You lot?

Just watched the pilot of the new Dr Who. Very strange. I was pretty excited after reading some of the buzz about it, however it’s not that great – sorry folks.

The basic plot revolves around a plastic based race of bad special effects taking over the world, well, London anyway in classic Anglo-centric Dr Who style. Had some good moments but it reeks of BBC low budget Sci Fi without the innocence of the old days low budget BBC sci fi when at least they had an excuse. Why is it that you give someone at the Beeb a special effects budget just so they can waste it on re-designing a perfectly good logo to look better suited for a dodgy chain store? And since when does the Tardis interior need re-decorating? Argh!

On the plus side the script has some great moments and Christopher Eccleston, an inspired choice that I’m sure Orbital is ecstatic about, plays a great, if slightly grating, mix of chirpy northerner (“Many planets have a north”) and psycho alien action hero. His intensity saves the show as well as the world. Billie Piper was also quite entertaining in her role as shop girl with no prospects who decides to run away from her life with a bloke she just met. Sounds like a usual night down any English pub to me.

Still, it’s good to know that Tom Baker, the best Doctor ever, still pulls in some regular money for voice overs on the awesome Little Britain. Now those guys would make great aliens…