Hiding behind the sofa, the sequel - The Good Doctor Returns

[Lesbatees]

Ok, Ok, I know it's not France-related, but there is a precedent!

From today's Grauniad:

"Carry on Doctor

It is unfair to review a restaurant on opening night, but an event as important as the return of Doctor Who after a hiatus of 15 years (not counting the ill-fated 1996 US TV movie co-production, to which BBC executives have the same regard Stalin had for Trotsky) is of such importance to millions of fans around the world that instant judgments are required.

The good Doctor is most definitely back... and many traditionalists are going to greet this radical new version with utter dismay.

Let's start with the negatives - and there are many. This is Who for the attention deficit disorder generation. The wonderfully slow build-up of tension that was a hallmark of the series at its finest - think of the Hand of Fear creeping towards Sarah Jane! - was entirely absent from episode one, entitled Rose.

The series starts with a dazzling special effect where we zoom from space right into the bedroom of our young heroine, Rose. An effect that would have been beyond the scope of the previous series and is a harbinger of things to come.

Rose goes to work, hangs out in Trafalgar Square, is attacked in the basement of her department store where she works by animated shop mannequins. Then she is miraculously rescued by the Doctor, before the store blows up in an almighty explosion -- all in the first 10 minutes.

And we don't rest from there. The effects are totally impressive... but with Who that was never the point.

The plastic store mannequins that have come to life and are intent on taking over the world, as any Who aficionado could tell you, are Autons, but to label them so is almost meaningless, for nothing in this series bears much resemblance to the past.

It is not just the Doctor that has regenerated - the series also has from top to bottom and is pitched at its youngest ever audience.

This is what the BBC labels Family Entertainment, and the older fans are just going to have to stick with the annoying breakbeat soundtrack, the very unWho-like scenes of domesticity in Rose's tower block apartment, the jittery London streetscape.

If they will do so they will come across moments of great inventiveness - particularly when the Autons animate a wheelie bin to take care of Rose's boyfriend. But more often than not they are outweighed by utter obviousness.

But even scenes such as this overdose on humour as the bin burps after swallowing up its prey. This madcap playing almost purely for laughs continues, at one point when the Doctor has deanimated a severed arm of an auton and labels it "armless", a pun so obvious even Roger Moore as James Bond would blush under his tan before deploying it.

As for the cast, Billie Piper is an excellent companion as Rose, but as the Doctor rarely is Christoper Eccleston allowed to be anything more than a goofy, otherworldly buffoon.

And are they about to get it on? When the Doctor asks Rose to join him on his travels it is almost like he is asking her out on a date. Maybe he is - but surely the age-old rule on no hanky panky in the Tardis is one that even this incarnation of the programme is not set to break.

This new Doctor Who is almost utterly action and humour focused but the strongest scene is between the leads on an ordinary London street, where the Doctor poetically reveals his alien otherworldliness to Rose and his reason for being. If only there was more like that for the older fans to enjoy.

A preview tape following the screening of the first episode promises much, much more - the end of the world, the invasion of the cabinet and yes, the Daleks, at first chained and seemingly helpless and later screeching not exterminate, but "elevate!" as they climb a flight of stairs.

As a diehard Who fan, I will watch all the remaining episodes wishing, hopefully not totally in vain, that they had laid off the Ritalin."

I don't know, but to someone who was bought up on John Pertwee and Tom Baker, the idea of Christopher Ecclestone in a black leather jacket, and Daleks that can actually climb stairs is somewhat disconcerting.

Anyone actually see it?

Val

[Catalpa]

I didn't think the first ep was due to air till about 26 March? Maybe this was a preview for journos. Personally I'm looking forward to the scene where that Dr Who icon, the lavatory plunger, comes of age. (so I've heard )

[Iceni]

I think that Christopher Ecclestone is a supurb actor and that was what was missing towards the end of the old Dr Who, they just dug up any old actor who looked a bit weird and thought - 'ah new Dr Who'. To my mind they have made a bold choice, will have to wait to see how it pans out. With this and Quatermass I am starting to think that the BBC might finally be starting to earn their money (not that I pay it any more).  Now they just have to bring back 'Journey into Space' on R4 and my delight will be complete.

[Tresco]

I am amazed that Chris Ecclestone has taken this part. I know Hollywood isn't for everyone, but that's where I thought he was heading. His agent should hide behind his sofa.

tresco

[essancee]

Patrick Troughton the best Dr. Who, IMHO ( that dates me, doesn't it?) Who was yours?

[Piprob]

Pete Townsend!

[Lesbatees]

[quote]Pete Townsend![/quote]

Roger Daltrey wasn't bad, either.

My fave Doctor was Tom Baker. No-one ever bettered him (even the "original", William Hartnell).

Val

[Hewitts]

My favourite was Tom Baker too.

We still have it on TV here 6.00 in the evening before "A place in Spain"!!

Every episode ever made starting with William Hartnell and currently up to Tom Baker. 6.00 in the evening is a really awkward time, but I occasionally watch it and remember watching it with my kids hiding behind the sofa many years ago!!!

Is it me, or do they seem to pick the dumbest people to do those "A place in ...." programmes, how can the couple from somewhere in Wales, wanting to farm snails be for real? I cringe to think that the programme is being or has been seen world wide, however I race home to see it every evening just to see how awful they are each time! So who is the dumbest?

Can't wait to see the new Dr. Who

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

John Pertwee was the one I remember best. I remember seeing Patrick Troughton, but I suppose it was John Pertwee at the time I saw it most. Only saw the later Doctors spasmodically, but did video "The Five Doctors" and still have it (on the same video as "Ze candle wiz ze andle" - " Allo Allo", I believe). Later on, I have to say that Peter Davison was the sexy one - but then Doctor Who isn't meant to be sexy. Incidentally, I have heard of Christopher Ecclestone, but I don't recognise him at all. What has he been in? I don't see much television.

The episode I remember best was some sort of structure where there was a thaw and cyber men came out. That was scary!

The problem with the Paul McGann version was that it was an American film and didn't work. Paul McGann is a superb actor and it's a pity his role was dismissed as being trivial. If he had played the Doctor in a British television production, I'm sure he would have gained more repute.

As for the new version - I don't know. There is this modern theory that you have to go over the top to entertain children. But in reality, children are far more intelligent than they are given credit for. My son is 14 and was very keen on Doctor Who when there was a bit of a revival a few years ago with documentaries and re-runs and we videoed most or all of it, I think. He was just as entertained by the versions that we enjoyed as children - even the black and white ones.

Television just needs to start treating children as though they are intelligent beings. Programmes can then be entertaining for us older ones too!

[Tresco]

Chris Ecclestone - the things I remember him best in are 'Cracker' - he was the detective who died a lingering death in the gutter, but managed to nail the bad guy by phoning the cop shop as he lay dying. He was also in 'The Second Coming' where he played a Mancunian video shop assistant who also happened to be the new Messiah. Better than it sounds, but I had trouble with the fact that he was a City fan. He also played the Duke of Norfolk in the film 'Elizabeth', and probably loads more films.

Favourite Doctor, Patrick Troughton. I thought Jon Pertwee was a smoothy, it took me years to like him. (Same thing with the change from Connery to Moore in the Bond films.

Favourite Dr Who Monster, the Cybermen, and those giant Maggots. Does anyone remember the Cybermens little pals, I think they were called Cybernaughts? (sp).

Oh, and The Master, he was a great bad guy.

tresco

[essancee]

Oh yes, the Cybermen caused me a few sleepless nights! Don't recall the cybernauts, though.Also remember those  strange amphibians - bit like a cross between a budgie and a turtle, with something that looked like a food processor slicer on their hand.  Daleks never really did it for me.