Well I'm watching Dr Who right now. So what do people think about the new Dr Who? Well, I'm going to go into fangirlish territory here and most of what I'm going to blather about has no meaning whatsoever to non-Who fans so feel free to ignore me.
I think the most serious departure from the old series (besides the much much better special effects. The old series as much as I loved it had a budget of about 10 pounds an episode) is the "special" relationship between the Doctor and his companion. The actor who plays the Doctor describes it as "a romance without the shagging" - basically lots of innuendo, lots of significant looks and loaded words, even a few kisses (though nothing that can't be explained by "He/she was possessed" "This was just to save his/her life"). As one of the writers for the new Who puts it, "Obviously and quite overtly, really, the subtext of this show is that the Doctor is hopelessly in love with Rose." As a girl I'm going "Wheee. This is so cool" when the Doctor and Rose hold hands or say something like "I could save the world but lose you" "You just leave us (talking about his former companions) behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?" "No, not to you.", "My Doctor", "What good is emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" Basically Who now has UST (unresolved sexual tension) - which I strongly suspect the writers will never let get resolved because this is, well, Doctor Who.
As a fan of old Who I don't think it ruins the show per se, but it is a very strong departure from the old series where most of the companions were pretty expendable and nowhere near as central to the plot - it's not just the romance, there are hints that there is a lot more going on with Rose than meets the eye, as has already been shown in the last few episodes of Season 1. It's definitely taking Dr. Who into different territory. I can't remember another time in Who where a companion has been so central to the series.
So what do people think. Is the direction of new Who a good thing or a bad thing? Should they have stuck with the old "I don't think he's ever thought of romantic love before in his entire life" Doctor? One advantage of the new direction - it's probably increased the popularity of Who amongst the female population a lot
I think the most serious departure from the old series (besides the much much better special effects. The old series as much as I loved it had a budget of about 10 pounds an episode) is the "special" relationship between the Doctor and his companion. The actor who plays the Doctor describes it as "a romance without the shagging" - basically lots of innuendo, lots of significant looks and loaded words, even a few kisses (though nothing that can't be explained by "He/she was possessed" "This was just to save his/her life"). As one of the writers for the new Who puts it, "Obviously and quite overtly, really, the subtext of this show is that the Doctor is hopelessly in love with Rose." As a girl I'm going "Wheee. This is so cool" when the Doctor and Rose hold hands or say something like "I could save the world but lose you" "You just leave us (talking about his former companions) behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?" "No, not to you.", "My Doctor", "What good is emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" Basically Who now has UST (unresolved sexual tension) - which I strongly suspect the writers will never let get resolved because this is, well, Doctor Who.
As a fan of old Who I don't think it ruins the show per se, but it is a very strong departure from the old series where most of the companions were pretty expendable and nowhere near as central to the plot - it's not just the romance, there are hints that there is a lot more going on with Rose than meets the eye, as has already been shown in the last few episodes of Season 1. It's definitely taking Dr. Who into different territory. I can't remember another time in Who where a companion has been so central to the series.
So what do people think. Is the direction of new Who a good thing or a bad thing? Should they have stuck with the old "I don't think he's ever thought of romantic love before in his entire life" Doctor? One advantage of the new direction - it's probably increased the popularity of Who amongst the female population a lot
