Dan Owen reviews
Episode 1: "Rose"
Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday March 26th, 2005
Screenplay:
(Bob & Rose, Casanova, Children's Ward, Cluedo, Doctor Who, The Grand, The House of Windsor, Linda Green, Mine All Mine, Queer as Folk, Revelations, The Second Coming, Springhill, Touching Evil )
Cast:
The Doctor: Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Clive Finch: Mark Benton
Mickey: Noel Clarke
Jackie Tyler: Camille Cadouri
Before attempting any review of the BBC's world-famous science-fiction
franchise, it's important you know my own personal viewpoint on the Doctor
Who brand.
As a child growing up in the '80s, Doctor Who was a favourite TV
show of mine - starting in the Peter Davidson era, through Colin Baker's
turbulent run, until its demise at the hand of Sylvester McCoy.
I'm a fan, but mostly from a nostalgic standpoint. I don't attend
conventions, I don't own any merchandise, I don't listen to the audio
adventures, and I haven't campaigned since 1989 to get the show back on the
air.
The things I love about Doctor Who are perhaps the core elements everyone
loves - the premise of a time-travelling alien, the
"inside-bigger-than-the-outside" TARDIS, the iconic design of The Daleks,
and the fact Doctor Who remains one of the very few science-fiction horror
TV shows in transmission.
What I've always hated about Doctor Who is that the BBC's production values
could never do justice to the material. Wobbly sets, silly make-up, a
propensity for alien cultures to resemble historical England, the wooden
acting...
I was actually quite relieved when Doctor Who vanished from the airwaves
back in 1989, because there was a new, more exciting, and more intelligent
science-fiction series coming from America - Star Trek: The Next Generation
- that made the BBC stalwart look decidedly old-hat.
So now, after a quarter-century, the Doctor is back again (well, just under
a decade if you don't ignore the 1996 TV Movie with Paul McGann - but most
people do), this time with acclaimed actor Christopher Eccleston as The
Doctor and ex-popstar Billie Piper as his new companion Rose.
The new series kicks off on BBC One on Saturday 26 March but, thanks to an
internet leak, the first episode can be reviewed weeks in advance. I wish I
could drown the new series in plaudits, but the honest truth is that the new
Who is incredibly disappointing.
"Rose" begins with a credit sequence similar to the '96 TVM mixed to the
excellent theme tune (unchanged to evoke memories of the show in its '70s
glory years). The lack of an effective 21st-Century update of the theme is
somewhat indicative of the show in general - far too nervous to upset the
fans by changing anything too much, thus leading to a show feeling
old-fashioned and outdated.
A truly awful opening montage focuses on Billie Piper's Rose, leading a
stereotyped teenaged existence with her boyfriend in London - edited with
extreme incompetence. Things get worse when Rose finds herself attacked in
the department store where she works. by a group of shop mannequins. Yes, in
the very first episode this new series has already ripped-off The Autons
from the classic Who canon. Couldn't Russell T Davies think up an original
idea?
Anyway, our titular hero, The Doctor, arrives just in time (no pun intended)
to whisk her away to safety before he destroys the homicidal dummies with a
well-placed bomb. From here, the plot thrashes around the place without much
focus, but at least the scenes are short and snappy. As you'd expect, The
Doctor soon finds himself teamed-up with Rose after her boyfriend is eaten
by a wheelie-bin (yes, you read that right) and they both set out to destroy
this alien menace that wants to takeover the planet by controlling every
plastic item on Earth. Oh dear...
This is a monumentally appalling first episode. The story is so hackneyed,
silly, derivative and illogical it's galling that it was actually penned by
the man responsible for the excellent Queer As Folk , and the
flawed-yet-brave The Second Coming .
An entire decade of expensive and high-quality US science-fiction - from the
likes of Star Trek and The X-Files - seems to have had little influence on
this new Doctor Who. As a British viewer, you can't even drag up the age-old
excuse that at least the plot and characters make up for the pathetic
storyline - as they clearly don't.
The special-effects in the episode range from the incredibly inept (the
wheelie-bin attack has to be seen to be believed!), through embarrassing (a
conspiracy website's wholly unrealistic photographs of Doc throughout
history), to just moderately passable (the sludgy alien in the finale).
The incidental music is awful; dire and incessant chords and inane ditties
that actually make you wince while you watch. The story is far more
concerned with introducing Rose as a character than doing anything
interesting with The Doctor, or achieving any kind of dramatic thrust to the
wasted alien threat.
Davies' script contains only a minimum of decent lines - one about the
Doctor's accent being "Northern" and a good monologue about the Doctor being
able to "feel" the planet spinning and falling through space. Beyond those
diamonds in the rough, the rest makes kids TV series Goosebumps look
intellectual!
On the plus side, Billie Piper isn't too bad after a shaky start and she
fights bravely against the script's limitations. It's not much of a part, to
be brutally frank, but she shines in her two-dimensional role.
Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor is... well, debatable. He's clearly
acting on the same "grinning loon" character he employed in The Second
Coming and can be quite irritating at times. His entire performance is
basically like watching a prat rush around London and occasionally lapse
into farcical moments - like wrestling with a "possessed" plastic arm.
Personally, on the evidence presented so far, I preferred Paul McGann's
quirky-yet-calculating performance in the TVM. But perhaps it's too early to
tell - the first two episodes were penned before Eccleston was cast, so
final judgment can be reserved for now.
The TARDIS exterior remains quite rightly unchanged, while the interior
looks to have achieved a lower-budget rehash of the '96 TVM spliced with a
coral reef. The aesthetic doesn't have the high-tech feel the old shows
aimed for, and has abandoned the gothic feel of the TVM, so instead goes for
an inoffensive beige open-plan feel with curvy support struts. Never mind
the Doctor, someone send in the Decorator!
I desperately wanted to like this first episode, I really did, but the pure
naffness was unbearable to stomach. The majority of Whovians are now adults,
and I find it hard to believe they'll actually enjoy this on any other level
other than pure loyalty to the brand.
Potential new fans, weaned on slick, expensive and imagination US TV such as
Buffy The Vampire Slayer , are for more discerning than the young scamps of
yesteryear, and I think they'll look at this with a kind of half-smirk.
Probably with an over-excited dad sat next to them bullying them to like
"proper British science-fiction". But this isn't science-fiction, it's
science-farce.
The new series will be a big success for the BBC this Spring because of its
"phoenix from the flames" novelty. Even I can't wait to see the beloved
Daleks later on in the series - but this rebirth shouldn't need to be
relying on nostalgia tactics. It should be reinvigorating the premise,
taking an established show and giving it a unique 2005 spin that will please
fans and drag in new audiences! But it doesn't. The producers are obviously
too scared to do anything that might upset the fans, and have basically
continued in the vein of McCoy's era with added CGI and a clear eye on the
under-10 demographic.
To end on a more optimistic note - this is only the first episode, and it
may be polished up before final transmission (it needs neater editing and an
effects polish urgently!)
Interestingly, some hastily released publicity shots in the tabloids
following the leak of "Rose" onto the internet have revealed some more
imaginative villains we can look forward to meeting later in the series.
Plus, I've never enjoyed most Dr Who episodes set in our present time - the
series works much better on alien worlds or in our past, in my opinion...
so, I hope I'll be proven wrong and come to love the new show in the weeks
to come...
But, no matter how you look at it - the new-Who has gotten off to a bad
start...
DIRECTION
PERFORMANCES
PLOT
SOUND/MUSIC
SPECIAL FX
OVERALL
Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.
E-mail Dan Owen
The following is a list of all the Doctor Who content reviewed to date :
2010 Series 31, Episode 1 - "The Eleventh Hour", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 2 - "The Beast Below", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 3 - "Victory of the Daleks", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 4 - "The Time of Angels", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 5 - "Flesh And Stone", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 6 - "The Vampires of Venice", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 7 - "Amy's Choice", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 8 - "The Hungry Earth", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 9 - "Cold Blood", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 10 - "Vincent & The Doctor", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 11 - "The Lodger", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 12 - "The Pandorica Opens", by Dan Owen
2010 Series 31, Episode 13 - "The Big Bang", by Dan Owen
2008 2008 Xmas Special - "The Next Doctor", by Dan Owen
2009 2009 Easter Special - "Planet of the Dead", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 13 - "Journey's End", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 12 - "The Stolen Earth", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 11 - "Turn Left", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 10 - "Midnight", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 8 - "Silence in the Library" (part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 7 - "The Unicorn and The Wasp", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 6 - "The Doctor's Daughter", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 5 - "The Poison Sky" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 4 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 3 - "Planet of the Ood", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 2 - "The Fires of Pompeii", by Dan Owen
2008 Series 30, Episode 1 - "Partners In Crime", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 1 - "New Earth", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 2 - "Tooth & Claw", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 3 - "School Reunion", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 4 - "The Girl in the Fireplace", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 5 - "Rise of the Cyberman", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 6 - "The Age of Steel", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 7 - "The Idiot's Lantern", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 8 - "The Impossible Planet", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 9 - "The Satan Pit", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 10 - "Love and Monsters", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 11 - "Fear Her", by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 12 - "Army of Ghosts" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen
2006 Series 28, Episode 13 - "Doomsday" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 2 - "The End of the World", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 3 - "The Unquiet Dead", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 4 - "Aliens of London", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 5 - "World War Three", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 6 - "Dalek", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 7 - "The Long Game", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 8 - "Father's Day", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 9 - "The Empty Child", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 10 - "The Doctor Dances", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 11 - "Boom Town", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 12 - "Bad Wolf", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 13 - "The Parting of The Ways", by Dan Owen
2005 Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Dom Robinson
2005 Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Paul Manners
And the Audio CDs :
2000 04: The Land of the Dead
2000 06: The Marian Conspiracy
2000 10: Winter for the Adept
2000 12: The Fires of Vulcan
2000 14: The Holy Terror
2000 15: The Mutant Phase
2001 16: Storm Warning
2001 18: The Stones of Venice
2002 28: The Chimes of Midnight
2002 30: Seasons of Fear
2002 31: Embrace the Darkness
2002 35: ...Ish
2002 39: ...Bang-Bang-A-Boom!
2003 Doctor Who Audio CDs: An introduction
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