Doctor Who fans around the world waited for this day, and it did not disappoint — Sarah Jane Smith, probably the most favorite companion of the Doctor, returned to the TARDIS tonight. And it was wonderful.
I just finished watching the episode that aired tonight through the magic of the interweb; and this was the first time that Doctor Who made me cry. I won’t spoil it for you, since it is likely not to air in the U.S. for some time yet; suffice it to say that after being unceremoniously dumped back on Earth all those years ago, Sarah Jane has some unresolved issues… as does the Doctor. And for the first time, a current companion has an opportunity to speak to a former companion and compare notes, pondering the future after traveling the universe.
I like this new Doctor Who because of its emphasis on characters — it still has rather flimsy sci-fi plots that often don’t make much sense and rely on some silly deus ex machina to defeat the bad guy, but the continuing growth of the characters (including the Doctor) is something that was always lacking in the old series. In just 18 episodes, the new series has grown the characters more than the old one over nearly 30 years.
And the return of K-9? Icing on the cake, my friend.
I’m in Doctor Who fanboy heaven right now. And a little sniffly.
Yes, it is.
The first season focused a lot on a much darker Doctor than we’d ever seen before — understandable since they’d killed off his entire civilization.
It continues to get darker until the end of the season, although the two-parter coming up on SciFi has a great ending despite being REALLY scary and creepy.
Three episodes into the new season it seems to be a bit lighter, the new Doctor is more apt to joke around, but you can still see a streak of sadness in him and a lot of vengeance waiting to come out…
So is that Dr. a different incarnation than the Dr. we are seeing nw on Scifi in the US?
I have to say these episodes are all rather depressing.