The new Doctor Who series - warning, spoilers aplenty.

[Deja Q]

Well, it's different. Definitely made by representatives of the "MTV generation", but not so one dimensional...

The episode felt rather like a soap opera/comedy because it's revolving around a 20-something chick.

The new Doc is eccentric, but the outfit and lack of hair just don't fly for me. But the personality... you know what? I kinda like it, especially 15 minutes in but then his personality takes a left turn. Man, this is weird...

And until now, the Doc didn't seem to care about 'outing' people either. Yes, THAT type of 'outing'.

The music is highly energetic, jarringly so. I thought Keff McCulloch from McCoy's era was bad, but this is ridiculous.

And they have a 40 second opening credits tune, yet they also feel they need to add more story credits when the title sequence ends!

Nobody seems to care that an outdated police box is situated on a street corner. Doesn't fly for me, if I was British.

And Rose looking up the Doctor on the internet?! O M G. And I thought the in-joke bit in Remembrance was bad.

Well, they also answered the female Dr Who bit - another injoke.

The Doctor is an idiot; he allows himself to be photographed in many of Earth's time periods? There's some nice dialogue behind this scene, but it's gratuitous in a way that even JNT would frown on. OTOH, it's used to set up the character and, again, there's some good dialogue involved. I'm mixed on this one.

Oh, there's a LOT of crap CGI too. It looks fake... and the burping trashcan is surreal.

The new Doctor is definitely keen on physical violence; assaulting the most ridiculous incarnation of an Auton ever devised... it almost works, IMHO.

What's the Doctor's interest in Rose anyway? He's always there to save her...

The TARDIS: No outside hum. Inside has the Peter Cushing movie door motif that's just... UGH!!!!!!! The interior? Not white. Not wood. No millions of candles. Not circular roundels. The walls are copper; straight lined hexagonal protrusions rather than crosshatched indentations. (e.g. season 15-like walls where they're in a straigh pattern, not the usual repeating dissimilar style of every other season.) Not plain interiot, there are 'roots' or 'branches' at each corner. Very odd. The console, on the plus side, is alien looking and a cool teal-green rather than the boring red. Oh, the hat stand is there too. And a chair. Looking closely, I'm wondering if the TARDIS interior is hybrid prop/CGI (the walls don't look quite real.) The interior console room also appears to be multi-story, with a platform for walking onb between levels. In a later scene with a wall close-up, it's a real prop. But it's more CGI for the distance shots. The central column definitely has a nod to the TVM as well.

And yet they insist on using the old-school dematerialization effect. That does not gel with the new look.

And the size... I want to know how it's bigger inside than out. Before it was easy: different dimensions. This mew versions just seems... surreal.

This new series is a mix of so many formats rolled into one. It should be utter rubbish.

And I'll admit there's a certain creepiness that shines through at times.

But in 1963, how would have audiences felt about the Hartnell introduction? (of course, An Unearthly Child still has a more coherent feel to it.)

And the theme. Like the 1996 TVM it's got the TARDIS swirling through a multi-color, multi-strand corridor. Yawn. The music is definitely retro in style (not quite like the mp3 link you'd given me.) But I was hoping for psychedelic visuals that were innovative. The end theme is VERY similar to Tom Baker's... and the music is definitely retro.

Rose is not that bad of a character. The new Doctor, ultimately, is mostly Doctorish and refreshing to listen to (he's got the most outrageous anti-human commentary though the one he made about "saving every stupid ape..." is a bit too sarcastic and could be perceived the wrong way. Oddly, it works because, as a fan, the Doctor has always made anti-human quotes from time to time. But they were always more subtle and more fun. Nobody tops the 5th Doc for human quotes, though the 7th came close in Ghost Light...) But the new Doc is more pyshical than any of the previous ones. The pilot does an okay job of trying to cater to all audiences. As a fan, I am not closed minded to the later episodes, but the style reminds me somewhat of Die Anotehr Day.

The pilot, in some ways, rips off Spearhead from Space in terms of the store dummy in the window routine. (I won't spoil anything else, but it half works and half doesn't. ZPossibly because the story tries to be both serious and funny; the lack of consistency is a problem for me.)

Okay, I whined about bad CGI. Dr Who has always had bad effects... but I've never been keen on CGI.

I won't spoil the very ending, though...

One thing is for sure, it's got real POTENTIAL to appeal to all audiences. Its style may be MTV-on-crack, but it's got potential. But then, Star Trek TNG season 5 started nicely too...

EUREKA! The new Doctor feels more American than English. It took me a while, but I eventually got there.

All in all? B-.

[ISUGRADIA]

1. Thanks for the summary - I just read that there was a new Dr. Who

so the insights are useful.

[Wat_Tyler]

2. You do know the internet copy of the first episode is unfinished, right?

It's missing most of the special effects and a couple of last-minute edits and such - be wary.

[Deja Q]

5. Thank goodness... I can think of a scene or two that could be chopped...

But all things considered, not bad...

I've heard the best rumor of all... the lightness of "Rose" is not to be standard throughout the rest of the series.

[Wat_Tyler]

7. I've seen the first fifteen minutes or so (damn you, dial-up!)

The credits are awful - but Eccleston works, he'll be what makes the difference for the show between success and failure. He's created a good character, distinctly Doctor-ish, but different enough so I wasn't sitting there thinking 'Aha - that bit's Tom Baker, that bit's Pertwee' and so-on.

Of course, given that it was written by Russell T. Davies, that would explain the outing reference. A little jarring, but that's alright - the show has to grow.

[Dhalgren]

3. Is it a TV program or movie?

If the former, when and where is it aired? I am a Tom Baker fan, but I would love to see the new version...

[starroute]

4. No American network has picked it up

So you've either got to be British or Canadian -- or resort to Bittorrent. This is one case where illicit downloads might actually create a US market for the series, so I would recommend you download away and spread the buzz.

[Deja Q]

6. Or Direct-to-DVD.

I've bought all the others and I won't stop now.

From what I've heard, the new series' plotlines sound surprisingly good.

[khashka]

8. I thought you were joking

But there really is a new Who series? Links, please?????

Even if it's awful I'll give 'em a chance to get on their feet. I sat through Season 24 without cringing (much).

Khash.

[Wat_Tyler]

9. It's all here....

http://www.gallifreyone.com/

13 Episodes, 45 minutes apiece, likely second series in pre-production, proper budget, BBC made, Autons, Daleks...all back. Starts two weeks from now on the BBC, then in April on the CBC in Canada, rumours of a US deal for the beginning of next month.

[khashka]

10. Eternal Gratitude

Khash.

[flaminbats]

12. why even hope for decent special effects?

If the special effects still suck, the SF channel will never touch it! x(

[mr blur]

11. Someone in the Guardian called it,

"Dr Who for the Attentionb Deficit Disorder generation." Like bad MTV (is there good MTV?)