Doctor Who: The Complete First Series

I have been watching the new Doctor Who series on SCI-FI, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I first began watching the classic DW series in 1983, and I will admit I was rather skeptical about the prospects of bringing DW back as a regular series. Could it possibly be as good as the original? The fact of the matter is that Executive Producer/Head Writer Russell T. Davies and his cast and crew have put together an excellent TV program which retains many classic elements of Doctor Who, with some updating to bring the show into the twenty-first century. Christopher Eccleston (Gone in 60 Seconds, 28 Days Later ) makes an excellent Doctor, combining the wit and charm of Tom Baker with the vulnerability of Peter Davison's Doctor. And Billie Piper is an absolute delight as Rose Tyler, the Doctor's new traveling companion. Camille Coduri is also very good as Jackie Tyler, Rose's mom, as is Noel Clarke as Mickey, Rose's boyfriend.

Here is a rundown of Season One:

1. "Rose" Stron opening episode. Rose Tyler is introduced as an employee in a department store where she is attacked by mannequins (Autons). She meets the Doctor, and the two team up to battle the Autons and the Nestene Consciousness which controls the plastic killers.

2. "The End of the World" The Doctor takes Rose 5 billion years into the future to watch the end of the Earth as the sun is about to explode.

3. "The Unquiet Dead" Rose and the Doctor arrive in Cardiff, Wales in 1869. Gaseous being are taking over dead bodies, causing them to appear to "resurrect." The time travellers meet Charles Dickens, who joins with them in fighting the invaders.

4/5. "Aliens of London" (Part One)/"World War III" (Part Two) The TARDIS returns to London one year after the Doctor and Rose had left at the end of "Rose." Rose is believed to be dead, and her boyfriend is a suspect. But when an alien spacecraft crashes into the Thames, the entire world goes on red alert, anticipating an invasion. The aliens are a criminal family called the Slytheen, who plan to reduce the Earth to a nuclear slag heap and sell it at an outrageous price.