Doctor Who - The Complete First
Series starring Billie Piper,
Christopher Eccleston, Camille
Coduri, Noel Clarke, John
Barrowman
Mummy
The venerable science fiction program Doctor Who returned to British
televisions in 2005 after a 15-year absence and delighted the majority of
fans and critics with its adherence to the adventure and charm of the
original series while making admissions for a new generation of viewers
(hipper editing and score, CGI effects). Thirteen episodes were generated,
all starring Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor and pop-singer-
turned-actress Billie Piper as his companion Rose; acclaimed
writer/producer Russell T. Davies (Touching Evil, Queer as Folk) oversaw
the show as chief writer and executive producer. The new series proved so
popular that the BBC agreed to revive the program for second and third
seasons--though without Eccleston, who has since been replaced by David
Tennant. This six-disc set comes with all 13 episodes plus the battery of
supplemental features now customary to all Doctor Who DVD releases.
Eccleston is very engaging in the title role, bringing a manic curiosity
tempered by occasional bouts of gravity (which befit a personality with a
long and dramatic a lifespan as the Doctors) that hew closely to the
(arguably) most popular Doctor, Tom Baker. Piper is equally adept as
department store clerk Rose--shes afforded more of a back story than
most of the Doctors sidekicks have received in the past, and she more
than handles her own alongside Eccleston. Highlights among the 13
episodes include the season opener, Rose (which sees the return of an old
foe, the Autons, and their controlling force, the Nestene Consciousness);
the revamped Daleks in Dalek and the two-parter Bad Wolf and The
Parting of the Ways; a trip to Victorian England to aid Charles Dickens in
The Unquiet Dead, and of course, the arrival of the tenth Doctor at the
conclusion of the action-packed Parting of the Ways. The episodes strike
the right blend of quirk, excitement, and imagination, thanks largely to the
engaging performances and the guidance of Davies, whose admiration for
the show and its history is evident throughout. Supplemental features--and
there are many--including commentary on all 13 episodes by members of
the cast and crew, including Piper and Davies; numerous making-of
featurettes, including a profile of Davies; a video diary by Piper; an
interview with Eccleston, and best of all, a glimpse at the 60-minute
Christmas special, The Christmas Invasion, which picks up where the
series concludes. Who fans wont be disappointed. --Paul Gaita
Russell T. Davies had a problem in 2004. His problem was how to restart
Doctor Who, the great British science fiction television series that had died
a slow death in the 1980s, primarily due to shoddy writing and stale
characterizations.
Then he remembered the basic rule of good-to-great science fiction. It
isnt the situations...its the characters. We learned this when Ronald D.
Moore and David Eick reworked Battlestar Galactica.
To that end, I felt that RTD really treated the four seasons he ran
production more as a 52-episode story that was told in four chapters. This
First Series Set plays more as a laying of the baseline for the 21st-Century
Time Lord and those around him. Davies seems willing to lay more of the
Doctors emotions out. There is the irreverence and stream of thought that
has usually played through the characters recent history, but Davies--
through Christopher Eccelstons interpretation--starts laying the Doctor
bare at times. The Ninth Doctor doesnt wear the scarf of Tom Baker, the
celery boutonniere of Peter Davidson, or the straw hat of Sylvester McCoy.
Davies starts this with a subtle reminder that, in spite of his name, what
The Doctor is...is a warrior. Whether considered a soldier or superhero,
Eccelstons Doctor is a black-wearing, short-haired survivor of a conflict
that wiped out his planet. He can be severe, angry, feral and snappish all
in a matter of moments. He also hurts--hes alone.
This is where Davies thought process begins to percolate around the
character. He starts in this season to introduce The Family of
Time/Children of Time concept--his Companions , the cohorts who aid and
support (sometimes unwillingly), and a world that goes beyond his travels
in the TARDIS (Which absolutely could NEVER change from its 1950s
Police Box camouflage). In many ways it is a broader vision th an what we
had in the first run, and opens up new avenues for the Doctors world. This
allows Billie Pipers Rose Tyler--the Family of Times First Lady--to be the
soul and the conscience the Doctor so desperately needs. Piper is
allowed to give a strength to Rose that we havent seen in the Companions
roles before (Or at least since Sarah Jane Smith), and all the while look
absolutely adorable. She saves the Doctors life twice within the first six
episodes--in the premiere/return episode Rose and at the conclusion of the
Aliens In London/World War III storyline. In Dalek, Rose actually
challenges the Doctor AND the infamous robot enemy in a way no
Companion had.
If Rose is the Family of Times First Lady, Camille Courdis Jackie Tyler is
the Queen Mother--her first meeting with the Doctor is a wonderfully
hilarious moment of attempted seduction crushed--and Noel Clarkes
Mickey Smith is the reluctant entrant. Having been the boyfriend of Rose
when she met the Doctor, Mickey is the one who studys the Doctors
history and realizes the danger of being around him--yet, he finds himself
working with the Doctor; even saving the world from itself in World War III.
But the character that knocks it out of the park in Series 1 is John
Barrowmans Jack Harkness. Introduced in The Empty Child, Harkness is
the knight errant of the Family--born in the 51st century, Jack would
seemingly prefer being a thief to his moments of heroism...that is, if he
could get his mind off of getting some. With anyone. Or anything. Th e
explanation of Jack--in the 51st century, the former Time Agent comes
from a time where the term omnisexual is used. That explains Jack, short
of using the term male ho.
While expanding the base of the people surrounding the Doctor, RTD
also expands the physical world of the Doctor. In The Unquiet Dead, the
Doctor and Rose travel back to 1869 and meet Charles Dickens in Cardiff,
Wales. Finding themselves in an investigation of corpses reanimating at a
funeral home, the Doctor discovers the funeral home sits on a time/space
rift that is capable of allowing extraterrestrials to move into this world and
dimension. That rift becomes a part of the Doctors universe about 145
years later...but thats for another review.
It is the finish to the season--the two-parter Bad Wolf and The Parting Of
the Ways--that set the transition from Eccelston to David Tennant, and the
course for Captain Jack...but also the level of strength and devotion to The
Doctor that Rose shows; a part of the four-part storyline that runs deep.
This first chapter of Doctor Whos return is a fascinating watch, made all
the more fascinating by the first season being Eccelstons only season as
The Doctor. Among the special features is Eccelstons BBC interview
before the premier episode was shown in England, an odd moment
because one realizes that Chris knows hes completed his run--leading to
his mentioning of regeneration.
All in all, the return of Doctor Who to television has been a wonderful
view--it hasnt been reimaged as severely (Though to its benefit) the way
that Battlestar Galactica was, but it comes off as a diamond long-buried,
found and--thanks to Russell T. Davies--well polished...and well done.
Season/Series 1--highly recommended.
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