22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GUESS WHO'S BACK? A fantastic return for everybody's favorite Timelord, July 28, 2006
Dr. Who is Forty (actually he's 900, but like the Doctor, the show had been around in one form or another since 1964). The BBC celebrated in 2005 by bringing the show back to television for its 27th season (or as it is more consistently called: SEASON ONE)in a glossy, fast-paced enough to satisfy contemporary audiences, while still conscious of its roots. This SET contains all 13 season one episodes from the rebirth of the longest running sci-fi series in TV history. The producers clearly have a respect and understanding of the UK icon. Obviously, fans, the creators do things with the show we would do ourselves.
Doctor Who has always has a voice defined by the decade each in tune with its era and this holds true to the new Doctor Who. This Doctor is almost child-like in his enthusiasm and wonder. Featuring the Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston (Shallow Grave, Gone in 60 Seconds), infusing the character with great intensity and humanity, while remaining mysterious and alien, along with his companion Rose played by Billie Piper, growing from an awed slacker to a seasoned space adventurer. However, the format of the show has changed to 45 min. parts, some 2 parters ending with cliffhangers, some without. Like any "new" series there are good episodes and not-so-good ones, the upside here is MOST of these are great episodes! The 40 year history of the series isn't squeezed into one pilot, through-out the year we get a trickle of back-story, some old, like his time/space machine looks like a police-call-box, and some new back-story, like the fact that his race, the TIMELORDS have been wiped out in a TIME WAR.
The PILOT story: "ROSE" introduces his new companion Rose Tyler who is attacked by mannequins (or AUTONS) in the department store where she works. She meets the Doctor and the pair end up fighting to save the world. The pacing of this one, like most of the 13 new episodes, is like lightning, and the Autons have never been scarier. The TARDIS (interior) has never looked better or bigger.
Next in "THE END of the WORLD" The Doctor offers Rose a chance to go anyplace, anytime, they end up 5 Billion years in the future above the Earth just before it ends. But someone has sabotaged the very observation satellite they're on. Not a bad episode, it shoots very high with a "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" motif and cinematically accomplishes it, also reveals that the Doctor is the "Last of the Timelords."
In the 3rd story the Doctor and Rose meet Charles Dickens and what appears to be ghosts animating the dead! 4 Weddings and a Funeral's Simon Calow plays the Victorian author brilliantly and the Victorian look of the episode is well executed.
The 2005 series won the 2006 BROADCAST AWARD for BEST DRAMA SERIES adding to the series' successes at the National Television Awards (voted Most Popular Drama), TV Moments, and the BBC 2005 Drama Awards! The show's two stars (Eccleston and Piper) scooped the most popular actor and actress honors in the awards voted by the public. Dr. Who (2005)was also nominated for not only the 2006 HUGO Award (announcing winners on Aug 26), but on May 7th it WON 5 of the most prestigious award British Television has to offer: the BAFTAS Awards (British Academy of FILM and TELEVISION ARTS) out of the 14 categories it was nominated. Winning for BEST DRAMA SERIES, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST MAKE-UP, BEST COSTUME, BEST DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY and the PIONEER AUDIENCE AWARD which was voted for by the British public (kind of like the US People's Choice Award).
WHEN it aired on SCI-FI FRIDAYS @8 PM CENTRAL there were some lines and moments cut from the original BBC versions, these are the complete episodes.
Hopefully SCI-FI will pick up SEASON 2, starting with the post-regeneration CHRISTMAS INVASION because believe it or not the next 13 even better!!
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
BBC, How could you?, February 6, 2007
BBC has decided to not place any real extras on these disks. There is no commentary track on these disks, but if you buy the full set version of these, there is a commentary on every episode. As well as a number of behind the scenes featurettes. All they had to do was take the disks and features that they had already pressed and place them on these disks.
So, if you like extras on your dvds, save your money and buy the full set all in one go. Otherwise, this is a fun series and the only reason that I'm marking it down two stars is because of the lacking of extra content that is already on a previously released edition.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The new Doctor, December 6, 2006
I have been a Doctor Who fan for years and have enjoyed the series and the many wonderful actors who have played the Doctor. I must admit though, when I saw this first episode I was floored. Christopher Eccleston IS the Doctor. Although this was his one and only season, it was tops! This episode won me over hook, line and sinker. Past regenerations (new actors) have always taken me a few episodes to a whole season to get used to, but not Eccleston. He understood the character and played the Doctor as well, if not better than anyone. This episode begins with a bang and the fun and excitement never stops! So sit back and let the Doctor and Rose take you on an adventure of a lifetime or is that lifetimes! :)
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