Was Andrew Cartmel actually any good?

[Perry Vale]

Sophie has started voicing an ad on Classic FM

I thought I heard her voice on a tv ad last night, she must be getting a lot of work!

[quatermass111]

Cartmel actually had some good ideas, and he seemed terribly enthusiastic. However...

He was inexperienced and thus unrealistic about what was achievable within the budgetary constraints of the show at that time.

He had a producer who had stopped caring about the show years before and desperately wanted to be elsewhere. Furthermore, J N-T's increasingly ridiculous insistence on wildly inappropriate "C-list" celebs (Dodd, Hale & Pace, etc) was nothing short of sabotage.

He had the worst actor imaginable in the starring role - McCoy's gurning, stumble bum approach to the role pretty much precluded any mystery, darkness or gravitas of any kind.

He had the worst actress imaginable "playing" at being a companion - Aldred was waaay out of her depth: pick any story from her tenure and there's at least one moment of toe-curling embarrassment. "Wicked" indeed!

But he tried his best... And paved the way for the tone/themes of the Virgin New Adventures (which I liked a lot)... So, was he "any good"? Yes!

[DrWho2150]

Cartmel was ok but only with Season Twenty-Six were we really getting to see some of hat he and Sylv intended to do with their Doctor. Rumor says he would have left before finishing what he started so I don't know what I would think had we seen anymore from him.

[sugartongs]

You'd think though that being the script editor with the best view of the season that was about to be filmed, that he'd have noticed that two out of four stories had the same plot.