Doctor Who Drabble: Marriage Of Convenience

[bk_forever]

Title: Marriage Of Convenience

Author: badly_knitted

Characters: Twelfth Doctor, River, King Hydroflax.

Rating: G

Written For: Challenge 084: Charade at dw100.

Spoilers: The Husbands Of River Song.

Summary: It’s bad enough that River doesn’t recognise him, but finding she’s married someone else in his absence…

Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who, or the characters.

It comes as something of a relief to realise that River’s ‘marriage’ to the monstrous and very untidy King Hydroflax is a sham, a charade, an act to keep her close to him until she figures out a way to get at the priceless diamond lodged in his brain.

Now that’s the River the Doctor knows, sneaky, unprincipled, larcenous, and attracted to shiny things. The universe isn’t about to implode after all; it just seemed like it might for a bit.

On the other hand, she’s talking about murdering someone… Perhaps he shouldn’t have left her alone for so long.

The End

Comments

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Their marriage was never straight forward. Literally.

[bk_forever]

True, it zig-zagged its way through time!

Thank you!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Trying to stop your wifes killing tendencies would be challenging.

I think it was the right "time" for them to meet again.

Twelve: So what do you think about the new body.

River: I don't know. I've only seen the face.

[bk_forever]

River is cheeky, I think the Doctor needs that to break him out of him complacency. River proves that Rose was never the love of the Doctor's life though.

Yeah, it was definitely the right time, the Doctor needs to take River in hand again. Killing is wrong, bad River!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I wish that the development of the relationship hadn't happened off-screen. But at least I can agree to Rivers expectations of the Doctor.

I wanted to know how "Twelve" ended up living with Otters after having an argument with River.:D

Tenth Doctor: Who are you?
River: Sorry, you're not allowed to see inside the
book. It's against the rules.
Tenth Doctor: What rules?
River: Your rules.

Maybe River learn't to be smug from the Doctor. He could have started the "spoilers" comment not her.

Eleventh Doctor: Can I trust you River Song?
River:If you like ! But where's the fun in that?

[bk_forever]

I do love River!

I wanted to know the otter story too. Maybe one day someone will write it.

I bet she did. The Doctor can out-smug most people, but not River! She learned from the best, then surpassed him!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I like the fact that we know River steals/stole, the TARDIS!. Twelves reaction to finding out.:D

I prefer it when they are arguing than flirting. The banter is more fun!

I know some people don't like River. Was it because she had knowledge of events that the Doctor didn't?. It was vice-versa on the Doctors part too.

[bk_forever]

I think a lot of the dislike came from the idea of the Doctor marrying someone other than Rose, a lot of people couldn't stand the thought of the Doctor loving someone else.

I love their fights, River is witty and smart, so much different from Rose. She's a brilliant woman to Rose's naive child, and a far better match for the Doctor. She's also delightfully wicked and breaks laws without batting an eyelash. Such a fun character.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

So it was just the Rose shippers then?.

At least with River we knew her baggage eventually. Rose?. I didn't want to know.

[bk_forever]

I can't be sure, but I'd be willing to bet that a lot of River haters are Rose shippers.

Rose was sort of okay to start with, a naive teenager learning about the wider universe, there could have been so much character development... But no, she was just pushed as the Doctor's love interest and that messed it all up, pluss I think she was a companion for too long so that when she left, a lot of people resented everyone who came after.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I guess its just perspective. Some may have thought Rivers storyline was too complicated. Rose's was straight forward but eventually it became annoying to me.

I tolerated Rose's flaws because she had a positive influence on Nine a majority of the time. But apart from that...

That was where RTD was suppose to further develop her character. He missed an opportunity to do so when he briefly brought her back.*sigh*

[bk_forever]

Yeah, Rose could be tolerated up to a point but if the character had evolved over time that would have made a big difference. RTD just doesn't seem to understand character development.

I don't think River's storyline was over-complicated. I think TV execs don't give viewers enough credit for being able to understand what they're watching. They think they have to spell everything out and have characters explain things, and that's not the case. Half the fun is trying to figure things out yourself.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

It turns out RTD even hated what he did to Roses story line which makes me even more annoyed that he still decided to do it anyway!

Rivers story line was more relevant to the series in regards to timelines but I think some people didn't like that she was a victim of circumstances.

Being the psychopath/wife of the Doctor.

I don't know!. I have nothing against the character.

[bk_forever]

Me neither, I'll never understand why some people took such a dislike to her.

That just proves that RTD is an idiot with no imagination. If he didn't like his idea, h]he should have changed it, but I guess he just couldn't be bothered to make it better, which seems to be his attitude to everything. It's probably why he re-used original scripts he couldn't get produced, turning them into Torchwood scripts by changing the character names. He couldn't be bothered to write something specifically for Torchwood that actually fit the characters. =[

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Poor man was overwhelmed I guess. He should have co wroted the scripts.

I think writers have to be overly confident in order to do their job. Moffat seems enthusiastic about his own work, much like RTD.

Getting it right is the challenge.

[bk_forever]

The difference is, Moffat's work is worth being enthusiastic over.

If RTD couldn't handle the workload, he shouldn't have taken it on. I really don't have any sympathy for him. I'm sure it wouldn't have been difficult to find someone else to write or co-write scripts specifically for the Torchwood characters instead of trying to shoehorn them into roles that weren't written with them in mind. You have to write scripts to serve your characters, not change existing characters to fit your script.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I only go by what I've read of other peoples reviews on RTD's "The Writers Tale". It sounds like he goes on and on about his own self-loathing.

No wonder he incorporated it into the script because thats how he thinks. That doesn't mean I agree with it.

RTD did say that he always has an actor in mind to fit the character he wants to create but it still failed.

Martha only got a happy ending because she was given a crappy time in the TARDIS.

Moffat had his pros and cons too. Whatever I didn't like in RTD's era, I liked in Moffats. I'm still not sure what to make of Claras death.

Still a while yet to see the next showrunners perspective on the show. Having a third view may break the RTD versers Moffat debate.

I couldn't get over Tosh and Owen being gone. Their skill sets were needed in the series. I didn't want them to be replaced but they was nothing or no one there to fill the void.

[bk_forever]

Well, RTD's in good company, I can't stand him either. If it's not self-loathing, it's arrogance and 'I'm so brilliant everyone mus agree with me!'

It's one thing having an actor in mind t play a character, that can be a good thing. The problems start when you ave established characters and try to use a script that wasn't written for them, because them the characters are forced to behave out of character and the script doesn't fit the established world they're supposed to live in. Like Children of Earth - there's no way the Doctor wouldn't have shown up and done something when there was a global threat to children, there's no way the Queen would have stood by and let her government try to assassinate Torchwood, and there's no way Torchwood wouldn't have had a secondary, fully equipped backup base for a start.

It will be interesting to throw a third into the mix. Shame we have to wait so long to see what the next showrunner does.

Season three of Torchwood should have been about grieving and rebuilding, hiring new team members because from a purely practical standpoint, Torchwood needed a medic and a tech person, plus a couple more field agents. As hard as it is to see favourite characters replaced, not doing so made the show even more unrealistic. So much for RTD's obsession with realism, He has a skewed vision of the world anyway.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

That why the character of Gwen didn't work:

(1)RTD specifically wrote Eve in mind of Gwen.Limited acting range.

(2)RTD created the character of Gwen with no hardships, skills or further development

Gwen made some offhand comment on why the Doctor wasn't there but that was her assumption. We should have had a reason like he was fobwatched, busy with something major or it really was a fixed point.

Torchwood was made a scapegoat and there should have been a scene that pointed out the Queen wasn't always in the know of what the secret government was covering. RTD ignored some plot holes to make his story work.

I can't believe we still have to wait for the next series to even come back. If only we had a time machine...

There should be a reboot that states that the last two series were only a dream so Torchwood could be redeemed. John Barrowman should have gotten better material than this.

In every show the main characters always have allies or consultants they can rely on when the situation becomes dire. RTD probably thought he was being clever by making that Indian doctor a traitor in COE.

I don't like being this judgemental but I'm can't help feeling disappointed.:(

[bk_forever]

You're not alone in that. I felt so cheated by CoE after hearing RTD going on about how the Jack/Ianto relationship would develop and the fans would love it - then their relationship took several steps backwards, Ianto's suddenly angsty about dating a man when he never was before, and I certainly didn't love the way they were destroyed. The publicity was a load of lies.

To be honest, I don't want another series of Torchwood, not in the direction it's been going, because it'll be the Gwen Show with Jack playing a supporting role. Why can'y RTD and Eve get it through their heads that the fans don't want more Gwen?

You're right, it was inevitable that Gwen would be a crap character.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Tenth Doctor:In the end, you just get tired; tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you...

That was Jacks story. He always pushed Gwen away. Everyone else that was a main part of his life were killed off.

I only wanted one scene that shows Jack has some peace in the future. I guess I have to settle for the Face of Boe to be that happy ending.

[bk_forever]

I'd be happy if Jack got a reincarnated Ianto or something. What I wouldn't be happy with would be Jack declaring his love for Gwen and saying he only pushed her away to protect her, but that's the sort of thing RTD would give us =[

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

The message should have been that Jack can learn to love someone worthy again and Gwen just becomes family to him.

The End.

It says something that we are discussing how unsatisfying a show was after how many years after it aired.

[owensheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, perhaps not. he should have kept an eye on her.

great drabbe

[bk_forever]

River definitely needs a close eye kept on her, to keep her in line, lol!

Thank you!