Day 643: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 4 - The Mysterious Planet Part 4

The dichotomy at the heart of the climax of The Mysterious Planet is one which reflects the nature of Doctor Who at the moment. Around five minutes in, Queen Katryca gets horrifically killed, with the end result being that her entire body gets covered in blood in a rather nasty experience. This is contrasted later on in the story when Balazar, another ally of the Doctor's gets covered in a green gunge, as if he's just won the Kids' Choice Award on Nickelodeon. The dichotomy present is that between the two ways in which Doctor Who is produced at the moment: a world of blood and a world of gunge.

You see, the world of blood is often violent, serious and gritty, while the world of gunge is far lighter, with more fun and happiness thrown into the mix. Both of these methods can produce good stories, but it's apparent that these two methods cannot co-exist, in particular because a portion of the audience wants more stories like The Caves of Androzani, while others want more stories like City of Death, and there isn't that much crossover between those two adventures. So the production team has to decide on the style of programme that they wish to make, one that's serious and gritty or one that's light-hearted and fun. On the basis of The Mysterious Planet, I'd say that they're leaning towards the gunge option, although the next adventure, if memory serves me right, is really very bloody indeed.