...NEW DR WHO TONIGHT, 20/04/06. 7.20pm, SCHOOL RE-UNION...

[dweezil2]

Fantasic episode. Worked both as a stand alone episode and a successful nostalgia trip.
And yeah, a few tears did flow!
Some of the best telly i've seen in an age! Licence fee justified again.

[The Amstor Computer]

7.6 million viewers on the overnights - likely down because of the Bank Holiday.

[The Monarch]

still a good number

[Quirkafleeg]

Here's some controversy... and I sort of agree with him....

Link: http://www.sfcrowsnest.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=234" target="_blank">twinkle of the daleks

[paulvonscott]

My predication is that by series 3, there's going to be a huge backlash against RTD and Dr Who.  I hope I'm wrong and the show improves a lot, but I reckon people are just going to get sick of the shows faults, which are easily fixable.  I just thought I'd say that now rather than next year :p

[Buddy]

Liked it. Good fun episode. Not as good as last week but still heading in the right direction.

Still not a fan of the single episode story, much preferred the good old days of getting a good few weeks out of a story.

Tennent is good, Piper still crap, glad to see Mickey getting a go in the Tardis, perhaps he could take over from Rose.

[Leigh S]

Well, its all good fun, the dialogue is well polished if a little schmaltzy - but I do concur that unless the plots actually involve people in something more erm, involving than we have usually seen, the constant claims of "we do specatular things" from the Tardis crew are going to look increasingly thin. Especially as each spectacular episode involves running down a corridor until finding a way to blow the problem of the week up.  

Problem 1: pour antiplastic on it
Problem 2: push the big button
Problem 3: Blow em up
Problem 4&5: Blow em up
Problem 6: Let it blow itself up
Problem 7: Heat it up
Problem 8: Ah, well theres one thats quite complicated, i'll grant you
Problem 9&10: And this one too
Problem 11: Use the TARDIS pixie dust (c) TV Movie
Problem 12&13:  Don't blow em up - let Rose do it
Problem 14: Let someone else blow it up - tell them off for it
Problem 15: Have a bath
Problem 16: Plan ahead
Problem 17: Blow it up

[IndigoPrime]

I think everyone needs to remember that this is ultimately children's television, not some kind of show where everything holds up to being dissected. You have to take leaps of faith and just let deus ex machina stuff go.

As for Piper, Umpty, I think you're wrong there: she's been pretty good throughout, in my opinion.

[Eric Plumrose]

>> I think everyone needs to remember that this is ultimately children's television . . .

That statement's a fucking cop out. It may well be a kids' show but that's no excuse to not make an effort.

'Sides, Who should be family entertainment. The fact is, the driving force behind the new show is a fan of the original series as are, I presume, a good share of Who's current audience. It's kind of a spit in the eye to bring back summat like Who only to alienate those very people that campaigned for its return in the first place.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I'm with PVS. This was crap. Unmitigated, rambling, pap.

Each episode is a clutter of the worst pseudo-science, a chase, and a Deus Ex Machina.

Shoddy, poor, slipshod plotting undermines the signposted umbrella theme development, and there seems to be a view that it's okay to ram in one dimensional character development (highlighted by soft tinkly music) at the expense of slimy aliens and things blowing up.

Pweh!

My faith in the idea of Dr Who is shaken.

[opaque]

Here's some controversy... and I sort of agree with him....

Makes you wonder how many of the old episodes he actually watched.

[TordelBack]

Are we watching the same show? Time for a rant, I think:  Dr Who predates and now postdates the ghettoisation of TV SF in a way nothing else has.  

When I was a nipper (back in one-B&W-TV-per-house land, kiddies), the whole family watched Dr Who.  We never watched BSG, 'Greatest Amercian Hero', Buck Rogers, even Blake's 7 together - these were always sneaked in before Dad got home, or when we sneaked away from the dinner table.  Dr Who was the only SF (other than the original SW movies) that I ever watched with my parents.  And now I find that my father is watching the Tennant episodes, and loving them, that female friends in their 30's who otherwise vocally loathe SF are watching regulalry, that the kids of friends are lapping it up - this is downright remarkable.  It didn't happen with ST:TNG or Buffy, shows that supposedly transformed 'genre' acceptability.  The point is that this isn't  'genre' TV  -  it's just good fun exciting TV, and it actually is Dr Who!  

I don't disagree that there will be a backlash, and that the BBC is taking an almost Little Britain level of hype and over-exposure to the proceedings, and I also wouldn't be convinced about its longevity as a popular phenomenon (remember 'Lois and Clark'?).   Equally, I would prefer less Deus Ex Machina, quieter music, longer stories and less shouting from the Doctor- not perfect by any means.

Howver, right now we're getting a good-quality energetic re-watchable family drama on a Saturday night, it has werewolves, a cute blonde, Daleks, scary aliens and K-9 in it, and can I discuss it with my girlfriend and my 65 year old Dad over Sunday lunch!  And still no sign of Bonnie Langford or Bertie Bassett.  

Best of all, you can be sure that in 20 years' time today's kids will be on the future equivalent of this board (obviously running in subvocally searchable 4D on a quantum resonnance server built into their conact lenses, but you get the idea) reminiscing about watching Dr Who on a Saturday, how there was that scary one where the space bats took over the school, and how they used to fancy his assistant.  Who could have predicted that, five years ago?  Hurrah for RTD and Dr Who, I say!  


 

[Leigh S]

I say hurrah as well - There's no doubtng RTDs  formula was a winning one (though how much of that is in the original formula as opposed to the new mix is debatable to some degree).

I can also say that people at work (casual viewers, not fans) have commented on the thinness of the scripts and resolutions, without prompting.  My wife, who wont watch old Who but has enjoyed most of the revival looks forward to the "non-RTD" episodes!  

If people are asking for dark heavy sci-fi, they're idiots.  If they're asking for something that stands more than one rewatch before the strings start to show in the plots, then i think they're onto something.

If theres one thing i'd disagree with you there Tordelback, its the rewatchability of many of these episodes - unless the plots are as well thought out as the dialogue and the wisecracks, its in danger of being only a short term hit that will eventually wear thin.  If they could fix the 25% where they leave themselves open to criticism (and they could quite easily, if they spent less time patting themselves on the back and more time actually picking these things apart), then the show would be perfect - resolving plots in more satisfyingly plausible/signposted/imaginative ways wouldnt detract for those who already think its fab, and would bring a fair few of us waverers solidly on board.  

The idea that its jsut a childrens show or that the old series would use copouts doesnt wash for me - if that's the case, they may as well have washing up liquid bottle monsters and ferret wielding Doctors. They dont, because a modern audience wouldn't accept them - and you have to ask how long will they accept the day being saved as an afterthought to all the wisecracks and character stuff.  

its all very well the characters constantly telling us what amazing adventures they get up to, and how great they are but that will wear thin if we dont get to see it! RBillie Piper is doing a great job of covering for Rose - has she at any stage proven why she's such great companion material?  Generally, shes been more ineffectual than 90% of previous companions in terms of helping resolve things. But to counter that, the scripts constantly tell us she's one in  million.  

On the plus side, we have Moffats episode, Cybermen and a Mickey as a companion, so things a looking good!

[Floyd-the-k]

I can't comment on the shows, just envy you for being able to see them. But does Rose wear a school uniform at any stage of the proceedings?

[DavidXBrunt]

No, but there was a picture of her in one in a recent issue.