Doctor Who: Series 1

I know, I know, you Doctor Who purists out there will remind me this is far from series 1 and 2 of Britain's longest running Sci-fi series. Since mostly ignorant Americans are reading this...we will just cell it Series 1 and Series 2.

If you don't know the premise of Doctor Who then you probably won't understand the rest of the article. Check out "The Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who" for a better history of The Doctor.

Season 1 begins with a newly regenerated 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) encountering Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). Rose soon becomes the Doctor's newest companion.

Eccleston's Doctor is a very different Doctor. The 9th Doctor at first seems sad and aloof, who seems to dress the part in dark colors and a black leather jacket. This is a Doctor that saw his people destroyed at the hands of the Daleks (which we assume at the beginning of the season are destroyed as well). It appears that he has nothing to loose. Gone is the "oversight" of the Time Lords that previous Doctors have had to endure. In some respects, the Doctor IS the highest power left in the Universe. Not that it has totally gone to his head, but you can see he is traveling down a very dark path.

Then Rose enters the scene. Brilliantly portrayed by British Pop sensation Billie Piper, Rose seems to balance the Doctor a bit and remind him of his "humanity". Slowly but surely, we begin to see shades of the Doctor's past reflected in Eccleton's portrayal. I know a lot of people won't agree with this, but the relationship between Rose and The Doctor seemed very much more father and daughter than what was hinted at toward the end of the first series.

Most of the stories in the first series are tight, with no really horrible episodes that stand out. Producer Russell T. Davies seems to be the perfect choice to bring this series back. He has assembled an impressive directing and writing staff who really understand the spirit of Doctor Who. One of the most amazing (and least often mentioned) is the dramatic score by composer Murray Gold. His Doctor Who theme is brilliant and his music in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" (the best episodes of the series) are epic.

The only real gripe I have with the first series is that everything took place on Earth, usually in a modern time period. I know that Davies wanted to "reacquaint" viewers with the doctor in modern times, but I found myself yearning for the old Doctor that would travel to fantastic places and times.

I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I mention that the end of the series results in a regeneration into the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) and a new series.

That's the subject of the next review however.....