As one who watched Doctor Who from behind the sofa as a child, and gave up altogether in the 1980s, far too tramatised by daleks and cypermen, it never occurred to me to start watching the ‘new’ series that began in 2005. However, my adult sons convinced us to buy the first series on DVD, assuring us that the ‘new’ Doctor Who was more in the vein of ‘Quantum Leap’ than the old alien defeating theme.

They were right. Christopher Eccleston makes a great Doctor, and while Billie Piper as his assistant Rose is a bit irritating at times, we got used to her, and very much liked her frustrated well-meaning boyfriend. I wasn’t happy when Daleks made their appearance – they can still incite terror in my heart – but I loved the episodes with Charles Dickens, and was amused by the ultra-thin Zoe Wannamaker alien. There’s a little humour, some pathos, and some good storylines. The final episode was rather too ‘deus ex machina’ for my liking, but I guess it had to be like that to pave the way for the re-generation of the Doctor into his tenth incarnation.

All in all, well worth watching.

I don’t know why I was never even the slightest intrigued to watc Doctor Who earlier, because bloody hell this series is absolutely brilliant! 13 episodes in two days, that’s saying a lot on its own, isn’t it. This is just the kind of fantasy/sci-fi I needed after Merlin and continuing with the British accent… I just can’t get enough of it! I finished watching the last episode of the first season a couple of minutes ago and I can’t wait to start the second season. I’m not sure if I’m going to miss Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor, even though he was wonderful and fantastic (very funny too), I’m rather interested in seeing how David Tennant will do his job. :) I’m completely hooked.

Like most folks my age, my first Doctor was good old Tom Baker, during the years when John Nathan-Turner was busy trying to turn the show into Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. I got used to the silliness and only absorbed the real unearthly earnestness of it all much later with Peter Davison et al, plus all the earlier Doctors as PBS randomly aired ‘em — of the older Doctors I most liked Jon Pertwee (probably better-known now as Sean “Boromir” Pertwee’s dad), who brought some high seriousness to it all.

So I was delighted at the thought of Eccleston as the ninth Doctor, and he did not disappoint. He kept Baker’s grinning madness and still brought a good deal of gravity to the role; when he blurts out his joy that “everyone lives!” in “The Doctor Dances” you feel it all with him, all his 900+ years of conflict and wonder and pain and his steely determination to keep his humor.

Billie Piper makes a good 21st century sidekick for him, neither a prodigy of learning nor a damsel in distress nor a fighting man — rather a reasonable blend of them all. I do wish she did a little less tongue-poking in lieu of acting, but I’m sure that’s some kind of Britpopstar trademark for her and can’t be helped.

Also refreshing is the way the writers have worked this side-kick’s actual life and story into the arc of the series; we not only meet her mother and erstwhile boyfriend but continue to meet them on a series of visits. Mom doesn’t like the Doctor for taking her baby away and lets him know it; boyfriend Mickey is nicely torn between missing her and wanting to join her and fear of the unknown. It’s a good grounding for all the wild stories that a time-travel series veers off into.

All in all, pretty satisfying. I’m just sad we only had the ninth Doctor for one season!

I am really going to miss Christopher Eccleston!

Well with everything going on right now (school, tests, projects, How I Met Your Mother obsession, other tv shows:new and returning, dvds etc) I seem to be neglecting the Doctor. But I’ll finish watching it. Soon.

I just started watching today (and I’ve seen the first two episodes so far) and I absolutely love it! I’ve been mourning Buffy and Angel and Firefly and this is exactly what I needed. I loved how Britney Spears’ Toxic is a “traditional ballad” and I’ve got a huge craving for poutine because of all that talk about chips…

Wow. In the words of The Doctor: “FANTASTIC!” I was really not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I bought the set so my seven-year-old could watch it – a schoolmate of his had told him about Daleks, and he’s been obsessed with them ever since. And I’d heard less-than-glowing reviews of the older series’, but this is really, really good. I laughed, I cried (during several episodes, in fact), and my son and I had a great time watching these together – we made a marathon of it, starting on Saturday afternoon, and doing little else until we’d finished the series on Sunday at around midnight. (Yes, he was up WAY past his bedtime, mostly because I wanted to see what was going to happen). :D This was so much fun! I will probably watch some of the new ones, but I’m sure going to miss Christopher Eccleston – he is brilliant!