The Doctor

The new Doctor Who is terricially enjoyable. The series has done quite well in the UK, and kicked off a debut in the States last night. I've never been a fan really, other than laughing at the guys on Whose Line is it Anyway? mocking the lame effects and "aliens" with swim fins on their heads.

On a whim I Tivoed the new Doctor. And I really dig it. Sure, the first episode has some lame effects, but they're fogivable. The good stuff comes in the satire and adventure.

For those who came in late: Doctor Who essentially polices time attmepting to divert disaster on a planetary scale. Sure sure, I hear the Amys and Susans guffawing and see the head shakes, but really, Gilmore Girls is drama on a smaller scale. Rose is a young girl with a lame job, an okay boyfriend, and a mum who thinks she could do a little better. One day at work she gets attacked by an army of plastic people (yeah, the metaphors are always kinda blatant, this time it's all comsumerism is bad). Rose is backed in a corner, about to bite it, and a leather-jacket clad man grabs her hand.

The guy tells her to forget anything that happened and get out of the building as it's about to blow up and he's the guy setting off the explosive, thank you very much.

Rose leaves but can't deny her taste of adventure. She does some sluething, and finds out this guy, "The Doctor," has been photographed at key moments of the human experience.

That's about the first half hour. The new Doctor is cynical, take-charge, and not nearly as goofy-looking as some of the past Doctors. He's the problem-solver who's not above setting it up to watch you die. He's hardened enough to see murder as an option.

Not to paint the series as "serious," far from it. Doctor Who has plenty of light moments in dialouge and set pieces. The second episode sees The Doctor and Rose going to the day the sun will explode and incinerate the Earth. Doc tells Rose he can make it so she can phone her mom in the past. Rose's mum is on a typical Wednesday and thinks Rose might be hung over. She hangs up her phone, and realizes her mom is dead. The Doctor tells her if she wants to be sad imagine the bill for that call. One of the emissary's on board brings the gift of an "iPod" which is in turn a 50's style jukebox that plays "Tainted Love."

Five billion years in the future sees some evolution and new species, and the leadership has front row seats for the end of the Earth. There's a huge race-motivated murder attempt that The Doctor finds himself drug into. At the end of the world.

There's a somewhat downbeat ending about how we take it all for granted, and like everything else the sky will end. We take it for granted, and one day it will end.

I happen to like fun, smart sci-fi, and the new Doctor Who seems to be pretty decent. There's much worse stuff to watch while getting over a cold.