I’d never seen an episode of Doctor Who before, but I have to second this SF Signal review of the first season of the new Doctor Who, starring Christopher Eccleston. I’d always been leery of anything Doctor Who-related, but I watched this one because it was on Netflix Watch Instantly and I like Eccleston a whole lot.
It was decidedly not what I’d been expecting.
The charming thing about this show was that this Doctor was actually having fun. He’d burst out giggling when he found himself in an impossible spot, and he’d joggle on his heels when he discovered something new. Most SF shows are deadly serious or, at best, mildly humorous, but the vibe I get from watching Doctor Who is completely different. I think more people would watch science fiction television if more shows copied the Holy-Shit-Isn’t-This-Fucking-Amazing attitude of Doctor Who. It doesn’t hurt that the Doctor’s sidekick, played by Billie Piper, is remarkably hot for a blond former Britpop star. (She’s decidedly not my type, but her mouth is a science-fictional wonder unto itself.)
I agree with SF Signal that the first and last episodes of Doctor Who: Season 1 are not the most thrilling in the world, but I do think they’re better than most TV sci-fi, and the season really knocks it out of the park in the middle there. If you have Netflix Watch Instantly (or a Roku viewing box, which is the best invention since the rotary phone), you only have a few more days to watch it: Netflix is pulling the series from its Watch Now service on April 13th.
Yes. Doctor Who is awesome. And hilarious. Please go watch it.
The original run of Doctor Who had plenty of humor in it too. Most British sci fi does.
Billie Piper is a horrible actress.
“Errr, erm, ahhhh, uhhh, errr”
Forced to watch Dr. Who as a child by my abusive father, I have hated all Dr. Who iterations aside from the Eccleston one. I actually really liked him, to my everlasting surprise. Also, “joggling on his heels” is something I’m going to have to work into conversation.
solid call on billie piper, constant. real solid.
@3:
That describes most British acting.
Paul, I thought I knew you. How is it possible you have never watched any Doctor Who???
Behind the times or what? – that series is three years old, maybe four. Eccleston is long gone. They’re just about to kill off/regenerate David Tennant in favor of a younger, more foppish model – and they’ve gone through two fabulous side kicks since then.
Check out Torchwood – the spinoff series (Torchwood == Anagram(Doctor Who))
Forget the Roku box.
XBox 360 and LIVE has the same capabilities as a Roku box and you get a game machine as well.
I always felt like I should have watched Dr. Who growing, being a nerd and all, but however much I loved most British t.v., the Dr. always seemed like a chore.
So I was very pleased with Eccleston, who I adore, but I think David Tennet is just brilliant as the Doctor.
Eccleston. Swooooooon.
…
That’s all I have to say, Mr. Constant…. except…
I know you’ve heard me or Becca gush about this iteration in the past… what took so long?
@ skip most of season 1 of Torchwood, or at least fast forward through it; then jump to season 2.
By the by, Breaking Bad is awesome, thanks for the heads up…
Secret Diary of a Call Girl is pretty terrible (on a craft level), but you get to see Billie Piper’s naked bits, if you’re willing to put up with about 5 minutes per episode of stock footage of her walking in and out of a shop.
Paul, it only gets better from that season. You have some great watching ahead.
Really? You’re just NOW getting to Doctor Who? Especially the redone version?
Man, you’ve been out of it, I guess.
Really?! Just now?! I could understand if you weren’t into sci-fi…
Yes, Eccleston was a fantastic Doctor and really won over a lot of old-school fans who were skeptical about the revival. His decision to leave will always be one of the great What Ifs of genre TV.
If you decide to continue, be warned that halfway through S2 the show becomes a romance, and that theme persists through S3 (which is still bearable because Freema Agyeman is awesome, if ill-served by the writing). This theme lies mostly dormant in S4, and Catherine Tate is a fantastic companion, which makes it, I think, the best of the three series with David Tennant. (I love Tennant; I increasingly dislike his Doctor, however.)
And yeah, the notion that the show was somehow a “chore” and not humorous is misguided. It’s always been pretty silly–sometimes unintentionally (admittedly, the production values in the old days warranted much laughter all on their own and you kind of have to take them on their own merit to enjoy the show), sometimes very deliberately. That’s part of the charm it holds for old-school fans. KBTC in Tacoma will likely do its next marathon of older series episodes in June. You should tune in then–or even better, come on down to the station–and see how fun it can be to watch it with people who love it even with its flaws.
(As for Torchwood: skip the first seven episodes of S1. It gets somewhat better after that and sets up some meta stuff that matters in S2. S2 is pretty good.)
Avoid Torchwood. I don’t care what anyone says, it’s enough to make you doubt the existence of the sun and baby kittens.
Eccleston was good, Tennant was great (and the writing was even better). Tennant asked to leave; he wasn’t fired. The new guy, Matt Smith, is just too young, but I’ll certainly watch it in the future.
The episode Blink is the best time travel story ever.
Wow. The new Dr Who is MUCH, MUCH HOTTER than
the old. The old wasn’t even passably attractive.
This brings the whole “bring back a series with more attractive actors” to an ENTIRELY NEW LEVEL.
Billie Piper reminds me all too much of Janice in Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem Band.
Doctor Who is my favorite current* show on television. Stick with it, Paul, it only gets better.
(*yes, yes – I know. BUT. NEW EPISODE SATURDAY! /nerd)
Sorta off topic but Eccleston in Revenger’s Tragedy was fucking awesome!
Doctor Who is absolutely wonderful. I like the new version better than the old, in general. Both Eccleston and Tennant were fabulous. And yes, @18, Blink was awesome. It had just the right levels of humor and suspense.
The Brits know what they are doing when it comes to science fiction.
I just saw the first season of Doctor Who for the same reason. Thank you, Netflix.
Not sure what I think about season one at least — Definitely not as good as I heard it was, and not loving the season 2 replacement doctor thus far.
On the other hand, I loved Torchwood, which seems to be pretty much universally reviled.
I love new Who. I was a fan of the old series and I must say the new series addresses nearly every shortcoming of the original run. The special effects are top notch, the characters are approachable and they’ve stripped out the padding. They make enough nods to the past to make old fans happy without making it unapproachable to people who haven’t followed the 40 + years of back story. My biggest complaint I have with the new series is that generally you don’t have as well developed supporting characters in the adventures because stories generally run one hour episode rather than 4 to 8 (or more) half hour episodes. So sometimes the stories feel rushed, but I suppose that is better than adding superfluous scenes of the Doctor running down the same corridor.
Liked the 9th Doctor (his reign was too short) but l loved the 10th! Looking forward to see what 11 brings to the role.
I quite like Torchwood, too. I don’t think it is fair to say it is universally reviled. It is one of BBC America’s most popular shows. Also it has gotten lots of accolades for having a queer lead actor. Personally I found season 1 to be slightly better overall than season 2–Ianto was cuter and it did not have the episode “From Out of the Rain” in it.
What – no nods to creator Russell T Davies? He’s the one who literally took the genre and sexed it up for the 21st century. Prior to that, British sci-fi (including the Old Dr Who) was alot of static dialogue shots on collapsable sets on a very sorry Beeb backlot somewhere (*like all of BBC drama’s – very Shakespeare). Seems like they’ve picked up on Joss Whedon and added more action and also character development with each new season. (And while possibly poly-sexual, the doctor has more of an interest in his companions and vice versa — which is kinda awkward considering the show is originally aimed at preteen brit boys, but whatevs…)
I heart both Eccleston and Tennant – never thought I’d see a sexier intergalactic nerd than either of them…
Torchwhood – eh. Not so much. John Barrowman is hot in supporting roles on Doctor Who, but i can’t take the dimestore X-files suspense seriously.
on your cable box is this thing called BBC TV – it’s like 162 on Comcast.
check it out … you’re like two seasons behind.
Agreement. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve seen nearly every episode of DW that still exists today (a lot of the 1960’s episodes are lost). Eccleston was the best performance in the show’s history.
Russell T Davies is amazing. Be warned, however, that his writing always tanks near the end of a season. He falls into the old Sci-Fi trap that higher jeopardy makes a better story.
The final episodes of Season 1 and 2 are about the quality of “Rocky Vs. Rambo”. The final episode of Series 3 takes a brilliant setup and delivers Peter Pan-like kiddie nonsense. The final episode of season 4 left me feeling like Davies had just shit in my mouth.
Stephen Moffatt, the guy who wrote the episode “Blink” (and several other good ones) is now the showrunner, since Russell stepped down. We’ll see how the kid from “The History Boys” does as the Doctor, but I will continue to expect excellent things.
And I will continue to watch Torchwood because though sometimes it blows beyond compare, sometimes it is wonderful…sometimes it is really, hot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj7Q2M5hB…
Yes, keep watching, Paul. I think you’ll love Tennant.
I’m surprised that you think “the Doctor having fun” is a new invention, introduced to the series by Eccleston’s portrayal. I’d have described most of the first 8 Doctors as being regularly delighted by having the whole of time and space to explore, with the most sheer explosive joy and wonder being articulated by Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker (not coincidentally, my two favourite Doctors).
Eccleston is a fine actor, but it was just a job to him, he did it for a few months and then jumped ship, so f*ck him, basically. Tennant loved the show to pieces since he was a wee little boy and I think it ends up showing in his enthusiasm for the role. In the end he eclipses Eccleston entirely.
heck, i wish he’d come back to ‘heroes’
Billie was NEVER Britpop. She was our version of Britney until DW came along.
I’ve always found it odd that the most famous SciFi TV series in ’60s US and Britain seem to have their themes reversed compared to the countries they were made for.
Star Trek can be seen very much as a space version of naval military stories. Kirk is the very model of a modern major general, and although they aren’t colonizing the places they are visiting their actions are much like the expansionist actions of the British Empire.
Dr. Who seems much more like they cowboy who quietly rides into town one day.He doesn’t want to interfere with the normal goings on, but when seeing someone bullied he just can’t leave it be.
Christopher Eccleston is good in the part. David Tennant blasts off in the part.
I love David Tennet. He has this wonderful enthusiam. season 2 of Torchwood is the good, but dark.
Strangely, the episodes that feature normal people and not the regular cast ends up being the best television. Blink is a masterful episode. There is a Shirley Henderson Ep that is great and the Doctor barely appears. Usually, they are just so different that it is a banana after many, many apples.
It is a glorious thing to turn on your TV and watch David Tennant play the Doctor. Though Eccleston was my first, and I also enjoyed him a lot, especially the nature of his chemistry with Piper.
But David Tennant is just a ball of charm rolling downhill and picking up more as he goes. His Doctor is the one I’ll always judge the others from, including the new “Intern Who,” the next one with the flippity floppity hair who’s 26, which is more than young enough to be my kid.
And I don’t want to be charmed by a kid. It seems wrong.
From what I understand, Torchwood wasn’t popular in the U.K. because it was too American, which would explain why it is popular on BBC America. I like it, but it is much more hit-or-miss than Doctor Who.
Watch old doctor who drunk. Watch old episodes of Doctor who, written by Douglas Adams especially while drunk.