Holistic Review: It's exactly like Doctor Who always used to be, modernized warts and all. It's got all of the monsters but none of the explanation, and a very simple plot - but it's energetic, fun, and a highly engaging way to hook new viewers.
It's about six hours after the North American première of Rose as I begin to type this. For the first time in sixteen years, we have a regular series of Doctor Who to look forward to, and for the first time in my life, I get to watch it "live" - a re-edited broadcast a week and a half after the original UK airing, rather than a re-edited broadcast six months after the original UK airing (as I did during the McCoy era). Already I've rewatched Rose three times, and already I have what I think are fairly reliable opinions about it. So, in the post-relaunch bliss, I'm very much in a mood to start reviewing the new series. (Amusingly, I naïvely expected this to be a short review, reflecting the shorter length of the story. Imagine my surprise when, by the first commercial break, I had already taken as many notes as I usually take during a whole episode of the original series! It just goes to show, they pack a lot more into one hour these days!) My opinions may very well change by the end of the season, when I look back over the first twelve episodes, but it'll be a change to be able to post first impressions of a Doctor Who story.
I was actually surprised that I didn't get more emotional when watching it. Given the way I sometimes got a bit blubbery just thinking about the triumphant return of Who, I figured I'd be a gibbering wreck halfway through the opening credits. But I wasn't - and I think the reason is that new Who is just so exciting. The overwhelming first impression is of an engrossing, entertaining, fast-paced hour of television, and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Of course, I also spent the whole time analyzing it in the back of my head - do I like the new theme music? How are Chris and Billie? Will they reveal anything new about the Nestenes? Is it scary???
As the leads of the new show, and arguably the foundation on which the show's success rests, Chris and Billie seem like a good place to start. (I just can't bring myself to call them "Eccleston" and "Piper" - I wonder what that says about me?) Happily - and, given all the advance publicity, unsurprisingly - they're both superb. The ninth Doctor seems to share the energy and zeal for life of his predecessor, but with a very important distinction. Just as the brash sixth Doctor was the complete opposite of the mild-mannered fifth, so the emotionally distant ninth Doctor contrasts with the highly compassionate eighth. In a sense, it makes me really miss (and lament the quick passing of) McGann, whose performance I absolutely adored. But the ninth Doctor is actually even more difficult to take your eyes off, and I think it's going to be nice to have a return to the alien detachment of Hartnell and Colin Baker, particularly considering the role that Rose is supposed to play in their relationship. I also like the fact that they've distinguished him from McCoy, as he seems unable to do fancy card tricks! He's also impressively comedic - he does a great job wrestling with the Auton arm. Billie, for her part, does a beautiful job of bringing Rose to life - having now seen Rose's ordinary life, she does seem like a very real person. Billie's also got a wonderful voice (which I noticed particularly from having listened to the Project: Who radio program prior to transmission) and she and Eccleston both are great at giving interesting line readings. Crucially, Rose is highly likeable - she's not yet close to "favorite companion ever" status (and, really, I don't see anybody unseating Mel anytime soon) but I can definitely see her ranking up near Sarah Jane Smith if Billie keeps this up. She gets to be both the helpless victim (traditional companion role) and pleasantly proactive (more excellent companion role). Although she is not, as yet, displaying any of the psychic tendencies that were rumored to be part of her character - instead, she's just refreshingly ordinary. It's kind of surprising how well that works.
Unfortunately, as much as it pains me to admit it, they're about the only thing that work 100% well. In the "other actors" category, I must single out Noel Clarke for lashings with a wet noodle. I don't even know why, exactly, but I took a rather immediate dislike to Mickey (at least, by his first real scene). Maybe it's because Mickey is a rather self-centered wimp, but I suspect it has more to do with Clarke's performance. He doesn't nuance his lines very much, and when he's called upon to act "odd", the end result is just alarming and disturbing. I actually need to lay part of the blame on the script and the competely bizarre direction, but the scene in which Mickey decides he wants "P-p-pizza" and, worse, the one in which he calls Rose "sweetheart darling babe babe sugar sweetheart", are completely off-putting. I love the idea of an Auton duplicate (certainly it's been done before), which has the potential to be extremely creepy, and the makeup on Clarke is fantastic, but his delivery is so odd that it's impossible to imagine how Rose doesn't realize that something is up, and when combined with his wide-eyed goofy grinning, it pretty much drains the tension out of the scene because it looks like it's being played for laughs rather than gradually-mounting suspicion and tension. In contrast, we have Camille Coduri as the equally self-centered wimp Jackie, who manages to make her character thoroughly enjoyable (although, to be fair, she does get a whole lot of great lines). I'm actually really looking forward to touching base with Jackie in future Earth-set episodes; but I wouldn't have minded at all, in retrospect, if Mickey had been completely obliterated by that wheelie bin. The other actor I quite liked is Mark Benton as Clive, who is both likeable (in an "oh, he's a friendly but obsessed fan, just like me" kind of way) and sinister enough to make his warning to Rose genuinely frightening (even though we the audience - or, at least, the established fans among us - are a bit more enlightened about the Doctor than Clive and Rose are). And I like his accent. He surely must be Welsh, although sometimes he sounds like he's from the north too. I was actually really sad he was killed at the end, because I was hoping he'd become a recurring character as well. His wife, played by Elli Garnett, does a great job of looking intrigued and delighted as the mannequins start to move under their own power when the Autons attack in the arcade.
Bordering on actor status is the new TARDIS, which is going to be the heart of the series from now on. The exterior looks great and I personally don't care whether or not the windows are a fraction larger or the whole TARDIS is a bit wider; it's not as if the original TARDIS exterior always looked the same, and I think this one looks great. I'm kind of mixed about the console room, though. Whereas the original console room always looked like a safe, reassuring haven, this one looks a little threatening. You could get knocked around with space-time turbulence in the original and only suffer a few bumps and bruises (bar bashing your forehead against the console), but this one looks like it would have killed a fair few companions, what with the "moat" around the console and all those angular protrusions. Still trying to decide how I feel about the curved ceiling and the orangey lighting, too. But other than that, I think it's an awesome design, and I love the way that it feels like a natural progression of the McGann console room (albeit a vastly smaller one). The hexagonal roundels on the walls are interesting, I like the tree-like struts around the edge, the console certainly looks intriguing (if a bit cluttered!) and I love the green central column, which looks very similar to the McGann version (one of my favorite things about his TARDIS). I also love the inside of the exterior doors - what a novel concept to have them actually look like the inside of the exterior doors, and there's even a telephone! It's fantastic. And, despite my love of the void between console room and outer plasmic shell, I'm unexpectedly pleased by the Hartnellesque way that you can see straight into the console room from outside, and vice-versa. Also interesting that since McGann, we've reverted back to "Time And Relative Dimension In Space".
I have to say that Rose is one of probably three episodes that, prior to transmission, I was anticipating the most. Why? Well, aside from the basics (how does Rose meet the Doctor? what's it like when she goes inside the TARDIS? why does she decide to go with him?), there's one very simple reason: I love the Nestenes. They're one of my top two Pertwee-era monsters (just barely being beaten by the giant maggots) and the one with the most potential to be recurring. I always thought Spearhead from Space did a nice job showcasing the, ahem, terror of the Autons, whereas Terror of the Autons did a really great job demonstrating just how horrific the Nestene Consciousness' influence was, considering how ubiquitous plastic is. Well, today, plastic is even more ubiquitous, and the potential for a return Auton invasion was enormous - just think of how many common household items the Nestenes could pervert for their own purposes! Plus, it had a chance to put some things from Terror of the Autons right again, most notably the lack of the eerie buzzing sound that had made the Autons so frightening in Spearhead. And I couldn't wait to see if the Consciousness' corporeal form was going to be featured again - I may not be a big fan of CGI, but I knew I'd be relatively forgiving of it if they produced a really awesome tentacled monster.
Needless to say, so many of these hopes were dashed. The Autons, as in Terror, make no sound whatsoever, not even when they "power down" (which makes the final Auton scenes a bit of a non-event if you happen to have glanced away from the screen); in a strange continuation of this trend, their handguns no longer produce clouds of orange smoke; the Nestene menace extends no further than one lonely wheelie bin; and the realization of the Consciousness is so awful it makes me want to scream. However, I'm still delighted with the Nestenes, because even though a lot went wrong, a whole lot else went right. First: we have another Auton invasion. Period. I love it. I'm so glad they came back, and I'm so glad it was in the first story. What a way to kickstart the new series! Second: killer walking mannequins are just scary, no matter what, especially when they're chasing you in a darkened basement. Third: the glass broke! I'm delighted that Russell T Davies had the chance to re-enact that classic moment from Spearhead, and this time, he got to shatter three or four big glass windows with but a simple Auton hand-chop. It was wonderful seeing him bring that almost-scene to glorious life, and it was just as scary as we'd always suspected it would be. Fourth: Auton brides are way cool! (and a little bit hilarious, which is just as it should be.) Fifth: hey, at least we got one new Nestene menace! I love my Auton wheelie bin! And I'm glad they at least mentioned the other items that would no doubt come to life when the Nestenes attacked. Perhaps we were best spared the sight of Auton breast implants.
There's one saying about effects work that I've never forgotten. Presumably it applies to effects in general, but I think particularly to CGI effects. This is: if the effect is good, you shouldn't even notice it. Presumably that's mostly applicable for background effects, but I think it holds true for the biggies too - basically, they shouldn't look like an effect. I've found this is notoriously difficult to achieve with CGI, which generally lacks realistic texture. CGI is awesome for some effects, particularly ones involving light and outer space, but ask it to replicate something real and it's not usually very convincing. I find this especially amusing considering how much fans used to moan about how unrealistic CSO looked. Computer-generated effects on the series have, on the whole, been fairly well-regarded, because they were used sparingly, and I can't really think of any examples where they tried to achieve an effect that was completely out of their league. But now, we've just swapped CSO borderlines for featureless CGI. The worst offenders here are the Auton wheelie bin (it's a great effect at first, when Mickey is tentatively trying to pull his hands away, but the moment he starts stretching them out further, and the bin starts tugging back and lifting its lid, it all looks horribly fake), the cork going into Auton-Mickey's forehead (so fake-looking, complete with the stretching effect that they use to make big-eyed cats and dogs on annoying greeting cards) and the horrific Nestene Consciousness. Part of me is willing to accept that, even though the Consciousness is incorporeal and usually manufactures a suitable organic host body using the energy from its spheres, this time it chose to inhabit a vat of living plastic. But part of me can't figure out why they would replace the immensely creepy octopus / spider / crab creature with a boring old glowing pool of sludge. But the worst part? It... has... a... face. A half-formed one, but it's a face! and it moves about and growls! (and "talks", according to Mickey.) It in no way resembles the Consciousness that I was hoping to see, and I just can't figure out why this embodiment is supposed to be better, so this is one effect I'm really sad about. But, now that I've whined about the effects I didn't like, I do want to give credit to the ones that succeeded. Pretty-good effects: the exploding Henrik's, which is clearly digital but doesn't look half-bad; Auton-Mickey's hands changing into big flat killer wedges (slightly cheesy-looking, but a great idea); and the energy beam in the Nestene base, which is, amusingly, almost indistinguishable from the lightning used in Ghost Light and Fenric. Great effects: the Auton arm that switches direction in mid-air to fly after Rose, the pulses coming out from the Eye, and the mist-beswirled TARDIS dematerialization effect (which, with the wind and the gradual pulsing fade-away, is also reminiscent of the McGann "era"). There may be more, of course - they were just so good, I didn't notice them! What lesson have we learned here, folks? Use digital effects sparingly, and for small things! There's a lot to be said for models. Also, we have learned that some things (reassuringly?) never change.
But other things do! As I said before, the very first thing you notice about the new series is the directing. The new series is lit beautifully, shot beautifully, and paced faster than even a lot of other shows today, certainly more so than Who ever used to be. Plus side: it makes the show feel very hip, and not at all boring. Negative side: it's actually a little distracting and confusing. Some of the shots are just so quick, they confuse me (like the fast cuts as the Doctor and Rose are fleeing the basement); others have unfortunate editing problems that probably only matter to me (like when Rose is leaving Henrik's and rounds a corner, only to run into - AN AUTON! ...no wait, it's just an old man...). There's also the problem that with a shiny new pace, you don't have time to slow down and explain things like you used to. Among the plot points that I found confusing on first viewing: What is the box that the Doctor waves around at Rose after he rescues her? (I didn't realize it was a bomb until I read a review after having watched it twice! Nor did I catch his mention of the transmitter on the roof of the store until the third viewing.) What is it that Rose picks up on the floor in front of the cat-flap? (It looks like a nail, which I guess means that Rose was wrong that Jackie hadn't nailed it shut, and Jackie's feeble protest was in fact true. But how did the nail get there? Did it just come off with the Doctor's examination, or did the Auton arm somehow pull it out to get back in? This may answer my following question, which was: where did the arm come from, seeing as how we last saw it being dumped into a trashcan?) What's the whole deal with Auton-Mickey's head? (It's rushed through so quickly that I didn't realize until the second viewing that the Doctor had almost traced the Nestene signal when the head melted, hence the TARDIS not quite landing in their base.) And there's some background information that would have made the plot seem a little less superficial: How did this Nestene invasion begin, and how did they manufacture the Autons? But I like the new glossy style a lot; it just needs a slightly more relaxed pace. At the very least, it's interesting and fun.
The music is overall great; I really, really like the music at the beginning (especially when Rose steps off the bus, and the way it cuts out the moment the elevator reaches the basement), when Rose first enters the TARDIS, and as she and the Doctor run toward the London Eye. However, it definitely borders on intrusive at times, notably during the scene in which the Autons chase the Doctor and Rose back to the elevator. The "funny" music when the cork hits Auton-Mickey in the forehead is also eye-rollingly bad, simply because that scene is already so campy, it didn't need the music to point out that we're supposed to laugh. Sometimes it even obscures the dialogue, which is never a good thing (although I think part of this is also due to the rapid pace and quick cuts).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given how much the series has to accomplish in this first episode, the plot is rather light. Basically, the Nestenes begin to animate Autons locally, then they realize the Doctor is trying to destroy them, and they attack the world; fortunately, the Doctor just happens to have an antidote whipped up, and Rose delivers the killing blow that saves the Earth. That's about all there is to it - as I mentioned, even the monsters get relatively short shrift. It does reinforce my feeling that an hour is just too short for Doctor Who - with more time, we could have gotten more background, more explanations, a more detailed plot and more cool Auton monsters. But for what it is, I think it works pretty well. I don't even mind the silly "anti-plastic" ending, because of the way the story is structured - we just missed out on the first half in which the Doctor tracks down an anomaly, discovers the Nestenes and develops the anti-plastic. Instead, we come into the story halfway, which is actually the very best way to introduce Rose, who gets immediately threatened by the newly-activated scary monsters and drawn right into the middle of the action. And while it may not be heavy on plot, it has got a lot of character development for both the Doctor and Rose - which is the entire purpose of the episode, anyway - and it radiates confidence and likeability.
Minor points:
Doctor: "That makes sense. Well done."
Just the right mixture of amused and patronizing. And I love the way he waggles the bomb at Rose when he says:
Doctor: "Run for your life!"
Jackie: (on the phone) "Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old Bible."
Followed closely by what is not, but might as well be for all Jackie knows, a massive exaggeration:
Jackie: "She was within seconds of death!"
Jackie: "Ariella got two thousand quid off the council just 'cause the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek... I know she is Greek, but that's not the point."
Doctor: (looking at tabloid article) "That won't last. He's gay and she's an alien."
Rose: "You know, I don't even know your name. Doctor - what was it?"
Rose: "Yeah, but, Doctor what?"
Doctor: "Just the Doctor."
Rose: "The Doctor."
Doctor: (waves and beams) "Hello!"
Doctor: "Now forget me, Rose Tyler." (waves Auton arm at her) "Go home."
Mickey: "Don't read my e-mails!"
Rose: "If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the north?"
Doctor: "Lots of planets have a north!"
Followed immediately by this wonderful delivery by Eccleston:
Rose: "What's a... police public call box?"
Doctor: "It's a telephone box, from the 1950s. It's a disguise!"
Doctor: "I couldn't save your world, I couldn't save any of them!"
Rose: "Thanks."
Mickey: "Thanks for what?"
Rose: "Exactly."
Is she trying to tell Mickey that he's absolutely useless? Not that I'd argue the point, but...
So, there we have it. The first new Who in almost a decade. It was fun, exciting and entertaining, with variable acting and dodgy effects and a somewhat simplistic childlike approach. And I find that extremely comforting. On one level, I would have loved it if Doctor Who in 2005 was completely polished with nary a problem to be seen, but - and I know it's kind of silly to say this - maybe then it wouldn't have felt quite like Doctor Who. As it stands, it feels almost exactly right. And even though I may not adore everything about this story, I do adore it for that. And I can't wait to see what happens next.