Is That a Sonic Screwdriver In Your Pocket...

[the_gneech]

Thanks to the joy of Netflix, lythandra and I have now seen the first three episodes of the Eccleston Doctor Who series.

The Good:

• Scripts so far very good and very classical Doctor-ish adventures. Certainly better than the muddled and largely incomprehensible Fox movie (although even that I thought was better than a lot of other people did). I've been ticking off the "creepy invasion of Earth" and "murder mystery in space" and "weird events in history" models as we go. I'm still waiting on the "besieged base" and "caught between warring factions" models, but I'm sure they'll be along.



• Yay, production values! There's still the occasional "Hey, this is CGI!" moment, such as the boyfriend-eating dustbin in "Rose" but on the Doctor Who scale of set wobbliness, all very high standards.



• A meta-story, and a backstory. Since we can't really do the mystery of "Who is the Doctor?" any more ("He's a timelord from Gallifrey, duh!"), we have the new mystery of "What happened to the timelords, and why did it make the Doctor so grouchy?" That's cool. This "bad wolf" popping up motif seems interesting too, if a little forced.



• Rose seems a good companion so far. Not as good as Romana or Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, but better than a lot of the very forgettable "pretty screaming faces" over the years.



• Charles Dickens! Played by Mister Beebe! That's cool.



• Conspiracy theorists have noticed the Doctor. That's very cool.

The Not As Good:

• No face in the opening credits! How can you have an opening sequence without the Doctor looking mysterious?



• The Doctor in a leather jacket and jeans? No, entirely too ordinary. Give that man a costume!



• The Doctor just stood there and let Cassandra die, rather than go to trial? Even when Rose explicitly told him to help her? Um, no. This is a guy who was wracked with guilt about obliterating the Daleks before they were created in Genesis of the Daleks -- I can't see him being that cold no matter how shell-shocked he is. Cassandra is a helpless prisoner at that stage.



• Eccleston is all right, I don't want to seem like I'm knocking him, but it should be Paul McGann here. Seriously. At least for the first season. He deserves a regeneration.



• We need some multi-parters here. The first three episodes have been so set-'em-up-knock-'em-down that it feels like I'm watching the series on fast forward. Classic 'Who' would just be finished with the first story arc at this point, which I can easily agree would be too long -- but with each episode being a single 45-minute story arc, I'm just getting interested and suddenly there's a denouement out of the blue. But I gather some are coming, so that's okay.

So, all in all, quite good but with a few niggly points. Definitely a worthy successor and I'm eagerly awaiting the next disc! I particularly want to see "Dalek" -- I've heard a lot of good things about it.

-The Gneech

Comments

[vamour.livejournal.com]

I never was that keen on Eccleston's 'costume' myself, but it does eventually end up getting poked fun at.
There's also some excellent two-part episodes in the first season of the new series, including 'The Empty Child', which is genuinely creepy. Some of them aren't as good, like 'World War Three', but the next season more than makes up for it by having every two-parter being awesome, especially 'The Impossible Planet'. Unfortunatly they're not pushing past two-part episodes yet - I don't think they will with the 40-minute format, kinda like they did with Colin Baker's episodes.
As for Cassandra, don't worry, she gets another appearance. But I know what you mean, these two versions of The Doctor seem to have that "If you've messed this up and hurt people, I don't have to save you" thing going on.

[dhlawrence.livejournal.com]

Don't worry--the next version gets a costume :)

I think the allowing Cassandra to die instead of bringing her to trial is a symptom of his new bitter nature caused by the Time War. Don't worry--she'll be back ;)

I would have liked to see McGann in the new series, even if they did a "The X Doctors" episode, but the producer doesn't want to do that.

The longest the episodes get are two-parters. However, since they're hour-long shows, a two-parter is about ten minutes short of a four-(half-hour) parter from the classic series.

If you enjoy the 2005 season, you should love the 2006 season!

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

"The Four Doctors" w/ McGann, Eccleston, Tennant, and Rowan Atkinson!

-TG

PS: Or Richard Grant.

[wardy.livejournal.com]

The ninth Doctor is carrying an awful burden, hence his lack of mercy and I think it makes for a better, more gritty edge to the timelord. Dont forget Colin Baker was always up for a scrap!

I like the leather jacket and jeans as it shows the Doctor can look ordinary and yet still be a commanding prescence!

He, like me, has a northern accent and we dress like so I am biased oif course!

Wardy

[kailucidricwolf.livejournal.com]

its a shame both actors, Rose an that doctor. quit because they dont want to be "type casted".

So after we get used to these actors, they have to be written out.
which caused the next seasion to sort of "go wonky" script wise. as they tried to write Rose out to replace her halfway into the new seasion.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I don't think Tennant will have that problem -- he's a Who fanboy from way back, from what I've heard so will probably stay with the show as long as they'll let him.

-TG

[kailucidricwolf.livejournal.com]

Oh, i know that.
I'v already seen the second seasion.
Tennant has some emo moments, based on the script. but as a whole? I've grown quite fond of him.

though, i am scared of the black 'hip hop' woman replaceing Piper..
i'm not sure how.. that would work out.
anyone looking 'hip hop' just doesnt seem to fit in with the Dr'who ness, to me.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

A lot of folks said that about Rose and her chav-ness. =};-3

[kailucidricwolf.livejournal.com]

yea, well, all of great britian is ruled by were-wolves..

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

Shush! He hasn't seen that part yet!

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

What is "chav-ness", BTW?

-TG

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Ah. Gotcha.

-TG

[tr-wolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Eccleston was good (it was odd seeing The Doctor with an accent from my city though!), but Tennant is much better, and I actually think of him as The Doctor, he's very good, and his outfit is usually an old 70's looking suit, but with white trainers/sneakers, he also occasionally wears glasses, and often talks to himself under his breath whilst thinking aloud, I like that.

And Rose is good in those first 3 episodes, but she gets better, dont worry.

What did you think of the new orchestrated theme tune?

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

What did you think of the new orchestrated theme tune?

A little too phrenetic and John-Nathan-Turnerish (http://www.drwhoguide.com/mp3/who5.mp3) for my tastes; I prefer the more mysterious-sounding Pertwee (http://www.drwhoguide.com/mp3/who3.mp3)-era rendition. I have some fondness for the Fox version (http://www.drwhoguide.com/mp3/who8.mp3) too, just 'cause I like full orchestras.

-The Gneech

[kyrincat.livejournal.com]

Oh man!!...bad enough to lose Chris, now we're gonna lose Billie too? *whine*

I don't wannna!!! *kick kick*

I am having a real hard time accepting Tennant as it is, but having Billie quit the show is going to make it even worse for me.

Anyway, now I am going to cry.

Kyrin

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

You didn't know? Oops. 0.o Sorry for the spoiler!

-TG

[rhanlav.livejournal.com]

The multi-parter stories are later on in the season. In fact, you should get one next disk. You'll probably like The Empty Child on Disk 3. It reminds me totally oldschool Doctor Who, where normal stuff could be totally scary. Dalek is a good episode too. So keep watching, you'll get to the good stuff soon!

[rhanlav.livejournal.com]

Oh, and just to note... I still miss Ace. She was the greatest companion ever, just because she had a baseball bat and wasn't afraid to use it.

[wardy.livejournal.com]

I agree!

Wardy

[mecampbellesq.livejournal.com]

Yes, you well and truly want to see 'Dalek' At the end you will do something that you never thought you'd do in a Dr. Who episode: Feel sorry for one of the space salt shakers...

[kyrincat.livejournal.com]

That, is very true.

Kyrin

[mouser.livejournal.com]

When you see the ENTIRE season, please revist this post.

[tr-wolf.livejournal.com]

Definately agree here.

My only gripe with the series so far is that so much of it is set in Britain, and mainly around London. I want more far away weird planets!

[kyrincat.livejournal.com]

The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances are two of my all time favorite episodes. Father's Day is also very good. Hang in there, once this thing gets rolling, I think you are really gonna like the ride.

Kyrin

[gamera-spinning.livejournal.com]

The Doctor just stood there and let Cassandra die, rather than go to trial? Even when Rose explicitly told him to help her? Um, no. This is a guy who was wracked with guilt about obliterating the Daleks before they were created in Genesis of the Daleks -- I can't see him being that cold no matter how shell-shocked he is. Cassandra is a helpless prisoner at that stage.

Cassandra has extended her life way beyond what it was meant to be, "All things die." This Doctor is the last survivor of a cataclysmic war. Everyone he's cared about is gone. As for the Daleks, well, that will be addressed. He is emotionally damaged, and that's a big part of his journey the first season.

Cassandra returns early on in Season 2, and there's a very touching resolution to her character.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I understand what they're trying to do -- I just don't want it to stay that way. The Doctor's desire to do the most good and rescue everybody who has even a shred of a chance of being rescued, is an important part of what keeps him appealing when he's being mulish, arrogant, or irritatingly incomprehensible.

-The Gneech

[gamera-spinning.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of rescues, a lot of innocent lives saved, but there are some very important questions that are asked and there are aspects of him that will never be the same as the previous Doctors.

"I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it."
-"School Reunion", Season 2

I loved Season One, but Season Two has some glorious moments in it.

Patrick Troughton used to be my favorite Doctor, but David Tennant is now.