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I just upgraded to WordPress v. 2, and, at the moment at least, it seems to have gone off rather painlessly. I’m still waiting for it to go splat in some horrific fashion, of course, but other than a slightly weird interface on the admin end, it seems to be working okay. So far. If you notice anything wonky, please let me know.

Overall, I was pleased with the two new Doctor Who eps Friday night; I’m always deeply suspicious of remakes, revivals, original-cast reunions, etc., but “Rose” and “The End of the World” were, largely, engaging and interesting. I do have a few concerns, though:

• Knock it off with the mobile phones already.
• The Doctor should not dance. Please, god, no.
• Please tell me the rest of the series isn’t as Earth-centric as the first two eps. There’s a whole big universe and the whole of time to explore; that’s a big part of the point of DW. To me, at least.
• Is SciFi just particularly bad about interrupting the show every five minutes for commercials, or is it that I’m accustomed to watching DW on PBS, where they did an entire show straight through without interruption?
• Whoever redesigned the TARDIS console is guilty of heresy. Especially the person who added the bicycle pump thingie. WTF? And why the spinny wheel? The pillars look cool and all, but the console is . . . it’s advanced technology, people, it’s not a busy box! (I swear, the bicycle pump nearly killed me. Is the console inflatable now?)
• Why only an hour long now? I realize it’s probably convenient for networks, but it doesn’t allow as much depth of storyline as the old multiple half-hour segment format, I think. They did do a good job at development in the first two, I thought, but I can see how hour-long eps (with commercials!) would feel rushed in some more complicated stories. I hope they have the occasional two-part eps when the story requires it.

Those points notwithstanding, I do like the new series pretty well. The casting is much better than I’d feared; Eccleston is actually pretty good in the role, and despite the chicken-neck dance bit in TEotW, is suitably quirky and likeable. Rose actually only got on my nerves a couple of times, and only mildly, in the way companions usually do — the failure to recognize the alien replacement for her boyfriend, for instance, and being shocked to realize that, now that she’s five billion years in the future or whatever, that means her mom has been dead for quite a while (apparently even companions can have blonde moments). When I’d heard that they had cast a former pop star, I’d expected her character to be far more annoying; instead, she’s not bad at all so far.