Doctor Who - for adults only (Very Scary)

LordSutch

Anybody else think there should be a 'Scary version' of Doctor Who, for adults only?

I recently heard 'Steve Moffatt' being interviewed on the BBC regarding certain episodes of Doctor Who where the content was deemed 'Too Scary' for children to watch - this resulted in the 'Scary' parts being watered down for kiddie consumption - so as not to give them nightmares!

Apparently, in the episode 'The Doctor Dances' are you my mummy . . . it was deemed too scary to hear the sound of peoples skulls 'cracking' as they enlarged to take on the form of a Gas Mask !!! so the sound effects were turned off

So I think the BBC should make 'An Adult/Scary version' of Doctor Who to be shown after the watershed, no holes barred, skulls cracking, full blown scary monsters (ala Jeepers creepers)! scaring the wits out of Adults - after the kids have gone to bed ................

I'm not talking 'Chainsaw Massacre' here, just the odd nail biting scene like you would come across in 'Alien'?

Anyone agree ?

ixoy

The adult wing of the franchise is "Torchwood" though and I believe that sound effect was restored for the DVD release.
I would like to see the show become a little more mature (which I believe it will under Moffat) but that certainly doesn't mean you need to increase the gore count. I often find the kid wing of the franchise - "The Sarah Jane Adventures" - equally as mature, if not more so, than many of the parent shows episodes.

mike65

I think Dr Who should be fun for all the family in a slightly scary way, a more viseral/moody version would unbalance the "brand", which is already damaged enough by Torchwood im my view.

Better to start a completly new series concept, E4 have had a bit of hit with Dead Set so something post-watershed can succeed

Mike

Fysh

Like ixoy said, I don't think you need to up the gore to make it "scarier" or more adult, it just needs more mature writing and I hope that'll come naturally when Mr Moffat takes over.

That said, what little I've watched of Torchwood seemed like a good idea poorly executed, though - the notion of a more mature-audience series set in the same sort of world could play well, but not when the approach taken is to use the same sort of storylines as the main series and pad them out with gratuitous sex, boozing and drugs. It makes sense for a mature-audience show to have characters who have sex lives and may dabble in narcotics, be they legal or otherwise - but the few episodes I saw neither encouraged me to keep watching nor appeared to integrate the reality of the character's daily lives with the infantile fantasy of their jobs. This could be down to watching a few bad episodes, though.

mike65

Nope, its crap!

Mike

LordSutch

I suppose what I am really talking about is more episodes like 'BLINK' or 'Fathers Day' I nearly hit the ceiling a couple of times watching Blink! (no gore at all), but those Angels sure gave me the heebie jeebies

Spooky & nail biting enough to give many adults a jolt, thats what I would like more of, I thought that the recent episode in the 'Spaceship' was also very well scripted in a psychological kinda scary way!

_CreeD_

mike65 wrote: »

Nope, its crap!

Mike

Look on the bright side though, even at it's worst it doesn't have that overacting undertalented Pratt Tenant in it (yep flame away I don't really care, the man killed Dr.Who for me).
Torchwood is far from perfect but, imho, it's a more solid show. There have been a few standout episodes (and a superb soundtrack for Season 1).

Mahatma coat

I dunno I thought Tennant was alright as the Doctor

I really liked season 2 of Torchwood, the complaints about the disjointed storylines and the gratuitous sex, boozing and drugs only really applies to the first season, I thought there was some great chaacter development in S2, Tosh and Owen being one of the best delivered storylines I've seen in a while, I was even impressed bytheway they brought Rhyss into it, I expected that to be a total pain in the arse of a storyline.

dara95

man
i totally agree with you. i am but a child myself yet i find Doctor who too timid for my own liking!

it should be a bit more scary/gory!!!!

The Mad Hatter

dara95 wrote: »

man
i totally agree with you. i am but a child myself yet i find Doctor who too timid for my own liking!

it should be a bit more scary/gory!!!!

Scary =/= gory.

Much as I love Moffat's episodes, I really think the scariest episode of the new series so far has been Midnight, from near the end of the last season. (Much as the rest of that season was generally the worst...)

I don't think you need gruesomeness for scariness (though it can help sometimes) - the right atmosphere is more important, and that can be built up using only sound effects.

iguana

No, cause I've seen a still of a naked Tennant on stage and the Ten-inch nickname is seriously misleading. It would be very disappointing all round.:(

:D:D

pfishfood

If they made it more gritty. first stop rose tyler:D

popebenny16

well, the problem is that a show that goes out in the 6-7pm time slots is going to have to be cut to suit that timeslot. That said, to pick out one sound effect from four BBC Wales seasons is a tad nitpicking. I think RTD overdid the catering to the kids somewhat, i think some shows pitched it at a fictional 12 year old audience which seemed to work more. Then again, wasnt there supposed to be a gay kiss between Jack and someone at the end of the 2007 season? I forget.

I loved midnight, my kids found it boring. They loved Blink though, and indeed in two of the 2008 run there were genuine "behind the sofa" moments as they literally scarpered out of the room!!!

When you looked at the Proms show today you could see the kids in the audience being genuinely frightened when the Daleks turned up. That is some going i think for 2008!!

As for Torchwood, i think that they didnt know if it were fish nor foul in Season 1 (shurrup Mike I know know what you're about to say ) but they got it pretty much bang on season 2.

And - they had a kiddie friendly version, which is much easier. Look, i saw what they did to Bottom when they had to make it "adult" for the stage. Do you want the Doctor to say "bollocks" when something goes wrong? This is the BBC, after all!!

eamon234

I agree - Season 2 of Torchwood was much better the storylines were better and most of the cast except Barrowman did their best to tone down the pouting and posing which was rife in season 1 (more a case of bad direction there than bad acting IMO)
The big difference between Torchwood and Dr Who is that Torchwood takes much of it's influence from American Sci-Fi shows but unfortunately doesn't do it very well. I also think it didn't help that RTD tried to turn it in to a SciFi Queer As Folk and alienated a large part of the audience - you can see this is much more subtle in season 2.

dara95

Camelot wrote: »

I suppose what I am really talking about is more episodes like 'BLINK' or 'Fathers Day' I nearly hit the ceiling a couple of times watching Blink! (no gore at all), but those Angels sure gave me the heebie jeebies

Camelot wrote: »

haha. no way man. 'BLINK' wasn't scary. i haven't seen fathers day yet. the scariest episode has to be the episode when they are in war time london with the little kid in the gas mask. now that is what you call scary!!!

Daemos

I disagree. Blink was the scariest. And I don't mean in an 'oh my god thats enough i cant watch any more'. But it was the only dr who episode where I genuinely jumped.

dara95

yup. you see to portray a valid point!!!!

Jenroche

'Blink' scared the living cr*p out of me first time I saw it. Neither myself nor my son could sleep that night after watching it. And he's 18!

The kid with the gasmask freaks me out too. Moffat's definitely the best at scaring folk, IMHO.

Jen ;->

Raphael

Blink is one of my favourite Dr Who episodes, both for a fantastic and unique antagonist, and being the exact kind of scary that appeals to me. Midnight and the Empty Child/Doctor Dances hit it as well. It's the kind of scary that;s not things jumping out, and blood and guts all over the shop. It;s creepy, and sends shivers down your spine, and things rarely get it right. Dunno if I could stand it if Dr. Who was like that more often =p

Jenroche

I agree. RTD is great when it comes to big epic storylines but Moffat really knows how to mess with a persons inner fears. Stay out of the shadows.

Jen ;->

Taltos

Think it has to come down to the writing and the way it is acted; along with the music

Just think back to Salem's Lot - just on one of the horror channels - hard to believe that is only PG - scared the pants off me as a kid - and did a damn good job again this weekend. :eek:

The Mad Hatter

Jenroche wrote: »

I agree. RTD is great when it comes to big epic storylines but Moffat really knows how to mess with a persons inner fears. Stay out of the shadows.

Jen ;->

Now, in fairness, I thought Midnight was as scary as anything else they've done. A very different approach from Moffat's, but I thought it worked very well. (Always nice to tell a little haunted house story, I think.)

LizzieGee

Scarier??........Impossible!!...........Blink was the scariest show I have ever seen.....brought me back to when i was a kid hiding behind my dad's chair watching the daleks. oh joy!