Doctor Who (2005) Series 2 Review

If Eccleston was the Doctor in trauma then David Tennant is the Doctor moving on, or at least to the best of his ability.

I remember seeing this as the show’s golden age growing up and I attribute that to the show-runner Russell T Davis.

Going from dark and dreary to bright and giddy was the right choice as here we have a series thar focuses on just having fun.

It feels almost like a pick-a-mix with new concepts and tones being thrown into each episode.

Without getting ahead of myself let’s talk Tennant. Seeing him skip about from planet to planet, time zone to time zone, with a big grin on his face is enough to make anyone feel warm. This is a sassy Doctor who throws a quip or a comeback whenever he gets the chance and I love it.

It’s fun thinking about the Time Lord Victorious saga with his turn being so believable in retrospective.

Tennant turns his performance from witty to large and in charge in seconds making him one of the most captivating Doctor’s thus far.

Rose plays off of her character previously established. She’s much more flirty but then so is the Doctor. It is hard to tell if she’s fallen for this face because of the face itself or because of the character she knew.

I couldn’t help but note that as they refer to one of their previous ventures from the first series Rose insistently calls it a “date”. I suppose sparks did fly at the end of that series so I’ll go with that for now.

Overall she’s perfectly fine with her new found boost of confidence turning some episodes into her own thing for a bit.

Mickey surprised me quite a bit with his heartwarming arc about trying to figure out where he belongs and when he finds it there’s a sense of pride in his finale.

If I had any major complaints overall they’d be down to the final two filler episodes, Love and Monsters followed by Fear Her, which prove that Tennant’s performance can excel even the weirdest of episodes. Doctor-lite episodes are fine but good writers are what the BBC struggles with most these two here are no exception. Love and Monsters throws sit com level acting and cringe into a dark and suspenseful mystery that does not work in the slightest. Fear Her is a bit better but the slow pacing matched with the sudden finale along with the fake temper tantrums from the child actress makes this episode low on the list of ones I’d rewatch.

With that being said Army Of Ghosts and Doomsday delivers on giving us a near perfect encounter with the two most iconic Who villains followed by a tear jerk of an ending with some of Murray Gold’s best work guiding our ears through.

Tennant’s first round embeds him as one of the best and Rose’s departure still made me tear up, even if everything else wasn’t quite on point.

8/10