ch3.org.uk

Well, that worked for me. If you're going to have Billie Piper acting, having her playing herself is probably the best bet.

Oh and the Tardis looks *fantastic*.

Enough said. I was going to get dinner 40 minutes ago but got *really* distracted. Better try that again now.


Anyone who knows me will realise that a TV show that keeps me from dinner is something really rather unusual. And indeed I only really started watching it to have *some* idea of what you were all likely to be on about on LJ for the next week or so ;) But it really grabbed me.

I've never been a great addict to the previous series (although I saw a fair bit of the McCoy series (gods he was irritating) and had a bit of a crush on Ace ;), but I've seen bits of a fair few series. To me, this one stands well in that tradition - the Doctor is very well cast; the same "bloody monkeys" attitude, the refusal to explain anything until he feels like it, and a colossal dose of irreverance. Plus a manic grin to be truly proud of ;) I feel they've made a good job of keeping the character similar enough to be the Doctor, while different enough to be a new incarnation and also be updated for today.

Piper's actually very well cast too - the Doctor's assistant has never been a role for a great actress, more a (fairly independent-minded) foil/balance for his unpredictability. And that works well; she's *kind of* playing herself - at least she's convincing (so far) in the role.

The boyfriend however really wasn't much of an actor. Pity he survived the wheelie-bin.

The tardis: Ohhhhh yes. Bastard lovechild of the engine room of HMS Belfast and the new Victoria Line station. Kinda steampunk, and shiny in just the right way. Slightly less ostentatious in its departures? Looking forward to seeing more of the inside.

The production values seem to have survived well too; the "what big wheel?" scene at the London Eye was a touch overplayed, but gets let off on that grin ;) It's not trying to be deadly serious; it' all fun - amusingly corny; the special effects were sufficiently low budget to work (the antenna sequences being a good example) - shades of Red Dwarf in there, almost.

Basically, they've not tried to 'fix' the show. It wasn't broken.

Oh and the mannequins. Just scary enough to work (made me jump a few times) but still fine "baddies". And a treat for depersonalisation fetishists everywhere ;)
Oh, and the aliens in the trailer for the next ep looked *very* Dr Who.

I enjoyed it. Not sure I'll religiously watch the rest of the series (I very rarely do with TV) but I suspect I'll enjoy it when I do.