Yes, Dr Who again (Natalie discused it here previously):
‘”It’s Christmas Day, a day of peace,” said chief writer Russell T Davies. “There is absolutely an anti-war message because that’s what I think.”
Actress Penelope Wilton plays the Prime Minister in the hour-long show.
In one scene she says of the US president: “He is not my boss and he is certainly not turning this into a war.”
Decision condemned
A later scene echoes former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s decision to sink the General Belgrano during the Falklands conflict in 1982.
Wilton’s Prime Minister orders the destruction of a retreating alien spaceship, a decision condemned by the Doctor.
“She does that very easy speech about not listening to the American president but at the end she’s out of her depth and she does the wrong thing,” said Mr Davies.’
The BBCs christmas message? Surrender to I-slam.
OT
Remember to vote! – only 2 days to go… (will BBC News online report the results?)
Best UK Blog 2005
http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/best_uk_blog.php
OT – The BBC must hate the new ‘recommended’ system on
(D)HYS. More often than not the No1 and majority of top 10 comments are of the common sense “man in the street” type. The lefties are in the minoritiy which is a true reflection of society, unlike the rigged and stuffed with socialists BBC programmes broadcast day in day out eg BBC1 Question Time, Radio 4 comedy slots, and R4 ‘Start The Week with Hand Wringers’ whinging and moaning:
Life in Iraq poll: Your views
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?sortBy=2&threadID=537&edition=1&ttl=20051213235118&#paginator
the current No.1 recommended comment:
“What is there to say?
The Iraqi people are optomistic for the first time in decades. They can speak openly without fear of Saddam. They can see democracy being created for them and their children.
Perhaps the anti war moaners and groaners will now SHUT UP!!
John Turner, Barry, United Kingdom”
Excellent!
OT – This is offensive. I feel sick, appauled and (strangely) ashamed of the BBC:
Tonight (Wednesday) BBC2 Newsnight
Newsnight stages “War Crimes Trial”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4507010.stm
How dare they do this? Are we powerless to stop this outrage?
…said chief writer Russell T Davies. “There is absolutely an anti-war message because that’s what I think.”
…she does the wrong thing,” said Mr Davies.’
isn’t this a candid confession of bias (in programming?)
doesn’t the impartiality clause in the charter include programming, and hence writers (or does it apply only to hard news?)? if it doesn’t, doesn’t that make the bias-free requirement pretty pointless, when all is said and done …and programmed?
Shouldn’t the quote be, “It’s Eid-al-Fitr, this is a day of peace?”
Shocked that the IBC would mention Christmas, especially in a series supposedly set in the future. I’ll expect it’ll have been completely wiped out by then.
I don’t think a requirement that individual dramas be bias-free is practicable. Don’t hold your breath waiting for one that celebrates anti-Beeb values, though.
What annoys me about Russell Davies’ plans is not that he has put political ideas into SF. One of the purposes of SF is to explore political ideas without the distraction of immediate loyalties. For instance, as Patrick Crozier pointed out to me, the 1970s Dr Who series about the Sea Devils has parallels with the conflict in Northern Ireland. [More follows]
i think there is a loophole in the charter that lets the bbc issue propaganda through shows such as “Dr Who”. not that i’ve ever watched an epsiode of these new series. gay daleks – no thanks.
[Continued] In a sense this coming episode is the opposite of the Sea Devils. The former aimed to let the viewer see an over-familiar conflict with fresh eyes, the latter – according to Davies himself – explicitly aims to divert the viewers’ gaze away from the sweep of the galaxy and back to (as far as I can see) a couple of chapter headings from the remaindered autobiography of Tam Dalyell MP.
Russell Davies may be the best writer Dr Who has ever had. Pity he has sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.
will BBC News online report the results?
Only if you don’t win.
In all fairness the Doctor has always been anti-war in the general rather than specific sense of the word.
I mean look at Doctor Three’s conflicts with the Brigadier over the use of Force. Personally I usually sided with the Brig but violence avoidance is part of Who the Doctor is.
Dr Who died with William Hartnell – after him it became a pantomime………and now it is just a trite romp. Didn’t Russell Davies write that gay melodrama “Queer As Folk” ? Looks like he’s got some animated puppets to speak his lines in this camp romp into irrelevance.
Who cares what the BBC does………it is a minority channel dying on its feet, it might as well cater to The Guardian crowd and their student journalism
This Doctor Who “plot”/political pamphlet is so childish it could have been written by a 16 year old member of the school Maoist Society.
“Who cares what the BBC does”, Rick.
The people who are jailed or who hand over money through fear of our State Broadcaster?
The people who are jailed or who hand over money through fear of our State Broadcaster?
Rob Read | 14.12.05 – 9:52 pm | #
They are only jailed if they decide to go to Court……I don’t think anyone lives in fear of the BBC. There used to be a dog licence which was widely ignored, and Road Fund Licence seems to have quite a lot of non-payers.
The TV Licence is a tax on ownership of a TV – the Germans tax DVD burners and recording media with a GEMA levy.
Slightly off topic I know but not only is a snowman (person?) on the cover of the Radio Times along with a dalek,but it (the cover) says “Merry Christmas”.I nearly fainted.Does the London issue have this cover?
Not only that,Breakfast News has not one but two Christmas (Winter?) trees on the set.Now can anybody confirm that my mince pies haven’t been laced and that you have seen these?
As an atheist who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, I was also surprised to see a Christmas tree on breakfast news, but pleased at the continuation of a tradition. Perhaps someone had been at the Sherry?
Another way the BBC are celebrating Christmas is to encourage “House blinging” by asking for pictures and nominations for the best. Now, I thought the BBC believed global climate change was exclusively (western) man made, and none of the “blinged” (blung?) houses round here have generating windmills on the roof, so surely they should be discouraged to cut electricity consumption? Or do the BBC want to promote Chav culture so they can criticise it in the new year (have I upset many B-BBC readers here?)?
Rick “The TV Licence is a tax on ownership of a TV”
Yes it is a poll tax, but used exclusively to fund the BBC.
That results in the BBC being as feather-bedded & immune to criticism as the rest of the public bureaucracy. Not only that (& for reasons I don’t understand), its dominance appears to force its agenda to be adopted by other broadcasters.