Doctor Boo Hoo

I, like millions of others 20 years ago, used to hide behind the sofa whilst Tom Baker or Peter Davidson saved the world from the Daleks on the other side of it.

Now I'm in my thirties, and giggle at the monsters rather than run and hide. Oh for innocence, but it gives me a smile on a Saturday night, and no doubt another generation of teenies are also hiding behind the sofa, cos the monsters are just as scary, if not more so.

But...and this is a big but..

Am I alone in feeling a little perturbed about the way these episodes are going, particularly after last Saturday's?

Don't get me wrong, I will turn into a Doctor Who addict if I'm not careful. Christopher Eccleston certainly fits the part well (although I half expect him to go "why-aye-mun" any minute. I think he's the first DW with a distinctive dialect) and Billy Piper was a pleasant surprise, she don't do bad at all and I have a strange bias with young, pretty, rich and chavvy blondes.

DW has a lot of parallels with James Bond, viz:

1. He isn't real but he's believable
2. He's somewhat invincible, he's died once already this series and come back to life. More than JB ever did.
3. He's actually changed actors more times than James Bond, with a convincing 'reason' for doing so (which JB doesn't)
4. JB has lots of gadgets, DW seems to have only two, but they do THE LOT. (what happened to K9?)
5. He should be played with the tongue firmly in the cheek

Also, the old DW used to show little emotion, and the series used to be full of terms such as 'runckated his murgerflooms into jasterplasts'

The above two are missing. Maybe ditching the latter has made the stories somewhat less ridiculous (if possible), but the former rule violation has made DW human - which he isn't.

The intrusion of emotion is no bad thing, and makes for interesting scope on the storylines. What bothers me most, is the pinch of 'soap opera' the writers have given the storylines, much like we add salt to a delicious stew, forgetting our guests can add as much (or as little) salt they like at the dinner table.

To cap it all, the writers have left a kinda 'willtheywon'tthey' with DW and Rose. Didn't I read somewhere that DW CAN'T, making the thought somewhat farcical, or am I thinking of someone else?

Its the way the episodes refer back to each other, not to previous encounters with weird aliens with pipes and tubes outta impossible orifices, but to relationships. I mean, forget the fact that there were pterydactls outside, the writer was more concerned on tugging on the heartstrings as Rose says 'Daaaaddy!!' there can't have been a dry eye in the house. I'm really surprised that the Reapers didn't stop their flapping and scratching and sit and weep at the beauty of human fraility. DW is about monsters and DW himself saving the world. Instead the dad does the noble thing and commits suicide. Touching, but is this Doctor Who or Amargeddon?

Actually, I can't remember the last time DW actually did anything other than wave his screwdriver about a bit, or the last time he did something really clever, like solve the crime all by himself and get on his trusty steed (or TARDIS) and ride into the sunset?

How times change. In the meantime, pass the tissues please and don't mention Eastenders.