoyed at the exaggeration in fic, even if we are given that impression in School Reunion (and because of Jack, I guess, but he was a special case). I only found out about companions on the show, rather than other media, though, so maybe it's different in books and audios.)
Anyway. Everyone on the show assumes that Rose is only traveling with the Doctor for fun, and eventually she'll want to settle down and come home again. As we progress through the series, it turns out that no, that's not the choice Rose is going to make. But this is only episode four--it's early in the series, and still a long time until Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and Rose's promise of "forever".
But in essense, I think that year-long absence, that new gulf between Rose and her old life, foreshadows the eventual bigger gulf that is Rose's decision to stay with the Doctor permanently. That she doesn't get to follow through with that (so far. *tries not to get hopes up too high for S4*) doesn't matter so much as the initial choice. In AoL, Rose's absence is an accident on the part of the characters, but I think it was very deliberate on the part of the writers to give her that gap. And looking back on it, after seeing the rest of the series thus far, I think that's really cool.
Okay, so that was longer than I expected. And sort of disjointed. I hope it makes sense. :p
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Date: 2008-03-02 12:31 am (UTC)I'm the other way around, I think because I started watching properly in S2, before I'd had the chance to watch all of S1. I got used to Ten, and then when I was watching season 1, I was comparing Nine with him in my head. Once you get that concept in your head of 'this is the Doctor', it can be hard to shake.
(And on that side note--while I've not seen much Old Who, I looked up all the show's companions on wikipedia, and for the vast majority of them, not counting the ones who died, it's the companion's decision to leave. In fic I keep seeing Rose and/or the Doctor angsting about the idea of people he leaves behind, when I get the impression--from wikipedia, so possibly I'm mistaken--that it's usually the Doctor being left, not doing the leaving. Ever since I looked that up, I've been getting annoyed at the exaggeration in fic, even if we are given that impression in School Reunion (and because of Jack, I guess, but he was a special case). I only found out about companions on the show, rather than other media, though, so maybe it's different in books and audios.)
I've only seen bits and pieces of Old Who, but I think you're right about most of the companions choosing to leave, not being left behind. I've definitely seen fans of the classic series state that, with corroborating evidence. School Reunion lied! Another chance to add to Ten's emo, I guess. :p
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Date: 2008-03-02 02:56 am (UTC)I first started being curious about Doctor Who in early S3. I could have started watching then, making Ten my first Doctor, but I have this sort of obsession with watching things in order, so I just didn't watch it until Twin got the DVDs for Christmas. But Twin, who started with David Tennant--as we were watching S1, she was looking forward to Ten, and when we went on to S2, she didn't quite understand why I was missing Nine. I did come to love Ten, as I said, and I frankly have a much easier time getting into his head when writing than I do Nine, but I still feel like Nine is my Doctor. :p
School Reunion lied! Another chance to add to Ten's emo, I guess. :p
As if he doesn't have enough! *g* But yeah, there was definitely some retconning going on in School Reunion. I found a link to someone who transcribed the end of Sarah Jane's tenure as a companion with Four, and even though Four had to leave her behind when he got the call from Gallifrey, she brought up leaving even right before that happened. But I've read some reviews to the effect, and I agree, that Sarah Jane in School Reunion was more a representation of everyone who traveled with the Doctor and had to find out how to a normal life again. I think SR was meant to add depth (and yes, emo :p) to the Doctor's character, especially with why he never looks back, and I respect it for that, but I think it really misrepresented the circumstances around most companions' departures, which annoys me. :p
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Date: 2008-03-03 03:58 am (UTC)Could not have said it better myself. I just got into the series (back in October, I think) but I wanted to watch it in order so I got them from Netflix (until I could buy them myself) so Nine was my first Doctor. I try not to choose one over the other because there are different things to love about them but I am really quite fond of Nine.
Everyone on the show assumes that Rose is only traveling with the Doctor for fun, and eventually she'll want to settle down and come home again. As we progress through the series, it turns out that no, that's not the choice Rose is going to make.
Exactly. No one really thinks she'll get so deeply invested. Mickey expresses this the best, I think, when he asks her nearly every time he sees her again if that's it and she's with the Doctor (especially in Boomtown after seeing Jack so easily fitting in).
But in essense, I think that year-long absence, that new gulf between Rose and her old life, foreshadows the eventual bigger gulf that is Rose's decision to stay with the Doctor permanently. That she doesn't get to follow through with that (so far. *tries not to get hopes up too high for S4*) doesn't matter so much as the initial choice.
The show is so terribly fond of foreshadowing, isn't it? I agree that it was definitely a way to subtly hint that Rose would eventually choose this life with the Doctor (not only to be with him, but to continue this new life she's made) over everything else.
And believe me, I'm trying very hard as well not to get my hopes too high for S4. It's rather hard though.