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Doctor Who reviews

A new season of Doctor Who kicked off in the UK and US on the weekend with a somewhat baffling episode. Minor Spoilers.

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MINOR SPOILERS: A new season of Doctor Who kicked off in the UK on the weekend with 6.5 million viewers, down from the 8 million recorded for Matt Smith’s debut in April 2010.

“The Impossible Astronaut” has also aired in the US.

It will premiere in Australia at 7:30pm this Saturday on ABC1.

Here are what the Reviews have said.

Digital Spy said:
All in all, this is a fantastic launch for the sixth series of Doctor Who. The only obvious criticism is that this instalment and the one that follows could prove too confusing and too frightening for kids, but perhaps we’re just underestimating the show’s young fans? Time will tell, as it always does, but ultimately the fact that a show that’s been running on-and-off for almost 50 years can still subvert expectations, and produce something as simultaneously shocking and thrilling as ‘The Impossible Astronaut’, is something for the Who team to be proud of.

The Telegraph (I) said:
The central problem, however, is that while the Nixon references were wonderful (edit) and the jokes sparkling, many of the elements felt not just frenzied, but familiar. It’s one thing to refer to previous episodes, but Moffat recycled a host of tropes and tricks from his own work on the series: sinister phone calls from childish voices, chilling figures clad in opaque spacesuits, even monsters that you can’t look away from, lest something bad happens. It could be, given Moffat’s stellar record on both Doctor Who and Sherlock, that this was entirely deliberate, and will pay off later. But stir in the brain-melting time-travel paradoxes and multitude of dangling plot threads, and this felt like a writer stirring everything into the pot, and damn the need for exposition. The result was an episode that rewarded the dedicated fan but could leave the younger or casual viewer baffled.

The Telegraph (II) said:
Moffat clearly loves the way Doctor who can play around with concepts of time, and this episode was one which dealt in a mature manner with this, aided by some fizzing dialogue as the episode progressed; this was quite a wordy episode which concentrated more on atmosphere than pace and visual thrills.

LA Times said:
What “Doctor Who” gives us, that so much science fiction does not nowadays with its pathological analysis of heroism, are romantic mad adventurers, not without their moments of doubt and pain but having a good time in between: The series conducts its serious business with a good deal of comedy. (These opening episodes are very funny, even by local standards.) That’s not to say the darkness doesn’t get in, within and without them; indeed, stories have gone repeatedly to the brink of nothingness — the extermination of the Earth, the unweaving of reality.

The Mirror said:
Saturday night, BBC1… and Doctor Who storms back with the first of a two-part ­adventure called The Impossible Astronaut. As in impossible to understand……..A twitchy whirl of studied eccentricity, Matt Smith remains a derivative Doctor who brings nothing new to the party. And this ball of all-round confusion was no way to start a series. But I’m guessing the second instalment will end with the sonic screwdriver guy saving the world with seconds to spare. Again.

16 Responses

  1. @Alec, Haven’t you read the reviews on this episode??

    Why have so many people seen the ep already? ABC, 1 wk is too late as it pops up on the net as soon as it’s broadcasted in the uk

  4. Just watched…awesome start to the series (hmm strange so many aussie’s have already seen? What’s up with that???).
    I’m beginning to suspect Ben is actually a bitter Russel T Davies using an alias.

  5. Ben, you are laughable … what a sad little man!
    As for the episode … it was a bit confusing, so much detail that will not make sense until later, i assume. Very much aimed at making the Americans feel important to the show I feel.

  9. dont go dissing on ben. He has a right to his oppinion and i agree with him. It is the same predictible rubbish recycled over and over again fooling the audience into thinking its something new and ground breaking. I have seen doctor who (got all season 1 to 5 on dvd) but it has become old and stail latly. :/

  10. Don’t feed Ben the troll. Having said that, if would be a difference if “Ben” and probably his innumerable screen names actually contributed reasoned comment, but it appears his only role is to troll- so +1 to Anthony.

    I would be more interested in asking people if even the one week difference still makes a difference? Now that the US is on par with the UK, it makes it even harder to keep away from being spoiled- I have even had one Facebook friend spoil the scene [you refer to Scooter ] on his news feed.

    The other thing I am going to be very interested in is the ratings. It’s been discussed that the reason why the ABC scheduled Doctor Who on Saturday was to keep it away from Masterchef– an effect that I suspect will not be present in the Northern Spring, when the second half of the Doctor Who season will be broadcast. A whole bunch of effects start to gather: the ABC can’t broadcast Doctor Who ahead of the BBC, but the ABC knows that people will be downloading episodes if there appears to be too much a gap between when the BBC broadcasts episodes and the ABC broadcasts those same episodes. Will the ABC be tempted to return to the Sunday timeslot for the second half of the season, and broadcast a day after the UK? I suspect that a lot will have to do with the programming of other TV shows as well as having the opportunity to broadcast the episodes themselves- and whether the new season rates as well as it did last year on Sundays.

    The last thing I wonder is why the ABC is repeating the Saturday episode on Sunday afternoon…?

  12. Ben,
    I find a comment an insult that the show is for simple people.
    I know a lot of people who enjoy who are not simple people.
    Lawyers, medical people , accountants, managers, professional people – are these simple people ? I think not. I am not a simple person either.

    David- maybe it is time to ban these people like Ben
    What are the shows you like Ben ?

    Regards

    Anthony

  13. @Ben

    Isn’t that what you are?? Predictable panto rubbish made *from* simple people. All you do is come here and do your bashing of the show. You haven’t even watched it.

  14. It was a very good ep, but I’m led to believe that the key dramatic moment from this ep, those who have seen it will know the moment I’m talking about, will pay off in ep 13. But with the break in this series that wont be till October so it’s a long wait. I do agree with the review about this series being more for the long term viewer and less for the casual viewer which is one thing I do miss from the RTD eps.
    And gee @Ben, you talk about predicable, look at you jumping on here and having a go at anything at all to do with even the mention of Dr Who! Have you even ever watched the show? I only ever seem to see comments from you when it’s you letting us know that you hate Dr Who! Watch! I get it’s not everyone’s idea of entertainment but you watch a full ep with an open mind then I’ll happy take your comments on board!

  16. I liked the first episode, ys it was some what confusing but that’s par for the course with Doctor Who, they start out with a lot of questions but unlike most other shows you actually get answers either at the end of the ep (or in this case next weeks) or the end of the season when the big season long mystery is reveled. Now the only problem this year is they are splitting the season. We get 7 eps now and the rest in September, thats a long wait to find out what happens. But I’m up for the trip!

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