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He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Dr. Who 2005 season ::
by William the Bloody
Ah, Dr. Who, the longest running sci-fi television series ever, going from 1963 to 1990. Then, in 1996, there was a movie, but it didn't do the series justice. No, all it did was put Eric Roberts in an outlandish outfit. But then, like a phoenix from the ashes, the television show was resurrected in 2005 for another go. But, would it hold up to the old series or, like the movie, be a disastrous let down?
This latest season begins on Earth, specifically Rose Tyler's apartment. She goes to work at a department store, has lunch with her boyfriend, looks forward to an evening with the girls, you know, an ordinary day in the life. But, at closing she has to take the lottery money downstairs. She can't find Wilson who usually receives the package but quickly finds herself in a world of trouble as all of the mannequins in the storage room come to life. A mysterious man grabs her hand and instructs her to run. They make it to the lift where he tells her that the plastic of the mannequins has come to life and that he has no alternative but to blow up the entire building, maybe even dying in the process. The mystery man shoves her off to home, carrying an arm to a lethal dummy in a daze, as the department store explodes behind her. The next morning with no job, Rose wonders what to do with the rest of her life, when the same mystery man turns up at her door. He followed a signal being sent out to parts of living plastic and traced the arm Rose took home, it seems the threat of the Living Plastic is not over. The mystery man who introduces himself as only The Doctor tells Rose that an alien entity has landed in London and telepathically controlling all plastic in the immediate area and will soon expand to threaten the entire world. Together, Rose and The Doctor find the alien's lair. The Doctor is captured, recognized by the alien as a threat, but with Rose's help the creature of Living Plastic is thwarted. The Doctor goes to leave, onto his next great adventure, and invites Rose to come and join him on his travels through time and space in his alien craft known as the TARDIS.
The Good: The Doctor has been played by eight actors in the past and Christopher Eccleston, clocking in at number nine, is one of the best (debatably THE best one yet, even). Eccleston carries on some of the Doctor's universal characteristics (arrogance, pompousness, over confidence, and sometimes not controlling the TARDIS properly) with such aptitude you'd swear he'd been doing it for years. Billie Piper as Rose is a wonderful companion, re-introducing us to the Dr. Who universe with excited wide eyes. Russell T. Davies does a brilliant job in writing the episodes as he's a professed fan from way back and wanted to do it right. Well, you got it, Russell, as most of these episodes are spot on with the old series' mood and overall feel. Fans will wet themselves with glee at the nod and winks to the original series including a Cyberman helmet in a museum (and the aforementioned Living Plastic) and the brief return of UNIT. The old standard blue police box look of the TARDIS still lives as does the Doctor's seemingly all-purpose sonic screw driver. The series was able to finally uplift the special effects (the old show was infamous for its cheap effects) with computers, but not too much so it doesn't lose ALL of the old school charm, and the make up effects are well done as well (most notably the trees in episode 2). Oh and long live the Dr. Who theme music!!
The Bad: Oddly enough, none of the thirteen episodes take place on any alien planets. They are all either on Earth or space stations, which is okay, but a little disappointing. The interior of the TARDIS control room has changed yet again and I can't say that I like this latest incarnation. It just looks like its trying too hard with all this green lighting and such. Episode 8, "Father's Day," felt like it opened up vast holes in the already iffy world of time travel that didn't really sit well or seem to make sense to me. Episodes 4 and 5 ("Aliens of London" and "World War III") felt pretty low brow, what with resorting to fart jokes and all. Hard core fans will notice that they changed the TARDIS key, and for a show striving to connect to its roots, this felt like a big "oops."
Overall, I was happy with this season. I went in not knowing what to expect and to be all hoity toity about my Dr. Who knowledge but was pleasantly surprised. The first episode was a bit of a let down and I nearly stopped watching, but decided I couldn't just based solely on that, so kept on, and boy was I glad I did. Where episode 1 left me thinking. "where's the sci-fi?", they more than made up for it in episode 2. Episodes like "The Long Game" (number 6) do an excellent job of carrying on the original series' legacy and by episodes 9 and 10 I was squeeing with glee and excitement. All I can say is thank goodness I can get the Canadian Broadcasting Channel and was able to watch it. (I mean, what else is the CBC good for, really? You think I'm going to watch DaVinci's Inquest?) The 2005 season of Dr. Who is superb for veteran fans and new viewers a like, giving you a decent "jumping aboard" point. If you like sci-fi, you'll love Dr. Who!
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