am I the only one?
the new DW season... very minimal spoilers ... under the cut
Okay, folks, I am weirdly freaked out by the new version of Doctor Who. Yes, the first episode looks great, and Matt Smith is awesome. He picks up perfectly where Tennant left off. The Doctor is still in.
But I miss the old Companions so much! Am I the only one? All the reviewers, and all the Whovians on my friendslist, are talking about the new Doctor. But I am feeling completely bereft by the loss of the other "children of time": Rose and Donna and Martha and Jack and Sarah Jane and Mickey and Jackie and Wilf (and Gwen and Ianto and Luke too, in the sublimely silly triple-crossover reunion of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End). The biggest family in the world, as Sarah Jane says. For me, there's something so important about elective families and close-knit communities, in real life and my favorite imaginary worlds. Like in those huge Dickens novels--Bleak House or Our Mutual Friend--where the most unexpected people, from multiple plots and many different social positions, come together to form their own surprising community in the midst of an otherwise hostile world.
I can't imagine how the new series will ever build up that richness of connections again. I hope I will be proved wrong. But signs are not good so far. I'm not happy with the characterization of Amy Pond, as the "girl who waited." In their first episodes, all the other companions stand up to the Doctor, argue with the Doctor, save the Doctor. And Amy... waits for the Doctor? Other than being not-scared by alien threats, what does she actually contribute? (I still feel this way, even though I loved reading kalichan's review post about Amy as fanartist!)
The bottom line: for me, it's never been about the Doctor. (And particularly not about Ten--I still feel more attached to Nine, with his more visceral and open emotions.) So, oddly, I am devastated by the changeover, while the real Whovians are squeeing. The Doctor is as good as ever, but the rest of the Whoniverse is gone forever.
p.s. Excuse the emotional rant. I am also feeling sick, and trying to grade papers, on this beautifully sunny Sunday. So I am just a bucket of gloom and doom right now.
Okay, folks, I am weirdly freaked out by the new version of Doctor Who. Yes, the first episode looks great, and Matt Smith is awesome. He picks up perfectly where Tennant left off. The Doctor is still in.
But I miss the old Companions so much! Am I the only one? All the reviewers, and all the Whovians on my friendslist, are talking about the new Doctor. But I am feeling completely bereft by the loss of the other "children of time": Rose and Donna and Martha and Jack and Sarah Jane and Mickey and Jackie and Wilf (and Gwen and Ianto and Luke too, in the sublimely silly triple-crossover reunion of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End). The biggest family in the world, as Sarah Jane says. For me, there's something so important about elective families and close-knit communities, in real life and my favorite imaginary worlds. Like in those huge Dickens novels--Bleak House or Our Mutual Friend--where the most unexpected people, from multiple plots and many different social positions, come together to form their own surprising community in the midst of an otherwise hostile world.
I can't imagine how the new series will ever build up that richness of connections again. I hope I will be proved wrong. But signs are not good so far. I'm not happy with the characterization of Amy Pond, as the "girl who waited." In their first episodes, all the other companions stand up to the Doctor, argue with the Doctor, save the Doctor. And Amy... waits for the Doctor? Other than being not-scared by alien threats, what does she actually contribute? (I still feel this way, even though I loved reading kalichan's review post about Amy as fanartist!)
The bottom line: for me, it's never been about the Doctor. (And particularly not about Ten--I still feel more attached to Nine, with his more visceral and open emotions.) So, oddly, I am devastated by the changeover, while the real Whovians are squeeing. The Doctor is as good as ever, but the rest of the Whoniverse is gone forever.
p.s. Excuse the emotional rant. I am also feeling sick, and trying to grade papers, on this beautifully sunny Sunday. So I am just a bucket of gloom and doom right now.