Even though the series doesn't have its world premiere for a little under three weeks yet, already the first episode of the newly revamped "Doctor Who" series has appeared online and leaked to assorted P2P networks. Reviews of this first of 13 new episodes have continued to come in however before this leak came out. Here was one sent in by 'Rick':
"Doctor Who: Episode 1 - 'Rose'" - A Review by 'Rick' Well, its been many years and another regeneration, but Doctor Who is back, and it won't be shown in America any time soon. Which is too bad really, because this is not a terrible adaptation of the series.
I've been a Who fan my entire life, we both started at the same time and I've watched when I've been in England, and the PBS episodes shown here in the states. Sure I've seen Tom Baker and Peter Davison more than the other doctors, but I've gone out of my way to give them all a fair shake. So I'll do the same thing here with this new version of Doctor Who. Now fans who have been watching this show develop over the last year or so have had many, many negative things to say about the new look, from the odd new logo, to the choices of Doctor and companion, and even for me the TARDIS looked a little bloated. And I'll admit the first time I watched this new series premiere I had a frown on my face, but then I watched it again and thought you know this isn't so bad.
The new series starts off with an episode called Rose, which also is the name of the Doctor's newest companion. The first five minutes or so deal with her life and her job and boyfriend, all of which seem pretty dull. Even though it's shot in a very fast paced style, ala MTV or Keen Eddie. Thank goodness the Doctor intervenes just in the nick of time to pull her out of the doldrums of everyday life, and into a very cute adventure. It seems the Doctor has come her to Earth to help stop the Autons from taking over the world. Now this is where I'm going to stop talking about the baddie of the week and get into the series itself.
Again, a fan for a long, long time. I always looked forward to the change, or regeneration scenes where one actor passed the torch of the character to the next. Plus the scenes where the Doctor found his persona, and character were always very enjoyable too. One of the best of these, was in one of the worst Doctor Who efforts the 1996 TV Movie. You did however get to see Sylvester McCoy change into Paul McGann and see him figure out what to wear and who he was. Now a lot of that film was terrible with a capital T, we don't need to see a kissing doctor. But I've always liked these scenes, and it's sorely missing from the new show, but that's really my only big gripe with this version.
It's 2005 and the show is fast paced and if it's aimed a kids audience then it really hit's it's mark. From the techno-dance music to the rather silly effects, it works. How often do you get to see rejects from West World shoot down a mall full of people, or a trash bin swallow someone whole and burp afterwards. Now mind you there are some logic issues in the show that I would have rather The Doctor just said 'we don't have time, I'll explain later', but that's ok, it's Doctor Who after all.
The Doctor and Rose are played by, Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper and my only qualms with them are the fact that they have their name ABOVE the title of the show in the open. Both play their roles nicely and by the end of the episode your begging Rose to join the Doctor, just to see her get away from her lap dog (literally) of a boyfriend. How he got her I'll never know. There are some great moments here, from the introduction of the 'inside' of the TARDIS, to toss away line about how the new Doctor's ears look, to my favorite moment about his accent.
There are also some great problems, such as, why do the mannequins that come to life, who are made of plastic, have guns inside their hands? Couldn't they have just picked up some guns and started shooting? And why does the inside of the TARDIS connect directly to the outside world? I thought there was a threshold between the Blue Box outside bit and the inside world of the TARDIS. But aside from a few nitpicks, the show moves along at a smashing pace, and does introduce a few new concepts.
My favorite new concept is a web site that you can easily find by searching for 'Doctor Blue Box' and come across a 'watchers-esque' web site of conspiracy theorist that have photos and drawings of the Doctor, and how he's intervened in history over time. This was a very clever idea and one they could easily develop. Bottom line, it's very watch able, it's very British, and it's generally very good. Perfect? Nope, not by a long shot, but let's give a few months before we call it as bad as Enterprise or Voyager.
Thanks to 'James' & 'Rick'.
