Originally Posted by Recurring Villain
Old Doctor Who consisted almost entirely of arcs, the most episodic anything got was five episode long serials that more often than not tied directly into the serials that followed. One of the best seasons they had involved that Key to Time that was a long ass arc that would give Lost a run for its money.
Standalone episodes are a purely new-Who thing and they are usually some of the suckiest episodes they have.
You're right about the writer being wrong, arcs aren't new to new Who. But you're wrong about why the writer is wrong.
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Well, first off, I mostly just take issue with her preference for "powerful, season-long themes." What she means by "arc" is not multi-parters connected by some form of continuity (TARDIS flying to other location), but an entire season connected by some larger overarching plot or emotional development (since she holds the romanticism of new-Who so highly). What I like about old Doctor Who is the ingenuity with which it ran through a variety of different adventures and scenarios--spanning many alien planets and encountering all the classic Who-villains. It had a science fiction meets Sherlock Holmes feel, and was very endearing.
My love for episodic format is something that extends beyond Doctor Who, and it was mostly her stance that it is inferior which annoyed me. Overarching themes and greater plots have their place, but I feel Doctor Who is most creative and at its best (for example, "Blink", a rare
good standalone new series episode) when it can devise a compelling story in 45 mins without having to fall back on allusions to the "themes" of the new series. The short story is a difficult format, which is why long-winded RTD fails so miserably at it. But when it's done well, the best television is always a focused microcosm of events, compressed into a single episode or series of episodes.
For non-Doctor Who examples of this, see Lost's "The Constant" (despite the Desmond loves Penny overarching theme, the whole episode exists in a bubble), Sherlock's "A Scandal in Belgravia" or even the most recent Game of Thrones episode, "Blackwater."
Also RV, isn't your avatar Ed? Cowboy Bebop is about as episodic as it gets. "Mushroom Samba" anyone?