The Slitheen aren't quite the only recurring monster in four years, by the way; there is also the Ood.
Oh true! entry edited accordingly.
It's hard to tell if its because of lack of ambition, an increasingly competitive marketplace, some sort of embarrassment about creating out-and-out monsters/villians, or just the weight of baggage preventing both the production team and the general public from recognising a good innovative new monster/villain when they see it. The new adventures had a similar problem, though, as people pointed out, what makes a monster work well in prose is rather different from what makes one work well on the small screen.
In the case of Nu Who though I do wonder if it was, despite all the protestations to the contrary early on, that what everyone really wanted to be making all the time was The Stolen Earth/Journey's End not modern quality TV family drama that could stand on its own two feet without the back story.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-06 07:56 pm (UTC)Oh true! entry edited accordingly.
It's hard to tell if its because of lack of ambition, an increasingly competitive marketplace, some sort of embarrassment about creating out-and-out monsters/villians, or just the weight of baggage preventing both the production team and the general public from recognising a good innovative new monster/villain when they see it. The new adventures had a similar problem, though, as people pointed out, what makes a monster work well in prose is rather different from what makes one work well on the small screen.
In the case of Nu Who though I do wonder if it was, despite all the protestations to the contrary early on, that what everyone really wanted to be making all the time was The Stolen Earth/Journey's End not modern quality TV family drama that could stand on its own two feet without the back story.