Doctor Who Series 2- Tennant's Debut Proves Entertaining if Frustrating
Hello! I am back! I have finally finished my A-Levels and should be able to review much more regularly on this blog, thank you for all the support so far and I would really appreciate sharing etc as I really enjoy doing this and hopefully, more exciting projects coming up. Also, if you have any review suggestions or just want to chat my socials should be linked or feel free to comment. Without further ado here is my review of Series 2 of Doctor Who.
Series 2 is probably the most inconsistent series of the
show, as we reach some of the best Doctor Who can offer and then there is a lot
of misfires and some wrong decisions here and there that really pull down what
should have been a lot better. Without further ado, let’s go through every
episode of Series 2 of Doctor Who.
New Earth
‘New Earth’ is beyond ridiculous. If you laid out the plot
and ideas in this episode it would seem like an incoherent mess, but somehow
the episode manages to feel somewhat coherent and on top of a lot of fun
moments, features a lot of excellent character. The Doctor and Rose go on a
trip to New Earth, where they visit a hospital where its mysterious cat nurses
have been torturing grown humans with disease. Immediately it’s a bizarre setup, but I love how it immediately establishes the relationship between Ten and
Rose, as they go and visit a new world for some fun and light relief, this is
maintained in the fast-paced fun pace to the whole episode. The return of
Cassandra really drags down the episode, don’t get me wrong Zoe Wannamaker is
incredible, but the body switch subplot is just an excuse for the actors to
have some fun l, it’s highly entertaining but feels more Scooby Doo, than
Doctor Who. The visual design is some of my favourite of the series, the
clinical feeling to the hospital and the cat nurses look amazing, as well as
the fantastic contrast in the underground of the facility. Tennant is a pure
joy to watch, he fits into the role like he has been doing it his own life and
he has fantastic chemistry with Rose holds the episode together. Cassandra as a
character has the strongest arc in the episode, even of it’s done through a
ridiculous nonsensical body swap plot, but her death is undeniably moving and
beautifully performed. It’s dumb, over the top but is an exhilarating ride for
Ten's first trip.
Tooth and Claw
I’m never much of a fan of the historical episodes, they
often get bogged down in the historical rather than the episode itself, however
‘Tooth and Claw' is an amazing blend of gothic horror and wit, with a sprinkling of Queen Victoria. The Doctor and Rose wind up in 18709, by accident
and the upside utilises their chemistry to pull off its ambitious and exciting
concepts, as Ten's sense of adventure and excitement mixed with his ability to
respond to threat and stakes makes him really stand out. The production design is
in every way outstanding, the recreation of 19th century Scotland is
flawless, except for the CGI of the werewolf which is obviously dated but
director Euros Lyn cleverly works around this to make some amazing moments of
genuine horror. The episode isn’t the most ambitious in its sci-fi concept,
it’s much more of a genre piece and takes full advantage of that by having Ten
and Rose bring some levity to the quite dark story, little things like them
having a bet if Queen Victoria will say any of her catchphrases is signature
Davies character development and I live it. A brilliant mix of horror, history
and hilarity.
School Reunion
Very rarely does New Who visit Classic Who, but ‘School
Reunion’ is the best example of the show returning to its roots and results in
an outstanding episode. Sarah Jane Smith is often regarded as the greatest
Doctor Who companion and her return is emotional and a homage to the shows
past whilst not getting carried away with fan service. Elizabeth Sladen was one
hell of an actress, her interactions with The Doctor are full of so much sorrow,
nostalgia and excitement, the moment she sees the TARDIS always gives me goose
bumps from just Sladen's face. Now, this episode isn’t just the episode where Sarah
Jane returns, it is a fantastically constructed low-key sci-fi, guest writer Toby
Whitehouse motivates every action in the narrative, paying perfect attention to
some elements and giving the episode amazing pacing. The only real fault is the
over-reliance on child actors and ironically the ‘alien in disguise' gimmick
being a bit overdone, but I think the villain of the Krillitaine has a
magnificent design and Anthony Head's performance is so creepy and intimidating,
he reminded me a lot of older master’s which may be an intentional homage.
‘School Reunion' is charming as hell, an absolute amazing closure for Sarah
Jane Smith as her relationship with Rose feels almost like passing a torch as
well as her last interactions with Ten being downright beautiful.
The Girl in the Fireplace
And Moffat returns with an incredible episode, a challenging
and unique concept mixed with hilarious comedic moments for Ten results in a
highlight for the second season. Ambitious concepts have always been Moffat’s forte
and the concept of discovering a spaceship with several doors to Madan De
Pompadour’s life is incredibly inventive, ideas are piled on top of each other,
but he threads them through with the excellent dynamic of Rose, Ten and Mickey.
This is an episode that undoubtedly
proves that Moffat has excellent skill in blending his characters and narratives,
the Tenth Doctor runs wild and free in this episode, Tennant brings such energy
and excitement and it may be one of my favourite performances, especially when the
episode leans into the more emotional dynamic of the narrative. The relationship
with Mickey and Rose is admittedly the least interesting part, it is one of
those arcs that I ultimately like how it plays out in the end but the way it gets
to that point feels a bit repetitive and tropey, they do have some fun moments
in the climax though. It is a visually ambitious episode as much as it is
narratively, the design of renaissance France combined with the rustic gothic
sci-fi of the clockwork robots is such a great binary visual design that is
just beautiful, the Clockwork robots, although ultimately are nothing more than
an antagonistic force with a purpose, are some of my favourite designs in the
show.
Rise of the Cybermen/ Age of Steel
If there ever was a set of episodes that I would describe as
aggressively mediocre it would be Season 2’s Cybermen two-parter. It just is
incredibly forgettable, a return of arguably one of the most iconic Classic Who
villains, the Cybermen in a muddled sitcom mess of a two-parter that is
incredibly camp in an undeniably fun way. The introduction of a parallel world
is treated so casually in the episode that really is just for character reasons
rather than narrative, Rose discovering a world where her dad is alive and
Mickey meeting a rebellious superior version of himself. These are wonderful
arcs, although the Rose storyline is something that has been done before
countless times, it feels fun and serves a purpose in the overall progression
for this character. It is much of a set-up episode, with the Cybermen being a
threatening force that doesn’t really do anything inventive or new. The darker
theme and tone of conversion is my personal favourite parts of the villains,
the way this episode utilises Jackie as a character signifier is beyond
effective and really works. Ten is always as playful and energetic as usual,
but he does an excellent job at conveying the fear and understanding of these villains
he has faced before. Overall an entertaining episode for character, but ultimately
falls down in its unambitious storytelling and weak climax.
The Idiot’s Lantern
I will defend this episode till I die, Gatiss returns again
and although not quite as good as ‘The Unquiet Dead’ it is an equally weird fun
and incredibly entertaining episode. Ten and Rose end up in 1950’s London for
the coronation, but in what might be somewhat of an attempt at a theme, the T.V
begins to take people’s faces. For me, this has an excellent set of supporting
characters with some amazing character interactions and developments that maintain
the weak narrative and uninspiring climax. The Wire is a wonderfully creepy villain,
Maureen Lipman does a fantastic job at melding that 50s stereotype with a genuine
unnerving alien figure. Season 2 has a recurring issue that the characters and
moments between these characters are much stronger than the plot and climatic resolution,
this episode reveals a ridiculously over the top climax involving full action
hero Tennant which echoes the Fourth Doctor’s death that just comes off as
stupid to the audience. However, I do really enjoy the domestic dynamic Gatiss
explores, the family is a brilliant representation of the changing times of 50s
Britain, it is extremely on the nose but seeing Ten and Rose mock a man whose
sensibilities are ridiculous in comparison is undeniably amazing. It is an
absolute mess, but I really love this episode in all of its entertainingly camp
ways.
The Impossible Planet/ The Satan’s Pit
I would argue this is by far the strongest two-parter in the history of the show, it showcases everything Davies’ tenure did well in an operatic
sci-fi epic that relies on character and subtleties in order to deliver an
amazing experience. There is an essence of melancholy and dread that I adore, one
of my favourite moments in the Tenth Doctor era is the moment where Rose and
Ten sit and contemplate living a life together as they realise the TARDIS may
not be recoverable. The space station where the plot takes place is literally
sandwiched between a black hole and a satanic force deep underground, with an
excellent rustic orange aesthetic. The set of supporting characters are basically
perfect at this point, the base under siege is a wonderful Doctor Who trope
that this episode somehow simultaneously makes epic yet small, with apocalyptically
high stakes but beautiful character decisions. The episode goes out of its way
to make you care about these characters, making them entertaining and
interesting with genuine faults and sets of morals, Rose and Ten learn more
about the characters as the episode’s stakes progress which I adore as a
writing style. The Ood are an extremely fascinating villain, their thematic presence
is just as fascinating as their design, but it is the Beast which is a truly momentous
villain for the show. The CGI doesn’t quite stand up, but that climactic scene
between it and Ten is amazingly written, I love what he represents and I’m glad
they went for the ambitious design for thematic purposes. An amazing two-parter
with a lot to unpack in terms of character, themes and visually hallmarks for
the series.
Love & Monsters
Oh boy, this is definitely the most infamous episode of Doctor
Who of all time, in most discourse this is pointed to as a disastrous episode
in every form and way. It is undeniably bad, ridiculously terrible but falls into
that category of Davies’ Who which is just self-aware enough to be so bad it is
good. The protagonist of the episode is Elton, as Davies experiments with a
Doctor-lite episode that I think is meant to be an ode to fandom and its quirks.
If this wasn’t a full budgeted and constructed episode, but a mini-series it
would have functioned a lovely exploration of what makes Doctor Who’s fans what
they are, instead we get Peter Kay in all green make-up and one of the weirdest
euphemistic jokes of the show. I get what the point is, the idea of a group of
people trying to find The Doctor that become friends is a sweet and interesting
idea, I even love the idea of switching the POV. But it is the Abzorbaloff that
really, and I mean really, drags this episode down, it is ridiculous, goofy and
not at all threatening so the third act meanders about trying so hard to not take
its self seriously yet having to try and provide some conflict. It is terrible,
of that I’m not ashamed to admit, but I do really love the insanely misguided
essence of this script if all else fails at least you can enjoy some ELO.
Fear Her
Now, this is about as bland as an episode of New Who can get,
‘Fear Her’ is a ridiculously meandering and mediocre episode which is about as
entertaining as a bowl of mud. I hate using the word, but this episode is just
boring, no amount of Ten and Rose’s chemistry can save what is one of the
dullest plots this show has ever seen. A creepy girl can draw people, causing
these people to disappear and be trapped in the drawings, Rose and Ten arrive
to investigate these disappearances set in the backdrop of the 2012 Olympics. This
would be an interesting idea if the mystery wasn’t revealed to the audience in
the cold open and the rest of the episode was just insubstantial nothingness.
There is really nothing that irredeemable about the episode, I usually skip it
when rewatching, the support characters are bland and one-note and the alien
idea is just ‘misunderstood alien’ which is an awful trope that the show always
struggles to grow out of. Don’t bother with this one.
Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday
Everything this series has been working towards is this
incredible finale, I adore these episodes and I love the blockbuster tone and
stakes that they have whilst containing one of the most iconic and emotional
climaxes in the show’s history. If you had to ask anyone what moment in Doctor Who
makes them cry, a lot of the responses will be Doomsday, which is really proof
that the relationship between Ten and Rose is an absolute highlight of this
series. It is a true and tested structure the episodes follow, a slow burn
mystery-orientated opening part with a focus on character and stakes before a cliff-hanger
that increases the stakes into a wonderfully extreme second part. I think the introduction
of Torchwood is a fantastic idea, it motivates the plot to a location and fantastically
collides modern day Britain with Doctor Who Sci-Fi. The pacing really sells
this episode, the slow burn of the Ghosts, with Ten and Rose truly demonstrating
the impact of their adventures together, resulting in an incredibly dark end
for her character. Murray Gold’s score is iconic, the way he combines the
Daleks and The Cybermen’s themes to create this incredible battle is beyond effective
and ‘Doomsday’ is a piece of music filled with so much emotion. The re-introduction
of these two iconic villains facing each other is a Doctor Who fan’s joy but
the way Davies shifts the focus to the helpless characters in Torchwood in a
perfect resolution marks this as a highlight. I love this two-parter and I think
it really sells the dramatic and operatic stakes with possibly the most
emotional scene in the show’s history.
The Runaway Bride
After an epic emotional finale, for some insane reason, the
show takes a step backwards and the Christmas Special is an aimless ridiculous
and dull episode. The introduction of Donna, even with the foresight that she is
going to become one of the best companions on the show, feels like nothing more
than a ridiculous celebrity cameo. It has a tone of something similar to an
episode of ‘The Royle Family’ than Doctor Who because the writers and the
actors have no idea what to do with Tate. It fascinates me that this episode
was written without the idea that Donna would become a companion because so
much of it is dedicated to her, but none of it can be interesting character
development, she goes through the blandest of arcs in the space of one episode
which leads to no impact for Ten. It seems backwards to say that I think more time
needed to be spent with Ten and his grief, a lot of Season 3 is dedicated to
that, but I think for an immediate follow-up it doesn’t do the original any
justice. The villain is a wonderful technological achievement for a
ridiculously over-the-top performance of an antagonistic force that just kind
of stands there the whole episode, it doesn’t do enough character wise to
justify its disregard of its plot. ‘The Runaway Bride’ is an odd episode, to say
the least, a weird nothing episode that can easily be skipped.
And there we have it, full of incredible hits and embarrassing
lows Tennant’s debut proves to be a highly entertaining series, if occasionally
just due to its campiness. Thanks for reading!