Visit the official Doctor Who website

Visit the official Doctor Who website
Look to the future

Asylum seekers...

Asylum seekers...
Refuge of the Daleks

Doctor Who picture resource

Doctor Who picture resource
Roam the space lanes!

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website
Step back in time

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
Armed and extremely dangerous

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures
Fearless in the face of adversity

Call on Dani’s House

Call on Dani’s House
Harmer’s a charmer

Intercept the UFO fabsite

Intercept the UFO fabsite
Defending the Earth against alien invaders!

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse
Programmable agent Echo exposed!

Hell’s belles

Hell’s belles
Naughty but nice

Love Exposure

Love Exposure
Flash photography!

Primeval portal

Primeval portal
Dressed to kill or damsels in distress?

Charmed, to be sure!

Charmed, to be sure!
The witches of San Francisco

Take on t.A.T.u.

Take on t.A.T.u.
All the way from Moscow

Proceed to the Luther website

Proceed to the Luther website
John and Jenny discuss their next move

DCI Banks is on the case

DCI Banks is on the case
You can bet on it!

On The Grid with Spooks

On The Grid with Spooks
Secret agents of Section D

Bridge to Hustle

Bridge to Hustle
Shady characters

Life on Ashes To Ashes

Life on Ashes To Ashes
Coppers with a chequered past

Claire’s no Exile

Claire’s no Exile
Goose steps

Vexed is back on the beat!

Vexed is back on the beat!
Mismatched DI Armstrong and bright fast-tracker Georgina Dixon

Medium, both super and natural

Medium, both super and natural
Open the door to your dreams

Who’s that girl? (350-picture Slideshow)

Monday 22 May 2006

Just the Doctor and Rose?


The TARDIS "family" seems to be very dysfunctional, in "Doctor Who", under the guidance of Russell T Davies! The departure of Mickey, at the end of "The Age of Steel", means that Rose has seen off no less then three male companions in the space of just twenty episodes, less if you take into consideration that the first of this triumvirate, Adam, only joined the crew at the end of "Dalek", last year's sixth episode. He was dumped a week later, in, for him, the inappropriately titled "The Long Game", and after Rose redeemed her Dad in "Father's Day", Captain Jack hopped on board in the tenth episode, "The Doctor Dances"!

Jack Harkness lasted all of another three weeks before being killed off, brought back to life, then left behind in the appropriately titled final episode of the first season, "The Parting of the Ways"! And now, last year's finale has essentially been remade, not just with the Cyber Controller replacing the Emperor Dalek in grandiosity, but by following the death of Ricky with his "rebirth" in Mickey and, this time, having the companion opting to stay behind after another similarly short stay aboard the Doctor's transcendental ship.

With a similar dynamic, I can think of only one other companion who has remained in the series through the successive terms of three other companions of the opposite sex and his name was Jamie. But at least Polly, Victoria and Zoe lasted, approximately, a whole season each, and in the Sixties a season meant a season! The programme was, virtually, on screen all year round. These days, you get the feeling we are being treated to bite-size companions, to go with our beloved chips! I have wondered if Russell wants to work through as many combinations as possible, as quickly as possible, in case it should all end tomorrow! The original, so-called "classic", series ran for twenty-six seasons. I know it's all relative but that really was playing "The Long Game"!

One of the interesting things about the recent two-part Cybermen story was an acknowledgement that the creatures had only been defeated in London. In previous "classic" adventures, it was always understood by the viewer that once victory over an enemy is attained, the triumph is worldwide. Presuming Cybus Industries are global, as we are told, surely the irony of the conclusion of "The Age of Steel" is that the signal from Rose's mobile phone would have disenabled the entire Cyber force. For once, there is the means to accomplish what was always assumed but it isn't acted upon, in favour of sending Mickey off, in his new role as freedom fighter, to Paris, for some unexplained reason, to have a go at the French Cybermen! Perhaps he was taken by his all-too-brief meeting with mistress Madame Reinette a couple of weeks ago!!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Ah, yes... well, I love Jeremy Brett. He would've been my favourite Doctor, had so many of us been given our way.

Unknown said...

I'm under the impression that I've seen them all, but it's definitely been a while. Did Granada ever film 'A Study in Scarlet'? If so, I definitely must get ahold of it. That would, oddly, have to be my favourite Holmes story. It's also the first one I ever read.

But as far as the Brett adaptations go, The Sign of Four is definitely my favourite. I also love The Naval Treaty - strangely, it had a huge emotional impact on me at a time in life when I could certainly identify with Holmes' client, having lost a very important confidential document.