I saw a post noting the Hitchhiker's Guide vibes in Wild Blue Yonder, and noticed the replies were full of Doctor Who fans to whom the references were news - fair enough, obviously, Tumblr has a young and international population.

Most Who fans probably know the name Douglas Adams if only vaguely - that this independently successful author was also at once stage in the late 70s Script Editor for Doctor Who and himself wrote three very well-regarded serials for the show.

They may also be aware that he's a particular influence on New Who partly because of that direct connection, and partly because he's kind of to British and/or comedic science fiction what was Tolkein is to fantasy.

So the suggestion you try some Adams if you're a Doctor Who fan is probably not a new idea. But for many, diving into fairly tangentially related fiction from 40+ years ago might not seem very tempting on those grounds alone.

But just in case no one's told you, what Hitchhiker's Guide can offer you as a New Who fan is kind of more New Who.

As I say, though Adams was only briefly (though significantly) in charge of Who itself, his influence on modern Who writing is almost as big on its own as the rest of Classic Who combined.

And it's not just the voice and humour that will ring a bell.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is what happens when you tell the Doctor Who story but take away the Tardis from the Doctor figure. It's a twist on the Doctor Who format where an alien grabs a human away from Earth to travel through a mad galaxy with them, but this alien has no transport of his own and must thumb a ride, and instead of a Littlest Hobo urge to fix every bad situation he stumbles into wishes only to have a good time (bit of a Hartnell touch there I guess).

Crucially I'm not describing a parody of Doctor Who. I don't now that Adams was even super conscious of this read of his most famous tale. But he had certain archetypes in his brain and the comedy writer's habit of wondering 'what if X but Y' and what you get from it could absolutely be described as the Doctor Who show of a different timeline. Something which offers all the pleasures of Doctor Who approached from a different angle.

Finally, in terms of what format to seek out (because Hitchhiker's exists as a radio serial, a set of novels, a TV series and a much later film adaptation) I'd strongly recommend the radio series. In general, and specifically as having the most of offer Doctor Who fans.

The books have become often regarded as somehow the central 'canon' because people assume as books they must have come first. In fact the radio series came first.

I also think it couldn't be more perfect for Doctor Who fans because like that show it's got all the pleasures of great performances as well as the great writing (there is a Hitchhiker's TV series but trust me when I say this is tale built for audio). It's not just full of great performances delivering Adams' comedy perfectly, it also feels huge; the music and sound design evoking such an existentially big, grand, weird, thrilling universe. So especially if you already like Big Finish stories but haven't listened to Hitchhiker's Guide before, you've got such a Who-ish treat awaiting you.

(Toppodcast dot com has it all available.)

#the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy #doctor who #douglas adams #cw warning naturally for the occassional piece of language or framing #nothing egregious that I remember but it's an older text now

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mirkwood-spider-express

ninemelodies

this scene. this fucking scene. when i watched this the first time it really struck me how much 14 has grown. 10 wouldn’t have let that argument go. they would’ve kept pushing buttons until one of them stormed off. but 14 stops, cuts himself off mid-sentence and walks away to take a breath.

“no,” he says. no we’re not doing this. no it’s not my fault. no it’s not your fault. it’s a shitty situation and they’re both stressed and afraid.

and then he apologizes even though he didn’t start the argument and he didn’t spill the coffee. ~~and it was definitely donna’s fault but sometimes being best friends means you let things go and you lie a little because your friendship is more important than being right~~

AND THEN HE COMFORTS HER. without her asking and without her initiating it.

#14 is like immediately my favourite Doctor #and I'd been worried that disliking Tennant's performance in Good Omens had put me off him in general #Doctor Who

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turtlesstampede

cerullos

this is still….so funny

It was

Great thing about this episode is they blew the whole VFX budget for the season and basically the entire music budget on Tainted Love and Toxic that it resulted in cheaper effects and a cheaper score for the rest of the season and they really didn’t have to do that.

no, I digress, they did have to do that and aren’t we glad they did

libertineangel

Also worth remembering that this was literally the second episode of the first reboot series, the BBC took the gamble of bringing back Doctor Who after sixteen years and they blew the budget after two episodes.

nestofstraightlines

It was an expensive episode not because they carelessly blew the budget but because it was designed to be expensive - to be the showcase of what the show could do effects/production-design-wise at its best.

And they didn’t blow any budget on Britney or Soft Cell because the BBC has a blanket agreement with the PRS for licensed music. BBC productions can use whatever music they like.

#doctor who

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susurrationofthewind

cerullos

this is still….so funny

It was

nestofstraightlines

The BBC has a blanket license agreement for music meaning they can use whatever track they like (these are usually replaced by serial-numbers-rubbed-off tracks when the show is rebroadcast abroad, by Netflix etc)

#doctor who

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whybedennydifferent

farminglesbian

The writers and producers unashamedly cracking up over their own little joke of just putting ‘Donna does a little mime’ in the script for “Partners in Crime” and letting Catherine Tate figure out on her own what to do with that

(DW Confidential, “A Noble Return”, 2008)

#Doctor Who

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ritchandspace

soz moff

Just to explain this, not only have Moffat’s specials had gradually declining ratings, but Davies’ lowest Audience Appreciation Index figure is only beaten by one of Moffat’s 7 xmas eps

#stephen moffat #russel t davies #doctor who

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Why does the man behind 'Doctor Who' and 'Sherlock' still have a job?

www.dailydot.com

Steven Moffat’s dismissive attitude toward women somehow seems to help his career.

this article is so so important please read it

holy shit, though. wow.

OH.MY.GOD. it has EVERY QUOTE. WITH A LINK. this article must’ve been burning in this writer’s mind for ages…well done.

bookshop

True story: when I initially pitched this article, my editor thought I was joking and squelched it, and I went back and screamed at him a lot until he understood there is NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THE RAGE-INDUCING EFFECTS OF STEVEN MOFFAT and let me write it, haha.

(Also, since a lot of people have been questioning the veracity of the quotes, I just want to say that everything in “” in the article is a word-for-word quote that comes from either a video/radio or print interview by Moffat, or a tweet from his now-deleted twitter, or a line one of his characters says. Every other link is tied to arguments about the narratives of his series, so yes, it’s all as verified as we could possibly make it.)

vaspider

I haven’t watched Sherlock or Doctor Who in a long time. This is basically why.

roachpatrol

i hate this guy so much

nestofstraightlines

I was reading Film Crit Hulk’s praise of Under The Skin earlier and he opens by describing a problem he perceives in a lot of popular entertainent right now:

“For instance, the number one thing you see in popular artistic interpretation is what I call "left-brain puzzle logic." You saw this hit the internet in a big way with shows like Lost, where it was assumed the narrative was a big elaborate web of hints and answers and allusions that simply had to be figured out as it were all just a puzzle - one that would of course speak to the who, the what, and the why of the actual plot itself. As an extension of this, you've seen crazy fan theories in general ("Why Ferris Beuller is like Fight Club!" or "These two random films take place in the same universe!" etc.)... To me, it all suggests the radical assumption that a story only need to make a very intricate kind of logical sense and not much else. Story is only something to be "deciphered."

And Moffat is perhaps the one out there doing this the most, to the most acclaim. Now, of course, it makes sense for Sherlock Holmes stories to be partly puzzle-solving exercise, they’re mystery stories. But there’s a difference between a show using a puzzle as a plot-moving device, and being an empty series of tricksy clues that amount to a mess less than the sum of its parts. As FCH goes on to say,

“Now, while a) there's no wrong way to enjoy a story I guess and b) there's nothing inherently wrong with puzzle-logic thinking (who doesn't love a good puzzle?) the reason most of these puzzle-logic approaches to cinema are pretty terrible is because it is largely ignorant of dramatic storytelling's very purpose. Stories aren't just cogent arguments. Stories are involving experiences designed to communicate something meaningful about life directly to us. Yes, there is a necessary logic to get there, as there is in anything, but dramatic answers are meant to be emotional, moving, cathartic, and meaningful. These are thematic answers, built off character and dramatization that is made clear. And when you look too much to puzzle logic for those answers, you'll find it often leads to astounding dramatic disappointment.

For me, Sherlock became this empty semi-coherent puzzle several series ago. And it’s such a shame because I LOVED the first three episodes. Even the second outing was pretty solid. The same really applies to Doctor Who. I still love Moffat episodes from the Davies era, and a fair few of Eleven’s earlier episodes. Moffat’s problem is that he doesn’t seem to be able to keep sight of, or perhaps even understand, what story he’s telling, let alone how to tell it. Put crudely, his belief that cleverness is all that matters, rather than cleverness being a tool used to tell a story, means his shows pretty quickly disappear up their own arsehole. He can write a good line, even a good episode, but as a showrunner he’s a hack. because he doesn’t understand the law of diminishing returns to his approach. His writing can only operate successfully within the context of external authority. With Doctor Who and Sherlock, the sheer weight of these as existing established franchises meant that as long as he wasn’t running the asylum his work played nicely. The canon was a tether to the vacuous kite that is Moffat’s imagination. As soon as he was in charge - whether by dint of being made show-runner as with Who, or by dint of gaining confidence/arrogance after a wildly successful first outing as with Sherlock - the kite strings came adrift and has bobbed aimlessly around on the breeze ever since. It’s why he doesn’t see his own prejudices and offensive writing too. Lacking any sensitivity to narrative, he is prey to other people’s. In my opinion he exposits tired old tropes about women, non-straight people, non-white cultures etc in his writing not because of anything prejudiced he really believes but more because he lacks the critical thinking skills to exit a very conservative way of thinking. He’s clever, but not intelligent, and he’s not wise enough to recognise the traps into which he constantly falls.

#stephen moffat #it's been a long time since my last Moffat rant #Sherlock #Doctor Who

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everyonehatesstrudel

allhailthemightyquattro

10 Scenes: Season Two

“Let me tell you something about those who get left behind…”

Love and Monsters

nestofstraightlines

I think the reason I prefer Russell T. Davies' writing to Moffat's boils down to: people are not a joke to Davies

#Doctor Who #Russell T Davies #stephen moffat

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ritchandspace

I was really hoping to have an episode where we found out how the Doctor might end up telling River his name (without actually revealing the name to us)

But I feel like Moffat repeatedly wrote River’s final goodbye instead?

1) Forest of the Dead - River dies

2) Last Day - mini episode, The Doctor takes River to the singing towers

3) Name of the Doctor - Ghost River and the Doctor say goodbye

4) The Husbands of River Song - The Doctor takes River to the singing towers

And actually thinking about it, Clara got a bunch of final episodes too

1) Death in Heaven - Clara leaves the Doctor

2) Last Christmas - Clara leaves the Doctor, but wait its all a dream

3) Face the Raven - Clara dies

4) Hell Bent - Clara un-dies, but leaves the Doctor

And I feel like the emotional value of a final goodbye is as valueless as any Moffat death when done like this?

#totes agree #Moffat has no self restraint #like anything worth doing is worth beating into the ground #Doctor Who

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roachpatrol

penguintim

Based on this post credit for the bottom gif

#doctor who #Steven Moffat

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ritchandspace

nestofstraightlines

I feel like I haven’t been devoting enough time to calling Steven Moffat a hack lately.

#Steven Moffat #Doctor Who

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ooksaidthelibrarian

cleowho

"Perhaps this is my new persona."

Time and the Rani - season 24 - 1987

nestofstraightlines

He was my Doctor and he's still my favourite (and I wanted very badly to be Ace)

#doctor who #sylvester mccoy

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turtlesstampede

stagemanagertraci

Sean Pertwee dressed up as his father Jon Pertwee for Halloween.

(picture via Sean Pertwee Instagram)

CUTEST THING EVER. <3 <3

nestofstraightlines

This is the coolest thing!

#Sean Pertwee #He's my headcanon Vimes sometimes #Doctor Who #John Pertwee

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The Problem With Moffat Era Doctor Who (By Claudia Boleyn)

Now, there have been a ton of posts on this, and if you’re interested you should definitely check out: stfu-moffat.tumblr.com . It’s an excellent resource including many of his quotes and brilliant commentaries on his era. I’m not here to brand Moffat as a sexist, but take a look at the evidence and make of that what you will.

This isn’t going to be a mere list of sexist events in Moffat’s era. More a personal explanation of why I take such offence at what has happened to Doctor Who since Moffat took over. I get a lot of asks about it, so I thought it may be helpful to finally motivate myself and put my reasoning out there.

#Doctor Who #feminism #STFU Moffat #don't you think he looks tired

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macpye

bahrmp3

Moffat really needs to stop making the Doctor comment on Clara’s body and appearance. Not only is it sexist but it is also damaging!

To little girls who would think that this is normal behaviour, that how they look is just a funny gag.
The little boys who would imitate the Doctor.
The women who watch this and are shocked to see what they experience everyday in life is on Doctor Who as well.

If you do not believe me read what karmaplus’s cousin said after watching an episode. Please note that karmaplus doesn’t want to discuss this any more.

linnealurks

I’ve started compiling a list of Twelve’s put-downs of Clara, which I’ll be updating as new episodes come out. (I included remarks about her being a control freak, not just her appearance.)

So far there are two episodes in which Twelve doesn’t insult Clara - Robots of Sherwood and Kill the Moon. And guess what? Those are the two that Moffat didn’t write or co-write.

nestofstraightlines

It's as if he thinks it's OK because Clara - or Jenna Louise Coleman- is clearly extremely conventionally pretty and slim. In fact, as if she needs to be taken down a peg or two because of her attractiveness. It's that old female Catch 22 of being required to meet a man's standards of physical attractiveness (I think it's safe to say that though Coleman is an extremely talented and likeable actor, she wouldn't have got the gig if she weren't a babe. Look at Moffat's track record), but at the same time being criticised for perceived self-satisfaction and vanity.

This is the writing of a Nice Guy: misplaced anger because he projects vanity and bitchiness onto women who are out of their league.

This is bullshit just on the personal level: I have friends every bit as conventionally gorgeous as Jenna and they're not secure about their looks. What people say matters. If they had a close friend constantly making negative comments however 'naive' or 'humourously tactless' those comments were, the women in question would very quickly begin to feel really bad about themselves (and, I imagine, kick that 'friend' out of their lives quick sharp).

And even if Clara's self-possession meant these comments were water off a duck's back, it's still not OK to make someone feel self-conscious and judged for something they never asked for approval on.

More widely, this make me hate Moffat almost more than anything else, because young girls' lives are a barrage of messages that their physical appearance matters above all else, and this is one of the worst examples I have seen on a pretty awful playing field.

As is often the case, misogyny in Moffat's work manifests as a response to earlier deficiencies in his own writing. For example, in LEt's Kill Hitler, he has the Doctor explain the contradictions in River's behavious with. 'she's a woman'. The real reason fo her confusing actions is piss-poor writing by Moffat but like many horribly prejudiced people he finds it easier to place the blame with the othered group than look to himself.

So here, the 'running gag' of Clara's appearance arises because Moffat find he has neglected to write Clara an actual personality or character arc. He's at a loss to know what to write about her except her looks.

#Steven Moffat #Doctor Who #stfu moffat #don't you think he looks tired

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knifesquidblr

I am so heartbroken by the convo I just had with my cuz

cthulhuvsdeathstar.tumblr.com

I Asked my 9 year old cousin Emma if she wanted to be on the phone with me when she watched DW tonight. She’s only allowed to stay up late when DW is on - it’s on an hour later here in Denmark, timezones yo. (she has watched all episodes in the past year and I introduced her...

nestofstraightlines

What a disgusting turd Moffat is.

#steven Moffat #doctor who

nestofstraightlines

www.bbc.co.uk

'The Doctor And Douglas' - Radio 4 documentary with John Culshaw about Douglas Adams' time script-editing Doctor Who.

(Grit your teeth for - mercifully limited - comment from Steven Moffat at his 'he's a great person, aren't I?' finest. I notice he recently ripped off a Hitchhiker's joke, incidentally).

#Douglas Adams #Doctor Who #Radio 4 #BBC