L.J. Scott: In the four years, from inception to conclusion, I learned quite a bit. Not only did studio robb give me the opportunity to work in a new medium, but I learned a lot about creative partnerships and the give and take needed to make something fly. While writing scripts before I met studio robb, I don't think it's a coincidence that I wasn't able to make my first sale until after working with him for a couple years. And for that, I owe him a hearty Thank You!
But for taking a few pages of words and ideas for scenes and bring them to life in such a compelling and effective way, I have to give studio robb and huge Yeah, man, yeah, you kick-it, Go!!!
Page 1: "I had forgotten the good times we'd had." I've found this lesson is needed by many of us. It's too easy to dwell on the bad things in life, and the unimportant distracters, and conclude there's nothing else. But even in the darkest times, there's always a laugh or two that makes it bearable and helps us get along until new, promising times arrive.
Page 2: studio robb talked often about how he hated the way they left Susan, without her shoe. So of course I had to write-in a scene where the Doctor finally returns it. And of course he didn't get around to repairing it, by now or (he already knows) in the future!
Page 3: Yep! Over a decade later, I find I still like the ending. I hope you did as well, too...
studio robb: This chapter was so satisfying to me. Not just from the stand
point of my having seen this thing through to the end, but also because L.J.
*totally* delivered on her promise to "do Susan right"...I have to admit, I had
my doubts when she started the "He’s not really my grandfather thing", but
oh-boy-oh-boy, L.J. came through in spades!
Not once did Susan
whine or scream.
Not once did Susan
need rescuing.
Instead, it was
*Susan* that saved not only The Doctor, but the Universe. Susan went through
hell and back, and in the end, she became her own woman.
L. J. Scott, thank
you very much! I truly hope that some day Carol Ann Ford stumbles across this
thing (hey, in the "Internet Age", you never know!), because I’m sure she will
very much appreciate what you did for her character!
Page 2: The Shoe Scene. When Susan had her
"first farewell" with The Doctor, she had lost her shoe, and The First Doctor
found it and saw that there was a hole in it. He offered to fix it for Susan.
That scene was the closest to anything worthwhile about that farewell...but the
writers had to ruin it by having The Doctor lock the TARDIS doors and up and
leave Susan. It was a pretty shitty thing to do, though given
the First Doctor’s cranky nature, I suppose he wasn’t the type who could deal
well with emotional good-byes. L. J.’s "return of the
shoe", I felt, was a nice touch, one that brought everything around full circle
to her first farewell.
...though,
to be honest, that shoe must have been 500 years old...
...but
it was still a wonderful touch, and I really liked Susan’s comment about the
shoe being a "worn traveler" and Ace’s follow up retort!
Page 3: what a great series closer...it had a
positive upbeat message and makes the reader believe that there will be further
adventures for The Doctor and Ace. I was especially amazed that a simple
throw-away line that I had written back in chapter 2 about "Wriddley’s
Oddities of the Universe" would pop back up in both chapter’s 13, part II and this one as an
important plot device...
at the risk of being overly repetitive....
L.
J. Scott is really cool!
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