Well speaking as a person who grew up with McCoy that has to be the most fun I have had in while… it is great to see the Doctor back and larking around like he used to.
I just thought the show was pretty funny really and it was also pretty scary for the kids… (my nephew personally thinks Plastic is a substance of pure evil at this point in time) it was just good clean fun and I can’t wait til the next episode which seems to be going back to the more outlandish routes of the series…
Christopher Eccleston is in my opinion brilliant as well…
Really enjoyed the first episode. They seem to have captured the whole H.G. Wells/Quatermass/Sherlock Holmes/Alan Moore* vibe that the classic show always seemed to have.
It’s sometimes hard to see the connection with the old series, simply because the format is so different, but when they got it right, it was loads of fun. Nice mixture of creepy stuff, wacky sci-fi ideas (a living liquid plastic consciousness) and kid-friendly action.
And this is a kids show, no doubt about it. Shamelessly so, which I like. They haven’t gone down the tedious route of thinking “updating” has to mean “making it dark and serious”. It’s still a neat blend of nightmare imagery and pulp adventure.
And still utterly British.
And the FX are still charmingly wonky.
The storyline with the Autons was a tad flimsy, but then this episode is all about setting characters and concepts up, and they make for an easy foe to explain and despatch in what’s left of 45 minutes. Plus, how many kids shows reference Dawn of the Dead?
I can’t wait to see what they do with some of the two-parters, the Daleks and the “zombie” episode written by Mark Gatiss.
Great start. Looking forward to the rest.
* Alan Moore, of course, got started in comics by writing the Who comic strips for Marvel and a lot of his SF stuff still has a strong Who aftertaste.
Also, between the new Doctor Who, the impressive Captain Scarlet CGI series, the Hitchhikers movie and an all-new live broadcast of The Quatermass Experiment on BBC4 next weekend, this is a pretty great time for classic British sci-fi.
I missed most of it, but I liked what I saw. Dan mentioned the two things I was fond of the most, that the effects were dodgy and it’s absolutely British. But this looks very promising.
It didn’t seem very well filmed. it seemed cheap, quickly shot, badly acted and full of very cheesy casio-music. the way they were hyping it i though it would be a ‘prestige’ series yet it still seemed very slap-dash. surely that wasn’t some post-modern ‘homage’ to the quality of the older series?
i didn’t catch the beginning so could someone tell me if they are using the original theme tune?
what i did like was when the doctor opened the very heavy hatch to get into the underground lair, then accidentally stepped on it - and it bent like cardboard. that was a genuinely happy moment.
what i liked was that it kept a healthy sense of the ridiculous. the whole restaurant fight scene was joyously silly. And, depsite or because of that, it was still quite creepy. I can’t argue with that.
also: a live Quatermass programme on BBC 4? I’m there.
I think it’s worth noting that the crew consider the first episode to be the runt of the litter, so to speak. I was told that from the 3rd episode it gets much much better.
As first episodes go though it was great fun and established things nicely.
Rose may actually wind up surpassing Leela for best companion ever, or at least come close to tying…we’ll have to see.
The incidental music isn’t as bad as I feared…it’s a throwback to the older styles of the show, but it had a depth to it that didn’t cause me to scream in pain like the older, tinny music.
The only problem I had with the opening credits is the actual logo is blah (IIRC, it’s what they’re using on the books these days, so that explains it)…they’re a hell of alot better than the open credits of Colin Baker and Sylvestor McCoy.
The effects and lighting/filming were a hell of alot better than I expected, as well. To hear people talk, I was expecting overlit stage play video, like the old series, with grainy outdoor film shots. This looks better than most things we get over here in the states (from the BBC). I’m assuming that most of modern BBC programming probably looks a hell of alot better than it used to, hence the complaints.
And Eccleson…well, he’s not who I wanted (Hugh Laurie, who’s doing his Doctor impersonation over here in House), but damn if he didn’t turn my head anyways. I’ve been a fan since Shallow Grave.
If people can snag a copy of the 30 min pre-show, “Dr. Who: A New Dimension,” that’s a very well done little “DVD Extra” type thing, as well.
In an amazingly fast turnaround, bare-bones R2 DVDs with three or four episodes each will be available starting in May, with an extras-heavy box set of the entire season rumored for Q4.
Christopher Eccleston has apparently only said he’s doing one series though. Meh. It’s still too early to say, since I’ve only seen the one ep, but I thought he was doing a really good job.
Originally Posted by Masked Muppet This show has a hell of alot of promise. Rose may actually wind up surpassing Leela for best companion ever, or at least come close to tying…we’ll have to see.
Originally Posted by heLL pAso yeah he’s already quit the role fearing he’d be typecast.
That’s disappointing, but understandable; I assume somebody told Eccleston the story of how Patrick Troughton keeled over dead at a Who convention (in costume, according to some versions).
If you take into consideration the fact that the current Doctor Who episodes are 45 minutes long, and there are 13 of them, Ecclestone has filmed not far off two old series’ worth of material.
Put into that context, he has done his fair share of hard work.
I can’t say that I’m entirely sympathetic with this notion of becoming typecast because the evidence doesn’t, in my opinion, support the argument:
Hartnell pretty much retired after the show. Troughton enjoyed a long and profitable tv and movie career when he finished (Sinbad, The Omen etc.) It was impossible for Pertwee to become typecast because the Doctor’s persona (in effect, his own) was pretty much the only one he was capable of. Baker clearly became typecast, but it’s difficult to think that a six-foot-something giant with manic eyes, toothy rictus, corkscrew hair and an instantly recognisable voice could ever escape such a fate. Peter Davison has done far more work since Who than before. Colin Baker just wasn’t a memorable actor full stop. As for McCoy - a total eccentric, which always limits one’s opportunities.
I always find it weird with the differences between a UK series and a US series, where a US series normally runs for 22 episodes normally, with 12-14 in the first season. While UK series are sometimes as low as six.
Originally Posted by Fett I always find it weird with the differences between a UK series and a US series, where a US series normally runs for 22 episodes normally, with 12-14 in the first season. While UK series are sometimes as low as six.
I agree – at times there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason behind it all:
Dr. Who – anywhere between 12 and almost 50(!) / series. Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Blake’s7 – 13 / series. Space 1999 – 24 / series. Casualty – anywhere between 15 and 40 / series. The League of Gentlemen, Blackadder, The Office & Red Dwarf – 6 / series.