Head Writer and Executive Producer: Russel T. Davies
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Noel Clarke, John Barrowman
In 2005 the BBC revived Doctor Who, one of the iconic science fiction shows of all time and a staple of British popular culture. Doctor Who originally ran between 1963 and 1989 and in 1996 a television film was released, which unfortunately failed to revive regular production of the shows. The first season of the new TV series attempts to adapt the show for a new season and it is fairly successful in this. I must admit, to my shame, that I've never watched any of the original Doctor Who episodes or the television film but I was very impressed with the first 4 seasons of the new series and I watched them religiously a few years ago.
Season 1 consists of 13 forty-five minute episodes, 6 of which form 3 two-part stories. The first episode, Rose, introduces us to the Ninth Doctor (Eccleston) and his new companion Rose Tyler (Piper), as well as her boyfriend Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) and her mother Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri), both of whom become recurring characters throughout the season. Although the opening episode lacks a memorable villain, it effectively introduces the show's characters and it's funny and clever. The second episode, The End of the World, has some great visuals but its plot is unremarkable and it misses the opportunity to delve deeper into the culture shock that Rose experiences during her first trip to the future. In fact, the episode fails completely at this as the aliens that we see, although they exist in the far future, are very similar to people today. However, the show's third episode The Unquiet Dead, is fortunately much better. The action in this episode takes place in Victorian Cardiff. Simon Callow gives a great performance as one of the Victorian era's most celebrated writers, Charles Dickens. The episode also includes a great performance by Eva Myles as Gwyneth, a clairvoyant servant who in a brilliant scene while looking into Rose's mind foresees The Big Bad Wolf. The Bad Wolf is an essential part of the main storyline of this season, which culminates in the two-part ending.
The following story is the show's first two-parter and it consists of the episodes Aliens of London and World War Three. This is the first story to take place in contemporary London since the season opener and it features as villains the rather silly Slitheen. The story is fun and light-hearted, which makes it a romp, but it lacks a genuine sense of menace. However, it shows the repercussions of Rose's decision to run away with the Doctor as she comes back to her home much later than expected. This leads to some interesting interactions between her and her mother and boyfriend, which definitely improve the story. This two-parter also features a great performance by Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The next episode, Dalek, is also excellent and it introduces us to one of the Doctor's greatest enemies. This episode shows a different, more ruthless side of the Doctor as we see that despite his good nature, there are beings that even he despises and is willing to do anything to stop.
The next episode, The Long Game, is rather unimpressive. The Long Game is supposed to take place in the distant future but it is set in a world that is very similar to ours and it makes a rather clumsy attempt to satirise journalism. However, it is followed by the excellent Father's Day, which focuses on Rose's dead father and makes up for the lack of a palpable sense of menace with its strong emotional impact and the excellent acting of Billie Piper and Shaun Dingwall as Pete Tyler.
The show really picks up with the following story - the two-parter made up of The Empy Child and The Doctor Dances. The setting is London during the Nazi bombing campaign/the Blitz in the Second World War. The Doctor and Rose find the British capital terrorised by a young boy wearing strange mask who is stubborngly looking for his mother. This two-part story includes two excellent guest star performances by Florence Hoath as Nancy, a young woman who seems to be somehow connected to the child, and John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, who ends up joining the Doctor and Rose. The charismatic Captain Harkness is a charismatic rogue Time Agent and his sleek spaceship and professional demeanour represent a stark contrast to the Doctor's TARDIS and his easy-going attitude.
The penultimate story of Season 1 is Boom Town, which takes place in Cardiff and focuses on one of Slitheen who survived the events portrayed in World War Three. The episode presents an interesting moral conundrum for the Doctor but in the end it fails to deliver due to the use of deus ex machina. The main storyline of the season about Bad Wolf culminates in the show's two final episodes - Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways. The Doctor, Rose and Captain Harkness find themselves separated on Gamestation/Satellite 5, which they had already visited in The Long Game. Bad Wolf is a parody of reality television programmes and it features an exciting cliffhanger. It is an excellent episode but I feel that once again it suffers from the fact that the world portrayed it too familiar - I find it difficult to believe that thousands of years from now people will watch programmes so similar to what is on television today. Personally I find that Doctor Who's episodes set in the future suffer from a lack of imagination on the part of the writers but Bad Wolf is nevertheless a very strong episode that features excellent acting by the show's main stars. In The Parting of the Ways the Doctor faces his greatest enemy and is once again faced with a moral dilemma. Although the episode is incredibly entertaining and very well-acted, it also resolves the main problem through a deus ex machina. I think that this is the main problem with this, which is otherwise very strong.
In conclusion, I would say that Season 1 of the new Doctor Who is very good and it features some classic episodes. I very much enjoyed Christopher Eccleston's performance as the Doctor and his use of the word 'fantastic.' I was initially ambivalent about Rose Tyler as I found her annoying but I gradually grew to like her. John Barrowman's Captain Jack Harkness is also terrific and his inclusion in the cast from The Doctor Dances definitely makes the rest of the episodes more engaging. I do have one minor gripe, however, and that is the fact that deus ex machina was used in at least 2 episodes. I believe that this was the case because the writers did not what to do otherwise. That is a persistent problem with Doctor Who as the Doctor, his companions or someone else comes up with all sorts of outlanding solutions that somehow manage to resolve the crisis at hand. If you are a fan of hardcore science fiction and enjoy logic, you are unlikely to enjoy Doctor Who unless you are able to disregard the outlandish plot developments throughout the series. Personally I think that it's worth forgiving the series writers for these minor failing as they've managed to create an incredibly entertaining and engaging series that can be viewed by both adults and children. As the Doctor would say, it is 'fantastic, absolutely fantastic.'
The following story is the show's first two-parter and it consists of the episodes Aliens of London and World War Three. This is the first story to take place in contemporary London since the season opener and it features as villains the rather silly Slitheen. The story is fun and light-hearted, which makes it a romp, but it lacks a genuine sense of menace. However, it shows the repercussions of Rose's decision to run away with the Doctor as she comes back to her home much later than expected. This leads to some interesting interactions between her and her mother and boyfriend, which definitely improve the story. This two-parter also features a great performance by Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The next episode, Dalek, is also excellent and it introduces us to one of the Doctor's greatest enemies. This episode shows a different, more ruthless side of the Doctor as we see that despite his good nature, there are beings that even he despises and is willing to do anything to stop.
The next episode, The Long Game, is rather unimpressive. The Long Game is supposed to take place in the distant future but it is set in a world that is very similar to ours and it makes a rather clumsy attempt to satirise journalism. However, it is followed by the excellent Father's Day, which focuses on Rose's dead father and makes up for the lack of a palpable sense of menace with its strong emotional impact and the excellent acting of Billie Piper and Shaun Dingwall as Pete Tyler.
The show really picks up with the following story - the two-parter made up of The Empy Child and The Doctor Dances. The setting is London during the Nazi bombing campaign/the Blitz in the Second World War. The Doctor and Rose find the British capital terrorised by a young boy wearing strange mask who is stubborngly looking for his mother. This two-part story includes two excellent guest star performances by Florence Hoath as Nancy, a young woman who seems to be somehow connected to the child, and John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, who ends up joining the Doctor and Rose. The charismatic Captain Harkness is a charismatic rogue Time Agent and his sleek spaceship and professional demeanour represent a stark contrast to the Doctor's TARDIS and his easy-going attitude.
The penultimate story of Season 1 is Boom Town, which takes place in Cardiff and focuses on one of Slitheen who survived the events portrayed in World War Three. The episode presents an interesting moral conundrum for the Doctor but in the end it fails to deliver due to the use of deus ex machina. The main storyline of the season about Bad Wolf culminates in the show's two final episodes - Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways. The Doctor, Rose and Captain Harkness find themselves separated on Gamestation/Satellite 5, which they had already visited in The Long Game. Bad Wolf is a parody of reality television programmes and it features an exciting cliffhanger. It is an excellent episode but I feel that once again it suffers from the fact that the world portrayed it too familiar - I find it difficult to believe that thousands of years from now people will watch programmes so similar to what is on television today. Personally I find that Doctor Who's episodes set in the future suffer from a lack of imagination on the part of the writers but Bad Wolf is nevertheless a very strong episode that features excellent acting by the show's main stars. In The Parting of the Ways the Doctor faces his greatest enemy and is once again faced with a moral dilemma. Although the episode is incredibly entertaining and very well-acted, it also resolves the main problem through a deus ex machina. I think that this is the main problem with this, which is otherwise very strong.
In conclusion, I would say that Season 1 of the new Doctor Who is very good and it features some classic episodes. I very much enjoyed Christopher Eccleston's performance as the Doctor and his use of the word 'fantastic.' I was initially ambivalent about Rose Tyler as I found her annoying but I gradually grew to like her. John Barrowman's Captain Jack Harkness is also terrific and his inclusion in the cast from The Doctor Dances definitely makes the rest of the episodes more engaging. I do have one minor gripe, however, and that is the fact that deus ex machina was used in at least 2 episodes. I believe that this was the case because the writers did not what to do otherwise. That is a persistent problem with Doctor Who as the Doctor, his companions or someone else comes up with all sorts of outlanding solutions that somehow manage to resolve the crisis at hand. If you are a fan of hardcore science fiction and enjoy logic, you are unlikely to enjoy Doctor Who unless you are able to disregard the outlandish plot developments throughout the series. Personally I think that it's worth forgiving the series writers for these minor failing as they've managed to create an incredibly entertaining and engaging series that can be viewed by both adults and children. As the Doctor would say, it is 'fantastic, absolutely fantastic.'
No comments:
Post a Comment