Time can heal wounds it is said. And After a 16 year gap, Doctor Who returned to the BBC in March of 2005. Here in America, the new show has yet to air. But in England, the show has become the new hit of the BBC and had already been picked up for a second and third season long before the first season was complete. Of course, it had problems. Mainly from its new Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston. He would bow out after just 13 episodes.
While rumors of his departure are blamed on many things -from typecasting to Eccleston just being exhausted - the BBC had finally brought back its most lucrative franchise.
I had a chance to see the first two episodes now, Rose and The End of the World, by series showrunner Russell T. Davies. The show is no longer the clunkly, low-budgeted produced drama that plagued the series before its demise back in 1989. Higher production budget, location shooting and very little pandering to the fans has impressed me. Sure, it’s a kids show, but it is the Doctor Who I remembered first watching in the summer of 1979 on WTTW Chicago.
Eccleston plays the Doctor with charm and humor and is obviously having fun. Billie Piper - a former British pop star who I heard terrible things about -is actually good. A companion who is smart and not easily frightened like past companions.
I look forward to seeing the rest of the show. I just hope that I don’t have to get a bootlegged cut of it like I did of these first 2 episodes. I mean, if no network here in the States is willing to air the show, then the BBC should be smart enough to release a region 1 version here. It's money in the bank.
While rumors of his departure are blamed on many things -from typecasting to Eccleston just being exhausted - the BBC had finally brought back its most lucrative franchise.
I had a chance to see the first two episodes now, Rose and The End of the World, by series showrunner Russell T. Davies. The show is no longer the clunkly, low-budgeted produced drama that plagued the series before its demise back in 1989. Higher production budget, location shooting and very little pandering to the fans has impressed me. Sure, it’s a kids show, but it is the Doctor Who I remembered first watching in the summer of 1979 on WTTW Chicago.
Eccleston plays the Doctor with charm and humor and is obviously having fun. Billie Piper - a former British pop star who I heard terrible things about -is actually good. A companion who is smart and not easily frightened like past companions.
I look forward to seeing the rest of the show. I just hope that I don’t have to get a bootlegged cut of it like I did of these first 2 episodes. I mean, if no network here in the States is willing to air the show, then the BBC should be smart enough to release a region 1 version here. It's money in the bank.
Right?
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