Monday, May 22, 2006

Doctor who?

I really have to say that the latest incarnation of Doctor Who is really quite a remarkable television show.

I hadn't seen an episode in several weeks, and had gotten to that point where there were so many episodes in the queue that I was tempted to give up completely. But I came home last night to find Leslie and Emory just starting a later episode, and we wound up watching three episodes a row (the WWII two-parter and the alien invasion follow-up episdoe). Now I can't wait to watch the three other episodes we have on our DVR before the two-part season finale in two weeks.

A few weeks ago, after the first two episodes of the new series, I commented that the show felt Grant Morrison-esque, and I'm pleased to report that that remains the case, perhaps even moreso. Not only are the crazy-weird ideas there (nanotech, featured in the WWII episodes, is a particular Morrison staple) but there's also this intense optimism. More than any other comic writer, Morrison is concerned less with defeating the enemy than in assimilating the enemy, or even revealing that there was no enemy, after all, and it was only the reader's perception that lended the antagonists any real menace. Meanwhile in Doctor Who, the Doctor rejoices when he finds a way to stop the nano-controlled zombies without harming a soul. When the Doctor formulates his plan and trumpets "And everyoboyd lives, Rose! Everybody lives!" it's nearly impossible to not have a big, goofy grin on your face.

Of course, Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper as The Doctor and Rose, respectively, do their fair share of selling the material. They're both wonderful.

And hey, the show also won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series. Why can't shows like this ever find that kind of success in the US? Surely Galactica deserves a little love. Of course Galactica doesn't have a 30-year history, but still.

7 Comments:

Blogger Liz said...

We need to have a TV exchange day. Because I totally missed the same Dr. Who eps you have yet to watch. And I have that House you guys saw half of. We should MERGE FORCES.

6:51 PM  
Blogger Jeff said...

Well I got home today to find that Emory apparently deleted all the ones I hadn't seen like the total prick he is.

Oh well. Maybe I can download them. Speaking of which, Emory downloaded that House episode. We're covered.

7:01 PM  
Blogger Liz said...

Cool beans. You might want to save last night's 24 for Paul, though. My TiVo correctly assessed that I was much more interested in the finale of ALIAS. My TiVo's pretty inconsiderate at times.

11:36 AM  
Blogger Jeff said...

I haven't watched 24 yet either, so hopefully it's still safe.

11:38 AM  
Blogger Jeff said...

I guess what I really meant is that Galactica has not been actually airing for 30 years. And really, Doctor Who would be more like 40 years.

4:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh! Jenni beat me to the geek observation punch! You really walked into that one, Jeff.

Now all that remains for me nerdpicking. I really think it's twenty-eight years, Jenni. Also, Jeff, I'm pretty sure Dr. Who's run was suspended for at least ten years over the course of the nineties, but maybe I'm mistaken.

More importantly, who's going to enable me to watch the rest of Veronica Mars?!?!?

11:05 PM  
Blogger Jeff said...

Oh man, whatever. I do not care even a little.

Frank, just sneak over some night to watch VM after Emory and Leslie have gone to bed. You've only got 9 episdoes to go!

8:55 AM  

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