CHEEKY 'DR. WHO' AT TOP OF ITS GAME.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic The miracle of Russell T. Davies' latest incarnation of "Doctor Who" is how it takes the best parts of the previous series, and ramps it up just a bit -- every episode, no matter how big or small, feels apocalyptically urgent, yet genially self-mocking of its own grandiosity. Last season, The Doctor (David Tennant) lost Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) to a parallel Earth, much to his eternal regret. How do you recast such an integral role? Initially, at least, you don't. Tonight's first installment finds an unwanted guest aboard the TARDIS TARDIS Time And Relative Dimension In Space (Doctor Who TV series) TARDIS Time and Relative Dimensions , The Doctor's time- and space-traversing gizmo Slang for any hardware device. See gadget. . It's Donna (a witty Catherine Tate), who seemed a most disagreeable harpy even before she got sucked away from her wedding into The Doctor's realm. As anxious as The Doctor is to get rid of her, he must ask himself: How'd she get here in the first place? Turns out her fiance works for the sinister Halliburton-style corporation Torchwood torch·wood n. 1. Any of several tropical American trees of the genus Amyris, especially A. balsamifera, having resinous wood that burns with a torchlike flame. 2. The wood of any of these trees. ("Torchwood," an anagram anagram [Gr.,=something read backward], rearrangement of the letters of a word or words to make another word or other words. A famous Latin anagram was an answer made out of a question asked by Pilate. of "Doctor Who," is an upcoming series on the Sci Fi Channel Sci Fi Channel may refer to:
Tonight's second episode introduces Rose's replacement, nurse Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), who proves promising enough in an impossible role that you're ready to forgive Piper's departure. Here, a British hospital is suddenly transported to the moon, whereupon it is immediately besieged be·siege tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in. 3. by an army of extremely disagreeable robots. The Doctor, with Martha's help, must once again save the day. Tennant is persistently, winningly amusing. Despite the reliably cheesy special effects and the odd overly histrionic histrionic /his·tri·on·ic/ (his?tre-on´ik) excessively dramatic or emotional, as in histrionic personality disorder; see under personality. performance, "Doctor Who" continues to offer the most purely fun endtimes yarns ever. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com www.insidesocal.com/tv DOCTOR WHO - Three and one half stars What: David Tennant returns as The Doctor, the time- and planet-tourist who must save so many worlds, so many times. Where: Sci Fi Channel. When: 8 and 9:30 tonight. In a nutshell: Still miraculously urgent yet cheeky. |
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