Just saw the new Doctor Who by Lister

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Just saw the new Doctor Who

POSTED BY: LISTER
UPDATED: Friday, March 11, 2005 07:19
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VIEWED: 3078
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Wednesday, March 9, 2005 7:45 AM

What utter crap. Poor acting, poor writing, poor special effects. Not once did I feel anyone was in any real danger, mostly because it seemed the characters weren't taking it seriously either. I also didn't think the new Doctor was very good, and I have heard he was the best thing about the new series. That is probably correct which shows how bad the show is. Hopefully things will get a bit more serious when Daleks or something come back, but after watching this piece of trash I'm not getting my hopes up.

Run to the Tower, and call out the Magus
If he has caused this, we'll tear out his pages
Throw him in shackles, AND REMOVE HIS HANDS!
- Red Horse Rainbow, CLUTCH

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Wednesday, March 9, 2005 7:56 AM

ZOL

I take it you are on about the incomplete leaked version - I hope you are not going to act the same way when Serenity comes out.

You can`t please everybody - Dr Who has to restart from somewhere.

Zol.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2005 9:02 AM

LISTER

It didn't seem incomplete to me. The one thing I really liked was the opening credits, which was faithfully done to be like the old Tom Baker years intro. Even the music was similar. It was a nice homage and let you know you were definately watching Doctor Who. So it started off well, but as for incomplete, if you mean SFX or something, there weren't many scenes that required SFX. So unless they redid the script and acting, then I'm afraid there isn't much hope unfortunatley. I was really psyched to see Doctor Who again, and I will see subsequent episodes to see if it gets any better. But I will wait and see what others think about the pilot. Maybe I am just a harsh critic, but I doubt it.

Run to the Tower, and call out the Magus
If he has caused this, we'll tear out his pages
Throw him in shackles, AND REMOVE HIS HANDS!
- Red Horse Rainbow, CLUTCH

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Wednesday, March 9, 2005 9:46 AM

PURPLEBELLY

I hope I can understand your disappointment, but I think you may have been expecting too much. This is a low-budget, early-evening kids' show produced by a regional studio of a public service broadcaster. The first episode is doing its job if it re-introduces the main characters. Talented writers and performers may be able to extend the show's reach, but it is unfair to compare it with the output of a Hollywood studio spending a couple of million bucks to target prime-time continental networks.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2005 12:11 PM

MANOFSTEEL25

I haven't seen this yet. Resisting the urge to download it.

But form everything I've read both positive and negative- this is a Dr. Who that means to appeal to non-fans and families first and Who fans second. I have a feeling this is going to come out looking like a the Randall and Hopkirk Remake with a touch of the power Rangers to appeal to younger viewers.

I'm willing to roll with this somewhat- Who was generally regarded as a kids/family program although it grew up a bit in the 80's. The thing is the same arguments have been made about Star Wars - but I can still watch the original trilogy or a lot of classic Who and still find a lot of stright entertainment value in it as an adult (nostalgia checked and taking these in the context of thier respective times/budgets).

Also for the BBC I hear this is relatively high budget- certainly moreso than the old series but still not probably on par with typical American productions like 24, BG'05, Buffy etc. I think the slickest Dr. Who will ever look is in the 1996 TV movie. But Big effects were never what the show was about so I can forgive that side.

I have heard the new theme online and it's err..okay. I think they mucked up the classic baseline of the theme bu the meoldy is intact and they kept the cool 70's electronic screech noise but it ends very abruptly and it's got a weird repetitve edit at the end of it. I'm hoping it's the download and not the version that goes out.

I'll wait and see...

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Wednesday, March 9, 2005 8:04 PM

LISTER

Also, the TARDIS noise is kept from the original series, so that was a pleasant surprise. I would think that Dr. Who is to England what Star Trek is to America, so I am suprised they would lessen it by trying to change it's original appeal. I just remember really being concerned about the Doctor and companions when they were in danger. And it always seemed like the enemies were really evil. I just never got that sense for this one. Maybe I'm just older. Granted, the bad guys were REALLY cheesy in this one. No Daleks or Cybermen here, so maybe that will change when they are reintroduced (and I know for a fact the Daleks will be in a future episode). I just can't wait to hear other fans reactions to it.

Run to the Tower, and call out the Magus
If he has caused this, we'll tear out his pages
Throw him in shackles, AND REMOVE HIS HANDS!
- Red Horse Rainbow, CLUTCH

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Thursday, March 10, 2005 3:29 AM

NERVOUSPETE

Hullo, Lister!

I saw the leaked version as well.

Um, I rather liked it, actually.

It was far from perfect, of course, but I thought it had a lot to commend it. The two leads were good, Billie Piper surprisingly so, and the dialogue on the whole was quite witty and sharp. And I liked the villains too, whom I shall not reveal for fear of spoilers. It didn't have much of a plot, but it was a 45 minute pilot and, hey, did 'The Train Job'? This was to set up the characters, and from Rose's POV, so it was about her entering the Doctor's world, rather than the alien invasion itself.

There were a couple of crap childish humour bits, but only a couple, and there was a couple of fine speeches to balance that out. Shame Rose's mum is a chav, but I guess it gives her more incentive to escape and go on adventures with the Dr.

And I thought the scene upstairs in the deserted store warehouse where Rose is slowly cornered in classical Dr Who slowly cornered style, was pleasingly creepy.

The effects were reasonably good, with a couple of effective sequences.

Faults:

The Doctor is a bit too manic, I hope this is only due to it being the pilot, and having a lot to convey. He had some good serious bits, but I wasn't a huge fan of his fast delivery in some scenes.

Pace was too frantic and editing could have been better.

Some of the incidental music was dubious and ill fitting, but some worked rather well, I thought.

The title music was a placeholder, and will be changed. There's hints that some of the incidentals will, as well, and that the effects will continue to be polished.

Overall, I'd give it 7/10 - but if I was between the ages of seven and fourteen I'd give it eight and half to nine out of ten. This is meant to appeal to that age bracket, with some fun stuff and plots to throw in for the adults. I'd rather have the kids of the playground excited rather than Who fans, personally.

And given the writing and acting talent coming up in future episodes, I reckon that this episode is somewhat abnormal in tone and pacing to the others. Simon Pegg, Simon Callow, Reece Sheersmith, Phil Cornell... there's some big and respected names in the UK comedy/screenwriter realm coming. The fact that a big fan like Pegg feels he can trust it, and plays a main villian, reassures me. Russell T Davies said that there will be funny ones, fast ones, drama ones, and scary ones - so there's bound to be at least a couple in the upcoming thirteen that will take your fancy. Don't worry!

Cheers for your thoughts, though, Lister.

Pete

"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash

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Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:05 AM

MANOFSTEEL25

Well I may just giv ein and download this thing. Seeing as we Americans won't be seeing this show (on the airwaves anyway) for at least a few months after the UK.

I'm a bit torn over the whole idea of any kind of remake appealing to the mass audience/younger viewers vs. being adult and growing up with the original fanbase. I see problems with embracing one and rejecting the other so there's no clear answer.

I guess if they could do what they did with it in the 70's, or how Star Wars or Indiana Jones appealed to both young and old fans - then it would work. But overly catering to kids I think is a mistake.

But you hit the nail on the head - It sounds like we're going to get a lot of different kinds of episodes and at least a couple of them are bound to appeal to some of the fans. I still await this in eager anticipation. (except I don't know if I'll ever like that new Theme.. )

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Thursday, March 10, 2005 8:55 PM

LISTER

It's too bad that the opening credits is just a stand-in. It was my favorite bit. I don't understand what would make them try to appeal to a younger audience. The Doctor is at his best when he is dealing with serious peril and situations. A good budget and solid production with some hard-hitting scripts would make it really appealing to the people who already know The Doctor. I think it could have the same appeal as, say, the X-Files.

I am a fan of mixing up the tone. That was what made me a fan of Xena. One episode could be a musical and the next could be blood and gore. It made the blood and gore episodes that much more hard-hitting. Firefly did the same. So we'll se how DW handles it. It can;t get much worse in my opinion so it can only get better. I want to like it, I really do, but if the BBC is not going to take it as seriously as the people of England deserve then why should I?

Run to the Tower, and call out the Magus
If he has caused this, we'll tear out his pages
Throw him in shackles, AND REMOVE HIS HANDS!
- Red Horse Rainbow, CLUTCH

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Friday, March 11, 2005 7:19 AM

MANOFSTEEL25

Well as I just told my friend who saw the download (I'm ready to give in and watch it myself seeing as I live in the States but I haven't found a reliable download source for it)

Condsidering it's been 16 years since we've had the show on air, every fan new and old has had loads of time to analyze what they like and/or dislike about ther favorite eras/Doctors/
companions/writers/styles etc. plus the intervening audios/novels/comics/specials/TVM that filled the gap. So I think it's impossible for this new series to please everyone.

I agree with you that the show can play with tone and format. That's what's made it last so long. I prefer the more.. well stright Who fare leaning to dark. When it gets too dark some of the fun does indeed go out of it. but when handled right they can be smashing (Caves of Androzani) But general audiences don't care, they just want something to entertain them and probably look something like the usual TV SciFI fare that's on now.

So I'm still torn. I'm going to hunt down the download anf finally make my own assessment.

Here's my friend's review - he's probably a bigger Who fan than me and an American so here goes:

Warnng! SPOILERS!

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 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 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 Cushing 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 physical 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 Another 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. Possibly 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-.

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