Doctor Who:
The Complete First Series
(2 Entertain/BBC Region 2 PAL Five Disc Set)
(2005)
review by Blackgloves

'Doctor Who: The Complete First Series'. These words -- written on the "door-flap" opening of some rather lavish TARDIS-shaped packaging for this complete DVD set of Russell T Davies', 2005 re-imagining of the classic BBC Sci-Fi series -- seem like a disarmingly cavalier dismissal of thirty-odd years of television history! But, in this instance, I think we can forgive such apparently thoughtless insouciance. In truth, by the time of its cancellation in the early nineties, the original show had become a creative shadow of its former self: the fact that it had been forced to grind on with the same no-budget aesthetics -- which may have served it adequately enough since its inception, but were looking increasingly ridiculous in the modern tv age -- was one thing; but -- for me -- the departure in 1981 of Tom Baker (the fourth actor to play the role of the eponymous Doctor) had already sounded the death-knell long before Sylvestor McCoy's incarnation suffered the indignity of being machine-gunned to death on the steps of the TARDIS by a bunch of street hoods in Philip Segal's execrable movie version of the series -- imaginatively titled, Doctor Who: The Movie.

Obviously, everybody has their favourite doctor -- the one they grew up with -- but I think the malaise that befell the series went much deeper than just my subjective, nostalgic allegiance to one particular actor's portrayal (in fact, when I was very, very young, I had been equally fascinated with Jon Pertwee's foppish action-man interpretation of the role). Non of the post-Baker Doctors were ever able to make the character their own quite so thoroughly as Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee and Baker had been able to: Peter Davison made a valiant attempt -- his Doctor was very different from Baker's ... but he was also very, very boring and quite drippy! Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy seem like nice fellas -- but they were, to put it bluntly, shite Baker was so shite he had to be forcibly evicted from the role and McCoy was only slightly less shite! Maybe this is controversial, but if your favourite Doctor is any of these three, go home now. You're not worth speaking to!

The Doctor had become an eccentrically-dressed, middle-aged, middle class patrician played by a succession of bland, curly haired Baker-lite clones (always with "post-modern" question marks sewn into their horrible, garish costumes -- subliminally signalling to the viewer not to expect anything too original with each continuation of a questionable costume design decision that first started in Baker's final season). With the release of the movie version, the series' long-suffering fans were treated to a thorough exercise in how to completely fuck-up the seemingly un-fuck-up-able: Paul McGann was blessed with a beautifully designed Edwardian costume (solidifying further, the now firmly entrenched notion that the Doctor must always be an overdressed, foppish, English "gent") but his romantic incarnation of the Doctor found himself buried under an avalanche of b-movie clichés and overblown Spielbergian theatrics; everything British that was good about the show seemed to be swamped by glossy, superficial, adventure-movie claptrap in a vain (and, as it turned out, unsuccessful) attempt to bring the show to American audiences (this was before American TV drama became the sophisticated item it is today). Rather than reviving one of the greatest shows of all time, the movie version damn-well near hammered the final fist-full-of-nails into its battered, much abused coffin!

Then, out of the blue, something completely unexpected happened: at some point in the last few years the then controller of BBC One, Lorraine Heggessey, and Jane Tranter, Controller of Drama Commissioning, had a meeting where they decided it might be feasible to have one last crack at bringing back the unstoppable Time Lord. When one of Britain's most acclaimed television writers, Russell T Davies, heard about the tentative plans, he allegedly had the contract he was currently negotiating with the BBC reorganised to make the new "Doctor Who" its number one priority. With Davies now the main writer, and also acting as an executive producer for the show, the chances of the project (overseen by BBC WALES) actually producing something worthwhile seemed to be considerably enhanced; the message that it was now being taken seriously by everyone involved came across loud and clear with the casting of Christopher Ecclestone in the role of the Doctor: a brilliant, serious British actor who, like many others, had been drawn to the show by the news of Russell T Davies' involvement.

Between them, Ecclestone's acting and Davies' clever writing managed to completely dispel the shadow of Tom Baker's mammoth influence on the show (probably, the march of time had also played a big part as well): from the moment Ecclestone's leather jacketed, northern-accented new incarnation grabs his companion, Rose Tyler's hand in the bowels of a London department store -- which is overrun by an old enemy, The Autons -- and shouts "RUN!", I completely believed that this was the Doctor! No more silly costumes, curly hair or middle-class manners -- Ecclestone's doctor looks like someone who can easily blend in with the crowds of a modern shopping-centre or walk down a high-street, arm-in-arm with Rose, without attracting any bewildered glances; but the "alien-ness" of the character still comes across in the form of the Doctor's occasional, uncomprehending insensitivity to human feelings and values.

The genius of the show Davies has created here, lies in its subtle fusion of the old, time-honoured essentials of the original "Doctor Who" -- from Ron Grainer's iconic theme music to the sound that the TARDIS makes as it (de)materialises, to the inclusion of iconic monsters from its past like the DALEKS -- with brand new dramatic priorities that have successfully expanded the audience for the show. The ultimate symbol of the show's successful combination of the old and the new is represented by the new TARDIS interior: the familiar circular console is still present, but the clinical, white control room is replaced by an organic-looking structure full of coral support struts, while the entire room is bathed in soft, sea-green glow.

There is a new, emotional centre to the programme this time, something that had never really existed previously; Sci-fi fans still love it, but so now do -- horror of horrors -- girls!! Davies and Ecclestone have made their Doctor the same beguiling, exciting presence with a mischievous sense of humour we have known before in his best incarnations, but now he also has a dark and painful past and some threatening character traits that aren't always attractive: Ecclestone's Doctor is not afraid to show anger, vindictiveness, jealousy or arrogance; but he is no longer allowed the patronising sexism that sometimes unwittingly crept into the show in older versions made in less-enlightened times.

A lot of this is down to the Doctor choosing an assistant and companion who can be treated as an equal -- by him, yes, but most importantly, by the viewer! Attempts have been made to do this in the past, but who on earth ever found Ace convincing?! Rose Tyler will answer-back and question the Doctor's sometimes questionable decisions without ever coming across as an insufferable brat! In fact, Davies cleverly makes Rose Tyler the main focus of much of the series: in the first episode, "Rose", we are introduced to a likeable girl of above-average intelligence, but who is essentially an ordinary representative of her age group who longs for something more in her life than the predictable routines of modern living. Billie Piper used to be known as teenage purveyor of conveyer-belt pop in Britain, but has proven herself an extremely confident and able actor in this, her first high profile role. Which is fortunate indeed, since, even with the combined acumen of Russell T Davies and Christopher Eccleston behind the wheel, this new series could never have worked without someone capable of delivering a sympathetic performance in the pivotal role of Rose. She is the voice of, and point of identification for, the TV viewer who may never have heard of, or watched, the programme in its previous form, and may not necessarily normally enjoy sci-fi. Through her identifiable lifestyle, her realistic family situation and the amount of time Russell T Davies takes to make this all seem real and important, new, non-anorak, viewers have been gradually reeled in (as evidenced by the programme's fantastic viewing figures) -- it is Billie Piper's Rose and not flashy special effects or outrageous monsters that have made this series a huge success; I don't think it is too much of an exaggeration to say this!

Bored with life on a London Council Estate; her football-obsessed boyfriend, Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke); and her gobby mum, Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri), Rose is ripe to be charmed by a hyperactive stranger who claims to be a traveller in Time & Space! After enduring a series of this *Doctor's* favourite put-downs -- that run along the lines of dismissing the human race as "Stupid, hairless apes who seem to do nothing but sleep & eat beans-on-toast" ("He tends to insult species when under stress!" Rose explains to Space Pirate, Captain Jack Harkness [John Barrowman], later in the series) -- Rose finally earns the right to become the Doctor's new travelling companion when she saves him from certain death at the plastic hands of the Autons and the Nestene Consciousness that controls them.

Partly out of an insatiable need to show-off, and partly out of a strange craving for human company, the Doctor makes it his mission to enhance Rose's life by taking her to the ends of the Universe and back in pursuit of adventure, monsters, and life-or-death! In return, Rose, gives the Doctor a deeper understanding of the better aspects of humanity, companionship, and *gulp* love! Although, it's a Saturday evening teatime form of love -- obviously! -- that doesn't involve any exchange of intimate body fluids! This is still a kids programme at the end of the day, even if there are a few Simpsons-style "adult" jokes for the grown-ups included!

This is important because the Doctor is a much more tortured figure than we have known before. The key to this darker side lies in the fate of the Doctor's people, The Time Lords, and the Doctor's own role in their destruction. Yes! The Time Lords and the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey, are no-more! Destroyed in a fight to the death known as "The Time Wars" with their most determined and dangerous enemy, the DALEKS! Now, alone in the Universe, the Doctor is drawn to his second home, Earth, and spends most of his time patrolling its history looking for and policing anomalies in its time line. This back story allows Ecclestone to display a greater emotional range than previous actors who have played the character may have been allowed, but it also allows Davies to maintain a certain amount of continuity between episodes even though most of them ostensibly stand alone as single, forty-five minute adventures.

This change in format is, perhaps, one of the most immediately noticeable differences between this series and the old; but anyone who watches the whole series will notice that the Doctor's Earth-centric tendencies mean that the same locations in-and-around the planet crop-up again and again throughout the episodes: the space station, Satellite 5 in Episode 7: "The Long Game", is also The Game Station in Episode 12: "Bad Wolf", one-hundred years later. The time rift near the funeral parlour, that allows the gaseous life-form known as The Gelth to possess the dead in Victorian Cardiff (Episode 3: "The Unquiet Dead"), is also the site of the present-day Cardiff Power Station that threatens to destroy the planet in Episode 11: "Boom Town". While, the Albion Hospital where the Doctor discovers a fake alien corpse in contemporary London (episodes 4 & 5: "Aliens of London" & "World War Three") also houses the victims of a mysterious zombie plague in War-torn London in Episodes 9 & 10: "The Empty Child" & " The Doctor Dances". Besides this device, an overarching story line which hinges on the phrase "Bad Wolf", also plays a role: these words crop-up all over the place throughout the series and are a clue to a grand alien conspiracy which comes to a head in the final, epic episode.

This constant infatuation with Earth also allows Davies to keep Rose's family in the loop as semi regular characters, and address issues that have always been glossed-over -- or ignored completely -- in the past. The Doctor's previous assistants seemed to display little concern or comprehension that their loved-ones might be just a-little distressed by their unexplained disappearance while they went gallivanting across the Universe! In this series, part of the new emotional realism that Davies has brought to the writing means the examination of the consequences for Rose's family of her "travelling" with a much older man who no-one seems to know anything about!

This is dealt with very effectively when Rose returns home after a number of adventures in the TARDIS, only to find that the Doctor has got his calculations wrong and that she has been missing for over a year rather than the twelve days the Doctor had intended to bring her back after! Naturally, in the meantime, Rose's hapless boyfriend, Mickey, is suspected of Rose's murder by everyone else on the estate (particularly Rose's mum) and has become obsessed with finding out about the mysterious Doctor on the internet, in order to clear his name. The transformation of the laddish, football-loving Mickey into a bedroom-bound, Doctor Who-obsessed internet geek is a nice joke of course; while Jackie Tyler's pain at losing her daughter to the beguiling Time Traveller is a clear but effective metaphor for the process of letting go of ones offspring and accepting that they've grown up. Which is not to say that Rose ever forgets about her family while she is away having these dangerous adventures: the Doctor tampers with Rose's mobile phone, allowing it to make calls home from any time-period and, as they have more interaction with the Doctor (and all sorts of less friendly aliens) throughout the series, Jackie and Mickey become more a part of Rose's new life and sometimes even save the day when everyone else is incapacitated.

Russell T Davies has written a Doctor with a razor-sharp tongue and a mercurial nature which sees him able to switch from jovial to a deadly serious outlook in an instant; but he is also frequently compromised by a much more fundamentally ambivalent nature that asks one to question whether he is really any better than some of the alien creatures he battles against. Mainly though, the Doctor represents the values of pluralism and a sort of intergalactic multiculturalism: he will usually react with excitement and delight when encountering some weird and bizarre alien custom or species (and sometimes with a surprising flirtatious-ness as well) although even this leads to the occasional conflict or ethical quandary for Rose when, for example, the Doctor suggests that the Gelph (in episode Three) should use human corpses to survive in Victorian England! It is hard for the Doctor to understand why this should cause so much consternation among humans, since it is a perfectly logical solution to the problem as far as he is concerned!

Besides exploring more fully, themes that have always remained latent in the show's older incarnation, Davies does dabble in a spot of satire on contemporary mores from time-to-time: the justification for the war in Iraq; a certain Australian media baron's control of major news sources; and the dominance of "reality" television -- all inform many of the story-lines (at least of Russell T Davies' scripts -- the other writers tend not to be so topical). It is a fairly left wing agenda of course, but the tone is just light enough for the message to come across without it appearing didactic or too hectoring -- and it is also always laced with very light but knowing sense of humour. The episodes, "The Aliens of London" and "World War Three" are obviously both inspired by a left wing spin on Britain and the US's use of faulty intelligence information to justify the invasion of Iraq -- in that the alien family, the Slitheen, seem to have based their entire plot for taking-over the Earth on a left wing reading of current US foreign policy! But, in-case anyone should get too carried away with the satirical dimension of all this, the episodes are lightened by the fact that the Slitheen look like giant Tele-tubbies whose efforts to fit into their human skin-suits in order to pass themselves off as high-ranking Government and Military personal, requires a "gas exchange" which causes them to fart prodigiously (leading to one of Chris Ecclestone's best one-liners as the Doctor: "Excuse me! Do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?")!

The same goes for the episode "Bad Wolf", which concerns the entire population of the Earth being subjugated by the DALEKS through the use of a lethal, mind-numbing form of reality television! After he escapes from the Big Brother house (or one of ten floors of "Big Brother" all being beamed down to Earth simultaneously!), the Doctor is just about to deliver a rather predictable anti-reality TV diatribe: "Half the world too fat and half the world too thin, and you lot just sit around watching television!" When he is suddenly reminded of one of his own favourite programmes: "Mind you ... do they still have the one where a bunch of people have to live with a bear? What was it called? 'Bear With Me'! D'you remember the Celebrity version, where the bear got into the bath!" The episode takes its satire to the edge of ridiculousness but is saved by the fact that it doesn't take its "message" that seriously!

Although the credit for reinventing "Doctor Who" deservedly goes to Russell T Davies, several other writers have also contributed to the new series. Strangely, although Davies' writing has brought a new wittiness and emotional strength to the show -- as well as a determination to escape the predictable patterns a thirty-year-old series might easily fall into -- it is the other writers who often seem to get the best story-lines! An episode like "The End of the World" may be spectacular and full of wonderful character moments, as well as providing a magnificent showcase for the new CGI special effects, but the actual story is rather slight; the same goes for "The Long Game", which provides a nice role for Simon Pegg as a villain, but is really just set-up for the last two episodes of the series.

In fact, two of the best story-lines belong to two of the other writers on the series: "Father's Day" (Paul Cornell) and "The Unquiet Dead" (Mark Gatiss). Probably because Mark Gatiss, Paul Cornell, Robert Shearman and Steven Moffat have all longed for the moment when they would finally get to write for "Doctor Who", they've managed to come up with some fantastic ideas for their episodes which one can imagine them having hoarded away for years: Robert Shearman gets to reintroduce the DALEKS, but does so in an unexpectedly moving manner when the last remaining Time Lord is confronted with the last DALEK, which is being held prisoner in a secret underground facility in Utar; "Coupling" writer Steven Moffat brings off a haunting two-parter set in 1941 during the London Blitz, which also introduces a new, semi regular assistant to the series: a bisexual space criminal called Captain Jack! Paul Cornell's "Father's Day" is one of the most emotional episodes of "Doctor Who" I can remember seeing in a long time, as Rose gets to meet her father for the first time on the day of his death in 1987.

My favourite episode though (and everyone who has written about this show seems to have a different favourite, so this is no slur on the rest of the series), is "The Unquiet Dead", written by The League of Gentleman's Mark Gatiss. Set primarily in a Victorian funeral parlour in a snowy, sepia-tinted Cardiff of 1869, Gatiss teams-up the Doctor and Rose with Charles Dickens (a fine performance by Simon Callow) and delivers a rich, ghostly tale of gas-lit macabre which, throughout, reminds one of the League's penchant for classic British horror influences and the textured ghost stories of M.R. James. A quasi-scientific, Quatermass-like explanation of supernatural phenomena forms the heart of the story (here, ghost sightings are explained as being caused by a race of gaseous aliens called the Gelph, who are trying to cross into our dimension through a rift in Time & Space), but Dickens is written as a fully fleshed-out and very believable character, as are secondary characters such as the lugubrious funeral director trying to stop the "stiffs" in his care from walking about, and his psychic young maid who helps the Doctor contact the Gelph through a Victorian seance. For my money this, and Part One of Moffat's story, "The Empty Child", are the scariest episodes of the entire series; they certainly feature a strong horror content that must have been absolutely terrifying to younger children -- which is all good & proper and exactly as it should be, of course!

With the show now finally getting a decent budget, expensive special effects have now become an option, but the team behind this series have avoided the trap that the movie version fell into of relying completely on showy, Hollywood CGI effects: the special effects are simply the icing on the cake really; and although they may not be as up-to-the minute as blockbusters like "The Lord of the Rings", they are good enough to catapult the show out of its homely, cardboard-sets-and-ropey-monsters reputation without overwhelming the character-driven dynamics that really are crucial to its success. Can this really be called the first series then, despite the concept's long and distinguished history? Yes, I think it can -- this is still inescapably "Doctor Who", but the breadth of imagination and scope of ambition on display here puts it in another bracket completely. Most definitely the TV event of the year, the show has taken the British public by storm and has succeeded completely in broadening the show's appeal to include anyone who enjoys exciting, well-written, well-made TV. This is Series One of "Doctor Who"!

*****

The new DVD boxed set will have undoubtedly materialised in a few Christmas stockings this year -- and will have also made a hefty dent in a lot of parents' wallets thanks to its ludicrous retail price of £70 (I found it for £40 online, but that is still a lot for one box set!)! This set is mainly for the hard-core fans, since the series can also be purchased in four, cheaply-priced volumes with no extras of any kind. This set, on the other-hand, is absolutely crammed with extra goodies that will have "Who" fans in ecstasy! First of all, all the episodes have been re-mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound and come with subtitles for the hard-of-hearing and audio descriptions for the short-sighted! All thirteen episodes feature commentary tracks by a variety of cast and crew members and all of the new writers get to take part in commentaries for each of their respective episodes, while Russell T. Davies contributes to two of his. Most of these strike a good balance between the anecdotal and giving information on the various productions, although director Keith Boak gives a fairly good lesson in how not to conduct a commentary when he spends near-enough the first half of his track for "The Long Game", simply describing what is happening on screen! Russell T Davies is definitely the most enthusiastic and loquacious contributor (and also the most forward in talking about the things that he didn't like about the finished product but which couldn't be corrected because of time constraints). Christopher Ecclestone is notable by his absence.

The thirteen episodes of the series are spread over four of the five discs and each one of these also contain a number of featurettes, of varying lengths, that examine various aspects of the episodes that feature on that particular disc. The first disc gets the lions share of these: the first item is a ten minute interview with Christopher Ecclestone (taken from BBC Breakfast) and is the actor's sole contribution to these extras (besides some behind-the-scenes video footage taken by other actors). Recorded to promote the first episode, Ecclestone is already signalling that he probably won't be coming back for a second run; he skirts around the question when asked directly by the interviewer: probably thinking he might harm the series' prospects by admitting that he never had any intention of signing on for more than one series, Ecclestone simply looks slightly uncomfortable and deflects the inquiry!

"Destroying the Lair" is a short piece about the combination of computer effects, modelling and location work required for the climax of the first episode.

"Making Doctor Who - With Russell T Davies" — the first of several video diary pieces, this one is shot by producer, Julie Gardner and follows the seemingly chaotic preparations for the first shooting block, while Davies attempts to finish writing the scripts for the second half of the series' run. This video may not give you that much insight, but it certainly documents the huge excitement and commitment among everyone involved in getting the show off the ground.

"Waking the Dead - Mark Gatiss Video Diary": Probably the best of these video features, this self-shot piece of video has Gatiss chronicling the writing of his episode from the moment he is commissioned for the job, to the Saturday evening when he finally gets to sit down in front of the TV and watch his episode being aired! We get to see Gatiss' ideas develope and metamorphise as he documents each turning point in the writing process -- including all the impasses he encounters as he tries to lick his concept into shape. My favourite extra on the whole box set!

"Laying Ghosts - The Origins of The Unquiet Dead": A filmed interview with Mark Gatiss in-which he discusses his episode in more depth. Gatiss' episode seems to get more coverage than anyone else's, maybe vindicating my contention that it makes for the finest instalment of the whole series.

Disc Two has two featurettes: "Deconstructing Big Ben" is another behind-the-scenes look at the combination of CGI and model work required to crash an alien space craft into Big Ben in episode four. The second is another video diary piece: "On Set With Billie Piper" has the actress capturing some behind-the-scenes ambience during the making of various episodes.

Disc Three features a short, five minute piece on the Barrage Balloon sequence from the WW2-set episode 9, "Mike Tucker's Mocks of Balloons".

Disc Four has a twenty-minute featurette called "Designing Doctor Who", which examines the work of everyone involved in the production and set design for the show, and, "The Adventures of Captain Jack" -- a ten minute interview with actor, John Barrowman who plays Captain Jack Harkness: a swashbuckling criminal-turned-hero who joins the Doctor and Rose on their travels towards the latter part of the series.

Three of these discs also feature all of the trailers used by the BBC in the publicity campaign for the show and all these special features come with removable subtitles for the hard-of-hearing.

This little lot would be more than enough to earn the set 5 skulls for extras, but the committed Who fan is also treated to a whole fifth disc of bonus features which takes the form of edited-down editions of the 13 part documentary series, "Doctor Who Confidential" which aired on BBC Three on Saturday evenings, immediately after each episode of the show had been shown on BBC One. This series takes various themes of the show, such as the Doctor's companions, or the concept of the TARDIS, as a springboard for looking at the making of each episode of the new series. These episodes were originally about half-an-hour long each, but they have been edited down into thirteen segments of roughly twelve minutes duration. The missing material tends to be everything that relates to the previous series: clips and interviews with past Doctors and his assistants seem to have gone by the wayside, unfortunately. What we do have though are extensive interviews with just about everyone involved with the brand new series including Christopher Eccleston. Each segment is narrated by Simon Pegg and the whole lot plays for two hours & forty six minutes!

The last of these segments is a previously un-aired edition which looks at the making of the Christmas Special (eventually shown on Christmas Day 2005) which introduces the new Doctor, played by David Tennant. It's a shame that Christopher Eccleston didn't want to stay on for another season and develop the characterisation he had so successfully created, but if the hour-long special (a much more satisfactory episode length than the forty minutes the ordinary episodes run for) is anything to go by, David Tennant's incarnation should be equally as exciting -- and the forthcoming series looks like being even more spectacular and emotional than ever before!

"Doctor Who" looks like it is back to stay for a long while yet. This box set is a must-own document of the return of must-see Saturday evening television. Superlative!