Once before, I referred to long-term fans, or those who came to love Doctor Who through the pre-Hiatus series, as “paleowhovians.” I liked the symmetry with my own self-description as a neowhovian, since neo- and paleo- are the opposing prefixes from the Greek, but I thought maybe it didn’t sound very… complimentary, somehow, so I didn’t use it again.
It seems I’ve been proven wrong, though, since blogger friend Paul Greaves has appropriated it – and the title of my blog – for a post of his own. (I’ve officially been parodied. Does that mean I’ve arrived?) Some of the comments I read on Facebook about the post included the idea that the term “paleowhovian” would be embraced by at least some long-term fans, with no rancor whatsoever. So, for the purposes of this post, I’m going with it.
Many the things Paul mentioned in his confession are things that – despite my post-Hiatus entry into the fandom – completely gel with me. For instance, he echoed something I’d said in Confession #11, saying that the modern 45-minute episodes don’t really do anything for him. Even though that’s what stories were like from the beginning, from my perspective, I find that I prefer the slightly slower, more drawn-out pace of the pre-Hiatus serial format. True, sometimes it resulted in random padding and extraneous “plot” points, but I find that preferable to an incomplete or rushed storyline. So I’m with the paleowhovians there.
Another interesting point is the difference in character of the various Companions. Broadly grouped, the post-Hiatus Companions are always “taking every monster or alien in their stride, treating near-death experiences as though they mean nothing and showing little to no respect to the amazing, if flawed, man taking them around the universe,” as Paul puts it. His take is that this makes them less “normal” folks than superhero wannabes. (I find this description particularly apt with Amy. Exhibit A: her reaction to the situation before getting sent into the Asylum – “Scared? Who’s scared? Geronimo.”)
It fascinates me that these Companions – who RTD so clearly started out to be the audience surrogate, the person/people with whom the audience would easily connect and to whom we could relate – have turned so rapidly into Mary Sues. They’re the better, cooler versions of us, the Companions we wish we could be (or at least that’s the impression one gets that we’re supposed to think of them). And thus, we’re meant to be even more emotionally invested in them than in the Doctor, which just seems wrong somehow.
Speaking of how the audience relates, here’s where another of Paul’s points comes into play, and it really strikes a chord with me. Now I’ll be the first to admit that the strong “emotional aspect” is a big part of what drew me in (yeah, sadly I’m sometimes stereotypical that way). In fact, I just recently used that as the basis for my explanation of my fondness (less than it used to be, but still there) for Rose to someone who can’t stand her – and has a hard time understanding anyone who likes her. In the deluge of viewing that began my fandom, I fell in love with the Doctor as Rose did, and lived vicariously through her. So I’ll always have a special place in my fan-heart for her. That doesn’t mean I prefer her to other Companions, though. In fact, not only do I like Donna better, but there are some pre-Hiatus Companions that rank even higher, and I think all of those mental rankings can be traced back to how these other Companions are – quite frankly – more “real” in their characterizations.
But one thing that bugs me beyond everything else about the way things have changed is the blatant emotional manipulation of the audience. No one even pretends they’re doing something else. Moffat regularly tells us we’d better get our hankies ready because, oh, we’re going to cry! And, dammit, it works. The storytelling is often good enough for me to get caught up in it as I watch, and yes – I cry. And then I curse myself for doing it. Why not just tell a good story that makes people think? Why does it always have to be The Biggest Yet (or The Saddest Yet)?
So even though that’s how it’s been since I started watching (RTD kept trying to outdo himself each series, until there was practically nowhere left to go), I have to say I don’t necessarily like it better than “the good ol’ days” – despite the fact that I wasn’t a fan at the time. I may not qualify as a paleowhovian myself, but I can certainly see where they’re coming from. I think I’ll always love the post-Hiatus era (I can hardly deny it after my review of The Angels Take Manhattan); at the same time, I’ll always have a sense of nostalgia for that other era that passed me by while I wasn’t paying attention.
As if I needed another reason to wish for a TARDIS.
Reaction to a Parodiedwhovian
Ha! I have to say I’m slightly gobsmacked by this post. I didn’t think anyone really paid that much attention to what I write 😀
Interestingly, I have had a few people react exactly as I thought they might to that post, completely misunderstanding what I was saying and assuming that I was childishly kicking post-hiatus Who because I’m a reactionary old series fan. As you rightly saw, I wasn’t saying anything of the sort. I was simply acknowledging (mostly to myself, but on a public forum – go figure…) that it was okay for me to prefer the old series and to say why.
I was trying to do that without resorting to fannish histrionics and keep it straightforward. As it happens, I didn’t go into the whole emotional manipulation aspect, although I did consider it. Turns out you’ve said it for me, although I don’t react to it anymore precisely because its cynical play makes me cross.
If you love 21st century Who then good for you, you’re allowed and I wasn’t suggesting otherwise (got that, fans who DM’d me on Twitter in a huff?). I was merely saying that as much as everyone else is allowed to love it, I am equally allowed to not enjoy it as much as what came before. No right, no wrong, just opinion. And I felt tons better for admitting that to myself and not feeling like a treacherous not-we.
I’m glad that you and others can see what I was saying and can empathise.
Grok
Indeed I can! 🙂 What a boring world it would be if we all liked (or disliked) exactly the same stuff all the time! That's one reason I find my reader polls so interesting – S07E05 has ratings all up and down the board, for example. And that's the beauty of the show: eventually, everyone finds something to like.
You and your opinions are always welcome here!
Your Post
Paul, look forward to reading your post. I would like to comment once I finish. 🙂
My Post
Please do! I’ll read all comments, whether they agree with me or not 🙂
Traits of the Paleowhovian
I have to say I agree with some of those Paleowhovian ideas (I just know I am going to mis-type that word at some point and not catch it, so apologies ahead of time.) 🙂 I agree about slowing down the story a bit to allow for better dialogue, more “human” type reactions, and allowing a story to develop. The closest we have now are story arcs that develop over the 13 episodes in each series, which are not quite the same.
So, in case it’s not evident yet, I’m also a Neowhovian, mostly because of my age. I simply was not around during the pre-hiatus episodes. I am trying to watch them now, in order – which is nearly impossible, just because there is so many of them, and buying them can cost a pretty penny. When you ask for them as gifts, you just try to list the ones you don’t have and then you’re grateful for what you get, because the people buying them for you don’t really understand what ones go “in order,” and I’m not really going to look a gift horse in the mouth! I get gift cards as well.
So where was I going with this? I do agree with your interpretation of Rose, mr, that I enjoyed her as a companion, mostly vicariously, not as a person. That, as a female, who wouldn’t hop on the TARDIS and be head over heels in love with the Doctor – especially when he was David Tennant? As she noted: “He has really great hair!”
I felt the same way as Martha, that if I was on the TARDIS, it might be an unrequited type of love, and I felt sorry for her. I really liked Donna and admired her, but never could understand how she couldn’t have totally fallen for him as well, yet been all over Captain Jack! 🙂 In that way, I thought she was blind! And Captain Jack, I felt for him, too. His memorable conversation when he first met Martha and how they lamented the Doctor’s love for Rose (“Oh, she’s blond!” said Martha), well, I couldn’t have felt worse for them as characters. I’m blond, but not that blond, so I got it. And certainly not that Hollywood-ish.
Anyway, I digress. These post-Hiatus companions are a bit unreal/superhero like, I agree. Perhaps Captain Jack has lived in the future and experienced things, but the others sure haven’t! Amy is the worst, I think. Rory acts afraid at times, but it seems as these companions don’t have the proper fear gene or something. They just accept the Doctor as an alien (they exist and he’s friendly!) and jump into the TARDIS. Sure, they leave his side and explore on their own – when they’re on alien planets and stuff, no less! If it was me, I wouldn’t be leaving his side! It could be a bit more realistic; they could show SOME fear.
Plus, I also agree that RTD and now Moffat keep trying to top everything. It’s just not possible. Jeez, at the end of Series 4 (post-hiatus), I thought RTD was going to give himself a heart attack writing that finale. I could only imagine himself trying to pat himself on the back multiple times, thinking that he was topping everything in the entire Dr. Who universe. I enjoyed it and all, but I look forward to many more great episodes in the future.
In conclusion, I am looking forward to watching all those pre-hiatus episodes. I have a ton here that I have to get a start on – still on William Hartnell’s Doctor, but looking forward to others, and I have bought some from every Doctor, although I could use a few more of the third, sixth, and seventh.
So, I am a Neowhovian (I remember discovering my first episode, “Tooth and Claw,” and being immediately drawn to it – as I am to anything in the past – and really liking David Tennant, my first Doctor), and glad to be, since it is impossible for me to be anything but a Neowhovian, due to the laws of physics and my birth date, LOL. However, I fully embrace the Paleowhovians and have started watching those episodes and enjoy them greatly. I think it helps that I am a History Prof. and love anything from the past, but the stories are good as well – and I am a total Anglophile, which always helps. 🙂
Great to have you on board!
Welcome to the ranks of the neowhovians, Tree (though by the sound of it you actually got here sooner than I…? Did you see Tooth and Claw when it was first out?)! 🙂 It always warms my heart to find someone else who's willing to look at the post-Hiatus era a bit critically (no lemming-mind) and show some love for the pre-Hiatus era at the same time. I'm looking forward to many further conversations with you here!
Thanks!
It’s great to be on board! Thanks, mr!! Yes, I did watch “Tooth and Claw” when it first came out here in the States (back then, it was about 6 months after it came out in Britain), so we saw it here in the fall of 2006. I then went back and got the first “new” year with Christopher Eccelston – confused the heck out of me at first, because I didn’t realize that they had changed Doctors so quickly and I was like “what’s going on?” Tennant’s the Doctor! I didn’t know that I had caught the second episode of his very first series. LOL.
I started watching every week on the Sci-Fi Channel – that’s what it was on back then, and after that series, I waited with baited breath for the third one – again, we had to wait, here in America, but not as long that time, and I think by then it was on BBC America. I think it was just a month or two later than the original broadcasts. For the fourth series, with Donna, I had gotten my brother hooked, and we learned how to get on You Tube and get each segment from our British friends to get a complete episode, but by then, it was only a week or two behind in broadcasts. But we didn’t care, because we wanted it at the SAME TIME!
Thank goodness that now, we get it right away and even if we didn’t, there are things like Amazon Instant Video and iTunes! I remember on Christmas trying to find it on You Tube. It got harder and harder as they cracked down on those people posting it.
Since i started watching it, I was interested in the history. I immediately started watching the old ones and reading about the history of the show. It was completely different, but I knew it would be. Tennant will always be MY doctor, because that’s how I discovered it, but I still appreciate the other Doctors and other companions, writers, etc… and take a critical look at the show now. For example, I read your points on how the regenerations are now done and agree completely. Just because the 9th Doctor had golden light shooting out of him, why do the other Doctors and River now have that quality as well? I also thought it was meant to be representative of the Time Vortex and that’s why it happen with #9, because he took it from Rose with a kiss.
I’m in my late 30s and awaiting heart surgery (they found I have a faulty valve, probably from a bout with rheumatic fever i never knew I had – from strep throat when I was in my 20s, so it’s good to have the time to get on the computer and talk about my favorite show and watch some of the older episodes – although I recently moved and I’m having trouble finding some of them!! 🙁 ——- But to digress for a minute……
I like the show ‘The Office,” both Brit and US – and I’m watching it with Catherine Tate. I saw it last night and all I could think about was Donna. Miss her as Donna!
So thanks for the welcome and I look forward to many conversations with you as well!
Tree
A couple years, then
You're ahead of me by about two years, then, since I didn't become a fan until 2008 (mid-Series 4).
It would be great to be able to watch it directly on the BBC. Even a few hours' wait feels like torture sometimes. 🙂