FFS, Spara (special!)

OK, normally I try to limit any kind of Spara bashing to one post a month but I feel justified this time because, seriously, he's gone apeshit. The fact is he's suffered a devastating psychological blow - Corrination Street are bringing back Adam Rickitt's character... but not Adam Rickitt, who they refuse to allow on Florizel Street so sick are they of Chatham fics over the last half decade.

To Sparacus, this is like the cancellation of Robin Hood times a million, and his grief has... had a noticeable effect... continually being updated, I regret to say...

Should series 5 include a tribute scene to Michael Jackson?

Given the popularity of Michael Jackson and the huge outpouring of grief since his death, it seems to me that it would be a nice gesture if there was a short scene in an episode of series 5, maybe the first, in tribute to the King of Pop. Michael Jackson was a major pop star, a particularly popular and important superstar and the father of three children and it would be nice to have a respectful tribute scene. Many people did respect him and his music. Adding a tribute scene would boost ratings, especially if the press were briefed beforehand. Also it would be in tune with the public mood. There was no sci fi element to the music of John Lennon.

Michael would have to be played by an actor.

I do not see why such a scene would be tasteless. It would work if it was an affectionate tribute to Michael Jackson, a massive cultural star. His Thriller album is acclaimed and the 'Thriller' video defined the classic pop video. Also including a tribute scene would show that Doctor Who it in tune with the public mood. Michael Jackson shared a sense of eccentricity with the Doctor.

I'd envisage something like a scene where the Doctor takes his new companion to a Jackson concert from the 'Thriller' period and then gets to meet Jackson afterwards and do the moonwalk with him. Another idea would be to have the Karen Gillan character be a Jackson fan and the Doctor take her to Neverland . Michael could teach the Doctor the moonwalk while she watches. Michael Jackson popularised the Moonwalk. He made it well known.

Obviously the scene would have to be done tastefully. If the Neverland idea doesn't work they could just have the Doctor attend the Jackson concert and at the end he meets Michael backstage and offers to take him to the moon so that he can moonwalk on the actual thing itself.

My idea was to have the Doctor meet Jackson in his Thriller period to remind viewers how talented he was. How about the Doctor revealing that Michael Jackson is a former companion & his travels with the Doctor gave Michael the idea for the 'Thriller' video. This would fit in well with the Waters of Mars special where there are zombie things in it.

I am not suggesting that the scene deal in any way with the circumstances of his death. It would be a very bad idea if the entire episode featured the Doctor posing as Jacksons dermatologist and prescobe him a lethal combination of drugs. The Doctor would never kill someone by prescribing him a lethal cocktail of drugs. Especially not the King of Pop. Although it would be interesting to have Karen's character want to warn Michael about his medication taking but the Doctor insist that she cannot interfere with history.

Maybe it could be possible to add it to one of this years specials, although since they're finished this might be too problematic.

...

Michael Jackson was not a "freak show". I accept that certain aspects of his life were slightly eccentric however his music was very popular. I intend to do a tribute to Michael Jackson in my own popular Ben Chatham fiction. One idea is to have Michael give a personal rendition of 'Ben' to him. However this might be a tad cheesy. I have no intention of writing anything offensive.

A suggestion for such a scene:

Michael and Ben are alone in the bedroom. Michael strokes Ben's smoothe chest and says "You're very attractive for a post-pubescent boy." Michael moves in to kiss Ben. As their lips meet, Michael's nose becomes like rubber and begins to stretch, consuming Ben's face. Ben tries to pull away, but can't.....

.....To be continued.

Spara's Response:

I think that the above could be construed as mocking Michael's plastic surgery. I'd suggest removing certain phrases as well. See below:

Michael and Ben are alone in the bedroom. Michael strokes Ben's smoothe chest and says "You're very attractive ." Michael moves in to show Ben his gold discs. Then he teaches Ben the moonwalk and they play with Bubbles the chimp.

.....To be continued.

A suggestion from Wilf:

Never mind MJ, what about a Farrah Fawcett tribute? It would be a nice touch if DW mentioned Charlie's Angels should there ever be an adventure set in the 1970s - a bit like the British Rocket Group's namecheck in Remembrance.

Spara's response:

No disrespect to Miss Fawcett but she was not as large a cultural figure.

The problem is that such a tribute scene would be a year out of date if it was in series 5, which is all the more reason to splice the scene into 'Waters of Mars'! It is a cutting edge idea that would show that Doctor Who is relevent to current events!

I accept that the tribute will need to be carefully thought through so that it does not seem tasteless in any way. It would be a good idea to have a scene where Gillan runs to tell Michael that zombies are on the loose, only to discover he has become a zombie himself... but given recent events, this idea may cause offence.

I am not joking.

Nor do I need to go into rehab due to the fact that I am not addicted to drugs or continually drunk.

Amazingly enough, this idea was relayed to David Tennant at the recent comic convention. Tennant didn't have anything to say, but his reaction was caught on camera: