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| Billie Piper as Rose Tyler (Left) with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor (Right) |
Just this once... Everybody lives!!!
Brief Background
Doctor Who is a British science fiction TV show that revolves around the character of the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Galifrey and his spaceship the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) and his travels through space and time with a variety of companions. The show has cycled through thirteen different incarnations of the Doctor so far, using the Doctors ability to regenerate into a different form as a reason to cast new actors every few years. Doctor Who has gained widespread popularity and a massive list of fans from actor Tom Hanks to Queen Elizabeth II herself.
The "Classic" Era of the show first aired in 1964 with William Hartnell as the First Doctor and continued until 1989, when the show ended due to generally poor ratings. After a 1996 TV Movie with Paul McGann as the Eighth incarnation of the character, the show was revived again in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role and Russell T. Davis as the Showrunner. Fans typically call the Classic Era "Classic Who" and the Revived Era "New Who", and these are the terms I will be using from now on.
Now, I will be dividing each of these reviews into four sections: The Doctor, The Companion(s), Other Characters (generally villains and supporting cast), and The Stories. The last section won't be an in-depth analysis on each of the stories but I will highlight few particular stories that I liked, and I will also touch on overarching story arcs as well in this section. This review will likely be shorter because Christopher Eccleston only did one season (he left the show after disputes with the head at BBC regarding work conditions and has distanced himself away from the show for the most part).
Eccleston, due to his short stay on the show, has only one main companion, Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper) compared to the other Doctors but often has other side characters (such as Captain Jack Harkness) travel alongside him. Eccleston plays a very serious, dark Doctor who is more brash and possibly ruthless than most of his other incarnations; the Doctor we meet is a very recent veteran of the Time War and sole survivor who was forced to kill all of his kind to end a bloody war, and as a result shows hints of suffering from PTSD throughout his episodes, and as a result is much darker.
Eccleston is also very underrated and due to his short tenure is often passed over by much of the fans in favour of David Tennent and Matt Smith, who are more "fun" and apparently charismatic in comparison. I personally rank Eccleston as my favourite Doctor mainly because he is an underdog who seems to be nobody's favourite and I personally prefer darker characters.
The Doctor - Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)
The Ninth Doctor is, simply put, a veteran. The Doctor has recently fought in the Time War against the Daleks, during which he was forced to kill all of the Daleks and his people the Time Lords to end the war for good. As a result, he is very dark, hardened, and often a quite ruthless warrior. Despite all of this, the Doctor still does not forget his creed of kindness and standing up for the weak; he fights to help for what is right and still often shows compassion. Eccleston's Doctor is one that has PTSD, and Eccleston's brilliant acting genuinely shows the pain and anguish he still experiences, having ended the Time War literally few moments before.
Despite all of his darker moments, Eccleston's Doctor is still genuinely light-hearted and fun. He makes jokes, runs around having a great time with Rose, and most importantly of all, DANCES. Yes, the Doctor dancing is quite "important" (sort of). He can push aside his hatred and pain to have genuine heartfelt moments with the other characters. Christopher Eccleston just mixes the darker and lighter sides of the Doctor extremely well just effectively enough that you can very well believe that Eccleston has actually been through the Time War himself.
I will be talking more about his acting highlights in the stories section.
The Companion - Rose Tyler (Billie Piper)
Billie Piper is a great actor and Rose was a good companion to start the New Who series off with. She's personally not my favourite because she doesn't really contribute much to most of the stories apart from being a good contrast to the Doctor; she is more light-hearted compared to the darker Doctor. She never contributes heavily to the stories, although when she does she is the one that brings out the most human sides of the Doctor and remind him of the good person/alien he really is. Her character's standout episodes are "Father's Day" and "Dalek", where you can really see the best of Rose's humanity and the best of Billie Piper's acting. Although Rose is still great in this season, her real standout comes in the Tennant Era, where she turns into a much more full-fledged and interesting character.
Other Characters
Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) is a recurring Doctor Who character; he is flirtatious, charming, handsome, charismatic, bisexual, and overall a really likeable character. He never hesitates to flirt with anyone, which is used to great comic effect (as just saying his name is apparently enough for him to win over anyone). He is a time-travelling con man and works in the show as the more conventional charming action hero in comparison to the more methodical Doctor, and will continue to do so. As a matter of fact, his character was so popular he got a spin-off series called Torchwood.
Rose's mother Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri) and Rose's boyfriend Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) are not massively important characters in season 1 (although Mickey will eventually become more important in the Tennant Era). They're mostly comedic characters that generally serve as a point of conflict for Rose: whether she will choose the safety and comfort of her family and loved ones or a great time of adventure with the Doctor. They don't particularly do much in this season and are rather annoying, but they grow more in the Tennant seasons, especially Mickey.
The Daleks (voiced by Nicholas Briggs) are the arch-nemesis of the Doctor and are violent, merciless race of warriors whose goals are the conquest of the universe and the EXTERMINATION of all inferior species. The Daleks first canonically appeared in the First Doctor story "The Daleks", and appear for the first time in New Who in the season 1 episode "Dalek". The Daleks were originally believed to have been all destroyed in the Time War, but for some reasons (that I still can't quite understand) have managed to survive. The Daleks have had their emotions removed for tactical purposes (no emotions make them better warriors), but there have been the odd cases where a Dalek has the ability to feel emotions, a plot device that is utilized with great effectiveness in humanizing the villains. Despite their rather silly appearances (at first) the Daleks remain a very real and dangerous threat to the Doctor over the years and they have understandably become fan favourites. I personally love the Daleks mainly because the voice acting by Briggs is genuinely fantastic and I just love the idea of their characters and what they've done with them on the show.
The Stories
Overall, all of the episodes in this season were outstanding, and unlike the other ones, I genuinely couldn't find any bad one. My favourite story had to be the two-parter "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", written by later showrunner Steven Moffat. This was easily my favourite because it had a very horror feel to it (Steven Moffat in general is amazing at writing these short, horror stories as seen in the Tennant Era), and I'm a horror fan. It felt very much like a zombie apocalypse movie (the gas-mask aliens moved like zombies) and the line "Are you my mommy?" was just extremely unsettling. It also introduced Captain Jack Harkness for the first time in all his awesomeness and in general had a great script and overall fantastic acting from everybody, especially Eccleston. and I believe that the Doctor dancing was a very pivotal moment for the Ninth Doctor finally actively showing his more human side.
My second and third favourite episodes were "Dalek" and "Father's Day", because these two episodes were particularly standout ones in character for both Rose and the Doctor. In "Dalek", Rose seems to be the sole person who feels any amount of compassion for a lost and rather damaged Dalek (who believes himself to be the last of his kind), and the Dalek itself finds that it has ALSO gained compassion because of the DNA imprint from Rose, and on a bittersweet note self-destructs, unable to cope with the emotions it feels and the fact that he is all alone. The Doctor also has great character moment when he finds the Dalek incapacitated and at his mercy. Gloating over the fact that he has the upper hand, the Doctor's much darker, merciless side unleashes and he tortures the Dalek, mockingly screaming "EXTERMINATE!" as he inflicts the pain to the Dalek. This I think was the moment I truly fell in love with Eccleston's Doctor; the Doctor's dark side truly emerges during this episode and all the pain and anger he had bottled up inside him bursts out and that was one of my favourite scenes from all of Doctor Who.
Another amazing episode is "Father's Day", a story that is no doubt a Rose Episode. The story revolves around Rose interacting with her mother and father and causes a massive paradox by saving her father from dying in a car accident. This is a great episode because of how genuinely touching all the moments were between Rose and her father Pete. It was especially touching how Rose eventually had to let her father go and allow him to die and Pete's acceptance of this inevitability. I always LOVE character-centered stories, and "Father's Day" delivered it and more. Billie Piper's best acting was in this episode and it was overall one of the best episodes not only in first season but perhaps in Doctor Who.
The final two-parter "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" were both good, especially the second part. I was quite sad at the end of the episode because I knew this was Eccleston's only season and his regeneration was quite emotional for me (although David Tennant still did an amazing job as the Doctor). I do think that the show could've been so much better if Eccleston had done three seasons and I really would have liked to see him interact with new companions (someone like Donna could've been a great match for Eccleston). I found it very interesting that despite his relatively short period active, Eccleston was so very positive going into his regeneration, almost as if he was glad to be out of the body that has caused so many deaths in the Time War (note that at this point Eccleston WAS the incarnation that ended the Time War - John Hurt's War Doctor was not developed yet) and was just accepting of the regeneration, which sort of made the process harder for me.
Overall Thoughts
I think that this season is one of the best season (if not the best) in New Who. Yes, there is a bias because Christopher Eccleston IS my favourite Doctor, but what can you say? The season had all amazing episodes (not a bad one among them), a great Doctor, an enjoyable companion, great villains, and an extraordinary cast of side characters. It's a shame that Christopher Eccleston never did more seasons or even specials because I don't know many people who'll say Christopher Eccleston is their favourite Doctor and I think he's so criminally underrated; he's almost always high on everyone's list, but the top spot seems to quite consistently go to David Tennant (understandable), Peter Capaldi (understandable), Tom Baker (also very understandable), and for some reason I really cannot comprehend, Matt Smith (no offence to Smith, he was a great actor but I just don't see the appeal of his Doctor). I think that if Eccleston did more seasons and interacted with more Who villains (ex. The Master, Sontarrans, Cybermen) and companions, he would most definitely be number one on many more peoples' list and I really do think that his short tenure hurt his popularity. Regardless, Christopher Eccleston will always hold a special place as my first ever Doctor, and I imagine that he will always be my favourite Doctor.
For my next review, I will be returning to Mr. Stephen King once again and will be reviewing his novel Pet Sematary. As always, thank you for reading my blog, and I always will enjoy hearing from all of you, so if you have any comments, feedbacks, opinions, suggestions, etc., please feel free to comment, and I WILL respond to ALL comments!
