I have been following the new Doctor Who series since Matt Smith took over the iconic Doctor role. He’s definitely brought a strangeness, a sense of the outsider back to the Doctor. These qualities were definitely present in David Tennant‘s incarnation, otherwise known as the 10th Doctor, and Tennant brought looks and charisma to a character that wasn’t known for either. Which meant that Matt Smith had some pretty big boots to fill coming in.
Coming to the 11th episode in the U.S. broadcast, Steven Moffat’s attempt to present Doctor Who as a dark fairy tale has been very effective. The writing’s been more literate, allowing for moments of classic cheesiness. Gone is the emphasis on modern London and London girls, very Americanized pacing, and a gritty TARDIS. Like the previous interior, the TARDIS looks put together from various parts from different eras, but not with the component’s traditional functions. However, the inside of the TARDIS is a bright, vibrant collage, showing that this is how it prefers to look like. The Daleks too now come in several solid colors, striking me as the Creuset Pots in a long line of the Doctor’s most dangerous enemies. They haven’t been put to much use yet, but they certainly scared me in their return to the genetically purer line of Daleks. In the 10th Doctor series, they devolved to being the comic relief, which meant good riddance when the Doctor’s clone decided to wipe them all out in genocide. While Moffat’s backed away from London as a major setting, he’s stuck to tradition with the companion, but only so much. Amy’s the Scottish girl in an English village, which makes her as much as an outsider as the Doctor. And the complicated temporal drama of River Song should yield some interesting results in the future.
My least favorite concept on the show was the Starship UK (though I enjoyed the episode) and the Atraxi in the first episode were downright silly. The eye was the most effective when it was peering through the crack.
The Doctor is in tonight to solve another mystery of the crack that is definitely whack when it comes to time. The BBC America website promises a view of him in a bath towel. As long as I don’t have to watch him eat toast.
Tags: BBC America, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Matt Smith
