Doctor Who!

First episode of the new series is up on iPlayer tonight and I've got a few comments to make. I went into it without having read too many spoilers and so only knew that it was set in the Wild West (which actually turned out to be false. 1968 America was the scene of the show) and Nixon was involved. I was quite sad to learn of my mistake. Nixon vs Cowboys would have been almost as good as Spitfires in space.

For the first half of the programme I didn't like it at all. Too many in jokes and cheesy bits. The opening sequence was bizarre and the 'I wear a Stetson' line was too obvious, especially when followed by River Song's display of sharpshooting.* The only one that made me laugh was the Doctor's request for '12 Jammy Dodgers and a fez' while trying to work out the location of a mysterious phone call.

Also they pulled that bloody Doctor dies in the first five minutes thing again. We know he doesn't. You don't have to be much of a Dr Who obsessive to know that Matt Smith is here for the duration of the series. Even as a framer for the series it is a bit tired and old. I much preferred the cracks in time from last series that only later on were revealed to be caused by the exploding Tardis. Still we'll have to wait and see how it develops. We aren't usually hit with something so monumental so early in the series.

Luckily the episode got better as it went on. I really like the Canton character. The repetition of the name, Canton Everett Delaware the Third, made me think he must be a character from history. I was thinking involvement in Watergate or inventor of the many worlds theory throughout the episode but neither fit with the facts and a quick internet search didn't find anything so I guess he's probably fictional.

The aliens also have a lot of potential. The Men in Black/Grey-alikes are terrifying and have a bit of a mutant human vibe to them that may or may not be going anywhere. I won't ruin the ending but the reveal about the 'Spaceman' and subsequent cliffhanger ending were both high points.

* Interesting that she later managed to miss multiple shots at close range when firing at the slow moving, semi-submerged 'Spaceman'. Hmmm.