Follow the links for Tehani’s S1 Report Card and Tansy’s S1 Report Card

SEASON ONE REPORT CARD – DAVID

The Doctor: I really liked Eccleston’s Doctor, his manic energy was a lot of fun. But, there was also a real sense of a Doctor scarred by terrible events and almost exhibiting signs of PTSD – I can’t remember a Doctor being this vulnerable and enslaved by emotion, the closest comparison I can think of would be the Sixth Doctor. There were some aspects of his behaviour I struggled with and found “unDoctorish” (the idea of a Doctor taking someone back to a planet with the death penalty especially jarred, I don’t even think Australia should do that!) , but all in all I thought it was an excellent performance and a well written incarnation.

The Companions:
Rose Tyler: Was a much deeper character than I had expected, and was the prism through which we got to know the Doctor. Some very moving character development arcs through the season. Was far, far more than just a damsel in distress whose job was simply to be menaced and scream loudly.
Adam Mitchell: The most calculating companion since Turlough, and cut loose very quickly. Didn’t really get too much of a chance to get attached to him. There was potential for him to be another in the tradition of the “intelligent prodigy” companion, which would have added another dynamic.
Jack Harkness: Enjoyed him more as the season went on, was a great foil for the Doctor and provided more of challenge when it came to banter and competition than any of the younger companions. I can see why they gave him his own show, maybe the even the TARDIS wasn’t big enough for two personalities like Jack and the Doctor and there was a danger of the focus shifting too much.

Recurring Characters:
Jackie Tyler: Started out as a caricature, but really developed as we learnt more about her past and why she was the way she was, and became of aware of how much she loved Rose. More complex than I gave her credit for.
Mickey Smith: I enjoyed his appearances. His devotion to Rose was touching, and his bafflement with the chaos the Doctor brought into his life completely understandable.

What is your favourite episode of this season?
Father’s Day
Least favourite episode?
Anything with Slitheen!
Favourite guest performance?
Shaun Dingwall
Describe this season in one word!
Overdue!
Grade: Was a little variable in parts, when it was good it was superb, when it was bad it was..average. After such a long wait it didn’t disappoint and sets the scene for exciting times ahead. If the following seasons build on this foundation, I can’t wait! B

Watching New Who – in conversation with David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

 David is coming to New Who for the first time, having loved Classic Who as a kid. Tehani is a recent convert, and ploughed through Seasons 1 to 6 (so far) in just a few weeks after becoming addicted thanks to Matt Smith – she’s rewatching to keep up with David! Tansy is the expert in the team, with a history in Doctor Who fandom that goes WAY back, and a passion for Doctor Who that inspires us all. We’re going to work our way through New Who, using season openers and closers, and Hugo shortlisted episodes, as our blogging points. Just for fun! We have already talked about:

“The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances”, S01E09/10

BAD WOLF/THE PARTING OF THE WAYS – Season one, episodes twelve and thirteen
The Doctor – Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler – Billie Piper
Captain Jack Harkness – John Barrowman

TEHANI:

These reviews have come thick and fast for the second half of the season, thanks to the way the Hugo voters nominated, and there’s only one episode between our last chat about “The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances” and this one. “Boom Town” was another Slitheen episode, featuring Jack and Mickey and some interesting conversations, but not much else?

TANSY:

Watching New Who – in conversation with David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

David is coming to New Who for the first time, having loved Classic Who as a kid. Tehani is a recent convert, and ploughed through Seasons 1 to 6 (so far) in just a few weeks after becoming addicted thanks to Matt Smith – she’s rewatching to keep up with David! Tansy is the expert in the team, with a history in Doctor Who fandom that goes WAY back, and a passion for Doctor Who that inspires us all. We’re going to work our way through New Who, using season openers and closers, and Hugo shortlisted episodes, as our blogging points. Just for fun! We have already talked about:

“Rose”, S01E01

“Dalek”, S01E06

“Father’s Day”, S01E08

THE EMPTY CHILD/THE DOCTOR DANCES – Season one, episodes nine and ten
The Doctor – Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler – Billie Piper
Captain Jack Harkness – John Barrowman

TEHANI:

Okay, so amidst the quite horrifying gasmasks (particularly when we SEE the transformation), the tears at the resolution, and the grins over the dancing doctor, one of my main impressions of this episode is boy howdy, is John Barrowman Tom Cruise’s love child??! I really did NOT like him in this the first time around, but perhaps exposure mellowed me because he didn’t bother me at all this time – I love his completely comfortable pan-sexuality and his innate flirtatiousness. He’s not my pinup, but as a character, he’s a lot of fun, and I think, later, we get to know that he is, as the Doctor says, bigger on the inside.

DAVID:

I feel like I must be missing something here, because I didn’t think this episode was quite as good as “Father’s Day”. It was brilliant in places, but didn’t quite have the sustained excellence of Father’s Day which really only had one problem, the terrible special effects of the Reapers. Speaking of which, the special effects in this episode were great. The standout was the transformations, especially the first one. It was one of the OMG moments, it was absolutely horrifying!

I am not sure what it is, whether it is seeing a child in that monster role, but I found the child in the gas mask incredibly creepy. The looks of terror on the other children’s faces, the way it used the phones and radios, the constant refrain of “Mummy…” – they all combined to create an atmosphere of rising horror. The scene where she is under the table, or when it is at the door and they are sitting around the table and Nancy is warning the Doctor not to go out there, well I can tell you I wouldn’t have opened the door!

TEHANI:

I think I like the two parters because we get more character development and this helps to get emotionally involved with the story. “Father’s Day” was good, but the longer length, for me, gives this the edge.

DAVID:

Jack is an interesting character. In the novels, the Eighth Doctor gets portrayed as a bit of a ladies man but Jack puts him in the shade. It’s a fine line between charming and sleazy though, so I will be interested to see where they go with him. Obviously, he is a massive fan favourite and even after one episode I can see why that might be, there is a lot of charisma there and I loved the dynamic he introduces. But my first impression was to wonder a little what all the fuss was about.

TANSY:

This is my favourite story of this season and probably in my top 5 of all New Who! (though I have to admit, Season 5 gives it a lot of competition) Yes, I am a Moffat fangirl, more than any other New Who writer. I really enjoy the Doctor in this one, as he seems to be relaxing finally and enjoying his adventures, and the script gives us a great combination of history, horror, comedy and banter. Jack Harkness is a character that appeals to me, and while I enjoy him later and the darker path he takes in the Torchwood series, I do like coming back to the introduction of his character, when he was all young and innocent (well, in a smutty con man kind of way).
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Watching New Who – in conversation with David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

David is coming to New Who for the first time, having loved Classic Who as a kid. Tehani is a recent convert, and ploughed through Seasons 1 to 6 (so far) in just a few weeks after becoming addicted thanks to Matt Smith – she’s rewatching to keep up with David! Tansy is the expert in the team, with a history in Doctor Who fandom that goes WAY back, and a passion for Doctor Who that inspires us all. We’re going to work our way through New Who, using season openers and closers, and Hugo shortlisted episodes, as our blogging points. Just for fun! We have already talked about:

“Rose”, S01E01 
“Dalek”, S01E06 

FATHER’S DAY – Season one, episode eight
The Doctor – Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler – Billie Piper

DAVID:

Perhaps I should have waited a little bit before writing this, because I am actually a little teary. That would have to be one of the most well crafted Doctor Who story lines I can remember, and it had everything that made me fall in love with Doctor Who to begin with. What a crunchy story, we get so many layers! Rose’s relationship with the Doctor, the paradoxes and dangers of time travel (but no mention of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect!), and of course the foundation of it all, Rose’s relationship with her father. Episodes like this can fall in the trap of laying on the emotion too thick, but they got it just right here.

TEHANI:

It shocked me a bit, seeing Rose and the Doctor being nasty to each other early in the episode. I mean, the Doctor is clearly very angry with Rose for saving her father, but the way they really aim at each other’s weak points, with Rose throwing the Doctor’s loneliness in his face – eep.

DAVID:

It’s sadly accurate, the better we know someone, the more effectively we can hurt them. But, this gives us an interesting insight, I don’t remember the Doctor ever being quite as vulnerable with one of his companions. Sure, there have been some (in)famous dummy spits (my favourite probably being Tegan’s great line “Call yourself a Time Lord? A broken clock keeps better time than you do, at least it is right twice a day!”) but there has always been a sense of the Doctor being a little bit above letting himself really get hurt by the things his companions have said. But, here the Doctor does have that air of loneliness, we really do get the impression that he is adrift and alone and that he needs Rose in his life, maybe even more than she needs him.

TANSY:

I like the fact that we see the Doctor and Rose’s relationship develop. On the surface they have looked all along like the usual ‘hooray we’re travelling’ pair, but there have been fractures and niggly bits all along to show that actually, they don’t completely trust or love each other yet. This story is almost the row they had to have, to become a more united team. The Doctor’s suspicion that Rose only changed her mind because of time travel, and she might have been using him for that all along, was really interesting, and I don’t think we ever really know if that was true. It’s also important because of what happened with the Adam storyline back in “The Long Game” where we learned that some people aren’t cut out to be companions, and the Doctor won’t forgive anyone who tries to use his gift selfishly. Continue reading →

Watching New Who – in conversation with David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

David is coming to New Who for the first time, having loved Classic Who as a kid. Tehani is a recent convert, and ploughed through Seasons 1 to 6 (so far) in just a few weeks after becoming addicted thanks to Matt Smith – she’s rewatching to keep up with David! Tansy is the expert in the team, with a history in Doctor Who fandom that goes WAY back, and a passion for Doctor Who that inspires us all. We’re going to work our way through New Who, using season openers and closers, and Hugo shortlisted episodes, as our blogging points. Just for fun! Our first review (“Rose”, S01E01) can be found here.

Season one, episode six
The Doctor – Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler – Billie Piper

TEHANI:

Okay, so we’ve seen the year five billion and met a creepy human skin in “The End of the World”, gone back to Victorian England for a very Sherlock Holmes-y style ghost busting episode in “The Unquiet Dead”, been introduced to the Slitheen and their self-centred plans in “Aliens of London” and “World War Three” (and Harriet Jones! I love her), and now we’re up to “Dalek”, the first of Season One’s Hugo nominated episodes. The Doctor and Rose are getting to know each other, as we get to know them, and it must have been interesting for long term fans to watch Eccleston in this role, after such a long break from the show. Tansy, any thoughts to share on what that was like, for those early episodes, before we get to “Dalek”?

TANSY:

Mostly for me it was a wild ride – I had no particular interaction with fandom, and so I wasn’t juggling the kind of critical attention that overwhelms Doctor Who these days. But after months of seeing nothing but “Rose” as evidence of what New Who would be about, The End of the World was an enormous delight – aliens and space stations, and the unrolling mythology of human futures! Looking at it now, that episode suffers a lot from budgetary issues, but at the time it showed us the kind of creativity and ambition we were going to associate with the new series. Also the use of actual music – not just Murray Gold being a genius, but Britney Spears! – was a shock to the system. Was “The Unquiet Dead” showed us also that Earth’s history and time travel were going to be important – something we had learned not to take for granted about Doctor Who since the end of the Hartnell era, really. “Aliens of London” and “World War Three” are generally dismissed by fans now thanks to the silliness of the Slitheen (though gotta say, the kids love em!), but they were mind blowing at the time too – the idea that we would be exploring a contemporary Earth where everyone knew aliens were real was a fascinating one, which RTD would flirt with throughout his era.

DAVID:

I found “The End of the World” much stronger than the Slitheen episodes, which appeared to be played a little too much for laughs. I thought too much about what they did to the pig though, that’s actually pretty horrifying when you think about it. It was also interesting seeing the impact that Rose’s leaving had on those around her, you don’t always think about what happens to the companion’s lives outside oft heir adventures with the Doctor (as I think Tansy has alluded to).

“The End of the World” also had some good scenes for Rose where her homesickness comes to the fore, and the Doctor showing his compassion with perhaps the best phone modification imaginable. And I always love seeing heaps of different aliens.

“The Unquiet Dead” was a bit of a throwback to some of the “historical” episodes I grew up with, where we see that it isn’t just about outer space or the future, but about the past as well. The repartee between the Doctor and Charles Dickens was great fun, and it was good character development for Rose as she gets some idea about the vast distances she is travelling in both time and space, and how different her life was from the maids in its scope even before she met the Doctor.

Tehani, I loved Harriet Jones too … so VERY English!

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