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Doctor Who returns to a warm American welcome
Setting the series in the US might have been a marketing ploy - but it comes up trumps
Doctor Who is back with a new series written by Steven Moffat and the opening episode is already getting rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. The Guardian called it "a staggeringly confident series opener" while Holy Moly stated: "This is world-class science fiction".
The new series sees the Doctor (Matt Smith), looking sharp in a Stetson, reunited with Amy Pond, Rory, and River Song on the edge of a lake in Utah. Out of the water steps a 1969 astronaut - and seconds later the Doctor is dead.
Needless to day, and true to the spirit of Easter, the Doctor is quickly resurrected. The ensuing adventure takes the gang to a meeting in the Oval Office with US President Richard Nixon and sees them hook up with a federal agent, Canton Everett Delaware III.
The setting of the new series in the United States, and the introduction of key American characters, had been seen by some fans as a low marketing ploy designed to enthuse an ever-increasing American fan base.
Aaron Cistrelli, president of the Time Meddlers of Los Angeles fan club, said last week he was worried about Doctor Who retaining its Britishness. "I think part of the appeal is the British style," said Cistrelli, "something that doesn't exist over here, and thus giving it a different quality than we are used to."
He needn't have worried. "The US setting is expertly judged," writes Dan Martin for the Guardian, "using all the right iconography to spell out a great American adventure - the plains of Utah, the Oval Office and NASA, and our eccentric British foursome bumbling through it. Look everyone: Doctor Who just raised its game."
American fans also get to see one of their favourite sci-fi actors, Mark Sheppard, playing the federal agent. Sheppard is known for his appearances in Star Trek Voyager, Firefly and Battlestar Galactica. "We're only one episode in, and I already want to see more of Mark Sheppard as Canton," writes Rick Marshall at MTV.com.
For Stephen Kelly at Holy Moly, the new series is proof again that Doctor Who is safe in the hands of Steven Moffat.
"Whereas Russell T Davies' arcs seemed forced and thoughtless ('oh, the Daleks are up to something naughty, let's stop them and move on to the next series, shall we?') Moffat's story-telling is one of depth, complexity and substance," writes Kelly.
"On the proof of this episode, Doctor Who has finally matured into the intelligent populist drama we all knew it could be. This is world-class science fiction. And it goes out at 6pm on a Saturday."
The new series also introduces viewers to some of the best - as in most terrifying - aliens ever encountered on Doctor Who. Their special powers mean that anyone who sees them forgets all about them the moment they turn their backs.
And everyone loves the increasingly poignant story of River Song's 'backwards' relationship the Doctor. Travelling through time in opposite directions, the longer they spend together, the less he knows her. Pure tragedy.
"Each time, we see more depth and vulnerability," writes Dan Martin. "When she finally opens up to Rory while picking the lock I found myself with real tears in my eyes.
"And yet," he concludes, "Alex Kingston's delivery just gets camper and camper, helped along by lines like: 'Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer!' You can't imagine that any other actor is having quite as much fun as she is right now." ·
