Doctor Who on Sci-Fi - ongoing thread (merged) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Floto]

Could we possibly make this the OFFICIAL THREAD for the American broadcast of DOCTOR WHO?

I think it would be nice so that those of us who have not seen the program in other markets can discuss without worrying about spoilers...

 

[Tony J Case]

This was one episodes that I didnt like all that much upon first viewing, but it really grew on me with later watchings. Also, its probably the closest in tone and style to the Classic Who - and the first proper "cliffhanger" in the opening credits.

And Simon Callow - wonderful stuff. He really steals the show.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

And written by Mark Gatiss of the popular British show League of Gentlemen.
How do we make this an "official thread?"

 

[seanOhara]

The story reminds me a lot of Ghost Light and The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Oddly, the three episodes contain my three favorite companions.

 

[BrianW]

Well, I'm finally on board. It took me long enough, but I finally watched all three episodes this weekend.

I thought the first episode, "Rose", wasn't very good. But the second and third episodes more than made up for it.

I like watching Rose's transformation as she sees things from a Time Lord's perspective. In her way of thinking, nothing was more important than individual life. But now that she's seen with her own eyes that everything eventually comes to an end, she's beginning to understand the notion that the individual flower doesn't matter as much as the whole of the garden, and that great sacrifices must be made, and accepted, in order to preserve the greater good.

Of course, the opposite is happening with the Doctor. He's plucked a flower from the garden (a Rose - Nyuck, nyuck!) and clings to it as if it were the most important blossom in his near-immortal life. Though he continues to tend the vast and wonderful garden, it would be empty without her companionship.


As an aside: How on Gallifrey does a race of Time Lords fail to figure out a way to win a war and keep their species from being wiped out? Could they have actually been taken by surprise?

 

[David Williams]

I'm starting to warm up to the show.

I agree with those that say the first episode wasn't very good and the second episode was an improvement. Christopher Eccleston has not aged well in the 8 years since I lost saw him in Elizabeth (he was freaking hot in that movie!) His Doctor is okay, but the real star of the show is Billie Piper, the real reason I have continued on past the initial first hour. Rose is quite a breath of fresh air, as I can say I haven't seen a character on TV in a while quite like her.

Simon Callow was wonderful in this ep, as usual. I wish Sci-Fi could at least show the portion of the credits that list the guest stars, as I had no idea that Zoë Wanamaker did the voice of Cassandra (The Last Human) in ep 2 until I was doing some reading online last night.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I loved your observation Brian W. Probably the best I have read.
There are definite story arcs for both Rose and the Doctor and they are not the same at the end of series one as they were at the beginning.

 

[Steve Y]

This one was pretty good. I loved going from the end of the world to the nineteenth century, and the effects were seriously creepy.

According to some Friends Of Mine Who Know, it's difficult getting on board with this series if:

1. You've watched all the previous incarnations of Doctor Who (I hadn't), and can't get on board with the re-imagined situations and characters. This is the #1 reason "Who" fans are skeptical of the new series (re: Brian's above comment about the Time Lords). Or: "not enough alien planets and rubber squid monsters!"

2. You have to wait a week (or longer) for each new episode, so you have time to mull over the cheesiness of living plastic or zombies or the very contemporary Earth-centric plots.

Even episode three, ostensibly a "creature of the week" plot, has important ties to the first series as a whole. Again, it's sort of hard to see the forest for the trees right now. This is a character-driven show, with VERY character-driven plots. I also maintain it's a more enjoyable show if you've never watched Doctor Who before and are "coming at it clean".

I've mentioned it a couple times before but I'll say it again: beware the next episode, "Aliens of London". Expect extremely ridiculous stupid silliness and you'll be fine. It's by far my least-favorite episode of the first series.

 

[CaptDS9E]

On second viewing on the DVD set i actually liked it more. It actually has some important stuff in it.

 

[BrianW]

Thanks for the warning, Steve.

Actually, it was my affinity for the old Doctor Who that kept me going past the first episode. Knowing that it's a character-driven show -- and, at least in past productions, knowing that it's more like theater than television with regard to effects, makeup, and sets -- kept me interested to see what would transpire in subsequent shows.

Cheesiness, which Doctor Who has always been known for, is actually okay as long as it's used as a story-telling device, rather than as the main plot. That first episode was seriously in the "main plot" category. But the cheesiness in the third episode (zombies, anyone?) was definitely used to tell a good story and advance the character development.

 

[Jeffery_H]

I quite agree with you there about this episode. My background on Who was all the classics. I have seen and still have all the episodes from the 3rd Doctor up to the 7th Doctor. Of course, my favorite is like most, the Tom Baker 4th Doctor era. Having said that, I have found it very hard to get behind this "new" Doctor Who until this episode. My thoughts so far are:

1. If truly wanting to start over, why not do it Star Trek - TNG style and have it be the 1st Doctor. Show us his home planet, his unhappiness with the councel of time lords, etc. with him leaving. In other words, some REAL background on him and then kick off his adventures.

2. Doctor Who is always character driven and serial based when it's best. The new self contained shows really don't work for me and may never will. But they could tie all little things together at the end of the season which would improve matters here. So I'm willing to give it a chance, just not hopeful at this point. Right now, Who is more like 2 episode 25 minute blocks from PBS, just not enough time to get into it.

3. The new TARDIS is down right cheesy. The spinning wheels and hand pumps, come on people what were they thinking? !!!!

4. Not enough time spent INSIDE the TARDIS showing the vastness of it and more details of the control room. I have had to rewind several times these scenes just to get a vague clue what is going on here.

5. Important dialoge is way too brief. Like the Doctor briefly explaining the TARDIS, his use of the sonic screwdriver, etc. The camera work and dialoge for these scenes is just dreadful to say the least. I have it on TIVO and had to slo-mo the show just to get a brief glimpse of the TARDIS details and his sonic screwdriver. Even then it wasn't shown very well at all.

6. Overall it just feels too rushed. Great for the idiots and "ADD" types that love trash TV, but Who has always attracted a smarter group of viewers. It's a "thinking" man's SCI-FI show.

7. I thought it was suppossed to be much newer with a lot better budget. So far it seems rushed, very low, and cheesy, not classic Who low, but still very low. Not a bad thing if they will write it like classic who though to a certain degree.

I'm willing to set though season 1 till the end to see how it pans out. Tonight was certainly the best I have seen and I hope they continue in that direction and style. It did indeed feel more like classic Who in tone. Some important clues I thought:

1. The aliens mentioned a war causing their problems. It sounded like they were referring to the time lord war which was hinted at from the start of the season. If so, I hope it builds to telling how it happened and unfold the story over time.

2. Good character development. I too thought of Ghost Light and even some of Horror of Fang Rock (gotta love Leela!)

If they will grow the show and give more depth to it along with maybe story arcs spanning the season then it may work for me.

 

[TheLongshot]

It does have a much better budget. Problem is, our expectations outstrip what the BBC can do. There is always been a certain amount of cheese to the show, and I think it would have been a little disappointing to some fans, if they got away from that completely.

Jason

 

[BridgetJZ]

Loved the End of the World...have last Friday's episode on TiVo and will probably watch it in a bit. Did anyone else happen to catch it?

 

[BridgetJZ]

There's a certain amount of cheese to just about any BBC production. Its just what they do, and do well, might I add.

Such being said, I think that Who fans really embrace the show because of its, ahem, quirks.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Why American input into Dr Who is a very bad idea - exhibit A.

 

[Steve Y]

That's actually encouraging to hear, Andrew. Most of the comments I've heard mostly reflect a certain set of expectations regarding sets, plots, etc., based upon past experience with the show (see Jeffery's comments above).

I never would have thought there was a problem with the tardis set, or that the "time wars" were somehow implausible, or that the expositions were too rushed and shots too-quickly edited, for example; but most every critic I've talked to has repeated these criticisms in some form or another.

It's been hard convincing people who have the sci-fi channel to give it a shot! They just can't seem to get over the fact that it's "Doctor Who", which comes attached with that "comic book guy" stigma... and not without reason, I suppose.

 

[Steve Y]

"The End of the World" is the episode that really got me hooked. This is where we really see that it's not only a character-driven show, but Rose's show in particular (The Doctor through the eyes of his "companion")... her reactions to being "displaced" were extremely genuine. It made it sort of frightening.

As for "Toxic": I thought it was sort of an inside joke to include this song, because Britney Spears was always chasing Billie Piper around the pop charts in Britain.
Unfortunately, it looks like a line was cut for the American release, which sort of ruins the joke.

There were some comments above regarding the "Children in Need" special, the Christmas Special, and the "interactive episode":

The "Children in Need" special is essential viewing, though it is only seven minutes (not fifteen). I hope it is aired, or at least bundled in future DVDs, because it provides necessary (and sometimes hilarious) character interaction between the last episode and the Christmas Special.

Which leads us to the Christmas Special. It is a slightly longer than normal episodes, and absolutely necessary, and totally great. Plus: robot santas and killer buzzsaw xmas trees...
... gotta love it! If you've come this far in the series, this sort of thing is nothing by now.

The "interactive" episode is not necessary viewing, IMO. Don't worry about this one, unless you're a rabid completist.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

So I'm guessing Jeffrey doesn't care for the show but I rejoice in the fact that the show is more successful than ever with fans in the UK (new and old) which will guarantee us at least a couple more seasons of the show for the people that are enjoying it.
With tough critics here raised on big budget fluff like Voyager and Enterprise and even the last three Star Wars movies, it doesn't surprise me that this isn't everyone's cup of tea.
To each his own.

 

[Jeffery_H]

You said:



You are correct in stating the repeated criticisms and reviews of the show. Most everyone I know that liked the old Who think the editing/filming and most certainly the pacing of the dialogue is too rapid. It makes me think of Blair Witch Project on some scenes, especially inside the TARDIS. Everyone also hates the TARDIS set, espcially the hand pumps and spinners. Many, like myself, have to rewind and slo-mo their TIVO just to get a glimpse of the set or what they said. Yes, I have no clue what British broke they use or the British expressions since it's not American English. However, that never stopped me from liking the classic Who episodes. The main beef most fans have, at least here in the USA is with all the things I have already pointed out.

Enjoy Who, but for me and others that know how good the writing was of the past with the story arcs and characters, it has a LONG way to go for me to watch past season 1.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Jeffrey - it was just a bit of tongue in cheek British sarcasm. Please don't take it to heart, my colonial chum. Jokes about our cousins across the Herring Pond is how we poor Brits take our minds off our cooking, weather and dentistry.