RTD Points Out “Complete Narrative Collapse” in the Doctor Who Finale
RTD Points Out “Complete Narrative Collapse” in the Doctor Who Finale
“It pains me,” says showrunner Russell T Davies.
It pains me, I blame everyone else.
Okay, I actually find it somewhat refreshing and/or hilarious when a writer eats some humble pie about some narrative nonsense.
I have to admit, I didn't even notice this specific occurrence - by this point, it was kind of a layer cake of nonsense, which...is not unusual for RTD season finales.
This sounds a lot like a defense of the episode, but it's not meant to be, not really. I just don't mind this specific narrative cheat, I guess.
I have to admit, I didn’t even notice this specific occurrence - by this point, it was kind of a layer cake of nonsense, which…is not unusual for RTD season finales.
Yes, in the face of a blizzard of silliness and handwaving, that one went right by me (and the other people I went to see it with). We may have just been numb at that point.
Whatever. They just do whatever they want as it's required by the script. Dr. Who has always been more science fantasy than it is science fiction with varying degrees of consistency, apart from maybe getting into some social issue stuff, along with the tech gadgets and aliens (the sci-fi trappings). IMO it's almost been on par with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, things just happen and questioning it is just an exercise in futility, just go along with that episode's logic and don't question it. There will be characters who are forever banished from this universe, never to return again, but then a season or two later they show back up again because of some whatchamajigit or some sort of handwavy temporal anomaly or whatever the fuck they want it to be. For there to be a "complete narrative collapse" would require a narrative structure to have been there in the first place. Dr. Who somehow even out-techno-babbles Star Trek.
Damn, when the bus people be critiquing your show, you done goofed.
What he doesn't explain is: why? It seems like an unforced error - I could see them pulling something out of their ass if they had painted themselves into a corner in earlier episodes but there are a few solutions to this. Does it suggest script or FX or editing were being hacked around at the last minute? 🤷♂️
Sounds like that's exactly it - it's only briefly mentioned:
At this point in the episode as originally scripted, RTD explains, the Remembered TARDIS had collapsed and disappeared after depositing the Doctor, Ruby and Mel in 2046. That was an SFX sequence too far for this already-packed episode, and so it was cut from the script.