i know they can be done well, i knew fan ficcer who was happy to have questions shot at her about the background (she wrote a lot of gallifrey fic which i fell in love with!), i think overall story arcs can be done well, as long as the odd sentence explainin to the deprived generation is added in!

the bbc had a download of th original human nature novel a few years ago, with bernice somerfield. it was a completely new doctor and companion in a strange setting, but it was done well enough that i wantted to kidnap her by the time i was done!

we nbeed newbies guide to the octors and companions!