The New Dr. Who

I have been getting the episodes of the new Dr. Who series from Netflix and not long ago finished season three. I have been discussing the show with my friend and we both liked the original series. The original series is a classic show with some very compelling episodes mixed with some not so spectacular episodes. It had a twenty-six year run so there were bound to be some duds in there but some of the stories, like Inferno, Genesis of the Daleks, War Games, Planet Of Evil, The Caves of Androzani, Brain of Morbius and many others are great television and great science fiction, if you like that sort of thing. Of course the joke that always applied to Dr. Who is that the special effects were rather underwhelming, to put it mildly. Styrofoam boulders and aliens with cheap looking masks made the show seem more comical than intended.

Now, the new show changed all that. The special effects look really good. Sets look more impressive and the aliens look a lot better. That said, there is something missing from the new show. I watch the episodes and am fairly entertained but not incredibly so. In the first three seasons there hasn't been one single episode that I would refer to as a classic. Episodes may not reach the lows of the worst shows of the original series but they come nowhere near the highs. Not too long ago I pulled out Tomb Of The Cybermen from the original show from all the way back in 1967 and that holds up very well. No, it doesn't have incredible special effects but it works well as a low budget horror movie. That coupled with a good story gives it an edge that I haven't seen the new show come close to.