Dr Who

Well, it was just as funny and silly as I remember it and the effects had an amateurism that meant it could only be a British television programme.

Awful and yet somehow captivating.

I loved it. Bring on Episode 2.

Regards
Steve M

I stayed in a small motel in a tiny town in northern Arizona once, the TV was B&W and equipped with the latest tube technology. The only programmes I could get were ancient Dr Who episodes. Or perhaps they were alternate reality shows....

Paul

Jon

Fair point . . it does indeed need time to mature. For me though my worse fears were confirmed in that what was a programme quite unlike any other has succumed to the need to sell to overseas markets i.e America (hence red buses in every street shot!) and in so doing lost its real identity. The Dr was always an oddball maverick figure and even quite mysterious - if you walked past this Dr in the street you would not turn your head!

I guess I am frustrated as I would have liked to have seen the Dr Who idea developed for those (now adult) who grew up with him i.e much darker in tone, more menancing and with the weight of the universe on his shoulders.

D

D,

Yes the touristy element was very much evident in the first episode and I suppose like a lot of TV shows nowadays it's been made with a lot more commercial savvy than in the past. Ecclestone's costume is minimalist but I think that makes a change from the over-costumed doctors of the past.

As to making the series darker, I see your point and it would certainly have been interesting to see how it might have looked had they been aiming for a more adult market. Unfortunately it's been targeted for a max-viewing primetime telly slot so I guess that nailed that idea to the wall.

Cheers,

Jon

Doug you can't look at it in that way, it is just as stupid and shallow as it ever was and therefore most enjoyable. Think of your kids (or someone elses) who has watched Dr Who this evening, a bit scary perhaps?

There is a suggestion it gets scarier, but one thing is for certain, Dr Who or Ant and Deck, well its no competition is it. Its the first saturday night TV I have watched in many years.

Also later tonight Mr .... Lights a Candle, can't think of the name, anyhoo a drama about a teacher taking some school kids to Salisbury Cathedral, could be worth a punt.

Before Clarke alters Blunkett's inspired decion to re-classify dope as a C grade drug back to a B grade one, it might be an idea for those who partake now and again in the occasional spliff (as some 7-8 million Brits regularly do for private use, at home etc) to get some organised for the oncoming episodes to maybe enhance its projection, innit !

Fritz Von Rodney, you been on that Rastafarian Old Holburn again my Son ?

Mr Harvey Lights a Candle and, oh yeah, that was another reason to watch Dr Who tonight - to avoid Ant and bloody Dec!!

Jon

Quite a good start --

I thought the titles were crap, though -- why mess with perfection? I liked Cristopher Ecclestone's take on the Doctor-- a lot of room for fun & games there. And is this the first time we've had a blatant reference to sex in the series?

Also, I think offing Mark Benton like that shows that Russell T has been sharpening his pencil: I think we're in for a bit more 'edge' in this incarnation.

A very odd feeling, seeing Cardiff getting the Auton treatment. I had no idea they'd filmed it there -- they kept that very quiet.

An amusing enough little tale - I was particuarly amused by the burping wheelie-bin. Not sure the show will haul me in on a regular basis though - have to wait and see. Billie Piper's a bit chubby now though isn't she, looks like she's been on a school dinners diet

I watched it with my 10-year old and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I was quite surprised at how tense he seemed when the Autons started to come to life. My 16 year old thought it was totally naff.

I thought it was brilliant given it had to set the scene, introduce the new characters, make sure it was slick enough to sell to the world market as a living product, and still tie it to its roots.

Can't wait for the rest.

It's a damn difficult act to pull off. Aim it at kids with millions of overgrown kids in the same audience and you can't even begin to explore a whole avenue of possibilities for either audience.

I sat there and thought "oh no" as it got started. I didn't immediately like the the podgy "post-teenage" blond tart and the wierd scouse, special-agent in the leather jacket. The plastic dummies seeemed just too tame for a modern audience brought up on vastly expensive blockbuster special effects.
Then I remembered to turn on the hifi (and the subwoofer) and wound it up a bit. I opened a bottle of beer and sat back, determined I was going to enjoy it at all costs.
The department store exploding was hilarious! So unexpected. Soon it all came to life and I started to throughly enjoy it.

The leading pair are damned good actors! The look on his face in the door of the Tardis when the girl wasn't going with him the first time round was magical. There's excellent chemistry there. Which is absolutely vital to a series. It reminded me of Sculley and Mulder, Dempsey and Makepiece...the list is endless.

The humour was actually quite funny and occasionally intelligent too. The "hot" mother scene was quite risqué for a "kids" programme. Though we could all see the "h-armless" joke coming at a thousand yards they still had the nerve to use it. What mattered was it all worked in the context of the programme.

We watched the covering programme on 2 afterwards and that was quite interesting and fun. Usually the bonus clips are anything but interesting on most DVD films.

Full marks for effort I thought. I shall definitely be watching future episodes with interest.

Nime

Chaps

I watched it last night before popping out for dinner and I thought that they had updated reasonably but still kept to the original theme.

I thought it got off to a good start and Ecclestone and Piper will hopefully pull it off.

Regards

Mick

I expect thousands of fans are also hoping that Piper will pull it off.

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps

I watched it last night before popping out for dinner and I thought that they had updated reasonably but still kept to the original theme.

I thought it got off to a good start and Ecclestone and Piper will hopefully pull it off.

Regards

Mick

I trust you didn't make the mistook of accidentally takin your wallet with you our Mike ?

quote:

Originally posted by Roy T:
I expect thousands of fans are also hoping that Piper will pull it off.

LOL!

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
I thought it got off to a good start and Ecclestone and Piper will hopefully pull it off.

Don't think M. Schumacher will be to chuffed......

I missed it!

Is it to be repeated?

I enjoyed it (time shifted to sunday). It seemed to capture the originals amaturism and use the modern special effects to give a similar effect. 9/10 roll on episode 2.
Just seen the trailer for Star Wars episode 3 can't wait for that either.

Howard

I really enjoyed the opening episode. Some delightfully funny quips from the excellent Chris Eccelston, who clearly isn't taking things too seriously.

Well done Auntie Beeb. A long overdue resurrection (at Easter too!)

John.

The best thing about the original series was the introductory music theme.
It went down fast after that.
Good luck with Mark 2

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
All the Quatermass series and Day of the Triffids are out on DVD soon.

Howard

The BBC are doing a new live Quatermass story on BBC 3.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4315013.stm



Stephen

quote:

Originally posted by Lomo:
The best thing about the original series was the introductory music theme.
It went down fast after that.
Good luck with Mark 2

They should have got a contemporary electronic artist to redo the theme. The original was surprising and shocking when it was first broadcast, using revolutionary sounds and recording techniques.

The new one just sounds like a bad '80s pastiche.

I liked the show though!



Stephen

quote:

They should have got a contemporary electronic artist to redo the theme

It would have sounded the same because they would have sampled the original.
BTW that was not the original music it has been added to.

Howard

quote:

They should have got a contemporary electronic artist to redo the theme. The original was surprising and shocking when it was first broadcast, using revolutionary sounds and recording techniques.

I hope they don't. I always find when people try to modernise/make more cool an original they always fail and the remix is a pale imitation. The james bond theme tune is an example.

Anyway I must check my listings for here because I'm fairly sure it's on one of the channels in Canada maybe this weekend.

Just heard on the BBC Breakfast News that Christopher Eccleston is quitting the role after the first series

Regards
Clive