Forum:What happened with the 7th Doctor Era?

--4.248.94.30talk to me 14:22, April 5, 2012 (UTC)

OK, first off I've been a DW fan in the U.S. since the 1970s. I've watched the series grow and I've been taping the episodes off the air since my first VCR. Loved the series up through the 5th Doctor. Loved the 9th Doctor through the 11th. This post is not meant to knock the series only to dig up some facts, so you'll please forgive me for being a bit harsh around the edges...

To cut to the point, What the hell happened to the series in the late 1980s, specifically during the Sylvester McCoy era? Nobody talks about it much around here, and I can't get any straight answers as to who or what is to blame. All I know is what was pumped into my brain...

- Absolutely idiotic runaround stories, with lots of pyrotechnics going off to distract from sub-sub-par scripts.

- Stupid, silly monsters skulking around. Can anyone say Kandyman? Barney the Dinosaur could've made a cameo and nobody would've noticed! It was like the very worst of Lost in Space at times.

- No acting, bad acting, or over-acting (usually the latter for a "guest" star, like a comedian, who probably thinks of it as a kiddie show and thereby doesn't have to Bother taking the role seriously).

- Set and costume designs which look as though they were built/designed by complete amateurs. I'm somehow thinking along the lines of Ed Wood Jr.'s grandchildren. During previous eras, the Doctor would visit an alien world and the tech would look suitably different (usually!) and not rehashes of dark corridors posing as spaceship interiors for the entire season. The sets of "Pirate Planet" look absolutely brilliant and impressive compared to anything McCoy's had to romp through.

- Speaking of children. Babies or kids running around or featured in almost every episode. (i.e. Delta's baby, the skipping blonde in "Remembrance," the one hiding under a table in "Dragonfire," Red Kangs! Blue Kangs! Red Kangs are best! etc.) For the new viewers to identify with?

- I probably shouldn't mention Mel. Every time she screamed--and, let's face it, that's ALL she ever did so far as being a companion--it would rip through my ears, into my skull, and I'd wish the monster would take a bite outta her! Billie Piper was a companion, Bonnie Langford was more wooden than K-9.

Listen, a decade Earlier DW was pumping out classics like "Genesis of the Daleks" and "The Deadly Assassin." They were superbly written, well-acted, and seemingly overcame their limited budgets with absolute ease. During the 5th Doctor's reign, the stories were still generally decent as was the acting and the entire production crew obviously cared. Colin Baker's time showed an obvious slump ("The Twin Dilemma" was a disaster) but other episodes made up for it ("Attack of the Cybermen" at least had continuity on its side).

The McCoy Era, on the other hand, was a total degeneration of the series from start to finish. It was no longer SF--it was a lame kiddie series! The Intelligence had been Drained and DW was now some sort of 5-year old's playground.

As to the How and the Why and the Who, the only answer I can come up with for this disaster is to pin it on JNT since he was the producer. Yet he was the producer during the entire run of the 5th Doctor and the series was still respectable. Did JNT have a stroke or mental breakdown circa 1987? Did he become a drug-addict and turn the series over to totally inept pinheads? I suppose we can blame that new wave of fantasy writers for the scripts, but that hardly accounts for All the silliness and "childrens' programme" label catching right back up with the series...

It was like a complete failure on All Levels.

WHAT HAPPENED?