Season "two" commences!

Well the Second season of the new Dr. Who started today in the UK. Thanks to the magic of digital media I was able to watch it after I got home from the Shack this evening.

Overall the episode was quite enjoyable, though some of the science was a bit strained. Plot wise I did think that the story was a bit threadbare, but there were some great opportunities for the Companion character Rose Tyler played by Billie Piper to really shine.

For a "low budget" show, the special effects are nearly seamless. In actuality I think that probably it's not such a low budget show anymore however.

The biggest question is how will the 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant, do following an absolutly brilliant year of Chris Eccelston as the 9th Doctor. In the Christmas Invastion, we got a glimpse of Mr. Tennant's take on the role, but in this episode we get him at full strength so to speak.

Overall I do think that he will do quite well. His take is just a playful, with a bit more wonder I think. It's really to early to tell how he will play on the wordliness and weariness that Eccelston showed at times. One does need to remember that this Character who has been played by 10 (really more) actors since the early 60's is nearly a millenium old.

I still have some very pessimistic thoughts (though they are fewer than before I had seen the Christmas Invasion and New Earth) about the first season being the peak and it becoming slow decline after. Tennant is quite good, but it came to me that Eccelston's performances quite outweighed episodes where the plot was thin. In this episode I didn't see Tennant doing the same thing. But time will tell as he grows into the character.