Month: March 2005

More Doctor Who

You’ll have to forgive me. My favorite television series of all time is coming back after 16 years, so I’m a bit excited.

Some more costume shots came out in the UK press today:

Apparently, this little fella (whom you’ve seen here before) is called the Moxx of Balhoon:

The “Face of Boe”, described as “the head of an alien, preserved in a vat of life-giving fluid, protected by two “staff-children” :”

These are only labeled as “aliens” —apparently, all of these images are from the second episode of the series, “The End of the World”, which features alien ambassadors arriving at a space station in the far future to witness the end of the earth:

…and, lastly, a tree-like alien ambassador:

and, because I realize that some of you haven’t seen him yet, here’s a shot of the new Doctor, with his companion, Rose:

If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here, geeking out.

Sometimes I love living in the 21st century.

Somebody in Canadian Broadcasting leaked a screener copy of the premiere episode of the new Doctor Who series to the internet this weekend. The DVD copy had been sent out by the BBC to sell the series to broadcasters outside of the UK. So, thanks to bittorrent and my iMac’s ability to burn DVDs, and I watched the episode, entitled “Rose”, last night…two and half weeks before it’s set to premiere in the UK.

My review:

Aside from the pacing, it very much felt like the original series — which, in my obsessive, fanboy opinion is brilliant.

I can see why the Sci Fi Channel passed on it, since it’s not too glossy. Definitely shot on video, very “British TV” look to it. Besides, Sci-Fi has to keep filling their schedule with giant alligator and bug movies, after all. We US sci-fi fans obviously need “Mansquito” more than we need “Doctor Who.” Or something.

There are one or two elements that made me groan a bit due to cheesiness (but that happened with the original series as well), but overall, it felt like I was watching Doctor Who….except the pace was very 21st-century: lots of quick cuts, the show starts with action, has several scenes of action throughout, and ends with a bang. The whole story is told in 45 minutes. I think if this was done in the old series, they would have padded it out with a few “sneaking around or running around in corridors” scenes, and made it a McCoy-era 3-parter, at 66 minutes. On the whole, I don’t really miss the padding, but I am looking forward to the “meatier” two-parters that are coming later in the season.

Christopher Ecclestone’s Ninth Doctor reminds me very much of Tom Baker’s Fourth. (The sudden swings from darkly alien to grinning maniac, etc.) He had been onscreen for mere seconds when I felt “yup, he’s the Doctor.” There was no period of adjustment at all. Gone is the foppy Edwardian gentleman look–the Doctor wears a beat-up thrift story leather coat, and speaks with a working-class accent. (Favorite line: Rose: “If you’re an alien, how come you sound like you’re from the North?” The Doctor (in a huff): “Lots of planets have a North.”)

There are 12 more episodes coming this season. God bless my DSL connection.

O brave new world…

Sometimes I love living in the 21st century.

Somebody in Canadian Broadcasting leaked a screener copy of the premiere episode of the new Doctor Who series to the internet this weekend. The DVD copy had been sent out by the BBC to sell the series to broadcasters outside of the UK. So, thanks to bittorrent and my iMac’s ability to burn DVDs, Laura and I watched the episode, entitled “Rose”, last night…two and half weeks before it’s set to premiere in the UK.

My review:

Aside from the pacing, it very much felt like the original series — which, in my obsessive, fanboy opinion is brilliant.

I can see why the Sci Fi Channel passed on it, since it’s not too glossy. Definitely shot on video, very “British TV” look to it. Besides, Sci-Fi has to keep filling their schedule with giant alligator and bug movies, after all. We US sci-fi fans obviously need “Mansquito” more than we need “Doctor Who.” Or something.

There are one or two elements that made me groan a bit due to cheesiness (but that happened with the original series as well), but overall, it felt like I was watching Doctor Who….except the pace was very 21st-century: lots of quick cuts, the show starts with action, has several scenes of action throughout, and ends with a bang. The whole story is told in 45 minutes. I think if this was done in the old series, they would have padded it out with a few “sneaking around or running around in corridors” scenes, and made it a McCoy-era 3-parter, at 66 minutes. On the whole, I don’t really miss the padding, but I am looking forward to the “meatier” two-parters that are coming later in the season.

Christopher Ecclestone’s Ninth Doctor reminds me very much of Tom Baker’s Fourth. (The sudden swings from darkly alien to grinning maniac, etc.) He had been onscreen for mere seconds when I felt “yup, he’s the Doctor.” There was no period of adjustment at all. Gone is the foppy Edwardian gentleman look–the Doctor wears a beat-up thrift story leather coat, and speaks with a working-class accent. (Favorite line: Rose: “If you’re an alien, how come you sound like you’re from the North?” The Doctor (in a huff): “Lots of planets have a North.”)

There are 12 more episodes coming this season. God bless my DSL connection.