Russell T Davies Says Doctor Who's Big Finale Reveal Was a Response to Rise of Skywalker
Russell T Davies Says Doctor Who's Big Finale Reveal Was a Response to Rise of Skywalker
Speaking on an audio commentary for Doctor Who's season finale, the showrunner credited Star Wars for his approach to Ruby Sunday... of a sort.
Look, I'm not trying to choose violence today, so let's not stoop to the level of stereotypical "Star Wars" discourse.
That said, the parallels here were not lost on me, and I generally agree with RTD.
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Apparently some people didn't like the reveal of Ruby's parentage, but it was at least in line with the themes of the season in general. I was reminded of Kate and Ruby's conversation in "73 Yards" - how, where the supernatural is concerned, we invent explanations for things we don't understand, and they become true. Also early in "Empire of Death" - Davies did a bunch of teasing about a "kind woman waiting with something absolutely vital", only to have her be an ordinary woman, barely surviving the death wave, waiting to give the Doctor a spoon, which set up the theme of something ordinary becoming the most important thing in the universe.
It would have felt a bit like shallow fanservice if Ruby's mother turned out to be Sutekh, or Susan Foreman, or herself, or one of the gods, or whatever other theories people had. "Rey Palpatine" and "Rey Skywalker" felt the same way.
So, I'm one of those weirdos that really liked the non Casino portion of Star wars ep 8, largely because of the theme of the normal, non-special person being able to be the hero, to be a Jedi. I was excited to see where nine went with that idea and very disappointed when they threw it out.
I liked the reveal of Ruby's mother being a normal woman. And I have some pet theories about her and Mrs Flood and such I won't get into. Sure, I could have done with less finger pointing, and maybe a hoodie instead of one of those Sephiroth's clone cape and cowls, but overall that reveal satisfied me.
*I liked the reveal of Ruby’s mother being a normal woman. *
Yeah! There's a lot of ideas in Last Jedi that I really enjoyed and looked forward to being explored, and Rey's parents being "nobody", suggesting that you didn't have to be in a special "Jedi/Sith destiny" club to be important was one of my favorite ones. It was optimistic. Hopeful. Anyone can be the hero. That's powerful stuff.
Absolutely foolish that they dumped that whole idea in the next film. (Then again there's so much wrong with Ep9 that it might as well be decanonzed.)
I loved The Last Jedi, and that's one of the reasons why. I can only guess that Rise of Skywalker threw out everything TLJ was setting up because of severe overcompensation to fan reactions.
Star Wars has been chained to ‘The Heroes Journey’ from the first movie.
And unfortunately the hidden parentage thing is part and parcel of that ‘chosen one’ destiny along with mentors or parents being killed.
I’m actually surprised and impressed that Dr Who has managed to reject that given how may screenwriters have been programmed to think that it’s the only way to write a compelling story.
I’d be very happy if the new Star Trek shows would drop their dependence on the scaffold of The Heroes Journey. Sometimes, seems that they think this is the only option. (e.g. Hemmer had to die so Uhura could develop - Seriously?!!).
Although, it does seem that Dal in Prodigy has been allowed to be his own unique genetically-engineered, parentless self. Just another way in which Prodigy has been a stand out show for this era.