Ten things we love about the Tenth Doctor’s Era
1. Mockney Doc
Most British actors seem to be Londoners who have to attempt Scots accents when necessary. With typical lunacy, our favourite programme has it the other way around.
2. Upgraded
From the ‘crustacean abs’ to the sensibly scaled-down earmuffs, the new series Cybermen are yet another design triumph. Bang up-to-date while still honouring all the best bits of the original – possibly the mantra for the series as a whole.
3. Freema Agyeman
Not only is the latest Time-totty gorgeous and talented, but she’s even been to Science Fiction conventions – as an attendee! (Certainly none that I’ve ever been to, though…)
4. It’s Christmas-time, there’s no need to be afraid…
A Who Christmas Special? How was that ever going to work? Thank you ‘Christmas Invasion for being so perfect. And as for The Runaway Bride, well, see below…
5. It also travels in space…
There’s nothing more fun than the TARDIS crash-landing on your loo in Tooting Bec, as a wise man once almost said. And then there was that wonderful motorway chase…
6. Musicians call it the ‘b part’
The ‘middle 8′ might also be ‘the bit that the announcers talk over’, but thank you Murray Gold, for restoring the full closing credits theme – music to our ears.
7. Torchwood
An original touchstone which gave us the wonderful Yvonne Hartman, and Freema a foot in the door.
8. Surprise!
So The Beast really was Satan? There were Daleks in the Sphere? Last of the Time Lords is set one year later?
Despite spoilerage in the magnitude of the ‘Mr Sec-agoras’ Radio Times cover, the programme can still pull a Kaiser Söze on us every so often…
9. Late series random one-offs
Blinkin’ Love & Monsters! Our regulars get a break and we get alternative charismatic leads for a week. Everybody wins while the programme explores new possibilities in story-telling - and we all know how important that is.
10. The Pits.
When Tennant arrived so did the promise that the programme would leave Cardiff and space stations, and visit alien worlds. And so a distant planet orbiting a black hole and humanities’ last outpost at the end of time look suspiciously like – quarries!
Hoo-ray! The more things change…
AH
August 13th, 2007 at 7:38 am
Geat list, Al!
Series 2 is my favourite so far, and I also loved the fact that a quarry at nighttime (with good CGI) could be anything from a planet surface to, rather cleverly, a cave system.
August 15th, 2007 at 10:23 am
David T’s era is not quite over yet so will be interesting to revisit this when it does finish (hoping he gets a full run for Series 4). I feel that Series 3 is my favourite (beats Series 1 & 2), however, as I’ve said before, it does have the three weakest episodes of the new series to contend with which drag it down a bit. Still my fav though.