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I am a weak, weak fangirl
So we watched the first two episodes of Dr. Who ...
It's fun! I love how they've captured so much of the feeling of the old show -- the theme music, the Doctor's cheerfully psychotic grins, the utter goofiness of the plots -- but with updated f/x and really snappy writing. As opposed to the sort of unintential hilarity of the old series, this one's got its tongue firmly implanted in cheek. Homicidal mannequins! Ferris Wheels of Doom! The reset button that just happens to be located at the end of a catwalk with spinny fans of death! (Was I the only one who thought of Galaxy Quest during that scene? "We shouldn't have to DO this! It makes NO LOGICAL SENSE! Why is it HERE?") And of course, there's classic Dr. Who Blind Spot Syndrome. (Dr. Who characters are phenomenally easy to sneak up on. My husband and I used to observe with the older series, that you could have a marching band and maracas and still walk up behind someone and clunk them over the head as long as you stayed out of their direct line of sight.)
But what makes it all work is an underlying sense of, well, reality, in the midst of all the goofiness. Rose's working-class life; calling her mom from the end of the world; the tears in the Doctor's eyes when the tree lady (waah! *mourns tree lady*) started talking about his homeworld. There's a feeling of wonder and hope about the series that really reminds me of the classic SF that I used to read as a teenager -- an old-school sort of melancholy beauty and hopefulness.
(Oh, and the second episode was just GORGEOUS! I just want to stare at the lovely shots of Rose bathed in golden light watching the end of the world. They must have blown the BBC special effects budget for a year. *g* I anticipate a couple of upcoming moneysaver episodes in which they travel to planets that look suspiciously like London...)
And since when can a human body withstand temperatures that can incinerate wood? Or are Time Lords that much more resilient than human beings? Okay, now I'm really over-thinking this...
It's fun! I love how they've captured so much of the feeling of the old show -- the theme music, the Doctor's cheerfully psychotic grins, the utter goofiness of the plots -- but with updated f/x and really snappy writing. As opposed to the sort of unintential hilarity of the old series, this one's got its tongue firmly implanted in cheek. Homicidal mannequins! Ferris Wheels of Doom! The reset button that just happens to be located at the end of a catwalk with spinny fans of death! (Was I the only one who thought of Galaxy Quest during that scene? "We shouldn't have to DO this! It makes NO LOGICAL SENSE! Why is it HERE?") And of course, there's classic Dr. Who Blind Spot Syndrome. (Dr. Who characters are phenomenally easy to sneak up on. My husband and I used to observe with the older series, that you could have a marching band and maracas and still walk up behind someone and clunk them over the head as long as you stayed out of their direct line of sight.)
But what makes it all work is an underlying sense of, well, reality, in the midst of all the goofiness. Rose's working-class life; calling her mom from the end of the world; the tears in the Doctor's eyes when the tree lady (waah! *mourns tree lady*) started talking about his homeworld. There's a feeling of wonder and hope about the series that really reminds me of the classic SF that I used to read as a teenager -- an old-school sort of melancholy beauty and hopefulness.
(Oh, and the second episode was just GORGEOUS! I just want to stare at the lovely shots of Rose bathed in golden light watching the end of the world. They must have blown the BBC special effects budget for a year. *g* I anticipate a couple of upcoming moneysaver episodes in which they travel to planets that look suspiciously like London...)
And since when can a human body withstand temperatures that can incinerate wood? Or are Time Lords that much more resilient than human beings? Okay, now I'm really over-thinking this...
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Of course I was thinking of Galaxy Quest! The big huge fanblades over the walkway with the button at the end was such a design from that school of thought; I love it. (I think being able to love things like that, and the Shop Window Dummies of Doom is sort of a requisite for enjoying the show. But if you do like those, you really are set to go!)
Because over-thinking can be fun: they do imply that Time Lords are a fair bit more resilient than humans. There are a couple of other instances where the Doctor brushes off the effects of something that would have killed a human. Though they don't say if it's to do with mind-over-body, or just that Time Lords are a bit more cleverly built... I suspect it's a bit of both.
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Heeeee! I have an alarmingly high tolerance for canon crack. As long as there's at least some attempt to make it work logically, or at least look as if it does, I'm there all the way.
Nice to know I'm not the only one who cracked up at the Galaxy Quest moment! I ... I like to think it was intentional on their part. (Tough to say with BBC sci-fi, though!)
Definitely looking forward to more. Right now I'm kind of glad that it's not really all that many episodes, because as much as I like it already, if there were 5 or 6 American-sized seasons of it, I'd be DOOMED. I'd never get anything done for the rest of the summer. So far, it looks like we're progressing at a slow-ish rate and having time to assimilate the episodes as we go along, rather than mainlining like a crazed addict as I am often wont to do. (But we'll see how the mainlining goes over the next couple of weeks...)
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Yeeeah, don't know how intentional it was, but - hey. Fun! Whatever works, I say. (The producers are all fanboys, so it really wouldn't surprise me if they were thinking of Galaxy Quest as they created that scene.)
Not having that many episodes is good - until the very moment you run out, and then you start spazzing about wanting Christmas. Christmas and April 2008, and it really is a very, very long wait. But - there are other things to pass the time, and when it is time for new episodes again, it will be awesome (and also pretty closely matched to when my regular US shows go on hiatus - very clever, that).
We started out slow over here too, but then my fiancé went away and told me I didn't have to wait for him, and then I kind of mainlined the whole thing in about a week. Oops. Only to re-watch all the eps he hadn't seen when he came back, of course. But I think taking it slow enough that you really get to assimilate the episodes (what a wonderful expression!) is a good thing. The last couple of eps I watched as they aired, and I really did enjoy having the time to do some thinking and speculating and taking it all in.
Anyway - it was great fun to read your reaction post, and I'm looking forward to what you'll think about the rest of it!
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Crackers and cheese, yay! Two of my favorite things! ^_^ And both in abundant supply on British and American TV.
It's actually kind of nice having new episodes staggered out. SGA starts new eps at the end of September, and SPN will be back in September sometime, but I think that's all I have to look forward to -- my interest in Lost has fizzled, and most of the other shows I was watching got canceled. Oh my crack, my crack has forsaken me! Clearly it was time to get hooked on something new.
no subject