Being slightly more specific about what works on the series, one can watch the (and I'll be using season numbers following the new show's numbering not the old one) season one episode "Dalek" and be mesmerized at what this evil creature is, and feel for The Doctor who clearly feels more strongly about the evil the creature represents than he has for anything else all season. One can further sympathize with Rose's position that the creature deserves a chance. Even if you've seen the old series, you might think that in this new world the Daleks deserve a chance – the final Dalek and the final Time Lord, maybe they should be given a go. And, beyond that, there's a classic Cyberman head seen at the beginning of the episode, and though the Doctor doesn't explain who the Cybermen are, he does state that it's an old enemy which is enough for new viewers, while old ones will remember The Doctor's past brushes with them.
That first season of the new series adheres to the old series in one way that later seasons don't – its look. It cannot be denied that as the new show progresses the sets and costumes are more detailed, and the graphics far more realistic, but that first season lags behind the others by so much that even the second season (David Tennant's first) appears to be a quantum leap forward. It looks as though the series' budget rose dramatically or as though someone behind the scenes decided that maybe, just maybe, they didn't have to adhere to the—forgive me—at times schlocky aesthetic of the original.
As for the first Tennant season, it is remarkable. Christopher Eccleston is a fun Doctor and someone who I wish had played the character for a longer time, but watching Tennant is just a wonder. He throws himself into the role so fully that it is hard to watch and not instantly think this is who The Doctor truly is and should be forever more. To some extent it is because the show looks far more current (and far less like a cheap late '80s, early '90s series), but more it is that the writing is more crisp, the plots more deep, and Rose Tyler really comes into her own following the Bad Wolf storyline. But, the biggest reason, is that David Tennant is just so incredibly charismatic.
When Matt Smith appears, the series undergoes another dramatic shift. Some of this no doubt is due to Russell T Davies leaving as showrunner and Steven Moffat stepping in, and some is due the new Doctor. Smith, as I've said before, appears less able to handle the gravitas The Doctor often needs (he is a destroyer of civilizations, including his own). That is replaced with comedy and the show loses something because of it. Additionally, the show's tendency to go for "special" episodes rather than more "regular" ones hurts it and our understanding of The Doctor. It can't be said that any of The Doctor's life is regular, but losing the typical days in favor of special ones doesn't do any favors to Smith or the series.
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Article comments
1 - Nasarullah Mari
I love this detailed Artical.
When I was younger, we didn't have cable. Outside of this forcing me to watch repeats
of my favorite sitcoms and being able to learn every line for episodes of Growing
Pains and Perfect Strangers, it also led to a lot of channel hopping. Occasionally, I actually stopped on PBS (there were very
few channels and so this was natural) and caught a glimpse ofâ€"forgive meâ€"a
schlocky old science fiction show with some guy in a really long scarf and with funny
hair. He would be battling humans wearing ill-fitting monster suits or generally yelling at someone and using funny words. I didn't
know it at the time, but I was watchingDoctor Who.
I was more aware of what Doctor Who wasn when FOX aired Paul McGann's incarnation
in a failed attempt to revive the series. And, by the time I watched Coupling, I knew enough about Doctor Who to laugh at the
Dalek joke about hiding behind sofas and to know that the only thing to like about Oliver
was his affinity for the classic sci-fi series.
Certainly, by the time Christopher Eccleston's Doctor smiled at Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and
told her to come with him if she wanted to
live, I knew Doctor Who.
Some would call me a television fanatic.
While I'd quibble with those people, explaining that I know people who watch
oodles and oodles and oodles more television than I do, I unquestionably have
an at times unhealthy relationship with the medium (but it has helped provide me with
a living, so could it really be all that unhealthy?). There are shows, however, to which I find myself drawn… like The Doctor's TARDIS is drawn to trouble.
Today, Doctor Who isn't just on that list of shows, Doctor Who tops that list (even if I
truly believe things are not currently headed
in the right direction). It pains me that the seasons are so short. It pains me when they
get split in two. It pains me when the episodes aren't very good, and it pains me more when they are and I have to wait
another seven days to see the next one. I miss Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur
Darvill) and Rose and Martha (Freema Agyeman) and Donna (Catherine Tate) and
the Ninth Doctor (David Tennant) and the Tenth Doctor. I feel like I have gone on their
journeys with them and I love opportunities to revisit the series.
Enter the reason why you're here, and we'll take this somewhat slowly (as if we weren't
already).
At the end of November, BBC America issued a stupendously big Doctor Who gift set. It is
a 41-DVD box set with all the episodes of the new show (prior to the current season),
some bonus features talking about the series which had not previously been
released, a sonic screwdriver (Eleventh Doctor and therefore green), art cards, and a
Doctor Who at Comic Con comic. Essentially,
it's everything you want to watch from the new series all put together in one mammoth
box along with some fun odds and ends. It is a Doctor Who lover's dream come true.
Hope you will publish my view in future also.