How did Doctor Who do on the Sci-fi channel...

[RGA]

I read reports that it did well on the Friday time slot but that overall it was merely so-so. I heard they are likely to pick up season 2 but no confirmation.

I don't know how well the show wouldgo over with more serious science fiction shows like BattleStar Gallactica being that Doctor Who is aimed with an eye on kids. But it must have done all right if season 2 is even being contemplated. Season 2 is on the whole considerably better than series one due to the change in lead actor and much superior speacial effects but it had a couple of misfires.

[GMichael]

I read reports that it did well on the Friday time slot but that overall it was merely so-so. I heard they are likely to pick up season 2 but no confirmation.

I don't know how well the show wouldgo over with more serious science fiction shows like BattleStar Gallactica being that Doctor Who is aimed with an eye on kids. But it must have done all right if season 2 is even being contemplated. Season 2 is on the whole considerably better than series one due to the change in lead actor and much superior speacial effects but it had a couple of misfires.

I enjoyed it very much and look forward to another season. But then again I am just a big kid. It was nice to have something to fill the Friday night slot instead of just more repeats.
At first it just seemed silly. Remembering that Douglas Adams was once one of the writers years ago kept me in the right state of mind, and helped me to keep tuning in. After a while the show grew on me.
Is the new lead actor better? I usually am resistant to change in the lead roles. You get to know someone and build up a bond. Next thing you know you've got to warm up to someone new. I hate that, even though it sometimes works out for the better. He seems much younger. I assume this leads to more tension between him and the girl.

[Woochifer]

Ratings were lower than their normal Friday night lineup of Battlestar Galactica and Stargate, but I think they were higher than expected, so that might explain the mixed reaction. I missed a few episodes in the middle of the season because of my travel schedule, so I've been going through the DVD set. I haven't heard anything about whether Sci-Fi channel will pick up Season Two.

Right now, they're working towards to the October season launch of their regular Friday night lineup. The hype for Doctor Who didn't begin until the season for Battlestar Galactica was almost over, and I remember that Sci-Fi Channel didn't confirm that they would carry it until only a few weeks before the Season One DVD set was due to come out in the U.S. and Canada (once Sci-Fi got the rights, then the DVD release date got pushed back in the U.S.). Sci-Fi Channel only did the weekly airings, and did not go into reruns after the first run was over. They ran ads for the DVD set every week, and the first run did not end until June and the DVD came out in July. It seemed almost like showing Doctor Who on Sci-Fi channel was an informercial for the DVD set.

[RGA]

The Eccleston Doctor was usually helpless in most of the episodes having Rose teaching the Doctor about humanity and often saving the day. I also got the sense that the tertiary characters took over a bit too much. I felt Billie Piper's Rose saved the series. Especially when the show began to get good with episode 3, and episodes in the middle, Father's Day etc.

The new actor David Tennant is less intimidating but plays it clearly more like Tom Baker with faster witty talking and clearly takes center stage most of the time and is a more "powerful" doctor in the sense that he is the one saving the day most of the time. That is good but in some episodes it means they go back to the more traditional 1970s Doctor versus a megalomaniac which does nto play particularly well. Some of the weakest episodes in my opinion was a two parter with the cybermen.

Series 3 will have an entirely new cast compared to series one as Billie Piper has left the show as well. The great thing about Doctor Who is that a complete cast turnover has happened many many times and the show has manged to go on and go on sometimes even better.

Tennant is far less brooding and more alive in the title role. Still some dopey episodes but I felt like they were still more watchable because of Tennat. That two parter with the farting Slitheen was pretty lame for me which is why I said the first half of the first season had to be slogged through until it started to pick up.

[Woochifer]

Well, I guess Doctor Who did well enough for Sci-Fi Channel's purposes.

They have picked up Season Two, and will premiere the new episodes with the 2-hour Christmas Invasion episode on September 29. This means that Sci-Fi Channel's Friday night lineup this fall will pair up Doctor Who with Battlestar Galactica, which premieres on October 6. I didn't know this, but Stargate:SG-1 is already in the middle of its first run season, so it won't be the lead-in for Battlestar Galactica this season. Doctor Who's ratings will probably benefit tremendously from this scheduling change because they won't have to carry the entire night as the only first-run show on the schedule (Doctor Who's lead-in during Season One was repeats of Stargate). This is probably the best possible scenario for the show.

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-scifirenewsdoctorwho,0,6659745.story?coll=zap-news-headlines

[RGA]

It's too bad they have the Christmas Invasion airing in September but it's the episode when Tennant's era begins so they have to do it first. It was a long episode and they were talking about cutting 15 minutes to get it on US Television - sounds like they are doing the right thing now by keeping it intact.

Unlike Series 1 the new series IMO starts off much much stronger. New Earth is visually impressive bright and colourful with a fair amount of humour. Episode 2 is darker scarier and shows the diversity of the show from week one to week two -- I think that is very important if they hope to get new viewers in that it is not the same old same old CANNED series that battlestar and Star Trek are about. I loved Star Trek but it did have a sameness across the series. Doctor Who does not -- it plays it for laughs in one episode and can be very science fiction in another.

The Satan Pit was a two parter that reminds a bit of Aliens and The Even Horizon while another episode is created almost completely without the Doctor or Rose in the show. I think it always had a more open landscape than a show like Battlestar which from the few episodes I've seen always seems to be the same story plight against the cylons.

It's strange but some of the weakest for me have been with the Cyberman and the Daleks -- The facelss personalities don't really work for me anymore - I much prefer human drama and new interesting science fiction ideas or at least old ones doen in a new creative way.

The new sidekick in series three is Freema Agyeman who will replace Rose -- she was in the last episode of series 2 playing a different part and umm she should keep a large male viewership tuned in - :ihih: http://www.freemaagyeman.com/