I'm Watching You..

Doctor Who - "Season Two", then.

Yes, I know its not really Season Two, but to a lot of people who never watched the show before, it is. And hey, if the BBC themselves call it that, who am I to argue?

That's one of the beauties of this show, though; you don't have to have had a 40 year history of the Doctor to follow what's going on, as they fill you in on any nods to the past, so the old fans can appreciate the reference and new fans don't feel left out.

I must admit to being somewhat of a new fan myself. I've watched the odd episode of Doctor Who before (well, quite a few episodes, actually) but I've never been an avid fan (I mean, Jesus, where do you start? "Hmm.. I think I'll try and track down the very early 60's episodes first - even the ones that were destroyed").

Anyway, THIS season marked the first run of the new Doctor (David Tennant) after the Christmas episode and... gotta say, as much as I liked him at first (and really didn't think I would, given how much I liked Christopher Eccelston), his over-egged performances have really begun to grate on me. Whereas first he could be seen as eccentric, now he's just downright irritating with his smug manner, stupid gurning and high pitched squawking. Also, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper's) character was once the building blocks of the entire show. Her believable, realistic performances kept the show grounded, but as the show progressed she became just as smug as the Doctor, and she went from being someone we wanted to have sex with to someone we wanted to smash her head off a wall (and then have sex with).

*SPOILER*

So, Season Two, then. Even though the writers are still apparently obsessed with London, it served up some superb slices of sci-fi. From the unashamed blub fest that was the reunion between Sarah Jane Smith and the Doctor (and K-9! Yaaaay!) (which was, for me, one of the best episodes) to the first look at the new Cybermen to the exciting carnage of the Season finale (regardless of embarrassing "banter" between the Daleks and the Cybermen), Doctor Who continued to be enjoyable, likeable and addictive television, leaps and bounds over any other mainstream, Saturday night television in the last ten years. It wasn't without its faults though; the Doctor's irritating traits and the utter, insulting hogwash that was the Peter Kay episode could have turned off viewers. But with Rose gone their overly chummy mannerisms are now gone, leaving hopefully a broken, alone Doctor instead of the doe-eyed, holding hands and hugging Doctor from this season.

So, onto Season three. First impressions aren't good, with Catherine Tate, the Official Unfunniest Women In Britain making a guest cameo as what appears to be a spoilt brat bride cliche. I really wish the writers would get away from this "let's get a guest star in that the idiot public will know." First Peter Kay - who was rubbish, and now her. Note to BBC - stop it. But I've seen the new assistant who will probably debut in the Christmas episode, and she looks mighty fine. Hopefully she'll be just that - an assistant. Not an equal, not a love interest - someone to ask questions, argue with the Doctor, get into trouble, get rescued - and look good doing it. We can but hope.

Till then, you just KNOW I'm going to be saving my pennies for the nice new Cybermen head boxset thing (pics, anyone?) And so should you, because, for its faults, Doctor Who is still very much worth it.