Dr Who

Dr Who reached its finale last Saturday. A 13 week series that took the Dr Who character into the 21st Century was one I (like many fans of formers doctors) was waiting for with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. How would Christopher Eccleston follow in the footsteps of doctors played by such icons as Tom Baker, who for me was the epitome of the Dr Who character?

I needn’t have worried. Eccleston proved to be a lively, manic doctor and the programme rattled along in company with an underlying satirical humour. Some have criticised it for Political bias. I can’t say that I agree with this criticism. The politics that did intrude struck me as part of the dual layer of the programme designed to appeal to adults as well as children. While children will be concentrating on the main action, the politcal comment found in the Slitheen’s "45 second" speech for example raises a smile because it is so crass and so obvious that it is a dig at current affairs. Rather than a crude attempt by the BBC to instil its cultural bias, I picked up light satire, nothing more.

This weekend’s finale returned us to the arch enemy; the Daleks. Those wonderfully nasty metal robots with a bad attitude and something sinister living inside have been subject to updating and computer imaging to give us an army of them sweeping though space to invade Earth. This time, they really are menacing. And, in the final moments, Eccleston bows out to be regenerated into his successor, David Tennant.

Given that Eccleston didn’t want to be typecast, he decided to leave the show after one series. Tennant, I believe, will make an excellent replacement. I’m looking forward to the Christmas special and series two.