Snapshot Chronicles

Susan Getgood's personal blog

SciFi Sunday: Initial thoughts on Doctor Number Eleven

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The Doctor is back.

Or rather, the 11th Doctor is here. With a new face and a new logo.

The first episode of the new series, “The Eleventh Hour,” aired Saturday night on BBC America at 9pm. It was preceded by an hour-long special that recapped the Doctor’s history, mostly focusing on recent Doctors Nine (Christopher Eccleston) and Ten (David Tennant).

I’ve been watching Doctor Who since I was my son’s age, and have liked some “regenerations” better than others. I loved Christopher Eccleston’s portrayal. On the other hand,  David Tennant’s Doctor was more like “Doctor Who Cares” for me, although I did try to watch whenever John Simm was on as The Master and loved the Doctor-lite episode “Blink” that introduced some of the scariest villains ever in the franchise, the Weeping Angels. Who will be back in two episodes this season.

Initial verdict on Number Eleven, Matt Smith: Very promising. I think I am going to enjoy his Doctor very much. He has the same edge that Eccleston’s Number Nine had. The new companion, Amy Pond, portrayed by actress Karen Gillan, also looks to be a very promising character, and the way they introduced her was excellent. It framed her character, and relationship with the Doctor, while simultaneously reminding us of the vagaries of time travel.

There’s also a nice nod toward the end of the episode to all the previous regenerations.

Doctor Who airs on BBC America at 9pm on Saturday night. We are two episodes behind the UK, so if you want a peek ahead, visit the BBC UK site.

More Clips from BBC America Site

“The Eleventh Hour”

“The Beast Below”

Firefly Fan Girl Squee

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Sneak Peek clip from ABC-TV.

Monday’s episode of Nathan Fillion’s ABC-TV series Castle has the best Firefly fan girl (or boy) squee moment since Adam Baldwin’s rendition of Jaynestown (an easter egg on the Firefly DVDs):

Plus there’s a serious side dish of Buffy-love. All within the first few minutes, so if you don’t want to watch the whole show, you don’t have to, although I highly recommend it. And FYI, the sneak peek clip at the top of this post is NOT the best part.

Castle isn’t the most intellectually challenging crime drama. I can usually figure out “who done it” within the first few commercial breaks. What makes it such fun is the interplay among the characters, and I mean ALL the characters, including the small parts and guest stars. Castle is that rare beast, a true ensemble show.

The other benefit of the squee moment being at the start of the show? It is really easy to watch it over. And over. And over.

Like Firefly.

Eureka! It’s a good show.

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Just this year, we discovered the SyFy channel show, Eureka. It’s been on the air since 2006 but for whatever reason, we just hadn’t watched it, perhaps because it was on a weeknight, and our habit is Sci fi on Fridays.

But, desperate for something to watch last spring after all our favorite shows ended (for the season or for good, depending), we rented the first season from NetFlix. And quickly became hooked.

It’s not the best sci fi show I’ve ever watched. Farscape and Battlestar Galactica are more or less tied for that slot in my world view, for different reasons, with the original Star Trek getting honorable mention for nostalgic reasons. But it’s a good family science fiction show, and I like finding television that we all can enjoy.

Here are a few reasons why I like it:

The plots are always fantastic-strange, with some sort of mystery or conumdrum that needs to be solved, but they are also easy to follow. This makes the show accessible to kids my son’s age. Nothing loses the attention of a nine-year old like a convoluted plot. But it’s not dumbed down; they just keep things simple

While it is an adult show, it’s clear that the producers understand that they have a family audience; there’s no strong language and the youth characters are as well drawn as the adults.

The entire cast is excellent — even the smart house Sarah — but Colin Ferguson who plays the central character Sheriff Jack Carter, is absolutely terrific. Often cast in the role of straight man to the outlandish antics of the other characters, he can speak volumes with a wry look. I’m also particularly enjoying his romance with new character Tess Fontana, played by Jaime Ray Newman.

If you like a good sci fi mystery, I suggest you check it out, Fridays at 9pm on SyFy, with the previous week’s episode repeated at 8pm. There is an ongoing storyline, so it does help to watch in sequence, however, the episodes can be enjoyed stand-alone as well. If you’ve never watched, on September 4th, there will be a daylong marathon of viewers’ choice favorite episodes, with the final two new episodes airing on September 11th and 18th. The show has been renewed for a full fourth season.

BTW, I still think changing the network name from SciFi Channel to SyFy was a bonehead move.