Fiona wrote:
I think perhaps a little too much emphasis has gotten placed, over the years, on the famous story of Nation writing a script to a tight deadline, then getting Boucher to do the edit while he goes away and works on the
next
one
I wasn't thinking so much of that as the everyday realities of writing for money and to deadlines, which has paid for my internet access for several years now....
However, from what I've heard, the editing was not so much Boucher having to rewrite the story, as him having to edit
down
the scenes which contained concepts they couldn't afford to realise (huge crowd scenes, pitched space battles etc) into something they could.
I'm already looking forward to hearing Boucher speak at Redemption 03.
the interesting bit is not in the solving of the mystery so much as in the watching of all the characters
but
Avon come up with convoluted rationalisations.
And I thought that was just filler... Certainly that was how the 'now let's search the ship for stowaways' came over to me. In fact, one of the real weaknesses of MtD was that *so much* of the episode just felt like repetitive filler. Lots of walking around dim corridors, lots of scenes with people fixing the unfixable, some very very bland dialogue... The whole thing could easily have been done in 20 minutes, and indeed the episode might have worked ok if it had been interlaced with a parallel plot (a la Bounty).
Technical point: an "extra" is a nonspeaking role; these are "supporting actors."
I stand corrected. (And won't be intimidated that easily...!)
The implication in the Blake and Vila exchange: "We've got to get back to them!" "Now I *know* I don't feel very well..." is that it did.
Yes, but why didn't it damage the ship, as the energy is too drained to maintain the force wall and main drive simultaneously?
Because, as you point out, the story is a Christie pastiche. And for it to work as a pastiche, it has to include Christie elements, chief among which is unfortunately the "now I've brought you all together to inform you that the murderer is one of you..." scene (sorry, I don't much care for Christie). Hence that scene.
But at least Poirot usually did it accompanied by an armed sidekick... (No, I'm not that fond of Christie either.)
Interesting, that's a reading I missed. At this stage in the series,
though,
it sounds like supposition-- going back through the script I can't find
any
implication that this is so.
It's just the conjunction of non-aligned, Federation have made approaches and threatened, then suddenly from nowhere deadly blight appears, in adjacent speeches. The story could easily have been developed that way.
They did make that episode though, it was called "Killer" :).
'Killer' was a slightly different premise, and the threat was not from the Federation. But a high proportion of the plots/themes end up repeating: certain MtD elements are rehashed in 'Assassin' for example.
Tavia
----- Original Message ----- From: Tavia mailto:tavia@btinternet.com
the interesting bit is not in the solving of the mystery so much as in the watching of all the characters
but
Avon come up with convoluted rationalisations.
And I thought that was just filler...
Seems not :).
Certainly that was how the 'now let's search the ship for stowaways' came over to me. In fact, one of the real weaknesses of MtD was that *so much* of the episode just felt like repetitive filler.
What you're talking about here, though, is the production. If it had been directed by say, Douglas Camfield, it might well have been a lot more interesting-- as it is, it's directed by the man who directed "Timelash," and what you get is a lot of uninspired interaction, dull lighting, poorly realised scenes etc. For instance, take a look at John Leeson. In "Gambit," the man's fantastic. Here, he's lacklustre. Now we know he's capable of turning out a good performance so it's not that he's a lousy actor-- it's that he lacks good direction.
Lots of walking around dim corridors, lots of scenes
with people fixing the unfixable, some very very bland dialogue...
I think the dialogue is delivered in a bland way-- the scenes with the crew sniping at each other could have been transposed onto The Robots of Death with little effort, but because of the different director, they lack the tension of the other show. By contrast, look at the Darrow line "There is, however, a problem" --now that *is* a prosaic line, but the way he delivers it renders it stunning.
The whole thing could easily have been done in 20 minutes, and indeed the episode might have worked ok if it had been interlaced with a parallel
plot
(a la Bounty).
The story relies on tension, shadow and intrigue. The direction, IMO, renders it into a rather dull piece of television. Anyway, there *was* a secondary storyline going on (albeit a prosaic one), with Blake discovering the deception about the neutrotope on board Liberator.
The implication in the Blake and Vila exchange: "We've got to get back to them!" "Now I *know* I don't feel very well..." is that it did.
Yes, but why didn't it damage the ship, as the energy is too drained to maintain the force wall and main drive simultaneously?
To go around the field would take them 336 hours-- however, it won't take them 336 hours to recharge their power supplies-- so it's still faster to wait for the recharge and go through it again. The reason why you don't see the second go through is a) it would be very boring :), and b) the field of asteroids is only there in the first place to cause the neutrotope's case to fall off the table and give them a reason to look into it and find it empty.
Because, as you point out, the story is a Christie pastiche. And for it
to
work as a pastiche, it has to include Christie elements, chief among
which
is unfortunately the "now I've brought you all together to inform you
that
the murderer is one of you..." scene (sorry, I don't much care for Christie). Hence that scene.
But at least Poirot usually did it accompanied by an armed sidekick...
(No,
I'm not that fond of Christie either.)
Well, Avon had Cally with him-- who at the time was still a tough woman rather than the chief teleport operator :).
It's just the conjunction of non-aligned, Federation have made approaches and threatened, then suddenly from nowhere deadly blight appears, in adjacent speeches. The story could easily have been developed that way.
But (unfortunately?) it wasn't.
They did make that episode though, it was called "Killer" :).
'Killer' was a slightly different premise, and the threat was not from the Federation.
No, but it was a reaction to the Federation-- or at any rate, someone else guarding against human expansion, which includes the Federation. Neat twist, I thought...
But a high proportion of the plots/themes end up repeating: certain MtD elements are rehashed in 'Assassin' for example.
Well, there's no such thing as an original storyline :)... but it does appear to have all been worked out.
Fiona
The Posthumous Memoirs of Secretary Rontane Utterly derivative at http://nyder.r67.net
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Fiona Moore -
Tavia