While we, the Doctor Who fans of the
world, are on the Unending Hiatus (there's no word on when the next
new episodes will be aired – Damn you BBC !!!! - fist shake, fist
shake) I've decided to travel back in time to 2005 and do a Doctor
Who Rewind.
So back to the beginning, or
re-beginning if you will. We can't forget that Doctor Who actually
started with William Hartnell back in 1963 and with the 50th
anniversary of the original broadcast coming up in 2013 we will have
plenty of opportunities to celebrate the entire series, but for now
2005 is our focus.
2005 was the year that we were
introduced to the latest incarnation of The Doctor, a dark and
brooding character who had eschewed the bright colors and question
marked clothes of the past for a black leather jacket, black pants
and almost painfully short hair.
So here we go – in keeping with my
usual format I am going to get into what I liked and what I hated
while adding another segment, what we learned. I am adding that
because much has been added to the mythology of Doctor Who since it's
been back on the air. Mythology, in this “Post LOST” television
landscape is important, more important than it's ever been. TV show
mythology has always been out there, but it seems in the last decade
or so, outside of the Star Trek crazies out there who live pretty
much for only mythology, the continuing stories and back stories of
our favorite characters have become as important as the characters
themselves, even more so in a show like this.
ROSE - Season 1 - Episode 1
WHAT I LOVED
This is pretty obvious – THE DOCTOR
IS BACK! I had heard rumors of a re-launch back on 2004 and
sqeeeee'd – note it was all true and here on my computer screen.
One thing I learned, having been a fan of LOST was the art of the
torrent download from fellow LOST fans over in the UK. So this was
kind of coming full circle for me. BBC America was not up to full
speed, not knowing, I guess, exactly what the BBC had on their hands,
so no same day broadcasts back then.
On March 26, 2005 Doctor Who returned
to British screens, on March 27th I had it here.
I loved that the Tardis Console Room
had been totally remade, and had the look of a machine that was old,
REALLY old and held together with bubble gum and gaffer tape. Gone
was the almost antiseptic whiteness of the original series Console
Room. I guess the 1996 movie kind of killed off that concept, what
with The Doctor traveling around time and space in a Victorian era
country estate library Console Room. Even the exterior of the TARDIS
looked really beat up and on it's last leg, you could almost feel
like you would get a splinter running your hands on the exterior.
 |
| IT'S BIGGER ON THE INSIDE! |
WHAT I LIKED
That Rose was your every day shop girl
who went home to her flat, shared with mom, she had a boyfriend, she
was like everyone else, very relatable.
“Run!”
 |
| RUN! |
The Doctor flipping through a trashy
magazine on Jackie Tyler's coffee table, “That will never work,
he's gay and she's an alien.”
“There's a strange man in my
bedroom.”
The sonic screwdriver is back!
That the Mr Davies and company decided
to relaunch with the same enemy that launched Jon Pertwee's run as
The Doctor (in “Spearhead from Space”), the Nestene
Consciousness.
 |
| Plastic never looked so good |
That the companion has a home life, a
mom, a boyfriend just like your average 19 year old.
The using of the London Eye as a
transmitting dish for the Nestene Consciousness, very cool.
 |
| CALLING ALL MANEQUINS - CALLING ALL MANEQUINS |
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
There wasn't much to not like, it was a
quick and enjoyable episode, a nice re-introduction to The Doctor.
WHAT WE LEARNED
That The Doctor was hanging around in
Dallas on November 22, 1963, the day President John F Kennedy was
assassinated. This had to be a shoutout to the original broadcast
date on November 23, 1963 the day after the assassination, then he
saves a family from sailing on Titanic and is maybe responsible for
the Krakatoa eruption???
That Jackie Tyler doesn't seem to work
but has money to go shopping at the mall – hmmmmmm – living off
of Rose???? On the Dole???? Kind of young to be a pensioner.
Luring other strange men into her bedroom???? Just how does she make
money?
The Rose evidently can't tell the
difference between a plastic version of her boyfriend and the real
one.
The TARDIS is bigger on the inside than
the outside. (Kidding)
The Ghengis Kahn tried to get into the
TARDIS
Lots of planets have a North!
The first hints of the Time War.
