# Eccleston's Dr Who **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecclestons-dr-who/339226 "2006-01-09T22:47:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecclestons-dr-who/339226/41 "2006-01-14T07:58:42Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > The Master’s attempts to extend hisd lifespan resulted in the destruction of a large part of the Universe. I doubt The Doctor will follow suit. Nah, he extended his life by using the powers he gained from a 5-minute stint as Keeper of Traken to take over Nyssa’s dad’s body. Admittedly, that’s not something the Doctor is likely to try, but it shows that it’s not that big a deal. The Master destroyed half the universe the _following_ week, and that was, you know, an accident. Put me down as liking Eccleston a lot (except for the cheesy “I’m being an oddball” grin, which wears a bit thin after the first 56 times he flashes it at unexpected moments), and loving what I’ve seen of Tennant so far. Also much love for Rose, Captain Jack and Rose’s mum. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecclestons-dr-who/339226/42 "2006-01-14T10:19:23Z")
From what we’ve seen so far I think David Tennant is much better than Christopher Eccleston for this part. Eccleston is too earnest and just can’t do comedy, whereas Tennant gives the character the impishness and joie de vivre that a good Doctor should have. Looking over the [list of episodes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_1_.282005.29) in the 2005 series, I realise that my other problem with the show is too much Russell T. Davies. The episodes I liked were _The Unquiet Dead_ (the Charles Dickens one, written by Mark Gattiss), _The Empty Child_ and _The Doctor Dances_ (Stephen Moffat) , _Father’s Day_ (Paul Cornell) and _The End of the World_ (Davies) (I didn’t see _Dalek_). The other episodes, all written by Davies, seemed uneven and confusing, veering erratically and unsuccessfully between silliness and suspense, and I found some of them frankly difficult to follow. Still, it looks like there are fewer Davies-scripted episodes in the next series so things may improve. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecclestons-dr-who/339226/43 "2006-01-14T17:02:33Z")
Just saw the first three episodes last night, and never having before been a Dr Who fan (didn’t watch it much growing up) I liked it a lot. A little less campy than the older ones, perhaps, but stillquirky and creative. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecclestons-dr-who/339226/44 "2006-01-14T17:18:50Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > I can see potential problems with this from the moral majority if it’s marketed the same way as the UK. _Who_ is indeed a kids programme enjoyed by adults but it is focused on kids. The first new season included same sex kissing and very obvious references to bi-sexuality and cross species sex. Interesting to see how this is handled in the States. > > I loved the first season and really enjoyed Tennant’s first outing over xmas. IIRC the Dr Who episodes were an hour long when shown in the UK, whereas when the BBC shows a US show that’s an hour long (eg. Buffy) it’s 45 minutes long without ads. So presumably the US version will get 25% taken out of each episode, that should be more than enough to make it US-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecclestons-dr-who/339226/45 "2006-01-14T18:58:17Z")
The Christmas special was 60 minutes, but the regular episodes are only 45 minutes, perhaps with sales to commercial broadcasters in mind. Or perhaps they just felt that was a good length. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecclestons-dr-who/339226.md?page=2)