Re:The new Dr Who
Everything was great about the second episode except the story. It was a vast improvement on the first episode: interesting premise that was tied into the new character’s sense of wonder and displacement, leftfield sense of humor and one liners (‘bitchy trampoline’!), wonderful makeup and special effects – even Eccelesten’s performance was well grounded.
The only problem – and to be frank, I think it might be decisive – remains the need to tell a relatively straighforward story in the 45 minute time frame. Just when you get a ‘feel’ of the world you’ve just entered, its time to move onto another disposable story to show off the show’s more memorable and attentive features. Creatively speaking, I can’t help but feel that such an approach is this incarnation’s achilles heel. The show has obviously been tailored made to appeal to audiences with short attention spans seeking instant gratification. From the perspective of ratings, such a ‘liability’ will (unfortunately) also be its greatest asset.
I intend to keep watching – although next week’s preview looks like it might be crap – and encourage others to watch it too.