In 2005 Doctor Who returned to our screens after a long break. It was a ratings success and was the undoubted BBC hit of the Summer. This review of the first 3 episodes of the re-imagined series will be longer than the rest of my reviews, since I will be giving some background info. Those of you familiar with the concept of the show can quite happily skip the next few paragraphs.
The Doctor is a Timelord, an alien with a time machine called a Tardis that allows him to travel almost anywhere in time and space, well wherever a BBC budget will allow him to go anyway.
The Doctor usually travels with a companion(s), they are often but not always Human.
The Doctor is the last of his species, the Timelords were wiped out in a Time war with a as of yet unmentioned enemy.
The Doctor can change his body when his current one is worn out or injured severely. He will change appearance and personality, though his core values will remain the same. The Doctor is currently in his 9th incarnation and is played by Christopher Ecclestone.
Now for a description of the episodes.
HERE BE SPOILERS
ROSE Written By Russell
T Davies Director Keith Boak
Rose Tyler is your average girl but her life takes a change for the fantastic when she meets a strange man in a London apartment store. Life is going to become fun and just a little dangerous.
The first episode of the new series is a mixed bag in my opinion. Its great that the show is back but the pacing is just off. This episode is the first to showcase the distressing trend that the new series has of revisiting contemporary England and the soap opera elements take too much of the centre stage. I really don't care about Rose or her family. The performances are of a mixed standard. Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper are good in their main roles, however Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke fail to impress me as Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith respectively. They will grow into their roles as time goes by but in this story they are hampered by some poor writing, In particular I refer to the Pizza scene and Jackie s failed seduction scene. The special effects in this story also fail to impress. The afformentioned pizza scene is poorly realized and as for the burping bin scene. Murray Gold does a good job with the title music but his incidental music fails to impress. The technofart music at the beginning is especially poor. The major thing that hamstrings this story though is Keith Boak's direction. His touch is too light giving Rose the feel of a Power Rangers episode. A stronger director would have made more capital of the climatic massacre scene for instance, yet Boak makes the scene fall flat! A can cut this story a lot of slack considering it is the first televised Doctor Who material in 9 years, however on initial viewing the story failed to impress, on second viewing, my opinion hasn't changed.
We travel from contemporary London to the far far future in this episode, as the Doctor and Rose bear witness to the end of the world.
This story is a definite improvement on the opener, however it showcases two of Russell T Davies major flaws, overuse of pop culture references and bizarre set pieces. The pop culture references come to the fore with the Jukebox scene, billions of years in the future and they play that music Britney Spears and Marc Almond). Doctor Who may be a fictional show but scenes like that really jar with me. It seemed like a deliberate ploy to appeal to a modern audience, good writing makes such pandering redundant. The scene at the end involving the Doctor and Tree person Jabe also jars, I just wonder why a futuristic space station would be using a big set of fans? The fans are an unnecessary set piece. The acting is uni formally good, Jasmin Bannerman is especially noteworthy as Jabe. However Zoe Wanamaker steals the show as a bitchy trampoline. The special effects are much improved, you can see that a lot of time and effort was put into the production. So in short an improvement on the first episode, though not without its flaws.
THE UNQUIET DEAD
Written by Mark Gatiss Director Euros Lynn
The most 'traditional' Doctor Who story of the season and the first example of big name casting, with Simon Callow portraying Charles Dickens.
The dead walk the streets of 19th century Cardiff and the Doctor and Rose bump into a famous face.
This story looks great, the BBC do period drama very well. It is written by Mark Gatiss, famous for being a cast member/writer in 'The League of Gentlemen'. No real flaws in the script and Charles Dickens is very well written. However I am sad to say this story bored me a little, it just seemed like Doctor Who by the numbers. Simon Callow is very good as Charles Dickens, he knows the role inside out. A competent episode but rather unaffecting.
Sound and picture quality are decent, however there are no Extras to speak off, the BBC arrogantly assume that most fans will be willing to fork out more money for the box set.
So a trio of decent if uninspiring episodes, will things improve as the series continues?
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Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Production Year: 2004 - Science Fiction - Director: Alex Proyas - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk
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![Doctor Who: Series 1 - Volume 1 [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78509939.jpg "Doctor Who: Series 1 - Volume 1 [DVD] [2005]")
Jul 11th, 2007
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