Mindmatters 2009-01-06
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Dr. Who is a family program about a time traveling humanitarian who would do anything to save the lives of innocent people. He's a superhero -- who's primary power is his intellect. He may sound like the product of one too many after-school specials, but the show is a lot of fun. In the first series since 2005, the audience was introduced to the Doctor. Series 2 found the show trying to regain its momentum after Christopher Eccleston left the lead role. And in series 3, David Tennant erased any memory whatsoever of Christopher Eccleston. Three was the series in which David became the Doctor for me. But I digress.
What about series 4? It turns out to be David's swan song. Late last year, Tennant announced that he wouldn't be returning to the role. He's committed to several specials this year and that's it. But take heart, we have the series 4 DVD to remember him by. Fans will buy it regardless. So I'll go easy on the hype.
Series 4 is the most consistently good of all the series. Though Partners in Crime was a yawner for me, all the other episodes were topnotch. Particularly good were the Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Ood. The latter should be commended for denoucing the horror of slavery in a non-preachy way. Thats not easy to do when you're writing a family show.
My favorites of the year, though, were Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and Midnight. The former was written by Steve Moffat. Need I say more? The latter by former showrunner Russell T. Davies. Its beyond good. Davies can be campy. But this time he used the show as a commentary on the dark side of human nature. It was even better than the series finale which wrapped up his tenure on the show.
If you enjoy family entertainment or wants something fun for the kids to watch -- buy this dvd.
