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

Hi Dmitri! Thanks for this article, and again for this series. I don't always comment but I always read. Now here in South Africa as far as I know Dr. Who was never on the TV, so I have never seen a single episode. But I come across so many references to it that I decided I had to do some more investigating. And happily I came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MACX7tudqtI

And there are Dutch subtitles to boot!

Willem, I'm glad you found it and that it is Tom Baker one of our favourite doctors. He is definately a mental case but a very pleasant one. He was always Over-the-top in his acting style and the ability to be an alien gave him opportunities to express himself. I am sure that all the annoying British jingoism wouldn't go well in South Africa. But there was less of that crap in the earlier Doctor Whos.

Thanks, Willem. I'm hoping you get to see the new series sometime, as well.

We've been enjoying it - it's clever, and full of ideas.

I haven't watched the recent Dr Whos , I'm afraid. But yes, it's ridiculous to give Dr Who a UK-centric view of things. You might as well make a Martian salute the Union Jack.

But I'm interested in multiple normalities. If I write a story, of course I write it from my sense of the normal, which might be UK centric. But my characters don't necessarily share my sense of the normal. If I wrote a story about a British Asian family, I would have to understand their sense of the normal. That might be difficult but not impossible.

Mind expanding, this writing lark.

Indeed, MVP. Indeed.

You are not alone in hating the Blitz episode. I also found that particularly cloying. Plus, I was fed up with the Darleks as well - how many times can the Doctor defeat one enemy?

Yeah. We've got to the point where there appears to be only one Dalek left in the universe. But I'm sure it will come back.

Some of these are really good - I mean, the time-travel love affair with Madame de Pompadour, for example.

Oh YES! That one is lovely. The stand alone ones tend to be better than the plot ones, sometimes. Less need to be too dramatical, and they can be a bit more playful.

That is so true. Writers seem to try too hard when they do story arcs.

It's like the old 'X Files' series - the stand-alones were clever, but the cumulated weight of UFOs eventually killed the idea.