Can a show produced in AI still be a good story?
What if the story is written by a human, and it’s just the actors and sets/locations that are AI?
Doctor Who Reboot has all the failings of AI creation. The audio is too clean. Some of the dialog sounds off at times. The cinematography is often wonky. It’s proof that AI is not close to being ready to replace physical actors on actual sets or on location in real areas. What makes “The Curse of Kilmorag” worthy of examination is the story and the designs of the aliens included. The sets themselves look fine.
On the other hand, the episode is written by a human being, not a computer. Thomas Vittlowe of the YouTube channel The Unmade Season writes a story that seems to be bypassing the Ncuti Gatwa 15th Doctor in favor of his own, which isn’t a bad thing given the reaction to his time as the Doctor. We do see AI David Tennant, most likely the 14th Doctor (Tennant’s third face if you count the Metacrisis Doctor) given his outfit and the TARDIS still using the bland Davies 2 design. It’s better than his first one, but big and empty looking. I’ll take it over the “coral” console room or the deathtrap from Chris Chibnall’s run, but it’s still not that great.
The story finds the Doctor in the last moments of regeneration, still also regenerating clothes so we miss out on the wardrobe selection moment…again. His new form ends up in a Scottish version of Area 51, where aliens are being held, and suffering post-regeneration memory loss. Some scientist wants him to open “the box” (yes, you should know what he means) but the Doctor doesn’t even remember that, or his name. There are other mysteries in the village of Kilmorag, and someone there is looking to solve them. It will bring her into contact with the Doctor. If you can handle the limitations of AI photorealistic animation, you will find a good story here. If not, my apologies, but it’s still interesting. Enjoy?
(Don’t worry, I’m not going to make a habit of using AI stuff, and I’ll warn you before I do. I don’t hate AI and prefer the real thing, but imagine this if he could have afforded actors, location shooting, and actual sets.)
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Flaws and all, I love it. I had a hard time believing such good acting could be accomplished through prompts. It was only when Lucy turns back to point to a cop (while she is carrying a heavy container of fish) and the container doesn’t fall when she takes her hand off to point that I could trust these weren’t real actors in an AI setting. Yes,some shots didn’t match and there were some glitches but by the end I had laughed, cried and applauded. It is miles ahead of the other fan generated AI films.
Imagine if the BBC hired this guy to recreate the missing episodes instead of using their insanely poor animation? It would cost them far less, look incredible, be sanctioned by the BBC and licensed through the estates of the actors and creators of the original. That I can see being a big win.I don’t think using David Tennant or others actors likenesses without consent is proper, but if you watch the Doctor and Donna arrive and walk out of the Tardis in The Library segment, Donna’s dialogue and delivery were spot on.
And seeing the clips with Missy, especially when she is clapping gleefully at the mass slaughter of humanity, feels giddily perfect and makes me really want to see that full episode.
I would consider him as a show-runner or at least a staff writer. He has made the best episode of Who in years and created a Doctor and companion whose adventures I want to follow.
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Like I said, imagine if he had the budget for actual actors and set pieces. It would make the show so much better. I haven’t seen other AI fanfilms but I have seen ones with actors, and they couldn’t do that on a budget lower than the classic show had.
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