One of my favorite memories of late childhood was when my brother and I discovered Doctor Who. With its low-budget special effects (it made the original Star Trek episodes look hi-tech), cheesy robot dog K-9, and goofy looking hero (Tom Baker as The Doctor from 1974-1989, still my favorite) it was an unlikely thing for two kids who fell in love with science fiction via Star Wars to get hooked on. But we did. Why? It was foreign, which was part of its charm, it was science fiction, and the stories were extremely entertaining. It was truly like nothing that we had ever seen. Doctor Who ran from 1963-1989, spawned a 1996 movie, and then went on hiatus.
Thus I was excited to hear that a new incarnation of the doctor was going to be starting on the Sci Fi network this past Friday. Being the lone hold-out of all my friends as far as Sci Fi Fridays go I decided that I would at least give this one a try for nostalgia’s sake. My biggest concerns were that the show would not be as fun/goofy as the original and that it would not be appropriate for my daugther (one of the main reasons I didn’t get caught up in the Battlestar Galactica craze). I am happy to say that it succeeded in allaying my concerns.
This new incarnation of Doctor Who stars Christopher Eccleston (28 Days Later, The Others) as The Doctor. Again, being a Tom Baker fan I chose to reserve judgement until after the two hour season premiere was over. I did not have to wait, however, I liked Eccleston’s Doctor immediately. He does a great job being an ever so slightly weird, non-plussed, good guy. He manages to affect the humor of the role without making it slapstick.
British pop star turned actress Billie Piper assumes the role as The Doctor’s companion, Rose Tyler. I liked her from the start. She is attractive but not cutsey and she plays the role of Rose in just the right way: she is not a helpless female but is also not a martial-arts style butt-kicking heroine. Billie Piper’s strong British accent also made her role very appealing.
Rounding off the cast is The Doctor’s time machine, the TARDIS.
Cleverly disguised as a 1950’s era police box the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension In Space) exists in multi-dimensional space and thus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside.
The Sci Fi Channel began the season by showing episodes one and two back-to-back this past Friday night. Episode one was fun but felt like the first episode of a new television series. By the end of episode two I was really into the show…the last 15 minutes of episode two are particularly good. The nice thing about a show like Doctor Who though is that you only need know the basics to follow along. If you did not see Friday night’s episodes you can get the basic idea of what the show is about by reading this explanation of The Doctor’s character.
Overall the show retained the sense of humor and slightly tongue-in-cheek aspect of the 1970’s series that I am fond of while maintaining a modern sensibility. This Doctor Who feels up-to-date in a good way. The special effects were good but did not overwhelm the show and take away from the storytelling (always the best part of Doctor Who). The cast were very good and I am really happy with the choices. The show looks to have a good sense of where it is going and interviews that I have seen with the writer and director prove that they have a love of the classic show that they want to bring to this new version.
There are 13 episodes in season one and season two is set to debut in the UK this spring. Unfortunately I have discovered that Christopher Eccleston will be this incarnation of The Doctor for season one only (The Doctor can regenerate, thus taking on new forms) and has been replaced in season two by David Tennant. Thankfully Billie Piper has continued with her role in season two. I really hope David Tennant does a marvelous job as it is going to be very disappointing getting used to Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor only to have him gone at the end of this season. I look forward to future episodes, especially the return of the Daleks!
Anyway, if you are looking for a fun and entertaining science fiction show that is not trying to be earth-shatteringly serious but is also not silly to the point of slapstick then I think you will enjoy Doctor Who. And if you are looking for classic low-budget science fiction then I suggest you check out the Tom Baker series that ran from 1974-1981. It is great fun.
I caught the season finale of Dr. Who last year. Was enjoyable enough, but I’ve been big into Dr. Who, and it was on at the wrong time. Sat evenings if I recall correctly.
Did mean to watch the Xmas special, but then it was Christmas day and I was otherwise engaged 🙂
Glad you are enjoying it though.
hmm
hmm – i may have to give this a chance – i was avoiding it, maimly becasue he doesn’t have the hair 🙂 – but well, being a consumate doctor who fan (tom baker being the best – even if he often acted like he had more teeth than brains), i have always wanted my own TARDIS
hmm – he did always have attractive companions – does he still have a sonic screwdriver?
carl v. – did you know that they made a spoof of doctor who with Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor (well one of the Doctors) and Jonathan Pryce as the Master? look for it – it’s call Curse of the Fatal Death (did we talk about this already?)
I actually have that spoof but haven’t watched it. Picked it up at a Star Trek convention one year.
I thought some of the companions in the past have been attractive….of course they have to be considered in light of the awful 70’s look.
If you like hair it looks like the new guy (season two) is going to have some crazy hair.
And I can’t believe I forgot to mention it but I love that they still have (a modified version of) the original series music and odd worm-hole graphic at the beginning of each episode. I much prefer the more in-your-face version of the 70’s series but this is a pretty close imitation and is true to the spirit of the original.
one of my ex-boyfriends was a huge Dr. Who fan…course, he was also totally into flight simulator 😉
Very eeeeeenteresting Janet! Haven’t played any flight sims myself…seems to much like work and not enough like a real game! 🙂
bring back Tom Baker!
I’m all for that!
I loved Dr. Who when I was growing up!
Here via Michele.
Joel and I watched this and we enjoyed it. Joel LOVED that they used the original theme and had the wormhole graphics. I think he also liked Tom Baker. Too bad this new Dr. Who didn’t last too long, though. Should be interesting to see the next Dr. Who!
Yes, I was really disappointed when I found out this was a season one deal only. The Doctor is supposedly only supposed to be able to regenerate 12 times so I’m sure the writers, etc. weren’t thrilled when Chris only did this one year…pretty short lived Doctor.
I’ve been watching the good Dr since 1965… scared me silly when I was a youngster, and amused and entertained me through high school, university and married life with children. Those kids now watch the good Dr too!
I watched a few episodes of the new series while in Australia and have now the new season on DVD (some from the UK and some from Australia).
Nice to see it on SciFi and I am glad you like.
i was so disappointed with this show.
the first episode felt like a “B” movie.
the 2nd was good in comparison, but that’s not saying much.
i doubt i’ll subject myself to it again.
So far everyone whose blog I read who is a fan of the classic show really likes this one and it really did strike me as something that wouldn’t appeal right off the bat to people who hadn’t watched and liked the old Dr. Who.
The family and I were finally able to watch the two episodes I taped and we enjoyed them. None of us have ever watched any Dr Who growing up so we didn’t have any preconcived notions. The episodes were light and entertaining and were going to try and catch more since that’s all that’s new that playing on Sci-Fi right now ( I’m ready for the new season of BG already 🙂 ). I was a little worried in the second episode though because they’re was some swear words. I’m sure it’s nothing the kids don’t hear at school already but we still try and limit it at home.
Hopefully it will stay pretty mild as I don’t remember anything objectionable in the old ones. I have a few of the Tom Baker Dr. Who episodes coming on Netflix cuz I want to revisit them.
Since you guys are all talking of the Tom Baker one’s with such fondness I wouldn’t mind seeing one if you don’t mind please?
Omg, I LOVE Tom Baker as Doctor Who!!!!!! I don’t have cable, so I don’t wach the new Doctor Who series, but my Dad introduced me to the old Doctor (Tom Baker) and I think it’s awesome!! True, it is old-fashioned and has horrible special effects, but it’s surprisingly entertaining and I simply love the Doctor being played by Tom!