tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post1990025938998333205..comments2024-03-27T08:49:38.786-03:00Comments on Siskoid's Blog of Geekery: Doctor Who #64: The LionSiskoidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-91175666221795464022012-01-25T11:03:49.841-04:002012-01-25T11:03:49.841-04:00That's certainly part of it. The BBC "cul...That's certainly part of it. The BBC "culture" probably also plays a part. Sets and costumes no doubt came from other historical/literary productions, or at least could be hired out, while SF stories spent all their budget creating things from scratch and hoping for the best. And it's the same with the writing. Writers at the time knew how historical stories worked (everyone did), but not this new SF thing (no one did). The whole of the Hartnell era feels experimental as far as tone, writing, and design go. Some experiments were failures, that's all.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-44455148878375076712012-01-25T10:44:07.889-04:002012-01-25T10:44:07.889-04:00Your observations regarding the differences betwee...Your observations regarding the differences between Harnell's hostoricals and sci-fi stories are interesting. Why <i>couldn't</i> sci-fi stories of the era do as much to make Hartnell thrive, to give us production that invokes a "real sense of place and time" as well as historicals?<br /><br />It comes down to a lack of confidence/imagination, I think. There's really no reason you can't have as complex a set of characters in, say, the Sense-Sphere as you do the medieval Holy Land, or Rome. <br /><br />I think too often the writers/producers let themselves think they had to throw out everything they knew and make the sci-fi stories completely "original" and "different." But there's no reason cod-Shakespeare and stuff already in the BBC production house couldn't produce a satisfying alien culture. They just never really tried, at least not during the Hartnell era.<br /><br />(Plus, perhaps relying on the historical tropes the BBC was used to turning out relaxed the makers enough to focus on the quality of characters...)snellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06181997862745538999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-13396414030449498712012-01-25T10:43:40.075-04:002012-01-25T10:43:40.075-04:00Definitely, and it's great that the script fea...Definitely, and it's great that the script features a well-researched piece of history rather than the "Hollywood" version of it.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-77850679488986444262012-01-25T09:21:41.260-04:002012-01-25T09:21:41.260-04:00Historically speaking, there is a record of Saladi...Historically speaking, there is a record of Saladin's use of mercy (for example not slaughtering non-Muslims when he re-took Jerusalem -- Jerusalem hadn't been so lucky when the Crusaders had previously taken over), while Richard the Lionhearted is known for atrocities such as killing prisoners.King Beauregardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04043228078537079759noreply@blogger.com