12 May 2013

When Good Shows Go Bad


I started thinking about this the other day when I was watching a show that I used to love and thought what has happened to the programmes that made me excited for a Saturday night?


I can think of two particular examples that jump into my head straight away when I think of Good Shows that went Bad. And it will be here where I will try to analyse what I liked about the series in the first place and what went wrong.


Doctor Who Doctors Collage
Doctor Who...
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 We'll start with Doctor Who shall we? This is the programme that I mentioned above that influenced this article. Now most people would be shocked - it is not exactly a show that is failing in the ratings, but to me, it is just not in the same league as it once was. I am mainly talking about the revival of the series here (2005), since I never watched any of the classic episodes. I first tuned in on a whim, after hearing all the fuss I thought I would give it a go. And I'm glad I did, with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose,the companion, Doctor Who was energetic, engaging, witty and the characters full of life - all thanks to showrunner Russell T Davies, who helped revive the show for a new generation. After a brief stint, Eccleston was replaced with David Tennant, who was so natural in this role, it was like he was born to play it. He was able to balance the humour and drama well with the audience always gripped on the edge of their seat. Such was the popularity of Tennant, that on announcing he was departing the show, it was met with cries of anguish from the audience to who he announced it to. I, myself was eager for a fresh start on the show as after three seasons, it started to become repetitive. Little did I know that the show I loved would turn into something I'd have to force myself into watching due to loyatly. When Matt Smith was announced as the Doctor and after his brief entrance in Tennant's final episode, I didn't like him. I took an instant disliking. Here was the most emotional episode ever to be aired and this bouncing goofball comes barging in, ruining the atmosphere. I have since learned that actually, different to Tennant as he is, Smith wasn't the problem and he wasn't actually a bad actor. The problem, and I've spoken to and heard from several people who agree, is the writing and direction of the show. I couldn't quite put my finger on it to begin with - I figured it was just me, after being such a fan of Tennant, not being able to accept a change. I've since realised that actually the whole show seems off. I came to this conclusion after watching Smith's Doctor star in The Sarah Jane Adventures (written by Davies) and loving the way he way he was portrayed. Steven Moffat took over the role of showrunner after Davies had left, to the delight of me as he had written quite a few good episodes previously. This excitement soon wore off, after seeing that the characters are lacking - coming across as two-dimensional; the stories are dull and bleak, all merging into one; storylines and arcs are repetitive. Considering Moffet had promised to not feature classic monsters and aliens in his series, they do have a funny way of popping up every episode. Oh look, another dalek that's been defeated several times before, how terrifying...All of his characters that I never cared for - Amy Pond, the Doctor's companion; River Song, the Doctor's 'wife'; Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax are so dull, I stopped watching. They never brought anything new and exciting to the show. It was only with the departure of Amy Pond that I started tentatively watching again, noticing that it isn't as bad as it was during seasons 5-6 but it is also nowhere near the quality of the earlier seasons of the revival. The characters have lost their heart, one of the great features of Davies' era. He made you care deeply for them, so much that you'd laugh at their jokes and cry along with the sad scenes. Whereas in Moffet's era, the characters could disappear for all I care and I wouldn't even miss them.