Doctor Who: Series 2

Doctor Who embarks on his second series with "The Christmas Invasion". This whimsical episode introduces us to the David Tennant's 10th Doctor, a striking difference from the 9th.

The 10th doctor is very..."flighty". He seems brilliant one minute, and then totally out of it the next. This is a Doctor that has shed the rage and hatred of his 9th incarnation and has embraced life again. Plus he tends to lick things a lot. I could draw a lot of parallels with Tom Baker and Patrick Troutan, but I'll just stop at that point.

Tennant obviously brings his own style to the role as well. The choice of wardrobe, the pinstripe suit w/ brown coat (Firefly anyone?) and canvas shoes is probably one of the best clothing choices of any doctor.

No matter how grave the situation, Tennant can always find a way to lighten the moment up. Sometimes I think that goes on for a bit too long.

Rose ventures with this new Doctor and they act more like spoiled teenagers this series than the more maternal feel of last year. Piper's Rose grows into a full-blown character which we haven't seen (in my opinion) since Sarah Jane Smith.

Then of course the coincidence that Sarah Jane (and K-9) appear in this series (School Reunion) strengthens the connection even farther. For the first time, we see what it's like for one of the Doctor's companions once they have made their fantastic voyage across time and space.

The return of the Cybermen was of course the main focus of the season. For me personally, I think the episode "Girl in the Fireplace" was my favorite. "Fireplace" had a particularly strong appeal because we got to see a different side of each character. We saw the Doctor fall in love, Rose get really jealous, and Mickey actually TRY and be brave (something that serves him well later in the season).

This series started out so strong that I even forgot the continuous "Torchwood" references in each episode. Like "Bad Wolf" last year, Torchwood was mentioned in some way in each of the episodes. We knew that Torchwood would be a big part of the series finale, but in the end it really fizzled. You might have well just stuck some random research facility in for Torchwood and I don't think anyone would have really noticed.

My overall rating for this series is lower than the first series. The biggest problem that I had was two episodes that should have never been made, "Love and Monsters" and "Fear Her". I know that Davies was working on the "Torchwood" series at this point, but I really feel that he dropped the ball.

I'm concerned that he is spinning off too much stuff. First Torchwood, then Sarah Jane gets a series, and now it looks like K-9 is getting an animated series as well. This feels too much like the "Stargate Syndrome" to me.

Only time will tell, but I will look forward to seeing how Tennant's Doctor changes yet again in series 3.

Post Script
The other day, someone asked me to compare the 9th and 10th doctors. I really feel that I would have enjoyed a few more years of Eccleston. I think he had a huge opportunity to make his Doctor into something spectacular. Then I would have been perfectly happy to have Tennant take over. Both are great, I would have just loved to see Eccleston for a few more series.

Doctor Who: Series 1

I know, I know, you Doctor Who purists out there will remind me this is far from series 1 and 2 of Britain's longest running Sci-fi series. Since mostly ignorant Americans are reading this...we will just cell it Series 1 and Series 2.

If you don't know the premise of Doctor Who then you probably won't understand the rest of the article. Check out "The Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who" for a better history of The Doctor.

Season 1 begins with a newly regenerated 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) encountering Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). Rose soon becomes the Doctor's newest companion.

Eccleston's Doctor is a very different Doctor. The 9th Doctor at first seems sad and aloof, who seems to dress the part in dark colors and a black leather jacket. This is a Doctor that saw his people destroyed at the hands of the Daleks (which we assume at the beginning of the season are destroyed as well). It appears that he has nothing to loose. Gone is the "oversight" of the Time Lords that previous Doctors have had to endure. In some respects, the Doctor IS the highest power left in the Universe. Not that it has totally gone to his head, but you can see he is traveling down a very dark path.

Then Rose enters the scene. Brilliantly portrayed by British Pop sensation Billie Piper, Rose seems to balance the Doctor a bit and remind him of his "humanity". Slowly but surely, we begin to see shades of the Doctor's past reflected in Eccleton's portrayal. I know a lot of people won't agree with this, but the relationship between Rose and The Doctor seemed very much more father and daughter than what was hinted at toward the end of the first series.

Most of the stories in the first series are tight, with no really horrible episodes that stand out. Producer Russell T. Davies seems to be the perfect choice to bring this series back. He has assembled an impressive directing and writing staff who really understand the spirit of Doctor Who. One of the most amazing (and least often mentioned) is the dramatic score by composer Murray Gold. His Doctor Who theme is brilliant and his music in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" (the best episodes of the series) are epic.

The only real gripe I have with the first series is that everything took place on Earth, usually in a modern time period. I know that Davies wanted to "reacquaint" viewers with the doctor in modern times, but I found myself yearning for the old Doctor that would travel to fantastic places and times.

I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I mention that the end of the series results in a regeneration into the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) and a new series.

That's the subject of the next review however.....