Ah, there you are, Doctor...

[stevekenson]

Wow, the new Doctor Who series rocks! I'm glad I happened to recall it was premiering on SciFi tonight and caught the first two episodes. It's really quite good.

The first episode had me from the moment I realized it was the Autons (which was as soon as Rose went into the storeroom with all the manequins, by the way). It was a touch slow-moving just out of the need to introduce Rose and re-establishing the Doctor, but "The End of the World" more than made up for it, filled with the kind of sci-fi wackiness I loved about the original show. The revelation about the loss of Gallifrey was a surprise; one hopes it doesn't mean we won't see the Master eventually. I'm also looking forward to seeing the episode with the Daleks and thinking about all the fun Doctor Who stuff the show can mine while it also strikes out on its own.

New Doctor Who episodes! Wheeeee!

Comments

[doccross.livejournal.com]

I liked it, too. It was different than the Who of yesteryears, but not hugely so.

The no more Gallifrey thing threw me for a loop. I'm hoping they find a way to get the Master back and maybe visit Gallifrey in the past.

And Daleks waiting in the wings...oh yeah, baby!

[dadiceguy.livejournal.com]

I liked the use of the Autons as well. I had picked up on the Doctor being the "the Last Timelord" without meaning to reading a British website some time ago. I know the story behind that has something to do with the whole season story arc.

And oh yes Daleks.. BABY!

[e-falki.livejournal.com]

The new series was fun to watch! I really liked Rose too, great character.

[xomec.livejournal.com]

"Rose" also really reminded me just how creepy the Autons are: the horror-movie stuff in the beginning, when the mannequins first start to move... brrrr!

I also really like that they went with a version of the "classic" theme song and opening credits. It immediately said "Doctor Who" to me. The show's theme song has always been one of the best. The same goes for small touches like the same sound effects for the TARDIS or the "woosh" of the Auton's hand-guns.

[maliszew.livejournal.com]

I liked the show well enough, although, as time wore on and I reflected on it more, I found I liked it less than I did initially. It's still very, very good and probably about the best we could hope for in terms of a modern re-telling of Doctor Who. (I should note that, being in Canada, I've already seen the whole first series and the Christmas special)

For me, two things stand out that irk me and they probably say more about me than about the show itself. The first is that the re-working of various elements and the story telling style are clearly meant to get Who "out of the ghetto." The producer clearly wants to make the show a mainstream hit and that's perfectly understanable. However, in doing so, I think the rough edges of the concept have been honed a little too much and a lot of the geeky charm of the original is missing.

The second is that the show feels very contemporary now and contemporary British at that. The original series had a "PBS British" feel to them, which is to say they had this quaint, retro-Victorian feel to them, with the Doctor being a sci-fi Sherlock Holmes and all that we associate with that bygone era of Britain. It was all a put-on, a veneer and probably a shallow one at that, but as an American, it helped give the series a different character from US sci-fi and I liked that. The new series is also very British, but it's a different Britain and it's not one I like very much.

There's also the fact that the Doctor wore a leather jacket and was completely unintelligible a lot of the time owing to his accent, but oh well.

Anyway, glad you're enjoying the show. I think it's quite good, but ultimately not what I wanted in a revived Who. Like I said, that speaks more about me than the series itself.

[utu-eros.livejournal.com]

I've been a fan of the Doctor longer I care to admit in public.

All I have to say is : The DOCTOR ROCKS!

[ghostwind.livejournal.com]

I've been watching it for some time thanks to a friend who downloads them and stores them on his server. I have to say it is a real breath of fresh air in the entire Who series. It is quite good but still pays respect to the previous incarnations. I think Rose is definitely a strong lead and she quickly moves to stand on her own in the series. Well worth watching.