Look! Who’s on DVD!

by Junky May 30, 2006

The biggest hit show on BBC is coming to DVD and it’s worth a look…

This new update of the classic series stars Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor, the last surviving Time Lord who travels the omiverse in a phone booth called the Tardis. He befriends a young British girl names Rose (Billie Piper) who accompanies him on his journeys through time and space. Sure, it’s a BBC series with modest special effects, but this series, which has been airing on the Sci Fi channel, is one of my favorite new shows of the year.

Though the British approach to Sci Fi is a little more wry than American attempts, it’s part of the charm — Eccleston portrays The Doctor with a dry wit and childish enthusiasm.

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Piper plays Rose as a modern-day everywoman who stumbles into a world of fascination and adventure that is not without very real and dangerous pitfalls.

Though some of the science fiction is explained away with techno-speak (a Star Trek staple) and convenient solutions, the show is not without true invention. The characters are charming and memorable, and the situations are unique, interesting and above all, fun — it’s got the feel of classic Twilight Zone or Star Trek, with modern wit and character. A must-see.

If you only watch a few episodes, be sure to catch the comedic, Hitchhikers’ Guide-esque visit to the end of the Earth, The Doctor’s confrontation with the last, living Dalek (his sworn enemies, and famous for the EXTERMINATE! motto), plus a wonderful time-travel episode in which (like Captain Kirk and Marty McFly) Rose damages the space-time continuim by saving her father from an oncoming car, when he was supposed to have died.