Saturday 5 April 2008

And so it begins. Again.

Yup, series four of the new Doctor Who has started. They've even re-recorded the theme music. Preferred the last version, personally.

In many ways, it's a low-key opener. A strange tale of cute little creatures made out of fat - illegally - by an interstellar supernanny. The Doctor intervenes. Donna (from the 2006 Christmas Special) turns up, and gets whisked away. The credits roll.

I quite liked it.

Donna has been substantially toned-down since The Runaway Bride and, while she hasn't become instantly likable, she's not as thoroughly annoying and one-dimensional as she was in her Christmas Special. The Doctor, too, seems subtly different... Not sure what it is, but I'm curious enough to watch more. Donna may have been on to something when she told him "you look older".

Considering the portentous way the last series dispensed with John Simm's incarnation of The Doctor's constant nemesis, part of me was disappointed that Sarah Lancashire wasn't the new face of The Master, playing a brief role in the series opener before returning only for the finale (which, we already know, will involve the return of Rose). That would have made for a pleasant twist, and - just maybe - answered the age-old fan-question of whether or not The Doctor could regenerate as a woman.

That and, hey, who'd object if The Master was technically The Mistress, done up in intimidating spectacles, office power-suit, high heels and red lipstick?

I know I wouldn't.

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