Fresh Wallaby Juice

Watched the new “Doctor Who” last night with some die-hard fans (I’m perhaps a die-soft fan, thanks to a friend’s valiant efforts to get me hooked on the classic series). There are much more comprehensive reviews than this.

I liked it, except that I don’t see how they’re going to develop any particular suspense in just 45 minutes. (Hard to tell based on this particular one, since I’d already seen the Autons in their previous stories, so there wasn’t a whole lot of eek! at seeing a fast-paced remake.)

* Most of the appeal of the classic series (at least for me) came from the way the story unfolded, one discovery/revelation at a time, separated by random stumbling around, getting captured and escaping, or mild character development (or all three at once). Here, there was only one “discovery”, or rather an answer right after the question had been asked. It felt more like tuning in halfway through a traditional four-part story than anything else. It’d be nice if they sort of shift to sticking in one place/time for a while and perhaps dealing with several problems in succession, or something.
* The new Doctor is quite good; Rose makes a good companion; the music was no worse than the incidental music on any other sci-fi suspense show these days.
* I wasn’t crazy about the “new and improved” effects. I thought the plastic stuff in this one was *very* “Disney” — except not quite as technically excellent, so “Disney on an off day”. The cork-through-the-plastic-forehead scene in particular could’ve come (and should’ve been left in) an Eddie Murphy movie or something instead of polluting DW. (Although it *was* funny.)

Overall: About a 4 out of 5 — or, since it was slightly over one-third as long as a four-part story, 1.5 out of 1.875.

Tags: doctor who, eyes, television