Doctor Who Cuttings Archive

He's no dummy

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Radio Times logo 2000s.jpg
coverage of series 1, 2005

  1. Bring on those nightmares! | That's the wonder of Who... | listings (26 March)
  2. Origin of species (2 April)
  3. Their mutual friend | letters (9 April)
  4. Killing time (16 April)
  5. The face of evil? (23 April)
  6. Tinpot dictator (30 April)
  7. The naked Dalek | letters (7 May)
  8. Unholy terror (14 May)
  9. Dreams and nightmares (21 May)
  10. To be continued... (28 May)
  11. What's next, Doc? (4 June)
  12. Reality can be a killer (11 June)
  13. They're back ... and this time it's war! (18 June)

coverage of other series
S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | Specials | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 | S9 | S10

2005-03-26 Radio Times p68.jpg

[edit]

PICK OF THE DAY He's no dummy: Doctor Who is back, with Christopher Eccleston as the new, very likeable Doctor

SATURDAY 26 March

TODAY'S CHOICES

SCI-FI

Doctor Who 700pm BBC1

It's here at long, long last. And it's great — lively, funny and immensely good-hearted. Christopher Eccleston, who has a slightly otherworldly quality about him anyway, is a fine, likeable Doctor, who jitters with energy and good humour. And Billie Piper, as his sidekick Rose, delivers on all the acting promise she showed in Canterbury Tales.

Russell T Davies's script is scattered with slyly knowing Doctor Who references, though not to the degree where they become tiresome to those who exist outside the Doctor's esoteric fan base. (I particularly enjoyed a little dig at the Doctor's asexuality, when he cheerfully turns away from Rose's lubricious mum with a jolly "no thanks".)

This opening story gets things going nicely, when the Doctor returns to Earth to stop a potential takeover by living plastic. Shop-window mannequins and, in one funny sequence, even wheelie bins come alive with destructive minds of their own as they set about the screaming populace.

More broadly, no one's fond memories of childhood Saturday teatimes, Spam, battenburg, sofas and vicarious thrills are trashed here. This is a Doctor Who with humanity, which should be welcomed to a new TV world dominated by witless, soulless, serial-killer dramas.

Alison Graham TV editor

Doctor Who special pull-out: see centre pages

Doctor Who bargains: page 152


THE INSIDE STORY

"In the past eight months, I've been Rose a lot more than I've been Billie," says Billie Piper (right) of her role as the Doctor's companion Rose Tyler in Doctor Who (7.00pm BBC1). It's a telling comment, given that her three-year marriage to TV and radio presenter Chris Evans broke up while she was filming the series.

"Doctor Who has been my life for almost a year, and that can be quite exclusive," says Piper. "When you do finally get home for a weekend, the last thing you want to do is talk. You just want to go to bed, or eat loads of food and drink loads of wine. So, no, I don't think I managed that side of things well."

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  • APA 6th ed.: (2005-03-26). He's no dummy. Radio Times p. 68.
  • MLA 7th ed.: "He's no dummy." Radio Times [add city] 2005-03-26, 68. Print.
  • Chicago 15th ed.: "He's no dummy." Radio Times, edition, sec., 2005-03-26
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  • Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=He's no dummy | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/He%27s_no_dummy | work=Radio Times | pages=68 | date=2005-03-26 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=7 December 2024 }}</ref>
  • Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=He's no dummy | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/He%27s_no_dummy | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=7 December 2024}}</ref>