This. Has. Been. An. AWESOME. Day.

[rj_anderson]

Since the first part of what made it so awesome is non-fannish in nature, I'll put the details (and accompanying picspam) up on rjanderson_blog as soon as I get the chance. But for now suffice it to say I got a fabulous early birthday present from my husband and I'm very, very pleased with it.

Now for the second part. I got to see the pilot of the new Doctor Who series. I won't spoil any of the details for anybody, I just want to say that just seeing the opening credits gave me a big stupid grin all over my face, and by the time it was over my face hurt from grinning so much. I also jumped and clutched my husband several times, which is just the way Who ought to be. The dialogue's clever and snappy, Christopher Eccleston as the new Doctor is wonderfully Doctorish, there are some delightful tips of the hat to the original series, and I genuinely like Rose. The story has a few over-the-top goofy moments, but would it really be Who if it didn't?

Anyway, I can't wait until the premiere officially airs so I can a) watch it again and catch the stuff I missed the first time; and b) find out what everybody else thinks of it. I'm sure there will be some people somewhere who don't like it (again, would it be Who if etc.?) but on the whole I think it's a great way to pull in new viewers and a tremendously promising start to the series.

Oh, and speaking of new viewers, my husband actually liked it and said he wouldn't mind seeing another episode. That's a major triumph for a guy who avows that he hates "time travel stuff" and has never liked any of the Doctor Who episodes I've shown him before (including the TV movie).

Comments

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO MUCH.

I should explain that.

I don't really watch much TV... but I happen to like quite a few time travel stories, and am not terribly picky about which theory one uses (though some things do make my head hurt, such as a character claiming "If we die in this time, we won't be born centuries in the future when we're supposed to be")... and I've been rather frustrated by seeing a couple of forums lately making sarcastic comments to the effect that time travel automatically makes a story lousy.

And it's nice to see someone commenting positively about it.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I've always enjoyed time travel stories too. I think that in some television contexts time travel has been used as a cop-out, or has been handled in a silly and irritating way (i.e. as a way to bring back characters in soap operas and the like), but if at least the possibility of time travel is built into the show or story from the beginning, and it is a true SF show, there's no grounds for complaint. I mean, one might be able to say it was a poorly written episode or that the effects were dodgy or whatever, but you can't rightly blame the episode's flaws on the time travel concept itself: that's just a cheap way of avoiding being honest and saying that you simply don't like time travel, period.

And, of course, the whole premise of Doctor Who has been built around the idea of time-space travel from Day One, so either you like the show or you don't, but it wouldn't make sense to complain that if only one took away the time travel it would be a great show. It wouldn't be a show at all if they did that! :)

[bellona3.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the original episodes of Doctor Who but I've heard a lot about the new ones from all my favourite livejournals over the past few weeks, so I've decided to give them a try.

I was just wondering if you could tell me when the premiere will be shown in Canada? I've heard it's going to be on CBC, but for some reason I can't access their website.

Thanks in advance!

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

April 5, at 8 pm.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Oh, jealousy!! :D

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

*envies* and is glad that the series seems to be a good one. *hugs*

Whoa.

[infiniteviking]

(is insanely jealous)

After the (eep!) publicity shot they put out a while back, this positive review is SO reassuring..... Thanks loads!

>gave me a big stupid grin all over my face

Been there. Especially around matters appertaining to Doctor Who.

I just started my own LiveJournal. Can I 'friend' you?
-S

Re: Whoa.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Can I 'friend' you?

Most certainly!

*trots over to look at your LJ, as has no idea what "S" stands for and is wondering if I ought to know you from somewhere*

Re: Whoa.

[infiniteviking]

S is for Sorah -- I'm the one who asked you that question about the Wimsey-Vane books, which I'm currently rereading.

Good luck on the water situation. It sounds like the plot of a mystery/suspense story. Hope everyone's OK.
-S

[soloflights.livejournal.com]

Helloo. How did you get an advanced copy????

I wonder when they will show it here, as when I moved to NZ 18 years ago, they were doing reruns of Dr Who, and only managed it as far as Tom Baker. As I left UK when that curly haired blonde one started, I've missed most of his series and only caught the occasional Sylvester McCoy one while I was visiting England.

So I wonder if it will make sense to run the new Dr Who when they haven't run what went before.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

This is meant to be a series which can stand on its own and doesn't require you to have watched any of the original Who episodes beforehand, so yes, it will make sense to a new viewer. But there are little tips of the hat to the old series here and there which long-time fans will enjoy, as well.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

AWESOME.

I've heard it will be airing over here in the next six months or so. I figure that now is the time to overcome my Dalekphobia...

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

belatedly dropping in to say....

We watched the premiere this evening, and I (a newbie Who fan with limited exposure to the series) LOVED it. Mr. PH (a longtime Who fan who has been immersed in this stuff for years) LOVED it. We both squealed with glee and plotted to get BBC America as soon as possible.

I like that the show has been nicely updated, and yet it's still quite recognizably the Doctor. :)