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Doctor Who (New Series): Complete Series 1 Box Set (Dr Who)It was always going to be a risk for the BBC to revamp Doctor Who--few television programmes inspire as much rabid and cultish adoration. With the 2005 series, however, the BBC have really outdone themselves. Their updated Doctor Who is a revelation: a cult science fiction series that has real mass appeal, and works for both children and their parents. Christopher Eccleston is an inspired and charismatic Doctor--he leaps around the sets with an unrestrained glee, like he's a child running amok in a toy shop. His enthusiasm in downright infectious. His sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) adds a real human touch, particularly as she gradually and believably matures from in-over-her-head city kid to tough-minded interplanetary hero. Much of the credit must go to writer Russell Davies, who has a much-practiced knack for finding popular appeal without dumbing-down his ideas, and who appears to have let his imagination run riot. Even the special effects, whilst not of a big-budget cinematic quality, still manage to strike a balance between cheesiness and realism. Thrilling, funny and thoroughly entertaining, this Doctor Who is a hero for the new millennium. --Robert Burrow... Read More »
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Average User Rating: 80% (97 Reviews) | |
| 5 / 5 | Great show - bad box
Alistair Duncan "AlistairD" (UK) - 19 May 2006 Like many of the other reviewers of this series, I loved the show. As a fan of the previous Doctor Who series I was hoping for much. I was not disappointed. A small number of reviewers have given the series a rough time. They fail to appreciate that in trying to make the show accessible to everyone the BBC were bound to make it inaccessible to some. Look at all the modern sci-fi shows out there today, how many are really suitable for the entire family to watch? The answer - very few. Admittedly I do agree that Russell T. Davis' episodes tend to be worse than the others and I too find the epsiodes dwelling on Rose's family to be boring. I can't wait to see the back of her mum and Mickey. I guess we'll have to endure them all the time that Rose is the assistant. I bought the individual DVDs as they came out during 2005 and recently sold them to "upgrade" to the box-set. In some respects I wish I hadn't bothered. The box is terrible and has been put together very badly. The cardboard sleeve that holds the little booklet came away from the box the first time I took the booklet out. BBC what were you thinking? I enjoyed having Doctor Who - Confidential included but we should have been given the full versions and not the "cut-down" editions which are dull. The best part of confidential was getting the opinion of the past Doctors. This is absent from the cut-down editions. So if you're thinking of getting the series for the first time - buy this box set. If you have the individual DVDs - keep them and skip this.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Doctor Who - Better than Ever!
tigerthedog "tigerthedog2005" (Rochdale, UK) - 30 November 2005 When it was revealed that the BBC and Russell T Davies had plans to revive Doctor Who, which ended in 1989 I was somewhat worried and sceptical about the idea. I remember thinking that Doctor Who is a national institution, and if the BBC got it wrong and messed it up, then the millions of Doctor Who fans would never have let it go. I was also a bit concerned about Billie Piper playing the role of the companion, Rose Tyler, but thankfully it transpired that all of my initial quibbles were completely baseless because the series turned out to be far better than I ever could have hoped for. I thought Doctor Who was at its peak during the 1970’s with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, but Christopher Eccleston’s doctor was just as good. I can’t recommend this box set highly enough, and due to the fact that Doctor Who has received nothing but praise this year, as well as a stack load of awards, you can’t go wrong buying this. It makes for great viewing for the whole family, and its definitely been the highlight of 2005 television for me. Christopher Eccleston manages to put so much energy, humour and action into his Doctor, and as well as making him accessible to the Doctor Who fans, he has a kind of manic appeal that will make him instantly popular with new Who-fans. Billie Piper proved everyone wrong, and turned in a brilliantly consistent and emotional performance as the Doctor’s companion Rose Tyler. The TARDIS looks great also, especially the interior, which won’t disappoint fans at all. There are the return of some old enemies for the Doctor to fight, such as the dreaded legends that are the Daleks, as well as the terrifying plastic/dummy-model Autons, that made two appearances in 1970 and 1971. This set also pioneers some brand new adversaries such as the Slitheen, The Gelf, etc, which all prove to be thrilling, and will keep the children hidden behind the sofa. The special effects are also great; and make big improvement on the laughable sets and models used in the original series. There are thirteen episodes; and here they are: (* rating out of 5) In terms of special features, there is plenty to enjoy. All thirteen episode are accompanied by optional audio commentaries by members of the cast and crew, such as creator/writer Russell T Davies and Billie Piper. There lots of nice features, including all 13 edited editions of Doctor Who Confidential on Disc 5, Billie Piper’s video diary, Mark Gatiss’ writing journal, Russell T Davies on the first week of filming, The Adventures of Captain Jack, features on the special effects such as Deconstructing Big Ben and much more besides. The discs are presented in a lovely TARDIS box, and there is also a Collector’s Booklet included too. In conclusion then, I can’t recommend this set highly enough, and I want to say a big thank you to everyone involved for bringing back Doctor Who bigger, better and bolder than ever before. I can’t wait for the Christmas Special! ... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | The best thing to return to TV since....Dr Who!
M. Davies (Kent, England) - 18 May 2005 It has been a long and hopeful wait for a new series of Doctor Who, 16 years in fact, with a teasing 1996 film starring Paul McGann, but has it lived up to the anticipation and expectations? The answer is yes. The old Dr Whos are loved for their shoddy effects (with respect), but this new series has amazing new effects and cannot be faulted! The scripts are excellently written by Russell T Davies and others, remaining faithful to the theme and continuity, but the stories have more depth than the golden oldies (classics still they be), with a stronger relationship between Doctor and assistant. The monsters are more believable, such as the Dickensian empty spirits and the creepy Slitheen, and a return of the marvellous Autons and fantastic Daleks- or simply, Dalek- looking more fearsome and with some sweet upgrades. The TARDIS looks really nice, better than ever, interior and exterior, look out for the ol' hat stand still in there, too. The crucial reason for the value of this series and the return of the Doctor is... the Doctor himself. Christopher Eccleston (you may remember him in British horror "28 Days Later") is a "fantastic!" incarnation; a great actor and a real sense of belief that he could be remembered as one of the greats, perhaps somewhere between Pertwee and McCoy. This special TARDIS DVD box set contains all 13 episodes on 4 discs, plus a bonus disc with some very nice extras, which are guaranteed to be informative, interesting and entertaining. |
| 5 / 5 | The return of Doctor Who...better than we can have hoped for
russell clarke "stipesdoppleganger" (halifax, west yorks) - 23 June 2005 What the production team and mainly the writers have done with the new Doctor Who is add a satirical and sociological element to the Time Lords adventures that imbue them with an element mainly missing from them before. So we get one episode entirely dedicated to the manipulation of the media by an alien power ("The Long Game"), One about a rapaciously avaricious alien race "The Slitheen "who view Earth as cash cow (Aliens Of London" and "World War Three"), one about a egomaniacal billionaire ("Dalek") and a recurrent plot strand that sees us discover the ramifications of Roses decision to travel with him. So numerous episodes concentrate on them returning to Earth and one sees her meet her father who died when she was young ("Fathers Day"). This series continued reliance on certain recurring locations London, Cardiff and The Space Station used for "Long Game" and the climactic two episodes has drawn criticism but in one of the Dr Who Confidentials ( There are lots of informative and interesting extras included here) this was explained coherently so it all made complete narrative sense. Hence when the Doctor returns to the Space Station he saved from "The Editor" 100 years later he learns that not every action he takes rights every wrong and that sometimes his implacable faith in his own judgement is flawed. In this case it sets up the memorable final episode "The Parting of the Ways" which is completely mesmerizing and actually quite touching. As Rose points out The Doctor likes to "Make a stand". He is incapable of standing by and letting bad things happen. As a role model you can get far worse. Christopher Eccleston is a terrific actor and invests his incarnation of The Doctor with an unflinching moral compass and tangible sense of darkness while never losing his unwavering enthusiasm and lust for life. The Doctor is quite prepared to act as judge jury and executioner. Witness his righteous gleeful fury at the supposed demise of The Daleks in the brilliant "Dalek" episode, his almost bored apathy when "Cassandra" dies in "The End of the World" or his "Not my problem" response to his defeated Sltheeen enemy when he hears it will be executed in a rather gruesome fashion in "Boom Town". His stripped down version of The Doctor in both sartorial and character terms is a revelation. Billie Piper is great as Rose, growing into the role as the series progresses and providing some fine comic interplay with Eccleston as well as a slight sexual frisson. I found the character of Jack introduced in "The Empty Child" to be slightly annoying at first but he proves his worth for the final two episodes. Numerous quality cameos from the likes of Simon Pegg, Simon Callow and Richard Wilson help keep the performance levels admirably high With contemporary technology the special effects and production design should have been vastly superior to anything we have seen on Doctor Who before and after a shaky start with the opening episode this proves to be the case, though the series really only truly hits it's stride with the superb depiction of blitz hit London for "The Empty Child". As for the new Daleks. Well they are fantastic. Apart from overcoming the age old steps problem they just seem more menacing with even the sink plunger being used as a weapon or tactical device and the scene of hordes of Daleks streaming out of multiple spaceships is truly memorable. So Saturday nights, at least for thirteen weeks were truly worth looking forward to again. The return of Doctor Who has been everything I hoped for. Entertaining, funny, thought provoking, and at times moving. Maybe now programme commissioners and makers will realise that innovative, imaginative T.V never went out of fashion, we just forgot how to do it well. I just hope it can maintain the momentum for series two and that David Tennants Doctor is as riveting as Ecclestons . And I'd like to see the return of The Cybermen. The series had a lot to live up to. It delivered. Get your own little Tardis and travel back in time to these fantastic episodes again and again.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Fantastic
B.A.Nohel "ben.nohel" (UK) - 12 June 2005 WOW, how great this series has been! I never use to watch Doctor Who as I'm only 19 so this show wasn't really in my era but I did see the odd episode of the last series that went out in the late 80s which I thought wasn't that bad. As I saw the early promos for this new series back in early March I just couldn't wait as the short teasers looked fantastic. That 1st episode 'Autons' just got me hooked and I haven't missed an episode yet. Just can't wait for Saturdays when we can see the next installment at 7pm. Christopher Eccleston is terific as Doctor Who and I can't really think of anyone else to play this roll now, I will be buying this DVD Tardis Box Set for sure but I am going to miss Eccleston alot when Tenant takes over, I don't think I'll tune is as I have just got use to this Doc. Best episodes yet have to be 'Rose' 'Darlek' and last weeks episode. Last ever Eccleston show next week sad to say but I can't wait for it and this DVD release, this has to be one of the best programmes to air this year and the only one to keep me hooked anyway, well apart from the new series of 'Hustle' which I have to say was outstanding and I will also be adding that to my DVD collection. This is a must have DVD box set for sure. |
RRP
£69.99
Release Date
21 November 2005
Price Range
£23.95 - £69.99