Retro Nuvian

[jimhenley]

To the possible dismay of certain "Docnards" of my acquaintance, I've begun re-watching the Eccleston season of Nu Who. (This included watching the one where Gwen blows up for the first time, as I missed it contemporaneously.) I'm through Ep Five now, the conclusion of the Slitheen two-parter. Some thoughts

Comments

[agrumer]

Wow, Nine could be an asshole!

That was one of the things I liked about him. Still, the first ep didn't impress me all that much even on the first viewing.

Looking back over the episodes, I think the one that really got my attention was "Boom Town", late in the season. And the scene of Rose suspended from balloons in the middle of an air raid, from the WW2 two-parter, just for the shock of seeing a Doctor Who episode with competent art direction. I may have seen those out of order.

[mcroft]

Nestene Mickey bugged me. It wasn't just cheesiness, it was Velveeta. It was Sarah Jane Adventures level of Velveeta.

[jimhenley]

The only way I could assimilate (excuse) it was to treate Nestene Mickey's physical appearance as a kind of visual solilioquy - it's his visage breaking the Fourth Wall rather than his speech. That is, I figure that "He looks like this to me, but not to the other people in the scene." Otherwise it makes Rose a flipping moron for not noticing.

[agrumer]

Oh, and speaking of Eccleston, have you seen Alex Cox's Revenger's Tragedy?

[jimhenley]

I hain't, yet, no. I must, however. Yes.

[immlass]

I added that to my Netflix queue. Eccleston + Restoration = yes.

[immlass]

I'm not ready to revisit Nine yet, but I did feel at the time he had his charms, and after watching Ten(nant) more than wear out his welcome, I respect his decision to quit after one season more and more. I think the average tenure for an early era Doctor was three years--T.Baker spoiled us with seven--and while we could have gotten another year out of Eccleston, especially as he softened a bit around the edges, without harm, three years of his faults as I recall them would probably have been too much.

I'll be ready to revisit Nine long before I'm ready for more of Ten, especially the specials, some of which were really quite lame.