Post by theretsam on Feb 15, 2014 16:23:32 GMT
I wanted to write a piece about this on GB, but I fear that I will be misunderstood.
I read something on TvTropes' Awesome Moments page for Dr Who. Never has a truer word been spoken.
'They could've named the first two seasons "The Why Barbara Is Awesome Show" and nobody would've noticed.'
I will now explain why. But first, Ian.
Ian Chesterton is a fucking tool. People seem to love him almost as much as Barbara, but to be honest he usually just gets sent off on a side-story in which he can fight with someone while Barbara solves the plot.
Ian started to irk me for the first time by The Daleks 4, where he prolongs the story even more by throwing the Thals into war. He calls it self-defence for the Thals, but to me it's more like an either/or situation. Remember, at the end of The Daleks all the Daleks are dead and the Thals live. What Measure Is A Non-Human indeed, because the Thals are 'perfect' (Aryan) people. While the Daleks have reverted into metal casings. Ergo, Daleks = evil and Thals = good. Ian is a bigot (once I've figured out the meaning of that word).
In the following stories, he doesn't end up much better, getting to do some kind of fighting/military stuff in most of season 1. I get that he's like an action hero (Sir Lancelot meets Rocky), but this is 1960s Doctor Who. I'm not seriously going to believe in an action hero until, eh, the 90s or so. The show severely overestimates itself with that.
In The Edge of Destruction, he does nothing. In Marco Polo, nobody does anything. In The Keys of Marinus, he needs to get his ass saved by The Doctor. In The Aztecs, he's lured into a fight and ends up getting everyone in a predicament. In The Reign of Terror, Wm. Russell goes on holiday and Ian is in pre-filmed inserts. In Planet of Giants, he does nothing. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, he gets himself into a B-plot in a concentration camp, contributing nothing. In The Rescue, he does nothing. In The Romans, he gets a subplot on agallion galleyon gallifreybase boat, and he has to get back to Kembel Rome. In The Web Planet, he does nothing. In The Crusade, he's knighted and lays in a desert. In The Space Museum... well, I'm only up to The Space Museum 2 at the moment. In The Chase, he listens to Beatles music despite disappearing in 1963.
Ian Chesterton is useless. Now, Barbara.
I read something on TvTropes' Awesome Moments page for Dr Who. Never has a truer word been spoken.
'They could've named the first two seasons "The Why Barbara Is Awesome Show" and nobody would've noticed.'
I will now explain why. But first, Ian.
Ian Chesterton is a fucking tool. People seem to love him almost as much as Barbara, but to be honest he usually just gets sent off on a side-story in which he can fight with someone while Barbara solves the plot.
Ian started to irk me for the first time by The Daleks 4, where he prolongs the story even more by throwing the Thals into war. He calls it self-defence for the Thals, but to me it's more like an either/or situation. Remember, at the end of The Daleks all the Daleks are dead and the Thals live. What Measure Is A Non-Human indeed, because the Thals are 'perfect' (Aryan) people. While the Daleks have reverted into metal casings. Ergo, Daleks = evil and Thals = good. Ian is a bigot (once I've figured out the meaning of that word).
In the following stories, he doesn't end up much better, getting to do some kind of fighting/military stuff in most of season 1. I get that he's like an action hero (Sir Lancelot meets Rocky), but this is 1960s Doctor Who. I'm not seriously going to believe in an action hero until, eh, the 90s or so. The show severely overestimates itself with that.
In The Edge of Destruction, he does nothing. In Marco Polo, nobody does anything. In The Keys of Marinus, he needs to get his ass saved by The Doctor. In The Aztecs, he's lured into a fight and ends up getting everyone in a predicament. In The Reign of Terror, Wm. Russell goes on holiday and Ian is in pre-filmed inserts. In Planet of Giants, he does nothing. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, he gets himself into a B-plot in a concentration camp, contributing nothing. In The Rescue, he does nothing. In The Romans, he gets a subplot on a
Ian Chesterton is useless. Now, Barbara.