https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/breaking-doctor-who-legend-dies-37365091
Shocking news. I had no idea he was dealing with all that in the background. Poor man. My condolences to his family and friends. He wrote (and edited) some really great Doctor Who during the first round of the wilderness years.
He'll be greatly missed.
Uh huh... So it wasn't just a Doctor Who/RTD problem. It was an ambitious Google Executive wants to modernize the BBC (and will likely fail) problem - and Doctor Who just got caught in the headlights.
Figures. Google executives ruin everything. They're not in touch with pop culture (they're only interested in pop techniculture). What a shame.
Or neither? In light of Doctor Who going on hold indefinitely and RTD exiting stage right, what does this all mean for any new Doctor Who merchandise in future?
Will we ever see the Key to Time box set? Any new Character Options toys beyond what's already been announced for the near future? Can we expect the books to come back like the golden days of the NAs, PDAs, EDAs and MAs?
Or is Big Finish all we'll get from now on? Which doesn't excite me because all their productions in the past few years sound the same ie. Bang! Yeow! Watch Out, Doctor! Monotone dialogue on crack (note: I personally loved the early BF audios when Gary Russell was in charge because they really felt like genuinely dramatised and scored Doctor Who episodes whereas nowadays its a nostalgic cash grab with very one-note monsters and modulated sound effects).
I mean , if there's one thing I remember about the first run of the wilderness years, it was the incredible creativity that came from various media-related products. I'm not talking all that Time Lord Victorious crap; I'm talking about how the EDAs developed Sabbath as a long-running opponent, or how early BF developed an original fully fleshed out companion with a heart condition like Dr. Evelyn Smythe. The days when fans were rewarded with long and loyal story arcs for the recurring cast/TARDIS crew. Not all the short-sighted event content we see now that nobody can even remember to summarize after its over.
Are the animated Missing Episodes from the 60s now well and truly done for now? I know the BBC won't have an answer to this; but hopefully one day someone with vision will appear and say Yes! Absolutely!
At the request of another poster who was upset I posted a glowing review of the book in their own thread negatively ranting about Cassandra Khaw and Nothing But Blackened Teeth. I gladly repost my own glowing review as follows:
I loved Nothing But Blackened Teeth.
The characters were enjoyably meta and antagonistic; the prose was refreshingly razor sharp with its metaphors and cruel social observations and the atmosphere throughout was genuinely creepy. Even the audiobook is delightful.
I also liked that they didn't pander nor try to explain their Asian cultural references to a predominantly white audience (the same way Stephen King doesn't try to explain his American cultural references to a predominantly non-caucasian readership base that exists outside of the US and Europe.
I honestly don't get the hate for Cassandra Khaw or Nothing But Blackened Teeth (its completely unjustified) but the irony of the situation isn't lost on me at all.