Writing for SFX, he said, "On planet Earth it's generally taken for granted that it's a bad thing to introduce into a narrative some last-minute solution that was totally unexpected and unheralded.
"The unexpected, unadvertised solution which kisses it all better is known as a deus ex machina - literally, a god from the machine. And a god from the machine is what the Doctor is now."
"A decent detective story provides you with enough tantalising information to allow you to make a stab at a solution before the famous detective struts his stuff in the library. Doctor Who replaces this with speed, fast talking, and what appears to be that wonderful element 'makeitupasyougoalongeum'."
He also claims that the Doctor has become "an amalgam of Mother Teresa, Jesus Christ... and Tinkerbell [...] There is nothing he doesn't know and nothing he can't do... Perhaps they should start transmitting the programme on Sundays."
"After all, when you've had your moan you have to admit that it is very, very entertaining," he drones on, "I might shout at the screen again, but I will be watching on Saturday."
13 comments:
He hates Alice in Wonderland. The weight I give to his opinion is not so much.
The ending of Last of the Time Lords was brilliant.
Pratchett...the name suits him. What a prat!! >.<
Shame... Am such a loyal fan of Pratchett it's almost heartbreaking to discover that he finds the show stupid. Still, wont stop me reading Discworld or watching Who :D
How can he Doctor Who is the BEST show ever the fool. =<
I haven't watched DrWho in decades and I have never read any of Pratchetts' books, however, I found this an interesting read. I'm pleased that you have informed me of what Pratchetts' books are about as I have often thought that maybe I should have a read, as he is from the same neck of the woods as myself. Now, I know not to bother as I didn't even enjoy Lord of the Rings collection.
This is rich coming from a guy who I consider writes absolute twaddle! Disk world yawn!
I'm not sure you can label Prachett's work "an inferior and elongated version of Lord of the Rings" as not only is he considered a gifted author in his own right a lot of his fans are indeed fans of Doctor Who and other Sci-Fi.
Also, im not sure if i take what he says as criticism. Indeed, there is an awful lot of Deux Ex Machina in Doctor Who but to be honest you cant fit a plausible solution into 45 minutes of a show and to be completely honest and i know some will hate me for this...it is a show intended for prime time saturday intended for children. Not an in depth discussion and deep show which requires plasuible plot lines.
He forgets that for the majority, Doctor Who is not a mystery series, but rather an Sci-Fi/Action/Adventure series. You could apply his same logic to Star Trek. Who among us would think to use warp nacelle's to skim a nebulla for particles that can be used to help "refill" the food replicators? (Points to whoever knows what episode and series of Star Trek I'm referring to)
Pratchet Lives in an awfully large Glass house to be throwing stones like that around!!
Talking Stone Goblins talking to death, to film reels coming to life, if that isn't ludicrase as well.
I'll eat my HAT and Scarf ;-D
Maybe you're just not getting the British sense of humour (which might also explain the Discworld hate in this thread). He's affectionately mocking the oddities of Doctor Who. You did catch the bit where he says he's watched all of the new series, and started watching the program back when Bill Hartnell was on, yes? The childhood argument about how the classic theme goes? This is not a man who dislikes the show in the slightest.
About the only serious point that he's making is that there's really very little good science fiction (in the sense of hard science fiction) on TV. But he doesn't fault Doctor Who for not being hard SF; he faults those who think Doctor Who is hard SF.
It's one thing to defend Doctor Who against people who just don't want to get it, but Pratchett very obviously does understand what Doctor Who is all about.
Man needs to read that article by RTD where he talks about why it was an active decision (at least in his era) do so much traditional foreshadowing. It's a bit disappointing to hear a man like Prattchet getting so nigglie and demanding all things fall into the traditional categories of sf bla bla bla.
He did act a bit like tinkerbell in Last of the timelords though... or jesus....
Actually this is taken terribly out of context.
Here is the link to the full article: http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/05/03/guest-blog-terry-pratchett-on-doctor-who/
Pratchett's article expresses his enthusiasm for Doctor Who. He raises some valid points that applies to past seasons of Doctor Who but overall its an article that says "oh I find some of the solutions silly but I'm a huge fanboy anyway!!"
The news was reported as how it was written by the majority of news sites.
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.