Over these five years much has happened. For a starters there have been three series of Christel Doctor Who, which I like to think of as my Magnum Opus, if you will. I used the Movies Stunts and Effects to animate it and after finally getting it to boot on my new macbook the other day I had to smile to myself when I saw how good it still looked. If time had allowed, series 4, 5 and 6 would have followed. I did have them mapped out and, given the restrictions that the movies game/simulation presented I think there would have been enough wiggle room to still make it look good.
Of course at the end of series 3 I announced that I would be taking a year's break and then bringing series 4 back using Moviestorm. I hired voice actors and even filmed 1 and a half episodes, but if the truth be told, my heart was never really in it. My writing had become stale and predictable and I knew that it was going to be a big struggle to get to grips with Moviestorm, voice actors and keeping people interested while I took time off to do 'other things.' 2013 came and went and there was no series 4. The audience dropped on here and I knew then really that I was postponing the inevitable.
Looking through my youtube channel you will see that not one of the videos got over 1000 views. In fact the most was only 716. Christel Doctor Who never set the world alight, and went un-noticed by countless millions, but to the dedicated few, and those who happened upon it by accident on youtube I say thank you.
As I look back at the old episodes now I realise how amateruish they look, and that's okay. I never minded too much as I hoped that the story would out. Yes I used subtitles and not voice actors, but that meant I could crank the stories out on a weekly basis and keep the interest up. The first series was probably the best to be honest. I had the longest time with which to write it and the story just worked. Series 2 started well, and helped to give guest writers a leg up, but then got list a little towards the end as I tried to turn Tabitha into the Rani.
I fell into the 'bigger and better' trap for series 3. I wrote the entire 6 episodes on the plane to and from Florida and then never really sat down to edit it. My original idea was still in there somewhere but had become lost as a I tried to cram in the timelords, returning characters, the revelation of ARNIE's creator, and the wedding of Tabitha. I had also got lost in the idea that I needed to justify where my series sat within established canon, and that took over a great deal of the narrative time. Had I have been doing series 3 now, I would tie my doctor in as the War Doctor and go out from there; what a treat hindsight is sometimes.
In a way I'm glad that I didn't do another series as series 3 ended with what is still my favourite sequence from the entirety of CDW. The regeneration of my Doctor, his final lines, and then the new Doctor racing off into the screen. Its kind of nice to think that the adventures of this new Doctor never got picked up...
So to conclude, if you have found this link by accident then you probably gave up reading a while ago, but if you didn't and you were one of the original fans, then welcome to the end. Embedded below is the first video that I produced and put on the blog, which I thought would be a nice way to finish. If you'd like to, leave a comment below, if not then enjoy...
June 16th 2014. Mark the date, because the truth is, this will be the last ever post to Christel Films, and I thank you for your support.
2 comments:
hey its patar, just stumbed back into the realm of doctor who fansites that i havent looked at for years, just wanted to say well done for a great job on the series!! i watched and enjoyed every episode you put out, so thanks for all your hard work!
Wow thanks, and hello again patar! I'm glad to see people are still checking in from time to time. I am doing little bits here and there but real life commitments got in the way and this felt like a good enough time and place to leave everything!
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