new doctor who

i became a fan of doctor who thanks to my TiVo picking up midnight airings on my local pbs affiliate. i'm partial to tom baker's fourth doctor with pertwee's third a close second.

when my friend read that first episode of the new bbc series had been leaked, my friend 'secured' a copy for curiousity's sake.
(some spoilers to follow)

the title sequence remains faithful to some of the classic series openings.

• the visuals include the familiar 'spectrum flow' with the police call box tardis whisking to and fro. i know it's a chicken-and-the-egg thing, but the tunneling effect has a stargate feel to it


• not much theme song tinkering a la orbital's homage (which i like) or the klf mash-up pre-cursor "doctorin the tardis" (which i don't)

christopher eccleston's portrayal of the doctor is solid, but may suffer from the same comparison issues that coincide with every new doctor. he continues the self-deprecating tradition but appears a bit more condescending than usual at one point in particular.

billie piper certainly is fetching as rose. while her character is the typical showbiz device to introduce the audience, she wasn't solely the damsel-in-distress as she proves proactive on several occasions.

as far as the visuals and effects, they alternated between good and not-so-good.

• i liked how the autons weren't given too much of an update, maintaining the otherworldly version/vision of humanoids


• a doctor-auton fight invokes a batman animated series villain clayface--that's a compliment actually


• the tardis interior sports a decidedly industrial look with a star trek warp core looking console in the middle. interesting, but a bit claustrophobic


• while the nestene consciousness had its good and bad moments, the actual transmission scene was good

other observations:

• the conspiracy theorist also serves as exposition,
  but perhaps a nod to both internet fandom and even greek lore (?)


• the dialogue was witty at times, a bit too much at others


• physical comedy will be featured prominently


• and best of all...the return of the sonic screwdriver !

its unfortunate no US outlet has picked it up yet considering the networks picked up such sci-fi classics as meego and a show called homeboys in outerspace...