Comments on: Television: Doctor Who – BBC 1

By: Dawn

Dawn — Mon, 07 May 2007 21:44:00 +0000

Can’t get much further north in the UK than Scotland. Tennant rocks!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:40:26 +0000

It’s not exactly the best series yet. Agree with you about the scripts. I still reckon they shouldn’t have replaced Christopher Ecclestone. Northerners always know what to do. ^_^

By: Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:06:24 +0000

John, I made no mistakes, I just stated that I would admit to nothing :-P. Yes the clues are there for anyone who’s really bothered to figure out how old I am, but your numeracy skills appear to be a little dysfunctional…

By: John

John — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:51:46 +0000

Dawn, your mistake ws leaving too many clues. First enjoyed it when you were 4. Started watching in 1966. That makes you… 174 years old. Rumbled.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:42:17 +0000

I won’t admit exactly how far over that ‘certain’ age’ I am, just suffice to say that I have been a fan since 1966. I sadly agree it can’t go back to how it was, but I would like a bit less slapstick and a bit (no a LOT) more scary. And less of the ‘old grumpies’ thanks.

(with the caveat that I’ve yet to warm to Tennant as much as I did to Eccleston).

I thought I would also have trouble with this. I loved Eccleston’s Doctor, although he did lay on the ‘tragic hero’ bit a tad too heavily. However, Tennant WAS the Doctor from his first episode onwards. There have been a couple that I thought were on the weak side, but it seems to go from strength to strength.

“the humour for kids can be heavy handed”

Tell me about it! My 2 boys (then aged 5 and 3) loved the burbing wheelie bin, however, my 5 year old considered the farting slitheen ridiculous and to this day (he’s now 7) he HATES those 2 episodes. Guess it just goes to show that even kids that age can be discerning.

By: MHW

MHW — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 08:20:13 +0000

There’s a huge amount of variation in the quality of RTD’s scripts — he’s responsible for all three of my most hated stories of new Who, yet has produced some of my favourites as well. His plots tend to be slap dash, the humour for kids can be heavy handed and his grasp of how to make the ridiculous seem convincing is shaky, which is a handicap for something as silly as popular SF — contrast it with Moffat’s ability to pass off clockwork robots looking to nick a French bird’s brain to wire into a ship, and you’ll see what I mean. Yet he can be tremendous fun — he’s good at dialogue and character; when he’s not aiming jokes directly at the kiddies, he can sparkle; on a good day, he doesn’t allow you to pause for breath sufficiently long to grizzle at the things that don’t make sense.

Overall, I find more to enjoy in Who redux than I don’t (with the caveat that I’ve yet to warm to Tennant as much as I did to Eccleston). So, I’d have to concede that RTD’s instincts as a showrunner have mostly been for the good. It’s not perfect; I wouldn’t say it’s high aspirational telly; and I wouldn’t rank it alongside my current favourite, House. But I’m not among the old grumpies who want to make it how it was in the Good Old Days — if you tried that now, it’d look either like a bad pastiche or just bloody awkward and slow.

One thing I’ll add is that I think Trevor does have a slight point. If you were over a certain age, then yes, you’d remember Who well. But under that age, you would, at best, be in a minority who followed/knew of a cult interest; at worst, it’d barely be on your radar.

By: The_B

The_B — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:55:07 +0000

I know it’s supposed to be a ‘family’ drama, but I agree – RTD tries too hard to include the kids, and almost ends up patronising them (and in turn, the rest of the auidence), I feel.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:21:22 +0000

Doctor Who has never been a joke to my knowledge, it wouldn’t have lasted 40 years otherwise. Yes, I consider the new version has been ‘dumbed down’ a bit too much for my taste, but then, they are allegedly attempting to attract the younger viewers this time (although I enjoyed it in its original form as a 4 year old). I have enjoyed most of the new episodes so far (in all 3 series) and yes, I have had a few gripes but they can’t please everyone. My most serious annoyance in this series was, in fact, the JK Rowling reference, but at least it’s current and I just thought it a bit silly. For what it’s worth, I love Harry Potter, just not in Doctor Who. I also didn’t like Martha being told her clothes didn’t matter in 16th century London when Rose was told to change when visiting Cardiff in (what was it? the 19th?). Also that a lot of lines seem to be re used almost verbatim, ie: Martha’s invitaion to travel and the ‘I don’t know who he is, I just went off with him’ bit. It would be nice if they could be a bit more original. I totally agree that they washed out the Bad Wolf storyline, what an absolute damp squib that was. The Torchwood one was amusing as we all knew the series was coming and I, for one, was not disappointed. Saxon has already made his prescence known there as he has in Who and Sarah Jane Adventures if memory serves. Lest’s see if they can do this one without screwing it up. However, even if they do, there’s (just) enough good there to keep me watching and my kids love it.

By: John

John — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:50:44 +0000

Trevor! You mean to say that lots of people like badly written rubbish?! I’d best take my argument down, eh?

Do stop being so deeply stupid. “Barely remembered joke”. Er, no. As awful as it was, it’s the most famous live action sci-fi the BBC has ever produced.

And sorry to spoil your little tantrum, but I never stated that RTD cannot write. I stated, accurately, that he cannot write science fiction, and that he cannot write monsters.

Do tell us all why you’re so ferociously defensive of criticism againt Mr Davies.

Will – you have by far the worst taste of any human I’ve ever enountered, so I’m not sure it counts.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:20:17 +0000

I thought the Shakespeare episode was quite good to be honest. I liked the Dark Lady bit at the end, plus it had the bloke from Shameless in it…

But you know me: shallow etc.