The revamped Doctor Who occasionally really works for me - both Ecclestone and Tennant are good actors and the Cybermen and Dalek episodes generally rocked - but about half of the shows I end up switching off or tuning out before the end.

Why?

1) Too many ideas too fast: the average story now lasts 50 minutes. Proper exposition is a good thing in sci-fi and you might have noticed that many of the best stories in the new format have been the two-parters. Perhaps executive producer Russell T Davies is under the impression that modern TV audiences suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder whereas audiences of 30 years ago did not. That’s an urban myth in my opinion.

2) The soaking-wet sentimental bombast of it all: overblown music and characters constantly shedding tears does not a genuine emotion make. Does the producer not trust his writers? Does the producer not trust himself? (Davis is also lead writer).

I grew up with Baker and Pertwee so perhaps I’m just old fashioned. Yet other modern sci-fi shows like Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek Voyager have impressed me greatly.

My two cents worth.

Ace was fantastic! and Romana was awesomely cool.

I miss Ace and Romana.

generally, in the battle of ‘good actor’ v ‘crap episode’, crap episode wins almost every time

That’s as it should be I’m sure. I merely suggest that a familiarity with a particular actor’s mannerisms etc can sometimes elicit a sense of fondness as well, which tends to improve one’s perception of the narrative/effects/maguffin/resolution.

Tangent: Derek Jacobi these days is actually a monument to the skill of the makeup team on I, CLAVDIVS all those years ago, who aged him for that part - it was pretty accurate except that Sir Derek has better hair than CLAVDIVS did.

Ah, just a day or so until the new Moffat episode. In a scary library. With scary shadow monsters. And Alex Kingston. In a space suit. Mmmm.

Oh yes, the trailers for that one look marvellous.

Ah, just a day or so until the new Moffat episode. In a scary library. With scary shadow monsters. And Alex Kingston. In a space suit. Mmmm.

I don’t think I’ve heard of any of those ’stars’, except for Father Dougal and Jacobi, who I know only by reputation and for his voice. It’s never occurred to me that they are ‘guest stars’ and suddenly that Miles piece, ‘Bring me sunshine monsters’ in comment 50 makes even more sense. And I just this moment got the pun with ’sunshine’ and ‘42′. Yes, I definitely have a new favourite TV critic.

So no, it doesn’t matter for me. But generally, in the battle of ‘good actor’ v ‘crap episode’, crap episode wins almost every time.

d

I wonder how much some of these sharp divisions on who likes whom in the Whoverse come down to familiarity, or not, with certain actors playing the parts.

I don’t think it’s that for me … I liked Catherine Tate from her sketch show before she was on Who, and I didn’t mind Billie Piper at all for the first year she was on, even though (or because) I was only vaguely aware that she was already very well known in the UK. It was more the way the stories eventually seemed to revolve almost entirely around her and her mum or her dad or her boyfriend or all of them in some way. Even that was ok to begin with but the show turned into Eastenders with a TARDIS! Not what I signed up for.

Having said that, it does often work the other way … I’d let out a very manly SQUEEEEEE!!!!11 if Mark Heap became the new Doctor, for example!

images of a gritty, macho re-imagining of “Happy Days”

SUBSCRIBE!!!1!1!!

PS “it cloaks them in a gritty, macho aesthetic” Ah! Where can I download some of that for meself? And why am I suddenly stuck with images of a gritty, macho re-imagining of “Happy Days”, replete with Korean war vets, valium addicts, beats, junkies, knife fights and abstract expressionism? And Richie and Ralph get On the Bus with Ken Kesey instead of joining the Army and going to Greenland. Clearly, it is late and I should go to bed.

d

My hypothesis: for those of us who watch a lot of Brit TV, John Simms as the Master was YAY! For those who’d never seen him in anything before, quite possibly not so much. And perhaps the same with some of the other actors who appear. (Harriet Jones? Margaret Blaine? Lady Cassandra? The Editor? Dr Constantine? Thomas Kincade Brannigan? Joan Redfern? Professor Yana?) They may be veteran British thespians and very familiar and well beloved to some of us, but to others they don’t have all that cred propping them up. Does that matter or not?

Rose seems rather polarising as well. Obviously this part was Billie Piper’s big return to the public consciousness after spending quite a few years partying with the much older DJ husband she married at age 19 (since divorced), but Britain seems to still love her. Are those who loathe Rose familiar with Billie or not? I knew of her through gossip mags only until she was cast as Rose. I happen to think that she’s fabulous, and the other parts she’s taken on and the technique and talent she displays will, I predict, make her an acknowledged star of the Brit dramatic Establishment in fairly short order. She’s now married into the Fox clan, which can’t hurt.

P.S. To Nick regarding whether Mark Heap is too old to play the Doctor - as he showed us all in the finale Xmas special of Green Wing, he has serious runner’s legs. They look like they do half-marathons regularly along with his acrobatic workouts. I don’t think fitness would be a problem.

P.P.S. I did notice the Neil Gaiman speculation as well. I do have a few reservations about them both solo, but as part of a team approach I can imagine it working very well indeed.

I still like Torchwood, for all its many faults. There’s something to be said for a show that gives the writer of Sapphire and Steel another chance to scare people with bafflingly vague ghost stories.

Darryl, your story of the lasting psychological damage that “Blink” did to your children will warm Steven Moffat’s heart.

Ooh! He’s very sharp, that Lawrence Miles chap. Thanks for pointing him out.

@MH “I discovered the reimagined Battlestar Galactica and saw what good sci-fi was really like”

You may or may not be right about the relationship between BSG and ‘good’ SF, but that’s not the point of DW. It’s a kid’s show. Seriously, last year bbc.co.uk/doctorwho had advance ratings of the episodes available. I think the oldest reviewer was eleven. I love watching it with my kids and I enjoy it myself. (I long ago surrendered to the warm and sticky embrace of nostalgia and I’ve reached the age where all the hard work I put into cultivating low expectations is really starting to pay off.)

Blink scared the willies out of my kids and is the only show they’ve made me erase from the Tivo. They slept in my bed for a week and if I said, in an urgent tone, “Don’t &lt whatever>. Just don’t &lt whatever>” they’d burst into tears. It was wonderful and they refuse to even talk about watching it again.

They are looking forward to the return of the Runaway Bride. They like it when she shouts at the Doctor.

Torchwood is a mess and awfully annoying. I agree with Nick about it’s assets but the producers can’t make up their minds about what sort of show it’s supposed to be and the characters are underdone to the point I started looking forward to the bits between Gwen and her boyfriend “oh good, a character moment!” And if this team is Earth’s last defence against the aliens, we should have been conquered by tribbles long ago.

d

On the other hand, there was no limit to the awesomeness when James Marsters guest starred.

I would love to see some greater participation from a wider pool of UK conceptual artists — the first season benefited greatly from the designs of acclaimed comic artist Bryan Hitch, who established the new TARDIS interior. And, if there is a god, he will encourage Steven Moffat to hire Rian Hughes to design a decent logo.