Doctor Who at the Holidays (or...Hug Me Now, Rick, Hug Me as if it Was the Last Time...)

Well, I was all set and ready to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special last night on CBC, but I forgot. And, uh, I don't really care enough to go do something illegal.

On the bright side, I did get to see a Hockey Game at the Air Canada Centre from swank box seats and it was an awesome game with a fight and everything. (Leafs crush Devils 2-1; Eddie Belfour earns his paycheck; Denis sips Heineken and eats chicken wings.)

Matt Watts has a sort-o-review of Doctor Who on his blog. Apparently David Tennant takes over the role just fine. And that Billie Piper popsy is strangely alluring. Maybe I need to get out more.

Last year, I managed to catch about half the new episodes with Chris Eccleston. I think hiring Russel T. Davies (creator of the original British Queer as Folk) was inspired. The show crackled and walked a fun line of entertainment that could please adults with high camp, and still pull in the kids. Eccleston took a lot of heat when he left the role, despite my strong suspicion that he only ever agreed to take on one season to get the franchise re-started. (A suspicion more or less confirmed when BBC leaked the fact that he was ankling and the actor's camp got all snippy.)

If you make a deal with an actor, you have to honor it. Just because they're insane doesn't mean they don't have rights -- or feelings. Oh, they have feelings. Feelings for days.

More than his review of Who, though (say that aloud three times fast) what interested me most about Matt's review was how the show made him feel:

At times like this, when I’m sitting alone, trying to figure out where to go with my life, I realize that all I really want to do, is to write on a show that is fun. I want to work on a show where people save the world and hug.

Canada needs shows like that, don’t you think? I’m sick of all the depressing angsty bleak shit. Give me people saving the world and hugging.

Amen, brother. I've got a few save and huggers up my sleeve. I wonder if 2006 will bring any of 'em to Canadian airwaves?