DOCTOR........................WHO!!!!

The New York Times (second article this week): "The original 'Doctor Who,' a British sci-fi series, was on for so long, from 1963 to 1989, that it became an institution, like 'Coronation Street.' It even caught on for a while in this country, after being picked up by some PBS stations, and both here and in Britain it spawned a 'Star Trek'-like cult. Those fans obsessed over the wanderings of the title character, a human-looking extraterrestrial who travels the universe in a time machine disguised as a police telephone booth, and of his various enemies -- the Sontarians, Krynoids, Zygons and, most feared of all, the Daleks, who looked like giant salt shakers. The show eventually burned through eight actors in the title role, explaining each time that the Doctor had been 'regenerated,' and by the time the BBC finally canceled it, the plots had grown mossy and the special effects, always low-budget, had become antiquated and embarrassing. The resuscitated 'Doctor Who,' which has its premiere tonight at 9 on the Sci Fi Channel, with two episodes back to back, was written and produced by Russell T. Davies, best known as the creator of the original version of 'Queer as Folk.' Mr. Davies is himself a cultie, who has even written a novel based on 'Doctor Who,' and his remake is both affectionate and a little ironic, leaving intact some of the show's essential silliness. Like so much British science fiction, especially Douglas Adams's 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' series, this 'Doctor Who' has a goofy, homemade quality; it's less interested in gizmos than in characters. ... The familiar blue police box doesn't seem much revamped, either; it appears to run on pneumatic tubes, and there is no sign of a computer on board. The Doctor, on the other hand, almost quivers with energy. In previous regenerations, depending on the actor playing him, this character has variously been crotchety, spacey, avuncular and even a little glamorous. Christopher Eccleston brings a kind of manic blokishness to the part, giving the Doctor a sardonic grin and a working-class Manchester accent. (When another character says, 'If you're an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?' he replies, 'Lots of planets have a North.') ... Sadly, it can't last. In Britain, where 'Doctor Who' is now in its second season, Mr. Eccleston has already been regenerated. He quit the show last year after announcing that he didn't want to become a celebrity. So what we're watching here is what the sci-fi types would call an avatar. This time-travel business is very complicated."