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Anyone else really enjoying the new version of this? Come on... fess up!
My recommendation is to use Spoiler Tags if you are talking in detail about the 2nd season, which hasn't aired publicly in the U.S., but clear text if you are talking in detail about the current 1st season run on the Sci-Fi Channel.
I've been naughty and seen both, but to avoid spoilering up an initial post, I'll restrict myself to generalities for now.
In my opinion, while the new Doctor Who programs aren't perfect, they are quite superior. The effects are, of course, eons ahead of the old shows, but the big surprise is that the writing also is. It pays tribute to the older shows, it's not a "reboot" which doesn't pretend they didn't happen, but it's tone is completely modern. It's no longer pretending to be a children's show, and yet the trade-off for that is NOT it being more serious, but instead it being more fun. There's a sense of joy in the episodes which I only rarely can recall in any of the older shows, and it works well. Basically, it dodges taking itself too seriously by planting tongue in cheek, while also respecting the old Doctor Who continuity issues--which COULD drive anyone batty if the show wasn't also winking at us about it.
As I think even the most lightly spoilered fan is aware, they are already on the second person to play The Doctor in as many years. This was cause for concern, because the first "new" Doctor (the Ninth in total), Christopher Eccleston, plays the role almost perfectly--bringing a new intensity to the role it never had before. I'll talk more about the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, in some other spoiler tagged post, but I will say that for those who are seeing Season 1 now and are worried about the change... well... don't be. More another time.
I will say that part of the reason the changeover is so easy is because Billie Piper, who plays the current Doctor Who "Companion", Rose Tyler, is so excellent. I like to think of her as kind of a British version of Mandy Moore--someone who started out with an apparently very silly pop career but who was hiding a really good actress inside of that. Without, of course, Ms. Moore's eventual decent into gradually worse movies. Anyway, it's my contention that a big part of the current show's excellence is not only her casting, but also the fact that show is largely expressed from Rose's point of view--making it much more accessible.
Anyway, anyone else on board the Who train?
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Pink Elephants on Parade!
Originally Posted by Toby;3868641; 
