Pratchett Attacks Doctor Who

[Legion]

Is he fucking serious?

He makes his living writing fantasy novels, with clairvoyants, magic, and all that shit.

And yet he calls out Doctor Who?

What a lunatic.

Pratchett writes Fantasy, Dr Who is Science Fiction. The concept of it is that it's supposed to be based upon science somewhere down the line. In Star Wars people can't breathe in outer space for example, and if they did, people would wonder why the hell they can.

Regardless, this is a UK newspaper reporting this, the chances are it was all taken completely out of context anyway, you wouldn't believe the crap they can get away with.

I think what he's saying is that the science in the series has no background or explanation.
Like on his example teleporting to the moon with a force field is ok in sci-fi but you see nothing of the mechanisms that do this, it's basically just used as a plot device.

Basically yes. He thinks that using a single sentence to magically explain away things that wouldn't normally make any sense doesn't fit the genre.

 

[Nightfalke]

I think I am in agreement with a lot of the other posters here...

Terry Pratchet is complaining that someone's plot is being held together by a bit of string and chewed bubblegum?

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[Sylocat]

The solution is obvious: Terry Pratchett should write an episode for the new series, and show us all how it's done.

 

[Keava]

Here's my thing. He's not wrong - Dr. Who relies on the "magic wand" solution rather a lot. My point is....so bloody what? So long as the stories are still fun, who cares if the solutions to problems is a bit whizbangy? Just because it's sci fi, that doesn't mean it has to have basis in genuine science.

I mean, come on, the TARDIS has a pool for crying out loud. Are we really going to get upset at a bit of deus ex machina?

Now, if you want to say that such methods diminish the storytelling, that's a whole other discussion, and one that I think has some merit. But to say that the show is doing something wrong by, for example, whisking Martha's hospital to the moon...who cares that it's a silly set up? It made for a fun episode, didn't it?

Well, pretty much he exactly said that. He just criticized the storytelling part where things are resolved just because they have to be resolved, through means a la Deus Ex Machina. Pointing out flaws is, as far as im aware, is not a crime ^^

He did say he still likes the show and will watch it just because its fun and entertaining enough despite the issues with either lack of convincing solutions or bending the science part of sci-fi genre.

 

[El Poncho]

It's all to do with Quantum.

That was a bad attempt at a joke, sorry D:

 

[AboveUp]

Is he fucking serious?

He makes his living writing fantasy novels, with clairvoyants, magic, and all that shit.

And yet he calls out Doctor Who?

What a lunatic.

Actually he writes a fantasy series in which systematically magic is being replaced with magicky science and structure and doing a fairly good job at it. It's amazing how much he tries to avoid having magic being an answer for things and even when he does he still tends to end it in the least magical way possible.

With the exception of the first 10 books or so. Although one of those books ended up with a Dragon being arrested by the city watch and having its rights read to it.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

The solution is obvious: Terry Pratchett should write an episode for the new series, and show us all how it's done.

Exactly, in fact since Neil Gaiman is doing one too, I'd love to see a Good Omens sequel set to the backdrop of Doctor Who.

 

[Christopher Waldron]

It's not a documentary Mr Pratchett, it's meant for entertainment.

 

[manythings]

I think people are just half reading what he said up there. He takes the same issue with Doctor Who that I take with Harry Potter.

"Oh no! X Has happened! We're DOOOOOOOMED!"
"Wait a second I just happen to have learned the EXACT spell needed to counter X in a class last week, Good thing X didn't happen 8 days ago."
"Phew Harry the world is saved."

It's just plot device use, read a discworld novel and it isn't just X and -X situations. THINGS HAPPEN IN THE WHOLE NARRATIVE. They aren't just effervescent.

 

[Jonny49]

I agree with him. Doctor Who just pisses me off when it does this.

 

[Billion Backs]

Is he fucking serious?

He makes his living writing fantasy novels, with clairvoyants, magic, and all that shit.

And yet he calls out Doctor Who?

What a lunatic.

Clearly, you didn't understand shit about what he said.

There is a HUGE difference between creating a fictional world with established rules unlike those on Earth - things like magic, generic sci-fi stuff, and so on, where things generally happen by these rules, however strange and complicated they might be, and simply resolving plots through use of Deus Ex Machina.

[link]http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina [/link]

Here, enjoy losing hours of your time. Bwahaha, I sacrifice your collective productivity to Tv Tropes!

 

[scotth266]

[HEADING=1]Hey, I have a cool idea: why don't people READ THE ENTIRE POST.[/HEADING]

Prachett says at the bottom that he still enjoys/watches Doctor Who. He just takes exception to the overuse of the Magic Wand approach in a Sci-Fi series. I believe that his point is that Doctor Who is a very "soft-sci" in its approach, and that he likes to see more "hard-sci" in his shows.

Are people not allowed to have an opinion anymore without being insulted?

 

[FinalDream]

Meh, its all opinion. He doesn't like the makeitupasyougalongeum of Dr Who and I don't like his books.Hardly worth the title "Attacks Dr Who" given he later states to finding it entertaining.

 

[Rainheart]

Pratchet needs a hobby. Like collecting buttons. Give him something better to do than look for faults in a random television program.

... Do you know who Terry Pratchett is? I have to ask because if this was sarcasm it's hard to tell.

I say you need a better hobby, like crocheting, than taking random posts on the internet seriously.

Random. Ah...a. Interesting choice of words.

While I can totally understand Terry Pratchett's concern with the story and his frustration, he shouldn't really go out and say things like that. Doctor Who is entertainment and it doesn't need to be clever at all.
Then again, it would definitely annoy me, if something does not fit within a certain universe, be it TV, book or game.

 

[Neosage]

Is he fucking serious?

He makes his living writing fantasy novels, with clairvoyants, magic, and all that shit.

And yet he calls out Doctor Who?

What a lunatic.

Pratchett writes Fantasy, Dr Who is Science Fiction. The concept of it is that it's supposed to be based upon science somewhere down the line. In Star Wars people can't breathe in outer space for example, and if they did, people would wonder why the hell they can.
Regardless, this is a UK newspaper reporting this, the chances are it was all taken completely out of context anyway, you wouldn't believe the crap they can get away with.

First off, it's the Guardian. Secondly, I'm sure if I tried I could think of things wrong with the majority of Science-Fiction, that doesn't make them any less "Sci-Fi", does it? I don't see how it's not science-fiction, just because a bit of it isn't scientifically correct.

[HEADING=2]Hey, I have a cool idea: why don't people READ THE ENTIRE POST.[/HEADING]

Prachett says at the bottom that he still enjoys/watches Doctor Who. He just takes exception to the overuse of the Magic Wand approach in a Sci-Fi series. I believe that his point is that Doctor Who is a very "soft-sci" in its approach, and that he likes to see more "hard-sci" in his shows.

Are people not allowed to have an opinion anymore without being insulted?

I blame the title of the news post on here, "Pratchett Attacks Doctor Who".

Edit: For anyone that is interested, and yes it is already posted in the news post, the original article is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/tvandradioblog/2010/may/04/terry-pratchett-ludicrous-doctor-who

 

[Legion]

Is he fucking serious?

He makes his living writing fantasy novels, with clairvoyants, magic, and all that shit.

And yet he calls out Doctor Who?

What a lunatic.

Pratchett writes Fantasy, Dr Who is Science Fiction. The concept of it is that it's supposed to be based upon science somewhere down the line. In Star Wars people can't breathe in outer space for example, and if they did, people would wonder why the hell they can.
Regardless, this is a UK newspaper reporting this, the chances are it was all taken completely out of context anyway, you wouldn't believe the crap they can get away with.

First off, it's the Guardian. Secondly, I'm sure if I tried I could think of things wrong with the majority of Science-Fiction, that doesn't make them any less "Sci-Fi", does it? I don't see how it's not science-fiction, just because a bit of it isn't scientifically correct.

I was simply explaining his logic, I never said it was my own opinion.

 

[Scabadus]

Just because it's sci fi, that doesn't mean it has to have basis in genuine science.

I was going to just shout 'LIES' at you and move on, but doing that to someone with a yellow name would be rather silly wouldn't it?

Seriously though, it's interesting you should say that; I've always found the difference between Sci-Fi and Fantasy (and the reason I prefer the former) to be that Sci-Fi attempts to justify its actions. To instantly cook a pie a mage just shoots it with a fireball, a Sci-Fi warriour sets up an overlapping series of quantum waveforms to pull potential energy out of the room and heat the pie. It's still one sentance, just like the forcefield around Martha's hospital, but at least it sounds like it could work. Ish. At least there was a forcefield, it wasn't just magic.

 

[Nightfalke]

Are people not allowed to have an opinion anymore without being insulted?

When you put your opinion in a public forum, then you have no right to ***** when someone doesn't like it and says so.

 

[Nevyrmoore]

Are people not allowed to have an opinion anymore without being insulted?

When you put your opinion in a public forum, then you have no right to ***** when someone doesn't like it and says so.

There's a difference between saying "I respect your opinion, but I think you're wrong, and here is why..." and "What a lunatic" [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.192684-Pratchett-Attacks-Doctor-Who#6083560]. One is being respectful, the other is being insulting.

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

...this is kind of an odd rant coming from the man who came up with so many absurd concepts himself...i do get where he's coming from. Doctor Who, like star trek sorta pulls solutions out of it's ass. Pratchette on the other hand seems to come up with surprisingly practical answers to his absurd situations.