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Angela Lansbury IS Doctor Who (Spoiler Free)

Posted on June 18, 2005
Filed Under Personal Posts |

Well, not quite (I know all about suicidal regenerations and their effects on Time Lords) but before the final episode of the latest season of Doctor Who, I thought I’d post up one or two thoughts that point to my theories on what’s going on. This post is spoiler free, so I’m being vague, and as I’m spoiler free, this could all be proved horribly wrong in about ten hours, but there you go.

Russell T Davies is quite clearly using the classical constructs of mystery and plotting - which was explained to me by J Michael Strazinsky’s numerous internet postings about the structure of Babylon 5. The technique is the “Murder She Wrote Principle.” If you’re going to show a gun in act four, then it needs to be seen in act two. You might need to watch very very carefully, but it will be there.

To illustrate this, let’s look at “The Incredibles,” because Brad Bird uses this throughout the entire script. Remember where Syndrome starts explaining his plans to Mr Incredible on Nomanisan Island? Now wind the film back to Mr Incredible and Frozone idly chatting in the car at the start of the film. What are they talking about? Every Villains habit’s of monologuing after they have captured you. And of course, “no capes!”

Apart from the running meme of “Bad Wolf” throughout the season, we’ve already seen RTD use the Murder She Wrote Principle in other areas. For example, the return of Satellite 5 and the rift in Cardiff. I fully expect that the final episode is going to pull in a whole bundle of disparate elements from previously in the season. I’m sure I’ll have some words after thevent, but for now I’ll just temper my observations by simply saying “1×06″ and I’ll build on that once the final episode has aired.

Oh and with the BBC confirming not just the second season, but a third season and another Christmas special for 2006, I think the only way I could be any more excited was if The High Life turned up at my door on DVD.

Oh dearie me! Look what’s turned up…

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