Rumor has it that the second season of Doctor Who will air along with the third season of Battlestar Galactica in October on cable’s Sci-Fi Channel.
Sounds good to me! Maybe I can get my wife to watch with me.
First, the confession: I’ve been a Doctor Who fan since I was about 8 years old. Sitting and watching those episodes (Tom Baker, at the time) with my Dad is a great memory for me.
I started to lose interest in the Colin Baker years and didn’t watch Sylvester McCoy much either. Apparently neither did anyone else, and they shut the show down in 1989.
But they finally revived it in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the title role. Sorry if you don’t know this yet, but he left after one season and was replaced with David Tennant.
Both men have done an excellent job, and Billie Piper was excellent as his companion, Rose Tyler. The show has more episodes with a light tone than I remember from the old versions, but overall the writing and acting are great. The special effects have seen the most improvement in this new version, but there is still some cheese to be had from time to time — and I think that’s the way it should be, since the show was always known for its low budget effects in years gone by.
They made a few big changes with the Doctor for this new series. For one, his is literally the last of the Time Lords. He was involved in the (mostly unexplained) Time War between the Time Lords and the Daleks, and apparently did something that wiped both sides out of existence. That left him, in the 2005 season, with quite of bit of anger and lonliness beneath the surface that made for some interesting moments. At times you got a hint that he might have actually gone mad. But Rose manages to help him, and once he regenerates at the end of the season, he seems to have left some of that behind. David Tennant’s Doctor is a bit more upbeat, and less maniacally so than Eccleston’s.
Both seasons have seen some great episodes that really excited and touched me. There were of course a few duds as well, but they pass from memory quickly, as duds will, and I’m left remembering the excellent episodes. Both seasons had plot threads that ran through the entire seasons and came to fruition in the season finales to great effect.
I just finished watching the 2006 season finale, and I have to say that I think it beat out the 2005 finale for emotional impact - and that’s saying something. That’s probably because it draws on some of the best points from the full 2 years we have with these characters and the send-off is well done. That’s not to say that the episode was perfect — there are, as usual with Doctor Who — some rather convenient plot twists and last minute reveals, but it hits the right notes at the right times and I felt fully satisfied at the end.
The few episodes that make my “must watch” list:
There were other excellent episodes, but those are the ones that simply can’t be missed.
I’d have to say that overall, the series is a bit more kid-focused than I remembered (but then I was a kid with the old ones), however it retains and updates its charm and excitement for a new generation.
(Originally posted Aug 06, 2005 on my older blog)
Sci-fi western with an attitude, and a healthy dose of mystery and character building.
I am catching Firefly on DVD. I didn’t watch more than a few minutes of it when it aired a couple years ago. It didn’t grab me then, but I really didn’t give it a chance. Now that I’m paying attention… this show is pretty impressive.
At first the mixture of “wild west” and science-fiction seemed too reminiscent of other shows (Wild Wild West and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., to be specific), but I’ve been won over by superior writing and an excellent ensemble cast. Plus it has one thing that always sucks me in: an overarching plot.
In this case, that plot is primarily about two of the ships passengers. Simon, the genius doctor who gave up everything to break his sister out of a high security “medical” facility, and his even more genius sister, River, who was being subjected to horrific and torturous experiments (and probably conditioning) at said facility. She has been rendered into an unpredictable enigma, at times docile and scared, and at others violent and uncontrollable. As we learn more, it is becoming clear that the experiments were meant to shape her into something, though I haven’t finished watching the series yet, so I’m not sure what that something is.
The characters’ attitude on the show is mostly “noble theives flying by the seat of their pants” with a bit of Star Wars rebellion thrown in (mostly in the person of Captain Reynolds, who is reminiscent of Han Solo). It’s not only an engrossing story, but it’s fun to watch.
The intent here is not to present a synopsis of the show, though I am tempted, but to simply say this: this is a show worth watching that was canceled unfairly (much like Babylon 5: Crusade). I’m glad the story is getting its chance to be told in the new movie Serenity.
[Update: Hopefully I'll review Serenity at some point. Here's the short version: GREAT FLICK!!!) ]
Torchwood Lights Up May - Slice of SciFi
In a recent interview with SciFi Wire, writer-producer Russell T.Davies (Doctor Who) stated that filming for the 13-episodes of Torchwood, the Doctor Who spinoff, will begin in May on location in England.
“Torchwood” is, appropriately, an anagram of Doctor Who, which I think is pretty clever.
The show will apparently be aimed squarely at adults, in contrast to Doctor Who’s family-friendly story lines. I just hope they don’t play up the character’s bi-sexuality. It was good for a few gags in the 5 Doctor Who episodes introducing the Jack Harkness character, but I really think it would end up being tired pretty quickly.
It is a fun character, though. Con men are always good characters to write for, in my opinion. Lots of opportunities there.
I hope “adult” doesn’t mean a) laden with sexuality, or b) dark and heavy. If they keep with the general tone they established in the Doctor Who episodes, the series should be pretty good.
It’d be nice if they’d air it in the States, too…
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