WHO'S BACK? (Dr. Who 2005)

Member Name: tange

Product:	Dr. Who 2005
Date:	25/05/05 (223 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Doctor's back!

Disadvantages: Will always be compared to the Who of the past.

For those of you who have been away visiting relatives on another planet, a new series of the Science Fiction drama series Dr Who has returned to our screens after a long absence. For those of you who are also unaware of what Dr Who is please allow me to give you a bit of brief background, before moving onto the 2005 series.

~~~A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (TRAVEL).

Dr Who began life on our television screens in November 1963 as a children’s teatime science fiction serial. The show was basically about an alien from the planet Gallifrey (of course we don’t know all about him to begin with) who travels through time and space in a machine known as the TARDIS (this name is an acronym of the words Time and Relative Dimensions in Space).

To allow the viewer to get involved, and also to ask necessary questions, the Doctor is joined on his adventures by a series of companions. He also comes face to face with disasters, historical figures and a variety of scary monsters (you’ll probably remember the Daleks and the Cybermen best).

The Doctor is a Time Lord who has two hearts and the ability to regenerate ~ this is what ensured the longevity of the show and meant that when one actor wanted to leave he could be magically transformed into another completely different actor! Dr Who ran from 1963 to 1989 and seven actors played the title character. The idea was briefly resurrected in 1996 when Paul McGann played the Doctor in a made for TV movie length programme.

…and that seemed to be that!

~~~TIME FLIES.

…that is until 7pm on Saturday 26th March 2005!

Following many years of guessing and rumours the announcement fans had been waiting for finally came. A new Doctor had been cast, a new assistant had been found and the new series had been filmed (mainly in Wales) by BBC Wales. So…what is the new Doctor like and what is the new series all about?

~~~THE DOCTOR.

The new Doctor is played by Christopher Eccleston, an excellent 41 year old character actor, who was born in Salford. He has been in many TV shows and films ~ most famously Cracker (as DCI Bilborough), Our Friends in the North and as the Messiah in The Second Coming (where he worked with Russell T. Davis, who is Executive Producer and one of the Writers of Dr Who).

So far the Eccleston seems to be very at home as the errant Time Lord. He manages to bring humour and tragedy to the character ~ he is able to show emotion when he needs to, yet still keep a degree of detachment that gives him an alien feel.

For fans of the classic series of Dr Who, I would say he is a mix between the manic humour of Tom Baker, the action hero of Jon Pertwee, the childlike quality of Patrick Troughton and the slight vulnerability of Peter Davison (with a slightly crotchety feel of William Hartnell). It is a real shame that Eccleston has decided not to keep playing the Doctor in the next series…but I’ll try not to hold it against him!

~~~THE COMPANION.

During the first episode the Doctor is aided by Rose Tyler, very ably played by ex pop singer Billie Piper (do you remember that awful tune Because We Want To?). Piper was born in Swindon in 1982 and has turned her hand to acting in recent years ~ she was rather good in the modern adaptation of Canterbury Tales for example.

Rose Tyler lives and works in London and Billie is very believable as the 19 year old shop assistant who is bored with her life and desperate for more! It isn’t surprising that she takes to the action of the story with gusto and is willing to give up her mundane life to travel time and space. Billie plays Rose with energy and manages to convey her confusion, sense of humour and adventurous spirit.

~~~WHAT DO I THINK OF IT SO FAR?

So far we have seen nine episodes of the 13 in the series, all at 45 minutes in length. At the beginning of each story there is a brief recap before the theme music. Unlike the original series each episode is a story within itself, rather than having a serial of three or four parts (each being 25 minutes long). This is quite a good format because it keeps the stories punchy and fast paced.

After the first couple of episodes I was saying that I would like to have seen some ideas in each story expanded on and explained a little further, so perhaps two parts stories would be a better way to go in the future ~ I was missing the old cliffhangers! This isn’t altogether a bad thing I suppose because it did mean that the story had to rely solely on the strength of the script and the acting. This gave the stories an immediacy, rather than being allowed to build up and develop slowly. Then a couple of the stories WERE two parters! I thought this was great ~ not only did I get my beloved cliffhanger, the story also had more room to develop characters and explore plot ideas. A good mix of formats and a bit of variety!

There is a great deal of humour in the show (jokes about breast implants, bodily fluids and the like) and a genuine rapport is already in evidence between Rose and the Doctor. The special effects also have moved on and been brought up to 21st Century standards. We also get the chance to meet new aliens as well as get the opportunity to revisit old adversaries (The Autons and the Daleks are examples of old “friends”).

***Rose***

The first episode in the series was called Rose. This was an introductory episode aimed at establishing the relationship between Doctor and his new companion and to allow the audience to “meet” the new cast. We see the two characters brought together to try to save the Earth from destruction from the Nestene Consciousness (an alien entity with the ability to control anything made of plastic) and the Autons.

This was a good story to start off the new season because the “baddies” had appeared in two previous Jon Pertwee stories, thus providing a link to draw in old fans. It was also fresh and fast enough to attract a new audience.

***The End of the World***

Episode two sees the Doctor trying to impress Rose with what the TARDIS can do. Offered the choice of traveling backwards or forwards in time, Rose opts to go 100 years into the future. This seems quite boring to the Doctor so he sends them hurtling to the year 5 Billion, to the day the Earth explodes.

Once again there is humour, danger and a touching side to the story ~ we also learn more about the Doctor, where he is from and just how alien he can be. We also learn that even the Doctor can’t save the planet and that he is nursing a personal heartache of his own.

This was a great story and managed to keep my interest all the way through and has left me itching to get to Saturday for the next part!

***The Unquiet Dead***

This was a good old Victorian melodrama with an alien twist. It was atmospheric, scary and again pretty fast paced. The acting was good and it was nice to see a historical based story ~ it is set in Cardiff of 1869. The aliens had a real mysterious quality and there was once again a good blend of humour, character interaction and frightening scenes. I could see this story as the first of the new series to have sent children hiding behind the sofa!

***The Aliens of London & World War Three***

This was the first two part story and was set in London twelve months after Rose’s initial departure with the Doctor. An alien spaceship has crash landed in the Thames and we eventually learn that this is a cover up for a planned alien takeover of Earth. This wasn’t my favourite story so far because I feel it relied a little too heavily on silly things (like farting aliens), but it was well acted and also gave me my cliffhanger!

***Dalek***

Set in an American bunker under the salt plains of Utah, the Doctor and Rose end up in a fight with the last remaining Dalek. This has been my favourite adventure to date ~ I ended up feeling sorry for the Dalek and loved the way that the darker side of the Doctor is revealed. When the Dalek says that the Doctor would make a good Dalek I was shocked yet impressed at how well the scenes were acted. We also see the Doctor and Rose being joined at the end of the story by a new traveling companion ~ Adam.

***The Long Game***

The Doctor, Rose and Adam travel to the far distant future to a news satellite which transmits (and actually MAKES) the news that is heard on Earth. It turns out that, in this very dark and sinister episode, that Earth is being manipulated by an alien intelligence. This is another interesting story that would maybe have benefited from being a two parter. Needless to say that the evil is thwarted in the end and Adam ends up being returned to his home after being a little too much of a hazard as an assistant!

***Father’s Day***

In this story the TARDIS lands in the London of 1987 ~ the purpose of the visit is for Rose to see her father before he dies. They end up arriving on the day he is hit by a car and dies alone ~ something Rose can’t bear the thought of. As the moment arrives, Rose stops the death and thus unleashes a terrifying series of event that sees the Earth being attacked by the Reapers. This was a funny and rather moving story and one that sees the Doctor more vulnerable than he has ever been. Not even a Time Lord can cheat death!

***The Empty Child***

The first part of a two part story, and the most recent story. This adventure has a backdrop of the Blitz in 1941 and has lots of excellent special effects and some extremely scary scenes. The episode was well acted and ended with a pretty good cliffhanger.

…so, the series continues. I am really pleased to see Dr Who back on BBC1 again (it is also repeated on Sundays at 7pm, on BBC3), where it belongs, and I’m interested to see if it continues in the same exciting way all the way through to episode 13.

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