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Episode 1: “Rose”Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday March 26th, 2005
Director:
- Keith Boak
(Holby City)
Screenplay:
- Russell T. Davies
(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
Well, the wait is over and Doctor Who is back on our screens for the first time since 1996.
With an established actor as the lead, a series of fans writing and producingthe series how can it go wrong?
Well, having seen the first episode at the weekend, I am afraid it is at bestaverage. First lets be clear and state that I’m a fan of the original seriesand that I fully realise that the new version is not aimed at me. The seriesis now apparently targeting eight year olds (so why are all the trailers onlate at night) and I’m somewhat older.
However, I really wanted to like this first episode and found myself bitterlydisappointed. Christopher Eccleston (right) is a fine actor and has someimpressive moments as the Doctor. He has a few genuinely amusing lines at thebeginning of the episode when he is the bedroom with Camille Coduri asRose’s Mum.
There is also one excellent speech about the fact that he can feel the rotationof the Earth which may cement him as an alien in the same way as Ton Baker’sspeech about indomitable homo sapiens did in The Ark In Space.
For the most part however he simply doesn’t convince as the Doctor. It’s notthe wardrobe or the Northern accent (although his explanation about why alienshave a northern accent is cringemaking), it’s the fact that he doesn’t have theauthority or the presence which, to me, the role requires. Of course, it can beargued that other Doctors – especially the wonderful Patrick Troughton – havelacked this but they weren’t written as though they had it. This is particularlyapparent in the Doctor’s confrontation with the Nestene consciousness at the end.
In fairness to Eccleston, the first one is very much an introductory episodefor Billie Piper‘s character Rose (right). I must confess that I was one ofthose who was dead against the casting of Piper but she is surprisinglyeffective. I still don’t buy her as the great actress that she is sometimes billedas but she is natural and engaging despite some risible dialogue.
The main problem is the script.. it’s derivative, unfocussed, rushed and silly.The action begins almost immediately (after a typically naff sequence in whichBillie is a “girl about town” – the sort of stuff they have in Hustle.)in the basement of a department store. Eccles appears with a bomb and we arethrown into situations with no knowledge of the characters or who they are.
There are a couple of nice set pieces but they don’t hang together. Additionally,action sequences seem to have been edited down to fit the 7pm slot and the8-year-old target audience.
One of the best sequences is Billie’s reaction to the first viewing of theTARDIS interior… unfortunately the remodelled console room is appalling.It’s a cheap remodelling of the ’96 TV Movie console with a few ideas nickedfrom Farscape. Horrible.
The new arrangement of the theme and titles are ho-hum and for those whodesperately want to know, Eccleston’s face doesn’t appear.
Review copyright © Paul Manners, 2005.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.