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Post by Cyggy on Jul 1, 2022 15:20:59 GMT
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Post by Cyggy on Jul 1, 2022 15:22:12 GMT
This thread really prompted by the fact that Ian re-emerged a couple of weeks ago on Mondas to say that, despite hating Whittaker in the role - and Chibnall's atrocious ineptitude/handling of the show - he is once again interested, due to the Tate/Tennant/Toymaker clues, and that he trusts Russell in the casting of Ncuti. Also that he is fired up with anticipation and enthusiasm - thanking RTD for being the knight in shining armour that the show needed to bring back the public - and for giving us hope again.
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Post by Cyggy on Jul 1, 2022 17:21:30 GMT
Going back in time a bit, an interview with Ian, Eric Saward and Janet Fielding - recorded circa Season 24 in 1987.....
Doctor Who LBC 'special' Interview (possible lost media found?)
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Post by heccy on Jul 1, 2022 17:41:45 GMT
This thread really prompted by the fact that Ian re-emerged a couple of weeks ago on Mondas to say that, despite hating Whittaker in the role - and Chibnall's atrocious ineptitude/handling of the show - he is once again interested, due to the Tate/Tennant/Toymaker clues, and that he trusts Russell in the casting of Ncuti. Also that he is fired up with anticipation and enthusiasm - thanking RTD for being the knight in shining armour that the show needed to bring back the public - and for giving us hope again. Afraid I disagree about RTD2 (Quelle surprise). He ushered in an era of NuWho, where self indulgence is the main qualification to be a writer on the show. Why write an interesting adventure in space and time, when all you need is to chuck in really, really stupid nob, bj and other assorted, oh so clever naughty jokes. To quote William Shakespeare's Hamlet, "It's shit and it's going stay shit". I might have made that quote up, but I'm sure if old William had seen any of RTD2's guff, he'd agree with me..
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Post by Cyggy on Jul 1, 2022 19:40:59 GMT
A Facebook Q8A with Ian from 6 years ago....
Ian Levine Facebook Q&A
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Post by asmodeus on Jul 1, 2022 20:51:27 GMT
Until the next time he flounces of course! Pretty sure he did the same during Moffat's run. Look, the BBC make the show for the general audience. They don't owe him or us anything. He might wriggle out of Doctor In Distress, but his "Continuity Advisor" credit was the ultimate in jobs for the boys.
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Post by Cyggy on Jul 2, 2022 0:52:44 GMT
Speaking of RTD - am not sure if he is worthy of Ian's glowing appreciation - as there is that whole lingering malarkey over whether or not Victor Kennedy from RTD's " Love and Monsters" was based on Ian... Ian LevineBut I don't think this has ever been officially confirmed, yet it seems to have solidified into fact. Am not sure if RTD has ever denied it or not? And there seems to have been an incident in 2006 where RTD shut down Ian's question during a press conference..... Tweet
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Post by sadako on Jul 2, 2022 12:04:00 GMT
Several terrible people happened to the show creatively in the 1980s.
He was one of them.
And sure I am grateful that he rescued The Daleks from incineration, but that does not mean he was qualified to have any input in how the show was written. There is a delicate craft to writing and it is never helped by frustrated writers having to then acquiesce to the nitpicks and demands of someone who places too much stake in continuity, which I think is a big reason why a lot of the stories came off so blunt, craftless and tasteless.
I'm not going to pretend that I'm not a fan with fannish wants and disgruntlements of my own. I have no time these days for the insipid defences of New Who of "well the kids like it, and so you're just being a selfish complainer".... and it's insipid because it makes out that the only way we fans should watch the show is with a selfish, dead-eyed altruism of "well if it entertained someone else, it doesn't matter if it entertained me." Which is nonsense. There is a point where an expected selflessness becomes mind-numbing and cultish.
But... I also know that if I was given some creative power, I'd probably ruin the show for someone else. Ironically by making the show so fan-aimed, it became alienating for fans like me who weren't fans like him and didn't want the show to become a show for those kind of fans. Especially when we reached the point of Warriors of the Deep and Twin Dilemma, where it no longer just seemed aimed at fans, but at the worst cranks of the fanbase.
There are some horrible cults of personality in fandom. I can't say his was the worst, but promoting him to such influence I do think changed fandom for the worse, like having the wrong leader of the Labour party. All the worst elements seem to rise to the top then.
There is plenty of blame to go round, and JNT certainly deserves some, but Ian Levine hardly smells of roses himself.
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Post by Cyggy on Jul 2, 2022 16:43:32 GMT
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Post by rapscallion on Jul 2, 2022 17:49:46 GMT
On the subject of the aborted Season 23.....
On the new box set of Season 22, Nicola Bryant says in her interview with Matthew Sweet that Eric Saward had said that he was writing a script that would have seen her play a dual role as good Peri and bad Peri.
So I'm guessing that would have been the Gallifrey script?
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Post by Cyggy on Jul 4, 2022 14:49:37 GMT
STANDING ON SOLID GROUND - 45 Years of the BEST of Ian Levine
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Post by GC on Nov 30, 2022 5:26:04 GMT
I see Ian Levine recently posted on GB that Channel 5 have done a documentary on Who called "Doctor Who - Secrets And Scandals" of which both he and Waris Hussein have taken part in.
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Post by Future-Diver on Dec 2, 2022 8:08:08 GMT
Several terrible people happened to the show creatively in the 1980s. He was one of them. And sure I am grateful that he rescued The Daleks from incineration, but that does not mean he was qualified to have any input in how the show was written. There is a delicate craft to writing and it is never helped by frustrated writers having to then acquiesce to the nitpicks and demands of someone who places too much stake in continuity, which I think is a big reason why a lot of the stories came off so blunt, craftless and tasteless. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not a fan with fannish wants and disgruntlements of my own. I have no time these days for the insipid defences of New Who of "well the kids like it, and so you're just being a selfish complainer".... and it's insipid because it makes out that the only way we fans should watch the show is with a selfish, dead-eyed altruism of "well if it entertained someone else, it doesn't matter if it entertained me." Which is nonsense. There is a point where an expected selflessness becomes mind-numbing and cultish. But... I also know that if I was given some creative power, I'd probably ruin the show for someone else. Ironically by making the show so fan-aimed, it became alienating for fans like me who weren't fans like him and didn't want the show to become a show for those kind of fans. Especially when we reached the point of Warriors of the Deep and Twin Dilemma, where it no longer just seemed aimed at fans, but at the worst cranks of the fanbase. There are some horrible cults of personality in fandom. I can't say his was the worst, but promoting him to such influence I do think changed fandom for the worse, like having the wrong leader of the Labour party. All the worst elements seem to rise to the top then. There is plenty of blame to go round, and JNT certainly deserves some, but Ian Levine hardly smells of roses himself. " I have no time these days for the insipid defences of New Who of "well the kids like it, and so you're just being a selfish complainer".... and it's insipid because it makes out that the only way we fans should watch the show is with a selfish, dead-eyed altruism of "well if it entertained someone else, it doesn't matter if it entertained me." Which is nonsense."Excellent points, Sadako, and I agree entirely. 2006 - I remember talking to a fella in The Tenth Planet shop about Series 2 (specifically 'New Earth'). During the conversation, I was asked not to criticise the new series too much, because lots of folk liked it and it wasn't fair to them, and more importantly, if people complained about the revived show, the BBC might cancel it again. This fan seemed to believe that any Who was better than no Who and so if the Nu-kids liked it, my opinion was irrelevant.
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Post by sadako on Dec 2, 2022 21:22:45 GMT
" I have no time these days for the insipid defences of New Who of "well the kids like it, and so you're just being a selfish complainer".... and it's insipid because it makes out that the only way we fans should watch the show is with a selfish, dead-eyed altruism of "well if it entertained someone else, it doesn't matter if it entertained me." Which is nonsense."Excellent points, Sadako, and I agree entirely. 2006 - I remember talking to a fella in The Tenth Planet shop about Series 2 (specifically 'New Earth'). During the conversation, I was asked not to criticise the new series too much, because lots of folk liked it and it wasn't fair to them, and more importantly, if people complained about the revived show, the BBC might cancel it again. This fan seemed to believe that any Who was better than no Who and so if the Nu-kids liked it, my opinion was irrelevant. I know what you mean. I found it kind of chilling actually how many fans went along with enforcing that repressive line, and adopted the same kind of patronising tone of 'you just don't know your own mind'. It was almost like a zombie virus, and I worry now RTD's back we're going to be entering that kind of cultishness again.
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Post by Future-Diver on Dec 2, 2022 22:11:56 GMT
" I have no time these days for the insipid defences of New Who of "well the kids like it, and so you're just being a selfish complainer".... and it's insipid because it makes out that the only way we fans should watch the show is with a selfish, dead-eyed altruism of "well if it entertained someone else, it doesn't matter if it entertained me." Which is nonsense."Excellent points, Sadako, and I agree entirely. 2006 - I remember talking to a fella in The Tenth Planet shop about Series 2 (specifically 'New Earth'). During the conversation, I was asked not to criticise the new series too much, because lots of folk liked it and it wasn't fair to them, and more importantly, if people complained about the revived show, the BBC might cancel it again. This fan seemed to believe that any Who was better than no Who and so if the Nu-kids liked it, my opinion was irrelevant. I know what you mean. I found it kind of chilling actually how many fans went along with enforcing that repressive line, and adopted the same kind of patronising tone of 'you just don't know your own mind'. It was almost like a zombie virus, and I worry now RTD's back we're going to be entering that kind of cultishness again. 'You just don't know your own mind' - that's a very disturbing attitude and the kind of thing you sometimes encounter over on Gallifrey Base. Scary.
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