Television: Dr. Who
I have a confession. I have never seen an episode of the original Dr. Who series. I know, I know, I'm a bad geek, but I had only broadcast television when I was growing up: no cable, no PBS - or whatever channel it was on - so no Dr. Who for the little Doc. So when I heard that the BBC was continuing the series, I was of two minds about it. I was interested and excited to see it, but I was also worried that, without knowing anything about the original series, the relaunch would be incomprehensible.
Fortunately, that was not the case. The new Dr. Who is thoroughly enjoyable and stands up well on its own merits: knowledge of previous continuity is not a pre-requisite (although I would imagine that it would enhance the viewer's enjoyment). I've only seen the first three episodes, and I'm solidly hooked. The talent of the actors that play The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) are a huge reason: not only are they skilled individuals, but their chemistry is fantastic:
The Doctor: Tell you what... with a little bit of jiggery pokery...
Rose: Is that a technical term, "jiggery pokery"?
The Doctor: Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?
Rose: Nah, I failed hullabaloo.
I'm very disappointed that Eccleston is leaving the show before the end of the first season: he's got great charisma and he delivers a strong performance without being self-aware. He steps into the iconic role with skill and grace, and I'll just have to hope that his replacement can maintain the high standard he set.
I like everything about the show; the stories, the special effects, the scripts: nothing bad to say about any of them. I don't want to give synopses of the episodes I've seen - if you haven't seen them, I'm sure you can get a hold of them somehow, and if I tried to summarize the shows, I wouldn't be doing them justice. Essentially, what I'm trying to get across is that Dr. Who is a very good show, and if you like science fiction, tales of adventure, or the medium of television, you should be watching it.
posted by The Doc @ 4/19/2005 09:46:00 p.m.
1 Comments:
I'm in with the Doc--er, our Doc--here, as it's sweet to see new episodes after a fifteen year absence.
Now, granted, I've only seen the pilot so far (keep missing programming that VCR!), but there was something that was bugging me about it, and I just couldn't figure out what that was. Wasn't the new Doctor, wasn't Billie Piper, wasn't the look or the special effects, it was . . . the Autons.
Don't get me wrong. I marked out like a little girl when I saw store mannequins start moving--that's vintage Jon Pertwee right there, motherfucker. The problem as I see it is tha I remember their first appearance. A group of fashion mannequins--plastic, fake people--want to take over England? That's called satire people, and nobody does it better than science fiction.
In the pilot, we don't get that. They're refugees from a war. Oh, boo-hoo. You should have been nicer, plastic people, then you could have stayed!
But touches like the Doctor's speech about the world spinning and the obsessive internet geek with the Doctor conspiracy site were smart, and I'm glad there's a new sonic screwdriver. I will get caught up in my viewing, and it'll still be better than most TV.
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