khaosworks: (Doctor 2005)
khaosworks ([personal profile] khaosworks) wrote2006-08-28 12:44 pm

Are you my mummy? ... No, but Who's your daddy.

And of course, just by the by, there was a little thing called the Hugo Awards ceremony over the weekend. Four episodes (three stories) from the 2005 series of Doctor Who were nominated: Dalek, Father's Day and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.

And the winner was... The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. Topping the second and third place categories, Dalek and Father's Day respectively. Never before has Doctor Who won a Hugo Award, and a hat trick for all three spots first time out is even sweeter. Being up against Battlestar Galactica's "Pegasus", naturally no one thought we had a chance (and frankly, it would have been such a tough battle to choose between BSG and Who), but once again the membership of Worldcon showed far greater wisdom than we gave them credit for. It was Galaxy Quest beating The Matrix all over again.

Congratulations go out to Steven Moffat, Rob Shearman and Paul Cornell, and the whole production team. The world of Who fandom is feeling incredibly proud, and incredibly smug right now.

[identity profile] nelladarren.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
"Dalek"? They must be kiddin...
After that one I almost decided not to watch on - the next was better, though, so I'm still at it.
*shakes head*
That's crazy...

[identity profile] pbristow.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, this'll be interesting... What didn't you like about Dalek?

[identity profile] nelladarren.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 11:57 am (UTC)(link)
I don't want to hurt you... :o/

[identity profile] pbristow.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I can take it. See, I've got my antidepressants standing by and everything. [WAVES PLASTIC STRIP OF PILLS]
[DISCREETLY TUCKS LARGE TEDDY BEAR BEHIND PILLOW IN CASE I NEED A HUG LATER]

If you're worried about upsetting [livejournal.com profile] khaosworks or his friends, though, you could come and tell me over in my journal. Or in your own, natch. =:o}

[identity profile] nelladarren.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
O.k... :o/

May I first repeat that I really liked Father's Day? I don't say that to soften the blow or anything, I even cried. :o)
So now it's your turn :oD

Part of my dislike was that I kinda expected something especially good because you recommended it beforehand (= "it's all your fault anyway").

Now - I've had my difficulties with the special effects so far, anyway... call me spoilt but I prefer to "almost see something move in the dark" to seeing animated plastic. And that blobb inside the can was too Farscape for me... I really cringed in shame for that "special muppet effect"...

So - I get it that that Dalek guy is a remainder from the older series and of course there is no way to change the design now - only. Argh... It just didn't do it for me. R2D2 gone to the dark side / I should have emptied the trashcan before it went evil... hrmpgh... :o/

At "The End Of The World" I had the same problem - went "argh, please don't, that's embarrassing with the costumes!!!" - but there they did what I expected them to do, bring in a bit of a "tongue in the cheek" about it (I still would appreciate them to leave those antics alone...). Now the Dalek episode took itself too serious. Apart from the American bashing... which took me off some, too.

That was basically my impression - they took themselves serious; the look would have been o.k. in the 80s; and the story wasn't original...

A good plot would make me forgive a lot of other things - but that was so damn obvious and we had it soooo many times that the emotionless robot was talked into self-destruction / influenced by the human essence/DNA to feel something and break down. Let's not talk about the concept of the soulless collector who treats beings like objects. That was like one patchwork plot made from old Star Trek episodes... spiked with the nice Matrix/Buffy effect of the dissolving bullets - oh, yeah, THERE went the special effect budget...! :o)

So that's really what puts me off from time to time - that the look and sometimes also the timing / cut / and how some actors act remind me a lot of some fan production, not of a professional show with experienced pros working at it.

In the moments they get "real" and original and keep their tongue in the cheek I came to like it. But it does have its boring and embarrassing moments, and "Dalek" was that for me...

You still my friend? :o/

[identity profile] khaosworks.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
You should ask Paul or someone to pass you a copy of the audio play Jubilee, which is what Dalek was partially based on.

As good as I think Dalek is, Jubilee is so much better.
madfilkentist: My cat Florestan (gray shorthair) (starwars)

[personal profile] madfilkentist 2006-08-28 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I liked "Dalek" the best of the three mentioned. "Empty Child" was basically a zombie story, even if it had a pseudo-scientific explanation, and there are just too many of those these days. "Father's Day" was an inferior remake of "City on the Edge of Forever." But "Dalek" was fascinating in the way it showed the Doctor, who's normally in control in all situations, over the edge.

[identity profile] amberite.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 08:10 am (UTC)(link)
I purr loudly.

[identity profile] syphilis.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 11:43 am (UTC)(link)
What great news! I like BSG too but not like I like Dr Who! I don't even remember Pegasus being a particularly notable episode of BSG.

I thought Father's Day was fucking fantastic, but I also watch far too many art movies so I like all that emotional crap!

Did you enjoy mrdankelly's max hedroom/dr who post? I remember being extraordinarily confused as a youth when I viewed that hijacking!

[identity profile] querldox.livejournal.com 2006-08-28 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Had the pleasure of meeting Paul Cornell at Worldcon; seems like a nice chap.

I don't think it was that big an upset for Who to win over Galactica. Remember, the con was in the LA area, thus a larger percentage of attendees were from around there. And LA has the largest Who fan group in the US, and has been running the most significant Who con in the US for over a decade (Gallifrey One). Admittedly, three eps being nominated was probably helped by members of last year's Worldcon, which took place in Scotland, getting to nominate as well (but not vote, unless also members of this year's con).