It was always going to be a risk for the BBC to revamp Doctor Who–few television programmes inspire as much rabid and cultish adoration. With the 2005 series, however, the BBC have really outdone themselves. Their updated Doctor Who is a revelation: a cult science fiction series that has real mass appeal, and works for both children and their parents. Christopher Eccleston is an inspired and charismatic Doctor–he leaps around the sets with an unrestrained glee, like he’s a child running amok in a toy shop. His enthusiasm in downright infectious. His sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) adds a real human touch, particularly as she gradually and believably matures from in-over-her-head city kid to tough-minded interplanetary hero. Much of the credit must go to writer Russell Davies, who has a much-practiced knack for finding popular appeal without dumbing-down his ideas, and who appears to have let his imagination run riot. Even the special effects, whilst not of a big-budget cinematic quality, still manage to strike a balance between cheesiness and realism. Thrilling, funny and thoroughly entertaining, this Doctor Who is a hero for the new millennium. –Robert Burrow
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A New Who Review, from a Yank’s Point of View Having barely seen an episode or two on PBS in my youth, I really got into the series after seeing the 1997 US TV movie. I quickly snatched up every VHS tape, and found every other missing episode and unreleased story on bootleg videos, to obsessively have every inch of existing Doctor Who known to man. I preferred Jon Pertwee’s Doc the best, with Troughton and T. Baker next. No need to get into the original classic series, so on with the new one.
This is brilliant I feel sure that the makers of previous series of Dr Who must sit there with their jaws slack with amazement at the budget and technology available to the makers of this series. It is fantastic. One of the things I really appreciate about it is how it hangs together as a series – it bears watching again and again – spot the “Bad Wolf” references, and the conincidences throughout the series. One or two episodes are not as good as the others, but it really works as a series, and it really works as a good piece of entertainment – funny, fast-paced, action-packed and tender, and tremendously moral – with unfashionable messages of loyalty, responsibility, honesty and forgiveness too. The sad fate of the time-lords is not fully explained, and I feel sure we will find out more eventually. This doctor has a guilty secret, and I’m intrigued. The casting is superb, and Billie Piper is an absolute revelation. What a marvellous companion she makes for the Doctor. She is brave and resourceful, and her natural personality is a good foil for the Doctor. In short – marvellous!!
Excellent start to the new series I’m old enough to have watched the very first Dr.Who and to have largely abandoned it after Tom Baker left. The hype generated by the new series meant I switched on to see how a 21st century version might play. I was enthralled.