10.01.07
Who Are You?
I mentioned a couple of days ago that I was interested in catching Torchwood, the spin-off from the revived Doctor Who series. It should be noted that, to me, Christopher Eccleston is the ‘first’ Doctor, despite the fact that he’s actually the Ninth, and actually contemplating this fact for more than about twenty seconds at a stretch kind of makes my brain go all funny. Due to an untimely interruption last year– like, say, having to move to a different state– I managed to not exactly keep up with the series as broadcast on SciFi, so after seeing the first three episodes, then nothing until the last twenty minutes of the final episode in the season. This is a situation which I have always felt somewhat at odds with.
So I’m fixing it. I’m about halfway through that first season’s discs now, and I’m quite impressed. I can see where some people might find a little bit of unease at Eccleston’s performance (and those two– possibly three– of you reading this for whom Who is a topic of note will undoubtedly tell me which Who is the Who’s Who of Who (and now I’m really confused)) but overall it’s been a good ride. Doctor Who seems to suffer from a pretty obvious problem that’s only come up once, and in the last episode I’ve seen so far (”Dalek”), in that there’s literally decades of very well-written backstory that are completely hidden to newcomers. To wit: I knew that there was bad blood, of sorts, between the Doctor and the Daleks, mostly from inference; and also I was aware of their iconic death ray (I suppose that that is in fact the most accurate description of the weapon), but I was completely baffled when the creature shot open the fire sprinklers, so as to better propagate the weapon’s effect– the fact that the beam is electrical in nature was either a new discovery or something that was taken largely for granted, and I have no way of knowing which one is the correct assumption.
Now, that said, the show is exceptionally well written, and to be completely honest I wish I’d seen it far, far earlier (though there are reasons for that that are beyond the scope of this entry). I’m looking forward to starting on Torchwood once I finish through this series (since I have received confirmation that this is the only season that has direct relevance to the new show). There is just one burning question in my mind: What, exactly, is so distasteful about Cardiff?
Eric Adcock said,
10.01.07 at 10:31 pm
As much as I like Doctor Who, I’ve watched only three episodes with Eccleston, and I might never watch the rest. Either he was miscast or he’s misplaying the part, but he just isn’t the Doctor. But, almost everybody else thinks he’s great, so what do I know.
Tennant is very good, but Tom Baker is still the one to beat.
John said,
10.02.07 at 11:50 am
Well, now I know what to look for in the old stories, I suppose.
Eccleston does seem to be playing up the ‘tough guy’ aspect a little too much, but that could just be residual attention I have from his turn as the villain in Gone in 60 Seconds… I’m assuming that the previous Doctors are a bit less aggressive or brusque (though during preliminary research I found that each one is different, of course). Still, I can see why there’s some consternation there– he’s not exactly fitting what I’d previously been led to expect (secondhand) from the Doctor. I’m looking forward to seeing Tennant’s turn.
Jonny said,
10.02.07 at 8:02 pm
I loved Eccleston to bits. I think I related to him more though as he grew up near me. I’ve been told I sound like him when I read out loud sometimes, heh. I find Tennant to be overly silly at times, alot more so than the other Doctors.
As for the Dalek weaponary, the new generation daleks can more actively “switch” their output. Previous generations had top physically switch their weaponry. Now they have stun, extermination and this electrical type of attack.
Jonny said,
10.02.07 at 8:03 pm
And as a side note, I am not sure if they new ones can switch to flamethrower the same way or not. As a race who time travels it gets all a bit confusing about what they can do when.