The new Doctor Who is just so good. Series (season) 1's penultimate episode is rousing, perfectly realized, hilarious, and a pitch perfect critique of reality television- what I've been saying for years in fact. I can see why the British have taken so well to this new Doctor- it's the Doctor Who of their dreams: perfectly realized yet still endearingly overreaching, cerebral, modern yet thoroughly vintage, and a pefect distillation of the Who phenomenon. Billie Piper is the perfect Doctor's companion, Christopher Eccleston seems to capture the archetypal essense of the concept of the Doctor (it's a shame he left after the first series/season*), and producer Russell Davies has perfectly re-imagined/continued** the Doctor Who legacy for modern audiences. Did I mention that the bonus materials on the Doctor Who dvd's Chuck lent me were bountiful and informative?

I cannot wait for next week's conclusion.


* Early reports from the UK indicate that the new Doctor David Tennant is more than adequate in the currently running second series/season.

** Amazingly, it's still in continuity, going all the way back to the 1963 first episodes. The advantage of building your show around an immortal time and space travelling Time Lord who occasionally regenerates himself in totally different male guises thoughout his long history.