The New Doctor Who is Fantastic! 20090627

(9:00AM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)

BBC America just ran the new installment of Doctor Who.  It has surpassed my expectations, let alone hopes.  David Tennent is so well suited to the role of The Doctor (and to think that I did not like him very much at first, since Eccleston was so good) that one actually believes that he believes that he is The Doctor.

For those of you not hip to this series, I can not even begin to begin to explain.  It started as a children’s television program on BBC in 1963, starring William Hartnell as a very aged Doctor, traveling with his first companion.  She was, in the story, his granddaughter, and this has never been resolved in the years of the series.

This particular story is charming for many reasons.  One is that they displayed images, at least for an instant, of all of the actors to play The Doctor.  Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, John Pertwee, Tom Baker (the most well remembered actor, the one with the scarf), Peter Davidson, Colin Baker (likely the worst actor ever to play the role), Sylvester McCoy (the first Scot to play the role), Paul McGann (who played the role only once in a TeeVee movie), Eccelston, and some images of Doctors not yet known.

The storyline in this episode is that The Doctor travels to 1851 London and encounters a person who calls himself The Doctor who has many of the memories of the real one.  The tip off for me was when The Doctor used a stethoscope on the other main character.  I could tell from his expression that the person was no Gallifreyian.

This particular episode is also interesting in that there were some Transformer moments in it.  Lord love CGI.  In the old days, one planet was literally an orange spinning from a thread.  I sort of miss the crudeness, but to stay involved things must keep up with the times.

I also understand that Tennent will not be playing The Doctor after this season.  He will be hard to replace, but BBC has done pretty well over the years (except for Colin Baker) in making the character interesting.  If anyone doubts my dedication to this wonderful fantasy series, please see this picture of a scarf that Mrs. Translator knitted in 1978 to the exact specifications as published in a media magazine at the time.  It is correct as to color, number of lines, and, as far as I can tell, the fringe.  Here is the picture:

To take that picture, I had to fold it in half, and then cut out some of the loop of it.  When fully unfurled, it is about 22 feet long.  Mrs. Translator used pure wool for it, as well.

Long live The Doctor, and his good works.  He is one of the few heroes that uses force as a last resort.

I would love to hear your comments about The Doctor, and who you thought was the best actor playing him.  I prefer Tom Baker, but just by a pinch.  I would like the next regeneration to be female.

By the way, BBC America will repost the episode at 12:00 AM Eastern time.

Warmest regards,

Doc