The Doctor is in.
March 26th, 2005 by ReinderHere be spoilers. Read on at your own risk.
(I'd insert a picture here but can't find one. Just pretend there's a lot of space between this and the next line) (Also, I just noticed that Jeroen had already posted his thoughts on the new Doc in here. Also, the always readable and knowledgeable mr. Andrew Rilstone, Gentleman, has given it the thumbs up.)
I'm probably not the person whose judgment of any version of Dr. Who you should listen to, because I've only ever watched a handful of episodes in my entire life. But for what it's worth, I quite liked the first episode of the new series. There were some cheesy moments, especially the poorly done CGI carnivorous garbage can eating mr. Useless Boyfriend (ending with the low point of the episode when the garbage can burped) and there were some weak points in the plot and in the characters' motivation. Resolving the story was clearly a lot harder than setting it up. But I liked contemporary London as a setting, found the new companion cute and likeable even if she was clearly based on type - the "uneducated but observant" type, to be precise. All the self-referential jokes were got out of the way early, with companion Rose being as puzzled by the outside of the TARDIS as with the inside and asking "What's a Police call box?" Christopher Eccleston's character's manic energy and caustic wit were great fun to watch. What struck me most about him, though, was that he looked and acted exactly the way I've always imagined Ford Prefect to look and act!
