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Doctor Who: Series 1 - Volume 1 [2005]


RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £5.95 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

It was always going to be a risk for the BBC to revamp Doctor Who--few television programmes inspire as much rabid and cultish adoration. With the 2005 series, however, the BBC have really outdone themselves. Their updated Doctor Who is a revelation: a cult science fiction series that has real mass appeal, and works for both children and their parents. Christopher Eccleston is an inspired and charismatic Doctor--he leaps around the sets with an unrestrained glee, like he’s a child running amok in a toy shop. His enthusiasm in downright infectious. His sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) adds a real human touch, particularly as she gradually and believably matures from in-over-her-head city kid to tough-minded interplanetary hero. Much of the credit must go to writer Russell Davies, who has a much-practiced knack for finding popular appeal without dumbing-down his ideas, and who appears to have let his imagination run riot. Even the special effects, whilst not of a big-budget cinematic quality, still manage to strike a balance between cheesiness and realism. Thrilling, funny and thoroughly entertaining, this Doctor Who is a hero for the new millennium. --Robert Burrow


Nothing could have prepared us for this
Review date: 2008-09-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

... and the irony was, for years after the very last broadcast of the old series in the 1980's, it was certain that the most anticipated thing was indeed the next Doctor, and the next season. And we waited and waited.

If we had known what was going to actually happen, we would have all gone collectively insane. In any case, it was a close cut thing.

Several instances of breaking news occurred in those years. Always disappointing; time and time again there was news of a revival; the final clincher, so we thought, was the announcement that a particular and unnamed BBC boss assured everybody that the series was all but buried - that on his watch it would never again arise in any form.

But by the time we got to that point, in a bizarre but predictable development, only the BBC was left on the outside; there were fan clubs, writers conventions, hundreds of examples of fan fiction of the very highest standard. Things were moving at quite a pace; and of course we actually had a story about this very thing in season II with David Tennant, kind of in hommage to this unseen army of artists and writers.

Yet with all this creative activity and excitement, I have the clearest memory of another side of that dark space between the seasons; in Western Australia of all places, we would gather from time to time and discuss and debate it all in South Perth; Saturday afternoons with young families and older fans. And sometimes it was mentioned that perhaps... in spite of it all... it was best to leave it be. Oh yes; because in that time period fans had been born and grown up and known nothing of the live transmissions; it was a phenomenon inhabiting the past. Bringing it back was becoming increasingly a most dangerous gamble, and looking more and more difficult, even with the noblest of intentions.

Of course, there was the Doctor Who movie with the astonishing Paul McCann, but that came to naught, or far less than we expected. There was even the rumour (quite false, of course) that Fox had actually bought Dr Who and that the BBC had in doing so maliciously destroyed it. Quite off the track, but then there was no internet and no-one knew anything for sure.

And indeed, simply resurrecting the old series as if naught had changed would have been dreadful. Don't get me wrong, Sylvester McCoy was one of the very best Doctors we ever had, and in the Big Finish Audio Dramas he is almost unparalleled, having grown tremendously in stature. Yet somehow we all unconciously acknowledged in that tiny group of us in that larger gathering that afternoon, that it was a gracious memory, but not one that would emerge from the deep sleep of happy rememberence, and best left AS a memory.

We were completely and totally, gloriously wrong.

Good grief, no-one, and I mean this, NO-ONE I knew saw this coming. There had been only the very briefest news bite the previous year, and it was not taken seriously, my goodness, by that time everybody had lost count of the false alarms, the endless churning of the rumour mill, and so it was ignored until virtually the last minute, and even then, some Dr Who fans with years of involvement actually denounced it as a hoax.

Then came the actual broadcast, or in our case, we downloaded that torrent that we thought was a joke.

Nothing could have prepared us. Save us all, nothing.

Rose was a beautiful, astonishing, funny, impossible piece of whimsy that dipped deep into a mythology that we thought was lost beyond recall because we were all so tired by that time; and with genuine new and overwhelming LIFE and brilliance and colour and when Rose ran into the Tardis in the final frames of that famous opening story, I heard of one fan in his forties, a calm respectable fellow who broke down and simply wept with joy unashamed in front of the whole group of fans he was with.

Rose herself was all of us; young (I'm 48 and she made me feel like I was 19 all over again) ready to believe anything, equally skeptical about everything, brave as a lion and scared stiff and just beautiful with it too; Mickey, who was a great character and wonderful to meet; and the new Doctor was a bloke we had not heard of much but he seemed equally ready to try anything, from the North, but the other side of Orion, brave, but reckless in a way that we had never seen before, tormented, lonely, friendly, very, very funny, and mysterious as we had perhaps never seen or felt up until that time; the part where he tells Rose who he is, and he can feel the earth falling through space, just alone on this tiny rock; then Murray Gold (and we hadn't heard of him either) sprinkles the magical dust all over the soundtrack and that was it; we were all lost, gawping with sheer disbelief.

As I said before, if we had known what was to come, I don't know how we could have coped. As it was, this new series did things that not only were completely unknown to Doctor Who, but did things to outrage our previous notions of drama and if that sounds ridiculous, perhaps it's true anyway; because everyone I met who saw it was in approximately the same opinion. By the time the whole thing was halfway through we were convinced that something very strange and wonderful was unfolding.

Oh my, oh my.

Go and hide behind the sofa you lot.

It's back!

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Reviews


Fantastic
Review date: 2008-07-29 Rating: 10 out of 10

A brave new start for a brave new series. Christopher Eccleston's casting is inspired: he's modern and gobby but retains all the classic "Doctorish" traits of his predecessors. Billie Piper is a revelation to all who cringe at the memory of her brief pop career. The episodes are fast-paced and snappy, and the series opens with a good, lightweight introduction to our heroes before starting to explore the possibilities of the show's format.

My favourite episode here is probably The End of the World. Epic without being overblown, imaginative, funny and thrilling, full of outlandish aliens to bewilder Rose. And to those who complain about talking trees and blue men, didn't the third Doctor once claim to have met a purple horse with pink spots on its way to a Galactic conference?

A stylish reboot, and highly entertaining.

Doctor who review
Review date: 2007-06-08 Rating: 8 out of 10

I am not old enough to have seen the old series of Doctor who and I am not usually a sci fi fan but I really enjoyed Doctor who, it has really good storylines and the acting is brilliant.

Christopher Eccleston who acts the Doctor gives the character some great humour but he can also be quite serious.Billie Piper who acts Rose Tyler is a great new companion for the Doctor and she seems very comfortable in her role.Camille Codouri who plays Rose' mum and Noel Clarke who plays Rose' boyfriend both deserve credit aswell because they are both great actors.

All the episodes are really good but I would say my favourite is '' The Unquiet Dead'' and my least favourite is ''The End of the World''.These three episodes are great and I would strongly reccomend them.

CLASSIC & ENTERTAINING! (unlike mad_mushroom's review)!
Review date: 2006-01-26 Rating: 10 out of 10

If, unlike me you were fortunate enough not to have read mad_mushroom's ‘attention seeking’ and some what off the topic style review, then I hope you have made your mind up about the excellent series of Doctor who. Unfortunately for mad_mushroom, he seems to confuse politics and youth with a Sci Fi TV series – not what it’s about folks. BULLY BLAIR? A FEW YEARS YOU'LL BE ABLE TO VOTE? Maybe it's me, but just because buyers under the age of 18 cannot vote, doesn't mean they cannot have opinions and enjoy a decent show now does it? But then.. What would you expect from an obvious Tory (Faversham Kent - let's say no more), a reviewer who possibly took offence to Russell T Davis's parody in the Christmas invasion about the Falklands war. But hey.... lets not talk about politics eh? IT'S A GOOD SHOW! SO BUY IT PEOPLE!

ok but annoyed
Review date: 2005-12-08 Rating: 6 out of 10

this dvd is great. i loved the way Christopher Ecclestone made the 'Fantastic' so much more his! but I am annoyed about the fact it says 'SERIES 1' on the box. doctor who first went on air in 1964 or 1965!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Simon Callow
Christopher Eccleston
Zoe Wannamaker
Camille Coduri
Billie Piper

Creators:
Christopher Eccleston (Primary Contributor)
Billie Piper (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503175528
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-05-16
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 134 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005-11-05
Language: English (Original Language)

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