h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

46!! That's not bad!!

Found this vid on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afBkMIgj-Rc
I quite like it
What do you lot think of it?

Clive wrote:

"I guess the scriptwriters *have* seen Alien and Aliens."

Haha - course they have, but the point is, their target audience hasn't. Russell T Davies has said in the past that, just like the show in the 1970s, they take familiar themes that the adults might recognise, but try to present them for the younger viewers who won't have seen them.

You can see this in episodes like 'Tooth and Claw' (Werewolves!), 'The Unquiet Dead' (Zombies!) and especially on the Sarah Jane Adventures, where they do things like haunted houses. SJA covers a lot of the themes that children's drama used to do all the time (anyone remember being scared witless by that episode of Dramarama with the wrestler who wore a mask to hide his hideous face? ).

When the show came back in 2005, I cushioned myself against disappointment by reminding myself it's not being made for me any more. It's there to bring families together and entertain 7-14 year-olds - which it does astoundingly well. Boys AND girls across the country love the show. I'm just glad I've been able to enjoy pretty much every episode too. Phew!

>When the show came back in 2005, I cushioned myself against disappointment by reminding myself it's not being made for me any more.

Why do people persist with this silly sentimentalism? Yes, it is made for kids but it's also made for YOU and just about everyone else in the country. It's a nakedly populist show and it pulls in massive amounts of viewers. Russell T Davies himself has stated that they make the show for "children and adults" because it's "come full circle". Don't sit down and watch it thinking of your childhood self through rose-tinted glasses, watch it and judge it as you would any other show - if it disappoints you it has *failed*.

It's not even like this is anything new. I've been watching a few of the older series recently and, the Hartnell episodes aside, it's quite obvious they were writing for more than just kids. Regardless of the fact the BBC saw it as a children's show the writers were clearly throwing their net wider and thank goodness they did otherwise it wouldn't have persisted so long.

Zagred wrote:

Why do people persist with this silly sentimentalism? Yes, it is made for kids but it's also made for YOU and just about everyone else in the country.<<

Yes, we know that *now*, but remember, the only official new episode we'd had since the show was cancelled was the TV movie. Even after all this time, I'm not sure who that was made for, but it wasn't me. Within about five minutes of 'Rose', I relaxed and thanked my lucky stars they were making the show for me too. Good job really - I watched that first episode alongside the man who's now the script editor of David Tennant's last three episodes.

>> It's not even like this is anything new. I've been watching a few of the older series recently and, the Hartnell episodes aside, it's quite obvious they were writing for more than just kids. Regardless of the fact the BBC saw it as a children's show the writers were clearly throwing their net wider and thank goodness they did otherwise it wouldn't have persisted so long.<<

Bit of a tricky one there, Zagreb. They *were* making it for kids, as well as the whole family. The problem comes from the fact that the Children's Drama department had been closed down earlier in the year. Had it still been operational, the show might well have been officially a 'children's' show. As it was, it got made by the Drama department by default. Remember also, the topics they were delving into were ones that many grammar-school kids would be expected to know - such as the story of Marco Polo, or the Aztecs.

Thanks to fan reconstructions, I've now seen every episode in order of transmission (I'm currently up to 'Resurrection of the Daleks' in a watch-through that's so far taken 18 months since I first started watching them in order again) and I do adore those early Hartnell stories. What's especially fun is seeing things like 'stunt casting', 'Doctor-lite' episodes, a focus on the companions over the Doctor, a much heavier 'soap' element than in the 1970s and lurching from comedy to tragedy - all things that the modern series is accused of as if it's a criticism.

Grr - scuse my typing - Zagreb!

New logo:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/features/videos/video_new_logo_02

put your money where your geekhood is:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/12/01/doctor-who-medals-are-sure-to-be-a-winner-with-fans-91466-25291349/

"DOCTOR Who and the Daleks are to be immortalised in a new collection of commemorative medals.
Iconic characters from the hit sci-fi show have been cast in gold and silver by the Royal Mint at Llantrisant."

>Bit of a tricky one there, Zagreb. They *were* making it for kids, as well as the whole family. The problem comes from the fact that the Children's Drama department had been closed down earlier in the year. Had it still been operational, the show might well have been officially a 'children's' show. As it was, it got made by the Drama department by default. Remember also, the topics they were delving into were ones that many grammar-school kids would be expected to know - such as the story of Marco Polo, or the Aztecs.

The Hartnell years were definitely kid-oriented (and intended to educate in the usual Reithian manner, hence all the historical episodes). I was alluding more to the Pertwee/Baker years where they were obviously trying to embrace all kinds of genre including horror. Got them into trouble with Mary Whitehouse, I seem to recall.

I think it's interesting that people talk about 'The classic series' as though it was some sort of constant even though it really seems to have split into three distinct eras roughly according to decade. The Hartnell/Troughton years were basically a British sci-fi show in a very '60s style. In the '70s the whole thing becomes more Earthbound, takes on the darker tone common to 70s TV (including childrens' and family TV - see Sapphire and Steel) and makes obvious sops to the fact that much of the audience have "grown-up with" the show. By the '80s and JNT the whole thing ditches much of the darkness and becomes more jolly, lighter and colourful but also becomes more explicitly political in step with the general atmosphere in the country at the time. Weirdly, this was around the time that the show's audience were deserting it and, audience-wise, it was basically becoming a kids' show again; so we had daft, colourful, lighthearted sci-fi nonsense which also wanted to lecture us about monetarism. There's some great stuff in the last few seasons but it's also possible to see why the BBC wanted to put it on the shelf. I watched the first episode of "Battlefield" recently and, although it's pretty good, it's very hard to imagine it going out on an early Saturday evening. It was, by then, looking like the weekday evening show it had become.

I meant "Survival", not "Battlefield" btw. Although I'm sure the same description applies.

The show seemed to change direction with changes of producer. So I'd split the Pertwee stuff off from the (Tom) Baker stuff, and even split Baker's stuff into a 'great' first few seasons with the horror-oriented Phillip Hichcliffe, then went downhill a little with the Graham Williams stuff, before finally seguing into the JNT stuff, which I will always associate with bright, priamry colours. I would put the final 2 seasons as stylistically separate (and better) due to the influences (among others) of Andrew Cartmell as script editor.

Gif

to spin the convo off slightly The hichhikers guide to the galaxy has this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OCtALC4nJI ,to say about daleks

Very nice ... definitely one of the better bits of Youtubery ...

Loved it!

Yes, very nice but I prefer this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ1aC5YnyiI

Probably says a lot about my sense of humour....

that first clip was fantastic!

Deb

Radio Times listings:

End of Time pt 1 Christmas Day 18.00-19.00
End of Time pt 2 New Year's Day 18.40-19.55

Yay, a 75 minute special to say goodbye to DT

And apparently we will cry. Lots. *Not* a good start to the year.

Mol

hmmm, I guess that means I'm going to be in channel surfing mode so I can skip of the trademark RTD sickenly emotional bits that go on for ever and really over egg the whole thing.

Oh well.

Do you mean 'Season Two'?

Gif