9 good things about '10: #7 - Doctor Who
I’ve quite enjoyed the reboot of Doctor Who since it started in 2005. I never saw the original when I was a kid and I’m not a big fan of TV sci-fi in general, but the first series was witty, pacey and very much aware of how utterly daft the whole Doctor Who concept is. The David Tennant years started to lose some of the vigour of the Chris Eccelston episodes, and by the time they got to the one where Agatha Christie is being threatened by a giant space-wasp, I was starting to get a bit bored.
This year started with David Tennant’s big finale episode on New Year’s Day. I watched it half-expecting it to be the last episode I ever watched, because the show had really started to annoy the Cribbins out of me. It sucked, but while I was watching it Joey walked through the room. She stood there for a while staring until eventually she pointed at David Tennant and asked, “Who’s that?”
“That’s The Doctor, love,” I replied.
She walked backwards, not taking her eyes off the screen, until she was sitting next to me. “I like Doctor,” she said, in what was a surprisingly sleazy tone of voice for a three-year old.
And so a romance was born.
Joey’s now watched all of David Tennant’s episodes several hundred times and has taken to referring to David as “my boyfriend”. Her obsession has waned a little bit over the last twelve months but she occasionally will demand to watch it and sit through two or three episodes. It entrances her. She’s not scared by the monsters (apart from the pig-men in the Daleks in Manhattan episode) and she can now do a pretty impressive Dalek impression herself (“EGGS-TERN-I-MATE!”). I must admit that re-watching these episodes myself has given me a new appreciation for them. Even the Agatha Christie V space-wasp episode doesn’t seem that bad. What really surprises me is that I didn’t pick up on how good an actress Catherine Tate actually is. Every time I watch a Billie Piper or Freema Agyeman episode I see more and more things wrong about their performances rewatch Catherine Tate and I just see more and more subtlety and skill in what she does.
With such a passionate love for David Tennant, it was always going to be hard to explain to Joey when he transformed into Matt Smith. She refuses to buy him at all and refers to him as fake doctor, getting slightly annoyed when she sees him in her boyfriend’s TARDIS.
This wouldn’t have been an issue if the new series of Doctor Who was terrible, because we wouldn’t have had to watch it. Sadly, it isn’t. It’s phenomenal. Easily better than any previous series of Doctor Who and quite simply one of the best things to have been on telly in recent years. Matt Smith’s casting, which I had serious reservations about, has turned out o be a masterstroke. He is the Doctor and he’s been supported by some exceptional writing this year.
So, 2010, a tale of two Doctors. I hope the next season is as good as the last one. And I really hope they bring David Tennant back in at some point, just so Joey and I have something new to watch.
(Here's Matt Smith playing the Doctor Who theme with Orbital at Glastonbury: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrNGxDxgwLY . Never has one man fulfilled so many childhood fantasies at once).
This year started with David Tennant’s big finale episode on New Year’s Day. I watched it half-expecting it to be the last episode I ever watched, because the show had really started to annoy the Cribbins out of me. It sucked, but while I was watching it Joey walked through the room. She stood there for a while staring until eventually she pointed at David Tennant and asked, “Who’s that?”
“That’s The Doctor, love,” I replied.
She walked backwards, not taking her eyes off the screen, until she was sitting next to me. “I like Doctor,” she said, in what was a surprisingly sleazy tone of voice for a three-year old.
And so a romance was born.
Joey’s now watched all of David Tennant’s episodes several hundred times and has taken to referring to David as “my boyfriend”. Her obsession has waned a little bit over the last twelve months but she occasionally will demand to watch it and sit through two or three episodes. It entrances her. She’s not scared by the monsters (apart from the pig-men in the Daleks in Manhattan episode) and she can now do a pretty impressive Dalek impression herself (“EGGS-TERN-I-MATE!”). I must admit that re-watching these episodes myself has given me a new appreciation for them. Even the Agatha Christie V space-wasp episode doesn’t seem that bad. What really surprises me is that I didn’t pick up on how good an actress Catherine Tate actually is. Every time I watch a Billie Piper or Freema Agyeman episode I see more and more things wrong about their performances rewatch Catherine Tate and I just see more and more subtlety and skill in what she does.
With such a passionate love for David Tennant, it was always going to be hard to explain to Joey when he transformed into Matt Smith. She refuses to buy him at all and refers to him as fake doctor, getting slightly annoyed when she sees him in her boyfriend’s TARDIS.
This wouldn’t have been an issue if the new series of Doctor Who was terrible, because we wouldn’t have had to watch it. Sadly, it isn’t. It’s phenomenal. Easily better than any previous series of Doctor Who and quite simply one of the best things to have been on telly in recent years. Matt Smith’s casting, which I had serious reservations about, has turned out o be a masterstroke. He is the Doctor and he’s been supported by some exceptional writing this year.
So, 2010, a tale of two Doctors. I hope the next season is as good as the last one. And I really hope they bring David Tennant back in at some point, just so Joey and I have something new to watch.
(Here's Matt Smith playing the Doctor Who theme with Orbital at Glastonbury: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrNGxDxgwLY . Never has one man fulfilled so many childhood fantasies at once).