| The New Series 2005 - present |
| So here we are then in 2005. Doctor Who is not only back, it's properly back with a regular ongoing series that's a massive ratings success. In fact, this could well be the most successful the show has ever been throughout it's 40-year history. What great days we live in. Christopher Eccleston has proved to be a terrific Ninth Doctor, a Northern Doctor no less, and we've been treated to a mostly brilliant series with the promise of much more to come. It's a bit of a shame that Eccleston's decision to quit after just one series was announced so early on during the series run but it's an absolute triumph that the BBC are still keen to carry on, and that David Tennant will play the Tenth Doctor for at least the next 35 years. Or something. We're even getting regular Christmas Specials every year. What more could you ask for? Absolutely magic. Still, it's not as good as the old series, is it? |
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| Eccleston's Dolly Birds |
| Singing superstar sensation Billie Piper played the Ninth Doctor's sidekick Rose, and will continue in the role with David Tennant. Actually, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed when I first heard that Billie had been cast. It brought back memories of that other all-singing all-dancing sensation Bonnie Bloody Langford. But I think I was wrong to have doubts. I mean she's alright really isn't she? And think of all the wonderful music she gave to us, too. Alright then, I wasn't really a fan of her music but I'm told that she had great stage presence. |
| Monsters And Villains |
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| One of the more famous new monsters in the new series was the Slitheen but I don't like them much to be honest, I just found them a bit silly. The real stars of the new series are of course the new Daleks. This very nearly didn't happen either. You'd think that with Terry Nation being dead, using the Daleks might have proved easier than it had been in the past. But his money-grabbing powers stretched out from even beyond the grave. The BBC offered the Terry Nation Estate an extraordinary amount of money to use the Daleks in the new series which was pretty generous of them, considering the Daleks had been a dead property since the show went off the air. The Terry Nation estate decided that they would only let the BBC use the Daleks if they quadrupled their offer and chucked in a few frilly shirts and paid for a part-time gardener as their back lawn was getting a bit untidy. Here's the great bit though. The BBC told them to piss right off and said they didn't need the Daleks anyway. So, the Terry Nation estate panicked as they now realised they weren't ever going to make any money at all from this new series, and in the end they accepted a much-reduced offer from the BBC. Hah! In your face! The new Daleks look great too, still recognisably a Dalek but chunkier and sexier than ever before. Oooh, and the Emperor Dalek was awesome. |
| Eccleston Trivia |
Bill Nighy was one of the original candidates for the Ninth Doctor. It's not clear whether he turned down the role or whether he just lost out to Eccleston, but I reckon we were better off with Big Ears Ecleston anyway. There was no regeneration between McGann and Eccleston, as the producer felt this would confuse new viewers, a perceived problem with the TV Movie. But we do see Eccleston examining his ears in a mirror in one of his first scenes, hinting that he has only recently regenerated. Some of the former Doctors have been less than gracious towards Eccleston. Tom Baker said he should stop taking the role so bloody seriously as it's supposed to be fun, Colin Baker said he should stop spouting rubbish about being the first Northern Doctor, as many of the other Doctors were Northern but were forced to speak in BBC accents, and Peter Davison said that it was a bit crap that he quit after just one series, and that he had let down the fans |
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| Eccleston - The Good Things |
On the whole, this new series has been brilliant, better than we could ever have dared dream. Eccleston was superb, Billie Piper was great, it had excellent effects and design including a wonderful new 'organic' TARDIS set, and it just had that undefinable Doctor Who magic running all the way through it. For the first time in years, the BBC were behind it too! They threw money at it, they heavily promoted it and they put it back where it belonged, on primetime Saturday nights. Time Agent Captain Jack was a surprisingly great character, contrary to rumours that he was just going to be a big puff who wanted a whiff of the Doctor's knob. Captain Jack looks set to be a regular recurring character too, and the show will be all the better for it. Even if he is American. |
| Eccleston - The Rubbish Things |
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The producers were obviously keen to remind everyone that Doctor Who used to be fun as well as scary - which is fine, but maybe they went and crossed the line just a couple of times, resulting in big green farting monsters (I really didn't like The Slitheen), burping bins and silly Benny Hill-style chase sequences. There's 'fun' and there's being a bit childish and puerile. For the first time, Doctor Who went a bit 'domestic' and I'm not sure it really worked - several episodes featuring Rose's idiot boyfriend and scrubber mother were not really necessary. I mean, we never saw Leela's mother, did we? It is a big shame that Eccleston quit after just one season. Apparently, this was always the plan but it does beg the question why the producers cast him in the first place, knowing he was never willing to do more than one year. Still, never mind, he was great while he lasted. |
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| It's The End, But.... |
| And there we have it. Not that long ago, I would have probably finished off a Guide like this bemoaning the current state of television, and whinging that Doctor Who would probably never come back in this current climate of televisual shite. But here we are and, unbelievably, it's back as a regular ongoing series with money behind it, a secure future, and millions and millions of viewers on a Saturday Night! Who'd have thought it, eh? Even without Eccleston, the show will continue under the Tenth Doctor Who David Tennant whom we very briefly saw during the regeneration sequence in the climax of the new series. Here's to the future of Doctor Who then, and may it bring many more killer Savage Women in loin cloths, talking robot animals and people made out of fish. Hurrah! |
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| The End |
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| Daniel Lee Salter 2005 |