Who’s next
I’ve been meaning to write what I thought about the first season of Doctor Who, now that it has finished its American run on Sci-Fi.
Fantastic. The Doctor’s tagline sums up how I felt about the series.
Going into the show, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I gave it a faithful fan’s try and was surprised. Good pacing and suspense. Well-done special effects, with a leaning toward cheesy on occasion. Excellent chemistry between the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his first companion, Rose (Billie Piper.)
The series seemed to be strong throughout its run. One two-part episode was haunting and suspenseful, featuring a vacant little boy with a gas mask fused to his face, always searching for his mummy. The Doctor also picked up a new companion, rogue time agent Captain Jack (John Barrowman), a delightfully arrogant womanizer (with an eye for the other side, as well.)Â
Another epsiode allows Rose to see her father before he dies. He’s not who her mother said he was, but somehow along the way, he becomes a hero after all. Rose can’t save him, and gets a taste of how time traveling can be dangerous. And appeals to those of us who think if there was just one more chance, maybe we could fix that one little thing in our lives, the turning point.
And though I risk being disloyal to the original series and my favorite Doctor, I’ll say that it is one of the best seasons. I missed three episodes due to circumstances beyond my control, so I have surprises waiting for me when I buy the DVD set in July. Unless Sci-Fi continues to play the show until then, and maybe I can catch up.
I regret that I spoiled the last episode for myself somewhat. A long time ago, I had already read that the actor who played Who was planning to step down after one season, to avoid being typecast.
The regeneration of a Doctor is always sad. Watching Tom Baker’s last episode used to make me cry, and it was a reason I couldn’t stand his arch-nemesis, the Master. I always knew what was coming.
Rose, who learned early in her stint with the Doctor that everything dies, takes on the lifeforce of the TARDIS, and defeats the Doctor’s ultimate enemy, the Daleks, with a glance.
She’s glowing gold, she’s a god, she knows everything. The Doctor explains to her that she’ll die. With a voice strained by the power, she says everything dies. And it’s that foreshadowing that makes you sad again.
Whatever fantasies that Doctor Who plays on, it’s true that everything dies. Whether it’s the Doctor, who is 900 years old, or ourselves. Mortality is the one thing we have in common. It’s something I think about a lot. And wish that we’d have longer than several decades to figure stuff out. When do we get to try again? Â
At least I get to try again with Doctor Who. I was sure I’d never get to watch my favorite series again, and finally it was revived. It introduced old enemies with the new. It took the familiar leaning toward Earth, but not annoyingly so. And Rose, who often saw her mother again, always felt the urge to travel again, to not return to her dull life again. Just yet, anyway.
Rose’s need to travel and escape her dreary life sums up how some of us might feel. There’s more to life than showing up, getting a paycheck, and watching TV. Trouble is, the Doctor has yet to show up at the brink of apocalypse on my doorstep.
Maybe that’s in season two. Whenever that starts here.
You make me want to take a look at this show. Maybe I’ll set my DVR to record a few of the re-runs this summer. I remember watching this show on PBS a few times when I was a kid, during the Tom Baker era. The theme music was what I liked best…it was so creepy. The rest of the show, I didn’t understand much about it (I was only about seven or eight years old).
I wish I could say I recognized the show’s greatness immediately and avidly watched every episode, but that didn’t happen. I was interested in Sci-Fi at the time, Star Wars and all that, but I guess British sci-fi was culturally alien to me (pun intended).
You should give it a chance, Matt. You might enjoy it.
The old episodes are worth watching too, if you can find them. I have entirely too many tpaes.
I think Doctor Who may be an acquired taste. I know I started watching it to make fun of it, to annoy my mother. The production values of the original series were not good.
But I loved the show anyway. The adventures and storylines were often fun.
As much as Dr. Who confuses me, I was glad to see you so thoroughly enjoy something.
Sigh…even when I watch Doctor Who these days, it just doesn’t compare to those late late Friday (or was it Saturday?) nights in high school up in my bedroom watching the show on my little B&W TV. Often I’d fall asleep watching, and sometimes I’d have nightmares afterwards. Still never became the fanatic that you are, though. Which leads me to ask, have you upgraded all your videos to DVDs by now?
Dawn, you’re right that Doctor Who seems best on a Friday or Saturday night, two hours or more at a stretch.
But Doctor Who on Sci-Fi was played at 9 p.m. on Fridays, even if the episodes were only an hour.
I haven’t upgraded all my videos because there aren’t enough DVDs yet. And I really haven’t updated to the few DVDs there are, with a couple special exceptions. They’ve basically released very popular episodes on DVD, ones I already have. So I’m trying not to duplicate too much.
And I’m DYING to get my hands on the DVD set of the Key to Time. But it still remains a little too expensive.
Time for the dumb post:
I keep forgetting when the show comes on, I guess I play too many video games, but I’ve really wanted to watch it. Just not bad enough, huh?
Well, bro, I’ll be buying the set on DVD. It’s a great show. So if you want to wait in line behind Todd (I promised him first) … I’ll let you borrow the show. It’s well worth the effort.