Unfortunately for me, I didn't have the opportunity to immerse myself in the Whoniverse for the next 25-odd years (
), and even then I somehow never got around to watching until I was in my late teens. Of course I knew all about the Daleks, for one through having watched that film – the name evades me – with the Robomen, a mine shaft and a large bomb set to detonate in so many rels, that ITV seemed only too keen to repeat a few times each year. It was good, but not amazing, and in all honesty it somewhat put me off hunting down the old episodes.However, in 2003 the BBC announced that they planned to create a new series, and, even having let 'Classic Who' slide past me, I was genuinely excited! The 26th March 2005 came, and there we were, plunged right into the episode Rose (I still remember Graham Norton's less-than-dulcet tones intruding for the first few moments… grr…), and you know what? It was fantastic!
Having the honour of being editor for 'Nu Who', as it's sometimes affectionately known, I'm going to zoom through the highs and lows of this wonderful programme, in only the shallow, shallow detail that I have time for.
The Eccleston-Piper Era
I'm a strong believer that the Ninth Doctor is seriously underrated. Yes, David Tennant is (was
) truly amazing, but credit where credit's due, it was Christopher Eccleston that resuscitated Doctor Who, and made 'Nu Who' the success it is today. He was a dark and fairly mysterious Doctor, but I think that was a good thing.Re-watching the series now (if you haven't watched any of series one since 2005, seriously, get a copy and re-watch ASAP), it's amazing to see just how good it was. Take The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, for example. Such an incredibly clever plot, centring around Captain Jack, a Chula 'war ship', nanogenes, a truly loveable young lady called Nancy and her unfortunate 'brother' Jamie. This two-parter was a masterpiece, from our future chief Who writer Steven Moffat (oh yes, the future looks bright). We finished this series with Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways - a strong pair of episodes, that brought the series to a good close.
The Tennant-Piper Era
The Christmas Invasion. Now that was an interesting episode. Not the Sycorax side of the plot, which for me wasn't actually all that interesting, but Rose's reaction to the Tenth Doctor. Once she had got to grips with the new face, and we had waited another four or so months, we were introduced to New Earth, our first alien, (or not), planet. Using comedy, that fairly quickly shook off the old feel to the series, but then change is good.
The highlights of series two for me were definitely The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit, which thinking about it was pretty much a return to the darker form of writing. Toby's transformation into The Beast was just terrifying, but again, the plot here was excellent. Skipping hastily past Love & Monsters, the series ended with what, in my eyes, is the best finale yet: Army of Ghosts and Doomsday. No normal person watched those final scenes without tears in their eyes.
The Tennant-Agyeman Era
A new series, a new companion. Martha was good. Not as good as either Rose or Donna, but definitely good. Yes, there were a couple of flops in this series: The Lazarus Experiment, 42, Last of the Time Lords… alright, this wasn't the best series to date. Still, we had wonders such as Blink (again, by good old Moffat), and who can forget Utopia? Uninteresting plot as a whole, but the main sub-plot, i.e. that of Dr. Yana, was fascinating.
The Tennant-Tate Era
Heh, Tennant-Tate, scarily similar to Doctor-Donna… After the slight dip in greatness that was series three, series four was right back on the mark. Pre-series, the amount of time I had to spend keeping an eye on anti-Tate messages in the forum was immense, and yet by the end, Donna was considered by many as the best companion yet, even surpassing Rose. It seems fairly clear that the most common reason for this is her lack of besotted-ness for the Doctor: a good call. Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead were my favourites here (oh look, another Moffat pair…), but I'm not in the majority with that one.
Change
It's funny how people dislike change. Think about it: David Tennant is considered by so very many to be the best Doctor this show has ever had, but what happened just after Parting of the Ways, when we learnt of Christopher Eccleston's departure? There was an outcry, people were saying that he was their Doctor, and were genuinely upset about him leaving (I know I was). However, all was forgotten when Tennant began. Same was true with Rose to Martha, Martha to Donna, and who knows, perhaps the Tenth Doctor to the Eleventh. It is definitely sad that David Tennant is leaving, but not before he's given us three series worth of great fun.
Old and New
Finally, I leave you with these last few thoughts (not long to go, assuming you haven't already whizzed past me onto one of the other contributor's blog
). The revived Doctor Who is special for many, many reasons, but I think one of the most profound is the sheer demographic section that it appeals to. It appeals to children, teenagers and adults, it appeals to old fans and new viewers, it appeals to sci-fi junkies and those less interested in this finer genre in life.How do I know this? After each and every episode, I come back to my computer and find my moderation queue full to bursting with notes, quotes, trivia points and allusions from a tonne of different contributors. Most I don't know, but of those I do, I know that are adults who have been interested in Who since before the dinosaurs took over this world (well, seems that long ago anyway
), there are teens who have seen more Who than me, and there are also many users who have seen very little, but still enjoy it to the extent that they feel compelled to contribute here on TV.com. In many ways, it's magical.Doctor Who has survived very well for 45 years – here's to the next 45 years
Islander
NB: Be sure to check out TheOldBill's tribute as well!