It's just what the Doctor ordered (2005)
- Publication: The Mail on Sunday
- Date: 2005-03-27
- Author: Jaci Stephen
- Page: 63
- Language: English
There are very few things that really strike the fear of God in me. The possibility that the BBC might make another series of Badger is one. But wild fairground rides, horror films and things that go bump in the night (it's never a ghost: we really do die, you know) fail to scare. However, Dr Who's Daleks are another matter. I used to watch them in the dark in the basement of my grandmother's pub. There was never any light, as she wished to save on electricity, just the black-and-white flash of terror in the corner. The Daleks were, and remain, the most frightening sci-fi creations of all time. At the Doctor Who Press launch in Cardiff two weeks ago, I ran shaking from the cry of 'Jaci Stephen! Exterminate!' which greeted me.
The Daleks could not do steps and the relief when a flight of stairs appeared as the Doctor was being chased was always a blessed moment. So the remake of Dr Who (the last TV series ended in 1989) fills me with greater terror: the Daleks can fly. That's right, fly. The safety net has gone, let the extermination begin again.
The reinvention of the Daleks is just one of many inspired aspects of the new Doctor Who, written by the ubiquitous Russell T. Davies. It is not only scarier but camper, funnier and visually more spectacular than any of its predecessors. You can only wonder, then, why on earth the BBC would be stupid enough to schedule it against the hugely popular Ant And Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV.
The casting of the new show is also inspired. I am old enough to remember William Hartnell in the role when the show began in 1963, and who would have thought that the very serious Christopher Eccleston would one day take over - and, most surprisingly, inject so much humour into the character. Sidekick Rose, played by one-time pop babe Billie Piper, is another great choice - all pouting lips and tousled hair - and the first companion who has the hots for the Doctor in a big way. Are we to witness a new phenomenon in the form of Tardric sex? We shall see.
Walking dummies have long been fodder for scary movies and the first episode introduced us to the plastic people who, at the behest of a large, groaning globule (the 'Nestene Consciousness'), came to life in every shop window across the land. Well, actually, it was in Cardiff, where the show was filmed. Smashing through glass, they created havoc in the streets until they finally lay lifeless amid the chaos they had strewn - not unlike the scenes in the aftermath of the Welsh rugby team's Grand Slam victory last weekend, actually.
The Doctor got Rose on board with pulling lines such as 'I can feel it, the turn of the earth', which beats the 'Fancy a s*sg, love?' you normally get in Cardiff on a Saturday night. Together, they defeated the globule and joined forces for more adventures with a bizarre variety of things that look set to win every make-up and costume award going, not to mention sound ... Da da da da da da da da oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh. It still has the power to chill.
Caption: Time for action ... Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, as Dr Who and Rose, take on the Daleks, below left
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Stephen, Jaci (2005-03-27). It's just what the Doctor ordered (2005). The Mail on Sunday p. 63.
- MLA 7th ed.: Stephen, Jaci. "It's just what the Doctor ordered (2005)." The Mail on Sunday [add city] 2005-03-27, 63. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Stephen, Jaci. "It's just what the Doctor ordered (2005)." The Mail on Sunday, edition, sec., 2005-03-27
- Turabian: Stephen, Jaci. "It's just what the Doctor ordered (2005)." The Mail on Sunday, 2005-03-27, section, 63 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=It's just what the Doctor ordered (2005) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/It%27s_just_what_the_Doctor_ordered_(2005) | work=The Mail on Sunday | pages=63 | date=2005-03-27 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=11 January 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=It's just what the Doctor ordered (2005) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/It%27s_just_what_the_Doctor_ordered_(2005) | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=11 January 2025}}</ref>
