As a writer, it gets under my skin when I see fiction miss great opportunities.  For example, in the second Bill & Ted movie, they went to Heaven and were standing at the bottom of a great stair case…BUT NO ONE MADE A “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN” REFERENCE! 

For another, far more obscure example: some may remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs found himself in the middle of a Hansel and Gretel story.  It’s the one where all the characters kept repeating “Hansel” with different pronunciations as they encountered the confounding name.  Later on, these same Hansel and Gretel characters showed up in an Animaniacs cartoon.  I think it was Pinky and the Brain.  Someone had gone to the extreme detail of drawing these kids to look exactly like their Bugs Bunny counterparts, but they didn’t continue the “Hansel” gag when the name was mentioned.  It would have been BRILLIANT if they had!  Why doesn’t anyone ever call me about these things?

What has most recently happened to compel me to this post is a scene from season four of Doctor Who.  If you have not seen all the Doctor Who episodes through to the end of season four, (or indeed, the final episodes of season two) please stop reading.  Come back again after you’ve gotten that far.

Here’s how the scene went:  The Doctor, the duplicate Doctor, Donna, Rose and Jackie arrived on Bad Wolf Bay in Norway.  The plan was to drop off Jackie and Rose, but Rose protested.  She’d gone through so much to be with the Doctor again, and he was getting ready to leave her behind.  What’s more, he suggested leaving the duplicate Doctor behind, as well, because “he’s too dangerous to be out there on his own”.  After more protests, the duplicate Doctor tells Rose he has only one heart and one life and suggests they spend it together.

Still feeling it wasn’t right, Rose calls both Doctors to her side and asks the original Doctor what he’d said to her last time they were standing on that beach.  “I said ‘Rose Tyler’” he admits with a hard swallow for the emotion involved.  “Yeah, and how was that sentence going to end?” she asked.  The Doctor can’t bring himself to say the “I love you” he was going to say at the end of season two, so instead he says “Does it need saying?”  Not satisfied, Rose turned to the duplicate Doctor and asked the same question.  He leaned in close to her ear, whispered “I love you” (which WE don’t hear!) and then Rose pulled him to her and kissed him.  Despite the passion Rose was showing, we didn’t get much out of the Doctor, even after the depth of his feelings for her had been well established.  This kiss didn’t last very long because the original Doctor and Donna snuck away into the Tardis and took off.

Now…here’s how that scene should have gone, had anyone asked me.  As a writer, they could have done a few simple things to make that moment far more emotional and character-impacting.  First of all, though we did see grief in the eyes of the original Doctor, I think we could have seen a little more.  Secondly, I think when Rose asked the duplicate Doctor how that sentence would have ended, we should have had a brief moment of eye contact between both Doctors, and a painful nod of direction from the original to convey he wanted the duplicate to say it.  THEN, we should have heard him say it, instead of seeing the silent whisper.

And here’s the really frustrating part.  Despite the fact that the kiss was brief and mostly one sided (on Rose’s part), there was actually a better one filmed!  It can be seen here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7FglJmPbrs&NR=1   The Doctor’s feelings for Rose were a very important part not only of the plot but of the tenth Doctor’s character drive.  To not have him react in kind to the kiss was a mistake, I think.  The kiss that was actually filmed, however, shows the duplicate Doctor wrapping his arms around Rose and showing equal passion.  I think they should have left that in, along with a more painful expression on the face of the original Doctor as he turned to retreat to the Tardis. 

If there was ever a job position called “Improvement Consultant”, I would be happy to apply, and feel like I could offer a great deal to the movie industry.  Had I been on the job, the last four Harry Potter movies would have actually dealt with the plot, instead of showcasing the silly adolescent stuff.  The second Terminator movie would have been set in the future and would have dealt with an adult John Conner meeting Kyle Reese and bringing himself to the decision to send him back in time while Michael Biehn was still young enough to play him!  And I would surely have put my foot down with the Star Trek people after learning that their plan for the new movie was to make it a two-hour review of catch-phrases, original series character and sight-gags, mixed with base slapstick comedy!