TARDIS Report: Tuesday

More U.S. Debut Coverage

Eclipse Magazine has run a second story, a review of the new series. At the end of the wrapup, it states "The new 'Doctor Who' keeps everything that was great about the show's original run, while bringing it into the twenty-first century: technologically, attitudinally, and in terms of taking it for granted that the audience is actually intelligent enough to not require its being led by the hand. The creative team's writing is terrific; the cast is superb; the direction is top notch, and the result is thirteen hours of high entertainment. Frankly, I cannot recommend 'Doctor Who' highly enough. Acquiring it is the smartest move Sci Fi has made since greenlighting 'Battlestar Galactica.'" Read the full article at the site.

The Village Voice notes, "In the U.K., this series about a time-traveling sleuth is as much of a stone-cold classic as The Twilight Zone is here. It's also equally period-bound, bringing to mind the black-and-white series of the late '60s and early '70s, with those fakey sets and sinister electronic background music. The famous futuristic theme tune -- an invitation to a generation of children to prepare themselves for a weekly dose of palpitating terror -- has survived, but it's been gussied up with unnecessary orchestration, setting the tone for this attempt to update Doctor Who in the age of CGI. ... The Doctor has generally been played as a relentlessly cheery type, with a Peter Pan quality of prepubescent sexlessness -- a geek whose brain beats brawn in every corner of the universe. Although this remake attempts to add tragic depth to the Doctor, it lacks true darkness. The early series overcame skimpy budgets to conjure the uncanny; this was cosmic horror as H.P. Lovecraft would have understood it. The real disappointment of the new Who isn't its use of (slightly) slick special effects, though. It's a structural problem: Instead of stretching a storyline across a whole season, each adventure is resolved within a single episode, making this closer to your average detective series. The thrill-filled cliffhangers of yore are gone, taking with them with the child's urge to watch TV from behind the sofa, breath bated."

Arizona's AZ Central says, "Look out, America: The Doctor is ready to make house calls again. ... The new 'Doctor Who' brings the series into the new millennium, which means top-notch special effects and mature writing chock-full of delights that adults and kids can both enjoy. ... The strength of 'Doctor Who' has always been its limitless formula. Unlike most programs, 'Doctor Who' stories can be set anywhere in the past, present or future, on any planet. Plots can range from action-adventures to humorous romps to dead-serious character pieces - but the best offerings (especially in the new series) mix moments of all three. ... Be aware that the first episode (the appropriately titled 'Rose') may be the weakest of the series - the plot suffers somewhat when there are so many characters and concepts that need to be introduced. But the next 12 episodes build on each other to become a whirlwind trip: Earth's last day in the far future, ghost-hunting with Charles Dickens, fighting an alien takeover of the British government, and a confrontation with the ruthless robotic Daleks. (Actor David Tennant has taken over the role of the Doctor for the second season, which will begin broadcasting soon in Great Britain.) For good old-fashioned escapism - something that makes you laugh, cry and think - 'Doctor Who' is the trip of a lifetime. Here's hoping audiences on this side of the Atlantic will think so, too." The article, with minor changes, also ran in the Indianapolis Star.

North Jersey.com says "The Time Lord has entered a new age. Christopher Eccleston becomes the latest actor to do a turn in 'Dr. Who' a 13-episode update from Britain on the cult classic. The funny and brave doctor has a detached logic that gives him a vital edge when the world's in danger. So let the adventures begin. (9p.m. Friday, Sci Fi Channel)"

Miscellaneous

Life Style Extra today says that "Renee Zellweger has reportedly lined up a dinner date with British actor Christopher Eccleston. The stunning actress - who is in England filming a Beatrix Potter biopic -asked the hunky star to take her on a traditional English date. The pair are said to be planning to sample some typical English fayre at Manchester's famous Mr Thomas's Crop House as soon as Renee finishes shooting. A source told Britain's Daily Star newspaper: "Renee and Chris have been pals for years but because they email or phone, no one realised. 'They met while he was promoting '28 Days Later' about four years ago. Renee is really cool and down to earth and they stayed in touch.' The screen beauty is also said to be a huge fan of Eccleston's work, which includes popular British sci-fi series 'Doctor Who'. The source added: "She watched all his shows - 'Our Friends In The North', 'Cracker' and 'The Second Coming' - and she got quite nerdy about 'Doctor Who'. She thinks he's a fine actor. Renee arranged to meet Chris as soon as she knew she was filming in the UK.'"

Says Female First, "Jennifer Aniston has been voted the most unlucky in love celebrity. The former 'Friends' actress, who was ditched by husband Brad Pitt so he could romance Angelina Jolie, has topped a poll to find the star Cupid has smiled upon the least. Aniston beat long-term singleton Robbie Williams to the unwanted title, Nicole Kidman - whose ex-husband Tom Cruise is now engaged to the pregnant Katie Holmes - was named fourth, while British TV star Billie Piperrounded off the top five. ... The unhappy poll was conducted by internet gift site www.thedoghouse.co.uk."

Hemel Today is asking readers to "help find out what happened to at least one of those 'true' Daleks! You see, hemeltoday's Local History section contains a sub-section of pictures of Hemel in the 1960's and one of those pictures is of the Access Equipment Christmas party of 1964 which was attended by one Dalek, and it looks like a real true Dalek. Although the picture has been on Hemeltoday for a good three years now, it was only last week Gary Rymill and a team of fellow Dr Who and Dalek fans and experts found it through a web search. Gary's asked us for a full sized print and we're now searching our archives of negatives to find it. Gary told us: 'Down the years there have been many attempts to describe the developments of the Dalek props that were built for Doctor Who but the histories have contained inaccuracies and included some myths known to be false. Myself and a few others (some of us have links to the TV series production and others are merely keen enthusiasts) are setting out to see if we can piece together, once-and-for-all, what happened to the props and when. Whilst it is the case that through the decades about two dozen props of one kind or another have appeared on screen, there were actually only six 'true' Daleks originally built for TV in 1963/64. Those fibreglass originals survived in dwindling numbers through to 1988, with the addition of some new wooden dummies in the 70s and then cheap vac-formed ones in the 80s.'" The full article including photo is on their website.

(Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Peter Weaver)