doctor who on sci fi

[DaRkEnEdStAr]

Since that you Americans will get to see the new (or the last series) of Doctor Who 2005 , i just wonder how you will react to it`s humour , camp/risque content !!

 

[hypatia]

I believe Dr. Who premiers tomorrow for us in the USA.

I must look up the time(s). Or will the Sci-Fi channel just run it all day long?

 

[Sindatur]

I think they're showing ep 1 and 2 in SGA and BSG's time slots, and then they'll probably show them at least one more time. I think they're gonna be showing some of the old Series as well, somewhere in their schedule.

Personally, I think they should put the Monday Night Stargate Night to rest for awhile (They've aired the previous SG seasons numerous times) and play the Old Dr Who Series on Monday's in it's place. I can't imagine the ratings are very good anymore for Monday Stargate night anymore.

 

[hypatia]

Wow, would I vote for that option!

If we could vote on it, of course.

 

[LondosHair]

Well I, for one, loved it.

Rose has the potential to be my favorite companion yet. She's strong-willed like Tegan, intelligent like Romana, and beautiful like Peri.

I also really enjoy Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. His sense of style is probably the most "normal" of the nine Doctors so far, but what he lacks in odd appearance he makes up for in character.

I also really like how they're hinting a darker side to the Doctor... not evil, but a definitely serious side. He's hiding a lot of pain and isn't very willing to talk about it. He'll give up bits & pieces now and then, I'm sure.

The new T.A.R.D.I.S. interior is pretty cool, although I miss the old white control room. It sounds the same!! I was so glad they didn't try to reinvent that sound. The theme song gets 2 thumbs up from me, also.

Can't wait to see it next week.

 

[hypatia]

I caught the first hour and only about fifteen minutes of the second hour but it does look quite good.

And I usually hate premiere episodes.

 

[DaRkEnEdStAr]

this is the classic Bad Wolf scenario..."

 

[Recoil]

OK I added this to my TIVO and hopefully will be able to see it on Monday or Tuesday. Someone fill me in here, as I have _Never_ seen a full episode of Doctor Who. Ever. I don't know what its about at all. The British look and feel turned me off from watching it when it was on years ago, and frankly back then I didnt have much of an interest in the genre either.

So is this Doctor Who like BSG in that its a "retelling" of the classic series? Should I assume the premise is going to be the same? From the looks of some above posts, there have been 9 people who have played the character Doctor Who (damn, thats a lot) so it must have been on a long time. With that much of an established audience, how can they start back at the begining?

Someone fill me in here on the overall details and premise of you don't mind.

 

[hypatia]

Well, the series ran from 1963 until 198-something. So yea, they needed lots of doctors.

The story is continuing. No repeats of old stories, although old villians do pop up again from time to time. The idea is that a race of "Time Lords" has the ability to travel in time. Our Doctor is a bit of a renegade: he believes in trying to help out people in tough moments in history, and not just sit back and write books about it.

So he's a time-travelling guy who looks human, but isn't. He tends to pick up people along the way to share his journies (sometimes willingly, sometimes unwillingly he takes on these usually-younger-adult companions).

Uh, and when he's dieing he can "regenerate". This explains how he's still the Doctor, but he's played by different people.

Is that enough detail for a rough intro to the series?

 

[Kribu]

So is this Doctor Who like BSG in that its a "retelling" of the classic series?

No, it's not a retelling. It's a restart in the sense that it's designed with a new audience in mind (I had never seen any old DW when I saw the first episode of the new series and had no problems getting the point), and isn't too heavy on continuity, but it is essentially a continuation of the old show - plenty of people seem to prefer to refer to it as "season 27" instead of "series 1".

Thus Chistopher Eccleston is the Ninth Doctor, not the first incarnation of the character. There are more or less subtle hints of the past throughout series 1, but as I said, it's not continuity-heavy and should not turn off anyone not familiar with the first 26 years of the history of the show - any hints at the past are either fleeting moments which only the old fans would even notice, or come with a sufficient explanation.

I think that's one of the wonderful aspects of the format of this particular show - there can be years of history behind the character, but due to the "travelling in time and space" bit, it's not really a linear history anyway and doesn't actually need to be known in order to enjoy the current or future adventures.

As for the premise - most of it is explained in the first episode of the new series, IIRC: the Doctor is a "wanderer in time and space", who usually ends up in trouble wherever and whenever he goes.

And as for why there have been lots of actors in the role - members of the Doctor's race can regenerate at the point of death, and he wakes up in an all new body (usually the behaviour changes quite a bit too, although the basic traits stay the same).

 

[Boxie]

I watched Dr. Who last night and I really liked it. Of the two episodes aired, my favorite was the second one...Rose, the "blue" guys, and the little spiders were great! I also thought the burning of the Earth shots were quite good. A friend of mine has seen the whole season and says the best is yet to come!

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I was not particularly impressed with the first two episodes. The whole plastic people coming alive thing and the man-eating trash can seemed very hokey. The second episode was better and had some redeeming qualities. Even for science fiction, it just seems a little too weird for me, but maybe it will grow on me. I'm willing to give it a chance.

 

[Elenopa]

The plastic people coming alive is straight out of Jon Pertwee's era.

Give it a chance. Wait until Dalek, and the two parter set in WW2. "Are you my Mummy?"

We've got season 2/28 coming here in the UK in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing K9 again.

 

[DaRkEnEdStAr]

Give it a chance. Wait until Dalek, and the two parter set in WW2. "Are you my Mummy?"

wait till next friday when , I believe the " unquiet dead " airs on sci-fi . Best episode ever !

 

[Chilli]

I didn't mind The Unquiet Dead .. but definitely not the best episode of the season IMHO .. the WW2 two-parter wins by far there for me.

 

[DaRkEnEdStAr]

I could see why pople would like that two-parter , i didnt like the ending , although very "dr.who " it was slightly corny to me .. could it be the reason why you like ww2 is because of captain jack ? nudge nudge , wink wink ! lol
but i acknowledge that it was a creepy episode . are you my mummy ? .Also I am waiting for all the internet speculation as it happened with us last year with [badwolf]

 

[Kribu]

I enjoyed pretty much every episode when I saw them, but thinking back on season 1, it was the historical stories that seem to have stuck with me - I loved both The Unquiet Dead and the WW2 two-parter (and not just for Jack, although he definitely introduced a new dynamic into the show!). "Rose" was cool, but more in the "hm, I think I wouldn't mind seeing some more of this show" way rather than making me an instant fan, and same with "The End of the World" really.

I do think the show took a few episodes to get going more smoothly, although I assume the first several stories were almost designed to be "uneven" in the sense of being meant to show off all that the format allows for - strange happenings in the present day very "normal" circumstances, travelling into the far far future, and taking a trip into the past.

 

[Sindatur]

I'm with Ninja Squirrel. The Jon Pertwee episode of the Plasticene(?) race is about my least favorite Dr Who story ever. For a first episode, it was kind of a bummer to revisit that story. But I definitely could tell that I like where this new series is going as far as characters, the TARDIS, and the way they setup the premise so well for newbies. End of the world was much better, but once again it seems like the best is yet to come. I'm glad we finally got it, and I'm also glad they showed the first two back to back. I think some people might've given up on it, had they only seen the first episode.

Can't wait until we get to the "BadWolf" thing all the folks who've seen Series 1 keep on about, and to start seeing some of the best of the classic villains such as Daleks and Cybermen. Without giving details, will they be explaining in Series 1 why the TimeLords are all dead? They seemed to still be alive and well in the Paul McGann Movie, and before that.

 

[darth_librarian]

Yes, in a word.

 

[Boxie]

Someone mentioned setting things up for newbies, and I think that's a very good point. I've only seen bits and pieces of the very old Dr. Who, so I had no idea really of the premise or the characters.

They may have spent a little more time on the set up for the newbies than the seasoned people would have liked, but I appreciated it and will have an easier time now for it.