Dr Who - Season 1 Finale (SPOILERS)

Ok,

I realize there is a Season 2 thread going, and its probably about the same thing I am going to ask, but I don't feel like reading it and possibly spoiling Season 2 stuff....so here goes.

Just saw the S1 finale last night. Did I miss something or are they going to have yet another actor playing Doctor Who in Season 2? It looks like he did their "regeneration" thing and a new guy was playing the doctor? Is that the case, and if so, any idea why the other guy isn't continuing with it?

I have NOT been a big Doctor Who fan. I've seen maybe one episode over the last 20 years and never even in re-runs. So this season was my first venture into it. I have mixed feelings about the show. On many levels it is soooooo cheesy that can be hard to watch. It has an odd feeling and flow when watching an episode, and most of the episodes don't strike me as gripping.

That being said, I found myself continuing to watch for one reason: Christopher Eccleston. Since I've never seen Doctor Who before, I don't have the burden of comparing him to past Doctors. I really like the way he played that part. He was fun, dynamic, and just was a joy to watch in the role. He was the main reason I kept with the show, and halfway through the season Captain Jack Harkness was the second --- another great, fun character. So really those two were the reason I watched it at all and didn't tune out. But now it looks as though Ill have to get used to another guy in that role who i cant imagine will be as fun as Eccleston will be. In fact he will probably play the part differently, which is fine, but I think it was the dynamic way the part was played this season that kept me interested.

So not sure what to expect for next season. I may give it a couple watches and not be impressed, or maybe it will be OK. But my only two reasons for really watching were those two characters. One seems to be gone, and Captain Jack, at least for the short term it seems, won't be travelling with the Doctor for a while either.

Thoughts?

Season 2 has a new Doctor Christopher Eccleston only wanted to do one season.There was rumours of a Captian Jack spinoff.Don't want to say any more so as not to spoil anything.

Eccleston said (I think) that he didn't want to get too identified with the character of the Doctor (typecasting and all of that). They said this was his plan all along: to do one season and no more.

I have enjoyed him immensely. He will be missed.

I'm thourghly enjoying the new doc in season 2.

Yes, he is a different character, playing the role differently, but he's still the Doctor. As a fan since the original series, I feel that Doctor no.10 is more in the mold of the earlier doctors. It's all up to personal taste though.

Give him a chance.

We won't have a chance for about a year, I suspect.

I'd give Tennant a chance, yes. Though I personally very much miss Eccleston, and very strongly prefered his performance. And I also miss Captain Jack.

Tennant is .. I don't know. Lots of people love him .. I don't hate him as much as others do, but he just .. tries too hard I think. He's trying to go over the top Tom Baker style .. but it just doesn't work, for me at least. I don't really buy with him that he's wacky. And so very, very angry. I'm not sure if he's just trying too hard for my tastes, or ...

As for the stories .. I didn't much care for many episodes this season. Though there were some decent ones, and the current two-parter is seeming positively awesome .. hope the second episode - currently airing in the UK - continues the trend.

Tom Baker being one of the 7 actors to play the doctor in the original show .. and generally the most popular one, the one that held the role the longest, and the most "wacky" one. Not my personal favorite, but I prefered his performance to Tennant's.

I miss Eccleston a lot too (and Captain Jack, heh... really look forward to seeing him again, whenever that happens!).

As some people here know, I'm less than fond of Tennant, unfortunately (I really did want to like him, and spent the first half of the season trying very hard to find things about his performance I could like, but by now I've resigned to the fact that unlike all the previous nine doctors, he just doesn't work for me and the best I can hope for is to tolerate him enough not to let it spoil my enjoyment of the stories).

I'd still recommend everyone who hasn't seen series 2 yet to give him a chance though - I'm aware I'm in a tiny minority in disliking Tennant's portrayal of the character, so there must be something in him that a lot of people love. He's certainly very different from Eccleston's take on the role, but different doesn't necessarily have to mean bad.

The series itself still has plenty to offer even if one doesn't take to Tennant though - I've not been finding each and every episode this time perfect, far from it (I didn't find each and every episode perfect in series 1 either - although I certainly don't mind cheesy, in the right mood), but a few have included ideas and storylines that have been rather amazing. More than enough to continue watching and enjoying (and bitching about Tennant's performance - although to be honest, I think at least part of my issue is with how the role has been written, not just with his performance).

I tuned in to the season 1 finale last night as well, having never seen any Doctor Who before. I was rather pleased by it. The Doctor's first confrontation with the Daleks was fantastic ("they called me the Oncoming Storm"), although I could tell this was definitely an atypical thing. Eccleston did a pretty good job, I think.

Consider me not hooked, but intrigued.

I thought Id chip in on he captain Jack spinoff, its happening. Called torchwood, coming on british telly when this sieries of who si done.

Nice.

He had that dashing, World War II Pilot type hero quality to him. I'd still like to see him intertwined with the Dr Who show, but if has his own, thats not likely I guess...

However...wasn't "Torchwood" the fake working title for the 2005 Dr Who series? Are you sure the rumors are legit or is that someone spreading a rumor. Why would his series carry that title, when it was the working title for 2005 Dr Who?

Nah its legit. Its a anagram of doctor who. Think it supposedly going to bring him back after torchwood is done. (or something like that). Didn't want him as a companion with a freshly regenerated doctor or something.

I saw all of season 1, and quite liked Eccleston. He reminded me of Tom Baker, my favorite Dr., by being at once light-hearted, and acting as if most everything is of cataclysmic importance. It seems CBC, Canadian TV, won't be showing the second season until the fall, so, I haven't seen Tennant yet. I'll certainly view him with an open mind. Also, I look forward to seeing "Torchwood," if it shows up on CBC TV.

Recoil, Dr. Who has long been loved, not just in spite of the cheesy effects, but to some degree because of the cheesy effects, as this shifts the emphasis to human story telling, by not relying on mainly effects for effect, like Star Wars, and other big screen extravaganzas often do.

Torchwood is going to be the name of a british detective/military type group, chasing similair stuff to what the doctor did (possibly somewhat like UNIT, but with no doctor for the most part).

Theres also another character or two that have appeared in the first series who will be reappearing.

Those who are watching season 2 may note certain things related to this.

Those who are watching season 2 may note certain things related to this.

Click to expand...

Torchwood has got a mention quite a lot this season, a bit like Bad Wolf last season. At least this year we know why.

However...wasn't "Torchwood" the fake working title for the 2005 Dr Who series? Are you sure the rumors are legit or is that someone spreading a rumor. Why would his series carry that title, when it was the working title for 2005 Dr Who?

Click to expand...

As said above, Torchwood is quite legit, yes. I believe filming has already started for it.

Here's a brief BBC news article introducing it, with some links to other articles.

I'm rather looking forward to it, it seems to have plenty of potential to be good.

It was also the fake working title for the 2005 season though, yes

Kribu,

Thanks for the article link. The description of the series looks interesting, and odd in a way. It appears that it will take place entirely on Earth, in one time period (probably modern times) where they are chasing after alien technology and probably weird happenings?

The thing I find odd about this, is that Captain Jack was also from the future, and a sort of traveller/adventurer of his own. Im wondering how he can end up simply hanging out in one particular time and place, and doing something like that.

Perhaps there is more to it.

Torchwood is still some way off, but the second season of Dr Who is progressing quite nicely. Tennant is doing a good job, and I loved Eccleston. I think the show now lackssome of the gravitas he brought to the role but in all honesty I could not have seen him carrying on for much longer. From what I can gather, the move away was very much his decision...

I enjoyed the New Season with Eccelston, not fantastic, but, it got better as the season went on, so, my hopes are the writing will only improve and I really enjoyed Tennant in GoF few scenes he was in, and like the glimpse of him in the regeneration scene, so I have great hope for the next season.

I like they wrapped all of the Ecceston season together at the end, although, I was hoping Bad Wolf had more to do with the Time Lords being destroyed, I hope they eventually get around to showing us their destruction, I've always liked the Galifrey episodes. I wasn't quite satisfied with the Bad Wolf explanation, I thought they could've done a better job with the actual planting of the phrase. It almost seemed like they were going one way with it, and then changed their mind at the last minute, and just kinda wrote that explanation in at the last minute. Good to hear about Torchwood, I was thinking it was a bummer Capt Jack was gone. Funny, before the Eccelston season aired, people were so afraid of Billy Piper ruining the show, I rather liked Rose myself. Can't wait for SciFi Channel to give us the first Tennant Season.

Great, I missed both of my opportunities to see the season 1 finale.

Hmmm, how soon are the DVDs available?