The Good, The Bad, And The Doctor

I really really like Doctor Who. Might as well just jump right to the point, but I do.

I never saw any of the old episodes before they brought it back a few years ago with Christopher Eccleston as the lead. And, to be honest, I've only seen a couple of the classic ones since then. But New Who? Every episode mate. And I've got a slightly scary amount of knowledge about all the episodes.

Anyway, the point. Why? Frankly, I don't know. I really don't. The majority of the plots are paper thin, at any given moment the only decent character is the Doctor himself, and showrunner Russell T. Davies has a remarkable obsession with Billie Piper's character. That I hope will disappear from the Doctor's character forever come next year.

But it's amazing.

Some of the episodes, I'll grant you, are a bit...well...shit. But none of them are unwatchable, they're just good clean fun.

I love the fact, too, that it's pretty much the UK's only 'legitimate' TV show. That sounds a bit odd. But you know how a lot of people have a habit of downloading, say, the latest episode of Lost as soon as it airs in the US? Well, to my knowledge, Doctor Who is basically the only modern show where the same thing happens but in reverse. I find that mind-boggling.

Anyway, I really only started this blog as an excuse to write a review of this weekend's Easter special.

It was great, basically. Everything worked. The plot was great, though a bit of an amalgamation of loads of traditional sci-fi plots (wormholes, fly-like aliens...a flying bus...). The one-off characters were pretty cool. I liked Michelle Ryan as Christina, which came out of the left field a bit, considering she used to be in Eastenders of all things. (And Bionic Woman, but let's not mention that.) The psychic lady set things up for the next couple of episodes, and possibly Steven Moffat's reign as head writer, very nicely. And of course there was Lee Evans, playing to type as the hilarious Welsh nutter. Good stuff.

I'd actually go so far as to say it's in my top three of New Who episodes. (For the record, Utopia is my favourite. Followed by The Stolen Earth for that ridicuously brilliant plot twist alone. And all of Steven Moffat's episodes. Wait, that's like a top 7 now. Umm...) I can't wait for The Waters Of Mars, the next special, now, even though it's apparantly not going to air until November. Which is a stupidly long wait.

And then there's another two before David Tennant leaves. Then I will cry. Then I'll be happy because Moffat'll be the head writer. And I'll be indifferent towards Matt Smith for one or two episodes at least.

I'll shut up now. New Who is one of those things I could talk (probably out of my arse) about all night. But I won't. Until November.