Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - The Complete First Season, Vol. 2

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The 2005 season of the new & improved Dr. Who, includes the Doctor's return to Earth, only to find that he's returned his companion, Rose, home 12 months late! And there's this whole invasion of Earth thing going on too. Super effects worthy of a theater release, like a spaceship clipping Big Ben and landing in the Thames! Also a nice mix of CGI and live-action FX.
Included on this set, the return of the Daleks, or the last remaining Dalek, trapped on Earth in a wealthy alien collector's underground bunker.In this amazing revamping of the Daleks, little is changed, but the fear-factor of those pepper-shaking dudes goes off the chart!!

Not what I thought. The complete first season had 3 episodes on there. Shouldn't it have more? Rather lame for a first season. Made rather cheaply. Come on now, we loved the old season for the tongue-in-cheek stuff, but what is wrong with these new producers and directors. Many series that have been brought back from the dead- stinks!! Night Stalker for one. The young producer's and director's don't seem to have the ability to do the slow action, low key special effects and still keep the audience's interest. Seems like the new generation movie makers only know quick scenes, action packed , high end special effects or they loss our interest and attention. No, I do not think that the audiences have changed that much. We can still watch the old re-runs and fall in love all over again. But the new reborn series - leaves a lot to be desired. they should first dissect the orgnial series and pull out all the stuff that made it a classic. Like the humor, the suspense, etc. then incorporate these eliments into the new series. I feel that this is where the new generation of TV and movie makers go wrong.

This is not really a review of this particular DVD, but of the entire Doctor Who phenomenon. (But I did have my reasons for placing this review here.)

"Doctor Who" is often regarded as the world's longest running TV production, hardly surprising since it aired for 26 seasons from 1963 to 1989. A new version began airing in 2005. The series is British and due to its longevity, many Brits quite literally grew up with it. Not having the questionable benefit of living in Liverpool or Leeds, I didn't. However, I've seen some of the classic serials from the 1970's plus the entire "Ninth Doctor" from 2005. The DVD on this product page includes three episodes of the "Ninth Doctor", including my favorite episode "Dalek".

I'm not sure if an American can ever grok "Doctor Who". The series is quite unlike anything you've seen before. Forget about Star Trek, Star Wars and PLEASE forget Close Encounters of the Third Kind! "Doctor Who" is to scary for small children, but too childish for teenagers and adults. I never quite understood whose supposed to be watching it. 12-year old boys? Well, at least it appeals to the 12-year old inside me, LOL. And it seems everyone in Britain is still watching. Indeed, the series became so popular there that a crazy pop band sampled the theme melody, re-mixed it with Gary Glitter, and made it to the top of the British charts! (The Timelords, Doctorin' the Tardis. You can watch it at Youtube. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

The plot of "Doctor Who" is actually quite simple. The main character is a mysterious, human-like space alien, simply called The Doctor. He has the ability to shape-shift, which makes it possible for the producers to change the lead actor on a semi-regular basis, thus contributing to the series' longevity. The Doctor roams the universe in a curious time machine, known as the TARDIS, a time machine disguised as a phone boot! He always has at least one human companion, sometimes two. The Doctor's main enemies are two races of sentient and evil space robots, the Daleks and the Cybermen. However, he also encounters everything from body-snatchers to mad scientists.

The "Ninth Doctor" series (of which this DVD is a part) is somewhat different from the classical series. The main concept is still the same, but the series have become more "politically corrrect". I can already hear the critics scream "Damn liberals". The Doctor's companions includes a White underclass girl, her Black boyfriend and a bisexual conman with a penchant for fashionwear. Including an overtly bisexual character must have been controversial, especially since he has lines such as: "I remember the last time I was sentenced to die. I don't remember much after that, until I woke up in bed with the two executioners. Really nice couple. We still keep in touch". (WHAT???) The series also includes covert criticism of the war in Iraq, and one episode showing Trotskyist posters! Personally, I find all this quite funny and didn't really mind.

In order to get the entire "Ninth Doctor", you unfortunately have to buy all volumes of "Doctor Who, The Complete First Season". This DVD only contains three episodes, including, as I already mentioned, "Dalek", my favorite episode and the only one that's even remotely serious. But be warned! If you buy this DVD, or ANY "Doctor Who" DVD, you might get so infatuated that you'll never stop...